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Hydrogeochemistry of the Sarada river basin, Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh, India

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

Systematic hydrogeochemical survey has been carried out for understanding the sources of dissolved ions in the groundwaters of the area occupied by Sarada river basin, Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Khondalites, charnockites and granite gneisses and calc-granulites of Precambrians and alluvial deposits of Quaternaries underlie the study area. Groundwaters are both fresh and brackish; the latter waters being a dominant. Most groundwaters are characterized by Na+:HCO −3 facies due to chemical weathering of the rocks. Enrichment of Na+, K+, Cl−, SO 2−4 , NO −3 and F− in some groundwater samples is caused by seawater intrusion, locally accompanied by ion-exchange, and anthropogenic activities, resulting in an increase of brackish in the groundwaters. Based on the results of this hydrogeochemical study, suitable management measures are recommended to solve the water quality problems.

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Acknowledgments

The first author, D. John Devadas, is grateful to the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi–110 016 for providing the financial assistance to carryout the present work under the Young Scientist Scheme (SR/FTP/ES-06/2003). The authors are very much thankful to the anonymous reviewers for their critical comments and valuable suggestions in improving the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, 530 003, India

    D. John Devadas, N. Subba Rao, B. Thirupathi Rao & K. V. Srinivasa Rao

  2. Department of Geology, Hindu College, Guntur, 522 001, India

    A. Subrahmanyam

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  1. D. John Devadas
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  2. N. Subba Rao
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  3. B. Thirupathi Rao
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  4. K. V. Srinivasa Rao
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Correspondence to N. Subba Rao.

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John Devadas, D., Subba Rao, N., Thirupathi Rao, B. et al. Hydrogeochemistry of the Sarada river basin, Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Environ Geol 52, 1331–1342 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0577-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-006-0577-6

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