Program Overview

Program Details

The program in Hydrogeochemistry and groundwater protection is a comprehensive course that covers the basic principles of hydrogeochemistry, formation of natural water composition, and the chemical composition of natural waters.

Course Description

The course description includes the following topics:

• Basic principles of hydrogeochemistry: formation of natural water composition, precipitation, surface and groundwater; physical and chemical properties, isotope composition; thermodynamic equilibrium in water solutions.
• Dissolution of gases, liquids and solids in water, fractionation, diffusion and osmosis, vapour pressure, dissolution of electrolytes, chemical kinetics and equilibrium.
• Carbonate equilibrium, stability of primary silicates and weathering products, redox reactions, and basic chemistry of colloids, ionic exchange, adsorption.
• Chemical composition of natural waters, including gases, main ions, biogenic substances, microelements, and organic matter.
• Natural radioactive and stable isotopes in soils, surface and ground waters, including isotopes of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulphur, and nitrogen.
• Water-soil-rock interaction, reactions in unsaturated and saturated zones of aquifers, and influence of salinization.
• Fundamentals of geochemical modeling of processes in natural waters, including speciation models, mass balance models, and reaction-path models.
• Groundwater protection, including natural and anthropogenic sources of contamination, types of contamination, and behavior in the underground.
• Aspects of alluvial and karst aquifer protection, geochemical aspects of groundwater protection, and simulation of contaminant behavior by geochemical modeling.
• Basic principles of contaminant transport modeling, analytical and numerical models, and their application.
• Groundwater protection and management, including monitoring of water quantity and quality, vulnerability mapping, mapping and classification of hazards, risk assessment, and GIS application.

Course Details

• Code: 44117
• ECTS: 5.0
• Lecturers in charge: prof. dr. sc. Sanja Kapelj
• Lecturers: prof. dr. sc. Sanja Kapelj (Practicum)
• Take exam: Studomat
• Load:
  • Lectures: 30 academic hours
  • Practicum: 15 academic hours
  • Note: Load is given in academic hours (1 academic hour = 45 minutes)

Learning Outcomes

The learning outcomes of this course include:

• Awareness of the applications and responsibilities of Geology and its role in society, including environmental aspects.
• Ability to integrate field and laboratory evidence with theory, following the sequence from observation to recognition, synthesis, and modeling.
• Ability to conduct appropriate experiments, analyze and interpret data, and draw conclusions.
• Basic ability to prepare, process, interpret, and present data using appropriate qualitative and quantitative techniques and packages.

Literature

The recommended literature for this course includes:

• Appelo, C.A.J. & D. Postma (1994): Geochemistry, groundwater and pollution. Balkema, Rotterdam.
• Levai, E. (1997): Osnove geokemije voda. Sveuilite u Zagrebu, Geotehniki fakultet Varadin, 232 str.
• Mayer, D. (1993): Kvaliteta i zatita podzemnih voda. Hrvasko drutvo za zatitu voda i mora. 146 p., Zagreb.
• Parkhurst, D.L. (1995): PHREEQC- computer program for speciation, reaction-path, advective-transport and inverse geochemical calculations. Water-Resources Investigations Report, USGS, Lakewood, Colorado.
• Plummer, L.N., Prestemon, E.C. & D.L. Parkhurst (1994): An interactive code (NETPATH) for modelling net geochemical reactions along flow path, Version 2.0. USGS Water-Resources Investigation Report, Reston, Virginia
• Biondi, B, Bakalowitz, M, Zwalen, F., Almeida, O., Hoetzl, H. (1995): Hydrogeological aspects of groundwater protection in karstic area. EU COST ACTION 65, Project, EU, Bruxelles
• Fritz.P. & Fontes, J.C. eds. (1980): Handbook of Environmental Isotope Geochemistry. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
• IAEA (1983): Guidebook on Nuclear Techniques in Hydrology, Techical report series No. 91, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna.
• Soliman, M.M., La Moreaux, P.E., Memon,B.A., Assaad, F.A., La Moreaux, J.W.(1998): Environmental Hydrogeology, Lewis Publishers, 386 str.
• Vrba J. & Zaporozec, A. (ed)(1994): Guidebook on Mapping GroundwaterVulnerability. Vol. 16/1994, IAH, Verlag Hinz Heise, Hannover.
• Zwahlen, F. (ed.)(2004): Vulnerability and risk mapping for the protection of carbonate (karst) aquifers. Final report COST Action 620. European Commision - Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg.

Semester Information

• 1. semester: Izborni kolegiji za Geologiju zatite okolia (zimski semestar) - Regular study - Environmental Geology
• 3. semester: Izborni kolegiji za Geologiju zatite okolia (zimski semestar) - Regular study - Environmental Geology