Groundwater Systems and Resources in the Ordos Basin,China

The Ordos Basin is a large-scale sedimentary basin in northwestern China. The hydrostratigraphic units from bottom to top are pre-Cambrian metamorphic rocks, Lower Paleozoic carbonate rocks, Upper Paleozoic to Mesozoic clastic rocks and Cenozoic deposits. The total thickness is up to 6000 m. Three groundwater systems are present in the Ordos Basin, based on the geological settings, i.e. the karst groundwater system, the Cretaceous clastic groundwater system and the Quaternary groundwater system. This paper describes systematically the groundwater flow patterns of each system and overall assessment of groundwater resources.

Analysis of the Groundwater System Change and Driving Factors in Songnen Plain in Jilin Province

[Objective] The aim was to provide theoretical basis for the study of underground water dynamic changes in Songnen Plain in Jilin Province.[Method] The dynamic changes and driving factors for the underground water in Songnen Plain in Jilin Province was expounded.[Result] Since 1960s,the temperature in the Songnen Plain in Jilin Province increased gradually.The average temperature increased 2℃;precipitation reduced gradually.Especially,the trend of precipitation reduction in west area was more distinct;in the meantime,the development of underground water augmented gradually and reached 2 800 million m3 in 2008.Driven by many factors,regional underground water level had distinct changes.Potential water position reduced greatly in northwest fan-shaped area.The one in other places were stable and even increased in certain parts;confined water position decreased quickly in general and it increased in certain parts.[Conclusion] The general deterioration trend of underground water environment was inevitable.But,the deterioration process can be eased through scientific planning and regional underground water resources so as to realize sustainable utilization of regional underground water resources.

Groundwater system division and compilation of Groundwater Resources Map of Asia

Based on landform, climate, river system, geological structure and hydrogeological structure and from the perspective of systematology, the groundwater system of Asia can be divided into 36 secondary groundwater systems under 11 primary ones by the intercontinental scale. A scientific evaluation of groundwater resources in Asia can be secured using water balance method and runoff modulus method through water circulating analysis and feature study of groundwater system on the basis of groundwater system division of Asia. With natural recharge(runoff) modulus(10~4m^3/km^2·a), the total amount of water resources and those available for exploitation of primary groundwater system can be evaluated-continuous aquifers in plains and basins contain 242.465× 10~9 m^3/a of water, 169.725× 10~9 m^3/a of which is recoverable; discrete aquifers contain 186.695× 10~9 m^3/a, 130.686× 10~9 m^3/a of which is available for exploitation; other scattered aquifers contain 38.614× 10~9 m^3/a, 27.029× 10~9 m^3/a of which could be exploited. In total, there is 467.774× 10~9 m^3/a of groundwater with 327.440× 10~9 m^3/a recoverable. The groundwater map of Asia is compiled according to groundwater system division, evaluation of the total amount and aquifer types to reflect the macro features of groundwater resources in Asia, laying a scientific foundation for exploitation and management of water resources here and for avoiding disputes over groundwater resources and environment among Asian countries.

Groundwater System Division and Description of Asia

Based on landform, climate, river system, geological structure and hydrogeological structure and from the perspective of systematology, the groundwater system of Asia can be divided into 36 secondary groundwater systems under 11 primary ones by the intercontinental scale. This forms part of the work of the groundwater series map of Asia, which is compiled according to groundwater system division and evaluation of the total amount and types of aquifer, reflecting the large-scale features of groundwater resources in Asia. Systematic profiling of groundwater in this way provides a scientific basis for groundwater exploitation planning and management in Asia, and avoiding disputes over groundwater resources and the environment among Asian countries.

A New Attempt to Evaluate the Renewable Capacity of A Typical Karst Groundwater System by Using 13C and 14C A Case Study of Karst Groundwater in Pingyi-Feixian County, Shandong Province

Objective The renewable capacity is an important attribute of groundwater resources. Most previous studies have focused on the porous aquifer systems by the measurement and analysis of isotopes deuterium （D）, oxygen-18 （180）, tritium （3H）, and carbon-14 （14C） （Chen Zongyu et al., 2010; Bozdag and Gocmez, 2016）, and few studies have been conducted on karst groundwater systems. The major reason lies in the complexity of groundwater hydrogeological conditions in karst areas, and most of them are open systems. In this study, we selected the Pingyi-Feixian karst groundwater system in Shandong Province, northern China, as a typical study area in an attempt to evaluate the renewable capacity by 14C age and the δ13C mixing model. The spatial characteristics and spatial variability in renewable capacity of karst groundwater were further discussed, providing a reference for the exploitation of karst grotmdwater in the similar region.

