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Geosciences
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Groundwater in Arid and Semiarid Areas II
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Groundwater in Arid and Semiarid Areas II

A special issue of Geosciences (ISSN 2076-3263). This special issue belongs to the section "Hydrogeology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 11852

Special Issue Editors

Prof. John M. (Jack) Sharp

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Guest Editor
Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Interests: hydrogeology of arid zones; karst, and fractured and hard rock aquifers; effects of urbanization; thermohaline free convection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Lhoussaine Bouchaou

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Guest Editor
Faculty Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, 80 000 Agadir, Morocco
Interests: chemical and isotopic tracers for water resources management; groundwater salinization, coastal aquifers; cars aquifers; recharge; water resources degradation; groundwater saving in agriculture; climate change impacts; water sustainability in arid zones
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Abdelfettah Sifeddine

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Institut de recherche pour le développement France-Nord, LOCEAN - IPSL UMR 7159, IRD-Sorbonne Universités (Université P. et M. Curie, Paris 06) CNRS/UPMC/IRD, 75000 Paris, France
2. Université Quisqueya, ERC2, LMI-CARIBACT, Port au Prince, 6110, Haïti
Interests: arid zones; climate change; climate variabilty; sediments; sedimentology; isotopes; climate; geochemistry; environmental change; organic matter
Dr. Margaret A. Shanafield

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Physical Sciences (104a) GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, Australia
Interests: surface water–groundwater interactions; groundwater recharge; ecohydrology; innovative field methods for characterizing aquifers
Dr. Mohamed El-Alfy

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geology, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt
Interests: hydrogeology of arid zones; hydrochemistry, GIS and remote sensing, groundwater modeling; surface water–groundwater interactions; geostatistics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water is a basic requirement for life and, in arid and semiarid zones, water availability defines if and where civilization can function. Surface water resources are commonly limited in these areas and groundwater must be used and, in some cases, is being used unsustainably.  New techniques combined with detailed hydrogeological studies are needed to develop policies for the wise use of groundwater in these settings.  This is the second issue of Geosciences to address key issues of groundwater in arid and semiarid zones and illustrate them with studies from across the Earth.

This Special Issue aims to provide an outlet for the rapid, widely accessible publication of peer-reviewed studies on the hydrogeology and water resources of semiarid and arid zones. The issue will cover, without being limited to, the following areas:

  • Water budgets;
  • Recharge and paleo recharge;
  • Water quality;
  • Resource allocation;
  • Optimal use;
  • Remote sensing.

