A Vulnerability Evaluation of the Phreatic Water in the Plain Area of the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang Based on the VDEAL Model

Abstract

A VDEAL (V is the lithology of the vadose zone, D is the groundwater depth, E is the degree of groundwater exploitation, A is the aquifer characteristics and L is the land use pattern.) model, which is suitable for a vulnerability evaluation of the groundwater in arid inland areas, and that is based on the GOD (G is the groundwater status, O is overburden feature and D is groundwater depth) method and DRASTIC (D is the depth of water-table, R is the net recharge, A is the aquifer media, S is the soil media, T is the topography, I is the impact of the vadose and C is the conductivity of the aquifer.) model is proposed in this paper. Five indicators were selected by reference to the DRAV (D is the depth of water-table, R is the net recharge, A is the aquifer media and V is the impact of the vadose.) and VLDA (V is the lithology of the vadose zone , L is the land use pattern, D is the groundwater depth and A is the aquifer characteristics and.) models, namely, the OPEN ACCESS Sustainability 2014, 6 8605 lithology of the vadose zone (V), the groundwater depth (D), the degree of groundwater exploitation (E), the aquifer characteristics (A) and the land use pattern (L). According to monitoring data from 2003 and 2011, the variations of phreatic water quality in the plain area of the Junggar Basin were divided into three types: the water quality may have deteriorated, be unchanged or improved. Four groups of indicator weights were configured to calculate the vulnerability index using the VDEAL model. The changes of phreatic water quality were then compared against the vulnerability index. The normalized weights of V, D, E, A, and L were respectively 0.15, 0.25, 0.10, 0.10, and 0.40; this is according to the principle that the sampling sites of deteriorated water quality are generally distributed in a high-vulnerability region, and the sites of unchanged and improved water quality are distributed in middle vulnerability, low vulnerability and invulnerable regions. The evaluation results of phreatic water vulnerability in the plain area of the Junggar Basin based on the VDEAL model are as follows. The regions with vulnerability indexes of 2.0-4.0, 4.0-6.0, 6.0-8.0, and >8.0, respectively account for 2.2%, 61.0%, 35.9%, and 0.9% of the region. The regions with a higher vulnerability are mainly distributed in the farmlands and the sand and gravel regions with a phreatic water depth of <3 m. Moreover, the regions with a lower vulnerability are generally located in the non-irrigation regions with a sandy loam or silty fine sand and a phreatic water depth of >6 m. The phreatic water in these regions is deficient with regard to the infiltration of irrigation water and the recharge from precipitation.

Estimation of the Fe and Cu Contents of the Surface Water in the Ebinur Lake Basin Based on LIBS and a Machine Learning Algorithm

“…The Ebinur Lake Basin is located in the northwest arid area in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and it ranges from 44°54′ to 45°08′ N and 82°35′ to 83°10′ E ( Figure 1 ) [ 22 ]. Ebinur Lake is a national desert natural ecological protection area and the lowest depression and saltwater-collecting centre in western of Junggar Basin [ 23 ].…”

Oxygen and Carbon Stable Isotope Composition of Cretaceous to Pliocene Calcareous Paleosols in the Tian Shan Region (Central Asia): Controlling Factors and Paleogeographic Implications

“…Reference [112] has shown, based on numerical modeling, that the water table can rise up to the vegetation root zone and increase evapotranspiration, reaching up to several 10% of the total value. Evidence for present-day artesian behavior of the phreatic aquifer in the slow slope region of the Junggar basin is attested in the literature [113], suggesting that in the central part of the basin, soil-water can be partially derived from ground-water. At present day, most of the ground water in the Junggar Basin is brought by rivers flowing from both the Tian Shan Range (southern part of the basin) and the Altai Range (central and northern parts of the basin) ( Figure 1).…”

Identification and Risk Assessment of Priority Control Organic Pollutants in Groundwater in the Junggar Basin in Xinjiang, P.R. China

“…However, increasing anthropogenic activities during socio-economic development are often associated with groundwater pollution to a certain extent [37][38][39]. Since phreatic water with high vulnerability is widely distributed in the oasis zone in the Junggar Basin [40], groundwater pollution could represent a serious obstacle to sustainable development and urbanization construction if no timely prevention and control measures are offered [41,42]. Current studies of groundwater quality are mainly focused on the distribution, migration and transformation of inorganic components/pollutants, and there are few studies on organic pollution in this region.…”

“…The Junggar Basin in Xinjiang is located in the northwest of China, with Altai Mountain to the north and Tianshan Mountain to the south, covering an area of 260 × 10 3 km 2 [40]. The topography of the basin is high in the east and low in the west, with an altitude of 600-700 m in the south, 800-1000 m in the northwest and 200-400 m in the west.…”