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Water-Related Geoenvironmental Issues, 2nd Edition
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Water-Related Geoenvironmental Issues, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrogeology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2025 | Viewed by 5352

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Echuan Yan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Interests: geological disaster; underground water-sealed storage; rock cavern engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Ming Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Interests: landslide mechanisms; transport mechanisms of rock avalanche; remediation of groundwater and soil pollution; slope stability assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jingsen Cai

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Interests: slope engineering; heterogeneity characterization; data fusion and risk assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue collects articles from the research on fundamental and up-to-date scientific results concerning water-related geoenvironmental issues. Articles on topics associated with numerical modeling, spatiotemporal modeling, data fusion, and field investigations using hydrogeological approaches, geophysical approaches, geochemical approaches, and remote sensing are welcome. We also welcome studies associated with groundwater contamination transport and remediation, geothermal energy exchange, and geological disaster as well as environmental disaster evaluation and prevention. We especially encourage water-related geoenvironmental studies that solve multi-scale and interdisciplinary problems.

This Special Issue focuses on, but is not limited to, the following aspects:

  • Mechanisms of rainfall-induced landslides and debris flow;
  • Numerical modeling of instability processes;
  • Field and laboratory investigations of groundwater flow and stability;
  • Groundwater and soil contamination transport and remediation;
  • Rock and soil heterogeneity and its engineering applications;
  • Geological disaster prevention;
  • Underground engineering construction;
  • Geological disaster risk assessment;
  • Stability evaluation and utilization of rock and soil;
  • Geological environmental protection;
  • The stability of the surrounding rock systems of large underground water-sealed caverns;
  • Evaluation and design of underground water-sealed and energy-storage caverns;
  • Theoretical and experimental studies on the stability evaluation of complex slope rock masses;
  • Hydrological processes in hillslopes;
  • Sampling approaches for slope stability analyses.

Prof. Dr. Echuan Yan
Prof. Dr. Ming Zhang
Dr. Jingsen Cai
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • geological disaster
  • remediation of soil contamination
  • groundwater contamination
  • slope stability
  • underground water-sealed cavern
  • hydrological processes
  • sampling approaches
  • mechanisms
  • heterogeneity

