Hydrochemical and isotopic characteristics of groundwater in the Continental Intercalaire aquifer system: Insights from Mzab Ridge and surrounding regions, North of the Algerian Sahara
North Western Sahara Aquifer System; Continental Intercalaire aquifer; Mzab Ridge; Hydrogeochemistry; Water stable isotopes; SOM
Abstract :
[en] Study region
North of Sahara, Algeria.
Study focus
The effects of water/rock interactions and hydrodynamic conditions on the characteristics of groundwater in the Continental Intercalaire aquifer (CI) are demonstrated using hydrochemical and isotopic data from the Mzab Ridge.
New hydrological insights
The results confirm that CI groundwater in the oriental basin is highly mineralized (1010 > EC > 3500 μS/cm) and is of the SO4-Cl-Na type. However, it is poorly mineralized (340 > EC > 960) in the occidental basin and predominantly belongs to the HCO3-Ca type. The important contribution of evaporite minerals has been deduced using saturation indices and minor element ratios of Sr/Ca and Br/Cl. This is explained by lithological heterogeneities within the CI aquifer and corroborates the observations from regional piezometric features which suggest a groundwater divide located between 31.55° and 31.57 °N latitude. δ18O-NO3 and δ15N-NO3 analyses show that NO3 has a predominantly natural origin, which is soil nitrification even for the high concentrations exceeding 50 mg/L. CI groundwaters are highly depleted in both δ18O and δ2H compared to modern rainfall isotopic signatures. The most depleted ones are those situated in the Great Oriental Erg sub-basin. Isotopic values as low as δ18O=−6‰ can be taken as the limit for groundwater that is typically old. In the El Golea region, isotopic enrichment seems to indicate mixing between old groundwater and evaporation-affected groundwater infiltrating through the dunes of the Great Occidental Erg.
Research Center/Unit :
UEE - Urban and Environmental Engineering - ULiège CEREGE Aix-en-Provence
Brouyère, Serge ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département ArGEnCo > Hydrogéologie & Géologie de l'environnement
Language :
English
Title :
Hydrochemical and isotopic characteristics of groundwater in the Continental Intercalaire aquifer system: Insights from Mzab Ridge and surrounding regions, North of the Algerian Sahara
Abdelali, A., Nezli, I.E., Kechiched, R., Attalah, S., Benhamida, S.A., Pang, Z., Geothermometry and geochemistry of groundwater in the Continental Intercalaire aquifer, southeastern Algeria: insights from cations, silica and SO4–H2O isotope geothermometers. Appl. Geochem., 113, 2020, 104492, 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2019.104492.
Abid, K., Trabelsi, R., Zouari, K., Abidi, B., Hydrogeochemical characterization of the Continental Intercalaire aquifer (southern Tunisia). Hydrol. Sci. J. Des Sci. Hydrol. 54:3 (2009), 526–537, 10.1623/hysj.54.3.526.
Abid, K., Zouari, K., Abidi, B., Identification and characterisation of hydrogeological relays of Continental Intercalaire aquifer of southern Tunisia. Carbonates Evaporites 25:1 (2010), 65–75, 10.1007/s13146-010-0008-3.
Abid, K., Dulinski, Hadj Ammar, F., Rozanski, K., Zouari, K., Deciphering interaction of regional aquifers in Southern Tunisia using hydrochemistry and isotopic tools. Appl. Geochem. 27:1 (2012), 44–55, 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2011.08.015.
Abid, K., Hadj Ammar, F., Chkir, N., Zouari, K., Relationship between Senonian and deep aquifers in Southern Tunisia. Quat. Int. 257 (2012), 13–26, 10.1016/j.quaint.2011.09.022.
Achour, M., Vulnérabilité et protection des eaux souterraines en zone aride : Cas de la vallée du M'Zab (Ghardaia – Algérie). Magister thesis on hydrogeology. 2013, University of Oran, Algeria.
