Groundwater for Sustainable Development最新文献

{"title":"Isotope techniques for sustainable water resources management in mining-related settings: A state-of-the-art review","authors":"E. Sacchi ,&nbsp;A. Cardona Benavides ,&nbsp;C.A. De Carvalho Filho ,&nbsp;Y. Dong ,&nbsp;A. Ghaffar ,&nbsp;S.K. Gurmessa ,&nbsp;M.J. Hendry ,&nbsp;F. Huneau ,&nbsp;S.T. Jiménez-Oyola ,&nbsp;A. Mhizha ,&nbsp;R.A. Oyarzún Lucero ,&nbsp;M. Panasiuk ,&nbsp;M. Qurtobi ,&nbsp;S.P. Rai ,&nbsp;V. Ramaroson ,&nbsp;J. Samaniego ,&nbsp;T. Vitvar ,&nbsp;R. Trabelsi ,&nbsp;U. Saravana Kumar","doi":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101577","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101577","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mining activities can significantly alter surface and groundwater systems. Therefore, sustainable water resources management has become a central requirement and strategic necessity for responsible mining. This requires tools capable of characterizing water sources, flow paths, and contaminant dynamics to support informed and responsible decision-making. Stable and radioactive isotopes are powerful tracers of the origin, age, movement, and transport of water and its constituents, as well as indicators of the water-rock interactions affecting groundwater and surface water quality. This paper reviews publications from 2022 to 2024 that discuss advancements in isotopic techniques and their applications, with the goal to promote the adoption of integrated isotopic and geochemical methods in mining-related assessments. The review is organized into three sections: 1) the understanding of hydro(geo)logical circuits: water sources and circulation, mixing processes, hydro(geo)logical alteration, river-groundwater interactions and groundwater age; 2) the assessment of mining-related contamination processes: contamination by S or by N compounds, discrimination between mining and other contamination sources, the use of minor and trace element isotopes, the salinity issues, and the identification of gas production and exchange; and 3) the application of isotope approaches for monitoring the impact of mining and assessing remediation measures, whether natural or engineered. Finally, the intrinsic strengths and weaknesses, as well as the external opportunities and limitations to the application of isotopic approaches are discussed. The review summarizes the commonly encountered sources and processes in mining settings and provides graphical outputs to assist with interpreting new experimental data, highlighting environmental isotopes as “sustainable investigation tools”.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37879,"journal":{"name":"Groundwater for Sustainable Development","volume":"33 ","pages":"Article 101577"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146025458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating deep learning and groundwater dynamics for drought vulnerability assessment under climate scenarios","authors":"Wei Sun ,&nbsp;Li-Chiu Chang ,&nbsp;Jun Jie Lin ,&nbsp;Fi-John Chang","doi":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101591","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101591","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Drought increasingly threatens agricultural sustainability, particularly in groundwater-dependent regions where irrigation and aquifer recharge are closely linked. Taiwan's Zhuoshui River alluvial fan exemplifies this risk: long-term intensive pumping and rising climate extremes have amplified drought vulnerability. Yet most existing drought indices treat groundwater implicitly, and many AI studies focus on groundwater prediction without translating results into integrated vulnerability metrics. This study develops an AI-driven framework to assess future drought risk from climate, groundwater, and socio-environmental drivers. Groundwater level was predicted using a hybrid Convolutional Neural Network–Backpropagation model (CNN-BP) calibrated with 22 years of basin-wide gridded precipitation, temperature, and SPI data, together with groundwater levels from 18 monitoring wells. CNN-BP outperforms a BPNN benchmark, improving the correlation coefficient by 35.85% and reducing MAE by 19.51%, enabling robust projections for 2021–2100. These groundwater forecasts are then integrated with climatic (SPI), physiographic (soil, land use, elevation, slope, distance to river) and socio-economic (population) drivers to construct the Deep Learning-based Comprehensive Drought Vulnerability Indicator (DCDVI) under SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-8.5. Scenario results indicate consistent intensification of drought vulnerability relative to the historical baseline. SSP1-2.6 yields milder drought conditions and slower groundwater decline, while SSP5-8.5 leads to stronger drying and higher vulnerability. Under SSP5-8.5, highly vulnerable areas increase from 27.31% to 41.26% by 