This research investigated the transient saltwater upconing in response to pumping from a well in a laboratory-scale coastal aquifer. Laboratory experiments were completed in a 2D flow tank for a homogeneous aquifer where the time evolution of the saltwater wedge was analysed during the upconing and the receding phase. The SEAWAT code was used for validation purposes and to thereafter examine the sensitivity of the critical pumping rate and the critical time (the time needed for the saltwater to reach the well) to the well design and hydrogeological parameters. Results showed that the critical pumping rate and the critical time were more sensitive to the variations of the well location than the well depth. The critical time increased with increasing the location and depth ratios following a relatively linear equation. For all the configurations tested, the lowest critical pumping rate was found for the lower hydraulic conductivity, which reflects the vulnerability of low permeability aquifers to salinization of pumping wells. In addition, higher saltwater densities led to smaller critical pumping rate and shorter critical time. The influence of the saltwater density on the critical time was more significant for wells located farther away from the initial position of the interface. Moreover, increasing the dispersivity induced negligible effects on the critical pumping rate, but reduced the critical time for a fixed pumping rate.
This research investigated the effect of layered heterogeneity on transient saltwater upconing in a laboratory-scale coastal aquifer. The experiments were conducted in a 2Dlaboratory flow tank, and the response of the saltwater wedge to pumping was analysed in a heterogeneous aquifer system, where a low permeability layer was constructed in the middle of the aquifer. The SEAWAT code was used for validation and to perform additional simulations to explore the sensitivity of the critical pumping rate and the critical time to the main parameters characterising the low-permeability layer, which included its permeability, thickness and position. The experimental results showed that the presence of layered heterogeneity noticeably altered the shape and the intrusion length of the upconing wedge without inducing a change in the abstraction rate "triggering" saltwater upconing mechanism compared to the homogeneous case. The numerical results of the layered aquifer provided excellent agreement with the experimental data for both the transient toe length and the shape of the steady-state saltwater wedges. The sensitivity analysis revealed that the critical pumping rate and the critical time was found to decrease considerably with decreasing hydraulic conductivity and thickness of the middle layer, which evidences the higher vulnerability of such layered aquifer systems to the saltwater upconing, in comparison to idealised homogeneous systems. The results nonetheless showed that varying the position of the 2 interlayer induced very little change on the critical pumping rate, but the critical time would tend to decrease as the low permeability layer was moved deeper away from the pumping well, particularly for smaller middle layer thickness.
Laboratory and numerical experiments were conducted to provide a quantitative steady-state analysis of the effect of incremental variations of water level on saltwater intrusion. The purpose was to seek mathematical correlations relating both the wedge toe length and the height along the coastline to the boundary head difference. The laboratory experiments were completed in a 2D sand tank where both freshwater and seawater levels were varied. The experiments were conducted for two bead sizes having different hydraulic conductivities. The numerical model SEAWAT was used to validate the results and then to perform sensitivity analysis. The experimental results show that at steady-state conditions, the logarithmic toe length could be expressed as a linear function of the boundary head difference. The linear relationship was recorded in both advancing and receding wedge phases. The linearity of the correlation was also well demonstrated with analytical solutions. Similar relationships were also derived in the scenarios where the sea level fluctuated while the freshwater boundary head was constant. The height of the saltwater wedge along the coastline was also found to be a linear function of the boundary head difference. The sensitivity analysis shows that the regression coefficients were sensitive to the hydraulic conductivity, the dispersivity, and the saltwater density, while the porosity and the rate of boundary head change induced negligible effects. The existence of a linear relationship between the logarithmic toe length and the boundary head difference was also well evidenced in a field-scale aquifer model for all the different hydrogeological aquifer conditions tested. This study is the first attempt in identifying the underlying correlation between the boundary water level variations and the main seawater intrusion (SWI) external metrics under controlled laboratory conditions, which is of great relevance from a water resources management perspective.
High concentration of fluoride ion up to 12 mg/l is observed in deep groundwater at the Tono area, Japan. A simple but general method to evaluate the occurrence of high fluoride ion concentration in groundwater has reported in this study. Our method based on the water-rock interaction test using different sizes of granite powders sampled from a boring core drilled at the site. Results indicated that, the weathering of granitic rock might be one of the key components for changing the fluoride ion concentrations. And also the increase of the reaction time led to enhance leaching of the fluoride ion from granite.To deduce the contribution of the co-existence of the chemical parameters, which affected on the change in the fluoride ion concentration, a stochastic model was developed. This model shows significant evaluation of the water-rock interaction test with the chemical data of a low Na-(Ca)-Cl water-type. Results from our stochastic model indicated that the approximation reaction time of the water-rock in the granitic groundwater was about 300 days at this region.
High levels of fluoride concentration were observed in deep groundwater of the Mizunami area in Central Japan. Fluoride occurs mainly due to the reaction between granitic basement rock and groundwater. Granites were collected, crushed to powder, and then allowed to react with purified water for 80 days. Water-rock interaction results showed that the major factor affecting fluoride concentration is the residence time of the groundwater. Coexisting ions have also some contribution toward fluoride concentration. The groundwater residence time in the Mizunami area was estimated by applying results of waterrock interaction to correspond with field data. A regression model relating fluoride concentration, residence time, and coexisting ions was developed. The parameters of the regression model were determined using the genetic algorithms technique. Residence time was estimated by extrapolating experimental data to correspond with filed data. Near the recharge area, residence times in the potential fluoride source rock varied between 1 and 2,000 years, whereas near the discharge area residence times were in excess of tens of thousands of years. The groundwater residence time was also estimated by the groundwater particle-tracking-flow model. The estimates of groundwater residence time based on geochemical regression model were often larger than estimates of groundwater residence time developed by particle-tracking analysis using a groundwater flow model. There were large uncertainties-on the order of 10-10,000 years-in the estimates based on geochemical data.
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