Shallow groundwater surrounding the Likeng landfill, Guangzhou, China - major ions and elements indicating the contamination sources.

An investigation of groundwater contamination around the Likeng landfill, Guangzhou, was carried out. Major ions and elements of 34 groundwater samples were measured, and the Piper trilinear diagram and expanded Durov diagram were used to analyze the chemical types and hydro-geochemical processes of the groundwater. End Member Mixing Analysis was used to find the types and sources of pollutants. The results show that the hydro-geochemical process was mainly mixing and ion exchange; the shallow groundwater around the Likeng landfill was contaminated mainly by both anthropogenic/agricultural sources and leachate pollution. There are different types of major ions, hydro-chemical processes and distributions for the two pollution sources.