Groundwater quality of porous aquifers in Greece: a synoptic review

Greece is dependent on groundwater resources for its water supply. The main aquifers are within carbonate rocks (karstic aquifers) and coarse grained Neogene and Quaternary deposits (porous aquifers). The use of groundwater resources has become particularly intensive in coastal areas during the last decades with the intense urbanization, tourist development and irrigated land expansion. Sources of groundwater pollution are the seawater intrusion due to over-exploitation of coastal aquifers, the fertilizers from agricultural activities and the disposal of untreated wastewater in torrents or in old pumping wells. In the last decades the total abstractions from coastal aquifers exceed the natural recharge; so the aquifer systems are not used safely. Over-exploitation causes a negative water balance, triggering seawater intrusion. Seawater intrusion phenomena are recorded in coastal aquifer systems. Nitrate pollution is the second major source of groundwater degradation in many areas in Greece. The high levels of nitrate are probably the result of over-fertilization and the lack of sewage systems in some urban areas.     

Contamination of the cement raw material in a quarry site by seawater intrusion,Darica-Turkey

The open pit mining nearby shoreline is planned to be extended into below sea level in order to use additional reserves of the cement raw material (marl). The raw material is currently contaminated by seawater intrusion below a depth of 20 m up to the distance of 90 m from shoreline. Seawater intrusion related contamination of the material used for the cement production was investigated by means of diffusion process for the future two below sea level mining scenarios covering 43 years of period. According to the results, chloride concentrations higher than the tolerable limit of a cement raw material would be present in the material about 10–25 cm inward from each discontinuity surface, controlling groundwater flow, located between 170 and 300 m landward from the shoreline at below sea level mining depths of 0–30 m. The estimations suggest that total amounts of dilution required for the contaminated raw material to reduce its concentration level to the tolerance limit with uncontaminated raw material are about 113- to 124-fold for scenario I (13 years of below sea level mining after 30 years of above sea level mining) and about 126- to 138-fold for scenario II (43 years of simultaneous above and below sea level minings).     

Abundant Fe–Ti oxide inclusions in olivine from the Panzhihua and Hongge layered intrusions, SW China: evidence for early saturation of Fe–Ti oxides in ferrobasaltic magma

Abundant Fe–Ti oxide inclusions in cumulus olivine (Fo_77–81) from the Panzhihua and Hongge intrusions, Emeishan large igneous province, SW China, document the first evidence for early crystallization of Fe–Ti oxides in ferrobasaltic systems in nature. The intrusions also contain significant stratiform Fe–Ti–V oxide ores. The oxide inclusions are sub-rounded or irregular, range from ∼5 to 50 μm in diameter, and are dominated by either titanomagnetite or ilmenite. The fact that the inclusions are either titanomagnetite- or ilmenite-dominant suggests that they are trapped crystals, instead of immiscible oxide melt, formed during growth of the host olivine. The absence of other silicate phases in the inclusion-bearing olivine is difficult to reconcile with a possible xenocrystic origin of the oxide inclusions. These oxide inclusions are thus interpreted to be cumulus minerals crystallized together and trapped in olivine from the same parental magma. In addition to Fe–Ti oxides, some inclusions contain amphibole + biotite ± fluorapatite that might have formed by reaction of trapped hydrous liquid with the host olivine. Numerical modeling of high-Ti Emeishan basalts using the MELTS program successfully simulates early crystallization of olivine (∼Fo₈₁) and Fe–Ti spinel in the presence of a moderate amount of H₂O (∼1.5 wt%) under pressure and fO₂ conditions generally pertinent to the Panzhihua and Hongge intrusions. The modal mineralogy of the oxide inclusions is in good agreement with the bulk compositions of the ore, as inferred from whole-rock data, in a given intrusion. This is consistent with the interpretation that the stratiform oxide ores in the intrusions formed by accumulation of Fe–Ti oxide crystals that appeared on the liquidus with olivine and clinopyroxene.     

The Grader layered intrusion (Havre-Saint-Pierre Anorthosite, Quebec) and genesis of nelsonite and other Fe–Ti–P ores

