A statistical approach based on a multivariate correlation Of various
hydrochemical parameters has been developed for the interpretation of
groundwater how lines of the Vasilikon basin in the southern part of t
he central area of Euboea island in Greece. Water samples, mainly from
wells but also from boreholes, were collected and analysed for 44 hyd
rochemical parameters, from which the conductivity, dissolved O-2, Ca,
Mg, chloride, acid-consuming capacity, base-consuming capacity, Si, F
e and As were selected for the evaluation. After normalization of each
parameter by z-transformation - to equalize the influence of paramete
rs with small and large variations - a classification of the sampling
stations was obtained by cluster analysis. By the use of the same z-tr
ansformed data the degree of similarity of element-concentration (z-tr
ansformed) profiles between the central sampling points and the surrou
nding sampling points was investigated. The resulting radially distrib
uted correlation vectors were reduced to the main axis of an ellipse,
so that flow lines or trend of groundwater movements became visible. T
he results of this method were also compared with hydrogeological obse
rvations of the Vasilikon basin.