Hydrology and Earth System Sciences www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net 1027-5606 1607-7938 14 1 2010 10.5194/hess-14-79-2010 http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/14/79/2010/ http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/14/79/2010/hess-14-79-2010.html http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/14/79/2010/hess-14-79-2010.pdf 79 89 2010-01-14 The contribution of groundwater discharge to the overall water budget of two typical Boreal lakes in Alberta/Canada estimated from a radon mass balance A. Schmidt axel.schmidt@ufz.de J. J. Gibson I. R. Santos M. Schubert K. Tattrie H. Weiss Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany Alberta Research Council, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia Radon-222, a naturally-occurring radioisotope with a half-life of 3.8 days, was used to estimate groundwater discharge to small lakes in wetland-dominated basins in the vicinity of Fort McMurray, Canada. This region is under significant water development pressure including both oil sands mining and in situ extraction. Field investigations were carried out in March and July 2008 to measure radon-222 distributions in the water column of two lakes as a tracer of groundwater discharge. Radon concentrations in these lakes ranged from 0.5 to 72 Bq/m³, while radon concentrations in groundwaters ranged between 2000 and 8000 Bq/m³. 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