Using time series analysis to assess tidal effect on coastal groundwater level in Southern Laizhou Bay,China

Sea water intrusion is an environmental problem cause by the irrational exploitation of coastal groundwater resources and has attracted the attention of many coastal countries. In this study, we used time series monitoring data of groundwater levels and tidal waves to analyze the influence of tide flow on groundwater dynamics in the southern Laizhou Bay. The auto-correlation and cross-correlation coefficients between groundwater level and tidal wave level were calculated specifically to measure the boundary conditions along the coastline. In addition, spectrum analysis was employed to assess the periodicity and hysteresis of various tide and groundwater level fluctuations. The results of time series analysis show that groundwater level fluctuation is noticeably influenced by tides, but the influence is limited to a certain distance and cannot reach the saltwater-freshwater interface in the southern Laizhou Bay. There are three main periodic components of groundwater level in tidal effect range (i.e. 23.804 h, 12.500 h and 12.046 h), the pattern of which is the same as the tides. The affected groundwater level fluctuations lag behind the tides. The dynamic analysis of groundwater indicates that the coastal aquifer has a hydraulic connection with seawater but not in a direct way. Owing to the existence of the groundwater mound between the salty groundwater (brine) and fresh groundwater, the maximum influencing distance of the tide on the groundwater is 8.85 km. Considering that the fresh-saline groundwater interface is about 30 km away from the coastline, modern seawater has a limited contribution to sea-salt water intrusion in Laizhou Bay. The results of this study are expected to provide a reference for the study on sea water intrusion.