Peter SZUCS¹, Laszlo KOMPAR¹, Laszlo PALCSU² & Jozsef DEAK^3
1University of Miskolc, Department of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, MTA-ME Research Group of Geoengineering, 3515. Miskolc-Egyetemvaros, Hungary, e-mail: hgszucs@uni-miskolc.hu, hgkompar@uni-miskolc.hu
²Institute for Nuclear Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Debrecen, Hungary, palcsu@atomki.hu
(3) GWIS Plc., Dunakeszi, Hungary, deak47@gmail.com

ESTIMATION OF THE GROUNDWATER REPLENISHMENT CHANGE AT A HUNGARIAN RECHARGE AREA

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Groundwater tritium and helium isotope measurements were used to estimate the natural groundwater recharge at a Hungarian test site (Méntelek), which is a typical recharge area in the middle of the Great Hungarian Plain. As a first step, a previous groundwater tritium profile at 11 different levels of a 24 m deep borehole measured in the test site in 1998 was re-evaluated. A hydrodynamic and transport model assuming nearly vertical flow was created and calibrated by the measured tritium profile resulting 50 mm/year average groundwater recharge and 0.3 m dispersivity for the time period between 1951 and 1998. A new tritium and ³He profile at four different depths in a well nest developed in the described borehole was also measured in 2010. The average infiltration rate for 1951 to 2010 was calculated by new tritium data as 70 mm/year using the same models. ³H/³He ages are linearly growing via depth resulting in 0.32 m/year vertical flow velocity and 64 mm/year infiltration rate. Based on these results, a new simulation has confirmed that significant alteration in groundwater recharge between 1998 and 2010 could not be detected although it had been assumed by earlier climate change information.