Groundbased TEM Survey in the Subsiding Mekong Delta

The Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam is struggling with intensive use of the groundwater due to intensive irrigation of multicycle rice cultivation and aquaculture in the coastal zone. This has led to groundwater overexploitation and salt water intrusion of the fresh groundwater resources from the coast inwards. However, the picture in this enormous delta is much more complex with many of the groundwater resources still containing residual saline groundwater from previous transgressions. Furthermore, the lowered water table has led to high subsidence rates since the early 1990’s. At present, the condition of the Mekong Delta groundwater system is poorly understood, mainly described by boreholes explaining about geology and salinity, with only few geophysical surveys to connect the geological observations. In this abstract we present the first results from a groundbased TEM survey. We have mapped a large, very conductive area, with depth of investigation reaching down to -200 m. The results can feed into geological and hydrogeological models of the area and provide a better understanding of the connection between groundwater resources.