Groundwater residence time and movement in the Maltese islands – A geochemical approach     

M.E. Stuart  L. Maurice  T.H.E. Heaton  M. Sapiano  M. Micallef Sultana  D.C. Gooddy  P.J. Chilton 《Applied Geochemistry》2010

The Maltese islands are composed of two limestone aquifers, the Upper and Lower Coralline Limestone separated by an aquitard, the ‘Blue Clay’. The Lower Coralline Limestone is overlain in part by the poorly permeable Globigerina Limestone. The upper perched aquifers are discontinuous and have very limited saturated thickness and a short water level response time to rainfall. Frequent detections of coliforms suggest a rapid route to groundwater. However, the unsaturated zone has a considerable thickness in places and the primary porosity of the Upper Coralline Limestone is high, so there is likely to be older recharge by slow matrix flow as well as rapid recharge from fractures. Measurement of SF₆ from a pumping station in a deep part of one of the perched aquifers indicated a mean saturated zone age of about 15 a. The Main Sea Level aquifers (MSL) on both Malta and Gozo have a large unsaturated thickness as water levels are close to sea level. On Malta, parts of the aquifer are capped by the perched aquifers and more extensively by the Globigerina Limestone. The limited detection of coliform bacteria suggests only some rapid recharge from the surface via fractures or karst features. Transmissivity is low and ³H and CFC/SF₆ data indicate that saturated zone travel times are in the range 15–40 a. On Gozo the aquifer is similar but is more-extensively capped by impermeable Blue Clay. CFC data show the saturated zone travel time is from 25 a to possibly more than 60 a. Groundwater age is clearly related to the extent of low-permeability cover. The δ¹³C signature of groundwater is related to the geochemical processes which occur along the flowpath and is consistent with residence time ages in the sequence; perched aquifers < Malta MSL < Gozo MSL. The ¹⁸O and ²H enriched isotopic signature of post 1983 desalinated water can be seen in more-modern groundwater, particularly the urbanized areas of the perched and Malta MSL aquifers. In all aquifers, movement of solutes from the surface travelling slowly through the matrix provide a long-term source of groundwater contaminants such as NO₃.  相似文献   

Long-Term Variability of Nutrients and Chlorophyll in the Chesapeake Bay: A Retrospective Analysis, 1985–2008     

M. Bala Krishna Prasad  Mathew R. P. Sapiano  Clarissa R. Anderson  Wen Long  Raghu Murtugudde 《Estuaries and Coasts》2010,33(5):1128-1143

A retrospective analysis of freshwater discharge, riverine dissolved nutrient loads, dissolved nutrients, and chlorophyll in the Chesapeake Bay from 1985 to 2008 is presented. It is evident that each field displays an interannual variability averaged over the Bay. The N and P loads peaked in 1997 and have fluctuated with a decreasing trend since early 2004. Dissolved nutrient concentrations in the Bay appear to be largely controlled by riverine nutrient loads. The temporal variability of chlorophyll is positively correlated with nutrient loads and concentrations. Over the study period, N:P (DIN:DIP) molar ratios were consistently higher than the Redfield ratio (N:P?=?16:1) and strongly correlated with river discharge (R ²?=?0.68, p??16:1), and N is the limiting nutrient in summer and early autumn (N:P?4 from anoxic sediments. Long-term climate indices, such as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), appear to exert only a moderate control over the riverine discharge to the Bay or over the ecosystem response in terms of chlorophyll in the Bay. While not all related mechanisms can be inferred from available data, this analysis should help in determining future data needs for monitoring water quality and human and climate influence on the health of the Bay.  相似文献   

An isotope study of the sources of nitrate in Malta’s groundwater     

Tim H.E. Heaton  Marianne E. Stuart  Manuel Sapiano  Miriam Micallef Sultana 《Journal of Hydrology》2012

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The state of water resources in major Mediterranean islands     

Francesco Viola  Manuel Sapiano  Michael Schembri  Clive Brincat  Antonio Lopez  Attilio Toscano  Evan Diamadopoulos  Bambos Charalambous  Bruno Molle  Michael Zoumadakis  Antonina Torrens Armengol  Margarita Gallinas Vich  Maria Teresa Noto 《Water Resources》2014,41(6):639-648

This work analyses the state of water resources in six Mediterranean islands: Corsica, Crete, Cyprus, Mallorca, Malta and Sicily. The analysis is focused on the prevailing social, economic and hydroclimatological characteristics of these islands in order to identify the main common features affecting water availability, demand and use. A detailed analysis of the state of water resources in all the considered islands has been carried out. A background of current conditions relating to freshwater availability, quality and use has been established. Different strategies to face water scarcity and enhance water quality in theislands have been assessed in a context of climate change which is a common threat. The identification of similar problems for all the islands highlights the importance of strengthening inter-islands co-operation in the field of sustainable water resources management.  相似文献   

Numerically enhanced conceptual modelling (NECoM) applied to the Malta Mean Sea Level Aquifer     

Lotti  Francesca  Borsi  Iacopo  Guastaldi  Enrico  Barbagli  Alessio  Basile  Paolo  Favaro  Lorenzo  Mallia  Adrian  Xuereb  Rachel  Schembri  Michael  Mamo  Julian Alexander  Sapiano  Manuel 《Hydrogeology Journal》2021,29(4):1517-1537

Conventional hydrogeological practice is to formulate a conceptual model, which is often the basis of a numerical model. The numerical model is then used to test groundwater management strategies. A workflow is proposed, employing the numerically enhanced conceptual model (NECoM) of the Mean Sea Level Aquifer (MSLA) on the island of Malta. The Malta MSLA is overexploited and under threat of salinization. Data (heads, chloride concentrations, electrical conductivity logs, tidal tests and qualitative analyses) were assimilated into a fast-running numerical model. Simultaneously, strategies for optimal acquisition of further data were examined through the modelling process. The model was delivered through the Energy and Water Agency, with suggestions for flexible model deployment. These workflows will, hopefully, spawn model improvements through further revision of the base concepts. The model allows the agency to make predictions, which have uncertainties that are quantified and reduced through data assimilation as new data become available. Contemplated management plans can therefore be properly assessed before implementation. The proposed NECoM approach can be generalized since it bases model usage on the premise that modelling should make maximum use of existing data by assimilating its information content, thereby highlighting the uncertainties of decision-critical predictions that remain because of data insufficiency. Thus, the presently disjointed process of modelling on the one hand, and data acquisition on the other, can be better aligned. Conceptual and numerical model development become parallel, rather than sequential, activities. Together, they enable predictions of future system behaviour for which bias is reduced and uncertainties quantified.

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Geological and hydrogeological reconstruction of the main aquifers of the Maltese islands     

Barbagli  Alessio  Guastaldi  Enrico  Conti  Paolo  Giannuzzi  Miriana  Borsi  Iacopo  Lotti  Francesca  Basile  Paolo  Favaro  Lorenzo  Mallia  Adrian  Xuereb  Rachel  Schembri  Michael  Mamo  Julian Alexander  Sapiano  Manuel 《Hydrogeology Journal》2021,29(8):2685-2703

Hydrogeology Journal - Geological and hydrogeological conceptualizations of the five main aquifers of Malta were performed by means of characterization of the groundwater bodies’ geometries...  相似文献