Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Geospatial Information and Environmental Isotopes for Hydrogeological Evaluation: Ras Alam El Rum, Northwestern Coast of Egypt

  • Published:
Natural Resources Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present study demonstrates the potential of the geospatial information as well as isotopes and chemical analyses to elucidate the hydrogeological setting of the study area. The main objective of this research is to identify factors affecting the occurrence and quality of groundwater in the study area. The Ras Alam El Rum is the pilot area chosen in the northwestern coast of Egypt to evaluate the carbonate aquifer with emphasis on the Middle Miocene aquifer, which has been explored recently. The average of annual precipitation and surface runoff amounts were estimated to indicate possibility of groundwater recharge, where the water-bearing rocks are mainly fractured. The isotope data indicate that the groundwater was derived from rainwater, the recharge source is local precipitation, and no indication of seawater intrusion was recorded. The salinity of the groundwater is attributed to interaction between the water and aquifer rocks represented by limestone, dolomitic limestone, and marl. The mineral indices obtained from the geochemical model reveal that the groundwater is over-saturated with aragonite, calcite, dolomite, strontianite, and barite. The hydrogeological evaluation of the study area led to recommendations to determine of the suitable areas for exploration of the Middle Miocene aquifer and to protect groundwater from deterioration.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10
Figure 11

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abdel Mogheeth, S. (1968). Sedimentology, geochemistry and evaluations of the Marmarica limestone, Western Desert, Egypt. PhD thesis, Al Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.

  • Ali, A. O., Rashid, M., El Naggar, S., & Abdul, A. (2007). Water harvesting options in the drylands at different spatial scales. Land Use and Water Resource Research, 7, 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM). (2002). Water environmental technology. Annual book of ASTM standards, sections: 11.01 and 11.02. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.

  • Atwa, S. M. (1979). Hydrology and hydrogeochemistry of the Northwestern Coast of Egypt. PhD Thesis, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.

  • Awad, M., Hammad, F., Aly, A., & Sadek, M. (1994). Use of environmental isotopes and hydrochemistry as indicators for the of groundwater resources in El-Dabaa area, northwestern coastal zone of Egypt. Journal of Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 16, 31–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conoco. (1986). Geological map of Egypt, scale 1:500,000. Produced by General Petroleum Company, Sheets No. NH35NE.

  • Craig, H. (1961). Isotopic variations in meteoric waters. Science, 133, 1702–1703.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dansgaard, W. (1964). Stable isotopes in precipitation. Tellus, 16, 436–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deutsch, W. J. (1997). Groundwater geochemistry: Fundamentals and application to contamination. Boca Raton: Lewis Publisher.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dooge, J. (1973). Linear theory of hydrologic systems. Technical bulletin no. 1468. Washington, DC: USDA, Agriculture Research Service.

  • Egypt National Capacity Self Assessment (NCSA). (2007). National capacity self assessment project—Egypt’s National Strategy & Action Plan. Cairo: Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency.

    Google Scholar 

  • Egyptian Meteorological Authority. (1996). Climatic atlas of Egypt. Cairo: Ministry of Transport.

    Google Scholar 

  • El Maghraby, M. (1997). Geophysical, hydrogeological and remote sensing studies on the effect of sea level fluctuation on the groundwater reservoir between Alexandria and El Daba’a, Egypt. PhD Thesis, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.

  • El Shamy, I. (1968). The geology of soil and water resources in El Daba’a area. M.Sc. Thesis, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.

  • El Shazly, M. M. (1964). Geology, pedology and hydrogeology of Mersa Matruh area, Western Mediterranean littoral. PhD Thesis, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.

  • El Shazly, E. M., & Abdel Hady, M. A. (1976). Geologic interpretation of landsat satellite images for Qattara Depression area, Egypt. Cairo: Academy of Science and Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • El Shazly, M., & Shata, A. (1971). Geomorphology and pedology of Mersa Matrh area, Western Mediterranean Littoral Zone. Desert Institute Bulletin, 19, 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • El-Raey, M., Dewidar, K. R., & El-Hattab, M. (1999). Adaptation to the impacts of sea level rise in Egypt. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, 4, 343–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El-Sharabi, E. S. (2000). Hydrogeological, geomorphological and geoenvironmental implications for future sustainable development of the northwestern coastal zone of Egypt. PhD Thesis, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.

