Groundwater recharge and flow dynamics in the deep Upper Muschelkalk (southwest Germany)

摘要

The Upper Muschelkalk of southwest Germany bears different mineral thermal waters. A conceptual model for recharge processes and flow dynamics is developed based on hydraulic, isotopic and noble gas data. According to this model, the Muschelkalk groundwaters in the western and eastern foreland of the Swabian Alb are of different age and were recharged during different paleo-climatic conditions. The deep groundwaters in the western flow regime contain a component recharged as the climate warmed at the end of the last glacial period (less than 18,000 years ago) when a major replenishment of the groundwater resources began throughout the Muschelkalk outcrop. Groundwaters in the eastern area are in general, significantly older. In addition to components from cooler periods, they contain components probably formed during an interglacial stage (Eem?). The temporal structure of the recharge conditions and recharge areas derived from the groundwater analyses fit well with the hydraulic flow field between the areas of infiltration and exfiltration.