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Assessing Groundwater Age in Confined Aquifers from the Central Pampean Plain of Cordoba, Argentina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2016

Marina Luciana Maldonado*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Geología, FCEFQyN, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto (UNRC), Ruta 36 Km 601, Río Cuarto, Córdoba, Argentina CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas), Argentina
Mónica Teresa Blarasin
Affiliation:
Departamento de Geología, FCEFQyN, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto (UNRC), Ruta 36 Km 601, Río Cuarto, Córdoba, Argentina
Adriana Edith Cabrera
Affiliation:
Departamento de Geología, FCEFQyN, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto (UNRC), Ruta 36 Km 601, Río Cuarto, Córdoba, Argentina
Héctor Osvaldo Panarello
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geocronología y Geología Isotópica (INGEIS CONICET-UBA), Pabellón INGEIS, Ciudad Universitaria (1428), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Cristina Dapeña
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geocronología y Geología Isotópica (INGEIS CONICET-UBA), Pabellón INGEIS, Ciudad Universitaria (1428), Buenos Aires, Argentina
*
*Corresponding author. Email: lmaldonado@exa.unrc.edu.ar.
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Abstract

In Córdoba Province, Argentina, the population uses groundwater from confined aquifer systems (CASs) for different activities. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out comprehensive studies in order to plan more sustainable use considering that groundwater renewal times can be of several thousands of years. The objective of this research is to evaluate groundwater age in confined aquifers based on hydraulic and isotopic methods. The CASs present variable extension, are multilayered and formed by thin (4–6 m) sand-pebble lenses, and are linked to Neogene fluvial paleosystems. These layers are situated at different depths (120–400 m) and interbedded with thick clay strata. The interpretations made from 2H, 18O, and 3H results and hydraulic calculations suggest that the groundwater is old. Furthermore, an age gradient was observed that increases with depth and flow direction. The 14C ages obtained for the CASs labeled A2, C, and D were 3.6–1.1 ka BP, 10.8 ka BP, and 46.0–40.5 ka BP, respectively. These results indicate that A2 and C contain groundwater recharged during Holocene cold periods, between the Little Ice Age and the ending of the Holocene Climatic Optimum and during the last glaciation. The D CAS contains paleowater that was recharged during the Pleistocene.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2016 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 
Figure 0

Figure 1 Location of the study area

Figure 1

Figure 2 Regional hydrogeological A-A’ profile of southern Cordoba Province, Argentina (Blarasin et al. 2014)

Figure 2

Table 1 Hydraulic parameters of the different aquifer systems.

Figure 3

Table 2 Chemical and isotope (δ18O and δ2H) composition of confined aquifer systems.

Figure 4

Figure 3 Equipotential map of the A2 and C CAS systems

Figure 5

Figure 4 (a) Surface and groundwater sample locations; (b) δ2H vs. δ18O diagram for surface water and aquifer systems.

Figure 6

Table 3 δ18O and δ2H stable isotopic average values for each hydrological system.

Figure 7

Table 4 3H, δ13C, and 14C results and ages reported from University of Waterloo laboratory and calculated ages with hydraulic methods and Pearson-Gonfiantini model (Salem et al. 1980).

Figure 8

Figure 5 δ18O values in the confined aquifers as a function of distance from the recharge zone. Groundwater flow is towards the east (i.e. towards the right).

Figure 9

Figure 6 3H concentration in the different water systems (Cabrera et al. 2010; Maldonado et al. 2015)

Figure 10

Figure 7 14A vs. δ13C diagram of isochrons of the different confined aquifers systems.