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Author Shams, A. url  openurl
  Title A rediscovered-new ‘Qanat’ system in the High Mountains of Sinai Peninsula, with Levantine reflections Type Journal Article
  Year 2014 Publication Journal of Arid Environments Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 110 Issue Pages 69-74  
  Keywords Foggara, Irrigation, Levant, Qanat, Sinai Peninsula  
  Abstract Since the Achaemenid Empire in 532–332 BCE, the ‘Qanat’ became the central irrigation system in the arid and semi-arid lands. Several terms are used for ‘Qanat’ in different regions, including the Karez, Qanat, Falaj type Daudi, Qanat Romani, Fuqara (Foggara), or Khettara as known in Central Asia, Persia, Southeast Arabia, Levant, North Africa, or Morocco respectively. Typically, the ground, spring or surface water (i.e. seasonal floods or river-fed) sources feed similar irrigation system. Based on thirteen years of extensive survey and analysis work (i.e. Sinai Peninsula Research 2000–2013 CE), this paper presents a rediscovered-new Qanat system in the High Mountains of Sinai Peninsula (i.e. UNESCO World Heritage Site ‘WHS’ no. 954) under chronological open question with Levantine reflections. In 1970s CE, the present Sinaitic site of Farsh Abu A’lwan or the anciently known Farsh Shamma’a was archaeologically surveyed without a direct reference to the Qanat system in-situ. Scientifically, it is an argumentative and unique Qanat system in terms of chronology, location (region), site (local-setting), water source, size and household utility. It is the only discovered ‘Qanat’ across the Sinai, connecting the Near East and North Africa.  
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  ISSN (down) 0140-1963 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number THL @ christoph.kuells @ Shams201469 Serial 248  
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Author Remmington, G. url  openurl
  Title Transforming tradition: The aflaj and changing role of traditional knowledge systems for collective water management Type Journal Article
  Year 2018 Publication Journal of Arid Environments Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 151 Issue Pages 134-140  
  Keywords Collective action, Subterranean tunnel-wells, , Traditional knowledge, Hydraulic heritage  
  Abstract Living in a harsh, desert climate, Omani rural communities have developed locally-appropriate knowledge to deal with water scarcity. Similar to the qanat, the aflaj taps into the natural water table and uses a gravity system to channel water through underground channels to villages. Traditional techniques of water management, such as the aflaj, represents a way of adapting to and coping with difficult climates which have persisted for millennia. However, knowledge systems have often ‘decayed’ with the onset of modernity. These management systems, which developed concurrently with early Omani date palm cultivation, have defined customary and hereditary water rights which are in decline. This article uses Ostrom’s Common Pool Resource (CPR) framework, which prioritises the collective management of shared resources to maximise the benefit for all involved and avoid diminishing benefits that are created by the pursuit of individual goals. Using this framework, this article’s evaluation of the literature found that traditional aflaj management systems have a great capacity to evolve and, therefore, the aflaj represents both a dying system, and a potential for climate adaptation. Historically, aflaj have been managed by ancient water users associations, which provide social controls and govern usage norms. The findings of this review are that the aflaj system’s ability to respond to pressures of modernity from competing institutions, including markets, and embedded social capital mechanisms will influence its capacity to mitigate uncertain hydrology and climate. This article suggests ways in which the management of the aflaj can adapt to a multiple institutional framework to ‘transform’ collective water management.  
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  ISSN (down) 0140-1963 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number THL @ christoph.kuells @ Remmington2018134 Serial 258  
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Author Kamash, Z. url  openurl
  Title Irrigation technology, society and environment in the Roman Near East Type Journal Article
  Year 2012 Publication Journal of Arid Environments Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 86 Issue Pages 65-74  
  Keywords Army, Urbanism, Qanats, Dams, Field systems, Irrigation channels  
  Abstract This paper uses a multi-faceted approach to understand the use and distribution of different irrigation technologies in the Roman Near East (63 BC – AD 636), looking at the ways in which social and environmental factors affected the implementation of those irrigation technologies. It is argued that no single factor can fully explain how irrigation technologies were used across time and space in this region. Instead, choices in irrigation technology seem to have been governed by a complex nexus of both social and environmental factors.  
