Hydrogeochemical Characteristics Refine the Conceptual Model of Groundwater Flow in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada
Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP), the largest national park of Canada, has unique and complex ecosystems that depend on specific water quantity and quality. We characterize groundwaters and surface waters in WBNP by determining their chemical compositions and water types, the dominant hydrochemical...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2073-4441/14/6/965/ 2023-08-20T04:10:20+02:00 Hydrogeochemical Characteristics Refine the Conceptual Model of Groundwater Flow in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada Judit Déri-Takács Benjamin Rostron Carl Mendoza Judit Mádl-Szőnyi agris 2022-03-18 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/w14060965 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Hydraulics and Hydrodynamics https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w14060965 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Water; Volume 14; Issue 6; Pages: 965 Wood Buffalo National Park Northern Alberta hydrochemistry isotopes groundwater flow systems surface water-groundwater interactions Text 2022 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/w14060965 2023-08-01T04:30:13Z Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP), the largest national park of Canada, has unique and complex ecosystems that depend on specific water quantity and quality. We characterize groundwaters and surface waters in WBNP by determining their chemical compositions and water types, the dominant hydrochemical processes affecting their compositions, and their hydrochemical characteristics in relation to interpreted groundwater flow systems. Total Dissolved Solid concentrations in groundwaters and surface waters range from ≤10 mg/L to ≥300,000 mg/L. Four distinct water type groups are found: (1) Ca-SO4-type waters occur in multiple clusters across the area in outcrop areas of Devonian evaporites; (2) Na-Cl-type waters predominantly occur in the Salt plains region along the central eastern boundary, overlapping evaporite and carbonate-dominated bedrock formations; (3) Ca-HCO3-type waters dominate the Peace-Athabasca Delta-region in the south and most of the central region; and (4) “mixed” waters. Solutes in the waters originate from three main processes: dissolution of halite, dissolution of sulphate minerals, and dissolution of carbonates. The spatial occurrence of hydrochemical characteristics correlate with hypothesized groundwater flow systems, i.e., Ca-SO4 and Na-Cl-type waters coincide with discharge areas of intermediate to regional groundwater flow paths, and Ca-HCO3-type waters overlap with recharge areas. The findings of this study contribute to advancing knowledge on the hydrochemical characteristics of this remote and highly protected region of Alberta, Canada, and are important components of any further, comprehensive assessment of the natural water conditions. Text Wood Buffalo Wood Buffalo National Park MDPI Open Access Publishing Canada Wood Buffalo ENVELOPE(-112.007,-112.007,57.664,57.664) Peace-Athabasca Delta ENVELOPE(-111.502,-111.502,58.667,58.667) Water 14 6 965 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
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ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
Wood Buffalo National Park Northern Alberta hydrochemistry isotopes groundwater flow systems surface water-groundwater interactions |
spellingShingle |
Wood Buffalo National Park Northern Alberta hydrochemistry isotopes groundwater flow systems surface water-groundwater interactions Judit Déri-Takács Benjamin Rostron Carl Mendoza Judit Mádl-Szőnyi Hydrogeochemical Characteristics Refine the Conceptual Model of Groundwater Flow in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada |
topic_facet |
Wood Buffalo National Park Northern Alberta hydrochemistry isotopes groundwater flow systems surface water-groundwater interactions |
description |
Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP), the largest national park of Canada, has unique and complex ecosystems that depend on specific water quantity and quality. We characterize groundwaters and surface waters in WBNP by determining their chemical compositions and water types, the dominant hydrochemical processes affecting their compositions, and their hydrochemical characteristics in relation to interpreted groundwater flow systems. Total Dissolved Solid concentrations in groundwaters and surface waters range from ≤10 mg/L to ≥300,000 mg/L. Four distinct water type groups are found: (1) Ca-SO4-type waters occur in multiple clusters across the area in outcrop areas of Devonian evaporites; (2) Na-Cl-type waters predominantly occur in the Salt plains region along the central eastern boundary, overlapping evaporite and carbonate-dominated bedrock formations; (3) Ca-HCO3-type waters dominate the Peace-Athabasca Delta-region in the south and most of the central region; and (4) “mixed” waters. Solutes in the waters originate from three main processes: dissolution of halite, dissolution of sulphate minerals, and dissolution of carbonates. The spatial occurrence of hydrochemical characteristics correlate with hypothesized groundwater flow systems, i.e., Ca-SO4 and Na-Cl-type waters coincide with discharge areas of intermediate to regional groundwater flow paths, and Ca-HCO3-type waters overlap with recharge areas. The findings of this study contribute to advancing knowledge on the hydrochemical characteristics of this remote and highly protected region of Alberta, Canada, and are important components of any further, comprehensive assessment of the natural water conditions. |
format |
Text |
author |
Judit Déri-Takács Benjamin Rostron Carl Mendoza Judit Mádl-Szőnyi |
author_facet |
Judit Déri-Takács Benjamin Rostron Carl Mendoza Judit Mádl-Szőnyi |
author_sort |
Judit Déri-Takács |
title |
Hydrogeochemical Characteristics Refine the Conceptual Model of Groundwater Flow in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada |
title_short |
Hydrogeochemical Characteristics Refine the Conceptual Model of Groundwater Flow in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada |
title_full |
Hydrogeochemical Characteristics Refine the Conceptual Model of Groundwater Flow in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Hydrogeochemical Characteristics Refine the Conceptual Model of Groundwater Flow in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Hydrogeochemical Characteristics Refine the Conceptual Model of Groundwater Flow in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada |
title_sort |
hydrogeochemical characteristics refine the conceptual model of groundwater flow in wood buffalo national park, canada |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/w14060965 |
op_coverage |
agris |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-112.007,-112.007,57.664,57.664) ENVELOPE(-111.502,-111.502,58.667,58.667) |
geographic |
Canada Wood Buffalo Peace-Athabasca Delta |
geographic_facet |
Canada Wood Buffalo Peace-Athabasca Delta |
genre |
Wood Buffalo Wood Buffalo National Park |
genre_facet |
Wood Buffalo Wood Buffalo National Park |
op_source |
Water; Volume 14; Issue 6; Pages: 965 |
op_relation |
Hydraulics and Hydrodynamics https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w14060965 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/w14060965 |
container_title |
Water |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
965 |
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1774724437696839680 |