Salinity evolution of aquitard porewater associated with transgression and regression in the coastal plain of Eastern China

Aquitards can preserve paleo-saltwater and have a long and profound influence on the aquifer groundwater, yet they have received less attention. Here, five one-dimensional vertical profiles of the natural tracers, Cl−, Br−, δ2H, and δ18O of aquitard porewater were measured and combined with eight existing profiles collected from previous studies in three Eastern China coastal plains, Bohai bay, Laizhou bay, and Jiangsu coastal plain, to show the salinity origin and the timescale of the transport of porewater across aquitards since the mid-Holocene. Evidence of paleo-seawater impacted by Holocene transgression is noticed as peak Cl− concentration, enriched water isotopes, and lower Cl/Br ratios are observed in the porewater at about the bottom depth of Holocene of 25 m. The shape of Cl− profiles and associated 1-D transport models confirms Holocene seawater's presence in the sediment and the alternating transgression and regression control the salinity evolution of coastal aquitard porewater. Diffusion is the dominant transport across aquitard with an upward velocity between 0.03 and 0.6 mm/yr. Reverse advective flow has affected the solute transport in areas of extensive pumping. Anthropogenic activities enhance the leaching of salty porewater into aquifers in coastal areas, necessitating the need for research focused on marine aquitard salty water.