Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana Volumen 73, núm. 1, A160820, 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2021v73n1a160820

Caracterización espacio-temporal de la distribución del arsénico en un acuífero kárstico en el sur del Estado de México

Spatio-temporal characterization of arsenic distribution in a karst aquifer in the south of the State of Mexico

Humberto Burgos^1,*, Jaime Gárfias¹, Richard Martel², Javier Salas-García³

¹Instituto Interamericano de Tecnología y Ciencias del Agua (IITCA). Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, 50295, Toluca, Edo. México, México.

²Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS-ETE), 490 Rue de la Couronne, Québec G1K 9A9, Canadá.

³Facultad de Ingeniería (FI-UAEM), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, 50100, Toluca, Edo. México, México.

* Autor para correspondencia: (H. Burgos) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

How to cite this article:

Burgos, H., Gárfias, J., Martel, R., Salas-García, J., 2021, Caracterización espacio-temporal de la distribución del arsénico en un acuífero kárstico en el sur del Estado de México: Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana, 73 (1), A160820. http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2021v73n1a160820

ABSTRACT

Diversity of anthropogenic, geological and climatic factors are related to the conformation of the physicochemical properties of groundwater in a specific area, which should be studied using appropriate approaches. To achieve this, the main objective of this research was aimed at assessing the current situation of the resource emphasizing the individualization of the main factors that determine its temporal-space evolution in the municipalities of Ixtapan de la Sal and Tonatico. The methodological approach used consisted of a combination of hydrochemical, multivariate statistical and geostatistical analysis techniques, applied to the physicochemical parameters measured in thermal, non-thermal, surface sources and wells. For 2015 and 2019, the results show that two types of water predominate: Ca²⁺-HCO₃^- and Na⁺-Cl^-. A third group, Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-Cl^-, evidences mixing processes between thermal and non-thermal waters. Additionally, the dissolution of halite, carbonate minerals (dolomite and calcite) and magnesium sulfate is predominant in the majority ionic conformation. Principal components analysis confirms two important processes: (1) salinity and (2) alkalinity, related to geogenic and anthropogenic factors. The geostatistical modeling, carried out by ordinary kriging, shows that water quality decreases in a south-west to north-east direction, involving arsenic as the main quality limitation factor. It can be concluded that a combined approach, which includes hydrochemical analysis and statistical techniques, offers a viable alternative for the study of the physicochemical evolution of groundwater, the implementation of which can be extrapolated to aquifers of a similar nature.

Keywords: Geostatistics, Principal Components Analysis, Arsenic, Hydrogeochemistry, Ixtapan de la Sal, Tonatico.