Abstract
The volcanic aquifer of Bilate River Basin (BRB) situated on the southwestern side of the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) serves as the sole reservoir of water supply for urban and rural people found in the basin. This study investigates residence time and groundwater recharge process in the Bilate River Basin. For the first time, this research work delivers information on the resident time and groundwater recharge on the basis of multi-tracer approach (CFCs, Cl, δ18O and δD). The δ18O and δD values of groundwater are drawn along or close to local Addis Ababa Meteoric Water Line (AAMWL), indicating that groundwater recharge is of meteoric origin. CFC data show that the oldest component of groundwater was recharged before 1950, while the younger component recharged in different time as of 1950. The assigned apparent age for groundwater range from 24 to more than 50 years. Binary mixing model is used to estimate the age and fraction of the younger component. Mixing model suggest that groundwater consists young groundwater that mainly recharged the aquifer between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. The proportion of young water in the groundwater shows decreasing trend from highland towards the rift indicating the main recharge area is the highland part. The chloride mass balance employed to Bilate River Basin calculated yearly average groundwater recharge to be 217 mm/y which accounted for 20% of the mean annual areal rainfall. The estimated recharge decrease from highland to the rift floor highlighting the importance of preferential flow recharge mechanism. The analysis of apparent age, young proportion and recharge rate, can aid in understanding complex groundwater flow system and residence time of groundwater in the complex hydrogeological setting of rift volcanic aquifer.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Ako AA, Shimada J, Hosono T, Kagabu M, Richard A, Nkeng GE, Tongwa AF, Ono M, Eyong GET, Tandia BK, Mouncherou OF (2013) Flow dynamics and age of groundwater within a humid equatorial active volcano (Mount Cameroon) deduced by δD, δ18O, 3H and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). J Hydrol 502:156–176
Alemayehu T, Leis A, Eisenhauer A, Dietzel M (2011) Multi-proxy approach (2H/H, 18O/16O, 13C/12C and 87Sr/86Sr) for the evolution of carbonate-rich groundwater in basalt dominated aquifer of Axum area, northern Ethiopia. Chemie Der Erde: Geochemistry 71(2):177–187
Allison GB, Gee GW, Tyler SW (1994) Vadose-zone techniques for estimating groundwater recharge in arid and semiarid regions. Soil Sci Soc Am J 58(1):6–14
Ayenew T, Demlie M, Wohnlich S (2008) Hydrogeological framework and occurrence of groundwater in the Ethiopian aquifers. J Afr Earth Sci 52(2008):97–113
Boccaletti M, Bonini M, Mazzuoli R, Abebe B, Piccardi L, Tortorici L (1998) Quaternary oblique extensional tectonics in the Ethiopian Rift (Horn of Africa). Tectonophysics 287(1):97–116
Bonini M, Corti G, Innocenti F, Manetti P, Mazzarini F, Abebe T, Pecskay Z (2005) Evolution of the main Ethiopian rift in the frame of Afar and Kenya rifts propagation. Tectonics. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004TC001680
Busenberg E, Plummer LN (2008) Dating groundwater with trifluoromethyl sulfurpentafluoride (SF5CF3), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), CF3Cl (CFC-13), and CF2Cl2 (CFC-12). Water Resour Res 44:W02431
Corti G (2009) Continental rift evolution: from rift initiation to incipient break-up in the Main Ethiopian Rift East Africa. Earth-Sci Rev 96(1–2):1–53
Corti G, Sani F, Philippon M, Sokoutis D, Willingshofer E, Molin P (2013) Quaternary volcano-tectonic activity in the Soddo region, western margin of the Southern Main Ethiopian Rift. Tectonics 32:867–879
Darling WG, Gooddy DC, Riches J, Wallis I (2010) Using environmental tracers to assess the extent of river–groundwater interaction in a quarried area of the English Chalk. Appl Geochem 25(7):923–932
Dugda MT (2005) Crustal structure in Ethiopia and Kenya from receiver function analysis: implications for rift development in eastern Africa. J Geophys Res. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JB003065
Ebinger CJ, Sleep NH (1998) Cenozoic magmatism throughout east Africa resulting from impact of a single plume. Nature 395:788
