Azraq Basin Research Articles

Groundwater Vulnerability for the Surface Outcropping Aquifers in Jordan

Groundwater vulnerability is an overlay method that is used to determine the ability of pollutants to penetrate to the target aquifer and to harm it. This method helps decision makers by shedding light on pollution areas expected to pollute groundwater aquifers as caused by human activities on the ground surface. In Jordan, groundwater is the main water resource the country uses to match its demand. The groundwater basins in Jordan are divided into 12 major basins. Some basins are rechargeable and other basins are fossil. Many basins are over exploited. Amman Zarqa basin is a clear example for this case. Others are saline just like Azraq basin and the rest is expected to be affected by the growing demand for agricultural, municipal and industrial activities. In this study, a groundwater vulnerability map was produced for Jordan using DRASTIC index to study the vulnerability of the shallow aquifers throughout the country. The map shows different vulnerability classes ranging from low to very high reflecting the environmental, hydrological and hydrogeological settings of the groundwater and its recharge ability. The resulted map shows wide variation in groundwater vulnerability in different sites in Jordan. Areas with higher vulnerability are those with friable aquifer materials and shallow groundwater depths. Medium and low vulnerability classes are exist too because of the variations of the environmental settings within the targeted areas.

Activation of Jordanian Ore Bentonite by Sodium Carbonates

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has a large reserve of raw Bentonite in the area of Ain Al-Baida at Basin of Al-Azraq city that has not activated yet to become valid as drilling mud. The Ore Ain AL-Baida Bentonite was investigated and activated by Na2CO3. The products were investigated by chemical analysis, X-Ray Diffraction, rheological properties and free swelling index with clay fraction. It was observed that the activities clay ranged between 0.98 < AC < 1.48 medium to high content of clay minerals. In addition, it was determined the Atterberg limits, the results of plasticity chart and relation between index and clay fraction. This means that the amount of the attracted water will be suitable influenced by the clay that is present in Ore Ain Al-Baida bentonite. The liquid limit was ranged between 83% to 140%, and plastic limit ranged between 39% - 48%. Also, rheological properties (apparent viscosity, plastic viscosity), gel strength, yield point, filtrate loss. These properties have been compared with those standard specifications properties required for the drilling fluid in order to know the appropriate circumstances to activate the Bentonite ore of Ain Al Baida at Azraq basin to become close to the standard specifications required for the drilling fluids, the ratio between Y.P/P.V was ranged 0.88 to 1.21, it is meant that the behavior of drilling fluids confirms the Bingham plastic and power-law rheological models using fine grinding of bentonite mixture with 3% - 6% concentration of sodium carbonate powder.

Rainy Season Assessment of Azraq Basin in Eastern Jordan

This study considers the rainfall pattern in the Azraq basin in the Eastern part of Jordan. Azraq Basin is an extensive inland drainage system lying in the steppe and desert to the east of Jordan. The Azraq area is around 17,000 km2, which accounts for about 15% of the country’s total area, stretching from the lava peaks of Jebel Arab in southern Syria to Wadi Sirhan in northern Saudi Arabia. The Basin is considered part of the desert where the annual precipitation is estimated to be less than 150 mm/year and some areas receiving as little as 50 mm rainfall annually. Dry and hot climate during the summer and very cold winter with little rain falls in the form of thunderstorms and is similar to the continental climate of the desert climate where the big difference in temperature between day and night. The study aimed at assessing the rainy season’s conditions in the basin. The data for three rain gauges with monthly records of rainfall between (1960-2010) are used in the analysis. These stations are: Azraq, Um Alquttein and Deir Alkahf stations. The rainy seasons in the study area seem to get shorter and shifted in their start. The highest percentage of rain falls in the middle stage of the season (i.e., between December and February). This percentage is getting increased for Azraq and Deir Alkahf stations; however Um Alquttein shows a cyclic pattern of rainfall during the different seasons.

