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Evaluating salinity variation and origin in coastal aquifer systems with integrated geophysical and hydrochemical approaches

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Abstract

Public concerns have been dramatically increased over potential saltwater intrusion resulting in freshwater resources shortage in coastal aquifers in the past decades. Investigating the distribution and origin of saline water is a key factor to understand coastal groundwater evolution and further assist its management. Here we evaluate the horizontal and vertical spatial variability of the coastal groundwater salinity and its potential key influencing factors based on integrated hydrochemical and geoelectrical approaches in the Pearl River Estuary (PRE), South China. The electrical resistivity tomography and geochemical data show a decrease of salinity from the coast to the inland with a water type varying from Cl–Na to HCO3–Ca at the regional scale. Points with higher/lower salinity values than those in the surrounding environment occasionally exist in the study region. In the cross section, the zone 2–90 m below the surface has low resistivity values, which correspond to high-salinity values in the subsurface. The moderate resistivity values at 0–2 m depth illustrate an infiltration of freshwater. The complex salinity distribution pattern is mainly controlled by the heterogeneity of formation and distribution of primary flow paths, while the coastal groundwater salinity evolution is shaped by the joint influence of paleo-seawater intrusion, the ion mixing processes, and the water–rock interaction.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Funding

This research was supported by the Water Resource Science and Technology Innovation Program of Guangdong Province (2017–26), National Natural Science Foundation of China (51709127, 41702244, 41972249), and Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (Grant No. 2017A030310172).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Peng Wang

  2. College of Construction Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, 130400, China

    Xiaoying Zhang

  3. Institute of Groundwater and Earth Sciences, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, China

    Yanru Hao

  4. Guangzhou Hydraulic Research Institute, Guangzhou, 510220, China

    Dan Li

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  1. Peng Wang
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  2. Xiaoying Zhang
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  4. Dan Li
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Contributions

PW wrote the manuscript with support from XZ. XZ conceived of the presented idea and developed the proof outline. PW analyzed the experiment data and presented the figures and tables. DL carried out the field investigation and worked out the data analysis. YH designed and performed the experiments. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiaoying Zhang.

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Table 3 Physicochemical characteristics of groundwater samples in monitoring wells
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Wang, P., Zhang, X., Hao, Y. et al. Evaluating salinity variation and origin in coastal aquifer systems with integrated geophysical and hydrochemical approaches. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 34038–34054 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-18277-6

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