Abstract: In this study a typical coastal karst aquifer, developed in lower Cretaceous limestones, on the western Mediterranean seashore (La Clape massif, southern France) was investigated. A combination of geochemical and isotopic approaches was used to investigate the origin of salinity in the aquifer. Water samples were collected between 2009 and 2011. Three groundwater groups (A, B and C) were identified based on the hydrogeological setting and on the Cl− concentrations. Average and maximum Cl− concentrations in the recharge waters were calculated (ClRef. and ClRef.Max) to be 0.51 and 2.85mmol/L, respectively). Group A includes spring waters with Cl− concentrations that are within the same order of magnitude as the ClRef concentration. Group B includes groundwater with Cl− concentrations that range between the ClRef and ClRef.Max concentrations. Group C includes brackish groundwater with Cl− concentrations that are significantly greater than the ClRef.Max concentration. Overall, the chemistry of the La Clape groundwater evolves from dominantly Ca–HCO3 to NaCl type. On binary diagrams of the major ions vs. Cl, most of the La Clape waters plot along mixing lines. The mixing end-members include spring waters and a saline component (current seawater or fossil saline water). Based on the Br/Clmolar ratio, the hypothesis of halite dissolution from Triassic evaporites is rejected to explain the origin of salinity in the brackish groundwater. Groundwaters display 87Sr/86Sr ratios intermediate between those of the limestone aquifer matrix and current Mediterranean seawater. On a Sr mixing diagram, most of the La Clape waters plot on a mixing line. The end-members include the La Clape spring waters and saline waters, which are similar to the deep geothermal waters that were identified at the nearby Balaruc site. The 36Cl/Cl ratios of a few groundwater samples from group C are in agreement with the mixing hypothesis of local recharge water with deep saline water at secular equilibrium within a carbonate matrix. Finally, PHREEQC modelling was run based on calcite dissolution in an open system prior to mixing with the Balaruc type saline waters. Modelled data are consistent with the observed data that were obtained from the group C groundwater. Based on several tracers (i.e. concentrations and isotopic compositions of Cl and Sr), calculated ratios of deep saline water in the mixture are coherent and range from 3% to 16% and 0% to 3% for groundwater of groups C and B, respectively. With regard to the La Clape karst aquifer, the extension of a lithospheric fault in the study area may favour the rise of deep saline water. Such rises occur at the nearby geothermal Balaruc site along another lithospheric fault. At the regional scale, several coastal karst aquifers are located along the Gulf of Lion and occur in Mezosoic limestones of similar ages. The 87Sr/86Sr ratios of these aquifers tend toward values of 0.708557, which suggests a general mixing process of shallow karst waters with deep saline fossil waters. The occurrence of these fossil saline waters may be related to the introduction of seawater during and after the Flandrian transgression, when the highly karstified massifs invaded by seawater, formed islands and peninsulas along the Mediterranean coast.

Abstract: The Bou-Areg plain in the Mediterranean coast at the North-eastern of Morocco is characterized by a semiarid climate. The aquifer consists of two sedimentary formations of Plio-quaternary age: the upper formation of fine silts and the lower one of coarse silts with sand and gravels. The aquifer is underlain by marly bedrock of Miocene age that dips toward the coastal lagoon of Bou-Areg. The
hydrodynamic characteristics vary between 10–4 and 10–3 m/s; and transmissivities range between 10–4 and 10–1 m2 /s. The general direction of flow is SW to NE, toward the lagoon. The aquifer is crossed by the river Selouane, which also ends in the lagoon. The groundwater is characterized by a high salinity that can reach 7.5 g/l. The highest values are observed in the upstream and in the downstream sectors of the aquifer. The temporal evolution of the physicochemical parameters depends on the climatic conditions and
piezometric variations. The analysis of the spatio-temporal distribution of the physico-chemical parameters suggests different sources of groundwater salinization: the seawater intrusion, the influence of marly gypsum-bearing terrains, and the influence of anthropogenic products as the agricultural fertilizers, which cause great nitrate concentrations that vary between 80 and 140 mg/l.

Abstract: In many coastal areas, overexploitation of groundwater resources has led both to the quantitative degradation of local aquifers and the deterioration of groundwater quality due to seawater intrusion. To investigate the behavior of coastal aquifers under these conditions, numerical modeling is usually implemented; however, the proper implementation of numerical models requires a large amount of data, which are often not available due to the time-consuming and costly process of obtaining them. In the present study, the investigation of the behavior of coastal aquifers under the lack of adequate data is
attempted by developing a methodological framework consisting of a series of numerical simulations: a steady-state, a false-transient and a transient simulation. The sequence and the connection between these simulations constitute the backbone of the whole procedure aimed at adjusting the various
model parameters, as well as obtaining the initial conditions for the transient simulation. The validity of the proposed methodology is tested through evaluation of the model calibration procedure and the estimation of the simulation errors (mean error, mean absolute error, root mean square error, mean relative error) using the case of Nea Moudania basin, northern Greece. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is performed in order to minimize the error estimates and thus to maximize the reliability of the models. The results of the whole procedure affirm the proper implementation of the developed methodology under specific conditions and assumptions due to the lack of sufficient data, while they give a clear picture of the aquifer’s quantitative and qualitative status.