Characterisation of sea-water intrusion in the Pioneer Valley, Australia using hydrochemistry and three-dimensional numerical modelling     

A. D. Werner  M. R. Gallagher 《Hydrogeology Journal》2006,14(8):1452-1469

Sea-water intrusion is actively contaminating fresh groundwater reserves in the coastal aquifers of the Pioneer Valley, north-eastern Australia. A three-dimensional sea-water intrusion model has been developed using the MODHMS code to explore regional-scale processes and to aid assessment of management strategies for the system. A sea-water intrusion potential map, produced through analyses of the hydrochemistry, hydrology and hydrogeology, offsets model limitations by providing an alternative appraisal of susceptibility. Sea-water intrusion in the Pioneer Valley is not in equilibrium, and a potential exists for further landward shifts in the extent of saline groundwater. The model required consideration of tidal over-height (the additional hydraulic head at the coast produced by the action of tides), with over-height values in the range 0.5–0.9 m giving improved water-table predictions. The effect of the initial water-table condition dominated the sensitivity of the model to changes in the coastal hydraulic boundary condition. Several salination processes are probably occurring in the Pioneer Valley, rather than just simple landward sea-water advancement from “modern” sources of marine salts. The method of vertical discretisation (i.e. model-layer subdivision) was shown to introduce some errors in the prediction of water-table behaviour.  相似文献   

Hydrodynamic convergence of hydropressured and geopressured zones, Central Texas, Gulf of Mexico Basin, USA     

Alan R. Dutton  Jean-Philippe Nicot  Katherine S. Kier 《Hydrogeology Journal》2006,14(6):859-867

Freshwater moving downdip in the Carrizo–Wilcox aquifer, Central Texas, USA, and saltwater and hydrocarbons moving updip from a geopressured zone come together in a groundwater convergence zone, marked by (1) a hydraulic-gradient reversal, (2) “updip” oil fields, and (3) the downdip limit of potable water beyond which there is a marked increase in salinity. Data combined from groundwater-supply and petroleum-extraction industries document the interface between the hydropressured and geopressured zones. The hydraulic-head gradient updip of the convergence zone is 0.001 to 0.002, directed toward the coast; farther downdip it is ?0.02 to ?0.04, directed inland. Salinity increases from <400 mg/L near the outcrop, to ～3,000 mg/L at the downdip limit of potable water, to >100,000 mg/L in the geopressured zone. Upward-directed flow paths probably predominate in the convergence zone. The convergence zone in the study area lies within only 30–50 km of the outcrop because updip extensional faulting offsets permeable aquifer units against low-permeability strata and restricts the downdip flux of recharged water. The major elements of the convergence zone may have been in place since the Miocene development of circulation in the updip coastal aquifer following incision of river valleys and lowering of base level.  相似文献   

Composition and Evolution of Hydrogen Isotopes of n-Akanes Generated from Anhydrous Pyrolysis of Sediments from Lake Gahai,Gannan, China     

DUAN Yi  WU Yingzhong  XING Lantian  LI Zhongping  ZHANG Ting 《《地质学报》英文版》2021,95(5):1725-1735

To understand the thermal evolution of lacustrine sedimentary n-alkane hydrogen isotopic composition (δD), especially bacterially derived n-alkanes, anhydrous thermal simulation experiments were performed with sediments from Lake Gahai (Gannan, China). We analyzed the original and pyrolysis-generated n-alkanes and their δD values. The results showed that thermal maturity and n-alkane origins significantly affected the distribution of pyrolysis-generated n-alkanes. In immature to post-mature sediments, the bacterial-derived medium-chain n-alkanes generally had depleted δD values. The maximum difference in average δD values between the bacterial-and herbaceous plant-derived medium-chain n-alkanes was 32‰, and the maximum difference in δD values among individual n-alkanes was 59‰. We found that the average δD value of pyrolysis-generated n-alkanes from different latitude was significantly different in immature to highly mature sediments, but similar in post-mature ssediments. The hydrogen isotopes of sedimentary n-alkanes can be used as indicators for paleoclimate/paleo-environment conditions only when sediments are immature to highly mature. During thermal evolution, the δD value of generated individual n-alkanes and the average δD value increased with thermal maturity, indicating that hydrogen isotopes of sedimentary n-alkanes can be used as an index of organic matter maturity. We established mathematical models of average δD values of generated n-alkanes from immature to post-mature sediments using nC21?/nC21+ and average chain lengths. These results improve our understanding of the distribution and δD value of sedimentary n-alkanes derived from herbaceous plants in mid-latitude plateau cold regions.  相似文献   

Estimation of the inland extending length of the freshwater–saltwater interface in coastal unconfined aquifers     

Xun Zhou  Chao Song  Ting Li 《水文科学杂志》2013,58(13):2367-2375

ABSTRACT

The inland extending length of the freshwater–saltwater interface toe is useful in studies of seawater intrusion in coastal areas. The submarine fresh groundwater discharge in coastal zones is affected not only by hydraulic conductivity and hydraulic gradient of the aquifer, but also by the position of the interface. Two observation wells at different distances from the coast are required to calculate the fresh groundwater flow rate in coastal unconfined aquifers. By considering that the submarine groundwater discharge is equal to the groundwater flow rate, the length of the interface toe extending inland can be estimated when the groundwater flow is at a steady-flow state. Aquifers with horizontal and sloping confined beds and without/with unique surface vertical infiltration are considered. Examples used to illustrate the application of these methods indicate that the inland extending lengths of the interface toe in aquifers with vertical surface infiltration are much shorter than those in aquifers without vertical surface infiltration, and the length of the interface in aquifers with a horizontal confining lower bed are smaller than those in aquifers with a confining lower bed sloping towards the sea. The extent of the interface on the northwestern coast near the city of Beihai in southern Guangxi, China, on 18 January 2013 was estimated as 471–478 m.