Groundwater composition, hydrochemical evolution and mass transfer in a regional detrital aquifer (Baza basin, southern Spain)

The physical-chemical characteristics of the groundwater in the Baza-Caniles detrital aquifer system indicate that a wide diversity of hydrochemical conditions exists in this semiarid region, defining geochemical zones with distinct groundwater types. The least mineralized water is found closest to the main recharge zones, and the salinity of the water increases significantly with depth towards the center of the basin. Geochemical reaction models have been constructed using water chemistry data along flow paths that characterize the different sectors of the aquifer system, namely: Quaternary aquifer, unconfined sector and shallow and deep confined sectors of the Mio-Pliocene aquifer, Geochemical mass-balance calculations indicate that the dominant groundwater reaction throughout the detrital system is dedolomitisation (dolomite dissolution and calcite precipitation driven by gypsum dissolution); this process is highly developed in the central part of the basin due to the abundance of evaporites. Apart from this process, there are others which influence the geochemical zoning of the system. In the Quaternary aquifer, which behaves as a system open to gases and which receives inputs of CO2 gas derived from the intensive farming in the area, the interaction of the CO2 with the carbonate matrix of the aquifer produces an increase in the alkalinity of the water. In the shallow confined sector of the Mio-Pliocene aquifer, the process of dedolomitisation evolves in a system closed to CO2 gas. Ca2+/Na+ cation exchange and halite dissolution processes are locally important, which gives rise to a relatively saline water. Finally, in the deep confined sector, a strongly reducing environment exists, in which the presence of H2S and NH; in the highly mineralized groundwater can be detected. In this geochemical zone, the groundwater system is considered to be closed to CO2 gas proceeding from external sources, but open to CO2 from oxidation of organic matter. The geochemical modeling indicates that the chemical characteristics of this saline water are mainly due to SO4 dissolution, dedolomitisation and SO4 reduction, coupled with microbial degradation of lignite. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.