Employing Geophysical Techniques to Detect and Assess Groundwater Pollution at El-Akader Landfill North Jordan

Abstract

A geophysical study was conducted for the El-Akader landfill to determine its impact on groundwater, which is located along the northern road of Jaber International Road, north Jordan, which covers an area of 0.806km2. it was commissioned in 1981 to be the only municipal landfill at north Jordan and it is considered the second-largest landfill in the country. A geoelectrical survey was conducted in the study area using the Vertical Electrical Sounding and an electromagnetic survey using the Transit Electromagnetic. Upon analyzing the 42 TEM loops and performing geoelectrical cross-sections, landfill leachate is found to be concentrated below the dumping site and its surroundings and would infiltrate down to about 200 m below land surface. The results of the Vertical Electrical Sounding revealed that the depth of groundwater to be around 300 m with a resistivity less than 5-ohm.m. It also indicates that the leachate is moving mainly vertically, which confirms the TEM results. Contaminants are detected in water samples collected from several nearby wells which indicates a horizontal movement of the landfill leachate which would have been penetrated down through inferred faults deep fractures detected in the area.