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| Titel |
Assessment of Karst Spring Features in a typical Mediterranean fluvial landscape with an Interdisciplinary Investigation nased on Radon-222 as an Environmental Indicator. The case study of the Bussento River basin (Campania region, Southern Italy). |
| VerfasserIn |
A. Cuomo, D. Guadagnuolo, D. Guida, M. Guida, K. Knoeller, M. Schubert, V. Siervo |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2012
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 14 (2012) |
| Datensatznummer |
250069611
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Karst aquifers provide 25% of the overall drinking water resources to the world’s population
and sustain aquatic life in most fluvial systems, providing several ecological services to
human beings, although, because of their complex links between surface and groundwater,
turn out to be very vulnerable to contamination and pollution. Hydrological assessment of
karst systems reveals to be extremely complex and difficult and requires a stepwise
multi-tracers approach.
This work describes some of the most relevant findings obtained from the implementation
of an interdisciplinary approach based on the use of Environmental Tracers, consisting of
Naturally Occurring Radionuclides like Radon-222 (referred to as Radon), for the
investigation of Groundwater/Surface water Interaction (GSI) processes in fluvial water
bodies. In particular, Radon activity concentration measurement data having been
collected from streamflow and instream springs during monthly field campaigns
performed in a typical Mediterranean karst river basin: the Bussento river system
(Campania region, Southern Italy). The general task has been to investigate the
complex interactions and exchanges between streamflow and groundwater in a fluvial
water body, at scales that are imperceptible to standard hydrological and hydraulic
analyses.
The Bussento River basin has been chosen as a study case for the following features of
extreme relevance:
Its location inside the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, its inclusion
of a WWF Nature Reserve, it represents a remarkable Drinking Water resource
for the territory and last but not least its system includes Submarine Groundwater
Discharges (SGD) to the Policastro Gulf. All these issues causes, therefore, that the
management of its relevant water resources requires not only groundwater protection for
domestic drinking use, but also riverine wildlife preservation and coastal water quality
maintenance.
As a support for hydro-geomorphological and hydrological modelling for planning tasks,
in application of the European Water Framework Directive (EWFD), a Bussento River
Monitoring System (BRMS) as been built, at basin, segment and reach scale. Experimental
data about 222Rn activity concentrations, in addition to physical-chemical and streamflow
rate, have been acquired and managed from BRMS selected stations, sampling the streamflow
and inflow spring waters by means of the Radon-in-Air analyzer, RAD7, together with the
Radon-in-water accessories, Radon Water Probe and RAD7H2O (DURRIDGE Co. Inc.), for
continuous and batch sampling measurements, respectively. The analysis of the seasonal
data trends from karst springs confirms the hydrogeological conceptual model,
highlighting the complex behaviour of a multilevel groundwater circuits, the uppermost in
caves, the middle in conduits and the lowermost in fracture network, corresponding
to the differentiated recharge types in the fluvial-karst hydro-geomorphological
system.
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