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Assessment of seasonal groundwater quality and potential saltwater intrusion: a study case in Urmia coastal aquifer (NW Iran) using the groundwater quality index (GQI) and hydrochemical facies evolution diagram (HFE-D)

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Abstract

Coastal aquifers are at threat of salinization in most parts of the world. This work investigated the seasonal hydrochemical evolution of coastal groundwater resources in Urmia plain, NW Iran. Two recently proposed methods have been used to comparison, recognize and understand the temporal and spatial evolution of saltwater intrusion in a coastal alluvial aquifer. The study takes into account that saltwater intrusion is a dynamic process, and that seasonal variations in the balance of the aquifer cause changes in groundwater chemistry. Pattern diagrams, which constitute the outcome of several hydrochemical processes, have traditionally been used to characterize vulnerability to sea/saltwater intrusion. However, the formats of such diagrams do not facilitate the geospatial analysis of groundwater quality, thus limiting the ability of spatio-temporal mapping and monitoring. This deficiency calls for methodologies which can translate information from some diagrams such Piper diagram into a format that can be mapped spatially. Distribution of groundwater chemistry types in Urmia plain based on modified Piper diagram using GQIPiper(mix) and GQIPiper(dom) indices that Mixed Ca–Mg–Cl and Ca-HCO3 are the dominant water types in the wet and dry seasons, respectively. In this study, a groundwater quality index specific to seawater intrusion (GQISWI) was used to check its efficiency for the groundwater samples affected by Urmia hypersaline Lake, Iran. Analysis of the main processes, by means of the Hydrochemical Facies Evolution Diagram (HFE-Diagram), provides essential knowledge about the main hydrochemical processes. Subsequently, analysis of the spatial distribution of hydrochemical facies using heatmaps helps to identify the general state of the aquifer with respect to saltwater intrusion during different sampling periods. The HFE-D results appear to be very successful for differentiating variations through time in the salinization processes caused by saltwater intrusion into the aquifer, distinguishing the phase of saltwater intrusion from the phase of recovery, and their respective evolutions. Both GQI and HFE-D methods show that hydrochemical variations can be read in terms of the pattern of saltwater intrusion and groundwater quality status. But generally, in this case (i.e. saltwater and not seawater intrusion) the HFE-D method was presented better efficiency than GQI method (including GQIPiper and GQISWI).

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the corresponding people in the Geological Survey of Iran (GSI) for the financial support which helped to carry out this research work.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

This study was funded by the Geological Survey of Iran (GSI). The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. For this type of study formal consent is not required. This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Geology, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

    Vahab Amiri & Mohammad Nakhaei

  2. Research Institute for Earth Sciences, Geological Survey of Iran, Tehran, Iran

    Razyeh Lak

  3. Department of Irrigation and Reclamation Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Majid Kholghi

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  1. Vahab Amiri
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  2. Mohammad Nakhaei
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Correspondence to Vahab Amiri.

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Amiri, V., Nakhaei, M., Lak, R. et al. Assessment of seasonal groundwater quality and potential saltwater intrusion: a study case in Urmia coastal aquifer (NW Iran) using the groundwater quality index (GQI) and hydrochemical facies evolution diagram (HFE-D). Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 30, 1473–1484 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-015-1108-3

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