  • FAO. (1970). Pre-investment survey of the northwestern coastal region: Physical conditions and water resources. Technical report 2 (ESE: SF/UAR 49). Rome: FAO.

  • Farr, T. G., & Kobrick, M. (2000). Shuttle Radar Topography Mission produces a wealth of data. Geophysics Union Eos, 81, 583–585.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foody, G., Ghoneim, E., & Arnell, N. (2004). Predicting locations sensitive to flash flooding in arid environment. Journal of Hydrology, 292, 48–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeze, R. A., & Cherry, J. A. (1979). Groundwater. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghoneim, E. (2008). Optimum groundwater locations in the northern United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 29, 5879–5906.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghoneim, E., & El-Baz, F. (2007). Dem-optical-radar data integration for paleo-hydrological mapping in the northern Darfur, Sudan: Implication for groundwater exploration. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 28, 5001–5018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghoneim, E., & Foody, G. (2012). Assessing flash flood hazard in an arid mountainous region. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 6, 1191–1202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammad, F. A. (1966). The geology of water supplies in Ras El Hekma area. M.Sc. Thesis, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.

  • Hammad, F. A. (1972). The geology of soils and water resources in the area between Ras El Hekma and Ras El Rum (Western Mediterranean Littoral Zone, Egypt). PhD Thesis, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.

  • Herczeg, A. L., & Leaney, F. W. (2011). Review: Environmental tracers in arid-zone. Hydrogeology Journal, 19, 17–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilmy, M., El Shazly, M., & Korany, E. (1978). Lithostratigraphy and petrology of the Miocene and post-Miocene sediments in Burg El Arab-El Daba’a area. Desert Institute Bulletin, 28, 1–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huggel, C., Schneider, D., Miranda, P., Granados, H., & Kääb, A. (2008). Evaluation of ASTER and SRTM DEM data for lahar modeling: A case study on lahars from Popocatépetl Volvano, Mexico. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 170, 99–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). (1973). International Atomic Energy Agency Bulletin (Vol 15, pp. 42–48). Vienna: IAEA.

  • International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). (2004). Isotope hydrology information system. Matruh Station, Veena: The ISOHIS Database. Retrieved 2004, from http://isohis.iaea.org/.

  • IPCC. (2007). Climate change: The physical science basis. In Solomon, S., Qin, D., & Manning, M., et al. (Eds.), Contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Jensen, S. K., & Domingue, J. O. (1988). Extracting topographic structure from digital elevation model data for geographic information system analysis. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 54, 1593–1600.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klaric, Z., Komilis, P., Dragicevic, M., Berlengi, G., et al. (1999). Carrying capacity assessment for tourism development of the coastal area management programme (CAMP) Fuka-Matrouh, Egypt. Zagreb: PAP/RAC, Split.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maidment, D. R. (2002). Arc hydro, GIS for water resources. Redlands: ESRI press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marks, D., Dozier, J., & Frew, J. (1984). Automated basin delineation from digital elevation data. Geo-Processing, 2, 299–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Misak, R. (1974). Geomorphology and geology of the area between El Daba’a and Ras El Hekma, Western Mediterranean coastal zone, Egypt. M.Sc. Thesis, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

  • Mudallal, U. H. (1990). Hydrogeological studies of areas in the North Western coastal zone and Siwa. Project EGY/87/010. Rome: FAO.

  • National Authority for Remote Sensing & Space Sciences (NARSS). (2005). Environmental evaluation of land resources in the Northwestern Coast of Egypt, using space data and land information systems, phase II: Area from Sedi Abd EL-Rahman to Marsa El-Assi. Fainal Report No. 101/SR/ENV/04-0. Cairo: NARSS.

  • Nicholson, K. (1993). Geothermal fluids, chemistry and exploration techniques. Berlin: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Piper, A. M. (1944). A graphic procedure in the geochemical interpretation of water analyses. Geophysics Union, 25(6), 914–923.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plummer, L. N. (1992). Geochemical modeling—Past, present, future. In Kharaka, Y., & Maest, A. S. (Eds.), International symposium on water-rock interaction, Park City, Utah (7th ed., pp. 23–33). Balkema: Proceedings: Rotterdam.

