Hydrogeological behaviour and geochemical features of waters in evaporite-bearing low-permeability successions: A case study in Southern Sicily, Italy

Abstract

Knowledge about the hydrogeological behaviour of heterogeneous low-permeability media is an important tool when designing anthropogenic works (e.g., landfills) that could potentially have negative impacts on the environment and on people’s health. The knowledge about the biogeochemical processes in these media could prevent “false positives” when studying groundwater quality and possible contamination caused by anthropogenic activities. In this research, we firstly refined knowledge about the groundwater flow field at a representative site where the groundwater flows within an evaporite-bearing low-permeability succession. Hydraulic measurements and tritium analyses demonstrated the coexistence of relatively brief to very prolonged groundwater pathways. The groundwater is recharged by local precipitation, as demonstrated by stable isotopes investigations. However, relatively deep groundwater is clearly linked to very high tritium content rainwater precipitated during the 1950s and 1960s. The deuterium content of some groundwater samples showed unusual values, explained by the interactions between the groundwater and certain gases (H2S and CH4), the presences of which are linked to sulfate-reducing bacteria and methanogenic archaea detected within the saturated medium through biomolecular investigations in the shallow organic reach clayey deposits. In a wider, methodological context, the present study demonstrates that interdisciplinary approaches provide better knowledge about the behaviour of heterogeneous low-permeability media and the meaning of each data type.