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Groundwater chemical pollution risk: assessment through a soil attenuation index

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

Aquifer vulnerability is frequently estimated through methodologies that don’t consider most physical and chemical soil parameters. A soil attenuation index is proposed to estimate groundwater chemical pollution risk, that takes into account organic carbon content, pH, cation exchange capacity, clay content, phreatic depth and landscape position. The attenuation index is constructed by a methodology similar to that developed for water quality index. P, Mn and Zn concentrations in groundwater from selected places were used to validate the proposed index.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to UBA and CONICET for the financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cátedra de Edafología, Facultad de Agronomia, UBA, Avenida San Martin 4453, CP: C1417DSE, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Olga Susana Heredia

  2. Centro de Estudios Transdisciplinarios del Agua, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, UBA, Av. Chorroarín 280, CP: C1427CWO, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Alicia Fernández Cirelli

Authors
  1. Olga Susana Heredia
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  2. Alicia Fernández Cirelli
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Correspondence to Alicia Fernández Cirelli.

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Heredia, O.S., Cirelli, A.F. Groundwater chemical pollution risk: assessment through a soil attenuation index. Environ Geol 53, 1345–1351 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0743-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0743-5

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