Greifswald 2024 – scientific programme
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SYEC: Symposium Lasers and Photonic Technologies for Environmental Challenges
SYEC 5: Photonic Measurement Technology for the Environment
SYEC 5.4: Talk
Tuesday, February 27, 2024, 18:15–18:30, ELP 6: HS 4
Characterization of PFAS transport in groundwater via laser-based 85Kr and 39Ar age dating — •Florian Meienburg1,2,3,4, David Wachs1,2, Axel Suckow3, Christoph Gerber3, Alec Deslandes3, Punjehl Craine3, Rohan Glover4, Thomas Chambers4, Ivan Herrera4, Hue T. Nguyen5, Jochen Müller5, Markus Oberthaler1, and Werner Aeschbach2 — 1Kirchhoff Institute for Physics, Heidelberg, Germany — 2Institute of Environmental Physics, Heidelberg, Germany — 3CSIRO, Adelaide, Australia — 4University of Adelaide, Adelaide Australia — 5University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Radioisotopes are a widely used and important tool for dating environmental systems. Due to their chemical inertness and their well-understood input functions, the radioisotopes of argon and krypton are especially valuable tracers. Furthermore, their half-lives of 10.8 years (85Kr), 269 years (39Ar) and 229,000 years (81Kr) cover a wide range of timescales and are therefore of interest for various tracer-based water studies. However, a very small abundance as small as 10−16, requires an ultra-sensitive and highly isotopically selective detection method which is achieved by the quantum technology Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA).
The presented study makes use of this unique measurement technique to investigate a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) plume in groundwater at a site in Queensland, Australia. Age dating tracers combined with PFAS concentration measurements give insights into the transport characteristics of these forever chemicals.
Keywords: Atom Trap Trace Analysis; Groundwater; Age Dating; PFAS; Plume characterisation