[ABSTRACT] Tritium concentrations are used to trace water circulation in Urumqi and Turfan areas in Xinjian, western China. Tritium analyses were made for 77 samples of river waters, groundwaters, spring waters, lake waters and glacier ice collected in summers in 1992 and 1994. The tritium concentrations in the waters are in a wide range from 0 to 125 TU. Tritium levels in precipitation in the area are over ten times as high as those at Tokyo. Groundwaters and spring waters in the flat regions are mainly derived from river waters originating in glacier regions. River waters contain more than 50Successelt glacier in summer. Circulating meteoric water part in river water has spent a mean time of about 15 years in groundwater systems in the mountain regions. River waters take several ten years to pass the underground to most springs and wells in the flat regions, though some waters from wells and springs with low tritium content are corresponded to old river water more than 40 years ago. Taking into consideration for tritium enrichment by evaporation in closed and semi-closed lakes, the ratios of groundwater flow into salt lakes to precipitation are relatively small as against those in fresh water lakes.
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