Can bomb-peak tritium persist in the transition zone? A case study from the German island of Langeoog

Abstract

Tritium has been used as a tracer in hydrogeological studies to date young groundwater. It was released in massive amounts to the atmosphere by nuclear bomb testing in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. Its activity in the atmosphere peaked around 1963-1964 and has been steadily falling since then due to its half-life of 12.32 years. On the northern hemisphere, where the atmospheric tritium concentration reached much higher levels than on the southern hemisphere, elevated tritium activities in groundwater persist, and thus can still be used to identify groundwater that has recharged during the post-bomb era.