{"id":28,"date":"2026-04-10T02:36:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T02:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/age-dating-young-groundwater\/?post_type=part&#038;p=28"},"modified":"2026-05-07T20:25:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T20:25:34","slug":"3-tritium-dating-method","status":"publish","type":"part","link":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/age-dating-young-groundwater\/part\/3-tritium-dating-method\/","title":{"raw":"3. Tritium Dating Method","rendered":"3. Tritium Dating Method"},"content":{"raw":"<div data-custom-style=\"First Paragraph\">\r\n\r\nTritium ([latex]_{}^{3}H[\/latex], T) is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen ([latex]H[\/latex]) that is produced naturally in both the atmosphere and subsurface and is also produced by various nuclear activities including nuclear reactors, weapons testing, and nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities (Michel et al., 2018). In the atmosphere, [latex]_{}^{3}H[\/latex] readily oxidizes to form tritiated water\u2014typically [latex]HTO[\/latex]\u2014and has a half\u2011life of 12.32\u00a0years (Lucas &amp; Unterweger, 2000).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div data-custom-style=\"Body Text\">\r\n\r\nBecause it is a part of the water molecule, [latex]_{}^{3}H[\/latex] is nearly an ideal tracer for water. The [latex]_{}^{3}H[\/latex] content of water is typically expressed in tritium units (TU) which is 1\u00a0atom of [latex]_{}^{3}H[\/latex] in 10<sup>18<\/sup>\u00a0atoms of hydrogen ([latex]_{}^{1}H[\/latex], [latex]_{}^{2}H[\/latex], and [latex]_{}^{3}H[\/latex]). One TU has an approximate activity of 0.118\u00a0Becquerels per kilogram (Bq kg<sup>\u20131<\/sup>; Stonestrom et al., 2013). A Becquerel is 1 disintegration per second, which is equal to 3.19\u00a0picocuries per kilogram (pCi\/kg). The use of [latex]_{}^{3}H[\/latex] as a tracer in groundwater was summarized by Solomon and Cook (2000).\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div data-custom-style=\"First Paragraph\">\n<p>Tritium ([latex]_{}^{3}H[\/latex], T) is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen ([latex]H[\/latex]) that is produced naturally in both the atmosphere and subsurface and is also produced by various nuclear activities including nuclear reactors, weapons testing, and nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities (Michel et al., 2018). In the atmosphere, [latex]_{}^{3}H[\/latex] readily oxidizes to form tritiated water\u2014typically [latex]HTO[\/latex]\u2014and has a half\u2011life of 12.32\u00a0years (Lucas &amp; Unterweger, 2000).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-custom-style=\"Body Text\">\n<p>Because it is a part of the water molecule, [latex]_{}^{3}H[\/latex] is nearly an ideal tracer for water. The [latex]_{}^{3}H[\/latex] content of water is typically expressed in tritium units (TU) which is 1\u00a0atom of [latex]_{}^{3}H[\/latex] in 10<sup>18<\/sup>\u00a0atoms of hydrogen ([latex]_{}^{1}H[\/latex], [latex]_{}^{2}H[\/latex], and [latex]_{}^{3}H[\/latex]). One TU has an approximate activity of 0.118\u00a0Becquerels per kilogram (Bq kg<sup>\u20131<\/sup>; Stonestrom et al., 2013). A Becquerel is 1 disintegration per second, which is equal to 3.19\u00a0picocuries per kilogram (pCi\/kg). The use of [latex]_{}^{3}H[\/latex] as a tracer in groundwater was summarized by Solomon and Cook (2000).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"pb_part_invisible":false,"pb_part_invisible_string":""},"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-28","part","type-part","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/age-dating-young-groundwater\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/28","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/age-dating-young-groundwater\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/age-dating-young-groundwater\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/part"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/age-dating-young-groundwater\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/28\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":228,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/age-dating-young-groundwater\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/28\/revisions\/228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/age-dating-young-groundwater\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/age-dating-young-groundwater\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=28"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/books.gw-project.org\/age-dating-young-groundwater\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=28"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}