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Some factors affecting TDS and pH values in groundwater of the Beihai coastal area in southern Guangxi, China

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

Groundwater of low total dissolved solids (TDS) of 10 mg/L and low pH ranging commonly from 4.0 to 7.0 occurs in the unconsolidated unconfined and confined aquifers in the coastal plain near Beihai, Guangxi, China. Minerals in the unconsolidated sediment of Quaternary are predominated by quartz (more than 50%) with small amount of clay minerals, such as kaolinite, illite and chlorite. SiO2 accounts for most (more than 70%) of the chemical compositions of the sediments. The sediments contain low concentrations of soluble constituents (below 300 μg/g) and are predominated by SO4. Abundant recharge from low-TDS precipitation and a long time’s dissolution of the unconsolidated sediments containing small amount of soluble compositions lead to low TDS of the groundwater in the area.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40172087, 40214009). The authors are grateful to Dr. Warren W. Wood from the USGS (Reston, VA) for his suggestion in the work. The authors would also like to thank Engineers Ou Yecheng and Huang Xixin from the Behai Institute of Hydrogeology, Engineering Geology and Mineral Resources of Guangxi, and Engineers Wu Fu, Li Mulan and Li Zuxing from the Beihai Monitoring Station of Geologic Environment of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, for their help in the work.

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Xun, Z., Hua, Z., Liang, Z. et al. Some factors affecting TDS and pH values in groundwater of the Beihai coastal area in southern Guangxi, China. Environ Geol 53, 317–323 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0647-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0647-4

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