The Grader layered intrusion is part of the Havre-Saint-Pierre anorthosite in the Grenville Province (Quebec, Canada). This intrusion has a basin-like morphology and contains significant resources of Fe–Ti–P in ilmenite and apatite. Outcropping lithologies are massive oxide alternating with anorthosite layers, banded ilmenite–apatite–plagioclase rocks and layered oxide apatite (gabbro-)norites. Drill cores provide evidence for stratigraphic variations of mineral and whole rock compositions controlled by fractional crystallization with the successive appearance of liquidus phases: plagioclase and ilmenite followed by apatite, then orthopyroxene together with magnetite, and finally clinopyroxene. This atypical sequence of crystallization resulted in the formation of plagioclase–ilmenite–apatite cumulates or “nelsonites” in plagioclase-free layers. Fine-grained ferrodiorites that cross-cut the cumulates are shown to be in equilibrium with the noritic rocks. The high TiO₂ and P₂O₅ contents of these assumed liquids explains the early saturation of ilmenite and apatite before Fe–Mg silicates, thus the nelsonites represent cumulates rather than crystallized Fe–Ti–P-rich immiscible melts. The location of the most evolved mineral and whole rock compositions several tens of meters below the top of the intrusion, forming a sandwich horizon, is consistent with crystallization both from the base and top of the intrusion. The concentrations of V and Cr in ilmenite display a single fractionation path for the different cumulus assemblages and define the cotectic proportion of ilmenite to 21 wt.%. This corresponds to bulk cotectic cumulates with ca. 8 wt.% TiO₂, which is significantly lower than what is commonly observed in the explored portion of the Grader intrusion. The proposed mechanism of ilmenite-enrichment is the lateral removal of plagioclase due to its relative buoyancy in the dense ferrodiorite melt. This plagioclase has probably accumulated in other portions of the intrusion or has not been distinguished from the host anorthosite.     

中国沿海地区海水入侵机理及防治措施研究

早在1964年,中国大连市就发生了过量开采地下水引发的海水入侵现象。目前有十几座沿海城市发生了不同程度的海水入侵。海水入侵不仅恶化了滨海地区的生态环境,而且阻碍了沿海地区的经济发展。中国沿海地区海水入侵面积经历了20世纪80年代的快速增长后,近些年来呈缓慢增长态势,甚至有些地区海水入侵面积不再增加。为了深入了解海水入侵的机制,从20世纪70年代后期开始,有关学者相继开展了一系列研究,如通过水-岩间阳离子交换实验来了解海水入侵的地球化学作用,建立三维有限元变密度的过渡带数值模型模拟与预报海水入侵过程及发展趋势。为了预防和治理海水入侵,除了控制地下水开采量及开采布局外,沿海地区还园地制宜采取了相应的防治措施,包括人工补给、地下防渗帷幕、节水灌溉以及远距离调水等工程措施。     

秦皇岛市海水入侵灾害评价及防治对策

自20世纪80年代初秦皇岛市沿海出现海水入侵以来,入侵面积逐年增加,已发展成为海岸带主要地质灾害之一。论文在海水入侵灾害勘查、监测成果的基础上,详细阐述了该区海水入侵现状、分布特征、演化过程和入侵方式。探讨了海水入侵的机理,指出人类活动是海水入侵的诱发因素,超采地下水是海水入侵的根本原因。应用基于GIS的层次分析法进行了危险性评价,从地学角度,提出了综合防治对策。     

攀西裂谷地区层状镁铁岩的PGE矿化作用

攀西裂谷位于四川西部,裂谷经历了元古宙和海西期二次地幔柱活动,形成多处穹窿构造和层状镁铁质岩体的侵入。后一期的层状岩体赋存著名的超大型钒钛磁铁矿床。中国和南非合作研究认为,层状岩体PGE矿化应进一步研究。以新街岩体为代表,经钻探工程建立了岩体剖面;岩石学、矿物学和地球化学研究证实,岩体有三个岩浆旋回和许多韵律层,层厚仅2~3cm。自上而下岩相为辉长岩、橄辉岩、辉石岩和橄榄岩,造岩矿物为贵橄榄石、普通辉石、钛普通辉石和中长石。岩体下部旋回,硫化物较富集,多在高镁质岩相。硅酸盐、氧化物和硫化物三系列矿物共生而不混熔。硫化物呈浸染状,主要有三层,产在橄榄岩、辉石岩和下辉长岩内。铂族矿物有砷铂矿、自然铂、硫锇矿、铋碲钯矿、碲铋矿、碲银矿、自然银等。PGE富集可能有三个阶段:岩浆早期,岩浆中"S"不饱和,PGE易进入硅酸盐;岩浆晚期"S"逸度增高,硫化物富集,为PGE富集阶段;热液阶段PGE再分配富集。PGE和Ni、Cu、S为正相关关系,和Fe、Ti相辅相成,无明显关系。岩石中PGE背景值为(0.166~0.411)×10-6,PGE矿化体的品位变化较大,为(0.94~0.976)×10-6。有的钻孔样品Pt+Pd含量大于1×10-6,可做进一步找矿的依据。     

Groundwater recharge and salinization in the arid coastal plain aquifer of the Wadi Watir delta,Sinai, Egypt

