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Structural controls on groundwater flow and groundwater salinity in the Spicers Creek catchment, Central West region, New South Wales
Author(s) -
Morgan Karina,
Jankowski Jerzy,
Taylor Geoffrey
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.6079
Subject(s) - aquifer , groundwater , geology , salinity , hydrology (agriculture) , groundwater flow , drainage basin , soil salinity , fault (geology) , geochemistry , oceanography , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , cartography , geography
Saline seepage zone development, and hence the onset of dryland salinity, is a major environmental problem occurring within the Spicers Creek catchment. The primary objective of this paper was to identify previously unmapped faults and show the correlation between these faults and groundwater salinization. As identified from this study, there is a close association between geological structural features and the formation of saline seepage zones. The most saline groundwaters in the catchment were encountered where two geological structures join and form a fault intersection. These saline groundwaters are found at various depths within the fractured aquifers, and changes in groundwater chemistry in the aquifers are associated with the presence of fault zones. 18 O and δ 2 H stable isotopes, together with 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isotopic ratios, indicate that groundwaters within the fault zones are enriched in 18 O and have a strontium signature similar to seawater. This study identifies several geological structures in the Spicers Creek catchment and demonstrates that groundwaters with the highest salinity arise where fault intersections occur. The results of this study may be used to interpret further the mechanisms leading to seepage zone formation in dryland salinity‐affected catchments located throughout the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.