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Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research

Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research

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Peer-reviewed publication

Assessing diffusive fluxes and pore water radon activities via a single automated experiment

We present a laboratory system to evaluate radon flux and pore water radon via automated sediment equilibration experiments. The setup includes a measured mass of sediment and water inside a gas-tight reaction flask connected in a closed loop to a radon-in-air analyzer. Diffusive fluxes are determined either from the near-linear slope of the activity versus time over the first several hours or by running the experiment longer to estimate the equilibrium concentration via a curve fitting approach. By combining the equilibrium activity with relevant physical parameters, one can also estimate the pore water concentrations.