Luis Moreno-Merino

• PhD
• Senior Researcher at Instituto Geológico y Minero de España

Cape Welchness is an uncovered ice area on Dundee Island (north-east of the Antarctic Peninsula), mostly covered by Holocene-age glacial-glaciomarine deposits of up to 70 m in depth. In some areas, rocks from the Trinity Group and the Gustav Group outcrop. Syngenetic cryounits with an active layer development of 0.8 m and ice content ranging from 6...

Ice-free areas of the South Shetland Islands are within a region which has experienced the most rapid temperature rises in the Southern Hemisphere. The change in climatic conditions impacts the hydrological cycle, erosion processes, nutrient fluxes and sediment distribution and affects the surficial and groundwater flow interactions due to permafro...

This article presents Q-Facies, an open-source Python package for quantitative analysis of hydrochemical facies (HF). HF is widely used to interpret the chemical characteristics of groundwater. However, it is difficult to analyse its spatial or temporal variability due to its qualitative nature and the small number of classes. To avoid these limita...

Citation: de la Hera-Portillo, Á.; Chamizo-Borreguero, M.; Ghanem, M.; López-Gutiérrez, J.; Moreno-Merino, L.; Sánchez-Fabián, J.Á.; Salman, K.; Laftouhi, N.-E.; Fensham, R.; Mohammad, A.H.; et al. Advances in the Knowledge of Las Loras UNESCO Global Geopark in the Framework of the UNESCO IGCP-730 Project. Environ. Sci. Proc. 2023, 25, 75. https://...

This study assessed the human footprint on the chemical pollution of Antarctic waters by characterizing inorganic chemicals and selected organic anthropogenic contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in inland freshwater and coastal seawater and the associated ecotoxicological risk. Nicotine and tolytriazole, present in 74% and 89% of the samples an...

Las Loras UNESCO Global Geopark (UGGp) is geologically diverse, particularly in relation to water-derived features: springs, karst springs, travertine buildings, waterfalls, caves. In this work, the interactions between geology, geomorphology, structures and hydrogeology are analyzed. As a result of this study, a first conceptual model of the hydro...

Las Loras UNESCO Global Geopark (UGGp) is geologically diverse, particularly in relation to water-derived features: springs, karst springs, travertine buildings, waterfalls, caves. In this work, the interactions between geology, geomorphology, structures and hydrogeology are analyzed. These four components are the fundamentals of geodiversity and t...

Hydraulic conductivity (Ks ) is one of the most challenging, time-consuming, and expensive soil hydraulic properties to estimate. Pedotransfer functions (PTFs ) of general use for Ks estimation are often site and sample-scale specific and perform poorly when extrapolated to different regions and extents. The present work develops a stepwise methodo...

Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) mapping is an application tool in many fields of science, technology, and land management. Hydrologically, Ks is the main factor controlling aquifer recharge, but it is one of the more difficult hydraulic properties of the soil to predict. This work develops a novel methodology for topsoil Ks mapping at the cat...

Programa para el análisis de las facies hidroquímicas en el diagrama de Piper. Metodología cuantitativa incorporada en Python. Permite una mejora en la detección, análisis e interpretación de procesos hidroquímicos.

La aplicación de Q-Facies a la base de datos de análisis químicos de Reimann y Birke (2010) ha permitido estudiar las principales tendencias de consumo en referencia a la composición de las aguas embotelladas que se comercializan en los países europeos.

Video presentation of 'D-Piper', an open source software developed to enhance the study of large hydrochemical datasets.

The Piper diagram is the most widely used chart in groundwater hydrochemical studies to represent the chemical facies of a set of water samples. So far, most modifications of the original Piper diagram over time show a common problem: the Piper chart is not suitable for representing big data sets. When there are more than 40 or 50 analyses, the sym...

This study aimed to evaluate the presence of ultraviolet filters (UV-Fs), benzotriazoles, pyrethroids and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in freshwater and wastewater from the northern Antarctic Peninsula region. All water samples analyzed contained UV-Fs residues and high concentrations were detected in anthropogenic impacted sites (<...

Although Antarctica is protected and human activity is restricted exclusively to scientific research, with numerous restrictions on tourism, the steadily increasing human presence appears to be having a marked impact on terrestrial and aquatic, especially marine, ecosystems. Evidence of this excessive presence can be seen from the recent detection...

