The tritium content of precipitation and groundwater at Yola, Nigeria

Abstract

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen which occurs in precipitation. In groundwater studies tritium measurements give information on the time of recharge to the system; the tritium content of precipitation being used to estimate the input of tritium to the groundwater system. At Yola, the tritium ontents in precipitation and groundwater samples from boreholes were measured during the rainy season for 2 consecutive years. In the precipitation it was found to be 9.8 ± 0.8 TU. In the groundwater the tritium content ranges from 3.0 to 9.0 ± 0.8 TU. These values indicate that the groundwater systems around Yola contain a mixture of old recharge and recent recharge i.e. water younger than 50 years.

Keywords: Tritium, Groundwater, Tritium Units, Yola, Isotopes