Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T18:42:37.254Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Geological processes and the management of groundwater resources in coastal areas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2016

H. Kooi  and
J. Groen
H. Kooi
Affiliation:
Department of Hydrology and Hydrogeology, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.kooi@geo.vu.nl
J. Groen
Affiliation:
Department of Hydrology and Hydrogeology, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.kooi@geo.vu.nl
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In this contribution, a case is made for the significance of sedimentation and sea-level change for groundwater management of coastal areas. In groundwater practice these geological processes are rarely considered. The role of sediment loading in causing anomalous fluid pressures and flow fields in relatively shallow aquifer systems is discussed and illustrated via both case studies and generic modelling studies. The role of sea-level changes in controlling current salinity distributions is discussed likewise. Central in the discussion is the concept of memory of groundwater systems, which provides the basic reason why processes that were operative in the geological past are still of relevance today. It is argued and shown that awareness and knowledge of the influence of sediment loading and sea level change on current hydrological conditions can lead to improved characterization of the distribution of hydraulic parameters and of the distribution of water quality in coastal areas. This improved characterization, in turn, serves to enhance the validity of impact assessment studies for the long-term development and management of those areas.

Keywords

ground waterwater resourceswater managementpaleohydrologysea-level changessedimentation
Type
Research Article
Information
Netherlands Journal of Geosciences , Volume 82 , Special Issue 1: Geofluids in the Netherlands , April 2003 , pp. 31 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Stichting Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 2003

References

Committee on Opportunities in the Hydrologie Sciences, Water Science and Technology Board, Commission of Geosciences, Environment, and Resources, National Research Council, 1991. Opportunities in the Hydrologie Sciences, National Academy Press (Washington D.C.): 348 pp.Google Scholar
Custodio, E., Bruggeman, G.A. & Cotecchia, V., 1987. Groundwater problems in coastal areas. Studies and Reports in Hydrology 35. UNESCO (Paris): 650 pp.Google Scholar
De Vries, J.J., 1981. Fresh and salt groundwater in the Dutch coastal area in relation to geomorphological evolution. Geologie en Mijnbouw 60: 33–368.Google Scholar
Dickinson, G., 1953. Geological aspects of abnormal reservoir pressures in Gulf Coast Louisiana. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 37: 410–432.Google Scholar
Groen, J., 1998. Hydrogeological investigations in Suriname. In: Wong, Th.E., et al. (eds):The History of earth sciences in Suriname. Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience TNO & Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences: 129–174.Google Scholar
Groen, J., Velstra, J. & Meesters, A.G.C.A., 2000. Salinization processes in paleowaters in coastal sediments of Suriname: evidence from δ37C1 analyses and diffusion modelling. Journal of Hydrology 234: 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hathaway, J.C., Poag, C.W., Valentine, P.C., & Al, E., 1979. U.S. Geological Survey core drilling on the Atlantic Shelf. Science 206:515–527.Google Scholar
Hunt, J.M., 1990. Generation and migration of petroleum from abnormally pressured fluid compartments. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 74: 1–12.Google Scholar
Kohout, F.A., Hathaway, J.C., Folger, D.W., Bothner, M.H., Walker, E.H., Delaney, D.F., Frimpter, M.H., Weed, E.G.A., & Rhodehamel, E.C., 1977. Fresh groundwater stored in aquifers under the continental shelf: implications from a deep test, Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. Water Resources Bulletin 13:373–386.Google Scholar
Kooi, H., 1997. Insufficiency of compaction disequilibrium as the sole cause of high pore fluid pressures in pre-Cenozoic sediments, Basin Research 9: 227–241.Google Scholar
Kooi, H., 1999. Competition between topography- and compaction-driven flow in a confined aquifer: some analytical results. Hydrogeology Journal 7: 245–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kooi, H. & De Vries, J., 1998. Land subsidence and hydrodynamic compaction of sedimentary basins, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 2: 159–171.Google Scholar
Kooi, H. & Groen, J., 2001. Offshore continuation of coastal groundwater systems; predictions using sharp-interface approximations and variable-density flow modelling. Journal of Hydrology 246: 19–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kooi, H., Groen, J. & Leijnse, A., 2000. Modes of sea-water intrusion during transgressions. Water Resources Research 36: 3581–3589.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manheim, F.T. & Horn, M.K., 1968. Composition of deeper subsurface waters along the Atlantic continental margin. Southeast Geology 9: 215–236.Google Scholar
Neuzil, C.E., 1986. Groundwater flow in low-permeability environments. Water Resources Research 22: 1163–1195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neuzil, C.E., 1994. How permeable are Clays and Shales? Water Resources Research 30:145–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Post, V.E.A., Hooijboer, A.E.J., Groen, J., Gieske, J.M.J. & Kooi, H., 2000. Pore water chemistry of clay layers in the southern North Sea: clues to the hydrogeological evolution of coastal areas. In: Sadurski, A. (ed.): Hydrogeology of the coastal aquifers; Proceedings of the 16th SWIM Conference, Miêdzyzdroje, Poland 12–15 June 2000. Nicholas Copernicus University (Torun, Poland): 127–132.Google Scholar
Powley, D.E., 1990. Pressures and hydrogeology in petroleum basins. Earth Science Reviews 29: 215–226.Google Scholar
Sherif, M., 1999. Nile Delta aquifer in Egypt. In: Bear, J. et al. (eds) : Seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers - concepts, methods and practice, Kluwer (Dordrecht): 559–590.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vengosh, A. & Rosenthal, E., 1994. Saline groundwater in Israel: its bearing on the water crisis in the country. Journal of Hydrology 156:389–430.Google Scholar