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  ISSN (down) 0140-1963 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Ancient Agriculture in the Middle East Approved no  
  Call Number THL @ christoph.kuells @ Kamash201265 Serial 259  
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Author Karaimeh, S.A. url  openurl
  Title Maintaining desert cultivation: Roman, Byzantine, and Early Islamic water-strategies at Udhruh region, Jordan Type Journal Article
  Year 2019 Publication Journal of Arid Environments Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 166 Issue Pages 108-115  
  Keywords Irrigation, Qanat, Cultivation, Arid environment, Nabataean, Jordan  
  Abstract The site of Udhruh is located in the arid desert of southern Jordan, about 15 km to the east of Petra. The site was built by the Nabataeans but expanded by the Romans (as a defensive site) and was continuously occupied until the Early Islamic period. It receives less than the 200 mm of annual precipitation, which is crucial for agricultural cultivation. Archaeological evidence from earlier excavations together with new data from several survey projects indicate that areas around Udhruh were cultivated throughout the Roman, Byzantine, and Early Islamic periods (300 BCE–800 CE). The fundamental question is: how did the people of Udhruh sustain their community in the desert, and how did they transform the desert into arable land? The landscape could be utilised thanks to sophisticated water management and irrigation techniques. At least four underground qanat systems were identified providing Udhruh with access to groundwater. At the terminal end of the qanat systems, several types of closed surface channels conveyed the water to reservoirs, which subsequently distributed the water to the field systems. The water systems of Udhruh differ from the well-known Nabataean systems in the surrounding area. As Udhruh was taken over by the Roman army in 106 CE, this study analyses how the Nabataean water systems continued to function and adapt through the Roman and Byzantine periods. A complete understanding of Udhruh’s water systems helps to reconstruct past land use, agricultural activity, and irrigation practices in a currently arid region.  
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  ISSN (down) 0140-1963 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number THL @ christoph.kuells @ Alkaraimeh2019108 Serial 271  
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Author Stone, A.E.C.; Edmunds, W.M. url  openurl
  Title Naturally-high nitrate in unsaturated zone sand dunes above the Stampriet Basin, Namibia Type Journal Article
  Year 2014 Publication Journal of Arid Environments Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 105 Issue Pages 41-51  
  Keywords Kalahari, Namibia, Nitrate in the unsaturated zone, Stampriet Basin, Transboundary basin, Unsaturated zone recharge  
  Abstract Elevated groundwater nitrate levels are common in drylands, often in excess of WHO guidelines, with concern for human and animal health. In light of recent attempts to identify nitrate sources in the Kalahari this paper presents the first unsaturated zone (USZ) nitrate profiles and recharge rate estimates for the important transboundary Stampriet Basin, alongside the first rainfall chemistry records. Elevated subsurface nitrate reaches 100–250 and 250–525 mg/L NO3–N, with NO3–N/Cl of 4–12, indicating input above evapotranspiration. Chloride mass balance recharge rates range from 4 to 27 mm/y, indicating a vertical movement of these nitrate pulses toward the water table over multi-decadal timescales. These profiles are sampled from dune crests, away from high concentrations of animals and without termite mounds. Given low-density animal grazing is unlikely to contribute consistent spot-scale nitrate over decades, these profiles give an initial estimate of naturally-produced concentrations. This insight is important for the management of the Stampriet Basin and wider Kalahari groundwater. This study expands our knowledge about elevated nitrate in dryland USZs, demonstrating that it can occur as pulses, probably in response to transient vegetation cover and that it is not limited to long-residence time USZs with very limited downward moisture flux (recharge).  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number THL @ christoph.kuells @ Stone201441 Serial 279  
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Author Post, V.E.A.; Vassolo, S.I.; Tiberghien, C.; Baranyikwa, D.; Miburo, D. url  openurl
  Title Weathering and evaporation controls on dissolved uranium concentrations in groundwater – A case study from northern Burundi Type Journal Article
  Year 2017 Publication Science of The Total Environment Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 607-608 Issue Pages 281-293  
