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The deuterium and oxygen-18 isotopic composition of the groundwater in Khan Younis City, southern Gaza Strip (Palestine)

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Abstract

The environmental isotopes such as deuterium and oxygen-18 and the deuterium excess values have been used to assess groundwater recharge sources and their dynamics in Khan Younis City in the Gaza Strip in Palestine. Three isotopic lines for the relationship between δ2H and δ18O were used in the assessment. These lines are the global meteoric water line, the local meteoric water line and the groundwater evaporation line. The δ2H, δ18O and D-excess values indicate that deuterium and oxygen-18 isotopes originated in the groundwater from groundwater mixing with rainfall and other water sources; the groundwater in the area recharged from rainfall from a distant source that came from the Mediterranean Sea and from other sources such as wastewater, irrigation return flow and saline water.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank His Excellency Ambassador Salman Al Harfi, former Ambassador for State of Palestine to the Republic of Tunisia, for his recommendation and support to the Arab Atomic Energy Agency in Tunisia to finance the isotopic analysis and also thank to the Arab Atomic Energy Agency in Tunisia, for the financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor, Malaysia

    Mohd S. Abu Jabal, Ismail Abustan & Mohd Remy Rozaimy

  2. IWE, Al Azhar University, Gaza, Gaza, Palestine

    Mohd S. Abu Jabal

  3. Faculty of Engineering, Islamic University in Gaza, Gaza, Palestine

    Hussam El Najar

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  1. Mohd S. Abu Jabal
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  2. Ismail Abustan
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  3. Mohd Remy Rozaimy
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Correspondence to Ismail Abustan.

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Abu Jabal, M.S., Abustan, I., Rozaimy, M.R. et al. The deuterium and oxygen-18 isotopic composition of the groundwater in Khan Younis City, southern Gaza Strip (Palestine). Environ Earth Sci 77, 155 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7335-4

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