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Water recharge and solute transport through the vadose zone of fractured chalk under desert conditions

Journal Article · · Water Resources Research
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/94WR02536· OSTI ID:81123
;  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Rehovot (Israel)
  2. Ben Gurion Univ. of the Negev, Sede Boker (Israel)
  3. State Geological Survey of Lower Saxony, Hannover (Germany)
In the present study the inferred mechanism of groundwater recharge and contamination was studied using tracer concentrations in the fractured vadose zone of the Avdat chalk. The results of this study are important for an evaluation of groundwater contamination from existing and planned facilities in the northern Negev desert in Israel. This study focused on the vicinity of the Ramat Hovav industrial chemical complex in the northern Negev, which also includes the national site for hazardous waste. Water recharge and solute migration rates were examined in five core holes and one borehole which penetrate the entire vadose zone and enabled the collection of rock samples for chemical and isotopic analyses, and an observation of fracture distribution with depth. Tritium profiles were used to estimate water percolation rates through the vadose zone, chloride profiles were used to assess the migration rate of nonreactive solutes, and bromide profiles were also used to evaluate the migration rate of nonreactive contaminants. Deuterium and oxygen 18 profiles were used to assess the evaporation of the infiltrating water at and near land surface.
OSTI ID:
81123
Journal Information:
Water Resources Research, Journal Name: Water Resources Research Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 31; ISSN WRERAQ; ISSN 0043-1397
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English