Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Surface and subsurface conceptual model of an arid environment with respect to mid- and late Holocene climate changes

Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The water demand in arid regions is commonly covered by groundwater resources that date back to more humid periods of the Pleistocene and Holocene. Within the investigated arid part of SE Saudi-Arabia information about climate, groundwater levels, and pumping rates are only available for regions where groundwater extractions occur at present-day. For the prediction of the impact of long-term climate changes on groundwater resources an understanding of the hydrogeological and hydrological past and the development of the aquifers is necessary. Therefore, all available information about hydrology and hydrogeology for the past 10,000 years BP were collected and compiled to a conceptual model of the aquifer development on the Arabian Peninsula since the last Ice-Age. The climatic history was displayed by changes in precipitation, temperature and recharge during the mid-S and late Holocene. The hydrogeological development is described by groundwater ages, sea level fluctuations, movement of the coastline, and the development of sabkhas. The most sensitive parameter to describe the development of aquifer system is recharge. Present-day recharge was calculated with the hydrological model system HEC-HMS accounting for current precipitation, temperature, wind, soil types, and geomorphology. With respect to changes in precipitation and temperature over the past 10,000 years the temporal and spatial variability of groundwater recharge was calculated using empirical equations valid for semi-arid and arid settings. Further inflow into the groundwater system results from surface water infiltration in wadi beds, while natural outflow from the groundwater system occurs by discharge to the Gulf, evaporation from sabkhas, and spring discharge. Backward predictions can be verified by sedimentological observations of palaeo-river systems and lakes indicating that groundwater levels reached temporarily the surface under wetter climate conditions and 14C groundwater ages displaying groundwater residence times.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

References

  • Al-Sayari SS, Zötl JG (1978) Quaternary Period in Saudi Arabia. A Cooperative Research Project of the University of Petroleum and Minerals Dhahran and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Springer, Vienna, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bakiewicz W, Milne DM, Noori M (1982) Hydrogeology of the Umm Er Radhuma aquifer, Saudi Arabia with reference to fossil gradients. Q J Eng Geol 15:105–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barthelemy Y, Beon O, Nindre Y-M, Munaf S, Poitrinal D, Gutierrez A, Vandenbeusch M, Al Shoaibi A, Wijnen M (2007) Modeling oft he Saq aquifer system (Saudi Arabia). In: Chery L, de Marsily G (eds) Aquifer systems management: Darcy’s Legacy in a world of impending water shortage Int Assoc Hydrogeol Selected Papers 10:175–190

  • Beer J, Mende W, Stellmacher R (2000) The role of the Sun in climate forcing. Quatern Sci Rev 19:403–415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beineke J (2005) Spät-quartäre Paläographie der Arabischen Halbinsel. Ph.D. Thesis at the University of Paderborn (in German)

  • Braconnot P, Otto-Bliesner B, Harrison S, Jaussaume S, Peterchmitt J-Y, Abe-Ouvhi A, Crucifix M et al (2007) Results of PMIP2 coupled simulations of the Mid-Holocene and Last glacial Maximum- Part 1: experiments and large scale features. Clim Past 3:261–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braconnot P, Marzin C, Gregoire L, Mosquet E, Marti O (2008) Monsoon response to changes in Earth’s orbital parameters: comparison between simulations of the Eemian and of the Holocene. Clim Past 4:281–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brice WC (1978) The Environmental History of the Near and Middle East since the Last Ice Age. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Bureau de Recherches Geologique et Minieres (BRGM) (1977) Al Hassa Development Project: Groundwater Resources Study and Management Program. Report for the Ministry of Agriculture and Water of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh (unpubl.)

  • Clark ID, Fitz P (1997) Environmental Iostopes in Hydrology. Lewis Publishers, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Dincer T, Al-Mugrin A, Zimmermann U (1974) Study of the infiltration and recharge through the sand dunes in arid zones with special reference to the stable isotopes and thermonuclear tritium. J Hydrol 23:79–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edgell HS (2006) Arabian Deserts Origin and Evolution. Nature, Springer, Dordrecht

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fabryka-Martin JT, Wolfsberg AV, Levy SS, Roach JL, Winters ST, Wolfsberg LE, Elmore D, Sharma P (1998) Distribution of fast radioactive paths in the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mountain. In: Proceedings of the 8th annual international high-level radioactive waste management conference. Am Nucl Soc, pp 93–96

