Environmental Earth Sciences

, Volume 70, Issue 1, pp 393–406 | Cite as

Groundwater chemistry of strike slip faulted aquifers: the case study of Wadi Zerka Ma’in aquifers, north east of the Dead Sea

  • Taleb Odeh
  • Stefan Geyer
  • Tino Rödiger
  • Christian Siebert
  • Mario Schirmer
Original Article
First Online:
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Accepted:

Abstract

Wadi Zerka Ma’in catchment area is located to the north east of the Dead Sea. It has two types of aquifers: (a) an upper unconfined aquifer and (b) a lower confined aquifer. The two aquifers are separated by a marl aquiclude. A major strike slip fault passes perpendicularly through the two aquifers and the aquiclude layer with embedded normal faults. The aim of the study was to specify the effect of the major strike slip fault on the groundwater chemistry. The spatial variability of the hydrochemical compositions and physiochemical parameters of the groundwater were investigated. It was found that the embedded normal faults, of the strike slip fault, form conduits that allow groundwater to flow from the lower aquifer to the upper aquifer, resulting in mixed groundwater. The ratio of mixing was estimated to be 94 % groundwater from the upper aquifer and 6 % from the lower aquifer. Since groundwater in the lower aquifer is around three times more saline than the upper aquifer, water mixing into the upper water aquifer generates a salinity hazard.

Keywords

Groundwater mixing Groundwater genesis Saturation indices Salinity hazard Trace elements Strike slip fault Embedded normal faults 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

We are thankful to the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZ for analyzing the chemical components of the water samples and financial support. We would like to thank the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) for providing the scholarship to the first author allowing him to carry out this research. We also thank the personnel of the different laboratories of the UFZ in Halle and Leipzig for doing the chemical analyses. Professor Broder Merkel, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, is thanked too for his valuable input concerning the hydrodynamics of the aquifers.

Supplementary material

12665_2012_2135_MOESM1_ESM.doc (210 kb)
Supplementary material 1 (DOC 210 kb)
12665_2012_2135_MOESM2_ESM.doc (4.1 mb)
Supplementary material 2 (DOC 4216 kb)

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  • Taleb Odeh
    • 1
    • 2
  • Stefan Geyer
    • 1
  • Tino Rödiger
    • 1
  • Christian Siebert
    • 1
  • Mario Schirmer
    • 3
  1. 1.Catchment Hydrology DepartmentHelmholtz Centre for Environmental Research—UFZHalleGermany
  2. 2.School of Architecture and Built Environment and Natural Resources EngineeringGerman Jordanian UniversityAmmanJordan
  3. 3.Department Water Resources and Drinking WaterEawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and TechnologyDübendorfSwitzerland

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