Exemple d'etude geochimique et isotopique de circulations aquiferes en terrain volcanique sous climat semi-aride (Amurga, Gran Canaria, Iles Canaries)

Abstract

A hydrochemical and isotopic study of a groundwater flow system in volcanic media has been carried out in the southern part of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands). Monthly samples of precipitation were collected over a two year period at stations distributed all over the island. Sampling of groundwaters took place mainly from drillholes in the Amurga phonolitic massif but also from wells and springs discharging from the volcanic and related detrital formations. The δ 2H vs. δ 18O relationship of the precipitation is close to the “global meteoric water line”. Two distinct altitudinal isotopic gradients are observed. On the warm and dry southern slope, the combination of a contribution of saharan dusts and seasprays and of partial evaporation explains the high content of dissolved salts (Cl −, SO 2− 4) in precipitation. Additional processes may be invoked as sources of groundwater mineralization: leaching of silicate minerals during infiltration and/or from hydrolysis during the long residence time of the waters in the volcanic rocks. Salt content is increased through a concentration of the percolating solutions by evaporation, as shown by their stable isotope contents ( 18O, 2H). The groundwaters in the phonolitic aquifer are well differentiated from the deeper groundwaters, which are recharged at an altitude of about 1000m above sea level, or even less, if exceptional episodes of rain have a lower heavy isotope content. The interpretation of the 13C contents of soil CO 2, sampled throughout the area, and of the 13C and 14C contents of total dissolved inorganic carbon (TDIC) leads to the concept of an incorporation of pure biogenic carbon under open-system conditions in the Amurga waters. For these groundwaters, high estimates of residence time (ca. 11000 years) can be calculated from the low 14C activities. In the neighbouring valleys, the input of deep “dead” volcanic carbon and the occurrence of mixing do not allow an exact quantification of residence time values. However, they seem to be shorter than those measured for the Amurga waters.