Characteristics and Genesis of the Groundwater Resources Associated with Oil Shale Deposits in the Azraq and Harrana Basins, Jordan

Abstract

Upper cretaceous and lower tertiary formations groundwater aquifers are associated with huge reserves of oil shale deposits in Harrana and Azraq Basins are evaluated in terms of water qualities and hydrochemical processes. The oil shale deposits are found within the Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation. The Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation represents the intermediate formation between the Lower Aquifer Amman Silicified Limestone and the overburden, which represents the overlying Upper Aquifers of Um Rijam Chalk and Wadi Shallala Chalk. This study aimed to improve the understanding of Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation as a sealing potential based on water quality and hydrochemical data of the different aquifers. Sixty water samples were collected from Amman Silicified Limestone Aquifer, High Grade Zone of Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation and from the overburden of Um Rijam Chalk and Wadi Shallala Chalk aquifers. The evaluations of the main hydrochemical processes affecting the groundwater quality were carried out by interpreting the ionic relationships and the water quality types using Piper and Durov diagrams. Comprehensive statistical analyses (Factor and Cluster Analyses) were conducted on the water quality parameters. The factor analyses can extract four factors from the water quality parameters of the Harrana wells Area-1 and for Azraq wells in Area-2. These factors are used to interpret the different geochemical processes affecting the groundwater quality parameters. Cluster analyses divided the Harrana wells into three groups. Cluster I included 26 wells with minimum mean concentrations of cations and anions, while cluster III included the wells with the highest concentrations in the water quality parameters. Cluster II included eight wells with intermediate concentrations. The interpretation indicated that the primary factors controlling the groundwater chemistry of Azraq and Harrana appeared to be dissolution processes of the carbonate rocks containing traces of evaporitic minerals, ion exchange and reversal ion exchange processes. Moreover, the water quality in the study areas is not suitable for drinking purposes.

Statistical Analysis of Groundwater Quality Parameters for Harrana and Azraq Basins, Jordan

“…The detailed hydrogeological and hydrochemistry study was carried out by Obeidat and Rimawi (2017). The study emphasized the complexity of the hydrological setting for both basin and confirms the existence of hydrogeological seals above and below the oil shale for certain wells to apply the heating in situ technology.…”

“…Statistical analysis approach is used to interpret the water quality of groundwater resources in the study area which is highly influenced by geological, lithological and urbanization conditions of the area (Quennel, 1956;Bender, 1974;El-Naqa et al, 2007;Obeidat & Rimawi, 2017). The prevailing geological conditions and the lithological variation of the groundwater aquifers are highly influencing the hydrochemical characteristics of the groundwater resources, which are extremely affected by the dissolution processes of the major and minor mineralogical compositions of the aquifer (Saravanakumar & Ranjith Kumar, 2011;Vikal, 2009).…”

“…The natural variation may be attributed to the depositional environment. The variation in the hydrochemical characteristics of the groundwater can be used to explain the prevailing condition using different statistical analyses (El-Naqa et al, 2007;Obeidat & Rimawi, 2017).…”

Hydrochemistry and Groundwater Quality Assessment in Mafraq Province, Jordan

“…Groundwater in Mafraq area in both confined and unconfined aquifers in all basins and sub-basins are generally flows from catchment boundaries to the axis of valleys and then follows the general trend of surface drainage. A similar study was carried out by [3] by investigating the groundwater quality for Azraq and Harrana basin for the same Aquifers in south eastern Jordan.…”

A Novel Method to Assess the Impact of a Government’s Water Strategy on Research: A Case Study of Azraq Basin, Jordan

“…Additionally, a total of 18 studies contributed to the MWI strategy goal 2.c., which focuses on protecting drinking water resources from pollution. Jasem and Alraggad [65], Al-Adamat et al [66], and Ibrahim and Koch [67] presented a groundwater vulnerability map for the area, Gassen et al [68] delineated the protection zones of AWSA wellfield, and the remainder contributed to this goal by investigating the quality of groundwater in AWSA wellfield area [61,62,64,[69][70][71][72][73], in the northern region of the basin [74,75], in the southern region of the basin [76], in Qaser tuba landfill [77] and the Azraq Basin as a whole [26]. Furthermore, 18 studies contributed to goal 2.d., which focuses on improving the efficiency of storing and utilizing surface water, with 17 addressing various opportunities to utilize the surface water quantity and defining the suitable locations for managed aquifer recharge (MAR) [51,[78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93].…”