Availability of Surface Water of Wadi Rajilas a Source of Groundwater Artificial Recharge: A Case Study of Eastern Badia /Jordan

Wadi Rajil catchment area is considered as one of the major wadis entering the Azraq Basin from the north. It is ungauged wadi and covers an area of about 3910km 2 . The annual average rainfall on Wadi Rajil catchment area is about 126.6mm. Heavy thunderstorms occur in April and May, causing significant floods covering the area. The flood waters are not utilized, and a small portion infiltrates into the ground, where the great portion of these waters remain over Qaa’ Azraqfew months before evaporation. Due to the absence of the hydrometric stream flow station, no data are available about surface water runoff in Wadi Rajil catchment area. Therefore, the first part of this study calculates the surface water potential of Wadi Rajil to be utilized for groundwater artificial recharge, applying the SCS curvilinear synthetic unit hydrograph method. The synthesis unit hydrograph of Wadi Rajil catchment is characterized by a peak value of 1146 m3/s (4047 cfs) per one inch of rainfall excess. Flood hydrographs for 10,25,50, and 100 years return periods were derived and their peak flow are found to be 10,8,186,412, and 680 m 3 /s, respectively and the corresponding flood volumes are 0.95, 16.53, 36.89, and 61.5 MCM, respectively.Groundwater artificial recharge conditions are suitably prevailing in the most northern and central part of the catchment area, whereas, geological, Hydrogeological, and water quality characteristics of the floodwater encourage artificial replenishment of the exploited aquifer in the study area.

Epipalaeolithic settlement dynamics in southwest Asia: new radiocarbon evidence from the Azraq Basin

ABSTRACTA series of radiocarbon dates from two Epipalaeolithic sites – Kharaneh IV and Ayn Qasiyya – in the Azraq Basin of eastern Jordan provide a new perspective on the chronology and settlement patterns of this part of southwest Asia during the Late Pleistocene. We discuss the implications to our understanding of the chronology of Late Pleistocene lithic industries, particularly in regard to current hypotheses for the abandonment of eastern Jordan's ‘mega‐sites’, Kharaneh IV and Jilat 6. Modelling a series of accelerator mass spectrometry dates from Kharaneh IV indicates a much shorter span of occupation for the site than previously assumed by the size and density of its deposits. Given the high density of material accumulated over a relatively short time span, we show that Kharaneh IV was an aggregation site occupied intensively by a significant number of people, providing new perspectives on the east Jordanian phenomenon of Epipalaeolithic ‘mega‐sites’.

Paleoenvironmental change and settlement dynamics in the Druze Marsh: Results of recent excavation at an open-air Paleolithic site

Large open-air archaeological sites provide a unique contribution to our understanding of the range of environments exploited by hominins and how their mobility patterns were affected by local, regional, and global environmental fluctuations. The challenge, however, is that in open-air contexts the distribution of buried and surface archaeological remains is greatly affected by geomorphic processes that acted on the landscape throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene. Deciphering the behavioural patterns of large open-air sites necessitates an approach that incorporates landscape evolution as a critical component contributing to the spatial distribution and variability in the archaeological record. We suggest that it is more appropriate to speak of open-air archaeological landscapes rather than sites in the traditional sense.Within this framework, we present our ongoing research at Druze Marsh, a Paleolithic locale in the northwest corner of the Azraq Basin (Jordan), and an oasis that may have functioned as a desert refugium at different points during the Pleistocene. Surveys and excavations in the Azraq Basin have recovered material from the Lower Paleolithic to historical periods. Recent research by our team has identified a stratified sequence of artifacts that typologically correspond to the Late Lower, Middle, Upper, and Epipaleolithic industries. Both the surface and stratified material are the remains of prehistoric behaviour, and a full understanding of the prehistoric settlement system and land-use surrounding the Druze Marsh requires amalgamating these different contexts with the environmental history of the area, particularly accounting for the contribution of geomorphic processes on the spatial distribution of the archaeological record.

