Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nr4z6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-31T23:19:41.524Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bromine geochemistry of british groundwaters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

W. M. Edmunds
W. M. Edmunds*
Affiliation:
Hydrogeology Group, British Geological Survey, Wallingford, Oxon, OX10 8BB, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The concentrations of Br in potable groundwaters in the United Kingdom range from 60 to 340 µg 1-1. The occurrence of Br is described in terms of the Br/Cl weight ratio which enables small changes in bromide concentrations to be assessed in terms of salinity. Median values of Br/Cl in groundwaters range from 2.60 to 5.15 × 10−3 compared with a sea water ratio of 3.47× 10−3. In recent shallow groundwaters the Br/Cl ratio is rather variable in response to a range of natural and anthropogenic inputs (marine and industrial aerosols, industrial and agricultural chemicals including road salt). Some slight enrichment in Br/Cl also occurs naturally during infiltration as a result of biogeochemical processes.

Evolution of Br/Cl along groundwater flow lines reflects the sources of increasing salinity; either the influence of marine sedimentary formations or evaporites. The groundwaters in the Triassic sandstones of the English Midlands show significant Br depletion due to the evaporite source, in contrast to groundwaters in Cumbria. Br/Cl ratios in the Sherwood Sandstone of the East Midlands mainly reflect the natural input sources and can be used to help understand the palaeohydrology.

Keywords

brominegroundwaterssandstonesUnited Kingdom
Type
Halogen Mineralogy and Geochemistry
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 60 , Issue 399 , April 1996 , pp. 275 - 284
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrews, J.N., Balderer, W., Bath, A.H., Clausen, H.B., Evans, G.V., Rorkowski, T., Goldbrunner, J.E., Ivanovich, M., Loosli, H. and Zojer, H. (1983). Environmental isotope studies on two aquifer systems: a comparison of groundwater dating methods. In Isotope Hydrology (Proc Symp Vienna 1983). IAEA Vienna. 535–76.Google Scholar
Andrews, J.N., Edmunds, W.M., Fifield, K., Fontes, J- Ch and Smedley, P.L. (1994). 36C1 and palaeohy- drology of the East Midlands Triassic aquifer, England. Earth Planet. ScL Lett., 122, 159–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bath, A.H., Edmunds, W.M. and Andrews, J.N. (1979). Palaeoclimatic trends deduced from the hydrogeochemistry of a Triassic sandstone aquifer, United Kingdom. In Isotope Hydrology (Proc Symp Vienna 1978) Vol 2.IAEA Vienna. 545-68.Google Scholar
Bourgine, F.P., Chapman, J.I., Kerai, H. and Green, J.G. (1993). Ozone and the formation of bromate in water treatment. J. Inst. Water Engnrs. Manage 7, 571—6.Google Scholar
Braitsch, O. and Herrmann, A.G. (1963). Zur Geochimie des Broms in salinaren Sedimenten. Teil 1. Experimentelle Bestimmungen der Br-Verteilung in verschiedenen naturlichen Salzsystemen. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 27, 361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cawse, P.A. (1975) Anomalous high concentrations of particulate bromine in the atmosphere of the UK. Chemosphere, 2, 107–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cawse, P.A. (1987) Trace and major elements in the atmosphere at rural locations in Great Britain, 1972—1981. In Pollutant Transport and Fate in Ecosystems(Coughtrey, P.J., Martin, M.H. and Unsworth, M.H., eds.) Blackwell, Oxford, 89—112.Google Scholar
Collins, A.G. (1975) Geochemistry of oilfield waters. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 496 pp.Google Scholar
Cooper, W.J., Amy, G.L., Moore, C.A. and Zika, R.G. (1986) Bromoform formation in ozonated groundwater containing bromide and humic substances. Ozone, 8, 63–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downing, R.A. and Gray, D.A. (1986) Geothermal Energy The potential in the United Kingdom. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 187 pp.Google Scholar
Duce, R.A. and Hoffman, E.J. (1976) Chemical fractionation at the air/sea interface. Ann. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 4, 187–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edmunds, W.M. (1975) Geochemistry of brines in the Coal Measures of north-east England. Trans. Inst. Min. MetalL, 84, B39—B52.Google Scholar
Edmunds, W.M., Bath, A.H. and Miles, D.L. (lr82) Hydrogeochemical evolution of the East Midlands Triassic sandstone aquifer, England. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 46, 2069–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edmunds, W.M., Miles, D.L., Cook, J.M. and Kinniburgh, D.G. (1989) Trace element occurrence in British groundwaters. Research Report British Geological Survey SD 89/2, 424 pp.Google Scholar
Flury, M., and Papritz, A. (1993) Bromide in the natural environment: occurrence and toxicity. J. Environmental QuaL, 22, 747—58.Google Scholar
Gerritse, R.G. and George, R.J. (1988) The role of soil organic matter in the geochemical cycling of chloride and bromide. J. HydroL, 101, 83–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lundstrom, U. and Olin, A. (1986) Bromide concentration in Swedish precipitation, surface and groundwaters. Wat. Res., 20, 751–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moxon, R.E.D. and Dixon, E.J. (1980) An automatic method for the determination of bromide in water. J. Automat. Chem., 2, 139–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neal, C., Smith, C.J., Walls, J., Billingham, P., Hill, S. and Neal, M. (1990) Comments on the hydrochemical regulation of the halogen elements in rainfall, stemflow, throughfall and streamwaters at an acidic forested area in mid-Wales. Sci. Total Environ., 91, 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rittenhouse, G. (1967) Bromine in oilfield waters and its use in determining the possibilities of origin of these waters. Bull. Amer. Assoc. Petrol. GeoL, 51, 2430–40.Google Scholar
Rittenhouse, G., Fulton, R.B., Grabowski, R.J. and Bernard, J.L. (1969) Minor elements in oilfield waters. Chem. GeoL, 4, 189—209.Google Scholar
Winchester, J.W. and Duce, R.A. (1967) The global distribution of iodine, bromine and chlorine in marine aerosols. Naturwissenschaften, 54, 110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar