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Impact of Irrigation on Arsenic Mobilization in Groundwater from the Hetao Plain, Northern China: Evidence from Cl/Br Ratios and Stable Isotopes

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Abstract

The Hetao Plain, located in western Inner Mongolia, China, has been used for irrigation since the second century BC. Sixty-five samples were collected, including fifty-nine groundwater and six surface water samples, for hydrochemical and oxygen and hydrogen stable isotope analysis to assess the impact of irrigation on arsenic mobilization in groundwater in the study area. The total dissolved arsenic concentration in groundwater and surface water ranged from 3.2 to 764.8 μg/L and from 6.2 to 11.2 μg/L, respectively, generally exceeding 50 μg/L in groundwater, where the reducing environment prevails. The primary groundwater recharge source was a shallow aquifer that receives a considerable amount of irrigation water. The high arsenic content in groundwater was attributed to hydrochemical processes caused by vertical leaching of dissolved halite from the unsaturated zone, which was determined based on the molar Cl/Br ratios analysis. The oxygen and hydrogen stable isotope analysis of groundwater demonstrated the mixing between the groundwater and Yellow River water. An association between lateral recharge and mixing, evaporation, leaching, vertical mixing, and arsenic enrichment in groundwater was established based on the correlation between Cl– concentration and δ18O values. In an anaerobic groundwater environment, nitrate from nitrogen fertilizers indirectly oxidized As(III) to As(V).

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks go to Zhenlong Li, Zhen Di, and Wei Song at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of Hangjinhouqi County for their support for sample collection. The authors thank professors Hongyin Han and Yiqun Gan for their help with sample measurements. We appreciate the Associated Editor Dr. E.S. Sidkina and two anonymous reviewers’ constructive suggestion and comments on this manuscript.

Funding

This project was funded jointly by the Open Fund of Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment of Poyang Lake (2022SKSH03), and Open Funding Project of the Key Laboratory of Groundwater Sciences and Engineering, Ministry of Natural Resources (SK202301-2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Environment of Poyang Lake, 330029, Nanchang, P.R. China

    Yihui Dong &  Shuanglei Huang

  2. Key Laboratory of Groundwater Sciences and Engineering, Ministry of Natural Resources, 050061, Shijiazhuang, P.R. China

    Yihui Dong &  Ying Wang

  3. School of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, East China University of Technology, 330013, Nanchang, P.R. China

    Yihui Dong,  Shiyi Zhu,  Yapeng Xie &  Jiale Li

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  1. Yihui Dong
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Correspondence to Yihui Dong.

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Yihui Dong, Shiyi Zhu, Yapeng Xie et al. Impact of Irrigation on Arsenic Mobilization in Groundwater from the Hetao Plain, Northern China: Evidence from Cl/Br Ratios and Stable Isotopes. Geochem. Int. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016702923700192

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