Application of stable isotopes (δ34S-SO4, δ18O-SO4, δ15N-NO3, δ18O-NO3) to determine natural background and contamination sources in the Guadalhorce River Basin (southern Spain)

Urresti-Estala, Begoña; Vadillo-Pérez, Iñaki; Jiménez-Gavilán, Pablo; Soler, Albert; Sanchez-García, Damián; Carrasco-Cantos, Francisco

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.10.090

Cited by 58 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…The main impacts identified in the basin aquifers arise from the overuse of fertilisers and manures (MAGRAMA 2012;Sánchez 2013 andUrresti-Estala et al 2015). The total amount of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser applied is around 200-250 kg N ha year −1 , with numerous applications throughout the growing season (MAGRAMA 2012).…”

Section: Land Usementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, nitrates in the western zone are chiefly the result from the application of manure, while chemical fertilisers form the most of such inputs in the eastern and lower basin. However, fertilisers are responsible not only of nitrates inputs but also of sulphates (Vadillo et al 2007;Sánchez 2013 andUrresti-Estala et al 2015). Other contaminant sources are golf courses, which increase resource extractions (especially along the coast where they are mainly located) and industrial activities concentrated near the major cities (Fig.…”

Section: Land Usementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Trends and threshold values in these two sectors are directly related to irrigation activity and the input of fertiliser residues (Urresti-Estala et al 2015). Levels of nitrates and sulphates are both well above recommended limits, with mean concentrations for nitrates ranging from 50 mg/L (S-11) to 140 mg/L (S-12) in sector A and from 7 mg/L (S-33) to 102 mg/L (S-3) in sector C.1.…”

Section: Trends In Sectors a And C1mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, these rising trends were not only observed in the parameters typically related to the use of fertilisers. Electrical conductivity, chlorides, sodium and sulphates all presented increasing trends associated with salinisation, due to the low renewal rates resulting from re-pumping and enhanced by the highly mineralised groundwater naturally present in this sector as a result of the dissolution of the evaporitic substrate (Carrasco et al 2008 andUrresti-Estala et al 2015). Figure 4 shows the isotopic relation between δ 2 H and δ 18 O from the water molecules, together with the relation between δ 18 O-H 2 O and Cl − concentration in the specific areas affected by irrigation.…”

Section: Trends In Sectors a And C1mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of hydrochemical trends in the highly anthropised Guadalhorce River basin (southern Spain) in terms of compliance with the European groundwater directive for 2015

Urresti-Estala

Jiménez-Gavilán

Pérez

et al. 2016

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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One of the key aspects introduced by the European Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD) and developed by Groundwater Directive 2006/118/EC was the need to analyse pollution trends in groundwater bodies in order to meet the environmental objectives set in Article 4 WFD. According to this Directive, the main goal of "good status" should be achieved by the year 2015, and having reached this horizon, now is a suitable time to assess the changes that have taken place with the progressive implementation of the WFD. An extensive database is available for the Guadalhorce River basin, and this was used not only to identify in groundwater but also to draw real conclusions with respect to the degree of success in meeting the targets established for this main deadline (2015) The geographic and climate context of the Guadalhorce basin has facilitated the development of a variety of economic activities, but the one affecting the largest surface area is agriculture (which is practised on over 50 % of the river basin). The main environmental impacts identified in the basin aquifers arise from the widespread use of fertilisers and manures, together with the input of sewage from population centres. In consequence, some of the groundwater bodies located in the basin have historically had very high nitrate concentrations, often exceeding 200 mg/L. In addition, return flows, the use of fertilisers and other pressures promote the entry of other pollutants into the groundwater, as well as the salinisation of the main aquifers in the basin. In order to assess the hydrochemical changes that have taken place since the entry into force of the WFD, we performed a detailed trends analysis, based on data from the official sampling networks. In some cases, over 35 years of water quality data are available, but these statistics also present significant limitations, due to some deficiencies in the design or management; thus, data are missing for many years, the results are subject to seasonality effects, there are gaps in the historical records obtained by the monitoring networks and other shortcomings. The results obtained were analysed with the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test and revealed a general upward trend of pollutants in the areas affected by major pressures. In this analysis, we evaluated not only the increase or decrease in pollutants but also the different processes detected and the sources of pollution within the basin area. Our evaluation shows that robust measures should be taken in order to prevent further major degradation of groundwater quality and to enable "good quality" status to be achieved in future extensions of the WFD.

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Section: Land Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Land Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Trends In Sectors a And C1mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Trends In Sectors a And C1mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Assessment of hydrochemical trends in the highly anthropised Guadalhorce River basin (southern Spain) in terms of compliance with the European groundwater directive for 2015

