Geochemical, isotopic, and remote sensing constraints on the origin and evolution of the Rub Al Khali aquifer system, Arabian Peninsula

Sultan, M.; Sturchio, Neil C.; Sefry, S.; Milewski, A.; Becker, R. H.; Nasr, Ibrahim Saeed; Sagin, Jay

doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.04.001

Cited by 53 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…of the erg (see also Sultan et al, 2008). Note that rainfall in this mountainous edge A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Furthermore,Fig. 5ofSultan et al (2008) points to the potential of these elevated southern mountains in explaining the isotopic composition of shallow groundwater in the southern sabkhas zone.…”

mentioning

confidence: 88%

“…stands where the erg of Ramlat As-Sabatyan crosses the large Wadi al-Jawf-Wadi Hadramwat system in Yemen (extensive documentation in Lézine et al, 1998;2010 andBerger et al, 2012). Sultan et al, 2008); two examples for such sabkhas are early-middle Holocene in age and probably represent a regional higher water table in the region in the past (Matter et al, in press). However, there are no indicators for past water bodies covering the sabkhas (Matter et al, in press).…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there are no indicators for past water bodies covering the sabkhas (Matter et al, in press). Sultan et al, (2008) suggest that the ground water forming the sabkhas were fed from the west. However, they also considered recharge from elevated areas southern edges of Arabia ~200 km to the south.…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The middle Holocene climatic records from Arabia: Reassessing lacustrine environments, shift of ITCZ in Arabian Sea, and impacts of the southwest Indian and African monsoons

Enzel

Kushnir

Quade

2015

Global and Planetary Change

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A dramatic increase in regional summer rainfall amount has been proposed for the Arabian Peninsula during the middle Holocene (ca. 9-5 ka BP) based on lacustrine sediments, inferred lake levels, speleothems, and pollen. This rainfall increase is considered primarily the result of an intensified Indian summer monsoon as part of the insolation-driven, northward shift of the boreal summer position of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) to over the deserts of North Africa, Arabia, and northwest India.We examine the basis for the proposed drastic climate change in Arabia and the shifts in the summer monsoon rains, by reviewing paleohydrologic lacustrine records from Arabia. We evaluate and reinterpret individual lake-basin status regarding their lacustrine-like deposits, physiography, shorelines, fauna and flora, and conclude that these basins were not occupied by lakes, but by shallow marsh environments.Rainfall increase required to support such restricted wetlands is much smaller than needed to form and maintain highly evaporating lakes and we suggest that rainfall changes occurred primarily at the elevated edges of southwestern, southern, and southeastern Arabian Peninsula.These relatively small changes in rainfall amounts and local are also supported by pollen and speleothems from the region. The changes do not require a northward shift of the Northern Hemisphere summer ITCZ and intensification of the Indian monsoon rainfall. We propose that (a) latitudinal and slight inland impact expansion of the North African summer monsoon rains across the Red Sea, and (b) uplifted moist air of this monsoon to southwestern Arabia highlands, rather than rains associated with intensification of Indian summer monsoon, as proposed before, increased rains in that region; these African monsoon rains produced the modest paleo-wetlands in downstream hyperarid basins. Furthermore, we postulate that as in present-day, the ITCZ in A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT3Enzel, Kushnir, and Quade P.3 the Indian Ocean remained at or near the equator all year round, and the Indian summer monsoon, through dynamically induced air subsidence, can reduce rather than enhance summer rainfall in the Levant and neighboring deserts, including Arabia. Our summary suggests a widening to the north of the latitudinal range of the rainfall associated with the North African summer monsoon moisture crossing the Red Sea to the east. We discuss other mechanism that could have potentially contributed to the formation and maintaining of the modest paleowetlands.

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“…of the erg (see also Sultan et al, 2008). Note that rainfall in this mountainous edge A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 89%

mentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The middle Holocene climatic records from Arabia: Reassessing lacustrine environments, shift of ITCZ in Arabian Sea, and impacts of the southwest Indian and African monsoons

Enzel

Kushnir

Quade

2015

Global and Planetary Change

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“…Fig. 4 for references; additional references include Vengosh et al, 1999;Hogan et al, 2000;Vilomet et al, 2001;Frost et al, 2002;Wiegand et al, 2002;Gosselin et al, 2004;Frost and Toner, 2004;Vengosh et al, 2005;Jacobson and Wasserburg, 2005;Helstrup, 2006;Vengosh et al, 2007;Klaus et al, 2007;Cartwright et al, 2007;Sultan et al, 2008;Möller et al, 2008;Shand et al, 2009;Raiber et al, 2009;Gilli et al, 2009. b Negative numbers indicate Sr sources with isotope ratios that are less radiogenic than seawater, whereas positive numbers indicate sources that are more radiogenic than seawater. This column illustrates how much aquifers of each lithology contribute to the model-estimated global flux.…”

Section: Acknowledgements 665mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissolved strontium in the subterranean estuary – Implications for the marine strontium isotope budget

Beck¹,

Charette²,

Cochran³

et al. 2013

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

100

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15Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) to the ocean supplies Sr with less radiogenic 87 Sr/ 86 Sr than seawater, and thus constitutes an important term in the Sr isotope budget in the modern ocean. However, few data exist for Sr in coastal groundwater or in the geochemically dynamic subterranean estuary (STE). We examined Sr concentrations and isotope ratios from nine globally-distributed coastal sites and characterized the behavior of Sr in the STE. Dissolved Sr 20 generally mixed conservatively in the STE, although large differences were observed in the meteoric groundwater end-member Sr concentrations among sites (0.1 -24 µM Sr). Strontium isotope exchange was observed in the STE at five of the sites studied, and invariably favored the meteoric groundwater end-member signature. Most of the observed isotope exchange occurred in the salinity range 5-15, and reached up to 40% exchange at salinity 10.

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Monitoring Aquifer Depletion from Space

Sultan¹,

Ahmed²,

Wahr³

et al. 2014

Geophysical Monograph Series

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Geochemical, isotopic, and remote sensing constraints on the origin and evolution of the Rub Al Khali aquifer system, Arabian Peninsula

Cited by 53 publications

References 35 publications

The middle Holocene climatic records from Arabia: Reassessing lacustrine environments, shift of ITCZ in Arabian Sea, and impacts of the southwest Indian and African monsoons

The middle Holocene climatic records from Arabia: Reassessing lacustrine environments, shift of ITCZ in Arabian Sea, and impacts of the southwest Indian and African monsoons

Dissolved strontium in the subterranean estuary – Implications for the marine strontium isotope budget

Monitoring Aquifer Depletion from Space

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