Analysis of groundwater-level fluctuation in a coastal confined aquifer induced by sea-level variation

Groundwater responses to tide fluctuations in different hydrogeological situations have been investigated for many years. Various solutions have been derived using the assumption that tides are composed of sinusoidal components, neglecting non-periodic variables. This approach has resulted in the introduction of some inaccuracy in predictions of groundwater responses to sea-level variation. To resolve this problem, this study used the Fourier sine transform method to derive an analytical solution based on the measured sea-level boundary. Compared with an analytical solution based on a sinusoidal assumption and a numerical solution generated by MODFLOW, this solution provided better performance in groundwater-level prediction in a coastal confined aquifer in Zhuhai City, China. The hydrogeological parameters estimated by the three aforementioned methods fitted well with those estimated by field surveys and pumping tests. The introduced analytical solution not only reflects the physical mechanisms of tide-induced groundwater-level fluctuation, but also reveals the non-periodic fluctuation of groundwater level caused by sea-level variation. This solution may also be used to evaluate groundwater responses to random mechanical stresses.