Assessment of seawater ingress in the coastal aquifers of south Andaman Island, India

Abstract

Seawater ingress is a widespread environmental issue posing threat to the fresh groundwater reserves of the coastal aquifers of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) particularly after the great Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004, and the comprehensive investigations of seawater ingress in this region are relatively uncommon. In this context, the spatial distribution and vertical movement of seawater ingress in the coastal and catchment areas were mapped using geo-spatial techniques and the extensive geoelectrical resistivity surveys (96 vertical electric soundings (VES) and profiling) along and across the identified and affected coastlines. The geoelectrical surveys unravels very low resistivity formations (≤10 Ω m) at varying depths interpreted as the lateral and vertical intrusion of seawater. The hydro-chemical and other physical analyses of groundwater samples reveal critical concentrations of the different major elements and other physical parameters like TDS, pH as well the EC above its permissible limit for drinking water standards. The integrated approach allows to delineate the site specific hydrogeological setting including the saline/fresh aquifer geometry (transition zone) and stratigraphic−geomorphological reconstruction of coastal aquifers. Further, various assessment parameters including very low formation resistivity, surface manifestation of salt tolerant plants, high chloride concentration, low formation factor and high ionic strength were employed to infer the various levels of contamination. The present study show that impact of seawater intrusion is intense in sedimentary formations than Ophiolite suite and needs site specific mitigation measure to prevent further deterioration of aquifer health.