Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Geoelectrical investigation of seawater intrusion in the coastal urban area of Çanakkale, NW Turkey

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Seawater intrusion (SI) constitutes one of the major concerns most commonly encountered in coastal areas. The city of Çanakkale, which is situated in the northwestern part of Turkey and built on an alluvial coastal plain, has the second longest coastline in the country. Thus, SI poses a serious threat to shallow freshwater resources in the plain. Direct current resistivity method is the most widely used geoelectrical method for determining low-resistivity zones that usually correspond to the presence of SI. A total of 78 vertical electrical sounding (VES) measurements covering the entire coastal urban area were conducted in 2004 for groundwater exploration. In the present study, 61 soundings displaying an alignment along 13 lines in the direction of E–W were re-interpreted using a two-dimensional (2D) inversion technique based on a smoothness-constrained least squares method to delineate the extend of SI landward. The produced geoelectrical cross-sections successfully revealed an undulating seawater–freshwater interface. The reliability of the estimated solutions was demonstrated by a sensitivity analysis performed by calculating model resolution matrix. The results obtained via 2D inversion of VES data were also correlated well with those obtained from hydrogeological and borehole information within the study area. Consequently, the results of this study indicated that SI characterized by low resistivity (<5 Ωm) is mainly observed in the southern part of the Sarıçay stream which passes through the city center and flows into the Çanakkale Strait (Dardanelles). Moreover, seawater input extends several hundred meters landward.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aktimur HT, Uysal S, Tamgaç ÖF, Aktimur S, Sarıaslan M, Emre Ö, Yıldırım N, Potoğlu S (1993) Land use potential in the province Çanakkale. General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration Institute of Turkey (MTA) Report, Ankara, p 159 (in Turkish)

  • Alumbaugh DL, Newman GA (2000) Image appraisal for 2-D and 3-D electromagnetic inversion. Geophysics 65:1455–1467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ASTM (2011) Standard guide for selecting surface geophysical methods. Designation: D6429–99, West Conshohocken, PA

  • Balkaya Ç, Kaya MA, Göktürkler G (2009) Delineation of shallow resistivity structure in the city of Burdur, SW Turkey by vertical electrical sounding measurements. Environ Geol 57:571–581

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balkaya Ç, Göktürkler G, Erhan Z, Ekinci YL (2012) Exploration for a cave by magnetic and electrical resistivity surveys: Ayvacık Sinkhole example, Bozdağ, İzmir (western Turkey). Geophysics 77:135–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bauer P, Supper R, Zimmermann S, Kinzelbach W (2006) Geoelectrical imaging of groundwater salinization in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. J Appl Geophys 60:126–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berthold S, Bentley LR, Hayashi M (2004) Integrated hydrogeological and geophysical study of depression-focused groundwater recharge in the Canadian prairies. Water Resour Res 40:W06505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choudhury K, Saha DK, Chakraborty P (2001) Geophysical study for saline water intrusion in a coastal alluvial terrain. J Appl Geophys 46:189–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clément R, Descloitres M, Günther B, Oxarango L, Morra C, Laurent J-P, Gourc J-P (2010) Improvement of electrical resistivity tomography for leachate injection monitoring. Waste Manag 30:452–464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demirci A (2007) Seismic microzoning of Çanakale City. MSc Thesis (in Turkish), Center Graduate School of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University

  • Demirci A, Ekinci YL, Kaya MA (2013) Electrical resistivity survey for delineation of the seawater intrusion in the Çanakkale Plain, NW Turkey. European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vienna, 7–12 April, v. 15, p 9246

  • Deniz O (2005) Investigation of groundwater quality in residential area in Çanakkale. MSc Thesis (in Turkish), Center Graduate School of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University

  • Deniz O, Baba A (2006) Evaluation of the lithological characteristics in view of the groundwater of the Çanakkale plain. In: Proceedings of the symposium on recent applications in engineering geology, 25–27 May, Denizli, Turkey

