Modelling tidal signals enhanced by a submarine spring in a coastal confined aquifer extending under the sea

Hailong Li, Ling Li, David Lockington, Michel C. Boufadel, Guanyi Li

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Submarine springs discharge offshore groundwater from confined aquifers extending under the sea. The effects of these springs on the propagation of tidal oscillations in coastal confined aquifers are not known. This paper presents an approximate analytical solution of tidal head fluctuations in a confined aquifer with one submarine spring. The aquifer is assumed to extend in all directions infinitely. The spring is represented by a permeable round column on the seabed, which penetrates completely the impermeable layer overlying the confined aquifer. The error of the approximate solution is negligible if the distance from the spring to the coastline is much greater than the radius of the permeable column representing the spring. Through a hypothetical example, we demonstrate that it is possible to identify the spring's location using tidal signals observed from inland wells. Tidal groundwater head fluctuations from three inland observation wells at least are needed to determine the 5 model parameters, including the location (2 parameters), the radius of the permeable column representing the spring, the diffusivity of the aquifer, and the tidal loading efficiency of the system.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1046-1052
Number of pages7
JournalAdvances in Water Resources
Volume30
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2007
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Water Science and Technology

Keywords

  • Coastal aquifer
  • Submarine groundwater discharge
  • Submarine springs
  • Tidal loading efficiency
  • Tidal wave propagation in aquifer
  • Tide

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Modelling tidal signals enhanced by a submarine spring in a coastal confined aquifer extending under the sea'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this