Abstract: Climate change and human activities have caused profound changes in groundwater systems worldwide. Studying the spatiotemporal patterns and influencing factors of groundwater changes is of great significance for groundwater resource management and protection. Based on the water level depth data of 165 shallow groundwater monitoring wells in the Huaibei Plain of Anhui Province from 1974 to 2020, linear trend rate, Sen slope estimation, M-K test, and Kriging interpolation methods were used to analyze the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of groundwater depth. Kendall's rank correlation method was used to analyze the relationship between precipitation and groundwater depth, and GeoDetector was used to analyze the impact of precipitation changes on the spatial distribution of groundwater depth. The results show that from 1974 to 2020, the shallow groundwater depth in the study area shows an overall increasing trend, with an increase of 0.12 m per decade, due to the combined effects of the reduction of precipitation, the increase of mining output, and the change of underlying surface. The trend of shallow groundwater depth changes shows significant spatial differentiation, with both increases and decreases. Specifically, significant increases, non-significant increases, basic stability, non-significant decreases, and significant decreases account for 33.4%, 35.1%, 20.2%, 5.6%, and 5.7% of the area, respectively. The spatial distribution characteristics of shallow groundwater depth gradually decrease from northwest to southeast in the Huaibei Plain. Precipitation is the main driving factor affecting the spatiotemporal variation of shallow groundwater depth in the study area, and has a significant impact on the spatiotemporal variation of shallow groundwater depth, with a negative correlation between the two. The study reveals the spatial and temporal patterns, evolution trends, and the impact of precipitation on the shallow groundwater depth in the Huaibei Plain, providing a scientific basis for regional groundwater resource management and protection.
Keywords: groundwater depth; dynamic features; spatial differentiation; GeoDetector; Huaibei Plain