Alcalá, F.J., Custodio, E., Using the Cl/Br ratio as a tracer to identify the origin of salinity in aquifers in Spain and Portugal. J. Hydrol. 359:1–2 (2008), 189–207, 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.06.028.
Alley, W.M., Regional Ground-water Quality. 1st ed., 1993, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
Appelo, C., Postma, D., Geochemistry, Groundwater and Pollution. 2nd ed., 2005, Taylor and Francis, London, 10.1201/9781439833544.
Askri, H., Belmecheri, A., Benrabah, B., Boudjema, A., Boumendjel, K., Daoudi, M., Drid, M., et al. Geology of Algeria. SONATRACH, (eds.) Well Evaluation Conference Algeria, 1995.
Baba Sy, M., Recharge et paléo recharge du système aquifère du Sahara Septentrional. PhD thesis on geology. 2005, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunisia.
Baba Sy, M., Besbes, M., Chery, L., De Marsily, G., Holocene and present recharge of the Saharan aquifers: a numerical modelling study. Aquifer Systems Management: Darcy's Legacy in a World of Impending Water Shortage: Selected Papers on Hydrogeology, 10, 2007, CRC Press, 191–205.
Barnes, C.J., Jacobson, G., Smith, G.D., The origin of high-nitrate ground waters in the Australian arid zone. J. Hydrol. 137:1–4 (1992), 181–197, 10.1016/0022-1694(92)90055-Z.
Ben Alaya, M., Zemni, T., Mamou, A., Zargouni, F., Acquisition de salinité et qualité des eaux d'une nappe profonde en Tunisie : Approche statistique et géochimique. Hydrol. Sci. J. Des Sci. Hydrol. 59:2 (2014), 395–419, 10.1080/02626667.2013.870663.
Besbes, M., Abdous, B., Abidi, B., Ayed, B., Bachta, M., Babasy, B., et al. Système Aquifère du Sahara septentrional Gestion commune d'un bassin transfrontière. La Houille Blanche 5 (2003), 128–133, 10.1051/lhb/2003102.
Beyerle, U., Rueedi, J., Leuenberger, M., Aeschbach-Hertig, W., Peeters, F., Kipfer, R., Dodo, A., Evidence for periods of wetter and cooler climate in the Sahel between 6 and 40 kyr BP derived from groundwater. Geophys. Res. Lett. 30:4 (2003), 1–4, 10.1029/2002GL016310.
Bouchaou, L., Michelot, J.L., Vengosh, A., Hsissou, Y., Qurtobi, M., Gaye, C.B., Bullen, T.D., Zuppi, G.M., Application of multiple isotopic and geochemical tracers for investigation of recharge, salinization, and residence time of water in the Souss-Massa aquifer, southwest of Morocco. J. Hydrol. 352:3–4 (2008), 267–287, 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.01.022.
Busson, G., Le Mesozoique Saharien 2ème partie : Essai de synthèse des données des sondages Algero-Tunisiens, Tome 2. Ser. Geol. CNRS Paris. 1970.
Castany, G., Bassin sédimentaire du Sahara septentrional (Algérie, Tunisie). Aquifères du Continental intercalaire et du complexe terminal. Bull. BRGM 2:2 (1982), 127–147.
Chabour, N., Mebrouk, N., Hassani, M.I., Upton, K., Dochartaigh, Ó, B.É, Bellwood-Howard, I., Africa Groundwater Atlas: Hydrogeology of Algeria. 2018, British Geological Survey http://earthwise.bgs.ac.uk/index.php/Hydrogeology_of_Algeria.
Chettih, M., Simulation par modèle hydrodispersif des écoulements souterrains et des variations de salinité dans l'aquifère alluvial de la vallée du M'Zi. PhD thesis on hydrogeology. 1995, University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene, Algeria.
Conrad, G., Fontes, J.C., Hydrologie isotopique du Sahara nord-occidental. IAEA, (eds.) Isotope Hydrology, Proceedings of a Symposium, Vienna, 1970, 405–419.