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 8019 KiB  
Article
Migration and Transformation of Nitrogen in Clay-Rich Soil Under Shallow Groundwater Depth: In Situ Experiment and Numerical Simulation
by Jinting Huang, Qiu Lv, Zhan Yang, Fang Pu, Ge Song, Jiawei Wang, Zongze Li, Tuo Fang, Tian Huang, Fang Zhang and Fangqiang Sun
Water 2025, 17(3), 427; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17030427 - 3 Feb 2025
Viewed by 654
Abstract
Excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer in agricultural activities can easily induce nitrogen pollution in groundwater, which may deteriorate groundwater quality. Generally, nitrogen fertilizer passes through the unsaturated zone to groundwater. Therefore, it is of great significance to investigate the migration and transformation of [...] Read more.
Excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer in agricultural activities can easily induce nitrogen pollution in groundwater, which may deteriorate groundwater quality. Generally, nitrogen fertilizer passes through the unsaturated zone to groundwater. Therefore, it is of great significance to investigate the migration and transformation of nitrogen pollutants in unsaturated zones for the prevention and control of groundwater nitrogen pollution. Clay-rich soil is often considered a barrier layer to prevent pollutant leakage because of its lower relative permeability, while its prevention capacity is seldom reported under shallow groundwater table conditions. Motivated by this, an in situ experiment and numerical simulation were conducted to investigate the migration and transformation of nitrogen fertilizer in a clay-unsaturated zone with a shallow groundwater table. Systematic measurements and numerical simulation results revealed that nitrogen can pollute groundwater via the infiltration through clay-rich soil in the in situ experiment site. This finding clarified that the difference in hydraulic head under the shallow groundwater table, rather than soil permeability, is the dominant factor in controlling the downward migration of nitrogen pollutants in the clay-unsaturated zone. More importantly, the nitrogen migration is convection dominant during precipitation in this experiment, indicating nitrogen polluted groundwater much faster in humid climate areas. These findings suggest that nitrogen contaminates groundwater easily under shallow groundwater tables in humid climate areas, even with clay-rich soil texture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water-Related Geoenvironmental Issues, 2nd Edition)
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18 pages, 7811 KiB  
Article
Study on Slope Stability of Paleo-Clay Strength Degradation Under Soaking and Wet–Dry Cycles
by Qian Chen, Echuan Yan, Shaoping Huang, Nuo Chen, Hewei Xu and Fengyang Chen
Water 2025, 17(2), 172; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17020172 - 10 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 578
Abstract
Due to Paleo-clay’s unique properties and widespread distribution throughout China, it is essential in geotechnical engineering. Rainfall frequently causes the deformation of Paleo-clay slopes, making slope instability prediction crucial for disaster prevention. This study explored Paleo-clay’s strength degradation and slope stability under soaking [...] Read more.
Due to Paleo-clay’s unique properties and widespread distribution throughout China, it is essential in geotechnical engineering. Rainfall frequently causes the deformation of Paleo-clay slopes, making slope instability prediction crucial for disaster prevention. This study explored Paleo-clay’s strength degradation and slope stability under soaking and wet–dry cycles. Using Mohr–Coulomb failure envelopes from experiments, curve fitting was used to find the patterns of Paleo-clay strength degradation. Finite element simulations and the strength discounting method were used to analyze the stability and deformation of Paleo-clay slopes. The results indicate that wet–dry cycles impact them more than soaking. Paleo-clay’s cohesion decreases exponentially as the number of wet–dry cycles and soaking times rise, but the internal friction angle changes very little. After 10 wet–dry cycles and 24 days of soaking, iron-bearing clay’s cohesion decreased to 17% and 44% and reticular clay’s to 32% and 48%. Based on the study area characteristics, three slope types were constructed. Their stability exhibited exponential decay. Under soaking, stability remained above 1.4; under wet–dry cycles, type I and II stability fell below 1.0, leading to deformation and failure. All types showed traction landslides with sliding zones transitioning from deep to shallow. Practical engineering should focus on the shallow failures of Paleo-clay slopes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water-Related Geoenvironmental Issues, 2nd Edition)
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27 pages, 16009 KiB  
Article
Numerical Groundwater Model to Assess the Fate of Nitrates in the Coastal Aquifer of Arborea (Sardinia, Italy)
by Gerhard Schäfer, Manon Lincker, Antonio Sessini and Alberto Carletti
Water 2024, 16(19), 2729; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16192729 - 25 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1065
Abstract
The Arborea plain in Sardinia (Italy) is classified as a nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ). In the present study, the individual work steps that are necessary to progress from the existing 3D hydrogeological model to a 3D numerical groundwater model using the interactive finite-element [...] Read more.
