Identifying the sources and geochemical evolution of groundwater using stable isotopes and hydrogeochemistry in the Quat
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Identifying the sources and geochemical evolution of groundwater using stable isotopes and hydrogeochemistry in the Quaternary aquifer in the area between Ismailia and El Kassara canals, Northeastern Egypt Muhammad Gomaah 1 & Thomas Meixner 2 & E. A. Korany 3 & Hassan Garamoon 3 & Mohamed A. Gomaa 1
Received: 6 July 2015 / Accepted: 28 March 2016 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2016
Abstract The potential sources of recharge of both water and solutes to the Quaternary aquifer in the area between Ismailia and El Kassara canals in northeastern Egypt include seepage from the irrigation canals and conduits, return flow after irrigation in the cultivated fields, local precipitation, and the upward flow of groundwater from the underlying Miocene aquifer system. Water isotopes, solute concentrations, and sulfate isotopes were used to investigate the geochemical sources, reactions, and the impacts of the hydraulic connections among recharge sources. The obtained results indicate a minimal influence of the underlying Miocene aquifer as a water and solute source while old and new contributions from the irrigation canals represent the main sources of recharge. The chemical reactions responsible for the chemical constituents and salinity in the aquifer include silicate weathering, evaporite dissolution, and carbonate precipitation. Most of groundwater samples appear to lie at/or close to equilibrium with montmorillonite, kaolinite, and illite where clay minerals are quite common in the local soils of the Quaternary aquifer.
* Muhammad Gomaah [email protected] Thomas Meixner [email protected] E. A. Korany [email protected] 1
Department of Hydrogeochemistry, Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt
2
Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
3
Department of Geology, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
Keywords Stable isotopes . Hydrochemistry . Surface water– groundwater interaction . El Salhia El Giddida area
Introduction Quaternary aquifers are of great importance for reclaimed land projects in arid and semi-arid regions like Egypt where The Nile water supply is not sufficient to meet all demands for the agricultural activities, and groundwater resources represent the alternative supply. El Salhia El Giddida occupies one of the new reclaimed projects using groundwater for irrigation purposes. Many hydrological, hydrochemical, and stable isotope studies have been conducted in and nearby the study area (El Dairy 1980; Salluma 1983; Salem 1996; Hamza et al. 1987; Al-Gamal et al. 2005; Salem and Sadek 2006; Dahab et al. 2007 and Ahmed et al. 2013). These studies indicated the presence of old Nile water and mixing between recent Nile with old Nile in most of the localities, yet they did not study the sources of groundwater for the study area in detail. Also they did not study the different geochemical reactions responsible for the chemical constituents. The chemical composition of groundwater is controlled by many factors that include composition of p
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