Urresti-Estala

Jiménez-Gavilán

Pérez

et al. 2016

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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“…In the coastal carbonate aquifer of the Daweijia area, NO 3 − concentrations are characterized by high values reaching 521 mg/L. The major ion geochemistry of groundwater in coastal carbonate aquifers has been used in conjunction with multiple environmental tracers (e.g., δ C) for defining the recharge patterns of karst aquifers (including recharge origin, amount and distribution) (Jones et al, 2000;Horst et al, 2008;Charideh and Rahman, 2007;Frot et al, 2007;Murad et al, 2011;Khaska et al, 2013), building hydrogeological conceptual models (Falcone et al, 2008;Frondini, 2008;Long et al, 2008;Cerar and Urbanc, 2013), assessing possible anthropogenic influences on groundwater Schiavo et al, 2006;El Yaoutia et al, 2009;Urresti-Estala et al, 2015) and estimating the residence time of younger groundwaters and flow rates (Katz, 2004;Horst et al, 2008;Ettayfi et al, 2012). In this study, we report the major chemical and δ H and CFC compositions of groundwater from the coastal aquifers in the Daweijia area of Dalian City, north-eastern China.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residence times of groundwater and nitrate transport in coastal aquifer systems: Daweijia area, northeastern China

Han

Cao

McCallum

et al. 2015

Science of The Total Environment

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• Examine high nitrate contents in the coastal carbonate aquifer of northeast China • Estimate renewal rates and mean residence times of groundwater in coastal aquifers • Evaluate the relation between groundwater age distribution and nitrate transport • Propose potential pollution patterns of nitrate distribution in the coastal aquifer • Identify anthropogenic input mainly responsible for increasing groundwater salinity a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o H and CFCs methods were applied to provide a better understanding of the relationship between the distribution of groundwater mean residence time (MRT) and nitrate transport, and to identify sources of nitrate concentrations in the complex coastal aquifer systems. There is a relatively narrow range of isotopic composition (ranging from − 8.5 to − 7.0‰) in most groundwater. Generally higher tritium contents observed in the wet season relative to the dry season may result from rapid groundwater circulation in response to the rainfall through the preferential flow paths. In the well field, the relatively increased nitrate concentrations of groundwater, accompanied by the higher tritium contents in the wet season, indicate the nitrate pollution can be attributed to domestic wastes. The binary exponential and piston-flow mixing model (BEP) yielded feasible age distributions based on the conceptual model. The good inverse relationship between groundwater MRTs (92-467 years) and the NO 3 − concentrations in the shallow Quaternary aquifers indicates that elevated nitrate concentrations are attributable to more recent recharge for shallow groundwater. However, there is no significant relationship between the MRTs (8-411 years) and the NO 3 − concentrations existing in the carbonate aquifer system, due to the complex hydrogeological conditions, groundwater age distributions and the range of contaminant source areas. Nitrate in the groundwater system without denitrification effects could accumulate and be transported for tens of years, through the complex carbonate aquifer matrix and the successive inputs of nitrogen from various sources.

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Isotopic and hydrochemistry spatial variation of sulfate for groundwater characterization in karstic aquifers

González-Ramón

López-Chicano

Gázquez

et al. 2017

Hydrological Processes

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The Sierra Gorda aquifer is one of the most extensive of southern Spain. The main groundwater discharge is produced at its northern boundary through several high-flow springs. In this study, stable isotopes of dissolved sulfate (δ 34 S and δ 18 O) and groundwater chemistry were used to determine the origin of the sulfate and to characterize the groundwater flow. We sampled the main springs, as well as other minor outlets related to perched water tables, in order to determine the different sources of SO 4 2− (e.g., dissolution of evaporites and atmospheric deposition). The substantial difference in the amount of dissolved SO 4 2− between the springs located in its northwestern part (≈25 mg/L) and those elsewhere in the northern part (≈60 mg/L) suggests zones with separate groundwater flow systems. A third group of springs, far from the northeastern boundary of the permeable outcrops, shows higher SO 4 2− content than the rest (≈125 mg/L).The isotopic range of sulfate (−0.3‰ to 14.82‰ V-CTD) points to several sources, including dissolution of Triassic or Miocene evaporites, atmospheric deposition, and decomposition of organic material in the soil. Among these, the dissolution of Triassic gypsum-which overlies the saturated zone as a consequence of the folds and faults that deform the aquifer-is the main source of SO 4 2− (range from 12.79‰ to 14.82‰ V-CTD). This range is typical for Triassic gypsum. The higher karstification in the western sector, together with important differences in the saturated thickness between the western and eastern sectors, would also be due to the tectonic structure and could explain the difference in SO 4 2− contents in the water. This singular arrangement may cause a higher residence time of groundwater in the eastern sector; thus, a higher contact time with Triassic evaporitic rocks is inferred. Accordingly, the stable isotopes of SO 4 2− are found to be a valuable tool for identifying areas with different flow systems in the saturated zone of karstic aquifers, as well as for evaluating aspects such as the degree of karstification.

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Application of stable isotopes (δ34S-SO4, δ18O-SO4, δ15N-NO3, δ18O-NO3) to determine natural background and contamination sources in the Guadalhorce River Basin (southern Spain)

Cited by 58 publications

References 55 publications

Assessment of hydrochemical trends in the highly anthropised Guadalhorce River basin (southern Spain) in terms of compliance with the European groundwater directive for 2015

Assessment of hydrochemical trends in the highly anthropised Guadalhorce River basin (southern Spain) in terms of compliance with the European groundwater directive for 2015

Residence times of groundwater and nitrate transport in coastal aquifer systems: Daweijia area, northeastern China

Isotopic and hydrochemistry spatial variation of sulfate for groundwater characterization in karstic aquifers

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