Review: Deep groundwater research with focus on Germany

While research focuses mainly on the intensively used shallower aquifers, only a little research has addressed groundwater movement in deeper aquifers. This is mainly because of the negligible relevance of deep groundwater for daily usage and the great efforts and high costs associated with its acce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrogeology journal 2012-03, Vol.20 (2), p.227-243
Main Authors: Hebig, K. H., Ito, N., Scheytt, T., Marui, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropogenic factors
Aquatic Pollution
Aquifers
Carbon dioxide
Drinking water
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Geology
Geophysics/Geodesy
Geothermal energy
Groundwater flow
Hydrogeology
Hydrology
Hydrology/Water Resources
Radioactive wastes
Waste Water Technology
Water Management
Water Pollution Control
Water Quality/Water Pollution
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Summary:While research focuses mainly on the intensively used shallower aquifers, only a little research has addressed groundwater movement in deeper aquifers. This is mainly because of the negligible relevance of deep groundwater for daily usage and the great efforts and high costs associated with its access. In the last few decades, the discussion about deep geological final repositories for radioactive waste has generated strong demand for the investigation and characterization of deep-lying aquifers. Other utilizations of the deeper underground have been added to the discussion: the use of geothermal energy, potential CO 2 storage, and sources of potable water as an alternative to the geogenic or anthropogenic contaminated shallow aquifers. As a consequence, the fast growing requirement for knowledge and understanding of these dynamic systems has spurred the research on deep groundwater systems and accordingly the development of suitable test methods, which currently show considerable limitations. This review provides an overview of the history of deep groundwater research. Deep groundwater flow and research in the main hydrogeological units is presented based on six projects and the methods used. The study focuses on Germany and two other locations in Europe.
ISSN:1431-2174
1435-0157
DOI:10.1007/s10040-011-0815-1