Hydrodynamic Characterization of Mugla Karst Aquifer Using Correlation and Spectral Analyses on the Rainfall and Springs Water-Level Time Series

Abstract

Karst aquifers have been an important research topic for hydrologists for years. Due to their high storage capacity, karst aquifers are an important source of water for the environment. On the other hand, it is safety-critical because of its role in floods. Mugla Karst Aquifer (SW, Turkey) is the only major water-bearing formation in the close environs of Mugla city. Flooding in the wet season occurs every year in the recharge plains. The aquifer discharges by the seaside springs in the Akyaka district which is the main touristic point of interest in the area. Non-porous irregular internal structures make the karsts more difficult to study. Therefore, many different methodologies have been developed over the years. In this study, unit hydrograph analysis, correlation and spectral analyses were applied on the rainfall and spring water-level time series data. Although advanced karst formations can be seen on the surface like the sinkholes, it has been revealed that the interior structure is not highly karstified. 100–130 days of regulation time was found. This shows that the Mugla Karst has quite inertial behavior. Yet, the storage of the aquifer system is quite high, and the late infiltration effect caused by alluvium plains was detected. This characterization of the hydrodynamic properties of the Mugla karst system represents an important step to consider the rational exploitation of its water resources in the near future.

Sinkhole Flooding and Aquifer Recharge in Arid to Dry Sub-Humid Regions: A Systematic Review

“…Many articles concern basins Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 28 December 2021 belonging to the Mediterranean area (Figure 3). More in detail, they are relative to North Africa [51], Iberian Peninsula [13], south Continental Europe [49,50,53,54], Italian Peninsula [16,18,46,48,59,63], Balkan Peninsula [44,47,60,67], and Anatolian Peninsula [62,66]. Some articles examine cases of the Middle East: three located near the Mediterranean coast [17,35,65], and three near the coast of the Persian Gulf [52,61,68].…”

“…Middle East aquifer recharge und. Braga et al (2020) [19] South East Brazil aquifer recharge 1 Sagir et al (2020) [66] Anatolian Peninsula multiple objectives 2 Dasic et al (2020) [67] Balkan Peninsula flood management 2,3 Soldo et al (2020)* [68] Middle East contamination risk und.…”

“…were of the same opinion[47][48][49]54,66]. Other authors have considered 33 SF type 2 as a concurrent cause together with type 1 or type 3[35,50,67] (see Table1).…”

“…The ascription to the second type of SF requires accurate knowledge about the de- studied by [47]. The recurrent SF affecting the Gokova Graben (Anatolian Peninsula) must 40 be attribute to the type 2 as a result of the spectral analyses on the precipitation and spring 41 discharge time series carried out by [66].…”

Using Isotopic and Hydrochemical Indicators to Identify Sources of Sulfate in Karst Groundwater of the Niangziguan Spring Field, China

“…The chemical composition of karst water is controlled by factors such as geological conditions, hydrodynamic conditions, and human engineering activities in the region, and it can better preserve such influence information [50][51][52][53][54]. Therefore, hydrogeologists often use hydrogeochemical methods to study complex karst water systems [55][56][57][58].…”