Effect of Wet and Drought Periods on Physico-Chemical Properties of Groundwater Resources in the Eastern Part of Gorgan Plain

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Rangeland and Watershed Management Department, Faculty of Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of Gonbad Kavous, Gonbad Kavous, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Geography, Firouzabad Institute of Higher Education, Firouzabad, Iran.

Abstract

groundwater. In the present study, the 3-year drought and wet periods were determined using 23-year rainfall data of four meteorological stations and the SIAP index. To investigate the physicochemical properties of groundwater, after considering the data of observation wells in the Eastern part of Gorgan plain, 14 deep and semi-deep wells were selected. Then, three criteria of EC, SAR, and Na were used to assess the water in the agricultural sector and the Schoeller diagram was used to assess the water in the drinking sector. To estimate the significant differences between the physicochemical properties of groundwater in the three periods of the wet period, drought, and long-term, an F-test at the probability level of 0.05 was used. The results revealed that the water quality of semi-deep wells is better than for deep wells in agriculture and drinking water sections. Based on the Piper diagram, the chemical facies of semi-deep wells are less diverse than deep wells. The results of both deep and semi-deep wells showed that chemical facies in the dry season show a greater tendency to achieve seawater composition. The results of the F test showed that there is a significant difference with 95% probability between groundwater quality parameters in semi-deep aquifers in wet and dry periods. In contrast, the occurrence of wet and dry periods in the study area had little effect on the physicochemical properties of deep aquifers.

Keywords


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