Snowpack and groundwater recharge in the Atlas mountains: New evidence and key drivers

Abstract

Study regionThe Atlas Mountains of Morocco, specifically the High Oum Er-rbiaa (HOER) and Ourika catchments. Study focusto identify the recharge processes within the semi-arid watersheds, in the Atlas Mountains, through monthly monitoring of snow, rainfall, surface water, and groundwater isotope signal, but also the usage of remote sensing data. New hydrological insights for the regionThe spatial-temporal analysis of groundwater and precipitation isotopes reveals significant spatial heterogeneity, primarily influenced by the geological variations in each aquifer. Temporal variations indicate that direct recharge occurs in response to winter precipitation, whereas a delayed response is observed during the summer when snow replenishes groundwater towards the end of the melting season. The findings are further supported by the "Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment" (GRACE) dataset, which demonstrates that high values of Total Water Storage (TWS) align with groundwater isotopes. This highlights the substantial groundwater abstraction rate between March and June to compensate for the lack of precipitation during this period. The analysis of isotope data indicates that 50% of groundwater recharge in the upstream Jurassic aquifer and 80% in the downstream Triassic-Paleozoic aquifers in the HOER catchment is sourced from snowmelt. Similarly, in the Ourika catchment, snowmelt contributes 30% and 50% of groundwater recharge in the upstream and downstream portions of the catchments respectively. This disparity is due to different melting rates across altitudinal ranges and variations in the lithology of each catchment.