Delineating the mechanisms controlling groundwater salinization using chemo-isotopic data and meta-heuristic...

This study employed meta-heuristic clustering algorithms to determine the source and mechanism of groundwater salinization in Quebec's Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (SLSJ) region, utilizing hydrogeochemical (38 inorganic constituents, including minor, major, and trace elements) and isotopic data (δ¹⁸O and δ²H). A total of 382 groundwater and precipitation samples were examined. Among the meta-heuristic algorithms, Artificial Bee Colony K-Means (ABCKM), Differential Evolution K-Means (DEKM), Harmony Search K-Means (HSKM), Particle Swarm Optimization K-Means (PSOKM), and Genetic K-Means (GKM) were used and investigated, and finally, PSOKM displayed superior performance and was chosen for further investigation. Analysis of diverse plots and hydrogeochemical modeling unveiled the impact of the Laflamme Sea invasion on groundwater chemistry. PSOKM1, PSOKM4, and PSOKM5 exhibited notable carbonate and silicate dissolution, with PSOKM4 demonstrating predominant carbonate dissolution. Cation exchange was identified through binary plots and Chloro Alkaline Index (CAI), with reverse cation exchange predominantly observed in most PSOKM4 samples, while positive values suggested direct cation exchange in other clusters. Spatial dynamics analysis using HFE-D indicated that salinization occurs as groundwater flows through crystalline bedrock aquifers, resulting in a transition from HCO₃^- dominance in PSOKM4 to Cl^- dominance in the remaining clusters. Interaction between groundwater and rock along this path facilitated a transformation towards a Na-Cl end-member. The closely aligned stable isotopes with the Global Meteoric Water Line (GMWL) indicated a blend of meteoric water and seawater as the groundwater source.