We use isotopic data to support the hydrogeologic conceptual model of a large plain hydrogeological system on the Gran Chaco Argentino

Stable isotopes 2 H and 18 O are commonly used in hydrological studies. The 2 H and 18 O content in water is expressed by the deviation í µí»¿, with respect to the standard V-SNOW of the isotopic relations 2 H/ 1 H and 18 O/ 16 O. • The δ 18 O vs. δ 2 H relation allows identifying the origin of groundwater recharge and/or isotopic enrichment proces...

The artificial lighting of caves adapted for touristic visits, leads to the appearance and propagation of a complex community of phototrophic organisms known as “lampenflora”. Formed mainly by algae and cyanobacteria, they produce the degradation of the colonized substrates and decrease the show value of the caves. This phenomenon became famous wor...

Los Bajos Submeridionales se sitúan al SE del Chaco Austral, en la planicie distal del mega-abanico aluvial del río Salado del Norte. Presentan una suave pendiente NO-SE que, interrumpen esteros, cañadas y lagunas en un paisaje modelado por la acción fluvio-eólica. El sistema es geológicamente complejo. Sus rasgos singulares condicionan la disponib...

Resumen Los Bajos Submeridionales se ubican al sureste del Chaco Austral, en la planicie distal del mega-abanico aluvial del río Salado del Norte. Presentan una suave pendiente NOSE , interrumpida por esteros, cañadas y lagunas en un paisaje modelado por la acción fluvio-eólica. El sistema es geológicamente complejo, influenciado por la geomorfolog...

Resumen Los Bajos Submeridionales abarcan una extensa región (54.280 km 2) en el Chaco Argentino. La precipitación media anual es 950 mm, con ciclos hidroclimáticos extremos entre 1600 mm/a y 400 mm/a y una ETP estimada en 1500 mm/a. Geomorfológicamente, se sitúan en el ambiente distal del mega-abanico del río Salado, presentan una suave pendiente...

Dune belts are crucial for the recharge of coastal aquifers. In spite of their hydrological relevance for the maintenance of precious natural wetland and wildlife environments and a range of other ecosystem services, only limited knowledge of soil water dynamics in dune belts is currently available. This study presents soil water balance components...

Resumen Los Bajos Submeridionales (BBSS) ocupan el mega-abanico aluvial distal del río Salado del Norte, afluente del río Paraná, que se extiende al este de las Sierras Subandinas, en la provincia geomorfológica del Gran Chaco Argentino. Los depósitos sedimentarios cenozoicos evidencian la evolución de numerosos procesos, como el desarrollo de las...

Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park (TDNP) is a Ramsar Mediterranean wetland area designated as Biosphere Reserve by Unesco. The whole system dried out during a long drought period in the past decade (2006-2009) and a smouldering peat fire took place in 2009. The physical and chemical properties of sediments were significantly disturbed by the fire...

using a cylinder under constant load. Results of f0 have been recalculated to obtain more plausible saturated hydraulic conductivity values (Kfs) with the method of Reynolds and Elrick (1990). Finally, a geostatistical analysis was applied to map the values of Kfs with simple kriging (Samper and Carrera, 1990). The quality of the resulting map has...

Human presence in the Antarctic is increasing due to research activities and the rise in tourism. These activities contribute a number of potentially hazardous substances. The aim of this study is to conduct the first characterisation of the pharmaceuticals and recreational drugs present in the northern Antarctic Peninsula region, and to assess the...

Wetlands supported by groundwater in semiarid regions are extremely vulnerable to the impacts of droughts, particularly anthropized systems. During drying periods, soilwater content arises as the controlling factor for environmental and ecological disturbances such as the spread of invasive plant species, the combustibility of organic soils, nutrie...

Recomendaciones, métodos y legislación acerca de las técnicas de muestreo, transporte y conservación de las aguas subterráneas, de la zona saturada y no saturada, destinadas al análisis químico y microbiológico. Queda fuera del alcance de esta obra el tratamiento y conservación de las muestras en los laboratorios de análisis. http://igmepublicacion...

The aim of this work is to establish the relationship between the geological and hydrogeological properties of the sediments that fill the area above the aquifer and its correspondence with the spatial distribution of flood and post-process the same drainage. In this context the present study is proposed as a first approximation to the hydraulic ch...

