Projects

GRADS & SMARTS

Groundwater Age Distributions for the Sustainable Management of groundwater resources in Ireland EPA Ref: 2021-NE-1045.

This project has three aims:

• to provide the first quantitative assessment of average groundwater residence times (GRTs) and mean groundwater travel times (GTTs) in selected Irish catchments,
• to gain insights into the fate and transport of nitrate (NO₃^–) in catchments particularly at risk from such contamination,
• to present the first isoscape (isotopic landscape) of the water cycle in Ireland, from recharge to discharge.

The outcomes of this research will facilitate the sustainable management of groundwater and advance the quantification and monitoring of climate and environmental change impacts on the local water cycle.

Trinity Environmental Tracer and Forensics Laboratory

This laboratory will employ state of the art isotope tracing techniques to identify sources and transfer pathways, track flows, and pinpoint storage locations for carbon, nitrogen, and water moving through soil and across the soil/atmosphere, the land/ocean and ocean/atmosphere interfaces as well as identifying mixing and transformative processes and rates affecting natural storage and mobilization potential for carbon and nitrogen.

This analytical capacity is unique in Ireland. Equipment includes state of the art CRDS systems, radon, and radium isotope analysers, as well as the more traditional hydrochemistry techniques.