Groundwater flow reversal between small water bodies and their adjoining aquifers: A numerical experiment

Abstract

The countless kettle holes in the Late Pleistocene landscapes of Northern Europe are hotspots for biodiversity and biogeochemical processes. As a rule, they are hydraulically connected to the shallow groundwater system. The rapid, intensive turnover of carbon, nutrients and pollutants in the kettle holes therefore has a major impact on the quality of the shallow groundwater downstream. As a result of high-evapotranspiration rates from their riparian vegetation or strong storm events, the process of downstream groundwater flow may stagnate and reverse back towards the kettle hole, making interactions between the groundwater and kettle hole more complex. Furthermore, the highly heterogeneous soil landscape in the catchment contributes to this complexity. Therefore, the present study aims to enhance our understanding of this complicated interaction. To this end, 24 model variants were integrated into HydroGeoSphere, capturing a wide range of uncertainties in quantifying the extent and timing of groundwater flow reversal between a kettle hole and the adjacent aquifer. The findings revealed that the groundwater flow reversal lasted between 1 month and 19 years at most and occurred in a distance of more than 140 m downstream of the kettle hole. Our results demonstrated that the groundwater flow reversal arises especially often in areas where the shallow aquifer possesses low-hydraulic conductivity. There may also be a recurrent circulating flow between the groundwater and kettle hole, resulting in solute turnover within the kettle hole. This holds particularly true in dry periods with medium to low-water levels within the kettle hole and a negative water balance. However, shallow groundwater flow reversals are not necessarily a consequence of seasonal effects. In this respect, the properties of the local shallow aquifer by far outweigh the effect of the kettle hole location in the regional flow regime.