Identification of the Saline Zone in a Coastal Aquifer Using Electrical Tomography Data and Simulation

A novel approach that borrows methods commonly used in environmental geophysics was developed for obtaining the estimates of the aquifer parameters. Specifically, estimates of hydraulic conductivity were obtained from field measurements of the electrical resistivity while accounting for the karsticity of the geological formations in the area of study. Geophysically determined hydraulic conductivity estimates were introduced to a 3-D groundwater numerical simulator (Princeton Transport Code – PTC) to compute the hydraulic heads distribution of the area of interest. The calibration of the numerical model was obtained matching the hydraulic-heads predicted by the simulator with the hydraulic-heads measured at specific well locations. Simulated hydraulic-heads were used with the Chyben-Herzberg equation to approximate the position of the sharp freshwater/saltwater interface of the base of the water supply aquifer. The existence of the faults impacts the groundwater flow and the distribution of the freshwater/saltwater interface.