Groundwater and Geology of Coastal Areas

A special issue of Quaternary (ISSN 2571-550X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 4198

Special Issue Editor

Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering, University of Zagreb, Varaždin 42000, Croatia
Interests: karst hydrogeology; groundwater protection; GIS

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In most of the planet, large cities tend to develop along coastal areas where there is also remarkable agricultural and tourist development. For these reasons, coastal aquifers are frequently subjected to intensive exploitation and, consequently, marine intrusion processes tend to proliferate, jeopardizing the supply of drinking water.

Global change on coastal areas brings, additionally, unpredictable consequences but with a clear socioeconomic impact. While extreme events are becoming more frequent, such as droughts, hurricanes, and uncontrolled fires affecting water resources, water demand rises steadily due to the increase of population making knowledge essential on one of the main reservoirs: aquifers. The impacts of this imbalance affect the whole planet, but coastal areas are especially vulnerable and require specialized and detailed studies.

To overcome the current and future challenges for water in coastal areas, topics such as coastal aquifer geometry, hydrogeochemical characterization, marine intrusion processes, and settlements linked to extractions or diagenetic processes are of great interest. Coastal ecosystems and their protection are a priority worldwide, from their identification and characterization, to possible impacts and compatibility with economic interests. The exorbitant increase in water demand in coastal areas is often confronted with technical solutions such as the construction of desalination plants, whose long-term impact on the environment is not entirely known. With improvement of management, using tools as a mathematical simulation of coastal processes, in spite of being used for decades, still requires advances in the modeling techniques and data collection methods.

The geology of coastal aquifers plays a fundamental role in all these challenges. Coastal aquifers are often composed by quaternary sediments in which heterogeneity, and changes of facies and sedimentary architecture determine the dynamics. The chemistry of groundwater is controlled by interaction with sediment grains, and even coastal processes such as erosion and sedimentation can influence the quality and quantity of groundwater resources.

This Special Issue aims to arouse the interest of specialists working on multiple disciplines covering the wide range of topics, problems, and conflicts triggered by water use, exploitation, and management in coastal areas and their links with geology of aquifers.

Prof. Dr. Ranko Biondić
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Coastal aquifers
  • Seawater intrusion
  • Coastal ecosystems
  • Mathematical simulations
  • Climatic change and coastal areas

Published Papers (2 papers)

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15 pages, 4168 KiB  
Article
Saltwater Intrusion of Coastal Karstic Aquifer on the Example of the Boljkovac Water Supply Pumping Station near Zadar, Croatia
by Ranko Biondić, Lucija Plantak, Ana-Maria Radovan and Hrvoje Meaški
Quaternary 2022, 5(3), 36; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/quat5030036 - 27 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1374
Abstract
Numerous coastal karst springs of the Mediterranean region have problems with salinization. Salinization usually occurs during summer dry periods as a result of long droughts and excessive pumping for water supply. The Boljkovac water supply pumping station has slightly increased parameters that indicate [...] Read more.
Numerous coastal karst springs of the Mediterranean region have problems with salinization. Salinization usually occurs during summer dry periods as a result of long droughts and excessive pumping for water supply. The Boljkovac water supply pumping station has slightly increased parameters that indicate the possibility of salinization during the dry summer periods, but the main salinization occurs post heavy rains which appear after long dry periods in the fall, winter, and spring. Due to the occasional occurrence of salinization, continuous monitoring of the aquifer by depth was set up at the piezometric well drilled near the water supply pumping station. The results of the monitoring were analyzed in relation to external factors that can negatively affect the disruption of the labile dynamic balance of salt and fresh water. The analyzed external factors are the pumping rate for the water supply, the amount of precipitation, surface flow and the interaction of surface water and groundwater, as well as the sea level changes. In Croatia, and the wider Mediterranean area, there are a large number of springs and water wells that have the same or similar problems, so the results of this analysis can be used in designing monitoring and setting up management systems for these coastal aquifers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Groundwater and Geology of Coastal Areas)
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6 pages, 6098 KiB  
Technical Note
Application of Sentinel 2 Satellite Imagery for Sustainable Groundwater Management in Agricultural Areas—Chtouka Aquifer, Morocco
by Fabian Stoffner and Mustapha Mimouni
Quaternary 2021, 4(4), 35; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/quat4040035 - 31 Oct 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1931
Abstract
In semi-arid regions that are characterized by large agricultural activities, a high volume of water is needed to cover the water requirements for agricultural production. Due to low precipitation and the associated limited availability of surface water, aquifers often represent the main source [...] Read more.
In semi-arid regions that are characterized by large agricultural activities, a high volume of water is needed to cover the water requirements for agricultural production. Due to low precipitation and the associated limited availability of surface water, aquifers often represent the main source of irrigation water in these regions. Especially in coastal aquifers, high groundwater abstraction rates may change the flow dynamics of the aquifer and may lead to saltwater intrusion. In this study, within the framework of German–Moroccan international cooperation, the agricultural areas for the summer period 2019 of the Chtouka coastal aquifer in southern Morocco are classified using optical and multi-spectral Sentinel 2 data. Based on the developed land use maps, the groundwater abstraction for irrigation is then quantified by referring to local farmers’ irrigation practices. Following this approach, the total amount of groundwater abstraction is estimated at 157 million m3 for the summer period 2019 in the Chtouka aquifer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Groundwater and Geology of Coastal Areas)
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