Groundwater noble gas, age, and temperature signatures in an Alpine watershed: Valuable tools in conceptual model development

[1] Bedrock groundwater in alpine watersheds is poorly understood, mainly because of a scarcity of wells in alpine settings. Groundwater noble gas, age, and temperature data were collected from springs and wells with depths of 3–342 m in Handcart Gulch, an alpine watershed in Colorado. Temperature profiles indicate active groundwater circulation to a maximum depth (aquifer thickness) of about 200 m, or about 150 m below the water table. Dissolved noble gas data show unusually high excess air concentrations (>0.02 cm3 STP/g, ΔNe > 170%) in the bedrock, consistent with unusually large seasonal water table fluctuations (up to 50 m) observed in the upper part of the watershed. Apparent 3H/3He ages are positively correlated with sample depth and excess air concentrations. Integrated samples were collected from artesian bedrock wells near the trunk stream and are assumed to approximate flow-weighted samples reflecting bedrock aquifer mean residence times. Exponential mean ages for these integrated samples are remarkably consistent along the stream, four of five being from 8 to 11 years. The tracer data in combination with other hydrologic and geologic data support a relatively simple conceptual model of groundwater flow in the watershed in which (1) permeability is primarily a function of depth; (2) water table fluctuations increase with distance from the stream; and (3) recharge, aquifer thickness, and porosity are relatively uniform throughout the watershed in spite of the geological complexity of the Proterozoic crystalline rocks that underlie it.