Flow exchange between the deep and shallow groundwaters in the Sbe?tla synclinal basin (Tunisia): an isotopic approach

Dassi, Lassâad; Zouari, Kamel; Seiler, Klaus-Peter; Faye, Sérigne; Kamel, Samir

doi:10.1007/s00254-004-1170-5

Cited by 22 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…In Tunisia and other similar parts worldwide, common studies have been carried out to assess the geochemical characteristics of groundwater (Subba Rao et al 1998;Graniel et al 1999;Umar and Sami Ahmad 2000;Guler et al 2002;Guler and Thyne 2004;Elango et al 2003;Krishnakumar 2004;Jeevanandam et al 2006;Ravikumar et al 2009Ravikumar et al , 2010Aghazadeh and Mogaddam 2011;Hamzaoui-Azaza et al 2011, 2012. The development of groundwater resources in these arid and semi-arid regions is a sensitive issue, and careful management is required to avoid water-quality degradation (Al-Bassam and Al-Rumikhani 2003;Al-Shaibani 2008;Dassi et al 2005;Dassi 2010;Trabelsi et al 2005Trabelsi et al , 2007.…”

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confidence: 99%

Suitability assessment of deep groundwater for drinking and irrigation use in the Djeffara aquifers (Northern Gabes, south-eastern Tunisia)

et al. 2013

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The multilayered Djeffara aquifer system, south-eastern Tunisia, has been intensively used as a primary source to meet the growing needs of the various sectors (drinking, agricultural and industrial purposes). The analysis of groundwater chemical characteristics provides much important information useful in water resources management. Detailed knowledge of the geochemical evolution of groundwater and assessing the water quality status for special use are the main objective of any water monitoring study. An attempt has been made for the first time in this region to characterize aquifer behavior and appreciate the quality and/or the suitability of groundwater for drinking and irrigation purposes. In order to attend this objective, a total of 54 groundwater samples were collected and analyzed during January 2008 for the major cations (sodium, calcium, magnesium and potassium), anions (chloride, sulfate, bicarbonate), trace elements (boron, strontium and fluoride), and physicochemical parameters (temperature, pH, total dissolved salts and electrical conductivity). The evolution of chemical composition of groundwater from recharge areas to discharge areas is characterized by increasing sodium, chloride and sulfate contents as a result of leaching of evaporite rock. In this study, three distinct chemical trends in groundwater were identified. The major reactions responsible for the chemical evolution of groundwater in the investigated area fall into three categories: (1) calcite precipitation, (2) gypsum and halite dissolution, and (3) ion exchange. Based on the physicochemical analyses, irrigation quality parameters such as sodium absorption ratio (SAR), percentage of sodium, residual sodium carbonate, residual sodium bicarbonate, and permeability index (PI) were calculated. In addition, groundwater quality maps were elabortaed using the geographic information system to delineate spatial variation in physico-chemical characteristics of the groundwater samples. The integration of various dataset indicates that the groundwater of the Djeffara aquifers of the northern Gabes is generally very hard, brackish and high to very high saline and alkaline in nature. The water suitability for drinking and irrigation purposes was evaluated by comparing the values of different water quality parameters with World Health Organization (WHO) guideline values for drinking water. Piper trilinear diagram was constructed to identify groundwater groups where the relative major anionic and cationic concentrations are expressed in percentage of the milliequivalent per liter (meq/l), and it was demonstrated that the majority of the samples belongs to SO 4 -Cl-Ca-Na, Cl-SO 4 -Na-Ca and Na-Cl hydrochemical facies. As a whole, all the analyzed waters from this groundwater have revealed that this water is unsuitable for drinking purposes when comparing to the drinking water standards. Salinity, high electric conductivity, sodium adsorption ratio and sodium percentages indicate that most of the groundwater samples are inappropriate for ir...

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confidence: 99%

Suitability assessment of deep groundwater for drinking and irrigation use in the Djeffara aquifers (Northern Gabes, south-eastern Tunisia)

et al. 2013

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“…Thirdly, the whole groundwater samples from the deeper aquifer, outcropping at higher altitudes, show greater depletion (difference up to 2% d 18 O) relative to waters from the shallower Miocene and Plio-Quaternary aquifers that crop out at lower altitudes, which brings insight to an altitude The more depleted waters of the Plio-Quaternary aquifer, which show the largest difference with the isotopic composition of the modern local precipitation (difference of about 3% d 18 O), likely represent recharge during cooler climatic conditions rather than altitude. In fact, they are comparable to depleted Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene paleogroundwaters identified at local Dassi et al 2004Dassi et al , 2005Kamel et al 2005Kamel et al , 2006 and continental scales (Gonfiantini et al 1974;Fontes et al 1983;Fontes 1985;Edmunds et al 1997;Guendouz et al 2003). These paleo-groundwaters, observed elsewhere across Africa (Clark and Fritz 1997;Edmunds 2005), were interpreted as evidence of continental effect as Atlantic air masses travelled away from their source (Sonntag et al 1978).…”