Fouépé Takounjou A, Ngoupayou JRN, Riotte J, Takem GE, Mafany G, Maréchal JC, Ekodeck GE (2011) Estimation of groundwater recharge of shallow aquifer on humid environment in Yaounde, Cameroon using hybrid water-fluctuation and hydrochemistry methods. Environ Earth Sci 64(1):107–118
Gaye CB, Edmunds WM (1996) Groundwater recharge estimation using chloride, stable isotopes and tritium profiles in the sands of northwestern Senegal. Environ Geol 27(3):246–251
Haji M, Wang D, Li L, Qin D, Guo Y (2018) Geochemical evolution of fluoride and implication for F-enrichment in groundwater: example from the Bilate River Basin of Southern Main Ethiopian Rift. Water 10(12):1799
Haji M, Karuppannan S, Qin D, Shube H, Kawo NS (2021a) Potential human health risks due to groundwater fluoride contamination: a case study using multi-techniques approaches (GWQI, FPI, GIS, HHRA) in Bilate River Basin of Southern Main Ethiopian Rift, Ethiopia. Arch Environ Contamin Toxicol 80:277–293
Haji M, Qin D, Guo Y, Li L, Wang D, Karuppannan S, Shube H (2021b) Origin and geochemical evolution of groundwater in the Abaya Chamo basin of the Main Ethiopian Rift: application of multi-tracer approaches. Hydrogeol J 29(3):1219–1238
Han DM, Song XF, Currell MJ, Tsujimura M (2012) Using chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and tritium to improve conceptual model of groundwater flow in the South Coast Aquifers of Laizhou Bay, China. Hydrol Process 26:3614–3629
Han Z, Tang C, Piao J, Li X, Cao Y, Matsumaru T, Zhang C (2014) Application of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to estimate the groundwater age at a headwater wetland in Ichikawa City Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Appl Water Sci 4:291–302
Happell JD, Opsahl S, Top Z, Chanton JP (2006) Apparent CFC and 3H/3He age differences in water from Floridan Aquifer springs. J Hydrol 319(1):410–426
Hayward NJ, Ebinger CJ (1996) Variations in the along-axis segmentation of the Afar Rift system. Tectonics 15(2):244–257
Heaton THE, Talma AS, Vogel JC (1986) Dissolved gas paleotemperatures and 18O variations derived from groundwater near Uitenhage South Africa. Quat Res 25(1):79–88
IAEA (2006) Use of chlorofluorocarbons in hydrology: a guidebook. IAEA, p 277
IAEA (2016) Global network of isotopes in precipitation. The GNIP Database, volume 2016
Jacque LK, Craig RG (2015) Chlorofluorocarbon apparent ages of groundwaters from west Hawaii, USA. J Hydrol 527:355–366
Kamtchueng BT, Fantong WY, Wirmvem MJ, Tiodjio RE, Fouépé Takounjou A, Asai K, Bopda Djomou SL, Kusakabe M, Ohba T, Tanyileke G, Hell JV, Ueda A (2015) A multi-tracer approach for assessing the origin, apparent age and recharge mechanism of shallow groundwater in the Lake Nyos catchment Northwest, Cameroon. J Hydrol 523:790–803
Kebede S (2013) Groundwater in Ethiopia. Features, numbers and opportunities. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, Springer Hydrogeology, XIV, p 283
Kirchner JW, Feng X, Neal C (2001) Catchment-scale advection and dispersion as a mechanism for fractal scaling in stream tracer concentrations. J Hydrol 254(1):82–101
Kogan L, Fisseha S, Bendick R, Reilinger R, McClusky S, King R, Solomon T (2012) Lithospheric strength and strain localization in continental extension from observations of the East African Rift. J Geophys Res Solid Earth. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JB008516
Koh D-C, Ha K, Lee K-S, Yoon Y-Y, Ko K-S (2012) Flow paths and mixing properties of groundwater using hydrogeochemistry and environmental tracers in the southwestern area of Jeju volcanic island. J Hydrol 432–433:61–74
Mechal A, Wagner T, Birk S (2015) Recharge variability and sensitivity to climate: the example of Gidabo River Basin Main Ethiopian Rift. J Hydrol Reg Stud 4:644–660
Minissale A, Corti G, Tassi F, Darrah TH, Vaselli O, Montanari D, Montegrossi G, Yirgu G, Selmo E, Teclu A (2017) Geothermal potential and origin of natural thermal fluids in the northern Lake Abaya area Main Ethiopian Rift, East Africa. J Volcanol Geotherm Res 336:1–18
Molin P, Corti G (2015) Topography, river network and recent fault activity at the margins of the Central Main Ethiopian Rift (East Africa). Tectonophysics 664:67–82
Oster H, Sonntag C, Münnich KO (1996) Groundwater age dating with chlorofluorocarbons. Water Resour Res 32(10):2989–3001