The Quaternary coastal plain aquifer down gradient of the Wadi Watir catchment is the main source of potable groundwater in the arid region of south Sinai, Egypt. The scarcity of rainfall over the last decade, combined with high groundwater pumping rates, have resulted in water-quality degradation in the main well field and in wells along the coast. Understanding the sources of groundwater salinization and amount of average annual recharge is critical for developing sustainable groundwater management strategies for the long-term prevention of groundwater quality deterioration. A combination of geochemistry, conservative ions (Cl and Br), and isotopic tracers (^87/86Sr, δ⁸¹Br, δ³⁷Cl), in conjunction with groundwater modeling, is an effective method to assess and manage groundwater resources in the Wadi Watir delta aquifers. High groundwater salinity, including high Cl and Br concentrations, is recorded inland in the deep drilled wells located in the main well field and in wells along the coast. The range of Cl/Br ratios for shallow and deep groundwaters in the delta (∼50–97) fall between the end member values of the recharge water that comes from the up gradient watershed, and evaporated seawater of marine origin, which is significantly different than the ratio in modern seawater (228). The ^87/86Sr and δ⁸¹Br isotopic values were higher in the recharge water (0.70,723 < ^87/86Sr < 0.70,894, +0.94 < δ⁸¹Br < +1.28‰), and lower in the deep groundwater (0.70,698 < ^87/86Sr < 0.70,705, +0.22‰ < δ⁸¹Br < +0.41‰). The δ³⁷Cl isotopic values were lower in the recharge water (−0.48 < δ³⁷Cl < −0.06‰) and higher in the deep groundwater (−0.01 < δ³⁷Cl < +0.22‰). The isotopic values of strontium, chloride, and bromide in groundwater from the Wadi Watir delta aquifers indicate that the main groundwater recharge source comes from the up gradient catchment along the main stream channel entering the delta. The solute-weighted mass balance mixing models show that groundwater in the main well field contains 4–10% deep saline groundwater, and groundwater in some wells along the coast contain 2–6% seawater and 18–29% deep saline groundwater.A three-dimensional, variable-density, flow-and-transport SEAWAT model was developed using groundwater isotopes (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, δ³⁷Cl and δ⁸¹Br) and calibrated using historical records of groundwater level and salinity. δ¹⁸O was used to normalize the evaporative effect on shallow groundwater salinity for model calibration. The model shows how groundwater salinity and hydrologic data can be used in SEAWAT to understand recharge mechanisms, estimate groundwater recharge rates, and simulate the upwelling of deep saline groundwater and seawater intrusion. The model indicates that most of the groundwater recharge occurs near the outlet of the main channel. Average annual recharge to delta alluvial aquifers for 1982 to 2009 is estimated to be 2.16 × 10⁶ m³/yr. The main factors that control groundwater salinity are overpumping and recharge availability.     

Isotopic and geochemical identifications of groundwater salinisation processes in Salalah coastal plain,Sultanate of Oman

A detail investigation was carried out to improve the current knowledge of groundwater salinisation processes in coastal aquifers using hydrochemical and isotopic parameters. Data of major ions for 40 wells located in the Salalah plain aquifer, Sultanate of Oman, were collected during pre-monsoon 2004 and analysed. The groundwater changes along the general flow path towards the coast from fresh (EC < 1500 μS/cm), brackish (EC: 1500–3000 μS/cm) and saline (EC > 3000 μS/cm). Results of inverse modeling simulations using PHREEQC show that dissolution of halite may be the main source of Cl and Na in the study area. Ionic delta calculation indicates that the depletion of Na and K and enrichment of Ca and Mg in groundwater were probably attributed to reverse ion exchange reactions. During a sampling campaign conducted in October 2015, 11 groundwater samples were collected for Cl, Br and isotopic analysis (²H/¹⁸O). Molar Cl/Br ratios in fresh groundwater were higher than those of seawater, indicating the impact of halite dissolution on the groundwater quality. For saline groundwater, these ratios were less than those of seawater, showing the influence of anthropogenic input from agriculture on the same. Relatively depleted isotopic signature of all groundwater samples show that the monsoon precipitation is the main source of groundwater recharge in the study area.     

2014年长江口咸潮入侵分析及对策

长江口咸潮入侵是枯水期经常发生的一种自然现象,但2014年初的咸潮入侵相比往年尤甚。分析了本次咸潮入侵的基本情况和形成的原因,探讨了长江口咸潮入侵的机理和入侵途径,并结合历史资料,分析了新形势下长江口咸潮入侵出现的新特点。在此基础上,从水源地布局、技术措施、水资源管理和长江流域水量的统一调配等方面研究了如何有效应对长江口咸潮入侵对自来水原水供应的影响。