Degassing of 3H/3He, CFCs and SF6 by denitrification: Measurements and two-phase transport simulations

The production of N2 gas by denitrification may lead to the appearance of a gas phase below the water table prohibiting the conservative transport of tracer gases required for groundwater dating. We used a two-phase flow and transport model (STOMP) to study the reliability of 3H/3He, CFCs and SF6 as groundwater age tracers under agricultural land where denitrification causes degassing. We were able to reproduce the amount of degassing (R2 = 69%), as well as the 3H (R2 = 79%) and 3He⁎ (R2 = 76%) concentrations observed in a 3H/3He data set using simple 2D models. We found that the TDG correction of the 3H/3He age overestimated the control 3He/3He age by 2.1 years, due to the accumulation of 3He⁎ in the gas phase. The total uncertainty of degassed 3H/3He ages of 6 years (± 2 σ) is due to the correction of degassed 3He⁎ using the TDG method, but also due to the travel time in the unsaturated zone and the diffusion of bomb peak 3He⁎. CFCs appear to be subject to significant degradation in anoxic groundwater and SF6 is highly susceptible to degassing. We conclude that 3H/3He is the most reliable method to date degassed groundwater and that two-phase flow models such as STOMP are useful tools to assist in the interpretation of degassed groundwater age tracer data.