Prof. John M. (Jack) Sharp
Prof. Dr. Lhoussaine Bouchaou
Dr. Abdelfettah Sifeddine
Dr. Margaret A. Shanafield
Prof. Dr. Mohamed El-Alfy
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Geosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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13 pages, 3715 KiB  
Article
Radionuclide Transport Simulations Supporting Proposed Borehole Waste Disposal in Israel
by Katherine Carol Swager, Suzanne Michelle Bourret, Gilles Y. Bussod, Noa Balaban, Hakim Boukhalfa, Ran Calvo, Ofra Klein-BenDavid, Dolan Lucero, Itay J. Reznik, Ravid Rosenzweig and Philip H. Stauffer
Geosciences 2023, 13(6), 166; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences13060166 - 3 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1383
Abstract
A scientific collaboration between the U.S. and Israel is underway to assess the suitability of a potential site for subsurface radioactive waste disposal in the Negev Desert, Israel. The Negev Desert has several favorable attributes for geologic disposal, including an arid climate, a [...] Read more.
A scientific collaboration between the U.S. and Israel is underway to assess the suitability of a potential site for subsurface radioactive waste disposal in the Negev Desert, Israel. The Negev Desert has several favorable attributes for geologic disposal, including an arid climate, a deep vadose zone, interlayered low-permeability lithologies, and carbonate rocks with high uranium-sorption potential. These features may provide a robust natural barrier to radionuclide migration. Geologic and laboratory characterization data from the Negev Desert are incorporated into multiphase flow and transport models, solved using PFLOTRAN, to aid in site characterization and risk analysis that will support decision-making for waste disposal in an intermediate-depth borehole design. The lithology with the greatest uranium sorption potential at the site is phosphorite. We use modeling to evaluate the ability of this layer to impact uranium transport around a proposed disposal borehole. The current objective of the simulations is focused on characterizing hypothetical leakage from waste canisters and subsequent uranium migration under three infiltration scenarios. Here, we describe a hydrogeologic model based on data from a local exploratory borehole and present results for uranium flow and transport simulations under varying infiltration scenarios. We find that under the current climate conditions, it is likely that uranium will remain in the near-field of the borehole for thousands of years. However, under a hypothesized extreme climate scenario representing an increase in infiltration by a factor of 300x above present-day values, uranium may break through the phosphorite layer and exit the base of the model domain (~200 m above the water table) within 1000 years. Simulation results have direct implications for the planning of nuclear waste disposal in the Negev Desert, and specifically in intermediate-depth boreholes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Groundwater in Arid and Semiarid Areas II)
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24 pages, 5205 KiB  
Article
Vadose Zone Transport of Tritium and Nitrate under Ponded Water Conditions
by Philip H. Stauffer, Brent D. Newman, Kay H. Birdsell, Marvin O. Gard, Jeffrey M. Heikoop, Emily C. Kluk and Terry A. Miller
Geosciences 2022, 12(8), 294; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12080294 - 28 Jul 2022
Viewed by 1581
Abstract
Vadose zone transport of tritium and nitrate can be important considerations at radioactive waste sites, landfills, or areas with industrial impacts. These contaminants are of particular concern because they typically have a relatively higher mobility in the subsurface compared to other compounds. Here, [...] Read more.
Vadose zone transport of tritium and nitrate can be important considerations at radioactive waste sites, landfills, or areas with industrial impacts. These contaminants are of particular concern because they typically have a relatively higher mobility in the subsurface compared to other compounds. Here, we describe a semiarid site with tritium and nitrate contamination involving a manmade ponded water source above a thick unsaturated zone at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, USA. This study demonstrates the value of vadose zone flow and transport modeling for the development of field investigation plans (i.e., identifying optimal borehole locations and depths for contaminant characterization), and how a combination of modeling with isotope and geochemical measurements can provide insight into how tritium and nitrate transport in the vadose zone in semiarid environments. Modeling results suggest that at this location, tritium transport is well predicted by classical multiphase theory. Our work expands the demonstrated usefulness of a standard tritium conceptual model to sites with ponded surface conditions and agrees with previous results where a standard model was able to explain the evolution of a tritium plume at an arid waste disposal site. In addition, depth-based analyses of δ18O and δ2H of pore waters helped confirm the extent of pond infiltration into the vadose zone, and the δ15N of nitrate showed that the contaminant release history of the site was different than originally assumed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Groundwater in Arid and Semiarid Areas II)
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36 pages, 12924 KiB  
Article
Commentary and Review of Modern Environmental Problems Linked to Historic Flow Capacity in Arid Groundwater Basins
by Barry J. Hibbs
Geosciences 2022, 12(3), 124; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12030124 - 7 Mar 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3596
Abstract
Environmental problems may develop in groundwater basins when water levels change due to long-term wetter or drier climate or land development. A term related to water-level elevation is flow capacity, which develops in aquifers when the water table is at or very close [...] Read more.
