Assessment of major element hydrogeochemistry and agricultural contamination of groundwater in the coastal plain of Gimje, midwestern South Korea

The importance of groundwater in coastal plain areas is gradually increasing; however, the understanding of agricultural contamination and the hydrogeochemical processes controlling the major elemental characteristics of groundwater in these areas is still insufficient. We here examined the effects of well depth, seasonal variation, terrain characteristics, and land-use on major element hydrogeochemistry for 103 wells of surficial and bedrock aquifers in an extensive agricultural plain in the mid-western part of South Korea. We found that 81