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Processes and characteristics of hydrogeochemical variations between unconfined and confined aquifer systems: a case study of the Nakdong River Basin in Busan City, Korea

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Abstract

This study is to assess the hydrogeochemical characteristics of groundwater at the deltaic region of the Nakdong River Basin in the Busan Metropolitan City of Korea. The study area is covered by the Quaternary sedimentary deposits and the Cretaceous granites associated with unconformity. The thick sedimentary deposits consists of two aquifers, i.e., unconfined and confined aquifers on the basis of clay deposit. Groundwater samples were collected from seven boreholes: two from unconfined aquifer and five from confined aquifer systems during the wet season of 2017 year. ORP and DO indicates that the groundwater of the unconfined aquifer exists in the oxidization condition and that of the confined aquifer pertains in the reduction condition. Piper’s trilinear diagram shows CaSO4 type for groundwater of the unconfined aquifer, and NaCl type for that of the confined aquifer. Ionic concentrations of groundwater increase in the confined aquifer because of direct and reverse ion exchange processes. Carbonate weathering and evaporation are other mechanisms in the water-rock interaction. Saturation indices of dolomite and calcite are observed as oversaturated, while halite reveals undersaturation. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) exhibits that cluster 1 and cluster 2 represents the properties of groundwater in unconfined and confined aquifers, respectively. Factor analysis shows that groundwater of the confined aquifer is much influenced by seawater, and includes heavy metals of iron and aluminum. Groundwater samples in unconfined and confined aquifers are located at the rock weathering and evaporation zones in the Gibbs diagram. Inverse geochemical modeling of PHREEQC code suggests that carbonate dissolution and ion exchange of major ions are the prevailing geochemical processes. This comprehensive research provides the distinguished hydrogeochemical characteristics of groundwater in confined and unconfined aquifer systems of the Nakdong River Basin in Busan City, Korea.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (2019R1D1A3A03103683), and also supported by a grant (code15AWMP-B066761-03) from AWMP Program funded by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korean government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Pukyong National University, Busan, 48513, South Korea

    Sang Yong Chung

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India

    Rajesh Rajendran

  3. Department for Management of Science and Technology Development, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Venkatramanan Senapathi

  4. Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Venkatramanan Senapathi

  5. Department of Geology, V. O. Chidambaram College, Tuticorin, 628 008, India

    Selvam Sekar

  6. Department of Remote Sensing, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, 620024, India

    Paramasivam Chellamuthu Ranganathan

  7. Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Korea-CO2 Storage Environmental Management (K-COSEM) Research Center, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, South Korea

    Yun Yeong Oh

  8. Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Division of Earth Environmental System Science, Pukyong National University, Busan, 48513, South Korea

    Hussam Eldin Elzain

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Correspondence to Venkatramanan Senapathi.

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Chung, S.Y., Rajendran, R., Senapathi, V. et al. Processes and characteristics of hydrogeochemical variations between unconfined and confined aquifer systems: a case study of the Nakdong River Basin in Busan City, Korea. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 10087–10102 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-07451-6

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