Large groundwater strontium flux to the oceans from the bengal basin and the marine strontium isotope record

Strontium concentration and isotopic data for subsurface flowing groundwate rs of the Ganges-Brahmaputra (G-B) delta in the Bengal Basin demonstrate th at this is a potentially significant source of strontium to the oceans, equ al in magnitude to the dissolved strontium concentration carried to the oce ans by the G-B river waters. The strontium concentrations of groundwaters a re higher by a factor of about 10 than typical G-B river waters and they ha ve similar Sr-87/Sr-86 ratio to the river waters. These new data suggest th at the present contribution of the G-B system to the rise in Sr-87/Sr-86 ra tio in seawater is higher by at least a factor of 2 to 5 than the average o ver the past 40 million years.