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Title: Response of deep aquifers to climate variability

Abstract

There is a general agreement that deep aquifers experience significant lag time in their response to climatic variations. Analysis of Temporal Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission (SMOS), satellite altimetry, stable isotopic composition of groundwater, and precipitation and static global geopotential models over the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) revealed rapid aquifer response to climate variability. Findings include: (1) The recharge areas of the NSAS (Northern Sudan Platform subbasin) witnessed a dry period (2002-2012), where average annual precipitation (AAP) was modest (85 mm) followed by a wet period (2013-2016; AAP: 107 mm), and during both periods the APP remained negligible (<10 mm) over the northern parts of the NSAS (Dakhla subbasin); (2) the secular trends in terrestrial water storage (TWS) over the Dakhla subbasin were estimated at -3.8 ± 1.3 mm/yr and + 7.8 ± 1 mm/yr for the dry and wet periods, respectively; (3) spatial variations in TWS values and phase are consistent with rapid groundwater flow from the Northern Sudan Platform subbasin and Lake Nasser towards the Dakhla subbasin during the wet period and from the lake during the dry period; and (4) networks of densely fractured and karstified bedrocks provide preferentialmore » pathways for groundwater flow. The proposed model is supported by (1) rapid response in groundwater levels in distant wells (>280 km from source areas) and in soil moisture content in areas with shallow (<2 m) groundwater levels to fluctuations in Lake Nasser surface water, and (2) the isotopic composition (O, H) of groundwater along the preferred pathways, consistent with mixing of enriched (Lake Nasser water or precipitation over Sudan) and depleted (NSAS fossil water) end-members. Here, findings provide new insights into the response of large, deep aquifers to climate variability and address the sustainability of the NSAS and similar fossil aquifers worldwide.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [4];  [5];  [2];  [6];  [7];  [2];  [5]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Western Michigan Univ., Kalamazoo MI (United States); National Research Inst. of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG), Cairo (Egypt)
  2. Western Michigan Univ., Kalamazoo MI (United States)
  3. Texas A&M—Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX (United States)
  4. The Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (United States)
  5. Ain Shams Univ., Cairo (Egypt)
  6. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
  7. Western Michigan Univ., Kalamazoo MI (United States); National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, Cairo (Egypt)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Academy of Sciences; USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1572453
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-06CH11357
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Science of the Total Environment
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 677; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0048-9697
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; GRACE; Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System; climate variability; deep aquifer response; satellite-based precipitation/soil moisture data; stable isotopes

Citation Formats

Abdelmohsen, Karem, Sultan, Mohamed, Ahmed, Mohamed, Save, Himanshu, Elkaliouby, Baher, Emil, Mustafa, Yan, Eugene, Abotalib, Abotalib Z., Krishnamurthy, R. V., and Abdelmalik, Karim. Response of deep aquifers to climate variability. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.316.
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Abdelmohsen, Karem, Sultan, Mohamed, Ahmed, Mohamed, Save, Himanshu, Elkaliouby, Baher, Emil, Mustafa, Yan, Eugene, Abotalib, Abotalib Z., Krishnamurthy, R. V., & Abdelmalik, Karim. Response of deep aquifers to climate variability. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.316
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Abdelmohsen, Karem, Sultan, Mohamed, Ahmed, Mohamed, Save, Himanshu, Elkaliouby, Baher, Emil, Mustafa, Yan, Eugene, Abotalib, Abotalib Z., Krishnamurthy, R. V., and Abdelmalik, Karim. Wed . "Response of deep aquifers to climate variability". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.316. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1572453.
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@article{osti_1572453,
title = {Response of deep aquifers to climate variability},
author = {Abdelmohsen, Karem and Sultan, Mohamed and Ahmed, Mohamed and Save, Himanshu and Elkaliouby, Baher and Emil, Mustafa and Yan, Eugene and Abotalib, Abotalib Z. and Krishnamurthy, R. V. and Abdelmalik, Karim},
abstractNote = {There is a general agreement that deep aquifers experience significant lag time in their response to climatic variations. Analysis of Temporal Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission (SMOS), satellite altimetry, stable isotopic composition of groundwater, and precipitation and static global geopotential models over the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) revealed rapid aquifer response to climate variability. Findings include: (1) The recharge areas of the NSAS (Northern Sudan Platform subbasin) witnessed a dry period (2002-2012), where average annual precipitation (AAP) was modest (85 mm) followed by a wet period (2013-2016; AAP: 107 mm), and during both periods the APP remained negligible (<10 mm) over the northern parts of the NSAS (Dakhla subbasin); (2) the secular trends in terrestrial water storage (TWS) over the Dakhla subbasin were estimated at -3.8 ± 1.3 mm/yr and + 7.8 ± 1 mm/yr for the dry and wet periods, respectively; (3) spatial variations in TWS values and phase are consistent with rapid groundwater flow from the Northern Sudan Platform subbasin and Lake Nasser towards the Dakhla subbasin during the wet period and from the lake during the dry period; and (4) networks of densely fractured and karstified bedrocks provide preferential pathways for groundwater flow. The proposed model is supported by (1) rapid response in groundwater levels in distant wells (>280 km from source areas) and in soil moisture content in areas with shallow (<2 m) groundwater levels to fluctuations in Lake Nasser surface water, and (2) the isotopic composition (O, H) of groundwater along the preferred pathways, consistent with mixing of enriched (Lake Nasser water or precipitation over Sudan) and depleted (NSAS fossil water) end-members. Here, findings provide new insights into the response of large, deep aquifers to climate variability and address the sustainability of the NSAS and similar fossil aquifers worldwide.},
doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.316},
journal = {Science of the Total Environment},
number = C,
volume = 677,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Apr 24 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Wed Apr 24 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
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    Statistical Applications to Downscale GRACE-Derived Terrestrial Water Storage Data and to Fill Temporal Gaps
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    • Sahour, Hossein; Sultan, Mohamed; Vazifedan, Mehdi
    • Remote Sensing, Vol. 12, Issue 3
    • DOI: 10.3390/rs12030533
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