The origin of high hydrocarbon groundwater in shallow aquifer: experimental evidences from water-rock interaction

Shan Liu; Shihua Qi; Zhaohui Luo; Harold Wilson T Mapoma; Zhihua Chen; Shenggao Cheng

doi:10.1007/s11356-019-06578-w

The origin of high hydrocarbon groundwater in shallow aquifer: experimental evidences from water-rock interaction

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2019 Nov;26(31):32574-32588. doi: 10.1007/s11356-019-06578-w. Epub 2019 Oct 19.

Authors

Shan Liu^{1

2}, Shihua Qi^{3

4}, Zhaohui Luo^{1

5}, Harold Wilson T Mapoma⁶, Zhihua Chen^{1

5}, Shenggao Cheng^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Sate Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
² School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Hubei Polytechnic University, Huangshi, 435003, China.
³ Sate Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China. shihuaqi@cug.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China. shihuaqi@cug.edu.cn.
⁵ School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China.
⁶ Physics and Biochemical Sciences, University of Malawi, The Polytechnic, Blantyre, 3, Malawi.

PMID: 31630354
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-06578-w

Abstract

The current studies had already revealed the hydrocarbons could migrate from relatively high hydrocarbon potential stratum to shallow groundwater by corrosion emission and extraction emission in karst area and further impact on human health. Then, the comprehensive experiments were used to understand the mechanism and process of hydrocarbon emission as a continuation of a long-term study on original high hydrocarbon groundwater in shallow Triassic aquifer, taking northwest Guizhou, China, as a reference. The results determined water-rock interaction that lead to the hydrocarbon emission into groundwater with salinity acting as the main driving force. Relatively high salinity promotes the rock corrosion and hydrocarbon emission in the study area. The hydrocarbon emission process varied with different strata, as the results show that the hydrocarbon uniformly distributed in T₂g³ than that in T₁yn⁴. Furthermore, the stratum with uniformly distributed hydrocarbon would likely contain high hydrocarbon groundwater, as determined by the process of sedimentation. In addition, "corrosion rate estimation method" and "mineral constituent estimation method" were firstly employed to estimate the hydrocarbon concentration in groundwater to date. Compared with the hydrocarbon concentration of local groundwater samples (0 to 0.14 mg L^-1), the result of "mineral constituent estimation method" was analogous to measured value of groundwater samples in the area (0.05 to 0.50 mg L^-1), indicating the concentration of hydrocarbon could be estimated by mineral constitutions of groundwater, which was related to the concentration of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺. Based on the methods and theories in this study, the concentration of original hydrocarbon in shallow groundwater could be estimated and help to understand the mechanism of water-rock interaction in shallow aquifer and original high hydrocarbon groundwater strategic assessment.

Keywords: High hydrocarbon groundwater estimation; Hydrocarbon emission process; Original high hydrocarbon groundwater; Water-rock-hydrocarbon interaction.

MeSH terms

China
Groundwater / analysis*
Humans
Hydrocarbons / analysis*
Hydrocarbons / chemistry
Salinity
Water
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Hydrocarbons
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Water