Groundwater Origins and Circulation Patterns Based on Isotopes in Challapampa Aquifer, Bolivia

Lopez, Etzar Gomez; Barmen, Gerhard; Rosberg, Jan-Erik

doi:10.3390/w8050207

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The shallow groundwater is the response of the rainfall and any change in the rainfall will affect the ground water level and the water quality [39]. Similarly, [40] found that increase in rainfall increased human exposures to agricultural contaminants like waterborne pathogens.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater Quality in an Upland Agricultural Watershed in the Sub-Humid Ethiopian Highlands

Akale¹,

Dagnew²,

Giri³

et al. 2017

JWARP

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Agricultural intensification to meet the food needs of the rapidly growing population in developing countries is negatively affecting the water quality. In most of these countries such as Ethiopia, information on surface and especially groundwater quality is lacking. This limits the measure that can be taken to stop pollution. We, therefore, investigated the spatial and temporal variation of groundwater quality in the upland watershed. Tikur-Wuha watershed was selected because it is located in the Lake Tana watershed, which is seeing the first signs of eutrophication. Groundwater samples were collected from July 2014 to June 2015 from 19 shallow wells located throughout the watershed. Collected water samples were analyzed both in situ and in the laboratory to determine pH, electric conductivity (EC) and total dissolved solid (TDS), concentration of chemicals (nitrate, dissolved phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, aluminum and iron) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). We found that shallow groundwater had greater chemical concentrations and E. coli level in the monsoon rain phase than in the dry phase. Wells located down slope exhibited greater concentrations than mid-and upper-slope positions, with the exception of the nitrate concentration that was less down slope, due to denitrification in the shallow groundwater. Only E. coli level was above the WHO drinking water quality standards. Further studies on groundwater quality should be carried out to understand the extent of groundwater contamination.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Groundwater Quality in an Upland Agricultural Watershed in the Sub-Humid Ethiopian Highlands

Akale¹,

Dagnew²,

Giri³

et al. 2017

JWARP

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“…The electromagnetic surveys in the study area aim to acquire characteristics of the subsurface at different depths expressed as resistivity; this feature is strongly influenced by the salinity of water stored in the voids. The average EC in the porous aquifer is 1.0 mS/cm (Gómez et al 2016) and the resistivity of the unconsolidated and saturated sediments vary from 10 to 20 Ω-m, according to Fig. 7.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In addition, hydrochemical and isotopic characteristics were used to propose four flow systems in the middle of the alluvial fan (Gómez et al 2016), which are summarized in Table 1.…”

Section: Hydrogeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alluvial aquifer thickness and bedrock structure delineation by electromagnetic methods in the highlands of Bolivia

et al. 2019

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The porous aquifers in the area called Challapampa are the most important groundwater reservoirs that supply drinking water to Oruro city in the highlands of Bolivia. They consist of unconsolidated fluvial-lacustrine deposits, resting on a complex sedimentary bedrock and covered by a thin surficial clay layer. The settings of these geological units and the structures governing the flow patterns have barely been investigated, despite this reservoir having been utilized during the last 50 years. This study applied transient electromagnetic (TEM) soundings and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) in the middle part of the alluvial fan of River Paria to investigate the thickness of the porous aquifer and detect the relief of the bedrock. Likewise, some results expressed as resistivity models indicate the possible existence of geological structures below the unconsolidated sediments. The average depth of investigation reached in this study is between 200 and 250 m below the surface, for both the applied methods. The geological structures inferred have similar directions as the major faults in the vicinity, from southeast to northwest, which in turn are assumed as part of fractured aquifers underlying the porous aquifers. The geo-electrical techniques were successfully tested in the study area and the resistivity models from TEM complement very well those obtained from ERT. Therefore, extended investigations using the same techniques would help to develop a more complete description of the hydrogeological settings of the aquifer system.

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“…In order to estimate hydraulic properties, pumping tests were performed at some boreholes and the reported K values are in the range of 5.5 Â 10 À5 to 2.9 Â 10 À4 m/s (SCIDE et al 1996;Canaviri 2011). The hydrochemical analyses encompass major ion concentrations and in situ measurements, like pH and electrical conductivity (EC) (Lizarazu et al 1987;Swedish Geological AB 1996;Gómez et al 2016). The groundwater salinity in the study area, expressed as EC, is in the range of 0.8 to 3.5 mS/cm; however, only a few sites close to a fault reported the highest values, with the rest of the boreholes reporting values of 1.0 mS/cm.…”

Section: Theory Methods and Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative estimations of aquifer properties from resistivity in the Bolivian highlands

et al. 2019

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Resistivity data constitute the largest part of the available information to assess the hydrogeological characteristics of the aquifer system near Oruro, in the central part of the Bolivian Altiplano. Two aquifers are part of this system; top unconsolidated sediments storing fresh water in their granular voids, overlying fractured hard rock formations where saline water was detected in connection to some faults. This study proposes an indirect and cost-effective way to estimate aquifer hydraulic properties for the groundwater management in the region. Hydraulic conductivity and transmissivity in the top aquifer were estimated using an empirical linear relationship between hydraulic conductivity and resistivity. This latter parameter, as well as the aquifer thickness, were obtained from the inverted models corresponding to the geoelectrical tests performed in the study area (electrical resistivity tomography, transient electromagnetic soundings and vertical electrical soundings). The highest estimated transmissivity values are ∼4.0 × 10−2 m2/s located in the centre of the study area, the lowest values are ∼3.4 × 10−3 m2/s, located around thermal intrusions to the south and where the top of the bedrock is shallow (∼20 m depth) to the west. The methodology presented in this study makes wider use of resistivity measurements to identify promising groundwater production sites.

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Groundwater Origins and Circulation Patterns Based on Isotopes in Challapampa Aquifer, Bolivia

Cited by 9 publications

References 18 publications

Groundwater Quality in an Upland Agricultural Watershed in the Sub-Humid Ethiopian Highlands

Groundwater Quality in an Upland Agricultural Watershed in the Sub-Humid Ethiopian Highlands

Alluvial aquifer thickness and bedrock structure delineation by electromagnetic methods in the highlands of Bolivia

Quantitative estimations of aquifer properties from resistivity in the Bolivian highlands

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