Sources of recharge at Abu Delaig, Sudan

Abstract

Various components of the water cycle in and around Abu Delaig, a small town in a semiarid region of Sudan, have been investigated with geochemical and isotopic techniques to determine the sources of groundwater recharge. Rain samples (total deposition during storms) contain significant concentrations of dissolved solids for a continental site (mean 4.6 mgl −1 for 1982–1985). The heaviest rains important for recharge tend to have the lowest chlorinities, and are also the most negative isotopically. Wadi floods generally have lower chlorinity than the rainfall indicating the proportionally lower amounts of dust in the more intense rainfall events. Shallow ground waters at Abu Delaig have relatively evolved compositions (higher Mg/Ca ratios) compared with rainfall and wadi floods, yet they also contain tritium and retain isotopic signatures similar to the local rainfall. They also have a distinctive chemistry compared with the deeper ground waters in the region and recharge from the former to the latter is considered to be insignificant. Ground waters in the unsaturated zone are saline and have isotopic compositions highly enriched in heavy isotopes compared with rainfall, indicating strong evaporation. The chloride balance indicates that mean recharge rates are 0.2–1.3 mm year −1 through the interfluve areas. It is concluded that the only significant replenishable resources at Abu Delaig are from wadi recharge during floods and that direct regional recharge is insignificant. Fluctuations in the water table, however, lead to solutes from the lower unsaturated zone contributing to the chemistry of the shallow ground waters. Elsewhere it is possible that wadi recharge may be a possible route for deeper replenishment, but this needs to be demonstrated by dedicated experiments.