Abstract
The Meghna river basin in the eastern parts of Bangladesh is regarded as one of the most enriched groundwater systems of South Asia. The river, together with Ganges and Brahmaputra, forms the largest fluvio-deltaic system of the world. The fluvial depositional processes have resulted in the formation of the confined to semi-confined, multilayered aquifer system of the area, with groundwater composition ranging between Ca–HCO3–Ca–Na–HCO3 and Mg–Ca–Cl hydrochemical facies. The highly As-polluted groundwater chemistry is characterized by reducing postoxic environments and being dominated by metal-/metalloid-reducing processes in the presence of abundant organic matter in the abandoned channels of the Meghna floodplains. The various redox-sensitive solutes are found to be coexisting, suggesting partial redox equilibrium condition with overlapping redox zones. The reductively dissolved As, after being liberated from its source minerals, tends to remain in solution because of the complex interplay among the redox-sensitive hydrogeochemical processes.
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Mukherjee, A., Bhattacharya, P., Ahmed, K.M. (2018). Groundwater Quality of Meghna River Basin Aquifers. In: Mukherjee, A. (eds) Groundwater of South Asia. Springer Hydrogeology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3889-1_19
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