Numerical simulation of karst groundwater system for discharge prediction and protection design of spring in Fangshan District, Beijing

As the rapid growth of population and social economy, the situation of water resources shortage in Beijing city becomes more and more serious. Karst groundwater in Beijing has great potential for development. The reasonable exploitation of karst groundwater can enhance the water-supply stability of Beijing city. Firstly, the distribution of springs has been investigated in Fangshan, Beijing, and the characteristics of these springs have also been analyzed. Secondly, the hydrogeological conceptual model has been built, based on this, the groundwater flow numerical simulation model was established, and the parameter identification and validation of the model were performed under groundwater level and spring discharge. The results shows that the simulated values of groundwater level and spring discharge are very close to measured values, and the model can be used for groundwater resources evaluation and spring discharge prediction. Finally, a reasonable exploitation design has been developed with three exploitation scenarios considering the spring discharge protection; meanwhile, the quantity of groundwater resources was evaluated in the karst aquifer. The simulation results indicate that different exploitation yields have a significant impact on spring discharge; and the effective measures should be taken to protect the spring discharge.

A New Geochemical Reaction Model for Groundwater Systems

Through a survey of the literature on geology, hydrogeology and hydrogeochemistry, this paper presents a hydrogeochemical model for the groundwater system in a dross-dumping area of the Shandong Aluminium Plant. It is considered that the groundwater-bearing medium is a mineral aggregate and that the interactions between groundwater and the groundwater-bearing medium can be described as a series of geochemical reactions. On that basis, the principle of minimum energy and the equations of mass balance, electron balance and electric neutrality are applied to construct a linear programming mathematical model for the calculation of mass transfer between water and rock with the simplex method.

The 3D simulation and optimized management model of groundwater systems based on eco-environmental water demand

Through the study of mutual process between groundwater systems and eco-environmental water demand, the eco-environmental water demand is brought into groundwater systems model as the important water consumption item and unification of groundwater抯 economic, environmental and ecological functions were taken into account. Based on eco-environmental water demand at Da抋n in Jilin province, a three-dimensional simulation and optimized management model of groundwater systems was established. All water balance components of groundwater systems in 1998 and 1999 were simulated with this model and the best optimal exploitation scheme of groundwater systems in 2000 was determined, so that groundwater resource was efficiently utilized and good economic, ecologic and social benefits were obtained.

Groundwater system analysis of south Yishu geosyncline

South Yishu geosyncline is 50 km southeast of Changchun City of Jilin Province, where an aquifer is thick,surface runoff is abundant and it has potential to develop water resources preferably. By means of system analysis, the authors analyse the structural characteristics, I/O characteristics, function characteristics and boundary and environment characteristics of the groundwater system, so as to search for a way of optimizing water resources arrangement and enhancing water resources'bearing capacity. Based on the analysis results, the authors abstract conceptual model and mathematical model of the groundwater system. The simulation results certify and enrich the knowledge about south Yishu geosyncline.

Characteristics of karst groundwater system in the northern basin of Laiyuan Spring area

Guided by the theory of groundwater system, based on the groundwater level data from the northern basin of Laiyuan Spring area, the authors took into account factors such as the lithology, geological structure and topography to study the relationship between groundwater recharge, runoff and drainage in this area. It was concluded that the infiltration of atmospheric precipitation is the main source of groundwater supply in this area; the upper layer of the Spring area is distributed with the Cambrian-Lower Ordovician karst water, and the lower layer is filled with the Jixian system karst water. The upper layer of karst water supplies to the lower layer of karst water or the pore water in loose strata through the fault while the lower layer of karst water runs to the three strong runoff belts from the east and west sides of the watershed, southwards into the basin, partially replenishing the pore water in loose strata, or forming fault Springs(e.g. Nanguan Spring, Beihai Spring) when dolomite movement encounters faults. Replenished by atmospheric precipitation and the upper and lower layers of karst waters, the pore water in loose strata joins the groundwater in the southern basin and then flows eastwards, in the end it flows out of the system in Shangfanpu. Through the analyses of groundwater level data and hydrogeological drilling data, based on groundwater D and ^(18) O isotope test results, the karst groundwater circulation system in the northern basin of Laiyuan Spring area is further verified, which provides hydrogeological basis for water resources development and utilization as well as protection in this area.