2081–2100. Overall, DCDVI provides a scalable, climate-responsive indicator that converts AI-based groundwater forecasts into actionable vulnerability maps. The framework provides a transferable decision-support tool for drought-prone, groundwater-reliant farming systems under climate change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37879,"journal":{"name":"Groundwater for Sustainable Development","volume":"33 ","pages":"Article 101591"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146174241","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Groundwater salinization and anthropogenic pollution imprints revealed by unsupervised learning in Ho Chi Minh city","authors":"Quang Khai Ha ,&nbsp;Ba Loc Tran ,&nbsp;Van Qui Lai","doi":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101589","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101589","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Groundwater resources in urban coastal regions are increasingly threatened by the interacting pressures of aquifer salinization and anthropogenic pollution, undermining freshwater security and long-term urban resilience. This study applies an integrated framework of unsupervised learning techniques including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Self-Organizing Maps (SOM), K-means clustering, and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) to evaluate the hydrogeochemical characteristics of 441 groundwater samples collected across Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam's largest coastal megacity. Analytical results reveal that 72 % of groundwater samples exhibit a pH below 6.5, while concentrations of Fe, Cl, and NH₄ exceed national drinking water standards in 32 %, 9 %, and 8 % of samples, respectively. The study found that land use, geology and elevation are important factor controlling groundwater quality. Multivariate analysis indicates that groundwater chemistry is primarily influenced by salinization, weathering, nitrification-induced acidification, organic matter decomposition, and sulfide mineral oxidation. Clustering analysis identified five groundwater groups. Groups 1 (fresh to brackish water), 2 (acidic saline water), and 3 (fresh groundwater) are concentrated in lowland areas. Group 4 (elevated NO₃ and low pH) heavily affected by anthropogenic contamination sources, is in densely developed zones, whereas Group 5 (dilute, high-quality water) is found in high permeable and less developed highland areas. The results demonstrate that the SOM–HCA approach provides added value by producing more spatially coherent and hydrogeochemically realistic groundwater groupings. These findings underscore the value of unsupervised learning for groundwater assessment and call for local specific strategy for groundwater management: conservation for Groups 3 and 5, pollution control for Group 4, and salinity mitigation for Groups 1 and 2. This study provides a data-driven basis for sustainable groundwater resource management in vulnerable coastal cities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37879,"journal":{"name":"Groundwater for Sustainable Development","volume":"33 ","pages":"Article 101589"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146174237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mapping uncertainty in managed aquifer recharge potential across unconfined and confined aquifers of the Murray-Darling Basin","authors":"Dennis Gonzalez ,&nbsp;Joseph H.A. Guillaume ,&nbsp;Luk Peeters","doi":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101579","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101579","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The global decline in groundwater levels, particularly in agricultural regions, underscores the imperative for sustainable management practices augmented through managed aquifer recharge (MAR). This study evaluated the potential for MAR in Australia's Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), identifying substantial areas conducive to recharge across regions experiencing long-term groundwater decline. Novel methods were developed to quantitatively assess potential recharge in unconfined and confined aquifers based on aquifer properties and account for uncertainty presenting a contrast to deterministic, weight-based spatial multi-criteria analyses. This investigation revealed that specific areas, including the Lower Namoi Alluvium and Goulburn-Murray Sedimentary Plain, exhibit higher recharge potential with 5–20 ML/ha feasible in unconfined aquifer systems at high confidence. Furthermore, this study found extensive areas at high confidence where the injection potential in confined aquifers ranged from 2.5–20 ML/d. The findings suggest that resource units characterized by high potential recharge areas and elevated resource stress values may benefit from MAR implementation, thereby mitigating stress and supporting more sustainable groundwater use. The economic viability of MAR is contingent upon various factors highlighting the need for tailored project design and site-specific assessments to ensure successful implementation. These results have significant implications for informing MAR implementation and future management strategies in the MDB.