  • Ekinci YL, Demirci A (2008) A damped least-squares inversion program for the interpretation of Schlumberger sounding curves. J Appl Sci 8:4070–4078

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El-Qady G, Sakamato C, Ushijima K (1999) 2-D inversion of VES data in Saqqara archaeological area, Egypt. Earth Planets Space 51:1091–1098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gürçay S (2004) Groundwater assessment around the Çanakkale City. MSc Thesis (in Turkish), Center Graduate School of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University

  • Gürçay S, Kaya MA (2006) Investigation of seawater intrusion in Çanakkale city surrounding by means of resistivity method. In: Symposium on recent applications in engineering geology, 25 May 2006, Denizli, Turkey (in Turkish)

  • Khalil MA, Santos FAM (2013) 2D and 3D resistivity inversion of Schlumberger vertical electrical sounding in Wadi El Natrun, Egypt: a case study. J Appl Geophys 89:116–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez J, Benavente J, García-Aróstegui JL, Hidalgo MC, Rey J (2009) Contribution of electrical resistivity tomography to the study of detrital aquifers affected by seawater intrusion–extrusion effects: the river Vélez delta (Vélez-Málaga, southern Spain). Eng Geol 108:161–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menke W (1984) Geophysical data analysis: discrete inverse theory. Academic Press Inc., New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Moret GJM, Knoll MD, Barrash W, Clement WP (2006) Investigating the stratigraphy of an alluvial aquifer using crosswell seismic traveltime tomography. Geophysics 71:B63–B73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nowroozi AA, Horrocks SB, Henderson P (1999) Saltwater intrusion into the freshwater aquifer in the eastern shore of Virginia: a reconnaissance electrical resistivity survey. J Appl Geophys 42:1–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Özürlan G, Candansayar ME, Şahin MH (2006) Deep resistivity structure of the Dikili-Bergama region, west Anatolia, revealed by two-dimensional inversion of vertical electrical sounding data. Geophys Prospect 54:187–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uchida T, Murakami Y (1990) Development of a fortran code for the two-dimensional schlumberger inversion. Geological Survey of Japan Open-File Report, no. 150

  • Werner AD, Bakker M, Post VEA, Vandenbohede A, Lu C, Ataie-Ashtiani B, Simmons CT, Barry DA (2013) Seawater intrusion processes, investigation and management: recent advances and future challenges. Adv Water Resour 51:3–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wessel P, Smith WHF (1995) New version of the generic mapping tools released. EOS Trans Am Geophys Union 76:329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SR, Ingham M, McConchie JA (2006) The applicability of earth resistivity methods for saline interface definition. J Hydrol 316:301–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zarroca M, Bach J, Linares R, Pellicer XM (2011) Electrical methods (VES and ERT) for identifying, mapping and monitoring different saline domains in a coastal plain region (Alt Empordà, Northern Spain). J Hydrol 409:407–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Savaş Gürçay (MSc), Dr. Alper Demirci and Dr. Yunus Levent Ekinci for their efforts and contributions to the field study. We also thank Dr. Ozan Deniz for kindly providing us his works. We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their helpful and constructive comments which greatly improved the paper. Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) (Wessel and Smith 1995) was used to generate location maps.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Şıhlar Mahallesi, Okul Sokak, No:11, 42830, Taşkent/Konya, Turkey

    M. Ali Kaya

  2. Department of Geophysical Engineering, Istanbul Technical University, Maslak, 34469, Istanbul, Turkey

    Gülçin Özürlan

  3. Department of Geophysical Engineering, Süleyman Demirel University, West Campus, 32260, Isparta, Turkey

    Çağlayan Balkaya

Authors
  1. M. Ali Kaya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gülçin Özürlan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Çağlayan Balkaya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Ali Kaya.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kaya, M.A., Özürlan, G. & Balkaya, Ç. Geoelectrical investigation of seawater intrusion in the coastal urban area of Çanakkale, NW Turkey. Environ Earth Sci 73, 1151–1160 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3467-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3467-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation