Salt Water Interface in a Layered Coastal Aquifer

Abstract

The aim of this investigation was to determine the shape and the position of the interface between the seaward flowing fresh water and the underlying salt water in both the isotropic and nonhomogeneous and the anisotropic and nonhomogeneous coastal aquifers. A transformation for the nonharmonic anisotropic layer was introduced so that the governing equations and boundary conditions in the complex potential plane were satisfied. For the nonhomogeneous layers, the homogeneous mathematical models were superimposed under the same dynamical conditions. Solutions of the flow patterns and interface locations have been presented in dimensionless form. It was assumed that the aquifers were anisotropic or non‐homogeneous only in the two‐dimensional sense. From earlier studies it has been shown that the solutions obtained are valid for both the confined aquifer and the unconfined aquifer when the length of salt intrusion is greater than the depth of the aquifer.