Hydrochemical and statistical study of the groundwater salinization in the region of Gabes in Tunisia
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ICCESEN 2017
Hydrochemical and statistical study of the groundwater salinization in the region of Gabes in Tunisia Amina Mehri 1 & Ali Riza Sogut 2 Received: 14 September 2020 / Accepted: 15 October 2020 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2020
Abstract Marine intrusion is the most serious problem facing aquifers in coastal areas. These aquifers are considered as important sources of freshwater, especially in arid areas. The Gabes Jeffara aquifer, located in south-eastern Tunisia, has been recognized as an industrial area specialized in mining phosphate processing industry. Furthermore, the region has also been intensively exploited to supply the growing needs of agriculture and domestic sectors. Degradation of groundwater and the possibility of marine intrusion became a serious concern of the communities. This work proposes a multidisciplinary investigation involving hydrogeochemical and geostatistical techniques to investigate the characteristics of groundwater quality and identify the origin of its salinization. For this purpose, 43 water samples were conducted and analyzed in different locations of the study area (Ghannouch and Mareth cities). Electric conductivity, pH, salinity and major ions were measured and analyzed. Piper and pie diagrams, and geostatistical analysis were used to assess groundwater mineralization. Results show that dominant chemical facies are Na-ClCa-SO4 (sodium, chloride, calcium, sulphate) due to rock-water interaction, suggesting that dissolution of halite was the main mineralization source of groundwater in the study area. However, saltwater intrusion was shown to control groundwater quality in some points so we can talk about a local saltwater intrusion. Keywords Groundwater . Aquifer . Seawater intrusion . Mineralization . Tunisia
Introduction The sustainability of groundwater resources, in semi-arid zones, is generally dependent on climatic and anthropogenic factors. In fact, continued population growth, the expansion of irrigated areas and climate change have significantly increased the demand for water. New approaches are becoming required to water management. Bear et al. (1999) indicate that seawater This paper was prepared by making use of the data obtained in the doctoral thesis study of Amina Mehri. This article is part of the Topical Collection on Geo-Resources-EarthEnvironmental Sciences * Ali Riza Sogut [email protected] Amina Mehri [email protected] 1
Geological Engineering Department, Graduate Education Institute, Konya Technical University, Konya, Turkey
2
Geological Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Konya Technical University, Konya, Turkey
has a uniform chemistry because of the long residence time of the major elements. Its main characteristics are Na+ and Cl− ions predominance with a molar ration of 0.86. In contrast, continental fresh groundwater, if not polluted, is characterized by a very variable chemical composition, with a predominance of HCO3, SO4 and Cl anions, a Ca2+ and Mg2+ as essential cations and to a lesser exte
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