A 3-D groundwater isoscape of the contiguous USA for forensic and water resource science

PLoS One. 2022 Jan 7;17(1):e0261651. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261651. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

A wide range of hydrological, ecological, environmental, and forensic science applications rely on predictive "isoscape" maps to provide estimates of the hydrogen or oxygen isotopic compositions of environmental water sources. Many water isoscapes have been developed, but few studies have produced isoscapes specifically representing groundwaters. None of these have represented distinct subsurface layers and isotopic variations across them. Here we compiled >6 million well completion records and >27,000 groundwater isotope datapoints to develop a space- and depth-explicit water isoscape for the contiguous United States. This 3-dimensional model shows that vertical isotopic heterogeneity in the subsurface is substantial in some parts of the country and that groundwater isotope delta values often differ from those of coincident precipitation or surface water resources; many of these patterns can be explained by established hydrological and hydrogeological mechanisms. We validate the groundwater isoscape against an independent data set of tap water values and show that the model accurately predicts tap water values in communities known to use groundwater resources. This new approach represents a foundation for further developments and the resulting isoscape should provide improved predictions of water isotope values in systems where groundwater is a known or potential water source.

MeSH terms

  • Conservation of Water Resources / methods*
  • Environmental Monitoring
  • Groundwater / analysis*
  • Hydrogen / analysis
  • Hydrology
  • Isotopes / analysis
  • Maps as Topic
  • Oxygen Isotopes / analysis
  • United States
  • Water / analysis
  • Water Resources / supply & distribution*
  • Water Supply

Substances

  • Isotopes
  • Oxygen Isotopes
  • Water
  • Hydrogen

Grants and funding

Support for this research was provided by a grant (#4666) from the US Department of Defense and the Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (https://www.hjf.org/). The funders conducted a compliance review of the manuscript prior to submission, but otherwise had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.