Pumping and tracer tests are common methods for the characterization of the aquifers used for supplying desalination plants. A case study is presented from Almeria in SE Spain in which the unexpected movement of fine sediment caused by continuous pumping and incomplete removal of the drilling mud in the boreholes makes it impossible to conduct and...

Groundwater contamination by nitrate is one of the several environmental problems that may be caused by the application of organic amendments to agricultural soils, and is a key issue in the European Union's environmental policy. The use of predictive tools such as flow and transport models for soluble forms could be helpful for preventing the risk...

Cape Lamb is the largest ice free area at Vega Island on the Weddell Sea, west of the Antarctic Peninsula. The area shows an interesting combination of different types of glacial and periglacial features. Pleistocene glaciations left two series of moraines parallel to the coast. The upper one exhibit interesting criokarst features, including a visi...

Many household batteries worldwide still end up in landfills or are incinerated due to inefficient collection and recycling schemes. Toxic heavy metals from improperly discarded button cells pose a serious risk to human health and the environment, as they can pollute air, soil and water. This paper analyses a series of button cells selected from ba...

It is widely recognized that the degree of development of a science is given by the transition from a mainly descriptive stage to a more quantitative stage. In this transition, qualitative interpretations (conceptual models) are complemented with quantification (numerical models, both, deterministic and stochastic). This has been the main task of m...

Los rapidos cambios climaticos ocurridos en la peninsula Antartica han reactivado procesos hidrogeologicos que han sido limitados o han estado inactivos durante un relativamente largo periodo de tiempo. Estos procesos se evidencian en las zonas descubiertas de hielo del norte de la peninsula Antartica, como en cabo Lamb, donde se desarrolla el sist...

Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park (TDNP) in Spain is one of the most important semiarid wetlands of the Mediterranean area. The inversion of the regional groundwater flow, primarily due to overexploitation and inadequate aquifer management, has led to degradation. The system has turned from a groundwater discharge zone into a recharge zone, and h...

Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park (PNTD) is one of the most representative Mediterranean wetlands in the Iberian Peninsula. It developed under semiarid climate by concentrating both surface water and groundwater contributions from a major part of the Upper Guadiana basin. Under natural conditions, the wetland system was maintained by groundwater...

Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park (PNTD) is one of the most representative Mediterranean wetlands in the Iberian Peninsula. It developed under semiarid climate by concentrating both surface water and groundwater contributions from a major part of the Upper Guadiana basin. Under natural conditions, the wetland system was maintained by groundwater...

The rapid changes that are taking place in the climate of the Antarctic Peninsula are triggering hydrological processes which had been limited or inactive for relatively long periods of time. These processes are evident in ice-free areas on the northern edge of the Antarctic Peninsula, such as Cape Lamb, and lead to intense draining of the surface...

Environmental changes in the northern Antarctic Peninsula provide a sensitive local indicator of climate warming. A consequence of these changes is the activation of surface and subsurface hydrological cycles in areas where water, in colder conditions, would remain frozen. This paper analyses the effects of hydrological cycle activation at Cape Lam...

El ecosistema hídrico del Parque Nacional de Las Tablas de Daimiel (PNTD) en régimen natural se sustentaba en las aportaciones de aguas de origen tanto superficial como subterráneo las cuales presentaban diferentes cualidades químicas. La alimentación más directa y visible provenía del río Cigüela (o Gigüela) que penetra en las Tablas por el N.E.,...

En este trabajo, resumen de otro más amplio (Aguilera et al., 2013), se analizan las interacciones entre los dos componentes esenciales del ciclo hídrico del sistema del PNTD, proporcionando evidencias empíricas para definir un modelo conceptual de la interrelación entre inundación-infiltración-dinámica subterránea mediante la aplicación de un anál...

Las aguas subterráneas han sido un componente vital del funcionamiento geológico, hídrico y ecológico de las zonas húmedas en el sector del actual Parque Nacional de Las Tablas de Daimiel (PNTD). Su ausencia como entrada del balance hídrico, a partir de la década de 1980, originó un progresivo deterioro del humedal, que ha supuesto prácticamente su...

Gran parte de las actuaciones directas que ha realizado el hombre en el último medio siglo en el Parque Nacional de las Tablas de Daimiel ha tenido como objetivo el medio hídrico, en un principio para desecar el humedal y posteriormente para mantenerlo inundado. Estas obras hidráulicas han afectado considerablemente al medio hídrico del entorno, ta...

