Geochemistry of the northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system

Abstract

Sediments of the northern Atlantic Coastal Plain comprise a complex multiaquifer flow system. On a large scale (greater than 500 square miles) ground water in this system evolves from predominantly calcium magnesium bicarbonate water with a low dissolved-solids content and low pH, near outcrop-recharge areas, to predominantly sodium bicarbonate water with a high-dissolved solids content and high pH, downgradient. This sodium bicarbonate water then grades into a sodium chloride water. This large-scale predictable progression of hydrochemical facies results from the summation of many smaller scale geochemical processes that chiefly depend on the sedimentary depositional environments of the aquifers.