Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Characterization of mechanisms and processes of groundwater salinization in irrigated coastal area using statistics, GIS, and hydrogeochemical investigations

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Coastal aquifers are at threat of salinization in most parts of the world. This study was carried out in coastal shallow aquifers of Aousja-Ghar El Melh and Kalâat el Andalous, northeastern of Tunisia with an objective to identify sources and processes of groundwater salinization. Groundwater samples were collected from 42 shallow dug wells during July and September 2007. Chemical parameters such as Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Cl−, SO4 2−, HCO3 −, NO3 −, Br−, and F− were analyzed. The combination of hydrogeochemical, statistical, and GIS approaches was used to understand and to identify the main sources of salinization and contamination of these shallow coastal aquifers as follows: (i) water-rock interaction, (ii) evapotranspiration, (iii) saltwater is started to intrude before 1972 and it is still intruding continuously, (iv) irrigation return flow, (v) sea aerosol spray, and finally, (vi) agricultural fertilizers. During 2005/2006, the overexploitation of the renewable water resources of aquifers caused saline water intrusion. In 2007, the freshening of a brackish-saline groundwater occurred under natural recharge conditions by Ca-HCO3 meteoric freshwater. The cationic exchange processes are occurred at fresh-saline interfaces of mixtures along the hydraulic gradient. The sulfate reduction process and the neo-formation of clays minerals characterize the hypersaline coastal Sebkha environments. Evaporation tends to increase the concentrations of solutes in groundwater from the recharge areas to the discharge areas and leads to precipitate carbonate and sulfate minerals.

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

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ammar H (1986). Hypothèses pour un modèle d’évolution dynamique des bassins de la basse vallée de la Medjerda. Master Thesis, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, 105 pp

  • Andersen MS, Nyvang V, Jakobsen R, Postma D (2005) Geochemical processes and solute transport at the seawater/freshwater interface of a sandy aquifer. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 69(16):3979–3994

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Andreasen DC, Fleck WB (1997) Use of bromide:chloride ratios to differentiate potential sources of chloride in a shallow, unconfined aquifer affected by brackish-water intrusion. Hydrogeol J 5(2):17–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Appelo CAJ, Postma D (1993) Geochemistry, groundwater and pollution, 2nd edn. Balkema, Rotterdam, p 321

    Google Scholar 

  • Ben Ayed N, Gueddiche M, El Ghali A, Ammar H, Bougdiri M (1996). Evolution géodynamique et néotectonique du bassin molassique de Kéchabta. ETAP Mémoire N 10.83-89

  • Ben Hamza C (1994). Bilan hydrologique, sédimentologique et géochimique d’un bassin versant en zone semi-aride: la Medjerda (Tunisie Nord). Impact sur l’environnement. Sciences Thesis, Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris VI, 283 pp

  • Bernard M (1911) Le Golfe d’Utique et les boucles de la Medjerda, 212-242 pp

  • Bouksila F (1992) Bonification des sols, cas du périmètre irrigué de Kalaât Landelous. Caractérisation physique des sols et étude de la variabilité spatiale de leurs propriétés en vue de la détermination des facteurs et des zones à risque de salinisation. Mémoire de fin d’études du cycle de spécialisation Thesis, INAT, 192 pp

  • Bouzourra H (2009) Déduction des sources de salinité et modélisation de l’aquifère côtier de Ghar el Melh Aousja Kalâat Landalous Master Thesis, 158 pp

  • Bouzourra H, Bouhlila R, Ben Hamouda MF (2008) Sources de salinité dans la nappe côtière de Ghar el Melh Aousja Kalaat Landalous, EMASA_8, Colloque international: L’eau en milieux arides et semi arides : apports des traceurs environnementaux à la gestion des ressources. Faculté des sciences d’Avignon (France) et l’École Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Sfax (Tunisie), pp. 9

  • Custodio E, Bruggeman, KA (1987) Groundwater Problems in Coastal Areas. Studies and reports in Hydrology. UNESCO, Paris, 576 pp

  • de Montety V, Radakovitch O, Vallet-Coulomb C, Blavoux B, Hermitte D, Valles V (2008) Origin of groundwater salinity and hydrogeochemical processes in a confined coastal aquifer: case of the Rhône delta (Southern France). Appl Geochem 23(8):2337–2349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DGRE (1971-2006) Annuaires de surveillance piézométrique, Rapp. Int. Ministère de l’Agriculture, Tunisie. DGRE. Rapports techniques des piézomètres et des forages, Rapp. Int. Ministère de l’Agriculture, Tunisie

  • ERI (2004) Réalisation des études hydrogéologiques au niveau du puit de captage de Hammam Utique, Rapp. Int, 34 pp

  • ETH (1998) Projet hydro-agricole Galaat el Andalous- Ras Djebel- Etude de la qualité des eaux

  • Fedrigoni L, Krimissa M, Zouari K, Maliki A, Zuppi GM (2001) Origine de la minéralisation et comportement hydrogéochinique d’une nappe phréatique soumise à des contraintes naturelles et anthropiques sévères: exemple de la nappe de Djebeniana (Tunisie). CR Acad Sci Paris Sci de la Terre et des Planètes 332(11):665–671

