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Characteristics of Stable Isotopes of Oxygen-18 and Deuterium of Groundwater in the Sana’a Basin Aquifer Systems, Yemen

Characteristics of Stable Isotopes of Oxygen-18 and Deuterium of Groundwater in the Sana’a Basin Aquifer Systems, Yemen

Authors :
Ahmed Al-ameri
Naif Abo-Lohom
Michael Schneider
Silvio Janetz
Source :
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering. 39:5625-5636
Publication Year :
2014
Publisher :
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2014.

Abstract

In the present study, the stable isotope compositions of water samples collected from Sana’a basin were investigated. The obtained data indicate that the recharge from direct infiltration of precipitation is divided into two groups: groundwater recharged from evaporated meteoric origin; and water that was barely affected by evaporation before recharge. The δ-values (δ18O and δ2H) of the water samples collected from the alluvium and sandstone aquifer plot are close to the Global Meteoric Water Line and Sana’a Meteoric Water Line (SMWL) indicating a recharge from non-evaporated meteoric water. While the samples collected from the volcanic and limestone aquifer plot below are both meteoric water lines, which indicate an evaporation process took place before recharge. The water samples collected from volcanic and sandstone aquifers are more depleted in their heavy isotopes δ18O and δ2H than the rainwater falls in the region. This indicates old groundwater occurrences within both aquifers and non-modern recharges, from direct infiltration occurred in the last few decades. However, a small contribution of modern groundwater could be observed in the alluvium and limestone aquifers. The δ18O and δ2H of the rainwater samples vary in a wide range; δ18O ranges between −8.02 and +4.50 ‰, while δ2H varies from −53.60 to + 14.90 ‰ with an average of−0.21 and +7.02 ‰, respectively. The final dataset of 52 rainwater samples was used to construct the so-called SMWL which defined by the equation δ2H = 7.4*δ18O + 8.6 ‰.

Details

ISSN :
21914281 and 13198025
Volume :
39
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........f14a4f28558632b163d56f4e61599aca
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-014-1130-7