Mapping groundwater salinization using transient electromagnetic and direct current resistivity methods in Azraq Basin, Jordan

Hydrogeophysical characterization using the transient electromagnetic method (TEM) and the DC resistivity sounding (VES) method was implemented in the central part of Azraq Basin (Qa Basin), Jordan, to identify and map the spatial distribution of shallow fresh and saline groundwater in the upper aquifer systems. The alluvium (Al) and chert limestone (URC) shallow aquifers show different degrees of groundwater salinization. The range of groundwater resistivity varies from 0.06 to 10.8 ohm-m. Saline groundwater was detected at depths between 5 to 30 m where the aquifers have a wide spectrum of resistivity values from 0.14 to 120 ohm-m. The integrated geophysical and hydrogeologic models are significantly correlated in chloride concentration, groundwater resistivity, and aquifer resistivity. Using 1D inversion results from the TEM and VES soundings in addition to quasi-3D modeling (1D spatially constrained inversion) at selected TEM sites, groundwater resistivity variation was attributed to two different salinization mechanisms. First, the spatial distribution of the salt content in mud flat deposits had a significant effect on the groundwater salinity. Second, in situ dissolution of near-surface rock-forming salts occurred at areas away from the mud flat deposits. The proposed hydrogeophysical models revealed the potential effect of both mechanisms in the study area.

Investigation of the Azraq sedimentary basin, Jordan using integrated geoelectrical and electromagnetic techniques

ABSTRACTThe Eastern Mediterranean has been used as a passageway for human migration from Africa to the Middle East, the Balkans and Europe. The Azraq basin in the eastern desert of Jordan has been a major spot for human settlements since the middle Pleistocene. The former lake in the basin centre has developed to a hyper‐saline alluvial mudflat, the Qa’ Al Azraq. In the mudflat thick sequences of alluvial sediments are deposited. Such sediment successions are promising archives used for reconstructing a paleoclimate.In order to identify geological structures and to derive suitable borehole locations in the area for a paleoclimatical reconstruction, the Transient Electromagnetic (TEM) and the Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) methods were utilized. Two transects were investigated from the edge of the basin to the basin centre, crossing three geological formations. The data sets of both methods are interpreted by 1D and 2D inversion algorithms and appraised by inversion statistics. Previously uncertain geological boundaries are determined from geoelectrical models along both transects. Furthermore, a transition zone from fresh to saline groundwater is clearly detected.

Geoarchaeological investigations into the chronostratigraphy of Late Pleistocene human occupation in the Wadi Sabra (South Central Jordan)

Recent zooarchaeological analyses of game exploitation in the Epipalaeolithic of the Southern Levant identify a decline in large game in the Natufian, with corresponding increase in small prey, interpreted as hunting pressure driven by population expansion. To date, studies focus on the Mediterranean zone. This paper adopts similar approaches to examine Epipalaeolithic to Neolithic faunal data from 16 sites in the steppic Jordanian Azraq Basin. Results here reveal very different trends. Large game, mainly equids, fluctuate throughout the Epipalaeolithic, due to climatic conditions and available water/vegetation. Cattle thrive in the Azraq oasis, showing no decline in the Late Epipalaeolithic. Gazelle exploitation is predominant and sustainable throughout the Epipalaeolithic, even at Kharaneh IV and Wadi Jilat 6 ‘megasites’. However, PPNB assemblages from the limestone steppe show intensive game exploitation resulting from longer-stay settlement. The focused gazelle-hunting camp at Dhuweila in the basalt desert also shows pressure from indiscriminate culling impacting herd demography, interpreted as providing meat for onwards exchange. Human impacts on steppe fauna appear both local and in many cases short-term, unlike the large-game suppression reported from west of the Rift Valley. Resource pressures and game over-kill, whether population-driven or otherwise, are not currently apparent east of the Jordan River.

The Epipalaeolithic Foragers in Azraq Project: Prehistoric Landscape Change in the Azraq Basin, Eastern Jordan

AbstractThe Epipalaeolithic Foragers in Azraq Project is a multi-disciplinary research programme exploring landscape change and prehistoric occupation in the Azraq Basin, Eastern Jordan. Excavations at several Epipalaeolithic sites and geomorphological survey and investigations throughout the basin over the last four years provide a rich record of the interplay between climate, human-induced landscape change, and past settlement and land-use. Here we explore some of these findings with specific attention to changing issues of water availability and sustainable land-use activities in the area.

Landscapes of the Past: Place, Space, and the Construction of Meaning in the Azraq Community Archaeology Project

The Azraq Community Archaeology Project (ACAP) began as the community engagement component of the Epipalaeolithic Foragers in Azraq Project (EFAP). This project seeks to understand different ways of communicating the past and recording varying perceptions of the value of the landscape among the local communities of the Azraq Basin in eastern Jordan.