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37879,"journal":{"name":"Groundwater for Sustainable Development","volume":"33 ","pages":"Article 101579"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146025459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Groundwater depletion and sustainability of water-intensive agriculture in the Cuatro Ciénegas region, Coahuila, Mexico","authors":"Adrián Pedrozo-Acuña ,&nbsp;Marco Rodrigo López-López ,&nbsp;José Agustín Breña-Naranjo ,&nbsp;Edgar Yuri Mendoza-Cázares","doi":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101583","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101583","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aims to investigate the relationship between groundwater depletion and intensive agricultural practices in the Cuatro Ciénegas region, a water-scarce area in Mexico. Data from an extensive field campaign along with remotely sensed data is utilised. Focus is given on regional groundwater flow and the hydrogeological interconnectivity of aquifers in and around Cuatro Ciénegas, alongside the temporal variations in water levels, agricultural frontiers, and projected water consumption for the main crops in the region. Isotope analysis of water samples reveals hydrological connectivity between the Cuatro Ciénegas-Ocampo and Cuatro Ciénegas aquifers, suggesting that agricultural activities above these aquifers threaten aquatic ecosystems. Temporal variations in water levels, obtained from in-situ measurements and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission, indicate a decline in groundwater across all aquifers: Cuatro Ciénegas-Ocampo (−37.45 m from 2001 to 2023), Cuatro Ciénegas (−24.23 m from 2005 to 2023), and El Hundido (−20.17 m from 2005 to 2023). The agricultural frontier in the Cuatro Ciénegas-Ocampo and El Hundido aquifers increased by 63 % and 68 %, respectively, from 2003 to 2023. Agricultural activity in the Cuatro Ciénegas aquifer, which contains the nature reserve, decreased by 7.6 %. Groundwater depletion is associated with water-intensive agriculture in the area. Since 2011, the relationship between cropland expansion and groundwater use has exacerbated water stress. Groundwater withdrawals from the three aquifers for primary crop production have surpassed their recharge capacity, leading to groundwater depletion. An urgent need exists for sustainable groundwater extraction and aquifer restoration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37879,"journal":{"name":"Groundwater for Sustainable Development","volume":"33 ","pages":"Article 101583"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146025437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Long-term flood control in central Japan: A half-century groundwater monitoring and evaluating adaptation measures for sustainable use","authors":"Saki Nishizawa Katazakai ,&nbsp;Jing Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101585","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101585","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Groundwater depletion and quality degradation are accelerating worldwide under pressures from groundwater abstraction, land-use transitions, and climate-driven shifts in recharge. Monsoon Asia, responsible for nearly two-thirds of global freshwater withdrawals, is particularly vulnerable. At the eastern frontier of the Asian Monsoon, Japan has historically experienced groundwater crises, making it a valuable reference for anticipatory groundwater governance. This study identifies groundwater origins, quantifies recharge sources, and provides the first empirical estimate of how long-term flood-control strategies, including riverbed excavation and subsequent regulation, have influenced groundwater. Analysis combined half a century of literature with 20 years of shallow groundwater monitoring data, revealing a long-term shift in recharge pathways from river infiltration toward surface-derived inputs following riverbed excavation, with approximately 80 % of monitoring sites now exhibiting significant surface-derived recharge. A groundwater recharge project (GRP) utilizing fallow paddy fields is predicted to secure future groundwater supplies locally, and scaling seasonal GRPs nationally could potentially satisfy a fraction of Japan's freshwater demand. These findings highlight the critical role of sustained monitoring in detecting human-driven shifts in recharge dynamics and demonstrate that strategically managed agricultural land offers a flexible, transferable measure for groundwater security. Japan's experience provides actionable insight into emerging groundwater challenges across monsoon Asia and