  • Faulkner RD (1995) Fossil water or renewable resource: the case for one Arabian aquifer. In: Proc Instn Civ Engrs Wat, Marit & Energy, Paper 10391, 106:325–331

  • Finsterle S, Najita J (1998) Robust estimation of hydrogeologic model parameters. Water Resour Res 34(11):2939–2947

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleitmann D, Burns SJ, Mudelsee M, Neff U, Kramers J, Mangini A, Matter A (2003) Holocene forcing of the Indian monsoon recorded in a stalagmite from Southern Oman. Science 300:1737–1739

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flint AL, Flint LE, Kwicklis EM, Fabryka-Martin JT, Bodvarsson GS (2002) Estimating recharge at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, USA: comparison of methods. Hydrogeol J 10:180–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gasse F, Téhet R, Durand A, Gibert E, Fontes J-C (1990) The arid-humid Transition in the Sahara and the Sahel during the last Deglaciation. Nature 346:141–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gräbe A, Rödiger T, Rink K, Fischer T, Sun F, Wang W, Siebert C, Kolditz O (2013) Numerical analysis of the groundwater regime in the western Dead Sea Escarpment, Israel + West Bank. Environ Earth Sci 69(2). doi:10.1007/s12665-012-1795-8

  • Green R, Bertetti F, Hernandez M (2012) Recharge variability in semi-arid climates. Nat Educ Knowl 3(3):10

    Google Scholar 

  • Groundwater Development Consultants (GDC) (1980) Umm Er Radhuma Study. Report for the Ministry of Agriculture and Water of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh (unpubl.)

  • Hoelzmann P, Kruse HJ, Rottinger F (2000) Precipitation estimates for the eastern Saharan palaeomonsoon based on a water balance model of the West Nubian Palaeolake Basin. Global Planet Chang 26:105–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hötzl H, Zötl JG (1984) Hydrogeology. In: Jado AR, Zötl JG (eds) Quaternary period in Saudi Arabia, 2nd edn. Springer, Vienna, pp 246–274

    Google Scholar 

  • Hötzl H, Wohnlich S, Zoetl JG, Benischke R (1993) Verkarstung und Grundwasser im As Summan Plateau (Saudi Arabien). Steir Z Hydrogeol 44:5–158

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurban AA, Gharib I (2003) Geomorphological and sedimentological characteristics of coastal and inland sabkhas, Southern Kuwait. J Arid Environ 58(1):59–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kutzbach JE, Liu Z (1997) Response of the African monsoon to orbital forcing and ocean feedbacks in the Middle Holocene. Scinece 278:440–442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kutzbach JE, Street-Perrott FA (1985) Milankovitch forcing of fluctuations in the level of tropical lakes from 18 to 0 kyr B.P. Nature 317:130–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu K, Yao Z, Thompson LG (1998) A pollen record of Holocene climatic changes from the Dunde Ice Cap, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Geology 26:135–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Margat J (2007) Great aquifer systems of the world. In: Chery L, de Marsily G (eds) Aquifer systems management: Darcy’s Legacy in a world of impending water shortage. Int Assoc Hydrogeol Selected Papers, 10:105–116

  • Marzin C, Braconnot P (2009) Variations of Indian and African monsoons induced by insolation changes at 6 and 9.5 kyr BP. Clim Dyn 33:215–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neff U (2001) Massenspektrometrische Th/U-Datierung von Höhlensintern aus dem Oman: Klimaarchive des asiatischen Monsuns. PhD Thesis at the Universität Heidelberg (in German)

  • Poeter EP, Hill MC (1997) Inverse models: a necessary next step in groundwater modeling. Ground Water 35(2):250–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Purser BH (1973) The Persian Gulf. Holocene carbonate sedimentation and diagenesis in a shallow epicontinental sea. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie JC, Eyles CH, Haynes CV (1985) Sediment and pollen evidence for an early to Mid-Holocene humid period in the eastern Sahara. Nature 314:352–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scanlon BR, Tyler SW, Wierenga PJ (1997) Hydrologic issues in arid, unsaturated systems and implications for contaminant transport. Rev Geophys 35(4):461–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scanlon BR, Langford RP, Goldsmith RS (1999) Relationship between geomorphic settings and unsaturated flow in an arid setting. Water Resour Res 35(4):983–999

