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Sources of Ground Water Salinization in Parts of West Texas
Author(s) -
Richter Bernd C.,
Kreitler Charles W.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
groundwater monitoring and remediation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1745-6592
pISSN - 1069-3629
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-6592.1987.tb00966.x
Subject(s) - groundwater , water table , saline water , soil salinity , nitrate , structural basin , salinity , leaching (pedology) , chloride , soil water , environmental chemistry , hydrology (agriculture) , geology , mineralogy , chemistry , soil science , geomorphology , oceanography , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry
Determination of chemical constituent ratios allows distinction between two salinization mechanisms responsible for shallow saline ground water and vegetative‐kill areas in parts of west Texas. Mixing of deep‐basin (high Cl) salt water and shallow (low Cl) ground water results in saline waters with relatively low Ca/Cl, Mg/Cl, SO 4 4/ Cl, Br/Cl, and NO 3 /Cl ratios. In scattergrams of major chemical constituents vs. chloride, plots of these waters indicate trends with deep‐basin brines as high Cl end members. Evaporation of ground water from a shallow water table, in contrast, results in saline water that has relatively high Ca/Cl, Mg/Cl, SO 4 /Cl, and Br/CL ratios. Trends indicated by plots of this water type do not coincide with trends indicated by plots of sampled brines. Leaching of soil nitrate in areas with a shallow water table accounts for high NO 3 concentrations in shallow ground water.