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This detrimental development is reflected by groundwater-level drops and an associated reduction of the area with artesian conditions in the valley centre. This situation calls for increasing efforts aimed at more sustainable water resources management. The aim of this baseline study was the collection of data that allows for study on the origin and age distribution of the Ararat Valley groundwater based on environmental tracers, namely stable (\u03b4<jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>H, \u03b4<jats:sup>18<\/jats:sup>O) and radioactive (<jats:sup>35<\/jats:sup>S, <jats:sup>3<\/jats:sup>H) isotopes, as well as physical-chemical indicators. The results show that the Ararat Valley receives modern recharge, despite its (semi-)arid climate. While subannual groundwater residence times could be disproved (<jats:sup>35<\/jats:sup>S), the detected <jats:sup>3<\/jats:sup>H pattern suggests groundwater ages of several decades, with the oldest waters being recharged around 60\u00a0years ago. The differing groundwater ages are reflected by varying scatter of stable isotope and hydrochemical signatures. The presence of young groundwater (i.e., younger that the 1970s), some containing nitrate, indicates groundwater vulnerability and underscores the importance of increased efforts to achieve sustainable management of this natural resource. Since stable isotope signatures indicate the recharge areas to be located in the mountains surrounding the valley, these efforts must not be limited to the central part of the valley where most of the abstraction wells are located.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s10040-021-02390-4","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,28]],"date-time":"2021-08-28T09:02:52Z","timestamp":1630141372000},"page":"2517-2527","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Age and origin of groundwater resources in the Ararat Valley, Armenia: a baseline study applying hydrogeochemistry and environmental tracers","\u00c2ge et origine des ressources en eau souterraine dans la vall\u00e9e de l\u2019Ararat, en Arm\u00e9nie: une \u00e9tude pour \u00e9tablir un r\u00e9f\u00e9rentiel faisant appel \u00e0 l\u2019hydrog\u00e9ochimie et aux traceurs environnementaux","Edad y origen de los recursos h\u00eddricos subterr\u00e1neos en el Valle de Ararat, Armenia: un estudio de referencia aplicando hidrogeoqu\u00edmica y trazadores ambientales","\u4e9a\u7f8e\u5c3c\u4e9aArarat\u5ce1\u8c37\u5730\u4e0b\u6c34\u8d44\u6e90\u7684\u5e74\u9f84\u548c\u8d77\u6e90:\u5e94\u7528\u6c34\u6587\u5730\u7403\u5316\u5b66\u548c\u73af\u5883\u793a\u8e2a\u5242\u7684\u57fa\u7ebf\u7814\u7a76","Idade e origem dos recursos h\u00eddricos subterr\u00e2neos no Vale do Ararat, Arm\u00eania: um estudo de base aplicando hidrogeoqu\u00edmica e tra\u00e7adores ambientais"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"29","author":[{"given":"Michael","family":"Schubert","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nils","family":"Michelsen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Axel","family":"Schmidt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Eichenauer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kay","family":"Knoeller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alexander","family":"Arakelyan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lilith","family":"Harutyunyan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2053-3157","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christoph","family":"Sch\u00fcth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"2390_CR1","unstructured":"ACE (Acopian Center for the Environment) (2020) Vector Database Armenia. 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