Transient behavior of the freshwater-saltwater mixing zone after land reclamation in coastal aquifers

Abstract

The interaction between freshwater and saltwater in the mixing zone governs regional groundwater flow and the exchange of water and salt between groundwater and the ocean. However, previous studies have overlooked the impact of land reclamation on the transient behavior of the mixing zone. This research investigated the dynamic influence of reclamation length, reclamation material properties, and recharge rate on the transient behavior of the mixing zone and timescale of mixing zone variation (TMV) through a series of field-scale numerical simulations. In general, the width of the mixing zone (WMZ) in the upper and center regions of the aquifer exhibited initial increase followed by subsequent decrease in various scenarios, displaying a consistent trend. For reclamation lengths less than 300 m, the mixing zone reached a steady-state condition within 8,000 days, while the corresponding TMV for a 500 m-length reclamation case increased to 20,000 days. The growth rates of the WMZ in the upper and center regions of the aquifer were notably slower, requiring more time to reach steady state in low-permeability scenarios. This observation underscored that reclamation with lower permeability could significantly extend the TMV. It was noteworthy that varying the longitudinal dispersion of the reclamation area between 0.5–10 m had only a slight effect on the TMV, ranging from 8,000 to 8,500 days. The peaks of the mixing zone width showed a proportional increase with longitudinal dispersion. Furthermore, increasing the recharge rate led to a substantial decrease in the TMV, from 10,000 days to 2,000 days. The WMZ exhibited faster growth with increasing recharge rate.