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Spatial delineation of groundwater salinity using deep time domain electromagnetic geophysical measurements: A feasibility study
Author(s) -
Levi Eldad,
Goldman Mark,
Hadad Avichay,
Gvirtzman Haim
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2007wr006459
Subject(s) - groundwater , brackish water , aquifer , geology , salinity , hydrology (agriculture) , saline water , total dissolved solids , plateau (mathematics) , fresh water , geochemistry , environmental science , oceanography , mathematical analysis , geotechnical engineering , mathematics , environmental engineering
The objective of this study was to delineate the spatial distribution of fresh, brackish, and saline groundwater bodies, as well as brine, beneath the Judea Desert, Israel. We used the deep time domain electromagnetic (TDEM) geophysical system, Cycle‐5M, which provides the maximum exploration capability, to depths ∼1.5–2 km below land surface. The study was conducted at 21 locations at the desert plateau, where fresh groundwater flows through the upper aquifers from the replenishment area at the Judea Mountains toward the Dead Sea springs. In deeper aquifers, brackish and saline groundwater bodies exist, which originated from lakes and lagoons that existed at the Dead Sea Rift valley during the Pleistocene and Pliocene, respectively. It was found that within carbonate formations, fresh groundwater (C < 10 3 ppm total dissolved solids (TDS)) is characterized by a resistivity of more than 15 Ω m, brackish groundwater (10 3 < C < 10 4 ppm TDS) is characterized by 5–15 Ω m, saline groundwater (10 4 < C < 10 5 ppm TDS) is characterized by 0.5–5 Ω m, and brine (10 5 < C ppm TDS) is characterized by less than 0.5 Ω m.