GQ10: Groundwater Quality Management in a Rapidly Changing World (Proc. 7th International Groundwater Quality Conference held in
Zurich, Switzerland, 13–18 June 2010). IAHS Publ 342, 2011, 11-14.
Groundwater characteristic of the Najd aquifers, Oman, derived
from isotope and hydrochemical signatures
K. AL-MUSHAIKHI 1,3 , G. STRAUCH 1 , K. OSENBRÜCK 2 , T. MÜLLER 1 , K. KNÖLLER 2 &
S. OSWALD 4
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1
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Department of Hydrogeology, Permoserstraβe 15, 04318
Leipzig, Germany
[email protected]
2
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Department Isotope Hydrology, Theodor-Lieser-Straße 4, 06120
Halle/Saale, Germany
3
Ministry of Regional Municipality & Water Resources, Salalah, Sultanate of Oman
4
University of Potsdam, Institute for Earth Sciences, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
HTU
UTH
Abstract Groundwater in the Najd region of Oman is more or less the only water resource for
farming, housing, and animal feeding. Increasing efforts for a sustainable use of this groundwater
needs to improve the knowledge about the origin, distribution, and recharge of the resource. The
multi-component approach of the application of hydrochemical and isotope methods supports the
complex understanding of the groundwater evolution in the four main aquifers A–D of the Najd
region. The study reviews the hydrogeochemical character and a differentiated signature of the water
isotopes P2PH, P18PO, and P3PH in all Najd aquifers from A to D. It focuses on the groundwater
chemical and isotopic behaviour, and the relationship between aquifers. The Najd groundwater is
classified mainly as Na-Ca-Mg-SOB4B-Cl, however, varying between the aquifers from A to D. The
stable water isotopes P2PH and P18PO as well as tritium refer to the different recharge conditions in the
past and recent infiltration processes including mixing of paleo-/sub-modern to recent groundwater
between the aquifers. A hypothesis about origin and hydrochemical characteristic of groundwater from
the Najd region is derived from the hydrochemical and isotope data from this study.
Key words environmental isotopes; groundwater; hydrochemistry; Najd aquifers, Oman; water quality