The Arborea plain in Sardinia (Italy) is classified as a nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ). In the present study, the individual work steps that are necessary to progress from the existing 3D hydrogeological model to a 3D numerical groundwater model using the interactive finite-element simulation system FEFLOW 7.4 are shown. The results of the transient flow model highlight the influence of the drainage network on the overall groundwater management: the total water volume drained by the ditches accounted for approximately 58% of the annual outflow volume. The numerical transport simulations conducted from 2012 to 2020 using hypothetical field-based nitrate input scenarios globally underestimated the high concentrations that were observed in the NVZ. However, as observed in the field, the computed nitrate concentrations in December 2020 still varied strongly in space, from several mg L−1 to several hundreds of mg L−1. The origin of these remaining local hotspots is not yet known. The modeling of rainfall fluctuations under the influence of climate change revealed a general long-term decline in the groundwater level of several tens of centimeters in the long term and, in conjunction with a zero-nitrate scenario, led to a significant decrease in nitrate pollution. Although hotspots were attenuated, the concentrations at several monitoring wells still exceeded the limit value of 50 mg L−1. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water-Related Geoenvironmental Issues, 2nd Edition)
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21 pages, 4041 KiB  
Article
Application of Dynamic Programming Models for Improvement of Technological Approaches to Combat Negative Water Leakage in the Underground Space
by Sérgio Lousada, Svitlana Delehan and Andrii Khorolskyi
Water 2024, 16(14), 1952; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16141952 - 10 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1015
Abstract
The article solves an urgent problem, which is to develop a new approach to finding solutions to improve technological methods to combat negative water leakage in underround spaces. We propose the use of dynamic programming methods to select the optimal technology to secure [...] Read more.
The article solves an urgent problem, which is to develop a new approach to finding solutions to improve technological methods to combat negative water leakage in underround spaces. We propose the use of dynamic programming methods to select the optimal technology to secure such spaces. In accordance with the algorithm proposed in this paper, the problem was broken into a number of stages. At each stage, an optimal solution was sought (organisation of transport, delivery of materials to the destination, selection of materials, etc.). Thus, we applied a decomposition approach that allowed us to take into account the variety of parameters that affect the efficiency of the process. All these stages and their corresponding technological solutions were formalised by building network models. In these network models, vertices corresponded to solutions, and the distances between vertices (edges) corresponded to the value of the optimisation parameter. Thus, the shortest route from the initial to the final vertex corresponded to the optimal technological solution to combat negative water leakage in underground spaces. Based on the systematisation of data on technologies to combat water inflow into underground spaces, basic and refined models were developed. These models allowed us to take into account the risks associated with water breakthroughs into underground spaces. To minimise the risks, additional measures to combat water inflows are envisaged. In the practical part of this study, the results of the selection of a method with which to control water inflows are presented. This method involves the use of anchoring to reduce water filtration. According to the results of field observations, no water breakthroughs into the underground space were recorded. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water-Related Geoenvironmental Issues, 2nd Edition)
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24 pages, 7624 KiB  
Article
Application of Variable Weight Theory in the Suitability Evaluation of Regional Shallow Geothermal Energy Development
by Ruifeng Wang, Mingchuan Shi, Yanliang Zhai, Ke Zhu, Lei Zhao, Chenhui Liu, Guohong Yan and Zhiqiang Yin
Water 2024, 16(13), 1769; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16131769 - 21 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1369
Abstract
Blindly developing shallow geothermal energy (SGE) may lead to difficulties in reinjection, a low coefficient of performance (COP), and the waste of funds. In order to avoid these problems and improve development efficiency, it is necessary to scientifically conduct a development suitability evaluation [...] Read more.
Blindly developing shallow geothermal energy (SGE) may lead to difficulties in reinjection, a low coefficient of performance (COP), and the waste of funds. In order to avoid these problems and improve development efficiency, it is necessary to scientifically conduct a development suitability evaluation and classify the suitability levels before development. This article takes Chengde City, Hebei Province, China as an example and constructs an evaluation index system based on the analysis of regional basic conditions. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to calculate the constant weight. A Fuzzy C-means Clustering (FCM) analysis was used to determine the critical value of evaluation index classification and the interval threshold of variable weights. The parameters of the variable-weight model were calculated using the method of model backcalculation. Based on the constructed variable-weight model, the suitability of SGE development for groundwater sources in the study area was evaluated, and it was divided into five levels: most suitable area, suitable area, relatively suitable area, less suitable area, and unsuitable area. Through a verification analysis of engineering examples and a comparison with the evaluation results under traditional constant-weight models, it was found that the evaluation results based on variable weight theory have better data discreteness and a higher accuracy. Research has shown that variable-weight models can adjust the weight of each index based on its state value. Through this study, the accuracy of the suitability evaluation for regional SGE development can be improved. This can provide a certain reference for the suitability evaluation of SGE development in other regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water-Related Geoenvironmental Issues, 2nd Edition)
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