Abstract
The Maâmoura aquifer is located on the eastern coast of the Cap Bon peninsula. During recent decades, the agricultural exploitation of water has been strongly reinforced, causing an over-pumping of the groundwater resources accompanied by an intrusion of seawater. The geophysical approach based on electrical resistivity tomography has been adopted to obtain high-resolution electrical sections imaging, which allows delineatation of the areas characterized by a high salinization and reconstructs the geometry of the saline wedge front. In fact, the presence of seawater in the aquifers reduces subsurface resistivity values. In this study, five electrical profiles were performed using the Terrameter SAS4000 Lund Imaging System with an array of 64 electrodes. The Wenner configuration was used with a unit electrodes spacing of 5 m. Finally, we use hydrogeological data, and electrical resistivity tomography data superimposed with the location of wells to provide a conceptual framework for the understanding of the freshwater–saltwater interface in the Maâmoura region.
Highlights
The salinization of coastal aquifers is a major hydrogeological risk affecting coastal or island regions, mainly those situated in the semi-arid area (Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, etc.) (Bouchaou et al 2005; Zouhri et al 2008; Paniconi et al 2001; Kerrou 2008; Tarhouni et al 2002; El Gayar and Hamed 2017; Hamed et al 2018)
The eastern coast of Cap Bon peninsula, which is located in the northeastern part of Tunisia (Fig. 1a), is known as one
Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is a geophysical approach based on resistivity contrast, used to determine earth resistivity distribution on the sub-surface
Summary
The eastern coast of Cap Bon peninsula, which is located in the northeastern part of Tunisia (Fig. 1a), is known as one Previous studies dealing with the groundwater salinization process in the study area (Chekirbane et al 2013; Lecca et al 1998; Paniconi et al 2001; Gaaloul and Cheng 2003; Kouzana et al 2009; Gaaloul et al 2012; Mekni and Souissi 2016) confirms the presence of seawater intrusion. The limit between freshwater and saltwater has not been developed in these studies. For this purpose, electrical resistivity tomography is a pertinent geophysical method. The objective of this paper is to determinate precisely the limit between freshwater and saltwater and the geometry of seawater plume Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration (2018) 3:26 since it provides valuable geological and structural information and a relatively precise geometry imagery of the seawater/freshwater interface (Zghibi et al 2013; Kouzana et al 2010).
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