Darling, W.G., Sorensen, J.P.R., Newell, A.J., Midgley, J., Benhamza, M., The age and origin of groundwater in the Great Western Erg sub-basin of the North-Western Sahara aquifer system: insights from Krechba, central Algeria. Appl. Geochem. 96 (2018), 277–286, 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2018.07.016.
Edmunds, W.M., Palaeoclimate and groundwater evolution in Africa - Implications for adaptation and management. Hydrol. Sci. J. Des. Sci. Hydrol. 54:4 (2009), 781–792, 10.1623/hysj.54.4.781.
Edmunds, W.M., Gaye, C.B., Naturally high nitrate concentrations in groundwaters from the Sahel. J. Environ. Qual., 26(5), 1997, 1231, 10.2134/jeq1997.00472425002600050006x American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.
Edmunds, W.M., Smedley, P.L., Essentials of Medical Geology, (eds.) Fluoride in Natural Waters, 2013, Springer, Dordrecht, 311–336, 10.1007/978-94-007-4375-5_13.
Edmunds, W.M., Guendouz, A.H., Mamou, A., Moulla, A.S., Shand, P., Zouari, K., Groundwater evolution in the Continental Intercalaire aquifer of southern Algeria and Tunisia: trace element and isotopic indicators. Appl. Geochem. 18:6 (2003), 805–822, 10.1016/S0883-2927(02)00189-0.
Elliot, T., Bonotto, D.M., Andrews, J.N., Dissolved uranium, radium and radon evolution in the Continental Intercalaire aquifer, Algeria and Tunisia. J. Environ. Radioact. 137 (2014), 150–162, 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2014.07.003.
Fabre, J., Latouche, L., Kazi Tani, N., Moussine-Pouchkine, A., Aït Hamou, F., Dautria, J.M., Maza, M., Géologie du Sahara occidental et central. Tervuren African, Geosci. Coll., 2005, 108 http://www.africamuseum.be/sites/default/files/media/docs/research/publications/rmca/online/digital-publications-geology/Sahara.pdf.
FAO, CLIMWAT 2.0 for CROPWAT. Rome. 2006.
Gonçalvès, J., Petersen, J., Deschamps, P., Hamelin, B., Baba-Sy, O., Quantifying the modern recharge of the “fossil” Sahara aquifers. Geophys. Res. Lett. 40:11 (2013), 2673–2678, 10.1002/grl.50478.
Gonçalvès, J., Vallet-Coulomb, C., Petersen, J., Hamelin, B., Deschamps, P., Declining water budget in a deep regional aquifer assessed by geostatistical simulations of stable isotopes: case study of the Saharan “Continental Intercalaire”. J. Hydrol. 531 (2015), 821–829, 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.10.044.
Gonçalvès, J., Deschamps, P., Hamelin, B., Vallet-Coulomb, C., Petersen, J., Chekireb, A., Revisiting recharge and sustainability of the North-Western Sahara aquifers. Reg. Environ. Change 20:2 (2020), 1–11, 10.1007/s10113-020-01627-4.
Gonfiantini, R., Conrad, G., Fontes, J.C., Sauzay, G., Payne, B.R., Etude isotopique de la nappe du Continental Intercalaire et de ses relations avec les autres nappes du Sahara septentrional. IAEA, (eds.) Isotope Techniques in Groundwater Hydrology, Proceedings of a Symposium, Vienna, 1974, 227–241.
Guendouz, A.H., Contribution à l’étude géochimique et isotopique des nappes profondes du Sahara Nord-Est septentrional, Algérie. PhD thesis on applied geology. 1985, Paris-Sud University, France.
Guendouz, A.H., Michelot, J.L., Chlorine-36 dating of deep groundwater from northern Sahara. J. Hydrol. 328:3–4 (2006), 572–580, 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2006.01.002.
