Assessment of seawater intrusion to the agricultural sustainability at the coastal area of Carey Island, Selangor, Malaysia
Groundwater suitability for agriculture in an is�land with limited recharge area may easily be influenced by seawater intrusion. The aim of this study was to investigate seawater intrusion to the suitability of the groundwater for oil palm cultivation at the ex-promontory land of Carey Island in...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/7992/ http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/7992/1/J3623_73073d76921f414ce5d986cef83838f3.pdf |
| Summary: | Groundwater suitability for agriculture in an is�land with limited recharge area may easily be influenced by
seawater intrusion. The aim of this study was to investigate
seawater intrusion to the suitability of the groundwater for
oil palm cultivation at the ex-promontory land of Carey
Island in Malaysia. This is the first study that used the
integrated method of geo-electrical resistivity and hydro�geochemical methods to investigate seawater intrusion to
the suitability of groundwater for oil palm cultivation at
two different land cover condition. The relationship between
earth resistivity, total dissolved solids and earth conductivity
was derived with crop suitability classification according to
salinity, used to identify water types and also oil palm
tolerance to salinity. Results from the contour conductivity
maps show that area facing severe coastal erosion and area
still intact with mangrove forest exhibits unsuitable ground�water condition for oil palm at the unconfined aquifer thick�ness of 15 and 31 m, respectively. Based on local sea-level
rise prediction and Ghyben–Herzberg assumption (sharp
interface), the condition in the study area, especially in
severe erosion area, by the twenty-first century will no
longer be suitable for oil palm plantation. The application
of geo-electrical method combined with geochemical data,
aided with the information on environmental history and oil
palm physiography, has demonstrated that the integration of
techniques is an effective tool in defining the status of
agricultural suitability affected by salinity at the coastal
aquifer area. |
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