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Quaternary climatic events as conditioning factors of hydrogeologic characteristics and salinity in costal aquifers at northern Patagonia, Argentina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2024

Eleonora Carol Open the ORCID record for Eleonora Carol [Opens in a new window] ,
Santiago Perdomo ,
Carolina Tanjal ,
Nicolás Scivetti  and
María del Pilar Alvarez
Eleonora Carol*
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas (CIG), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas–Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, 1900, Argentina
Santiago Perdomo
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (CITNOBA), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas–Universidad Nacional Noreste de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, 2700, Argentina
Carolina Tanjal
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas (CIG), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas–Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, 1900, Argentina
Nicolás Scivetti
Affiliation:
Instituto Patagónico de Geología y Paleontología (IPGP), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas–Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, Puerto Madryn, 9120, Argentina
María del Pilar Alvarez
Affiliation:
Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales (IPEEC), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas–Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, Puerto Madryn, 9120, Argentina
*
Corresponding author: Eleonora Carol; Email: eleocarol@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar
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Abstract

In arid and semiarid coastal areas, freshwater resources are scarce and are frequently affected by salinization processes. The aim of this work is to evaluate the influence of Late Quaternary climatic events on the hydrogeologic characteristics conditioning the distribution of fresh, brackish, and saline ground water in the Holocene and Pleistocene beach ridges in coastal aquifers of northern Patagonia. To achieve this, geologic, geomorphological, geophysical, hydrochemical, and isotopic studies were carried out, which allowed the identification of the hydrolithologic characteristics controlling groundwater salinity in a context of Quaternary geologic–geomorphological–climatic evolution. In Pleistocene beach ridges, it was recognized that the formation of calcretes in an arid period after Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e conditioned the permeability of superficial sediments, strongly decreasing infiltration rates. During the Holocene, beach ridges were deposited and sea water entered the Pleistocene ridges. Subsequently, with the sea-level drop and wetter climatic conditions, rainwater began to infiltrate, recharging the aquifers and displacing seawater, allowing development of freshwater lenses. However, freshwater lenses only developed in Holocene ridges due to the lower permeability of Pleistocene ridges, which determines that in these geoforms, sea water cannot be displaced by rainwater, and therefore groundwater is brackish to saline.

Keywords

PaleohydrogeologyBeach ridgesGroundwater salinityLittoral processesQuaternary evolutionArgentine Patagonia
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 119 , May 2024 , pp. 152 - 161
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Quaternary Research Center

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