Guendouz, A.H., Moulla, A.S., Edmunds, W.M., Shand, P., Poole, J., Zouari, K., Palaeoclimatic information contained in groundwaters of the Grand Erg Oriental, North Africa. IAEA, (eds.) Isotope Techniques in the Study of Past and Current Environmental Changes in the Hydrosphere and the Atmosphere, Proceedings of a Symposium, Vienna, 1997, 555–571.
Guendouz, A.H., Moulla, A.S., Edmunds, W.M., Zouari, K., Shand, P., Mamou, A., Hydrogeochemical and isotopic evolution of water in the Complexe Terminal aquifer in the Algerian Sahara. Hydrogeol. J. 11:4 (2003), 483–495, 10.1007/s10040-003-0263-7.
Hadj Ammar, F., Chkir, N., Zouari, K., Hamelin, B., Deschamps, P., Agoune, A., Hydro-geochemical processes in the Complexe Terminal aquifer of southern Tunisia: an integrated investigation based on geochemical and multivariate statistical methods. J. Afr. Earth Sci. 100 (2014), 81–95, 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2014.06.015.
Hadj Ammar, F., Deschamps, P., Chkir, N., Zouari, K., Agoune, A., Hamelin, B., Uranium isotopes as tracers of groundwater evolution in the Complexe Terminal aquifer of southern Tunisia. Quat. Int., 2020, 10.1016/j.quaint.2020.01.024.
Hakimi-Dedjell, Y., Orban, P., Chettih, M., Brouyère, S., Towards a rational exploitation of the groundwater resources of the Algerian Sahara, Ghardaia region: actual situation and recommendations. Special issue. Geo-Eco-Trop 43:3 (2019), 375–384 http://www.geoecotrop.be/uploads/publications/pub_433_07.pdf.
Heaton, T.H., Talma, A., Vogel, J., Origin and history of nitrate in confined groundwater in the western Kalahari. J. Hydrol. 62:1–4 (1983), 243–262, 10.1016/0022-1694(83)90105-1.
Hem, J.D., Study and Interpretation the Chemical of Natural of Characteristics Water. 3rd ed., 1985, St Alexandria, USGS https://pubs.usgs.gov/wsp/wsp2254/pdf/wsp2254a.pdf.
Herczeg, A.L., Edmunds, W.M., Inorganic ions as tracers. Environmental Tracers in Subsurface Hydrology, 31–77, 2000, Springer US, Boston, USA, 10.1007/978-1-4615-4557-6_2.
Herczeg, A.L., Torgersen, T., Chivas, A.R., Habermehl, M.A., Geochemistry of ground waters from the Great Artesian Basin, Australia. J. Hydrol. 126:3–4 (1991), 225–245, 10.1016/0022-1694(91)90158-E.
Hong, Y.S., Rosen, M.R., Intelligent characterisation and diagnosis of the groundwater quality in an urban fractured-rock aquifer using an artificial neural network. Urban Water 3:3 (2001), 193–204, 10.1016/S1462-0758(01)00045-0.
IGRAC, Transboundary Aquifers of the World. Delft, Netherlands. 2015, 10.1007/s10040-013-1002-3.
Jurado, A., Borges, A.V., Pujades, E., Hakoun, V., Otten, J., Knöller, K., Brouyère, S., Occurrence of greenhouse gases in the aquifers of the Walloon Region (Belgium). Sci. Total Environ. 619–620 (2018), 1579–1588, 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.144.
Kendall, C., Tracing nitrogen sources and cycling in catchments. Isotope Tracers in Catchment Hydrology, 1998, Elsevier, 519–576, 10.1016/B978-0-444-81546-0.50023-9.
Kilian, C., Des principaux complexes continentaux du Sahara. Comptes Rendus sommaire de la Société Géologique de France 9 (1931), 109–111.
Kohonen, T., Self-Organizing Maps. 1995, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg.
Maliki, M.A., Krimissa, M., Michelot, J., Zouari, K., Relationship between shallow and deep aquifers in the Sfax basin (Tunisia). C. R. Acad. Sci. 331:1 (2000), 1–6, 10.1016/S1251-8050(00)01386-0.
