Coastal Aquifer
Saltwater Intrusion Monitor

Chloride-based seawater fraction (Appelo & Postma, 2005) with EC as secondary diagnostic indicator. Two Catalan fluvio-deltaic aquifer systems, 2007–2026.

f_sw = (Cl − Cl_fw) / (Cl_sw − Cl_fw)
Cl_sw = 19,800 mg/L · Mediterranean seawater
Cl_fw = site-specific (5th percentile)
Catalonia, Spain · ETRS89 UTM 31N

Intrusion transect

Mean Cl-based seawater fraction per well versus distance from coast. Bubble size reflects number of measurements. The Cl-based f_sw is the physically correct tracer (conservative, no cation exchange artifacts).

Saline >25% Brackish 5–25% Fresh <5%
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Each point = one well (mean across all Cl observations). Reference: Appelo & Postma (2005); Werner et al. (2013).

Time series

Cl-based seawater fraction over time for a selected well. Points are coloured by contamination class.

Depth profiles

Cl-based seawater fraction vs sampling depth for all wells in the selected year.

Depth in metres below ground level. Inverted axis.

Cl vs EC diagnostic

Comparison of Cl-based and EC-based seawater fractions. Divergence reveals hydrogeochemical processes beyond simple mixing. Select a well to see its time series below.

f_cl vs f_ec — all observations

Cl/EC ratio interpretation

Ratio ≈ 0.42 → seawater mixing
Ratio > 0.42 → freshening phase
  Cation exchange: Na⁺ released by sediment adsorbs to clay → EC drops while Cl⁻ stays high

Ratio < 0.42 → non-seawater EC source
  Elevated EC from anthropogenic input, evaporites, or SO₄²⁻ / HCO₃⁻ enrichment — not from marine intrusion

Divergent observations (>5% diff):

Reference: Custodio & Bruggeman (1987) UNESCO; Appelo & Postma (2005). Cl/EC ratio for Mediterranean seawater ≈ 0.42 mg·L⁻¹/µS·cm⁻¹.

Wedge estimation

Per-well max and mean Cl-based SW fraction ordered by distance. The 50% isoline marks the Ghyben-Herzberg wedge toe criterion.

Mixing zone summary
Model parameters

Well locations

Spatial distribution coloured by mean Cl-based seawater fraction. Click any marker for details.

ETRS89 UTM 31N → WGS84. Basemap: OpenStreetMap.

System comparison

Ter vs Tordera: key metrics using the Cl-based seawater fraction (Appelo & Postma, 2005).

Cl-based transect — both systems

Cl vs EC fraction — both systems

Tordera shows zero divergent observations between f_cl and f_ec (all |diff| < 0.05), confirming EC is a reliable proxy there. The Ter shows 16 divergent observations, concentrated at near-coast well 17199-0029, revealing active cation exchange cycles linked to seawater intrusion and freshening events.