Characterizing groundwater salinity patterns in a coastal sand aquifer at Magilligan, Northern Ireland, using geophysical and geotechnical methods

Abstract

Tidal forcing influences groundwater flow and salt distribution in shallow coastal aquifers, with the interaction between sea level variations and geology proving fundamental for assessing the risk of seawater intrusion (SI). Constraining the relative importance of each is often confounded by the influences of groundwater abstraction and geological heterogeneity, with understanding of the latter often restricted by sampling point availability and poor spatial resolution. This paper describes the application of geophysical and geotechnical methods to better characterize groundwater salinity patterns in a tidally dominated ~ 20 m thick sequence of beach sand, unaffected by groundwater abstraction. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) revealed the deposit to consist of an upper wedge of low resistivity (< 3 Ωm), reaching over 8 m thick in the vicinity of the low water mark, overlying a higher resistivity unit. Cone penetrometer testing (CPT), and associated high-resolution hydraulic profiling tool system (HPT), coupled with water quality sampling, revealed the wedge to reflect an intertidal recirculation cell (IRC), which restricts freshwater discharge from a relatively homogeneous sand unit to a zone of seepage within the IRC. The application of CPT and HPT techniques underscored the value of geotechnical methods in distinguishing between geological and water quality contributions to geophysical responses. Survey results have permitted a clear characterization of the groundwater flow regime in a coastal aquifer with an IRC, highlighting the benefit of combining geophysical and geotechnical methods to better characterize shallow SI mechanisms and groundwater flow in coastal hydrogeological environments.