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scanlon BR, Keese K, Reedy CR, Simunek J, Andraski BJ (2003) Variations in flow and transport in thick vadose zones in response to paleoclimatic forcing (0–90 kyr): field measurements, modeling, and uncertainties. Water Resour Res 39(7):1179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scanlon BR, Keese KE, Flint AL, Flint LE, Gaye CB, Edmunds M, Simmers I (2006) Global synthesis of groundwater recharge in semiarid and arid regions. Hydrol Process 20:3335–3370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scharffenberg WA, Fleming MJ (2009) Hydrological modeling system HEC-HMS. User’s Manual. Vers. 3.4. Report 0704-0188 US Army Corps of Engineers, Davis, CA

  • Schulz S, Siebert C, Rödiger T, Al-Raggad MM, Merz R (2013) Application of the water balance model J2000 to estimate groundwater recharge in a semi-arid environment—a case study in the Zarqa River catchment, NW-Jordan. Environ Earth Sci 69(2). doi:10.1007/s12665-013-2342-y

  • Seyfriend MS, Schwinning S, Walvood MA, Pockman WT, Newman BD, Jackson RB, Phillips FM (2005) Ecohydrological control of deep drainage in arid and semi-arid regions. Ecology 86(2):277–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siddall M, Rohling EJ, Almogi-Labin A, Hemleben Ch, Meischner D, Schmelzer I, Smeed DA (2003) Sea-level fluctuations during the last glacial cycle. Nature 423:853–858

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sophocleous M (2000) From safe yield to sustainable development of water resources—the Kansas experience. J Hydrol 235:27–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanford WE, Wood WW (2001) Hydrology of the coastal of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Hydrogeol J 9:358–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stannard DI (1988) Use of a hemispherical chamber for measurement of evaporation. USGS Open-File Report 88-452. Denver, Colo

  • Stokes S, Bray HE (2005) Late Pleistocene eolian history of the Liwa region, Arabian Peninsula. Geol Soc Am Bull 117(11–12):1446–1480

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornthwaite CW (1948) A new and improved classification of climates. Geogr Rev 38(1):55–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tokhais al AS, Rausch R (2008) The hydrogeology of Al Hassa springs. In: Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on water resources and arid environments and the 1st Arab water forum, 16–19 Nov 2008, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

  • Tucker CJ, Newcomb WW, Los SO, Prince SD (1991) Mean and inter-year variation of growing-season normalized difference vegetation index for the Sahel 1981–1989. Int J Remote Sens 12:1113–1115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations (UN) (1982) Groundwater in Western Asia. UN-DTCD, Natural Resources. Water series no. 9, New York

  • United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2004) Groundwater resources of the world (1:50,000,000). Groundwater resources of the world-transboundary aquifer systems. WHYMAP, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. World Water Assessment Programme (UNESCO-WWAP) (2006) Water for people. Water for life, the United Nations World Water Development Report. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris and Berghahn Books, Oxford and New York, NY

  • United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) (2007a) Global environment outlook 4. Progress Press Ltd., Malta

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) (2007b) www.grida.no

  • Vidal FS (1951) The oasis of Al Hassa. ARAMCO, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner W, Geyh MA (1999) Application of environmental isotope methods for groundwater studies in the ESCWA Region. Geol Jahrbuch. Reihe C. 67, Schweizerbart, Hannover

  • Walvoord M, Scanlon BR (2005) Hydrological Processes in deep vadose zones in interdrainage arid environments. In: Hogan J, Phillips F, Scanlon BR (eds) Groundwater recharge in a desert environment. The Southwestern Unites States. Water science and applications, vol 9. American Geophysical Union, Washington, pp 15–27

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wöehling T, Samaniego L, Kumar R (2013) Evaluating multiple performance criteria to calibrate the distributed hydrological model of the upper Neckar catchment. Environ Earth Sci 69(2). doi:10.1007/s12665-013-2306-2

Download references

Acknowledgments

Our investigations benefited notably from the scientific discussions with Henning Prommer (CSIRO) and Martin Kastowski (TU Darmstadt). Thanks go to the GiZ-IS (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit International Services), Saudi-Arabia, and the Ministry of Water and electricity, Saudi-Arabia, that provided the huge amount of field and lab data. The work was founded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) within the IWAS (Internationale Wasser Allianz Sachsen) project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to I. Engelhardt.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Engelhardt, I., Rausch, R., Keim, B. et al. Surface and subsurface conceptual model of an arid environment with respect to mid- and late Holocene climate changes. Environ Earth Sci 69, 537–555 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2303-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2303-5

Keywords

Navigation