A Preliminary Assessment of Young Water Fractions in Groundwater from Alluvial Aquifers Facing the Northern Italian Apennines
This study sums up the first estimates of the young water fraction (F<sub>yw</sub>; here understood as the percentage proportion of groundwater passing through the well’s screen and younger than approximately 2–3 months) from groundwater collected in 75 wells from alluvial fans facing th...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-02-01
|
| Series: | Water |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/14/4/659 |
| _version_ | 1797475875299524608 |
|---|---|
| author | Giovanni Martinelli Federico Cervi Andrea Dadomo Gianluca Medioli |
| author_facet | Giovanni Martinelli Federico Cervi Andrea Dadomo Gianluca Medioli |
| author_sort | Giovanni Martinelli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study sums up the first estimates of the young water fraction (F<sub>yw</sub>; here understood as the percentage proportion of groundwater passing through the well’s screen and younger than approximately 2–3 months) from groundwater collected in 75 wells from alluvial fans facing the northern Italian Apennines of Italy. The F<sub>yw</sub> estimates were based on a monthly dataset of water-stable isotopes (oxygen-18 (<sup>18</sup>O)) from surficial water (9 rivers), while the dataset of groundwater (75 wells) consisted of three-monthly isotopic data. In the cases of surficial water and stable isotopes, these lasted over the period of January 2003 to December 2007, while in the case of groundwater, the data were collected from January 2005 to December 2007. The values of F<sub>yw</sub> were estimated by means of a sine-wave fitting technique; the results made evident the presence of unexpectedly reduced differences between groundwater. In particular, shallower groundwater hosted in aquifers from the apical parts of the alluvial fans (i.e., aquifers characterized by the coarsest materials such as gravels and sands, and closest to the recharge areas) showed similar values of F<sub>yw</sub> to the deepest aquifers from the distal parts; however, former studies mentioned here evidenced the existence of poorly recharged old groundwater. Our results seem to confirm a complex behavior of these aquifers compared with what had previously been thought. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:50:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c66f3c6356db45e588edb5b49df8d1ba |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:50:58Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-c66f3c6356db45e588edb5b49df8d1ba2023-11-23T22:35:24ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412022-02-0114465910.3390/w14040659A Preliminary Assessment of Young Water Fractions in Groundwater from Alluvial Aquifers Facing the Northern Italian ApenninesGiovanni Martinelli0Federico Cervi1Andrea Dadomo2Gianluca Medioli3Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Dipartimento di Palermo, Via Ugo la Malfa n.153, 90146 Palermo, ItalyHydrogeologist, Via Maccagnano n. 170, 42122 Reggio Emilia, ItalyGEOINVEST Srl, Via della Conciliazione n. 45/A, 29122 Piacenza, ItalyGEOINVEST Srl, Via della Conciliazione n. 45/A, 29122 Piacenza, ItalyThis study sums up the first estimates of the young water fraction (F<sub>yw</sub>; here understood as the percentage proportion of groundwater passing through the well’s screen and younger than approximately 2–3 months) from groundwater collected in 75 wells from alluvial fans facing the northern Italian Apennines of Italy. The F<sub>yw</sub> estimates were based on a monthly dataset of water-stable isotopes (oxygen-18 (<sup>18</sup>O)) from surficial water (9 rivers), while the dataset of groundwater (75 wells) consisted of three-monthly isotopic data. In the cases of surficial water and stable isotopes, these lasted over the period of January 2003 to December 2007, while in the case of groundwater, the data were collected from January 2005 to December 2007. The values of F<sub>yw</sub> were estimated by means of a sine-wave fitting technique; the results made evident the presence of unexpectedly reduced differences between groundwater. In particular, shallower groundwater hosted in aquifers from the apical parts of the alluvial fans (i.e., aquifers characterized by the coarsest materials such as gravels and sands, and closest to the recharge areas) showed similar values of F<sub>yw</sub> to the deepest aquifers from the distal parts; however, former studies mentioned here evidenced the existence of poorly recharged old groundwater. Our results seem to confirm a complex behavior of these aquifers compared with what had previously been thought.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/14/4/659groundwateralluvial aquiferyoung water fractiongroundwater datingnorthern Italian Apennines |
| spellingShingle | Giovanni Martinelli Federico Cervi Andrea Dadomo Gianluca Medioli A Preliminary Assessment of Young Water Fractions in Groundwater from Alluvial Aquifers Facing the Northern Italian Apennines Water groundwater alluvial aquifer young water fraction groundwater dating northern Italian Apennines |
| title | A Preliminary Assessment of Young Water Fractions in Groundwater from Alluvial Aquifers Facing the Northern Italian Apennines |
| title_full | A Preliminary Assessment of Young Water Fractions in Groundwater from Alluvial Aquifers Facing the Northern Italian Apennines |
| title_fullStr | A Preliminary Assessment of Young Water Fractions in Groundwater from Alluvial Aquifers Facing the Northern Italian Apennines |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Preliminary Assessment of Young Water Fractions in Groundwater from Alluvial Aquifers Facing the Northern Italian Apennines |
| title_short | A Preliminary Assessment of Young Water Fractions in Groundwater from Alluvial Aquifers Facing the Northern Italian Apennines |
| title_sort | preliminary assessment of young water fractions in groundwater from alluvial aquifers facing the northern italian apennines |
| topic | groundwater alluvial aquifer young water fraction groundwater dating northern Italian Apennines |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/14/4/659 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT giovannimartinelli apreliminaryassessmentofyoungwaterfractionsingroundwaterfromalluvialaquifersfacingthenorthernitalianapennines AT federicocervi apreliminaryassessmentofyoungwaterfractionsingroundwaterfromalluvialaquifersfacingthenorthernitalianapennines AT andreadadomo apreliminaryassessmentofyoungwaterfractionsingroundwaterfromalluvialaquifersfacingthenorthernitalianapennines AT gianlucamedioli apreliminaryassessmentofyoungwaterfractionsingroundwaterfromalluvialaquifersfacingthenorthernitalianapennines AT giovannimartinelli preliminaryassessmentofyoungwaterfractionsingroundwaterfromalluvialaquifersfacingthenorthernitalianapennines AT federicocervi preliminaryassessmentofyoungwaterfractionsingroundwaterfromalluvialaquifersfacingthenorthernitalianapennines AT andreadadomo preliminaryassessmentofyoungwaterfractionsingroundwaterfromalluvialaquifersfacingthenorthernitalianapennines AT gianlucamedioli preliminaryassessmentofyoungwaterfractionsingroundwaterfromalluvialaquifersfacingthenorthernitalianapennines |