Matsumoto, T., Zouari, K., Trabelsi, R., Hillegonds, D., Jiang, W., Lu, Z.-T., Mueller, P., Zappala, J.C., Araguás-Araguás, L.J., Romeo, N., Agoun, A., Krypton-81 dating of the deep Continental Intercalaire aquifer with implications for chlorine-36 dating. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 535, 2020, 116120, 10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116120.
Mayer, B., Assessing sources and transformations of sulphate and nitrate in the hydrosphere using isotope techniques. Isotopes in the Water Cycle, 2005, Springer, 67–89, 10.1007/1-4020-3023-1_6.
Moulla, A.S., Guendouz, A.H., Study on groundwater resources in arid regions (Algerian Sahara) using isotope methods. IAHS, (eds.) Hydrology of the Mediterranean and Semiarid Regions, 2003, 35–42.
Moulla, A.S., Guendouz, A.H., Cherchali, M.E.H., Chaid, Z., Ouarezki, S., Updated geochemical and isotopic data from the Continental Intercalaire aquifer in the Great Occidental Erg sub-basin (south-western Algeria). Quat. Int. 257 (2012), 64–73, 10.1016/j.quaint.2011.08.038.
Négrel, P., Petelet-Giraud, E., Strontium isotopes as tracers of groundwater-induced floods: the Somme case study (France). J. Hydrol. (Amst) 305:1–4 (2005), 99–119, 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2004.08.031.
Nijsten, G.J., Christelis, G., Villholth, K.G., Braune, E., Gaye, C.B., Transboundary aquifers of Africa: review of the current state of knowledge and progress towards sustainable development and management. J. Hydrol. Reg. Stud. 20 (2018), 21–34, 10.1016/j.ejrh.2018.03.004.
OSS, North-Western Sahara Aquifer System, Joint Management of a Transboundary Basin, Volume 2: Hydrogeology. 2003, Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), Tunis, 151 http://www.oss-online.org/sites/default/files/publications/OSS-SASS-resultats_1e_phase_En.pdf.
Ouhamdouch, S., Bahir, M., Carreira, P.M., Geochemical and isotopic tools to deciphering the origin of mineralization of the coastal aquifer of Essaouira basin, Morocco. Procedia Earth Planet. Sci. 17 (2017), 73–76, 10.1016/j.proeps.2016.12.038.
Parkhurst, D., Appelo, C., Description of input and examples for PHREEQC version 3—A computer program for speciation, batch-reaction, one-dimensional transport, and inverse geochemical calculations. U.S. Geological Survey, (eds.) Techniques and Methods 6–A43. Denver, Colorado, 2013, 497.
Peeters, L., Bação, F., Lobo, V., Dassargues, A., Exploratory data analysis and clustering of multivariate spatial hydrogeological data by means of GEO3DSOM, a variant of Kohonen's Self-Organizing Map. Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11:4 (2007), 1309–1321, 10.5194/hess-11-1309-2007.
Petersen, J.O., Deschamps, P., Hamelin, B., Gonçalvès, J., Michelot, J.-L., Zouari, K., Water-rock interaction and residence time of groundwater inferred by 234U/238U disequilibria in the tunisian continental intercalaire aquifer system. Procedia Earth Planet. Sci. 7 (2013), 685–688, 10.1016/j.proeps.2013.03.206.
Petersen, J.O., Deschamps, P., Hamelin, B., Fourré, E., Gonçalvès, J., Zouari, K., Guendouz, A.H., Michelot, J.-L., Massault, M., Dapoigny, A., Aster Team, Groundwater flowpaths and residence times inferred by 14C, 36Cl and 4He isotopes in the Continental Intercalaire aquifer (North-Western Africa). J. Hydrol. 560 (2018), 11–23, 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.03.003.
Plummer, L.N., Jones, B.F., Truesdell, A.H., WATEQF; A FORTRAN IV Version of WATEQ - A Computer Program for Calculating Chemical Equilibrium of Natural Waters, Water-resources Investigations Report 76-13. Reston, Virginia., 1976, 61, 10.3133/wri7613.