La desecación del humedal del PNTD es sin duda la consecuencia más relevante del continuado descenso de los niveles piezométricos, provocados por el excesivo bombeo del agua subterránea en el acuífero de la Mancha Occidental. Sin embargo, existen otros efectos inmediatos que, aunque ocultos a la observación directa, modifican gravemente el esquema...

Alicante, 24-26 abril 2012 © Instituto Geológico y Minero de España. NOTA: Las opiniones expresadas en este texto son exclusiva responsabilidad de su autor y pueden no reflejar la postura oficial de la Comisión Europea. RESUMEN Con el objeto de conocer el comportamiento hidrodinámico de un acuífero costero semiconfinado, sometido a bombeo, se ha re...

This article analyses the hydrogeochemical processes, linked to the freshwater–seawater mixing zone, which can be caused by continuous pumping from a detrital coastal aquifer. It was necessary to construct an experimental plot, drilling three boreholes along a line perpendicular to the coast. A complete physico-chemical analysis was done of all wat...

The 2005-2009 period was very dry in the area and the water inputs were scarce. For a long time, treated wastewater spilled to a ditch was the only input in the northern area of the Park. This water was sampled in the spring of 2008 along the ditch, in order to characterize the evaporative process by means of stable water isotopes.

Desde mediados de la década de 1970, la explotación intensiva del acuífero que alimentaba el humedal del Parque Nacional de Las Tablas de Daimiel produjo un paulatino secado al cesar la aportación de agua subterránea. Para evitarlo, se realizó un conjunto de actuaciones drásticas que cambiaron el régimen hídrico, con lo que el Parque Nacional es ac...

A multivariate analysis approach has been developed in order to explain the observed variability in soil chemistry at Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park (TDNP). Either natural or anthropogenic alterations of the amount or distribution of these chemicals may have severe consequences not only on the Tablas ecosystem itself, but also downstream the w...

Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park (TDNP), recognized as both Biosphere reserve by UNESCO and Ramsar site, is one of the last representatives in the Iberian Peninsula of Mediterranean wetlands linked to groundwater dynamics. It constitutes an outstanding flora and fauna reserve. The inappropriate agricultural management of the groundwater resource...

A conceptual framework is defined to establish safeguard zones in groundwater bodies intended for drinking water according to the requirements of the Water Framework Directive. For this, the foundations of a three-phase methodology within a dynamic process are proposed. The results of the first two phases are presented, which contemplate the distri...

This article describes how is the Loma de Úbeda carbonated deep aquifer hydrogeological model. particularly the hydrogeochemical characteristics and the isotopic evolution along the major flow paths. This aquifer has a phreatic zone where the recharge is produced. There is a deep confined zone where redox processes and cation exchange are produced...

The inversion of the hydraulic gradient, primarily due to overexploitation and inadequate hydraulic management of the Western La Mancha carbonated aquifer, has led to the desiccation of the Tablas de Daimiel National Park (TDNP). As a consequence, a permanent unsaturated zone (UZ) has appeared beneath the former wetland area, making the carbonated...

Estimación del tiempo de tránsito en un acuífero detrítico costero sometido a bombeo, delta del río Andarax (Almería) Estimation of the transit time in a coastal detrital aquifer maintaining continuous pumping, Andarax river delta (Almeria) ABSTRACT It has been carried out the analysis of physicochemical parameters of samples taken in a pumping wel...

A monitoring network ir cluding 19 control points for surface-water and groundwater and two collectors for atmospheric bulk deposition (wet and dry) were established in the area of the Tablas de Daim1el National Park. Chloride and bromide contents in these samples were determined and the concentration ratios of these anions (CI /Br ratio) were anal...

Soil most relevant physical properties are described: bulk density, porosity, hydraulic conductivity at saturation, infiltration capacity, moisture retention curves, wetting rate and soil water repellency of five soil functional types described in the Tablas de Daimiel National Park. Results show high infiltration capacities under field conditions...

The intensive exploitation of the "Mancha occidental" aquifer has caused that groundwater discharge in the Tablas de Daimiel area has been decreasing since the 1980's decade until they completely stopped. This fact has favoured the progressive development of an unsaturated zone which had not existed before and a full inversion in the water flux dir...