other groundwater-dependent regions, offering evidence-based guidance for integrating flood-control policies with long-term water resource management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37879,"journal":{"name":"Groundwater for Sustainable Development","volume":"33 ","pages":"Article 101585"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146174242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nitrate pollution in the shallow groundwater of a rapidly urbanizing coastal area: Insight from spatial-seasonal distribution and source identification in Xiamen, China","authors":"Xiang Li ,&nbsp;Xiangke Kong ,&nbsp;Xiongguang Li ,&nbsp;Ximing Luo ,&nbsp;Shengwei Cao ,&nbsp;Xiujian Hu ,&nbsp;Yasong Li ,&nbsp;Yinglan Cao","doi":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101582","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101582","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nitrate (NO₃⁻) pollution in groundwater has become an increasingly serious problem in rapidly urbanized coastal areas. However, the complex hydrogeology and intensive human activities complicate the identification of NO₃⁻ sources and pollution characteristics, constraining the groundwater resources protection. This study investigated the spatial-seasonal distribution and origin of NO₃⁻ in 39 shallow groundwater wells across diverse land-use types during both wet and dry seasons in Xiamen, a typical coastal city in China. Results showed 48.7 % of groundwater samples exceeded the WHO guideline of 11.3 mg/L NO₃⁻-N. High NO₃⁻ concentration greatly affected the hydrochemical types, with 32 % of samples classified as NO₃⁻-N (meq % ≥ 25) dominant groundwater. Significant spatiotemporal variations in NO₃⁻ concentrations were observed across various land-use types. Notably, all samples exceeding the 11.3 mg/L NO₃⁻-N threshold clustered within a 10 km coastal zone of high population density. Spearman's rank correlation analysis revealed positive correlations (p &lt; 0.05) among NO₃⁻, Cl⁻, and SO₄²⁻, suggesting a clear anthropogenic impact on groundwater quality. Nitrate and sulfate stable isotope analysis indicated sewage and manure (MS) as the primary NO₃⁻ sources. The Bayesian mixing model further quantified the MS contributions (69.7 % ± 11.7 % in wet season, 90.9 % ± 11.5 % in dry season), followed by soil nitrogen and chemical fertilizers. Nitrification was the predominant microbial process responsible for NO₃⁻ accumulation in groundwater. This study demonstrates that integrating land-use patterns with hydrochemical and isotopic data provides an effective strategy for identifying the origins of NO₃⁻ pollution in urbanized coastal aquifers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37879,"journal":{"name":"Groundwater for Sustainable Development","volume":"33 ","pages":"Article 101582"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146079506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Groundwater transit time distributions in the Pampean loess of Argentina: Insights from a multi-tracer approach (85Kr, CFCs, SF6, 3H/3He and 39Ar)","authors":"Alejandro Basaldúa ,&nbsp;Daniel Martínez ,&nbsp;Douglas Kip Solomon ,&nbsp;Takuya Matsumoto ,&nbsp;Zheng-Tian Lu ,&nbsp;Mauricio Quiroz-Londoño ,&nbsp;Emiliano Alcaraz ,&nbsp;Guo-Min Yang ,&nbsp;Wei Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101593","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101593","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Groundwater transit times in the unconfined to semi-confined Pampeano aquifer were assessed using eight environmental tracers (⁸⁵Kr, ³⁹Ar, CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-113, SF₆, ³H and tritiogenic ³He) measured in 17 piezometers at different depths in southeastern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Age distributions were derived by inverse modeling with lumped parameter models (LPMs) and the tracers’ historical input functions. Results indicate slow and complex groundwater flow, with a wide range of ages and older water than expected for a simple unconfined aquifer conceptual model. Between 0 and 10 m below the water table, 35% of groundwater lacks young groundwater tracers (ages &gt; ∼60 years); between 10 and 20 m, over 60%; and below 30 m, more than 99%. A single ³⁹Ar measurement at 22–48 m depth indicates a mean age of 170 years, though this is likely an underestimate. Inverse modeling of ³H, ³He and ³H/³H₀ ratios suggests unsaturated zone transit times ranging from 3 to 37 years, exceeding estimates based on simple advective calculations and pointing to retarding layers and preferential winter recharge. These findings highlight the role of dispersion, sedimentological heterogeneity and low-permeability horizons in controlling groundwater age and recharge, with implications for contaminant vulnerability and resource sustainability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37879,"journal":{"name":"Groundwater for Sustainable