Abstract
Abstract Study region Yizre’el-Harod-Bet She’an valley, Lower Galilee and Golan Heights, Israel. Study focus Identification of pure groundwater that infiltrated the widespread alkali olivine basalts in the replenishment areas of the study region. New hydrological insights for the region The groundwater is characterized by equivalent ratios such as Na/Cl > 1; Na/HCO3− 1; 1000Br/Cl in the range of 1–2.5; δ34Ssulfate 1 and HCO3−/(Ca + Mg + Na + K) > 0.7. Application of these parameters to analyses showing only the main constituents of groundwater reveals that in the study area the contribution of unmixed groundwater from basaltic catchments is largely restricted to the Golan Heights. Mixing of groundwater by interaquifer flow is a common phenomenon all over the area.
Highlights
When attempting to define the hydrological properties of volcanic rocks, two main groups are immediately sorted out—sequences of hard basalt flows and accumulations of tuffs and scoria
Möller et al / Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies 5 (2016) 33–47 of basalt flows is anisotropic, mainly through cooling cracks and fissures and through horizons of gravel and paleosoils formed between different lava flows during temporary cessation of volcanic activity
The comparison of groundwater from the Golan Heights and the northern basin suggests that the basalt-sourced waters seem to be characterized by both low Cl− and SO4−2 concentrations
Summary
When attempting to define the hydrological properties of volcanic rocks, two main groups are immediately sorted out—sequences of hard basalt flows and accumulations of tuffs and scoria. The production from wells in basalts is unpredictable; it may yield either high or low volumes This type of basaltic-rock aquifer is the only reliable source of water supply on volcanic islands (e.g., Canary Islands, Hawaii) and in areas covered by large basaltic flows such as the Columbia Plateau-, Pacific Northwest-, Snake River Plain basalts USA (Miller, 1999), basalts of the Blackburn Hills volcanic field of western Alaska (Moll-Stalcup and Arth, 1991), the Upper Cretaceous to Eocene Deccan Traps of India (Singhal and Gupta, 1999), the Atherton Tablelands, Australia (Locsey, 2004), the Early Jurassic basalts of the Karoo Province, South Africa, the Middle Paleozoic to Mesozoic basalts of the Siberian Traps, Russia, and the Lower Cretaceous Parana Volcanics of Brazil (Singhal and Gupta, 1999), the Mexican Trans-volcanic Belt (Edmunds et al, 2002), the Tertiary basalts of the Gedaref Basin in eastern Sudan (Hussein and Adam, 1995), basalts of the Ethiopian Rift Valley (McKenzie et al, 2001), the plateau basalts in north-eastern Jordan (Lloyd, 1965; Abu Jaber, 2001). In these areas basaltic aquifers are the only reliable sources for water supply and large volumes of groundwater are withdrawn from them
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