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Characterization of aquifers conducting groundwaters with low and high arsenic concentrations: a comparative case study from West Bengal, India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

B. Nath ,
Z. Berner ,
S. Basu Mallik ,
D. Chatterjee ,
L. Charlet  and
D. Stueben
B. Nath*
Affiliation:
Institute für Mineralogie und Geochemie, Universität Karlsruhe, Germany Department of Geological Sciences, Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India Department of Chemistry, Kalyani University, West Bengal, India
Z. Berner
Affiliation:
Institute für Mineralogie und Geochemie, Universität Karlsruhe, Germany
S. Basu Mallik
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India
D. Chatterjee
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Kalyani University, West Bengal, India
L. Charlet
Affiliation:
LGIT, Grenoble University, France
D. Stueben
Affiliation:
Institute für Mineralogie und Geochemie, Universität Karlsruhe, Germany
*
*E-mail: E-mail: Bibhash.Nath@img.uni-karlsruhe.de
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Abstract

Possible relationships between groundwater arsenic concentration and alluvial sediment characteristics in a ∼19 km2 area in West Bengal have been investigated using a combination of hydrogeochemical, lithogeochemical and geophysical techniques. Arsenic hotspots, typically associated with elevated groundwater Fe and Mn, were found to be correlated to some extent with old river channels (abandoned meanders, oxbow lakes), where sandy aquifers included intercalated fine-grained overbank deposits, rich in As, Fe, Mn and Corg. Otherwise no demonstrably significant overall differences in any of lithology, grain-size distribution, mineral composition or Fe, Mn and organic C content of the sediments were found between two representative sites with contrastingly low (<50 μg 1—1) and high (>200 μg 1—1) As groundwater contents.

Our results are consistent with microbially mediated redox reactions controlled by the presence of natural organic matter within the aquifer and the occurrence of As-bearing redox traps, primarily formed by Fe and Mn oxides/hydroxides, being the most important factors which control the release of As into shallow groundwaters at the study site.

Keywords

Bengal Delta Plainarsenicgroundwatergrain-size distributionelectrical resistivityabandoned channel
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 69 , Issue 5 , October 2005 , pp. 841 - 854
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2005

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