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An Integrated Novel Approach to Understand the Process of Groundwater Recharge in Mountain and Riparian Zone Aquifer System of Tamil Nadu, India

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Abstract

The nature of groundwater recharge along the mountain front (MF) and riparian zone (RZ) was discerned by multiple tools involving rain/water level relationship, geophysical of subsurface, seasonal hydrochemistry and environmental isotopic signatures. The proposed study has been carried out in Courtallam Hills, the north-western part of Tirunelveli District, South India. The study area is a hilly terrain with narrow valleys endowed with steep slopes. The relationship between water-level fluctuation and precipitation were evaluated by observing daily water level in 8-h interval at three piezometer zones and regular rainfall data. It was inferred that the RZ played a role in storage zone and gets recharged from mountain block (MB) and lateral flow. The seasonal geochemistry of the groundwater was studied to determine the sources of recharge in MF and RZ. Geostatistical treatment of factor analysis revealed that weathering was the dominant recharge process along the foothill. The geophysical studies reveal good quality of groundwater observed in the northern part along with low conductance and high resistivity. The increased level of groundwater conductivity and lower resistivity was noted in southern part of the study area due to the irrigation activities. The isotopic tracers range from − 2.5 to − 12.6‰ for δ18O and from − 91.2 to − 15.5‰ for δ2H. Moreover, the groundwater recharge was evaluated by source of rainfall moisture. High-altitude recharge from MB along the MF was clearly indicated by depleted isotopic content of the water samples. It was also supported by hydrogeochemical and statistical evidences, showing that rainfall over both MB and MF zones provided the recharge to foothill aquifers, while the RZ zone was mainly recharged by local precipitation with less contribution from regional flows.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), New Delhi (No: SB/S4/ES-699/2013) for providing necessary financial support to carry out this study, and the author Banajarani Panda wishes to express her sincere thanks to the Department of Science and Technology for providing the Inspire fellowship (No: DST/INSPIRE Fellowship/[IF150615], 27 October 2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA

    Banajarani Panda

  2. Water Research Centre, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat, Kuwait

    S. Chidambaram

  3. Isotope Hydrology Section, Isotope and Radiation Application Division, BARC, Mumbai, India

    K. Tirumalesh

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu, India

    Banajarani Panda, N. Ganesh, R. Thilagavathi & N. Devaraj

  5. School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Madras, Chennai, India

    C. Thivya

  6. Department for Management of Science and Technology Development, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    S. Venkatramanan

  7. Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    S. Venkatramanan

  8. Department of Applied Geology, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT 250, 98009, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia

    M. V. Prasanna

  9. School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

    A. L. Ramanathan

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  1. Banajarani Panda
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Panda, B., Chidambaram, S., Tirumalesh, K. et al. An Integrated Novel Approach to Understand the Process of Groundwater Recharge in Mountain and Riparian Zone Aquifer System of Tamil Nadu, India. Aquat Geochem 25, 137–159 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10498-019-09357-8

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