Hend S. Abu Salem , Osama A. El Fallah , Mohamed M. El Kammar
{"title":"Hydrochemical study of groundwater in Tazerbo, Libya, using statistical analysis and geochemical modeling","authors":"Hend S. Abu Salem , Osama A. El Fallah , Mohamed M. El Kammar","doi":"10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2024.105362","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The hydrochemical assessment of groundwater is vital in order to constrain the sources of solutes for groundwater management and sustainability. This work uses integrated multivariate statistical analysis and hydrogeochemical modeling to define the controls on the groundwater chemistry in Tazerbo wellfield in Libya. Thirty-five water samples were analyzed where two main types of waters were distinguished: Ca–HCO<sub>3</sub> and Mg–HCO<sub>3</sub>. Two main clusters differentiated the study area into two distinct zones, C1 in the west and C2 in the east. Four principal components were obtained from factor analysis showing the effect of water-rock interaction. Pearson correlation and cross plots of major ions revealed that the main controls on water chemistry in the west are weathering of iron rich clays, silicate weathering, and ion exchange, while the controls on the east are sulfate reduction, ion exchange, silicate weathering, and possible mixing with geothermal water rich in CO<sub>2</sub>. Temporal changes in the ionic compositions of groundwater were recorded between 2004 and that of the current study. These changes could be attributed to the change in the production and pumping strategy due to the induced land subsidence and water level decline in 2006. Moreover, several wells were abandoned during the past few years due to lack of maintenance that resulted from the political instability of the country. Therefore, they should be maintained to avoid local compositional changes due to localized pumping. Besides, water quality assessment was applied and evaluated the suitability of the groundwater for drinking and irrigation. However, higher Fe should be removed before supply.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":14874,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Earth Sciences","volume":"218 ","pages":"Article 105362"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of African Earth Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1464343X2400195X","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The hydrochemical assessment of groundwater is vital in order to constrain the sources of solutes for groundwater management and sustainability. This work uses integrated multivariate statistical analysis and hydrogeochemical modeling to define the controls on the groundwater chemistry in Tazerbo wellfield in Libya. Thirty-five water samples were analyzed where two main types of waters were distinguished: Ca–HCO3 and Mg–HCO3. Two main clusters differentiated the study area into two distinct zones, C1 in the west and C2 in the east. Four principal components were obtained from factor analysis showing the effect of water-rock interaction. Pearson correlation and cross plots of major ions revealed that the main controls on water chemistry in the west are weathering of iron rich clays, silicate weathering, and ion exchange, while the controls on the east are sulfate reduction, ion exchange, silicate weathering, and possible mixing with geothermal water rich in CO2. Temporal changes in the ionic compositions of groundwater were recorded between 2004 and that of the current study. These changes could be attributed to the change in the production and pumping strategy due to the induced land subsidence and water level decline in 2006. Moreover, several wells were abandoned during the past few years due to lack of maintenance that resulted from the political instability of the country. Therefore, they should be maintained to avoid local compositional changes due to localized pumping. Besides, water quality assessment was applied and evaluated the suitability of the groundwater for drinking and irrigation. However, higher Fe should be removed before supply.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of African Earth Sciences sees itself as the prime geological journal for all aspects of the Earth Sciences about the African plate. Papers dealing with peripheral areas are welcome if they demonstrate a tight link with Africa.
The Journal publishes high quality, peer-reviewed scientific papers. It is devoted primarily to research papers but short communications relating to new developments of broad interest, reviews and book reviews will also be considered. Papers must have international appeal and should present work of more regional than local significance and dealing with well identified and justified scientific questions. Specialised technical papers, analytical or exploration reports must be avoided. Papers on applied geology should preferably be linked to such core disciplines and must be addressed to a more general geoscientific audience.