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Evidence for the occurrence of hydrogeochemical processes in the groundwater of Khoy plain, northwestern Iran, using ionic ratios and geochemical modeling

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Abstract

Rapid population growth, industrialization, and agricultural expansion in the Khoy area (northwestern Iran) have led to its dependence on groundwater and degradation of groundwater quality. This study attempts to decipher the major processes and factors that degrade the groundwater quality of the Khoy plain. For this purpose, 54 groundwater samples from unconfined and confined aquifers of the plain were collected in July 2017 and analyzed for major cations and anions (Na, K, Ca, Mg, HCO3, SO4, and Cl), minor ions (NO3 and F), and Al. Magnesium and bicarbonate were identified as the dominant cation and anion, respectively. Several ionic ratios and geochemical modeling using PHREEQC indicated that the most important hydrogeochemical processes to affect groundwater quality in the plain were weathering and dissolution of evaporitic and silicate minerals, mixing, and ion exchange. There were smaller effects from evaporation and anthropogenic factors (e.g., industries). Results showed that the high salinity of the groundwater in the northeast area of the plain was due to the high solubility of the evaporitic minerals, e.g., halite and gypsum. Reverse ion exchange and the contribution of mineral dissolution were more significant than ion exchange in the northeastern part of the plain. Elevated salinity of the groundwater in the southeast was attributed mostly to reverse ion exchange and somewhat to evaporation.

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[adapted from Zolfaghar (2015)]

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Iran Ministry of Science, Research and Technology for providing a scholarship to Rahim Barzegar for conducting this research at McGill University under the supervision of Professor J. Adamowski. The authors wish to thank the editors and reviewers for their insightful comments on the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, 29 Bahman Boulevard, Tabriz, Iran

    Rahim Barzegar & Asghar Asghari Moghaddam

  2. Department of Water Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, 29 Bahman Boulevard, Tabriz, Iran

    Amir Hossein Nazemi

  3. Department of Bioresource Engineering, McGill University, 21111 Lakeshore, Ste Anne de Bellevue, QC, H9X3V9, Canada

    Rahim Barzegar & Jan Adamowski

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  1. Rahim Barzegar
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Correspondence to Rahim Barzegar.

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Barzegar, R., Asghari Moghaddam, A., Nazemi, A.H. et al. Evidence for the occurrence of hydrogeochemical processes in the groundwater of Khoy plain, northwestern Iran, using ionic ratios and geochemical modeling. Environ Earth Sci 77, 597 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7782-y

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