Study on the hydro-chemistry process after mixing between water and rocks

Abstract

The chemical evolution of groundwater has received close attention from hydro-geologists. Northwest China largely consists of arid and semi-arid regions, where surface water and groundwater frequently exchange with each other, and where the mixing and water–rock interactions significantly affect the direction of water quality evolution. Based on experimental simulation, this paper investigates the interactions among the Yellow River water, groundwater and rocks in Yinchuan. The study found that when groundwater is mixed with the Yellow River water, the Yellow River water has a certain dilution effect on the hydro-chemical composition of groundwater; however, this effect is not simply diluted by proportion for no reaction between irons, but a portion of calcium, sulfur, and carbonate form precipitates. After mixing of the Yellow River water, groundwater and rocks, the pH increased, and the carbon dioxide system reached equilibrium again. In addition, CO32− was produced. While Na+ increase was mainly due to dissolution, SO42− decrease was because of precipitation. The precipitation or dissolution of Ca2+, Mg2+, and CO32− mainly depended on the mixing ratio between groundwater and river water, which suggested the reversible behavior of the dissolution-precipitation of carbonate minerals.