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Hydrochemical characteristics and evaluation of the granite aquifer in the Alwadeen area, southwest Saudi Arabia

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Abstract

This study was carried out in the Alwadeen area of Khamis Mushayt district of southwestern Saudi Arabia to evaluate the hydrochemical characteristics of the shallow hard rock aquifers. These hard rock aquifers mostly comprise granites and contain significant quantities of groundwater that complement the available groundwater from the unconsolidated alluvial sediments in the nearby wadis. The field investigation indicates two main fracture sets which intersect each other and are oriented in the west-northwest and east-west directions. The granitic rocks in the area are intruded by coarse-grained and quartz-rich monzogranite and pegmatite veins. Hydrogeologically, the fracture systems are important since they facilitate the groundwater storage and assume the transmissive function during times of groundwater abstraction. Given the fact that groundwater in the fractured rock aquifers generally occurs at shallow depths, it may be exposed to contamination from surface and/or near-surface sources, and it is therefore important to evaluate its quality. To this end, a hydrochemical analysis was carried out on six groundwater samples collected from the area. The hydrochemistry revealed that the groundwater is fairly fresh, and facies analysis reveals mixed Na-Cl and Ca-Mg-Cl-SO4 types. Overall, the results reveal that the groundwater is saturated with calcite and dolomite, but unsaturated with gypsum and halite. The degree of salinity increases in the direction of the groundwater flow due to increased rock-water interaction.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for funding this research group, No. RG-1435-035.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geology and Geophysics Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Sattam Almadani, Hussain Alfaifi, Abdullah Al-Amri, Mohamed Fnais, Elkhedr Ibrahim, Kamal Abdelrahman & Faisal Zaidi

  2. Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Mohamed Fnais

  3. Seismology Department, National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, Cairo, Egypt

    Kamal Abdelrahman

  4. Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt

    Elkhedr Ibrahim

  5. Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

    Mohammed Shehata

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  1. Sattam Almadani
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  2. Hussain Alfaifi
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  3. Abdullah Al-Amri
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  4. Mohamed Fnais
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  6. Kamal Abdelrahman
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  8. Faisal Zaidi
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Correspondence to Kamal Abdelrahman.

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Almadani, S., Alfaifi, H., Al-Amri, A. et al. Hydrochemical characteristics and evaluation of the granite aquifer in the Alwadeen area, southwest Saudi Arabia. Arab J Geosci 10, 139 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-017-2873-8

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