Jordan faces a sincere water crisis. Groundwater is the major water resource in Jordan and most of the ground water systems are already exploited beyond their estimated safe yield. The Amman Zarqa Basin is one of the most important groundwater systems in Jordan, which supplies the three largest cities in Jordan with drinking and irrigation water. Based on new data the groundwater drawdown in the Amman Zarqa Basin is studied. This basin is the most used drainage area in Jordan. Groundwater drawdown in eight central representative monitoring wells is outlined. Based on almost continuous data for the last 15 years (2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) an average drawdown for the whole basin in the order of 1.1 m·a −1 is calculated. This result is in accordance with results of previous studies in other areas in Jordan and shows that, until now, no sustainable water management is applied. Groundwater management in such a basin presents a challenge for water managers and OPEN ACCESSResources 2015, 4 820 experts. The applicability of satellite data for estimating large-scale groundwater over exploitation, such as gravity products of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission, along with supplementary data, is discussed. Although the size of the basin is below the minimum resolution of GRACE, the data generally support the measured drawdown.

Thermal conductivity and mineral composition of flood basalt in Al Hashimiyya city were correlated. Representative thin sections were optically analyzed for their mineral constituents and micro fractures. Findings of this study will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the correlation between selected petrological characteristics of basalts and their heat conduction properties. It found that a 10% increase of opaque and ferromagnesian minerals volume in the studied basalts leads to a thermal conductivity increasing by 0.4 W•m −1 •K −1. This may considerably contribute to provide an alternative to direct measurements of the thermal conductivity in Jordan basalts if a sufficient mineralogical data set is achievable. Thus, the prediction of thermal conductivity through modal mineral composition may become a significant feature for efficient geothermal system exploration in basaltic rocks. The results can be brought together into a petrophysical and hydrogeothermal model for better reservoir characterization. Such models will improve the assessment of the basalt's suitability as a geothermal reservoir for cooling and heating utilizations.

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Geothermal exploration in northern Jordan is in juvenile phase. North eastern basaltic desert is expected to host, with other rock formations, a shallow geothermal field. For efficient geothermal potential evaluation, a complete understanding of thermo-physical properties of deep reservoir rocks is of utmost importance. Due to the complex technical thermo-physical evaluations of basalts in depth, surficial basalts extending to the west were evaluated. Accordingly, six basaltic sub-flows from Al Hashimiyya were examined into their thermo-physical and mechanical properties. The flows represent the western extinction of large olivine basalt eruption. Different properties were evaluated for oven dried samples: thermal conductivity, permeability, porosity, density and specific heat capacity. In addition, basalts mechanical properties were examined: compressional wave velocity, unconfined compressive strength, indirect tensile strength and point load tests. The results were correlated in proportional patterns. They indicated that thermal conductivity of the studied basalts is dependent on porosity and permeability in parallel with mineral composition. It's found that mechanical properties are controlled by porosity and permeability, too. The studied basalt properties exhibit slight deviation from the continental basalts thermo-physical and mechanical properties reported in the region. Thermal conductivity ranges between 1.89 and 1.32 W•m −1 •K −1 , whereas the porosity and permeability averages at 10.64% and 9.75899E−15 m 2 , respectively. Additionally, unconfined compressive strength averages at 104.9 Mpa and it's almost 20 times higher than indirect tensile strength which ranges from 8.73 to 2.21 Mpa. As the samples were tested under laboratory conditions, in situ conditions will not be reflected by such values. At greater depth, temperature, pressure and hydrothermal activities will certainly affect rock properties. Micro fractures, whether it will be filled or not, will affect basalts properties, too. The results of this work will be used to develop a comprehensive thermo-physico-mechanical How to cite this paper: Al-Zyoud, S. (2019) Thermo-Physical and Mechanical Properties of Al Hashimiyya Basaltic Rocks, Jordan.