How significant is the slope of the sea-side boundary for modelling seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers?

authored by

Thomas Graf, Olaf Kolditz, Rudolf Liedl, Vincent Post, Manfred Walther

Abstract

Application of numerical models is a common method to assess groundwater resources. The versatility of these models allows consideration of different levels of complexity, but the accuracy of the outcomes hinges upon a proper description of the system behaviour. In seawater intrusion assessment, the implementation of the sea-side boundary condition is of particular importance. We evaluate the influence of the slope of the sea-side boundary on the simulation results of seawater intrusion in a freshwater aquifer by employing a series of slope variations together with a sensitivity analysis by varying additional sensitive parameters (freshwater inflow and longitudinal and transverse dispersivities). Model results reveal a multi-dimensional dependence of the investigated variables with an increasing relevance of the sea-side boundary slope for seawater intrusion (decrease of up to 32%), submarine groundwater discharge zone (reduction of up to 55%), and turnover times (increase of up to 730%) with increasing freshwater inflow or dispersivity values.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Environmental Physics in Civil Engineering
Leibniz Research Centre FZ:GEO

External Organisation(s)

Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health
Technische Universität Dresden
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR)

Type

Article

Journal

Journal of hydrology

Volume

551

Pages

648-659

No. of pages

12

ISSN

0022-1694

Publication date

03.03.2017

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Water Science and Technology

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2017.02.031 (Access: Closed)