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Hydrochemical characterization and groundwater quality in Cauvery deltaic fluvial plains of Southern India

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Abstract

Groundwater sources are drastically changing in their quantity and quality depending on local and regional level natural and anthropogenic factors, influencing their suitability for drinking and irrigation purposes. The objective of this study is to characterize the hydrochemistry and assess the groundwater quality in the fluvial deltaic plains of Cauvery river basin, Tamil Nadu, India. A total of 50 georeferenced groundwater samples were collected across Needamangalam block of Thiruvarur district and analyzed for major ions and hydrochemical processes. The results showed an ionic sequence of Cl− > Na+ > HCO3− > Mg2+ > Ca2+ > CO32− > SO42− > K+ based on their relative proportions. The scatter diagram indicated that groundwater chemistry was mostly influenced by weathering dominance followed by evaporation and silicate weathering. The dominant hydro-chemical facies were Na+-Cl−-HCO3− type, Na+-Mg2+-Cl−-HCO3− type, Na+-Cl−-HCO3−-CO32− type and Na+-Mg2+-Cl−-HCO3−-CO32− type influenced by the ion-exchange reaction. Most of the groundwater samples are suitable for drinking and irrigation except few with higher Na+ and Cl− content caused by the mixing of salt from fluvio-marine sources or agriculture return flow. The high sodium content in irrigation water may affect the soil hydraulic and nutrient properties in the long run.

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  1. ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Bangalore - 560024, Karnataka, India

    Manickam Lalitha, Subramanian Dharumarajan, Beeman Kalaiselvi, Khandal Shivanand, Arti Koyal & Rajendra Hegde

  2. National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Thiruvananthapuram - 695011, Kerala, India

    Kaliraj Seenipandi

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  1. Manickam Lalitha
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Contributions

ML: Collected water samples and implemented the algorithms. Data interpretation and wrote a major portion of the manuscript. SD: Collected the water samples. BK: Collected water samples and prepared the tables. S: Analyzed the water sample except for Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn and data compilation. AK: Analyzed the water sample for Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn, and data compilation. SK: Prepared spatial distribution maps, data interpretation, described the GIS techniques and formatting the manuscript. RH: Coordinated the research program and reviewed the manuscript.

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Lalitha, M., Dharumarajan, S., Kalaiselvi, B. et al. Hydrochemical characterization and groundwater quality in Cauvery deltaic fluvial plains of Southern India. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 44861–44876 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13467-8

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