Using gazelle dental cementum studies to explore seasonality and mobility patterns of the Early-Middle Epipalaeolithic Azraq Basin, Jordan

Determining the origins of sedentism is integral in understanding the origins of complex societies. There is great interest in Early-Middle Epipalaeolithic mobility patterns in the Near East to understand why permanent settlement occurred in the Natufian. Current theories relating to the Early-Middle Epipalaeolithic ‘Mega Sites’ of Kharaneh IV and Wadi Jilat 6 suggest that these sites may have been occupied for prolonged periods of time. A sample of gazelle teeth from Kharaneh IV and Wadi Jilat 6 were studied using cementum analysis to determine the season of death of the animals providing an insight into when these sites were occupied. Cementum analysis could be successfully applied in the region, and initial results demonstrated that gazelle were culled in two different seasons. Future work sampling mandibles from discrete temporal deposits and increasing the sample size, supplemented by using additional seasonality indicators would be beneficial in exploring further seasonality and mobility in the Azraq Basin.

Interaction before Agriculture: Exchanging Material and Sharing Knowledge in the Final Pleistocene Levant

This article discusses social interaction in the Epipalaeolithic of southwest Asia. Discussions of contact, social relationships and social organization have primarily focused on the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and are often considered to represent typical hallmarks of emergent farming societies. The hunter-gatherers of the final Pleistocene, in particular those of the Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic, have more rarely been the focus of such discussions. In this article we consider evidence for interaction from the Azraq Basin of eastern Jordan, to question the uniqueness of the Neolithic evidence for interaction. We argue that interaction between differently-constituted groups can be traced within the Early Epipalaeolithic of the southern Levant, suggesting that it is of far greater antiquity than previously considered.

Hunting Practices at an Eastern Jordanian Epipalaeolithic Aggregation Site: The Case of Kharaneh IV

Two Epipalaeolithic sites, Kharaneh IV and Wadi Jilat 6 in the Azraq basin of eastern Jordan, are much larger than any others of the same period. They are locations to which hunters/gatherers/foragers returned across thousands of years. This paper explores human settlement and mobility patterns at these unusual sites through the perspective of animal resources. The predominant prey were gazelle but with no evidence for specialized targeting, rather the faunal spectra seem directly to reflect high-level game availability in the immediate locale. The proximity of prey is evidenced by non-selective carcass transport, even for the largest ungulates. Regional comparisons across the Levant revealed variation in animal procurement that can be explained largely by influences of geographical, environmental and vegetational factors on animal availability. The range of fauna at these sites suggests greater water accessibility than seen today, in line with published environmental studies indicating cooler/wetter conditions in the Early Epipalaeolithic. Mortality profiles and presence of migrating bird species suggest occupation and hunting mostly in the winter and early spring, when large herds of gazelle, other fauna and humans would have been drawn to the water and plant rich environs of the Azraq basin wadis.

Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) through Surface Infiltration in the Azraq Basin / Jordan

Until the early 1990s the Azraq basin in Jordan was covered by a huge wetland in the central parts representing a source of fresh water for all purposes. The presence of such wetland in the desert created a natural pathway for migratory birds. Man made and natural impacts caused severe depletion of this basin and the oasis disappeared in the early 1990s. Under a GIS environment MAR layers were prepared for the Azraq basin. MAR mapping showed a very high and high potentials over 20.55% and 61.63% of the total basin area respectively; while the low potential areas represent only 4.03% of the total area.