  Keywords Geochemical modelling, Hydrochemistry, Lake Tshohoha South, Public health, Radionuclides, Water supply  
  Abstract The potential use of groundwater for potable water supply can be severely compromised by natural contaminants such as uranium. The environmental mobility of uranium depends on a suite of factors including aquifer lithology, redox conditions, complexing agents, and hydrological processes. Uranium concentrations of up to 734μg/L are found in groundwater in northern Burundi, and the objective of the present study was to identify the causes for these elevated concentrations. Based on a comprehensive data set of groundwater chemistry, geology, and hydrological measurements, it was found that the highest dissolved uranium concentrations in groundwater occur near the shores of Lake Tshohoha South and other smaller lakes nearby. A model is proposed in which weathering and evapotranspiration during groundwater recharge, flow and discharge exert the dominant controls on the groundwater chemical composition. Results of PHREEQC simulations quantitatively confirm this conceptual model and show that uranium mobilization followed by evapo-concentration is the most likely explanation for the high dissolved uranium concentrations observed. The uranium source is the granitic sand, which was found to have a mean elemental uranium content of 14ppm, but the exact mobilization process could not be established. Uranium concentrations may further be controlled by adsorption, especially where calcium-uranyl‑carbonate complexes are present. Water and uranium mass balance calculations for Lake Tshohoha South are consistent with the inferred fluxes and show that high‑uranium groundwater represents only a minor fraction of the overall water input to the lake. These findings highlight that the evaporation effects that cause radionuclide concentrations to rise to harmful levels in groundwater discharge areas are not only confined to arid regions, and that this should be considered when selecting suitable locations for water supply wells.  
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  ISSN (down) 0048-9697 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number THL @ christoph.kuells @ post_weathering_2017 Serial 132  
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Author Jroundi, F.; Povedano-Priego, C.; Pinel-Cabello, M.; Descostes, M.; Grizard, P.; Purevsan, B.; Merroun, M.L. url  openurl
  Title Evidence of microbial activity in a uranium roll-front deposit: Unlocking their potential role as bioenhancers of the ore genesis Type Journal Article
  Year 2023 Publication Science of The Total Environment Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 861 Issue Pages 160636  
  Keywords ISR, Metatranscriptomes, Microbial metabolisms, Ore genesis, Roll-front deposit, Uranium  
  Abstract Uranium (U) roll-front deposits constitute a valuable source for an economical extraction by in situ recovery (ISR) mining. Such technology may induce changes in the subsurface microbiota, raising questions about the way their activities could build a functional ecosystem in such extreme environments (i.e.: oligotrophy and high SO4 concentration and salinity). Additionally, more information is needed to dissipate the doubts about the microbial role in the genesis of such U orebodies. A U roll-front deposit hosted in an aquifer driven system (in Zoovch Ovoo, Mongolia), intended for mining by acid ISR, was previously explored and showed to be governed by a complex bacterial diversity, linked to the redox zonation and the geochemical conditions. Here for the first time, transcriptional activities of microorganisms living in such U ore deposits are determined and their metabolic capabilities allocated in the three redox-inherited compartments, naturally defined by the roll-front system. Several genes encoding for crucial metabolic pathways demonstrated a strong biological role controlling the subsurface cycling of many elements including nitrate, sulfate, metals and radionuclides (e.g.: uranium), through oxidation-reduction reactions. Interestingly, the discovered transcriptional behaviour gives important insights into the good microbial adaptation to the geochemical conditions and their active contribution to the stabilization of the U ore deposits. Overall, evidences on the importance of these microbial metabolic activities in the aquifer system are discussed that may clarify the doubts on the microbial role in the genesis of low-temperature U roll-front deposits, along the Zoovch Ovoo mine.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number THL @ christoph.kuells @ jroundi_evidence_2023 Serial 138  
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Author Liesch, T.; Hinrichsen, S.; Goldscheider, N. url  openurl
  Title Uranium in groundwater — Fertilizers versus geogenic sources Type Journal Article
