Abstract: A 300 km network of khettara (qanat) subsurface irrigation channels was excavated in the Tafilalt basin beginning in the late 14th century. More than 75 of these chains provided perennial water following the breakup of the ancient city of Sijilmassa. Khettara continued to function for much of the northern oasis until the early 1970s, when new technologies and government policies forced changes. Data on origins, maintenance, and current use were collected from archival sources, aerial photographs, Landsat imagery, and from interviews. Insufficient water resources and unsustainable practices have dramatically lowered the water table, drying up khettara. This has resulted in a loss of local control over water resources, abandonment of a sustainable irrigation system, and progressive desiccation.

Abstract: A complete hydrogeological understanding of the deep Upper Jurassic carbonate aquifer in the South German Molasse Basin is essential for the future development of this important drinking water resource and geothermally used system. Water chemistry data, δ13CDIC, 14C of the dissolved inorganic carbon (14CDIC) and stable water isotope (δ18O and δD) measurements have been used to evaluate a promising groundwater dating approach with 14C of dissolved organic carbon (14CDOC). The pre-concentration of dissolved organic matter (DOM) was performed by the easy applicable solid phase extraction (SPE) with a styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer sorbent (PPL). Based on the sampling campaign of seven groundwater wells conducted between 2017 and 2019, it was shown that the groundwater is mainly of Ca–HCO3 type with some evidence of ion exchange between Ca2+ and Na+ at two of the investigated wells. The δD values ranged from −89.4‰ to −70.9‰ while δ18O values varied between −12.5‰ and −9.8‰. The obtained stable water isotope signatures indicated that the groundwater is of meteoric origin and was recharged during warm climate (Holocene), intermediate climate and cold climate (Pleistocene) infiltration conditions. The measured 14CDOC activities varied from 5.7 pmC to 51.1 pmC and the calculated piston-flow water ages (ORAs) ranged from 4200 years to 25,248 years using an initial 14C0DOC of 85 pmC. The calculated ORAs showed a very good correlation to the infiltration temperature-sensitive δ18O values which were affirmed with noble gas infiltration temperatures for two wells after Weise et al. (1991) and were also in good accordance with the atmospheric temperature record of the northern hemisphere from Dokken et al. (2015). The results reflect a consistent hydrogeological picture of the carbonate aquifer, which also supports the applicability of the SPE-PPL method for 14CDOC dating in groundwater with a low DOC content (<1 mg/l). In contrast, 14CDIC activities of 1.4 pmC to 21.3 pmC led to geochemically corrected piston-flow ages between 8057 years and >30,000 years and generally to an overestimation of the apparent water ages. This study gives insights into the promising approach of 14CDOC groundwater dating in carbonate aquifers with low DOC contents and allows future sustainable groundwater resource management of the investigated aquifer system.

Abstract: A uranium-mineralized sandy aquifer, planned for mining by means of uranium in situ recovery (U ISR), harbors a reservoir of bacterial life that may influence the biogeochemical cycles surrounding uranium roll-front deposits. Since microorganisms play an important role at all stages of U ISR, a better knowledge of the resident bacteria before any ISR actuations is essential to face environmental quality assessment. The focus here was on the characterization of bacteria residing in an aquifer surrounding a uranium roll-front deposit that forms part of an ISR facility project at Zoovch Ovoo (Mongolia). Water samples were collected following the natural redox zonation inherited in the native aquifer, including the mineralized orebody, as well as compartments located both upstream (oxidized waters) and downstream (reduced waters) of this area. An imposed chemical zonation for all sensitive redox elements through the roll-front system was observed. In addition, high-throughput sequencing data showed that the bacterial community structure was shaped by the redox gradient and oxygen availability. Several interesting bacteria were identified, including sulphate-reducing (e.g. Desulfovibrio, Nitrospira), iron-reducing (e.g. Gallionella, Sideroxydans), iron-oxidizing (e.g. Rhodobacter, Albidiferax, Ferribacterium), and nitrate-reducing bacteria (e.g. Pseudomonas, Aquabacterium), which may also be involved in metal reduction (e.g. Desulfovibrio, Ferribacterium, Pseudomonas, Albidiferax, Caulobacter, Zooglea). Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and co-occurrence patterns confirmed strong correlations among the bacterial genera, suggesting either shared/preferred environmental conditions or the performance of similar/complementary functions. As a whole, the bacterial community residing in each aquifer compartment would appear to define an ecologically functional ecosystem, containing suitable microorganisms (e.g. acidophilic bacteria) prone to promote the remediation of the acidified aquifer by natural attenuation. Assessing the composition and structure of the aquifer’s native bacteria is a prerequisite for understanding natural attenuation and predicting the role of bacterial input in improving ISR efficiency.