Geophysical Delineation of Freshwater–Saline Water Interfaces in Coastal Area of Southwest Bangladesh

Abstract

Insufficiency of potable water is acute in southwest (SW) coastal areas of Bangladesh. The local population ignores the depth to saltwater/freshwater interface causing many unsuccessful waters wells drilling. In this context, a combined use of borehole logs, geophysical well logs, vertical electrical soundings (VES), electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and electrical conductivity (EC) of sampled waters was performed to identify saltwater/freshwater interface depths in this coastal part. The study shows that the depth to freshwater/saltwater interface varies from place to place occurring commonly between 190 to 285 m, and locally as shallow as 146 m. The shallow freshwater/saltwater interface depth is greatly influenced by the upconing of fresh water from the deep aquifer (DA) near the major rivers and coast compared to the landward part and is mixed with more saline waters above. Vertically infiltrated saltwater is the main cause of brackish water in the upper shallow aquifer (USA), which is hydraulically connected with the lower shallow aquifer (LSA), and not directly recharged from the Bay of Bengal in the south. The study will contribute to find out the depth of the potential freshwater aquifer and assess the aquifer vulnerability in the coastal area of SW Bangladesh.