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Impact of rock-water interactions and recharge on water resources quality of the Agadir-Essaouira basin, southwestern Morocco
- Source :
- Arabian Journal of Geosciences. 10
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2017.
-
Abstract
- The Agadir-Essaouira area in the occidental High Atlas Mountains of Morocco is characterized by a semi-arid climate. The scarcity and quality of water resources, exacerbated by long drought periods, constitute a major problem for a sustainable development of this region. Groundwater resources of carbonate units within Jurassic and Cretaceous aquifers are requested for drinking and irrigation purposes. In this study, we collected 84 samples from wells, boreholes, springs, and rivers. Hydrochemical and isotopic data were used to examine the mineralization and origin of water, which control groundwater quality. The chemical composition of water seems to be controlled by water-rock interactions, such as dissolution of carbonates (calcite and dolomite), weathering of gypsum, as well as ion exchange processes, which explain the observed variability. Stable isotopes results show that groundwater from the mainly marly Cretaceous aquifer are submitted to an evaporation effect, while samples from the chiefly calcareous Jurassic aquifer indicate a meteoric origin, due to a rapid infiltration of recharge runoff through the karstic outcrops. The low values of δ18O and δ2H suggest a local recharge from areas with elevations ranging from 400 to 1200 m for the Cretaceous aquifer and from 800 to 1500 m for the Jurassic units.
- Subjects :
- Hydrology
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
δ18O
0208 environmental biotechnology
Aquifer
02 engineering and technology
Groundwater recharge
Karst
020801 environmental engineering
Water resources
Depression-focused recharge
General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Surface runoff
Geology
Groundwater
General Environmental Science
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 18667538 and 18667511
- Volume :
- 10
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Arabian Journal of Geosciences
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........e2ac989517fe2f28b4237e3314f38b0f