Multimedia model of atrazine in plant-soil-groundwater system with a fugacity approach

The application of atrazine in China during the last ten years has led to some environmental problems. In this paper, the multimedia model of atrazine in soil-plant-groundwater system at Baiyangdian Lake area in Northern China was established using a fugacity approach, and verified with observed values. The model involved 7 environmental compartments which are air, groundwater, soil, corn roots, corn stem, corn leaf and kernel of corn. The results showed that the relative errors between calculated and observed values have a mean value of 24.7%, the highest value is 48% and the lowest value is 1.4%. All these values indicated that this multimedia model can be used to simulate the environmental fate of atrazine. Both the calculated and observed values of concentrations of atrazine in plant compartments are in the following order: in corn roots > in corn stem > in kernel of corn > in corn leaf, it exhibited a good regularity. The prediction results indicated that concentrations of atrazine in the groundwater and kernel of corn will override the limitation of 3 μg/L and 0.05 mg/kg respectively.

Groundwater arsenic biogeochemistry-Key questions and use of tracers to understand arsenic-prone groundwater systems

Over 100,000,000 people worldwide are exposed to high arsenic groundwater utilised for drinking or cooking.The consequent global avoidable disease burden is estimated to be of the order of 100,000 avoidable deaths or more per annum from just direct exposures - i.e.excluding indirect exposure (from rice and other foods) and excluding morbidity.Notwithstanding 1000s of papers published on arsenic (hydro)(bio)geochemistry,there remain a number of key outstanding questions to be addressed in relation to arsenic geoscience - these include questions related to:(i) the role of human activities - irrigation,agriculture and other land uses - on arsenic mobilisation in groundwaters;(ii) the specific sources,nature and role of organics,minerals and microbial communities involved in arsenic mobilisation;(iii) the relationship to microscopic to macroscopic scale geological (including tectonic) and evolution processes;(iv) unravelling the over-printing of multiple processes in complex highly heterogeneous aquifer systems and (v) using increasing understanding of the controls of arsenic mobility in groundwaters systems to informing improved locally-relevant remediation and mitigation approaches.This article further summarises how the 9 further papers in this Special Issue address some of these questions through the use of chemical and/or isotopic tracers.

Solution for Distributed Model of Groundwater System with PCG2 for Naolihe Basin in Sanjiang Plain

PCG2 （Preconditioned Conjugate-Gradient Method 2）, the most popular mothod used in groundwater field, was used to solve the distributed model of large-scale groundwater system. Its principle and effect was analyzed mathematically, and verified by some specific examples. Numerical results acquired by PCG2 are accurate, it demonstrates that PCG2 is effective on methodology itself and man-ralated operation. So PCG2 is worthy of popularizing in the area of groundwater system for numerical analysis.

Vulnerability of Groundwater System in Central Jordan Valley/Pollution Indicators and Decontamination Process

More than 60% of the water demand in Jordan is covered by groundwater. Due to the accelerated population growth and development in all sectors including agriculture, more water has been pumped and more fertilizers have been supplied to the natural system. In the Jordan Valley;Agriculture is practiced along the year according to the agro climatic conditions as well intensive patterns of farming are carried out to satisfy the growing food demand in Jordan. Thus, Groundwater quality analysis proved that groundwater quality is relatively polluted with respect to NO﹣3 and salinity. The pollution hot spots are mapped to be the vulnerable areas according to the considered variables (Geology, topography, land use …etc). Within this work groundwater quality was evaluated according to the global standards to be moderately polluted and not drinkable in more than 50% of the analyzed samples. The groundwater vulnerability map indicates that the pollution sources in the study area are mainly due to the agricultural return flow. To assure safe water supply for rural farmers a solar still was designed and implemented in the area for two months. The discharged water from the still proved to be suitable for drinking with no NO﹣3 content and economically it can be handled by locals.