Environmental problems may develop in groundwater basins when water levels change due to long-term wetter or drier climate or land development. A term related to water-level elevation is flow capacity, which develops in aquifers when the water table is at or very close to land surface. Non-capacity develops in systems where the water table is too deep for capillary water to reach the land surface. Flow capacity is the maximum amount of water that an aquifer can transmit. Sufficient moisture is not available for flow capacity to be established in most aquifers in arid zones and these aquifers are at non-capacity, but many aquifers in today’s deserts were at flow capacity when paleoclimates were cooler and moister during the late Pleistocene. Climate change and anthropogenic activities can cause aquifers to move toward flow capacity but in the last 15,000 years, almost always toward non-capacity. This paper reviews environmental and geotechnical problems associated with the transition of groundwater basins from flow capacity to non-capacity, and vice versa. Five relevant topics are discussed and evaluated: (1) The effects of flow capacity and non-capacity on groundwater basins targeted for waste repositories; (2) The salt contamination of groundwater where flow capacity was present in the Late Pleistocene and is no longer present; (3) Trace element enrichment in salt crusts in playa sediments and environmental risks to groundwater when the flow systems transition from flow capacity to non-capacity; (4) The development and retention of environmental tracers in arid groundwater flow systems at flow capacity that cannot be explained under conditions of non-capacity; and (5) The relationship of flow capacity to fossil hydraulic gradients and non-equilibrium conditions where there is little groundwater extraction. A case example is provided with each of these topics to demonstrate relevance and to provide an understanding of topics as they relate to land management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Groundwater in Arid and Semiarid Areas II)
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17 pages, 5512 KiB  
Article
Isotopic and Chemical Tracing for Residence Time and Recharge Mechanisms of Groundwater under Semi-Arid Climate: Case from Rif Mountains (Northern Morocco)
by Mohammed Hssaisoune, Lhoussaine Bouchaou, Mohamed Qurtobi, Hamid Marah, Mohamed Beraaouz and Jamal Stitou El Messari
Geosciences 2022, 12(2), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12020074 - 5 Feb 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2293
Abstract
Karstic aquifers play an important role for drinking and irrigation supply in Morocco. However, in some areas, a deeper understanding is needed in order to improve their sustainable management under global changes. Our study, based on chemical and isotopic investigation of 67 groundwater [...] Read more.
Karstic aquifers play an important role for drinking and irrigation supply in Morocco. However, in some areas, a deeper understanding is needed in order to improve their sustainable management under global changes. Our study, based on chemical and isotopic investigation of 67 groundwater samples from the karst aquifer in the Rif Mountains, provides crucial information about the principal factors and processes influencing groundwater recharge and residence time. The δ18O and δ2H isotopic values indicate that the recharge is derived from meteoric water at high, intermediate, and low elevations for Lakraa Mountain, North of Lao River, and Haouz and Dersa Mountain aquifers, respectively. All samples show an isotopic signature from Atlantic Ocean except for those from the Lakraa Mountain aquifer, which shows Mediterranean Sea influence. Groundwater age determined by radiocarbon dating using the IAEA model indicates that the ages range from modern to 1460 years. This short residence time is consistent with the detectable tritium values (>2.7 TU) measured in groundwater. These values are similar to those of precipitation at the nearest GNIP stations of Gibraltar and Fez-Saiss, situated around 100 km north and 250 km south of the study area, respectively. This evidence indicates that groundwater in the Rif Mountains contains modern recharge (<60 years), testifying to significant renewability and the vulnerability of the hydrological system to climate variability and human activities. The results also indicate the efficiency of isotopic tracing in mountainous springs and would be helpful to decision makers for water in this karstic zone. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Groundwater in Arid and Semiarid Areas II)
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21 pages, 5458 KiB  
Technical Note
Issues of Bias in Groundwater Quality Data Sets in an Irrigated Floodplain Aquifer of Variable Salinity
by Barry J. Hibbs, Christopher J. Eastoe and Mercedes Merino
Geosciences 2024, 14(3), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences14030066 - 4 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1038
Abstract
In arid regions characterized by large variations in groundwater salinity, the data derived from irrigation and domestic water supply wells may exhibit bias, reflecting an overall lower salinity than the true aquifer distribution. This bias stems from the decommissioning, non-use, or disrepair of [...] Read more.
In arid regions characterized by large variations in groundwater salinity, the data derived from irrigation and domestic water supply wells may exhibit bias, reflecting an overall lower salinity than the true aquifer distribution. This bias stems from the decommissioning, non-use, or disrepair of wells that are frequently sources of higher salinity readings, rendering them unavailable for sampling. Baseflow-fed streams, agricultural drains, seeps, springs issuing into agricultural drains, and randomly located test hole samples tend to manifest higher averages and ranges of salinity when compared to supply wells. Agricultural drain flows, springs, and test holes, if sampled following recommended guidelines, are less susceptible to such bias. This study presents a case of groundwater bias identified through an initial water well sampling program in El Paso (Texas, USA). Subsequent rounds of sampling, incorporating drain samples, spring samples, and test hole samples, revealed a more comprehensive understanding of the salinity dynamics. The dataset not only highlights the existence of bias but also provides evidence for a combined geological and agricultural origin of salinity. Additionally, it demonstrates that drain sampling in an earlier study did not accurately depict a primary salinity source due to incomplete analysis of the data. Recommendations are outlined to mitigate bias, emphasizing the importance of sample control from baseflow-fed drains, springs, water wells, and test hole samples. The study also infers the upwelling of saline groundwater from deeper formations in the study area, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of groundwater salinity dynamics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Groundwater in Arid and Semiarid Areas II)
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