Abstract

AbstractGround‐water velocities within fractures and boreholes, hydraulic heads, and depth profiles of conductivity were measured along a 70 km section of the northeastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Hydraulic heads ranged from 40 to 60 cm above mean sea level between 2 and 4 km from the coast. Fluid velocities estimated from point‐dilution tests, in the dual‐porosity rock in a borehole several kilometers from the coast, were 0.021 cm/sec in the fresh‐water lens and 0.082 cm/sec near a fracture in the underlying sea‐water zone. Velocities in large fractures increased from 1 cm/sec 10 kilometers inland to 12 cm/sec near discharge points along the coast. This increase is attributed to the decrease in thickness of the fresh‐water lens.The thickness of the fresh‐water lens is approximately 40% less than the Ghyben‐Herzberg relation predicts for a static system, providing the potential to drive fresh water through fractures into the sea‐water zone below the halocline. Overall, the halocline appears to be in a steady‐state position due to the rapid flow of fresh water and brackish water towards the coast combined with rising sea water in corivectional flow.

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