Influence of geological structures on groundwater accumulation and groundwater salinity in Musandam Peninsula, UAE and Oman

Abstract

The hydrological setting and groundwater quality of Musandam Peninsula was studied to investigate the influence of geological structures on the groundwater accumulation and groundwater salinity. Five sets of modified morphometric maps were used to reduce errors and carry out the geological structures. The modification was modified by applying mean filter to the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) then applying Soble filter with 10% threshold and equalization enhancement. D8 and algorithms were used to reveal the drainage basins and drainage networks of the entire area. The algorithm determines into which neighbouring pixel any water in a central pixel will flow naturally. Flow direction in a DEM is calculated for every central pixel of input blocks of a 3 × 3 window, all the time comparing the value of the central pixel in the window with the value of its eight neighbours. The spatial association between geological structures and drainage networks was studied using 2D graph and rose diagrams. Flood basin model was applied to simulate the Arabian Gulf water intrusion into the coastal aquifer. The concentrations of solutes in groundwater samples collected from Wadi Al Bih well field and well locations were correlated with the geological structure trends and intersections. The results of the study reveal that the drainage basins, drainage network and groundwater quality are structurally controlled by subsurface geological structure displacements.