Hydrochemistry in coastal aquifer of southwest Bangladesh: origin of salinity

In the coastal region of Bangladesh, groundwater is mainly used for domestic and agricultural purposes, but salinization of many groundwater resources limits its suitability for human consumption and practical application. This paper reports the results of a study that has mapped the salinity distribution in different aquifer layers up to a depth of 300 m in a region bordering the Bay of Bengal based on the main hydrochemistry and has investigated the origin of the salinity using Cl/Br ratios of the samples. The subsurface consists of a sequence of deltaic sediments with an alternation of more sandy and clayey sections in which several aquifer layers can be recognized. The main hydrochemistry shows different main water types in the different aquifers, indicating varying stages of freshening or salinization processes. The most freshwater, soft NaHCO₃-type water with Cl concentrations mostly below 100 mg/l, is found in the deepest aquifer at 200–300 m below ground level (b.g.l.), in which the fresh/saltwater interface is pushed far to the south. Salinity is a main problem in the shallow aquifer systems, where Cl concentrations rise to nearly 8000 mg/l and the groundwater is mostly brackish NaCl water. Investigation of the Cl/Br ratios has shown that the source of the salinity in the deep aquifer is mixing with old connate seawater and that the saline waters in the more shallow aquifers do not originate from old connate water or direct seawater intrusion, but are derived from the dissolution of evaporite salts. These must have been formed in a tidal flat under influence of a strong seasonal precipitation pattern. Long dry seasons with high evaporation rates have evaporated seawater from inundated gullies and depressions, leading to salt precipitation, while subsequent heavy monsoon rains have dissolved the formed salts, and the solution has infiltrated in the subsoil, recharging groundwater.