Abstract
Hydrochemical evolution of groundwater can be related to and affected by mining activity, such as mine drainage. However, it is difficult to systematically and accurately identify and assess the hydrochemical evolution after mine drainage. In this study, we reported the hydrochemical evolution of groundwater in the overburden aquifers (Jurassic Anding and Zhiluo aquifers) under the influence of water drained from the underlying Yan’an aquifer, based on hydrochemistry and groundwater dynamics characteristics using self-organizing map (SOM) and time series analysis. The groundwater components presented significant change after mine drainage. A continuous decline of groundwater level observed at both Anding and Zhiluo aquifers revealed that these two aquifers had a good hydraulic connection and were influenced by mine drainage. Based on those, it is found that the water–rock interaction (minerals precipitation) and inflow of dilute water could be responsible for hydrochemical variations in Anding and Zhiluo groundwater, respectively. The results of this work could improve the understanding of hydrochemical evolution induced by mining activity and could provide an essential information for water resources management in the coalfield.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41272269) and the National Key Research and Development Project of China (2018YFC0406401). We thank Yang Lv, Hao Huang and other staff from CCTEG Xi’an Research Institute and the Caojiatan Coal Mining Administration for their assistance in field work. We gratefully acknowledge comments and helpful information from the editor and anonymous reviewers.
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SQ: methodology, investigation, writing–original draft. FL: methodology, investigation. GW: conceptualization, writing–original draft and writing–review & editing. XW, XL: investigation, data curation. ZS, LD, TL: methodology.
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Qu, S., Liao, F., Wang, G. et al. Hydrochemical evolution of groundwater in overburden aquifers under the influence of mining activity: combining hydrochemistry and groundwater dynamics analysis. Environ Earth Sci 82, 135 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-10817-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-10817-2