  • Pryde, J., Osorio, J., Wolfe, M., Heatwole, C., Benham, B., & Cárdenas, A. (2007). Comparison of watershed boundaries derived from SRTM and ASTER digital elevation datasets and from a digitized topographic map (pp. 1–10). American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers No. 072093. Michigan: ASABE.

  • Raslan, S. M. (1995). Geomorphological and hydrogeological studies on some localities along the Northwestern Coast of Egypt. M.Sc. Thesis, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.

  • Scholler, H. (1962). Les eaux souterraines. Paris: Massio et Cie.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sewidan, A. S. (1978). Water budget analysis for the northwestern coastal zone. PhD Thesis, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.

  • Shata, A. (1953). New light on the structural development of the Western Desert of Egypt. The Desert Institute Bulletin, 3, 101–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shata, A. (1955). An introductory note on the geology of the northern portion of the Western Desert of Egypt. The Desert Institute Bulletin, 5, 96–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shata, A. (1957). Geology and geomorphology of Wadi El Kharrupa area. The Desert Institute Bulletin, 10, 91–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherif, M. M., & Singh, V. P. (1999). Effect of climate change on sea water intrusion in coastal aquifers. Hydrological Processes, 13, 1277–1287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skougstad, M. W., & Horr, C. A. (1963). Occurrence and distribution of strontium in natural water (pp. 1–42). Water-Supply Paper 1496-D. Washington, DC: U.S. Geology Survey.

  • Taha, A. (1973). Geology of water supplies of Matruh—Barrani area, Northwestern Mediterranean coastal zone, Egypt. PhD Thesis, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.

  • Tribe, A. (1991). Automated recognition of valley heads from digital elevation models. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 16, 33–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO. (1977). Climatic zonation of the arid and semi-arid regions. In REij, C., Mulder, P., & Begemann, L. (Eds.), 1988 Water harvesting for plant production. Technical paper 91. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

  • Vengosh, A., Hening, S., Ganor, J., Mayer, B., Weyhenmeyer, C. E., Bullen, T. D., et al. (2007). New isotopic evidence for the origin of groundwater from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer in the Negev, Israel. Application of Geochemistry, 22, 1052–1073.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolock, D. M., & McCabe, G. J. (1995). Comparison of single and multiple flow direction algorithms for computing topographic parameters in TOPMODEL. Water Resources Research, 31, 1315–1324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank Report. (2005). Environmental impact assessment. Al Hammam landfill project. Cairo: Integral Consult.

  • Yousif, M. (2014). Integration of the geomorphologic and geologic studies for water potentialities development in El Zarraqa and El Harraqa basins, East Matrouh, northwestern coast, Egypt. Arabian Journal of Geosciences. doi:10.1007/s12517-014-1522-8.

  • Yousif, M., & Bubenzer, O. (2013). An integrated approach for groundwater assessment at the Northwestern Coast of Egypt (Ras El Hekma area): Case study. Environmental Earth Science, 69, 2227–2246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, W., & Montgomery, D. R. (1994). Digital elevation model grid size, landscape representation, and hydrological simulations. Water Resources Research, 30, 1019–1028.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the Matsumai International Foundation (MIF, Tokyo, Japan), who funded the postdoctoral scholarship of the first author to carry out researches in the University of Tokyo, through which the current study was conducted. Many thanks for the anonymous reviewers and the editor-in-chief, their valuable comments helped to improve the earlier versions of this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geology Department, Desert Research Center, P.O.B. 11753, El Matarya, Cairo, Egypt

    Mohamed Yousif

  2. Center for Spatial Information Science, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8563, Japan

    Takashi Oguchi

  3. Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8563, Japan

    Katsuro Anazawa

  4. Department of Chemistry, Schools of Science, Tokai University, 4-1-1, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, 259-1292, Japan

    Takeshi Ohba

Authors
  1. Mohamed Yousif
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Takashi Oguchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Katsuro Anazawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Takeshi Ohba
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohamed Yousif.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yousif, M., Oguchi, T., Anazawa, K. et al. Geospatial Information and Environmental Isotopes for Hydrogeological Evaluation: Ras Alam El Rum, Northwestern Coast of Egypt. Nat Resour Res 23, 423–445 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-014-9252-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-014-9252-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation