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Assessing the saltwater remediation potential of a three-dimensional, heterogeneous, coastal aquifer system

Model verification, application and visualization for transient density-driven seawater intrusion

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Abstract

This paper evaluates the remediation potential of a salinized coastal aquifer by utilizing a scenario simulation. Therefore, the numerical model OpenGeoSys is first validated against analytical and experimental data to represent transient groundwater level development and variable density saline intrusion. Afterwards, a regional scale model with a three-dimensional, heterogeneous hydrogeology is calibrated for a transient state and used to simulate a best-case scenario. Water balances are evaluated in both the transient calibration and scenario run. Visualization techniques help to assess the complex model output providing valuable insight in the occurring density-driven flow processes. Furthermore, modeling and visualization results give information on the time scale for remediation activities and, due to limitations in data quality and quantity reveal potential for model improvement.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the funding by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF Number: FKZ 02WM1166, IWAS), and by the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts of Baden-Württemberg (AZ Zu 33-721.3-2). The authors are grateful for the sincere cooperation of the Omani colleagues from the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources, Muscat. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their time and effort to read and comment on the manuscript increasing impact and quality of the publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Groundwater Management, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Marc Walther & Rudolf Liedl

  2. Department of Environmental Informatics, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany

    Marc Walther & Lars Bilke

  3. Institute of Geosciences, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Jens-Olaf Delfs

  4. Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Environmental Physics in Civil Engineering, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany

    Thomas Graf

  5. Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Jens Grundmann

  6. Applied Environmental Systems Analysis, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Olaf Kolditz

Authors
  1. Marc Walther
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  2. Lars Bilke
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  3. Jens-Olaf Delfs
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  4. Thomas Graf
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  5. Jens Grundmann
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  7. Rudolf Liedl
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Correspondence to Marc Walther.

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Walther, M., Bilke, L., Delfs, JO. et al. Assessing the saltwater remediation potential of a three-dimensional, heterogeneous, coastal aquifer system. Environ Earth Sci 72, 3827–3837 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3253-2

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