Distribution of atrazine in a crop-soil-groundwater system at Baiyangdian Lake area in China

In this paper, the concentration distribution and environmental fate of atrazine in a crop soil groundwater system at Baiyangdian Lake area of North China were studied. The concentration of the herbicide in spatial and vertical soils, and in roots, stem, leaf, corncob and kernel of corn, and in groundwater were measured by HPLC. The results showed that the variation of spatial concentration of atrazine in soil can be described by first order kinetics equation which has a half life of 360 days and a rate constant of 0.0019d -1 . The vertical variation of atrazine concentration with soil depth follows the exponential decay law. After 120 days following atrazine application, the mass distributions of this herbicide in crop soil groundwater system are 71% in soil, 20% in groundwater and 1% in crop respectively, and 8% due to loss by degradation or often removal processes. The order of atrazine concentration in every part of corn crop is in roots>in corncob>in kernel of corn>in leaf.

Numerical Modelling of Geochemical Behaviour of Fluoride in the Shallow Groundwater Systems

The Xingtai piedmont plain in Hebei Province is a representative area in northern China where endemic fluorosis is serious and shallow high-F ground water is distributed. In this paper, the area is selected as a typical study area, and on the basis of large amounts of field work and the experiments, through groundwater geochemical modelling and by applying the theory and method of the coupled model of hydrodynamic transport and chemical reactions in a multicomponent system, the author performed numerical modelling of the geochemical behaviour of fluoride in a shallow groundwater system, quantitatively studied the hydrodynamic transport and chemical reaction of fluorine migration, transformation and concentration in a water-heterogeneous unsaturated soil system under the conditions of meteoric water infiltration and quantitatively determined the speciation of fluorine and the saturation state and dissolution/precipitation trend of various solid precipitates in shallow high-F groundwater, thus deepening the understanding of the geochemical behavious of fluorine in shallow groundwater and revealing the essence of some environmental problems at a higher level.

Responses of groundwater system to water development in northern China

The increased demands on water resources in northern China have had a significant impact on groundwater systems in the last three to four decades, including reductions in groundwater recharge capacity and overall water quality. These changes limit the potential for groundwater uses in this area. This paper discusses the issues surrounding groundwater system use in the eight basins of northern China as water resources have been developed. The results demonstrate that the recharge zone has shifted from the piedmont to the agricultural area, and that the total recharge rate in the basins tended to decrease. This decrease in arid inland basins was mainly caused by both the excessive use of water in the watershed area and irrigated channel anti-seepage. In semi-arid basins, the decrease observed in the groundwater recharge rate is related to an overall reduction in precipitation and increasing river impoundment. In addition, intensive exploitation of groundwater resources has resulted in disturbances to the groundwater flow regime in arid and semi-arid inland basins. Arid inland basins demonstrated fast falling groundwater levels in the piedmont plains resulting in declines of spring flow rates and movement of spring sites to lower locations. In the semi-arid basins, i.e. the North China Plain and the Song-nen Plain, groundwater depression cones developed and intersected regional groundwater flow. The semi-arid basins of the North China Plain and the Song-nen Plain have experienced significant hydrochemical evolution of groundwater characterized by changing water type including increase of TDS and pollutants.

Pumping-induced Well Hydraulics and Groundwater Budget in a Leaky Aquifer System with Vertical Heterogeneity in Aquitard Hydraulic Properties

In groundwater hydrology,aquitard heterogeneity is often less considered compared to aquifers,despite its significant impact on groundwater hydraulics and groundwater resources evaluation.A semi-analytical solution is derived for pumping-induced well hydraulics and groundwater budget with consideration of vertical heterogeneity in aquitard hydraulic conductivity(K)and specific storage(S_(s)).The proposed new solution is innovative in its partitioning of the aquitard into multiple homogeneous sub-layers to enable consideration of various forms of vertically heterogeneous K or S_(s).Two scenarios of analytical investigations are explored:one is the presence of aquitard interlayers with distinct K or S_(s) values,a common field-scale occurrence;another is an exponentially depth-decaying aquitard S_(s),a regional-scale phenomenon supported by statistical analysis.Analytical investigations reveal that a low-K interlayer can significantly increase aquifer drawdown and enhance aquifer/aquitard depletion;a high-S_(s) interlayer can noticeably reduce aquifer drawdown and increase aquitard depletion.Locations of low-K or high-S_(s) interlayers also significantly impact well hydraulics and groundwater budget.In the context of an exponentially depth-decaying aquitard S_(s),a larger decay exponent can enhance aquifer drawdown.When using current models with a vertically homogeneous aquitard,half the sum of the geometric and harmonic means of exponentially depth-decaying aquitard S_(s) should be used to calculate aquitard depletion and unconfined aquifer leakage.