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| Titel |
Determination of groundwater travel time in a karst aquifer by stable water isotopes, Tanour and Rasoun spring (Jordan) |
| VerfasserIn |
Ibraheem Hamdan, Bettina Wiegand, Martin Sauter, Thomas Ptak |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2016
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
en
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 18 (2016) |
| Datensatznummer |
250128302
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2016-8282.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Key words: karst aquifers, stable isotopes, water travel time, Jordan.
Tanour and Rasoun karst springs are located about 75 kilometers northwest of
the city of Amman in Jordan. The aquifer is composed of Upper Cretaceous
limestone that exhibits a moderate to high degree of karstification. The two
springs represent the main drinking water resources for the surrounding
villages. The yearly water production is about 1,135,000 m$^{3}$/yr for
Tanour spring and 125,350 m$^{3}$/yr for Rasoun spring (MWI 2015). Due to
contamination from microbiological pollution (leakage of wastewater from
septic tanks) or infiltration of wastewater from local olive presses,
drinking water supply from the two springs is frequently interrupted.
From November 2014 through March 2015, spring water samples were collected
from Tanour and Rasoun spring for the analysis of stable hydrogen and oxygen
isotopes to investigate spring response to precipitation and snowmelt
events.
Both Tanour and Rasoun spring show a fast response to precipitation and
snowmelt events, implying short water travel times. Based on the variation
of $\delta ^{18}$O and $\delta ^{2}$H in spring discharge, the average
maximum water travel time is in the order of 8 days for Tanour spring and 6
days for Rasoun spring. Due to fast water travel times, Tanour and Rasoun
spring can be considered as highly vulnerable to pollutants.
$\delta ^{18}$O and $\delta ^{2}$H values of Tanour and Rasoun springs
parallel other monitored parameter like water temperature, turbidity,
electrical conductivity and spring discharge. In addition, a high turbidity
peak was monitored in Tanour spring during a pollution event from olive
mills wastewater (Hamdan et al., 2016; Hamdan, in prep.). The fast response
in both Tanour and Rasoun springs to precipitation events requires
monitoring potential sources of pollution within the catchment area.
References:
\begin{itemize}
\item MWI (Ministry of Water and Irrigation) (2015) Monthly Production values for Tanour and Rasoun Springs for the time period between 1996 and 2014. Water Information System, National Master Plan Directorate. Jordan.
\item Hamdan I., Wiegand B., Toll M., Sauter M. (2016) Spring response to precipitation events using $\delta ^{18}$O and $\delta ^{2}$H in the Tanour catchment, NW-Jordan. Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies journal. Accepted GIEH-2015-0139.
\item Hamdan, I.~in preparation.~Characterization of groundwater flow and vulnerability assessment of karstic aquifer - A case study from Tanour and Rasoun spring catchment (Ajloun, NW-Jordan).~Ph.D. Thesis, University of G\"{o}ttingen, Germany. |
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