The Geodiversity of Springs in the Potential Jericho Geopark/Palestine

Marwan Ghanem (), África de la Hera-Portillo, Alsharifa Hind Mohammad, Nour-Eddine Laftouhi, Badiaa Chulli and Fagr Kh. Abdel-Gawad
Additional contact information
Marwan Ghanem: Department of Geography, Birzeit University, Ramallah P.O. Box 14, Palestine
África de la Hera-Portillo: Centro Nacional Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IGME-CSIC), Ríos Rosas 23, 28003 Madrid, Spain
Alsharifa Hind Mohammad: Water, Energy and Environment Center, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Nour-Eddine Laftouhi: Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences Semlalia of Marrakech, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech 40000, Morocco
Badiaa Chulli: Water Research and Technologies Centre, University of Carthage, Teknoparc, Carthage 2085, Tunisia
Fagr Kh. Abdel-Gawad: Center of Excellence for Research and Applied Studies on Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Water Pollution Research Department, CEAS, National Research Centre, Cairo 12622, Egypt

Resources, 2022, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-18

Abstract: The objective of this study is to investigate the hydrogeological and hydrochemical characteristics of the spring aquifer system in the potential Jericho Geopark in Jericho, Palestine. The spring’s hydrochemistry influences the physical and hydrochemical characteristics of Jericho Geopark in qualitative potentials. The springs are used for domestic water supplies and irrigation in Jericho area, which is considered as one of the most important agricultural baskets of the West Bank feeding from the “spring system complex”. From the geological and structural point of view, the area is considered to be complex in relation to the major structural features of faults and folds, which formed during the formation of the Jordan Rift Valley. The physical properties (pH, DO, temperature, TDS and EC) were interpreted. The hydro-chemical concentration major ions of Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , Na + , K + , Cl − , SO 4 2− , NO 3 − and HCO 3 − were analyzed for the spring water system samples. The dominant spring water type is the calcium bicarbonate due to the dissociation of calcite mineral during the water rock interaction processes. The microbiological parameters of Total and Fecal coliforms were analyzed for the targeted springs and indicates no detected pollution. The hydrochemical characteristics of the spring waters indicate no ion concentration trends. The calculated quality water Index indicated that all springs are of excellent spring water type. The study contributes to the qualitative spring water as a major component to the potential Jericho Geopark in order to have better understanding of the community-based protection practice.

Keywords: Jericho; water quality; geodiversity; groundwater (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jresou:v:11:y:2022:i:12:p:110-:d:989409

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