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Identification of hydrogeochemical processes and pollution sources of groundwater resources in the Marand plain, northwest of Iran

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Abstract

The main aims of the present study are to identify the major factors affecting hydrogeochemistry of groundwater resources in the Marand plain, NW Iran and to evaluate the potential sources of major and trace elements using multivariate statistical analysis such as hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and factor analysis (FA). To achieve these goals, groundwater samples were collected in three sampling periods in September 2013, May 2014 and September 2014 and analyzed with regard to ions (e.g., Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ and K+, HCO3 −, SO4 2−, Cl−, F− and NO3 −) and trace metals (e.g., Cr, Pb, Cd, Mn, Fe, Al and As). The piper diagrams show that the majority of samples belong to Na–Cl water type and are followed by Ca–HCO3 and mixed Ca–Na–HCO3. Cross-plots show that weathering and dissolution of different rocks and minerals, ion exchange, reverse ion exchange and anthropogenic activities, especially agricultural activities, influence the hydrogeochemistry of the study area. The results of the FA demonstrate that 6 factors with 81.7% of total variance are effective in the overall hydrogeochemistry, which are attributed to geogenic and anthropogenic impacts. The HCA categorizes the samples into two clusters. Samples of cluster C1, which appear to have higher values of some trace metals like Pb and As, are spatially located at the eastern and central parts of the plain, while samples of cluster C2, which express the salinization of the groundwater, are situated mainly westward with few local exceptions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Mrs. Naeimeh Kazemian and Mr. Masoud Ouruji for their significant contribution in water sample analysis and the East Azarbaijan Regional Water Authority for providing some data.

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Rahim Barzegar, Asghar Asghari Moghaddam, Mir Sajjad Fakhri & Shahla Soltani

  2. Hellenic Agricultural Organization, Soil and Water Resources Institute, 57400, Sindos, Greece

    Evangelos Tziritis

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  1. Rahim Barzegar
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  2. Asghar Asghari Moghaddam
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  4. Mir Sajjad Fakhri
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Correspondence to Rahim Barzegar.

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Barzegar, R., Moghaddam, A.A., Tziritis, E. et al. Identification of hydrogeochemical processes and pollution sources of groundwater resources in the Marand plain, northwest of Iran. Environ Earth Sci 76, 297 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-6612-y

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