Assessing Groundwater Vulnerability in Azraq Basin Area by a Modified DRASTIC Index

Groundwater is the main source for water supply in Jordan. Surface water is limited due to low precipitation rates. Studying groundwater vulnerability helps to protect this main source of depletion and degradation for present and coming generations. Different vulnerability indices were built taking into consideration the different environmental setting of the different areas for which these indices were established. Environmental and weather conditions are very important factors in determination groundwater vulnerability hence arid to semi arid areas conditions must be taken into account in applying different indices. The reason after selecting Azraq as a rest point is related directly to the availability of fresh water resources in the form of the wetland supported by many potential springs making Azraq a rich environment for economic activities. A modified DRASTIC vulnerability index was applied to Azraq basin area due to its special climate and wetland area conditions. The index takes the special landuse and the different groundwater depths into consideration and suggests a few measures to alleviate the vulnerability of the groundwater resources due to overexploitation and human activities changing the value of landuse. Azraq basin represents four different vulnerability classes, ranging from Low to very high vulnerability class. The lower vulnerability class areas are distributed in theareas with high depth to water table and low recharge areas with low human activities. The higher vulnerability classes are shown in the areas with high possibility of the pollutants to reach the groundwater. The modified DRASTIC index added the value of the human activity and the structural features in the area which give a more ease to pollutant to permit the aquifer.

Geostatistical calculation for clay reserve in Azraq Basin in Jordan

Industrial minerals in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan are vital to both economical and industrial development and this is true as far as the estimation of the reserves is carried out appropriately. The aim of this study was to geostatistically investigate the clay spatial behavior and geological reserve in Qa' Al-Azraq area in north east Jordan through known seventy four random drilled boreholes. Quantification of spatial arrangement or dependence was investigated through defining the best variogram model using optimal unbiased geostatistical tools of ArcGIS-Geostatistical Analyst, and MINEX. Clay thickness kriged map indicates a central concentration distribution of clay. Variations in kriged map tones comply with the major local fault systems allocated at the center of the study area forming pond structure bounded by the four faults. Two east-west cross sections were implemented using MINEX software. They provide visual maps for clay thickness distribution along the impurities of diatomite and interburden layers of silt, sand and gypsum. Clay reserves estimated using Inverse Distance Method (IDM) and Ordinary Kriging Method (OKM) were 6.1 and 5.94 Billion Cubic Meter respectively. The results of this study indicate that the area is a promising future target for economic investment in the local raw materials. Key words: Ore reserve, ordinary kriging, arcmap, MINEX.

New Light on Final Pleistocene Settlement Diversity in the Azraq Basin (Jordan): Recent Excavations at ‘Ayn Qasiyya

Les fouilles du site daté de l’Épipaléolithique ancien de ‘ Ayn Qasiyya dans l’oasis d’Azraq (Est de la Jordanie) fournissent des données nouvelles et importantes pour notre compréhension des causes de la sédentarisation, des effets écologiques sur l’évolution culturelle, des pratiques funéraires et des relations sociales en Asie du Sud-Ouest à la fi n du Pléistocène. Cet article présente un résumé du travail sur ce site et il fournit les résultats préliminaires de l’analyse de la faune, des artefacts et des restes humains. En outre, il discute de l’importance de ces résultats dans le contexte de la séquence culturelle locale et régionale à la fi n du Pléistocène. Nos données offrent un aperçu de la relation entre les industries lithiques du Nébékien et du Kébarien. Elles suggèrent que l’environnement local de l’oasis d’Azraq a facilité le début de la pédogénèse vers 21 000-20 000 cal. BP. Enfin, elles confirment la nature éphémère des pratiques funéraires de l’Épipaléolithique ancien.

Application of Analytical Hierarchy Process for the Evaluation of Climate Change Impact on Ecohydrology: The Case of Azraq Basin in Jordan

Application of Analytical Hierarchy Process for the Evaluation of Climate Change Impact on Ecohydrology: The Case of Azraq Basin in Jordan

The paleoclimate of the eastern desert of Jordan during marine isotope stage 9

Two Cardium horizons from the topmost Azraq Formation in the eastern desert of Jordan were investigated and dated by U/Th at 330 ka; MIS 9. Fossil diversity and abundance, especially for Charophytes and gastropods with the absence of palygorskite, dolomite and evaporites, suggest the presence of a fresh water lake changing to a brackish environment at certain time intervals. A lake or possibly several smaller and shallower lakes occupied an area of about 50 km wide within the Azraq Basin. The present-day arid climate cannot support the presence of lakes in the eastern desert of Jordan, and thus MIS 9 in Jordan must have been much wetter. The source of humidity was most probably more intense Mediterranean cyclones associated with warmer than present MIS 9. However, the possibility of summer monsoon rain from the south cannot be fully excluded.