Barium and radium in the Dead Sea

Details Barium and radium in the Dead Sea Barium and radium in the Dead Sea

Sep 1987

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987e%26psl..85...41c&link_type=abstract

Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volume 85, Issue 1-3, p. 41-53.

Physics

2

Scientific paper

We have measured Ba in Dead Sea samples collected before and after the 1979 overturn, and 226Ra in nine samples collected after the overturn. Before this overturn, Ba and the 226Ra data measured by Chung and Craig [4] show that a distinct two-layer structure existed, with higher concentrations in the upper layer. After the overturn, both elements were uniformly distributed in the water column. The inventories of Ba and Ra calculated from these data are the same for the periods before and after the overturn. If the inventories were constant during the last meromictic phase then the input rate must be balanced by the removal rate, and a mass balance model can be constructed to estimate physical parameters based on known or deduced sources and sinks. The sources include inputs from the Jordan River, springs around the Dead Sea, and submerged springs or seepages, etc. The sinks include coprecipitation with aragonite, gypsum, precipitation of barite, coprecipitation of Ra with barite, particulate scavenging, and radioactive decay for Ra. Our data include measurements of Ba and 226Ra in gypsum, aragonite and halite from the Dead Sea, as well as in some of the inflowing rivers and springs.
The inclusion of particulate scavenging as a sink is a major element of the model. We find that, without inclusion of a Ba scavenging term in the deep water, the lake volume at the previous overturn as calculated from the Ba data would be unrealistically high in comparison with historical records. The inclusion of particulate scavenging for Ra in the model reduces the calculated duration of the last meromictic phase significantly.
Our model excludes internal mixing between the upper and lower water masses. With this restriction, various sets of model parameters were calculated as a function of the Ra/Ba scavenging rate ratio. If the ratio is one, the calculated age of the last meromictic phase is about a hundred years. A substantial increase in the Ra input rate is required to balance the removal rate by particulate scavenging as well as decay. If the ratio is zero, i.e. no particulate scavenging for Ra, the age is about 260 years, as obtained by Stiller and Chung [2].

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