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Mcryo and Assoelafes, LC <br />• of a groundwater system that has a storage capacity greater than the volume of amiual <br />recharge and discharge. <br />The'H and 14C contents of WCC-24, which were measured during ]ow flow conditions of <br />1998, indicate a mixed discharge. The groundwater contained 8.42 TU indicating a modern <br />component of recharge (Table 5). The 14C content of only 38.92 pmc has a ca]culated <br />radiocarbon age of about 2,400 years. We interpret the'H and '°C data to mean that the <br />spring is the discharge location of two different groundwater systems. One system responds <br />like most other short flow path, shallowly circulating groundwater systems in the region. <br />The other system contains groundwater that recharged more than 3,000 years ago and has <br />limited hydraulic communication with the surface. <br />• <br />5.6 Discussion <br />The combined factors of the hydrograph data and the physical distribution of rock lithologies <br />indicate that springs in each rock type are not part of a regional groundwater system. The <br />unconsolidated sediments occur as discrete bodies that do not have physical continuity. <br />Although the Barren Member is areally extensive, the fact that Barren Member springs have <br />low flow rates and periodically go dry dernonstrates that the Barren Member is not fully <br />saturated and does not support areally extensive groundwater systems. <br />The hydrograph data show that groundwater systems in [he unconsolidated sediments and the <br />Barren Member circulate shallowly, have very short flow paths, are dependent upon annual <br />• recharge events, and are greatly influenced by short-term climatic cycles. Groundwater <br />Characterization of Groundwater Systems in the Vicinity of the West Elk Mine, Somerset, Colorado <br />29 January 1999 <br />Page 67 <br />