摘要：Understanding the hydro-chemical variation of groundwater is important for water usage in the coal mines.In this study, twenty-one and eleven samples have been collected from the coal bearing and limestoneaquifer systems, respectively in a coal mine in northern Anhui Province, China. And their major ionconcentrations have been analysed by statistical methods including correlation, factor and cluster analysis.The results indicate that the hydro-chemical characteristics of the groundwater samples from these twoaquifer systems are different, the groundwater samples from the coal bearing and limestone aquifer systemsare dominated by Na-HCO3 and Ca-HCO3 types, respectively. Correlation and factor analysis, as well astraditional hydro-chemical methods indicate that dissolution of evaporates and carbonates, as well asweathering of silicates are contributors for the chemical variations of the groundwater samples. In combinationwith traditional methods, the study demonstrated that statistical analyses are useful tools for understandingthe hydro-chemical variation of groundwater.