Rozanski, K., Araguás-Araguás, L., Gonfiantini, R., Isotopic patterns in modern global precipitation. Climate Change in Continental Isotopic Records, vol. 78, 1993, 1–36, 10.1029/gm078p0001.
Schwiede, M., Duijnisveld, W.H.M., Böttcher, J., Investigation of processes leading to nitrate enrichment in soils in the Kalahari Region, Botswana. Phys. Chem. Earth Parts A/b/c 30:11–16 (2005), 712–716, 10.1016/j.pce.2005.08.012.
Stadler, S., Osenbrück, K., Knöller, K., Suckow, A., Sültenfuß, J., Oster, H., Himmelsbach, T., Hötzl, H., Understanding the origin and fate of nitrate in groundwater of semi-arid environments. J. Arid Environ. 72:10 (2008), 1830–1842, 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2008.06.003 Academic Press.
Stadler, S., Talma, A., Tredoux, G., Wrabel, J., Identification of sources and infiltration regimes of nitrate in the semi-arid Kalahari: regional differences and implications for groundwater management. Water SA 38:2 (2012), 213–224, 10.4314/wsa.v38i2.6 Water Research Commission (WRC).
Stiff, H.A., The interpretation of chemical water analysis by means of patterns. J. Pet. Technol. 3:10 (1951), 15–17, 10.2118/951376-G.
Stone, A.E.C., Edmunds, W.M., Naturally-high nitrate in unsaturated zone sand dunes above the Stampriet Basin, Namibia. J. Arid Environ. 105 (2014), 41–51, 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2014.02.015 Academic Press.
Tellam, J.H., Hydrochemistry of the saline groundwaters of the lower Mersey Basin Permo-Triassic sandstone aquifer, UK. J. Hydrol. 165:1–4 (1995), 45–84, 10.1016/0022-1694(94)02583-W.
Tobiszewski, M., Tsakovski, S., Simeonov, V., Namieśnik, J., Chlorinated solvents in a petrochemical wastewater treatment plant: an assessment of their removal using self-organising maps. Chemosphere 87:8 (2012), 962–968, 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2012.01.057.
Trabelsi, R., Kacem, A., Zouari, K., Rozanski, K., Quantifying regional groundwater flow between Continental Intercalaire and Djeffara aquifers in southern Tunisia using isotope methods. Environ. Geol. 58:1 (2009), 171–183, 10.1007/s00254-008-1503-x.
UNESCO, Étude des Ressources en Eau du Sahara Septentrional, plaquette 2 : Nappe du Continental Intercalaire. 1972, 47 http://hydrologie.org/redbooks/a278/iahs_278_035.pdf.
Vesanto, J., Himberg, J., Alhoniemi, E., Parahankangas, J., Self-organizing map in Matlab: the SOM toolbox. Matlab DSP Conference. Proceedings of a Symposium, Espoo, Finland, 1999, 1–8.
Walvoord, M.A., Phillips, F.M., Stonestrom, D.A., Evans, R.D., Hartsough, P.C., Newman, B.D., Striegl, R.G., A reservoir of nitrate beneath desert soils. Science 302:5647 (2003), 1021–1024, 10.1126/science.1086435 American Association for the Advancement of Science.
WHO, Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality. 4th ed., 2017, World Health Organization.
Zammouri, M., Ribeiro, L., Analyzing the effect of transmissivity uncertainty on the reliability of a model of the northwestern Sahara aquifer system. J. Afr. Earth Sci. 129 (2017), 910–922, 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2017.02.034.
Zammouri, M., Siegfried, T., El-Fahem, T., Kriâa, S., Kinzelbach, W., Salinization of groundwater in the Nefzawa oases region, Tunisia: results of a regional-scale hydrogeologic approach. Hydrogeol. J. 15:7 (2007), 1357–1375, 10.1007/s10040-007-0185-x.
