Application of factor analysis to study contamination of a semi-confined aquifer (Wielkopolska Buried Valley aquifer, Poland)

Groundwater chemistry is controlled by many natural processes as well as anthropogenic processes. The identification of the influence of anthropogenic processes on groundwater chemistry is difficult particularly in cases of early phase of groundwater anthropogenic transformation. The present study shows the application of factor analyses (FA) for the identification of anthropogenic processes affecting groundwater chemistry of a semi-confined aquifer (Wielkopolska Buried Valley aquifer, Poland). The results of this study clearly demonstrate that FA is a reliable method for differentiation of natural and anthropogenic processes affecting groundwater chemistry, particularly during the early phase of anthropogenic groundwater chemistry transformations.

[1]  C. Jeong.  Effect of land use and urbanization on hydrochemistry and contamination of groundwater from Taejon area, Korea , 2001 .

[2]  J. Drever,et al.  The Geochemistry of Natural Waters: Surface and Groundwater Environments , 1997 .

[3]  V. Gomis,et al.  Application of factor analysis to the hydrogeochemical study of a coastal aquifer , 1990 .

[4]  Charles E. Brown.  Applied Multivariate Statistics in Geohydrology and Related Sciences , 1998 .

[5]  Nizar Abu-Jaber,et al.  Determination of aquifer susceptibility to pollution using statistical analysis , 1997 .

[6]  Jose Antonio Grande,et al.  Application of Factor Analysis to the Study of Contamination in the Aquifer System of Ayamonte‐Huelva (Spain) , 1996 .

[7]  C. Subbarao,et al.  Characterization of groundwater contamination using factor analysis , 1996 .

[8]  V. Subramanian,et al.  Geochemical factors controlling the chemical nature of water and sediments in the Gomti River, India , 1998 .

[9]  S. Upchurch,et al.  Identification of Recharge Areas Using Geochemical Factor Analysis , 1982 .

[10]  P. Kitanidis.  Introduction to Geostatistics: Applications in Hydrogeology , 1997 .

[11]  S. Upchurch,et al.  Interpretation of Hydrochemical Facies by Factor Analysis , 1978 .

[12]  K. Johannesson,et al.  Geochemical and statistical evidence of deep carbonate groundwater within overlying volcanic rock aquifers/aquitards of southern Nevada, USA , 2001 .

[13]  Alessandro Marani,et al.  Energy dissipation, runoff production, and the three-dimensional structure of river basins , 1992 .

[14]  Ilhan Olmez,et al.  A new approach to understanding multiple-source groundwater contamination: Factor analysis and chemical mass balances , 1994 .

[15]  K. Howard,et al.  Transport of urban contaminants into Lake Ontario via sub-surface flow , 2000 .

[16]  R. Reyment,et al.  Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology. , 1988 .

[17]  G. K. Billings,et al.  Geochemistry and origin of formation waters in the western Canada sedimentary basin—III. Factors controlling chemical composition☆ , 1971 .

[18]  A. D. Abrahams.  Factor analysis of drainage basin properties: Evidence for stream abstraction accompanying the degradation of relief , 1972 .