Chemical composition of groundwater and its controlling factors in the Liuzhuang coal mine, Northern Anhui Province, China

Abstract Identification of the hydrochemical characteristics of the groundwater system in the mining area and the controlling factors of the water chemical components is necessary to protect groundwater resources. In this study, 80 sets of groundwater samples were collected from three aquifers of the Liuzhuang coal mine (Northern Anhui Province, China), and a total of eight indicators were selected for quantitative analysis of the chemical components of water. Conventional mathematical and statistical methods and Piper trilinear diagrams show that the cations in the groundwater samples of the mine area are mainly K+ + Na+ (92.4%), while the anions in the Cenozoic and Carboniferous aquifers are mainly Cl−, reaching 57.2 and 55.2%, respectively, and the anions in the Permian aquifer are mainly HCO3- (52.6%). Most of the water chemistry types are Cl-Na, HCO3-Na, and HCO3-Cl-Na. Analysis on the basis of Gibbs plot showed that the aquifer system in the mine area is primarily controlled by the water–rock interaction. The results of ion ratio analysis, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis showed that the dissolution of hydrochloric acid and alternate cation adsorption is more prominent in the Cenozoic and Carboniferous aquifers, while desulfurization is more significant in the Permian aquifer.