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fetter CW (1994) Applied hydrogeology (3d ed.): Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, Prentice Hall, 691 p

  • Gallali T (1980) Transfert sels-matière organique en zones arides Méditerranéennes. Thèse de doctorat d’état Thesis, Institut National Polytechnique de LORRAINE (I.N.P.L), 202pp

  • Gambolati G, Putti M, Paniconi C (1999) Three dimensional model of coupled density-dependent flow and miscible salt transport.Chapter 10 In:Seawater Intrusion in Coastal Aquifers – Concepts, Methods and Practices. pp. 315-362

  • Garcia MG, Del Hidalgo MV, Blesa MA (2001) Geochemistry of groundwater in the alluvial plain of Tucuman province. Argent J Hydrol 9(6):597–610

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs RJ (1970) Mechanism controlling world water chemistry. Science 170:1088–1090

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Glen EP, Cohen MJ, Morrison JI, Valdes-Casillas C, Fitzsimmons K (1999) Science and policy dilemmas in the management of agricultural waste waters: the case of the Salton Sea, CA, USA. Environ Sci Policy 2(4–5):413–423

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hachicha, MJOJ and Mtimet A (1994) Les sols salés et la salinisation en Tunisie. Sols de Tunisie. Bulletin de la direction des sols, 12, 270-324 pp

  • Hachicha M, M’Hiri A, Bouksila F, Bach Hamba I (1997) Variabilité et répartition de l’argile et de la salinité dans le périmètre de Kalaât Landelous (Tunisie). Etude et Gestion des Sols 4:53–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Hachicha M, Cheverry C, Mhiri A (2003) Etude comparative de bonification de sols salés sous conditions naturelles et sous irrigation et drainage en milieu semi-aride. Sècheresse 14:146–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Hem JD (1992) Study and interpretation of the chemical characteristics of natural water. USGS Water-Supply Paper N 2254, 264 pp

  • Herczeg AL, Torgersen T, Chivas AR, Habermehl MA (1991) Geochemistry of groundwaters from the Great Artesian Basin, Australia. J Hydrol 126:225–245

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hounslow AW (1995) Water Quality Data. Analysis and Interpretation. ed. Lewis Publishers

  • Jalali M (2005) Major ion chemistry in the Bahar area, Hamadan, western Iran. Environ Geol 47:763–772

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones BF, Vengosh A, Rosenthal E, and Yechieli Y (1999) Geochemical Investigations.Chapter 3 In:Seawater Intrusion in Coastal Aquifers - Concepts, Methods and Practises. (eds: Bear J, Sorek S, Ouazar D, and Herrera I.). Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht-The Netherlands. pp. 51–72

  • Kim JH, Kim RH, Lee J, Cheong TJ, Yum BW, Chang HW (2005) Multivariate statistical analysis to identify the major factors governing groundwater quality in the coastal are of Kimje, South Korea. Hydrol Process 19:1261–1276

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Klinge H, Schelkes K, Rübel A, Suckow A, Schildknecht F, Ludwig R (2002) The Saltwater/Fresh-water Regime in the Sedimentary Cover of the Gorleben Salt Dome. Transp Porous Media 47:125–148

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kloppmann W, N’egrel P, Casanova J, Klinge H, Schelkes K, Guerro C (2001) Halite dissolution derived brines in the vicinity of a Permian salt dome (N German Basin). Evidence from boron, strontium, oxygen, and hydrogen isotopes. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 65:4087–4101

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Manno E, Vassallo M, Varrica D, Dongarrà G, Hauser S (2006) Hydrogeochemistry and Water Balance in the Coastal Wetland Area of “Biviere di Gela,”. Sicily Italy Water Air Soil Pollut 178:179–193

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martinez J, Benavente J, García-Aróstegui JL, Hidalgo CH, Rey J (2009) Contribution of electrical resistivity tomography to the study of detrital aquifers affected by seawater intrusion–extrusion effects: the river Vélez delta (Vélez-Málaga, southern Spain). Eng Geol 108:161–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mazor E (1991) Applied chemical and isotopic groundwater hydrology. Halsted Press of John Wiley & Sons, NY, New York, p 274

    Google Scholar 

  • McLean W, Jankowski J, and Lavitt N (2000) Groundwater quality and sustainability in an alluvial aquifer, Australia In:Groundwater, past achievements and future challenges. (eds: Sililo O., et al.), AA Balkema- Rotterdam, The Netherlands. pp. 567-573

  • Meng SX, Maynard JB (2001) Use of statistical analysis to formulate conceptual models of geochemical behavior: water chemical data from the Botucatu aquifer in São Paulo state, Brazil. J Hydrol 250:78–97

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Milnes E, Renard P (2004) The problem of salt recycling and seawater intrusion in coastal irrigated plains: an example from the Kiti aquifer (Southern Cyprus). J Hydrol 288:327–343

