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Trace elements, REEs and stable isotopes (B, Sr) in GAS groundwater, São Paulo State, Brazil

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Abstract

This investigation was carried out in the Guarani Aquifer System (GAS) following a transect in São Paulo State, Brazil, and involved the analysis of trace elements, REEs and stable isotopes (B, Sr) in both rainwater and groundwater samples (the latter sampled from tube wells drilled in 10 cities). The Brazilian Code for Mineral Waters (BCMW) has been adopted for classifying the groundwaters according to their temperature and was useful for identifying the major trends of the hydrochemical data. Three water categories are identified: (<25 °C), hypothermal (values ranging from 25 to 33 °C) and hyperthermal (>38 °C). The hyperthermal waters exhibited geostatic pressures >250 bar, whereas the cold/hypothermal waters values <100 bar. REEs concentrations were higher at the monitoring point BCS (Bernardino de Campos). Dissolved strontium in the groundwater behaves like other alkaline earth metals (calcium and barium) in samples collected along the studied transect. The hyperthermal waters tended to exhibit similar 87Sr/86Sr ratios (between 0.7088 and 0.7099), approximately corresponding to the value of ca. 0.709 for seawater Sr isotopic ratio at the end of the Proterozoic. The cold and hypothermal waters exhibited lower B contents than the hyperthermal waters. The δ11B ranged from −8.1 to +12.0‰, where the δ11B-values in cold/hypothermal waters were characteristically positive in clear distinction to the negative δ11B signatures found in hyperthermal waters.

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Acknowledgements

FAPESP (Foundation Supporting Research in São Paulo State) and CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technologic Development) in Brazil are greatly thanked for financial support of this investigation. Reinhard Jung from Hochschule Mannheim, Germany, is thanked by the REE analysis made at LABOGEO/IGCE-UNESP-Rio Claro. Avner Vengosh from Duke University, USA, is thanked by ICP-MS and TIMS analyses. One anonymous reviewer is greatly thanked by helpful comments that improved the readability of the manuscript.

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  1. Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas-IGCE, Universidade Estadual Paulista-UNESP, Av. 24-A No. 1515, P.O. Box 178, Rio Claro, São Paulo, CEP 13506-900, Brazil

    Daniel Marcos Bonotto

  2. School of Natural and Built Environment (SNBE), Queen´s University Belfast, Stranmillis Road, Belfast, BT9 5AG, Northern Ireland, UK

    Trevor Elliot

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Bonotto, D.M., Elliot, T. Trace elements, REEs and stable isotopes (B, Sr) in GAS groundwater, São Paulo State, Brazil. Environ Earth Sci 76, 265 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-6590-0

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