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Groundwater - surface water interactions: application of hydrochemical and stable isotope tracers to the lake bosumtwi area in Ghana

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Abstract

This research demonstrated the application of hydrochemical data and stable water isotopes of δ18O and δD (or delta 2H) for evaluating the relationship between surface water in Lake Bosumtwi and the underlying groundwater system. It aimed at determining the presence or absence of a hydraulic relationship and for evaluating the possible direction of flow at the interface between the two reservoirs. The study also estimated evaporative losses of infiltrating rainwater as it transits the unsaturated zone and provided important information on the hydrological processes prevailing in the area. The results of Q-Mode hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) clearly differentiate the lake water from the groundwater based on their spatial relationship. These results indicated that groundwater recharge occurs on the hilltops of the crater, where it is slightly acidic with low levels of dissolved ions, characterised by short residence time and rapid unrestricted vertical infiltration and recharge. The groundwater becomes more mineralized with longer contact times and deeper circulation with the host rock, while it flows from the recharge areas towards the lake at lower elevations. Analyses of δ18O and δD showed a high evaporation rate on the lake surface (90%) with a significant evaporative enrichment, whereas groundwater showed no significant isotopic variations. Thus suggesting that the aquifers have been recharged by recent meteoric water that has undergone some evaporative enrichment since the study established an evaporation rate of water infiltrating the unsaturated zone ranging from 54 to 60%. Both reservoirs do not appear to be hydraulically connected, and where such a connection exists, it is expected to favour the lake.

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Data Availability Statement

The data employed in this research would be made available on request.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Office of Research, Innovation and Development (ORID), the Department of Earth Science Capacity Building Project, the University of Ghana and the University of Rochester, New York. We are also grateful to the Ghana Geological Survey Authority for availing us of the accommodation facilities at Mmrontuo during the fieldwork. We are greatly indebted to Profs. Asish Basu and Carmala Garzione and Dr. Penny Higgins, all of the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Rochester, for allowing us to use their laboratories and helping with the analysis of the samples.

Funding

This work has been partly supported by ORID, through the Faculty Development Grant Award, the Department of Earth Science Capacity Building Project, the University of Ghana and the University of Rochester, New York. We are also grateful to the Ghana Geological Survey Authority for availing their accommodation facilities at Mmrontuo during the fieldwork. We are greatly indebted to Profs. Asish Basu and Carmala Garzione and Dr. Penny Higgins, all of the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Rochester, for allowing us to use their laboratories and helping with the analysis of the samples. This work has been partly supported by the Office of Research, Innovation and Development (ORID), through the Faculty Development Grant Award of the University of Ghana, Ghana and the Rochester International Council Fellowship for Doctoral Thesis Completion, University of Rochester, New York.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Science, University of Ghana, P. O. Box LG 58, Legon, Ghana

    Yvonne Sena Akosua Loh, George Yamoah Afrifa & Sandow Mark Yidana

  2. Water Research Institute, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, P. O. Box AH 38, Accra, Ghana

    Obed Fiifi Fynn, Evans Manu & Bismark Awinbire Akurugu

  3. University of Potsdam, Institute of Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany

    Evans Manu

  4. Department of Geography Education, University of Education, Winneba, Winneba, Ghana

    Millicent Obeng Addai

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  1. Yvonne Sena Akosua Loh
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  2. Obed Fiifi Fynn
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Contributions

YSAL: conceptualization, methodology, data curation, writing–original draft, visualization, funding acquisition. OFF: formal analysis, investigation, visualization. BAA: methodology, writing–review and editing. GYA: writing–review and editing, investigation, resources. MOA: investigation, validation. EM: writing–review and editing, investigation, resources. SMY: conceptualization, writing–review and editing, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition.

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Loh, Y.S.A., Fynn, O.F., Manu, E. et al. Groundwater - surface water interactions: application of hydrochemical and stable isotope tracers to the lake bosumtwi area in Ghana. Environ Earth Sci 81, 518 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10644-x

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