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moussa M, Baccar L, Ben Khemis R (2005) La lagune de Ghar El Melh: diagnostic écologique et perspectives d’aménagement hydraulique. Rev Sci Eau 18:13–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Papatheodorou G, Lambrakis N, Panagopoulos G (2007) Application of multivariate statistical procedures to the hydrochemical study of a coastal aquifer: an example from Crete, Greece. Hydrol Process 21(11):1482–1495

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Parkhurst DL, and Appelo CAJ (1999) User’s guide to PHREEQC (version 2) a computer program for speciation. batch-retaction. one-dimensional transport and inverse geochemical calculations. Water-Resources Investigations Report, 99-4259 pp

  • Pimienta J (1959) Le cycle pliocène-actuel dans les bassins paraliques de Tunis. Mém. Soc. Géol, n° 85, Paris, 176 pp

  • Piper AM (1944) A graphic procedure in the geochemical interpretation of water-analyses. Trans Am Geophys Union 25(6):914–928

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pulido-Leboeuf P (2004) Seawater intrusion and associated processes in a small coastal complex aquifer (Castell de Ferro, Spain). Appl Geochem 19(10):1517–1527

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Richter BC, Kreitler CW (1991) Identification of sources of ground-water salinization using geochemical techniques, 273 pp

  • Richter BC, Kreitler CW (1993) Identification of sources of ground-water salinization using geochemical techniques, 273 pp

  • Rodier J, Legube B, Merlet N, Brunet R (1996) L’Analyse de l’eau. 9ème édition, Paris, France, 1600 pp

  • Rosenthal E, Vinokurov A, Ronen D, Magaritz M, Moshkovitz S (1992) Anthropogenically induced salinization of groundwater: a case study from the Coastal Plain aquifer of Israel. J Contam Hydrol 11:149–171

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • SCET-ERI (2000) Étude de l’amélioration de la qualité de l’eau de la lagune de Ghar el Melh. Rapport d’étude pour le ministère de l’Agriculture, Tunisie, 293 pp

  • Schmerge DL (2001) Distribution and origin of salinity in the Surficial and Intermediate Aquifer Systems, Southwestern Florida. Water-Resour Inv Rep 01–4159:41

    Google Scholar 

  • Slama F (2010) Field experimentation and modelling of salts transfer in Korba coastal plain: impact of seawater intrusion and irrigation practices. PhD Thesis, University of Neuchatel, Centre of Hydrogeology, 112 pp

  • Trabelsi R, Zairi M, Dhia HB (2007) Groundwater salinization of the Sfax superficial aquifer, Tunisia. Hydrogeol J 15:1341–1355

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Trojan MD, Maloney JS, Stockinger JM, Eid EP, Lahtinen MJ (2003) Effects of land-use on groundwater quality in the Anoka sand plain aquifer of Minnesota. Ground Water 41:482–492

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vengosh A (2003) Salinization and Saline Environments In:Treatise on Geochemistry. (eds: Heinrich DH, Karl KT.), Pergamon, Oxford. pp. 1–35

  • Vengosh A, Keren R (1996) Chemical modifications of groundwater contaminated by recharge of sewage effluent. J Contam Hydrol 23:347–360

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vengosh A, Rosenthal E (1994) Saline groundwater in Israel: it’s bearing on the water crisis in the country. J Hydrol 156:389–430

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vengosh A, Spivack AJ, Artzi Y, Ayalon A (1999) Geochemical and boron, strontium and oxygen isotopic constraints on the origin of the salinity in groundwater from the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Water Resour Res 35:1877–1894

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • WHO (2006) Guidelines for drinking-water quality, world health organization, vol.1. Geneva, Recommendations, 595 pp

  • Zahar Y, Ghorbel A, Albergel J (2008) Impacts of large dams on downstream flow conditions of rivers: aggradation and reduction of the Medjerda channel capacity downstream of the Sidi Salem Dam (Tunisia). J Hydrol 351:318–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank the lab of the unity of hydrology and isotopic geochemistry (National Centre of Nuclear Sciences and Technologies, Sidi Thabet, Tunisia) for providing the analyses of chemical constituents of groundwater.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Modelling in Hydraulics and Environment (LMHE), National Engineering School of Tunis (ENIT), University of Tunis El Manar (UTM), Bp 37, Le Belvédère, 1002, Tunis, Tunisia

    Hazar Bouzourra, Rachida Bouhlila & Fairouz Slama

  2. Department of Geology, Anna University, Chennai, 600 025, Tamil Nadu, India

    L. Elango

  3. Regional Commission for Agricultural Development, Av. Hassen Nouri, Bizerte, 7000, Tunisia

    Naceur Ouslati

Authors
  1. Hazar Bouzourra
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rachida Bouhlila
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. L. Elango
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Fairouz Slama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Naceur Ouslati
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hazar Bouzourra.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bouzourra, H., Bouhlila, R., Elango, L. et al. Characterization of mechanisms and processes of groundwater salinization in irrigated coastal area using statistics, GIS, and hydrogeochemical investigations. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 2643–2660 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3428-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3428-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation