Analytical solution of groundwater tidal response in estuarine aquifer

Abstract

The natural coastlines are very irregular and full of inlet, bays, and headlands and cannot always be regarded as straight lines. Groundwater s fluctuation is more complicated in the estuarine delta region where ocean and river meets with tidal effects. Groundwater tidal response in this special area can not accurately simulated by recent one-dimensional, two-dimensional models and analytical solutions because the assumption of homogeneous aquifer and solutions derivation in Cartesian co-ordinate system which limits the simulated area within the first quadrant (L-shaped) are not agree with the facts. Two-dimensional model of groundwater fluctuation in anisotropic coastal aquifer is built in this paper. Based on Green s function method and simple coordinate transformation, an analytical solution for groundwater fluctuations in fan-shaped anisotropic aquifer is derived in polar coordinates system which describes how groundwater s response to tidal loading in an estuary and ocean. Result shows its more extensive application than recent studies.