Section: Origin Of Mineralisationmentioning

confidence: 87%

Groundwater origins and mixing pattern in the multilayer aquifer system of the Gafsa-south mining district: a chemical and isotopic approach

et al. 2010

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Major ion geochemistry and environmental isotopes were used to identify the origins and the mineralisation processes of groundwater flowing within the three aquifer levels of the multilayer system of the Gafsa-south mining district (Southwestern Tunisia). It has been demonstrated that groundwaters are characterised by a Ca-Mg-SO 4 water type. Geochemical pattern is mainly controlled by the dissolution of halite, gypsum and/or anhydrite as well as by the incongruent dissolution of dolomite. d 18 O and d 2 H values are much lower than the isotopic signature of regional precipitation and fall close to the meteoric water lines, indicating that groundwaters have not been significantly affected by evaporation or mineral-water reactions. The distribution of stable and radiogenic isotopes (d 18 O, d 2 H, d 13 C and 14 C) within the aquifer levels suggests that the deep confined aquifer receives a significant modern recharge at higher altitudes, while, the shallow unconfined aquifer has been mainly recharged under cooler paleoclimatic condition, likely during Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene humid periods. However, waters from the intermediate confined/unconfined aquifer have composite isotopic signatures, highlighting that they are derived from a mixture of the two first end-members.

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“…However, due to unsuitable management of water resources, several problems related to groundwater use have arisen, such as the extraordinary decline of the groundwater level coupled with salinization and resource pollution (Liu et al 2001;Dassi et al 2005;Fehdi et al 2009). Dynamics and hydrochemistry of the groundwater under a range of management practices for a given combination of climate, land cover, soil, and irrigation are necessary to devise practices to conserve and effectively use water resources, without adverse impacts on groundwater quality and quantity (Foster and Chilton 2003;Jianhua et al 2008;Edmunds 2009;Dassi 2010;Zagonari 2010).…”

Section: The Hydrogeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and immobilization of heavy metals in Pliocene aquifer sediments in Wadi El Natrun depression, Western Desert

Kashouty

Sabbagh²

2011

Arab J Geosci

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The Pliocene aquifer receives inflow of Miocene and Pleistocene aquifer waters in Wadi El Natrun depression. The aquifer also receives inflow from the agricultural activity and septic tanks. Nine sediment samples were collected from the Pliocene aquifer in Wadi E1 Natrun. Heavy metal (Cu, Sr, Zn, Mn, Fe, Al, Ba, Cr, Ni, V, Cd, Co, Mo, and Pb) concentrations of Pliocene aquifer sediments were investigated in bulk, sand, and mud fractions. The determination of extractable trace metals (Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, and Pb) in Pliocene aquifer sediments using sequential extraction procedure (four steps) has been performed in order to study environmental pathways (e.g., mobility of metals, bounding states). These employ a series of successively stronger chemical leaching reagents which nominally target the different compositional fractions. By analyzing the liquid leachates and the residual solid components, it is possible to determine not only the type and concentration of metals retained in each phase but also their potential ecological significance. Cu, Sr, Zn, Mn, Fe, and Al concentrations are higher in finer sediments than in coarser sediments, while Ba, Cr, Ni, V, Cd, Co, Mo, and Pb are enriched in the coarser fraction. The differences in relative concentrations are attributed to intense anthropogenic inputs from different sources. Heavy metal concentrations are higher than global average concentrations in sandstone, USEPA guidelines, and other local and international aquifer sediments. The order of trace elements in the bulk Pliocene aquifer sediments, from high to low concentrations, is Fe>Al> Mn>Cr>Zn>Cu>Ni>V>Sr>Ba>Pb>Mo>Cd>Co. The Pliocene aquifer sediments are highly contaminated for most toxic metals, except Pb and Co which have moderate contamination. The active soluble (F0) and exchangeable (F1) phases are represented by high concentrations of Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn and relatively higher concentrations of Pb and Cd. This may be due to the increase of silt and clay fractions (mud) in sediments, which act as an adsorbent, retaining metals through ion exchange and other processes. The order of mobility of heavy metals in this phase is found to be Pb>Cd>Zn> Cu>Fe >Mn. The values of the active phase of most heavy metals are relatively high, indicating that Pliocene sediments are potentially a major sink for heavy metals characterized by high mobility and bioavailability. FeMn oxyhydroxide phase is the most important fraction among labile fractions and represents 22% for Cd, 20% for Fe, 11% for Zn, 8% for Cu, 5% for Pb, and 3% for Mn. The organic matter-bound fraction contains 80% of Mn, 72% of Cu, 68% of Zn, 60% of Fe, 35% of Pb, and 30% of Cd (as mean). Summarizing the sequential extraction, a very good immobilization of the heavy metals by the organic matter-bound fraction is followed by the carbonate-exchangeable-bound fraction. The mobility of the Cd metal in the active and Fe-Mn oxyhydroxide phases is the highest, while the Mn metal had the lowest mobility.

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Flow exchange between the deep and shallow groundwaters in the Sbe?tla synclinal basin (Tunisia): an isotopic approach

Cited by 22 publications

References 8 publications

Suitability assessment of deep groundwater for drinking and irrigation use in the Djeffara aquifers (Northern Gabes, south-eastern Tunisia)

Suitability assessment of deep groundwater for drinking and irrigation use in the Djeffara aquifers (Northern Gabes, south-eastern Tunisia)

Groundwater origins and mixing pattern in the multilayer aquifer system of the Gafsa-south mining district: a chemical and isotopic approach

Distribution and immobilization of heavy metals in Pliocene aquifer sediments in Wadi El Natrun depression, Western Desert

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