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Geophysical and hydrogeological investigation for the saline water invasion in the coastal aquifers of West Bengal, India: a critical insight in the coastal saline clay–sand sediment system

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Abstract

The Digha–Shankarpur area in West Bengal suffers from the problem of saline water intrusion in the near-surface to shallow subsurface aquifers. In the present study, geophysical surveys were conducted and integrated with measured hydrogeological parameters to delineate the possible locations of saline water–invaded zones in the shallow aquifers. One hundred eighty-eight groundwater samples were collected, and parameters like salinity, EC, total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, temperature, and water level were measured. The geophysical survey, such as resistivity profiling, self-potential, and electrical resistivity imaging techniques, was applied. High TDS, salinity, and EC were observed in various places. Resistivity profiling survey indicates a low resistivity zone (< 10 Ωm), self-potential anomaly indicates a positive anomaly and resistivity imaging survey indicated very low resistivity zones (0–3 Ωm) in near-surface to shallow subsurface locations which are concurrent with the other coastal aquifers in the eastern part of India. These low resistivity zones are interpreted as saline water intrusion zone mixed with clay/sand layers up to a depth of 15 m possibly due to the ingression of seawater and also due to anthropogenic activities. Hence, protection from seawater intrusion from the canals into the coastal aquifers (shallow and deep) and human-made activities should be restricted to minimize the effect of saline water pollution.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the associate editor (Prof. Yu-Pin Lin) and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions which helped us to improve the quality of the work. This work is a part of the Ph.D. thesis of the first author (PK). This work is a collaboration between AB and TA. TA gratefully acknowledges FRPDF, Presidency University, for carrying out this research work. The authors also acknowledge the support from Archita Bhattacharyya, Tanmay Sarkar, Manish Chakraborty, and Bikramaditya Mandal during fieldwork.

Funding

AB received funding from the University Grant Commission for this work as a start-up Research Grant (Nos. F.30-431/2018-BSR and M-14-59 BHU). TA received the financial support of DST Technology Mission (No. DST/TM/WTI/2K12/42).

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  1. Department of Geology, Centre of Advanced Study, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, UP, 221005, India

    Prashant Kumar & Arkoprovo Biswas

  2. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, West Bengal, 721302, India

    Prarabdh Tiwari

  3. Department of Geology, Presidency University, 86/1, College Street Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700073, India

    Tapas Acharya

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  1. Prashant Kumar
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Kumar, P., Tiwari, P., Biswas, A. et al. Geophysical and hydrogeological investigation for the saline water invasion in the coastal aquifers of West Bengal, India: a critical insight in the coastal saline clay–sand sediment system. Environ Monit Assess 192, 562 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-08520-x

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