Partially Penetrating Lake-Aquifer Interaction in a Laboratory-scale Tidal Setting

Abstract

Freshwater lakes close to the coast are important ecotones with strong functional dependency on ocean forces. Tides are likely to create dynamic lake-groundwater interactions, which have not been previously assessed for partially penetrating lakes. This study investigates tidal lake-groundwater interaction in a laboratory-scale aquifer cross-section with and without the existence of a partially penetrating lake. The experimental observations were reproduced by numerical models to allow for an in-depth evaluation of the experiments beyond those provided by direct measurements.