Temperature models for quantifying groundwater seepage flux applied in a deep lake of a plateau: Yangzonghai Lake, Yunnan, China

Abstract

Groundwater discharge from a water spring located along the southwest bank of Yangzonghai Lake, the largest deep plateau-lake with arsenic contamination in a typical karst landform, maybe a potential and on-going source of pollution, but seepage flux has not been investigated. This study applied temperature models to locate sites of groundwater discharge and quantify the magnitude and direction of seepage flux. The contaminant levels and spatial distributions, seasonal seepage flux distributions and the conductivity were investigated. The arsenic concentration of the water spring was 1481.9 μg L−1, and as the distance from the water spring increased, the arsenic concentration in the overlying water, pore-water and surface sediments decreased. Herein, the temperature models of McCallum and Bredehoeft were applied to estimate the lakebed vertical seepage flux in groundwater-surface water exchange systems during a period of 30-day in summer and winter. An upward flow of groundwater discharge was observed near the water spring, with the value of some sites over 10 cm day−1, and a downward flow was observed with increasing distance from the water spring in summer. Additionally, a slight upward flow was observed in winter. The arsenic levels, spatial distributions and the conductivity in monitoring sites were closely related to the seepage flux. The application provided a scientific basis for the prediction of groundwater-surface water exchange in deep plateau-lake and was a further development in temperature models.