Development","volume":"33 ","pages":"Article 101593"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146173798","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Revisiting groundwater safe yield for integrated water and environmental systems planning","authors":"Farhad Daliri ,&nbsp;Vijay P. Singh","doi":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101606","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101606","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Traditional groundwater safe yield (SY), typically defined as a fixed recharge-based value, has proven inadequate for sustainable management, because it overlooks capture dynamics, ecological thresholds, social constraints, and multiple forms of uncertainty. This review reframes SY as a dynamic SY (SY_d)—a flexible, negotiated boundary within coupled socio-ecological–hydrological–hydraulic (SEHS) systems. An integrated conceptual framework is proposed that combines Permissible Inevitable Instability (PII) bands, the extended Representative Elementary Watershed (REW) balance, and the Integrated System Management (ISM) concept, while explicitly incorporating an ambiguity component (S_Amb) representing classical, linguistic, and unknown uncertainties. Within this structure, SY_d is expressed as variable probability bands constrained by PII, which defines the optimal range of acceptable water table fluctuation (AWTF) under SEHS limits. A synthesis of 14 recent case studies shows that although advances in numerical modeling, climate-informed recharge estimation, remote sensing, and AI-based forecasting have improved SY estimation, they remain insufficient without participatory monitoring, transparent allocation rules, and enforceable triggers. Cross-case comparison reveals persistent gaps across SEHS dimensions, including underrepresentation of ecological limits, limited operationalization of uncertainty, and governance barriers that often dominate hydrological logic. The proposed framework addresses these gaps by linking sustainability indicators, scenario stress-testing, and illustrative trigger-based elements into a unified conceptual structure. The review concludes with research priorities emphasizing multi-metric observatories, hybrid climate–groundwater modeling, and institutional reforms to codify PII limits. Overall, the framework shifts groundwater management from targeting a single static number to managing bounded, acceptable instability, aligning groundwater use with real-world variability and long-term sustainability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37879,"journal":{"name":"Groundwater for Sustainable Development","volume":"33 ","pages":"Article 101606"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147797845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mobilization and enrichment mechanisms of high-iodine groundwater in arid and semi-arid regions","authors":"Xuedong Yang ,&nbsp;Lu Li ,&nbsp;Xuemin Han ,&nbsp;Shaogang Dong ,&nbsp;Yaxin Ji ,&nbsp;Fulai Hou ,&nbsp;Pingshun Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101627","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gsd.2026.101627","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>High-iodine groundwater has become a global public health concern due to its widespread distribution and the significant health risks associated with long-term consumption. However, systematic understanding of the migration, transformation, and enrichment mechanisms of iodide in groundwater remains limited. This study uses the western Xilingol League, China, as a case area to clarify the dominant forms, mobilization behavior, and main hydrogeochemical controls of iodine in shallow groundwater. The results show that iodide concentrations are negatively correlated with redox potential (Eh), and their spatial distribution is generally consistent with that of chemical oxygen demand (COD), indicating that reducing conditions and organic matter are important factors promoting iodine mobilization. Influenced by regional hydrodynamic conditions, water-rock interactions, and evaporative concentration, iodide is enriched mainly in groundwater discharge zones and low-lying closed depressions. Thermodynamic modeling confirms that iodide is the most stable iodine species under the observed hydrogeochemical conditions of the study area. Surface complexation modeling reveals that iodide is primarily adsorbed onto hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) surfaces via an outer-sphere mechanism. Its adsorption capacity decreases with increasing pH and ionic strength, while bicarbonate (HCO₃⁻) and sulfate (SO₄²⁻) enhance iodide mobility through competitive adsorption.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37879,"journal":{"name":"Groundwater for Sustainable Development","volume":"33 ","pages":"Article 101627"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147797846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}