Abstract
High-resolution chemical data of multilevel wells provide detailed insight into groundwater quality patterns in space and time. The description, interpretation, and prediction of these spatial patterns and their changes, is provided via a consistent framework for water quality boundaries that includes the concept of streamtubes. The use and differentiation of streamtubes is illustrated in a section of multilevel wells in an unconsolidated aquifer in the eastern part of the Netherlands, which was sampled in 1989, 1996, and 2002. First, observed patterns are related to the horizontal and vertical position within the groundwater flow system and to geochemical, hydrological, and input-induced boundaries as observed from hydrochemical and borehole data. Secondly, by using the streamtube concept changes in groundwater quality can be explained by changes in hydrology, pollution intensity, and chemical reactions within the sediment. Short-term trends in water chemistry were predicted, and changes along a flow path were related to land use changes and to diffuse atmospheric pollution.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 69-88 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Nederlandse geografische studies |
| Issue number | 335 |
| Publication status | Published - 2006 |
Keywords
- Buffering
- Groundwater quality
- Phreatic aquifer
- Redox
- Streamtube approach