Chemical and physical parameters as trace markers of anthropogenic-induced salinity in the Agua Amarga coastal aquifer (southern Spain)

• Published in: Hydrogeology journal Vol. 20; no. 7; pp. 1315 - 1329
• Main Authors: Alhama Manteca, I., Alhama, F., Rodríguez Estrella, T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.11.2012; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anthropogenic factors; Aquatic Pollution; Aquifers; Chemical analysis; Coastal aquifers; Coasts; desalination; Desalination plants; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; electrical conductivity; Geology; Geophysics/Geodesy; groundwater; groundwater contamination; Groundwater flow; Groundwater levels; Groundwater pollution; Human influences; Hydrogeology; Hydrology; Hydrology/Water Resources; Mixing processes; Saline water; Saline water intrusion; Salinity; Salinization; salt marsh plants; Salt marshes; saltwater intrusion; Seawater; Spain; temperature profiles; Waste Water Technology; Water analysis; Water depth; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; water potential; Water Quality/Water Pollution; water table; Spain; Salinization; Temperature profile; Coastal aquifers; Buoyancy-driven flow; Spain
• ISSN: 1431-2174; 1435-0157
• DOI: 10.1007/s10040-012-0876-9

Agua Amarga coastal aquifer in southern Spain has been the subject of chemical and physical measurements since May 2008 in order to monitor the potential effects of water withdrawal for the Alicante desalination plants on the salt marsh linked to the aquifer. Electrical conductivity contour maps and depth profiles, piezometric-head contour maps, hydrochemical analyses, isotopic characterizations and temperature depth profiles show not only the saltwater intrusion caused by water abstraction, but also the presence of a pronounced convective density-driven flow below the salt marsh; this flow was a consequence of saltwork activity in the early 1900s which generated saline groundwater contamination. The influence of a seawater recharge programme, carried out over the salt marsh in 2009–2010, on the diminishing groundwater salinity and the recovery of groundwater levels is also studied. Based on collected field data, the project provides a deeper understanding of how these successive anthropogenic interventions have modified flow and mixing processes in Agua Amarga aquifer.