Plummer LN (2005) Dating of young groundwater. In: Aggrawal PK, Gat JR, Froehlich KFO (eds) Isotopes in the water cycle: past, present and future of a developing science. Springer, Dordrecht
Plummer LN, Busenberg E (2000) Chlorofluorocarbons. In: Cook PG, Herczeg AL (eds) Environmental tracers in subsurface hydrology. Springer US, Boston, pp 441–478
Plummer N, Busenberg E, Drenkard S, Schlosser P, Ekwurzel B, Weppernig R, McConnell JB, Michel RL (1998) Flow of river water into a karstic limestone aquifer: 2. Dating the Young Fraction in Groundwater Mixtures in the Upper Floridan Aquifer near Valdosta, Georgia. Appl Geochem 13(8):1017–1043
Plummer LN, Rupert MG, Busenberg E, Schlosser P (2000) Age of irrigation water in ground water from the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer South-Central Idaho. Groundwater 38(2):264–283
Plummer LN, Busenberg E, Böhlke JK, Nelms DL, Michel RL, Schlosser P (2001) Groundwater residence times in Shenandoah National Park, Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia, USA: a multi-tracer approach. Chem Geol 179(1):93–111
Plummer LN, Busenberg E, Cook PG (2006) Principles of chlorofluorocarbon dating, use of chlorofluorocarbons in hydrology: a guidebook: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). IAEA
Qin D, Qian Y, Han L, Wang Z, Li C, Zhao Z (2011) Assessing impact of irrigation water on groundwater recharge and quality in arid environment using CFCs, tritium and stable isotopes in the Zhangaye Basin Northwest China. J Hydrol 405(1–2):194–208
Qin D, Zhao Z, Han L, Qian Y, Ou L, Wu Z, Wang M (2012) Determination of groundwater recharge regime and flowpath in the Lower Heihe River basin in an arid area of Northwest China by using environmental tracers: implications for vegetation degradation in the jina Oasis. Appl Geochem 27:1133–1145
Subyani A, Şen Z (2006) Refined chloride mass-balance method and its application in Saudi Arabia. Hydrol Process 20(20):4373–4380
Thompson TM, Butler J, Daube B, Dutton G, Elkins J, Hall B, Lafleur BG, Lind J, Mondeel D, Montzka S, Moore FL, Nance JD, Snible WJ (2004) Halocarbons and other atmospheric trace species
Walker SJ, Weiss RF, Salameh PK (2000) Reconstructed histories of the annual mean atmospheric mole fractions for the halocarbons CFC-11 CFC-12, CFC-113, and carbon tetrachloride. J Geophys Res: Oceans 105(C6):14285–14296
Wood WW, Sanford WE (1995) Chemical and Isotopic Methods for Quantifying Ground-Water Recharge in a Regional Semiarid Environment. Ground Water 33(3):458–468
Zanettin B, Justin-Visentin E, Nicoletti M, Petrucciani C (1978) The evolution of Chencha escarpment and Ganjule Graben in Southern Ethiopian Rift. N Jb Geol Palaont MH 8:473–490
Zhu C, Winterle JR, Love EI (2003) Late Pleistocene and Holocene groundwater recharge from the chloride mass balance method and chlorine-36 data. Water Resour Res 39(7):1182
Zuber A, Witczak S, Różański K, Śliwka I, Opoka M, Mochalski P, Kuc T, Karlikowska J, Kania J, Jackowicz-Korczyński M, Duliński M (2005) Groundwater dating with3H and SF6 in relation to mixing patterns, transport modelling and hydrochemistry. Hydrol Process 19(11):2247–2275
Acknowledgements
This research work is based on the PhD study of the first author at the Chinese Academy of Science, Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGGCAS). IGGCAS (Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Science) is gratefully acknowledged for managing the grant and facilitating field works in Ethiopia.
Funding
CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship program is acknowledged for a PhD research grant to the first author.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
M.H., D.Q. and Y.G.did the preliminary studies, designed and performed the experiments, conducted field studies, analyzed the data and wrote the paper. S.K and H.S conducted field studies, prepare maps and figures and wrote the paper.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Haji, M., Qin, D., Karuppannan, S. et al. Multi-proxy (CFCs, Cl, δ18O and δD) assessment of the origin, residence time and recharge of groundwater in the Bilate River Basin (BRB) of Southern Main Ethiopian Rift (SMER). Environ Earth Sci 83, 290 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-024-11598-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-024-11598-y