The Groundwater Flow Behavior and the Recharge in the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System during the Wet and Arid Periods

Ahmed Mohamed, Ezzat Ahmed, Fahad Alshehri and Ahmed Abdelrady
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Ahmed Mohamed: Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut 71516, Egypt
Ezzat Ahmed: Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut 71516, Egypt
Fahad Alshehri: Abdullah Alrushaid Chair for Earth Science Remote Sensing Research, Geology and Geophysics Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Ahmed Abdelrady: Department of Water Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geoscience, Delft University of Technology, Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-20

Abstract: The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) is made up of three major sub-basins: Kufra, Dakhla, and the N. Sudan Platform. It is one of the world’s largest groundwater systems. The aquifer’s hydrologic setting, connectivity of its sub-basins, and groundwater flow across these sub-basins are currently unclear. To address these issues, we used a combined approach that included: (1) a regionally calibrated groundwater flow model that mimics early (>10,000 years) steady-state conditions under wet climatic periods and later (<10,000 years BP–1960; 1960–2010) transient conditions under arid climatic periods; and (2) groundwater ages ( 36 Cl, 81 Kr) and isotopic ( 18 O, 2 H) data. The NSAS was recharged on a regional scale in previous wet climatic periods; however, in dry periods, its outcrops are still receiving local modest recharge. A progressive increase in 36 Cl groundwater ages was found along groundwater flow directions and along structures that are sub-parallel to the flow direction. The NE–SW Pelusium mega shear zone is a preferential groundwater flow conduit from the Kufra to the Dakhla sub-basin. The south-to-north groundwater flow is hampered by the Uweinat–Aswan basement uplift. The findings provide useful information about the best ways to use the NSAS.

Keywords: NSAS; groundwater flow model; ages data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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