Abstract
Thermal water in northeastern Morocco is a promising, sustainable resource of energy. To date, thermal water has not been used as a source of renewable energy in Morocco as no clear strategy has yet been developed for its use. In this study, 10 samples (boreholes and springs) of thermal water distributed within the basin of the Moulouya River were assessed, and their physical and chemical parameters (such as temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and major ionic composition, including the K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl−, SO42−, NO3−, NO2−, NH4+, H2PO4−, CO32−, and HCO3−) were measured. The results show that the temperature, pH, and EC range between 28 and 55 °C (as measured in field), 5.46 and 7.50, and 478 and 15,580 µS/cm, respectively. Furthermore, the results indicate the presence of four main hydrogeochemical facies dominating the hydrogeological system, which are Na–Cl, Na–Ca–Cl, Ca–Mg–HCO3, and Na–Ca–HCO3. The geothermal reservoirs of the different samples were investigated by the means of several geochemical methods, including the Giggenbach Na–K–Mg diagram, two geothermometers (Na–K–Mg), and the determination of the saturation index. We noticed different estimated geothermal reservoir temperatures over the range 80–170 °C.
Highlights
During the last three decades, many geothermal studies have been conducted in different parts of Morocco (Rimi and Lucazeau 1987; Rimi et al 1998; Zarhloule et al 1998, 2001, 2005; Tassi et al 2006; Zarhloule et al 2007; Rimi et al 2012)
The highest EC was recorded in samples 1, 3, and 4 near the Mediterranean Sea and can be justified by an intrusion of marine waters, which is supported by the high concentration of N a+
Measurements of the pH indicate that the groundwater is slightly acidic to alkaline, except for the hydrothermal water of Aïn Sidi Aïssa, which has a pH of 5.46 and a relatively high concentration of HCO3− (1082.8 mg/L)
Summary
During the last three decades, many geothermal studies have been conducted in different parts of Morocco (Rimi and Lucazeau 1987; Rimi et al 1998; Zarhloule et al 1998, 2001, 2005; Tassi et al 2006; Zarhloule et al 2007; Rimi et al 2012). Some work has been carried out in the northeast part of Morocco to study the geothermal water potential (Barkaoui et al 2014; Jilali et al 2015b). For this purpose, different geothermometers were used to estimate the geothermal temperature, such as Giggenbach diagrams, alkaline and silica geothermometers, and the saturation index (Ahmad et al 2002; Asta et al 2012; Pürschel et al 2013; Makni et al 2014; Trabelsi et al 2015; Wang et al 2015). This work provides detailed information about the estimated temperatures in the geothermal reservoir using different geothermometers
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