No abstract

Springs located at the historical sites of Wadi Araba (Eastern Desert of Egypt) and emerging from the escarpments of the Northern and Southern Galala Plateaus were investigated. A combination of methods, including hydrochemistry, stable and radioisotope composition, and structural analyses based on satellite data, provided information about the structure of the subsurface and the derived groundwater flow paths. Satellite images reveal karst features within the northern plateau, e.g. conical landforms. Karstic caves were documented along both escarpments. Chemical analysis of floodwater from Wadi Araba indicates higher concentrations of terrestrial salts compared to floodwaters from central and southern parts of the desert. δ18O and δ2H signatures in spring waters resemble those of floodwater and fall on the global meteoric water line, confirming their fast infiltration with minor influence of evaporation. The aquifer feeding the springs of the Northern Galala Plateau has low retention and the springs dry out quickly, even after heavy rainfall. Contrastingly, 3H activities in springs emerging from the Southern Galala Plateau refer to much slower subsurface passage. With respect to 3H content (3.8 TU) in recent flood waters, the spring water at Southern Galala Plateau contains about 40% recently recharged groundwater. However, its largest spring—the St. Antony spring—discharges water with a radiocarbon age of about 15,000 years. In combination with this spring’s constant and high discharge over a period of several months, that age estimate suggests a large reservoir with moderate to high retention.

Porous and fractured aquifers exist in the area of Hurghada, Eastern Desert of Egypt, whose recharge processes through the common flash floods are not identified. Hydrochemical parameters, stable isotopes 18O, 2H and tritium in floodwater and groundwater were applied in the area subject to study. Additionally, He isotopes were investigated in the deep wells in the faulted zone at the Abu Shaar Plateau. 3H activity in all sampled points lies below the detection limit excluding a recent recharge component in groundwater. However, the hydrochemical ratios and the stable isotope signature confirm that the shallow wells and springs (Red Sea Hills group) are being recharged from modern precipitation. The hydrochemical parameters of the deep wells at the Abu Shaar Plateau (coastal plain group) confirm another origin for the ions rather than the modern precipitation. Together with the 18O and 2H values, the Br/Cl ratio of this group confirms the absence of seawater intrusion component and the role of the fault as a hydraulic barrier. These 18O and 2H values deviate from the GMWL confirming an evaporation effect and colder infiltration conditions and reveal strongly a possible mixing with the Nubian Sandstone in the region. The 3He/4He ratio confirms a mantle contribution of 2% from the total He components.

Al-Mazraa is a heavily populated suburb of Damascus (Syria) with agricultural activity. It is adjacent to the Cretaceous Qassioun Mountain Range, from which it is structurally separated by the Damascus fault. Al-Mazraa waterworks abstracts from a shallow Quaternary aquifer, whose recharge processes are unidentified. The functions of Qassioun Mountain, the Damascus fault, the agricultural activities, the ascending deeper groundwater, and the throughflowing Tora River are not well understood and they are, hence, subject to study. The application of hydrochemical parameters and ratios in combination with signatures of δD and δ 18 O revealed that recharge predominantly occurs in the outcropping Cretaceous rocks through subsurface passages rather than through influent conditions of the Tora River or through direct rainfall. Interestingly, high Na/Cl ratios indicate contact with volcanic rocks which exist within the Cretaceous anticline and also in the subsurface of the studied Quaternary aquifer. Evidence for deeper circulating groundwater is given, since replenishing waters are up to 4°C warmer and have much lower nitrate concentrations than the groundwater in the study area. From these points, it is indicated that the Damascus fault is conductive in respect to groundwater, rather than being impermeable, as it is elsewhere.

<p>The Green-Ampt model was developed more than 100 years ago and is still one of the most commonly used approaches to consider infiltration in rainfall-runoff models, which can be either conceptual catchment models as well as 2D hydrodynamic models. When coupling, for example, the Green-Ampt model for infiltration with a 2D shallow water model for the flow, the calculated ponding water depths are transferred from the flow model to the Green-Ampt model to calculate the infiltration rates, and the resulting infiltration rates represent then sinks in the mass balance equation of the shallow water model. The so-called Green-Ampt parameters in terms of saturated water content, hydraulic conductivity, and suction head at the wetting front, are needed as model input in addition to the initial water content. Often, the Green-Ampt parameters are not directly measured in the field for the area that should be modeled but are only assumed based on average values from the literature depending on the dominant soil texture class. If reliable data of certain rainfall-runoff events are available for the study area, the values of the Green-Ampt parameters can be determined besides other calibration parameters within reasonable ranges. However, in some cases, a calibration of the Green-Ampt parameters is not possible due to a lack of measurements, for example during suddenly occurring flash floods or in completely ungauged basins. This study aims to investigate with a coupled shallow water flow and infiltration model if the Green-Ampt parameters could be appropriately assumed based on average values from literature depending on the given soil texture classes. Furthermore, the effects that could lead to an inappropriate representation of infiltration with tabulated Green-Ampt parameters are studied, such as surface clogging, sub-grid rill-flow, and coarse DEM resolution. To investigate the general suitability of using average Green-Ampt parameters from literature dependent on soil texture classes, different small-scale test cases with available data for calibration are shown, where two of them are laboratory experiments and one is a rainfall-runoff experiment on a small plot in Senegal. Finally, a case study on flash floods in a desert region in Egypt is represented. The results show that in the laboratory experiments, the infiltration rates with average Green-Ampt parameters are underestimated, while for the field experiment in Senegal infiltration rates are overestimated. For the case study in Egypt, infiltration with Green-Ampt parameters from literature as well as with measured infiltration rates from double ring infiltrometer tests is strongly overestimated in the model. It is planned to conduct plot-scale rainfall-runoff experiments with a rainfall simulator for the study area in Egypt to better represent the natural conditions during heavy rainfalls and compare the measured infiltration rates with the ones from literature and double ring infiltrometer test.</p>