The Tablas de Daimiel National Park is located at the end of both a 15,000 km2 surface catchment and a 5,000 km2 groundwater one, the "Mancha occidental" aquifer. The intensive exploitation of this aquifer has caused that groundwater discharge in the Tablas de Daimiel area has been decreasing since the 1980's decade until they completely stopped. T...

This work is included in a multidisciplinary project that studies the environmental and health impact of the application of sewage sludge on agricultural lands. A model for flow and pollutant transport is necessary to asses the possible affection to groundwater in the experimental area, which is located in a agricultural land in Arganda del Rey (Ma...

The intensive exploitation of the “Mancha occidental” aquifer has caused that groundwater discharge in the Tablas de Daimiel area has been decreasing since the 1980’s decade until they completely stopped. This fact has favoured the progressive development of an unsaturated zone which had not existed before and a full inversion in the water flux dir...

The intensive exploitation of the West La Mancha aquifer has caused a decrease in groundwater discharge in the Tablas de Daimiel area since the 1970’s until they completely stopped. This fact has favoured the progressive development of an unsaturated zone, which did not exist before, and a full inversion in the water flux direction, as drainage zon...

Over a period of 4 years and 4 months, the geopurification installations at Dehesas de Guadix (Granada, Spain) were monitored to determine the impact on soil and groundwater of the controlled discharge of urban wastewater, and also to identify the best indicators of the entry of the recharged water into the aquifer. The installations are located in...

The paper revised the relations between the surface water of the Arlanzón river and the aquifers of the town, and the chemical compositions of their waters is studied. We also established the potential and real pollution of their waters, and which of the urban human activities affects to the quality waters. And more, in this work it is studied the...

Las Tablas de Daimiel constituyen una zona húmeda singular desde muchos puntos de vista. Uno de ellos es el hidrológico ya que recibía aportes superficiales salobres, descargas subterráneas dulces del acuífero de la Mancha occidental a través del río Guadiana y manantiales situados dentro del propio espacio natural. El gran volumen de agua extraída...

La interacción entre el medio urbano o sus actividades y los acuíferos subyacentes es extremadamente compleja por la gran cantidad de aspectos implicados (geológicos, hidrológicos, geotécnicos, socioeconómicos, políticos, etc.). La caracterización de dicha situación puede resultar más compleja cuando la ciudad se sitúa en un acuífero en el que se p...

Debido a la explotación intensiva del acuífero de la Mancha occidental, su principal fuente de agua, Las Tablas de Daimiel ha pasado a ser una zona de recarga, por lo que cualquier recurso hídrico del Parque Nacional tenderá a infiltrarse y a perderse desde las zonas encharcadas. Se ha producido también una inversión del flujo subterráneo en la ver...

Las Tablas de Daimiel constituyen una zona húmeda singular desde muchos puntos de vista. Uno de ellos es el hidrológico ya que recibía aportes superficiales salobres, descargas subterráneas dulces del acuífero de la Mancha occidental a través del río Guadiana y manantiales situados dentro del propio espacio natural. El gran volumen de agua extraída...

Debido a la explotación intensiva del acuífero de la Mancha occidental, su principal fuente de agua, Las Tablas de Daimiel ha pasado a ser una zona de recarga, por lo que cualquier recurso hídrico del Parque Nacional tenderá a infiltrarse y a perderse desde las zonas encharcadas. Se ha producido también una inversión del flujo subterráneo en la ver...

La interacción entre el medio urbano o sus actividades y los acuíferos subyacentes es extremadamente compleja por la gran cantidad de aspectos implicados (geológicos, hidrológicos, geotécnicos, socioeconómicos, políticos, etc.). La caracterización de dicha situación puede resultar más compleja cuando la ciudad se sitúa en un acuífero en el que se p...

Soil solution composition depends on the solid phase properties of soils. Therefore it is necessary to determine how soil and solution interact in order to understand the processes that influence ecosystems, such as plant nutrition or the movement of contaminants in soils. As the product of many interrelated factors, these interactions are very com...

In this paper influence of some pH conditions and rock texture on the capacity of arsenic lixiviation from the materials of the Carlés granitic skarn metamorphic aureole has been estimated. So 6 samples with different arsenic content belonging to igneous and aureole materials with different alteration conditions and grain sizes have been selected a...