  Year 2015 Publication Science of The Total Environment Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 536 Issue Pages 981-995  
  Keywords Drinking water, Fertilizer, Geogenic background, Groundwater, Uranium  
  Abstract Due to its radiological and toxicological properties even at low concentration levels, uranium is increasingly recognized as relevant contaminant in drinking water from aquifers. Uranium originates from different sources, including natural or geogenic, mining and industrial activities, and fertilizers in agriculture. The goal of this study was to obtain insights into the origin of uranium in groundwater while differentiating between geogenic sources and fertilizers. A literature review concerning the sources and geochemical processes affecting the occurrence and distribution of uranium in the lithosphere, pedosphere and hydrosphere provided the background for the evaluation of data on uranium in groundwater at regional scale. The state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, was selected for this study, because of its hydrogeological and land-use diversity, and for reasons of data availability. Uranium and other parameters from N=1935 groundwater monitoring sites were analyzed statistically and geospatially. Results show that (i) 1.6% of all water samples exceed the German legal limit for drinking water (10μg/L); (ii) The range and spatial distribution of uranium and occasional peak values seem to be related to geogenic sources; (iii) There is a clear relation between agricultural land-use and low-level uranium concentrations, indicating that fertilizers generate a measurable but low background of uranium in groundwater.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number THL @ christoph.kuells @ liesch_uranium_2015 Serial 145  
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Author N, D.; Panda, B.; S, C.; V, P.M.; Singh, D.K.; L, R.A.; Sahoo, S.K. url  openurl
  Title Spatio-temporal variations of Uranium in groundwater: Implication to the environment and human health Type Journal Article
  Year 2021 Publication Science of The Total Environment Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 775 Issue Pages 145787  
  Keywords Groundwater, Health risk, Speciation, Stable isotopes, Statistics, Uranium  
  Abstract Groundwater overexploitation has resulted in huge scarcity and increase in the demand for water and food security in India. Groundwater in India has been observed to have experienced various water quality issues like arsenic, fluoride, and Uranium (U) contamination, leading to risk in human health. Markedly, the health risk of higher U in drinking water, as well as its chemical toxicity in groundwater have adverse effects on human. This study has reported occurrence of U as an emerging and widespread phenomenon in South Indian groundwater. Data on U in groundwater were generated from 284 samples along the Cretaceous Tertiary boundary within 4 seasons viz. pre-monsoon (PRM), southwest monsoon (SWM), northeast monsoon (NEM), and post-monsoon (POM). High U concentrations (74 μgL−1) showed to be above the World Health Organization’s provisional guideline value of 30 μgL−1. The geochemical, stable isotope and geophysical studies suggested that U in groundwater could vary with respect to season and was noted to be highest during NEM. The bicarbonate (HCO3) released by weathering process during monsoon could affect the saturation index (SI)Calcite and carbonate species of U. However, the primary source of U was found to be due to geogenic factors, like weathering, dissolution, and groundwater level fluctuation, and that, U mobilization could be enhanced due to anthropogenic activities. The findings further indicated that groundwater in the study area has reached the alarming stage of chemical toxicity. Hence, it is urgent and imperative that workable management strategies for sustainable drinking water source be developed and preventive measures be undertaken, relative to these water quality concerns to mitigate their disconcerting effect on human health.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number THL @ christoph.kuells @ n_spatio-temporal_2021 Serial 146  
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Author Sahoo, P.K.; Virk, H.S.; Powell, M.A.; Kumar, R.; Pattanaik, J.K.; Salomão, G.N.; Mittal, S.; Chouhan, L.; Nandabalan, Y.K.; Tiwari, R.P. url  openurl
  Title Meta-analysis of uranium contamination in groundwater of the alluvial plains of Punjab, northwest India: Status, health risk, and hydrogeochemical processes Type Journal Article
  Year 2022 Publication Science of The Total Environment Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 807 Issue Pages 151753  
  Keywords Agrochemicals, Geogenic contamination, Punjab, Salinity, Shallow aquifer, Uranium enrichment  
  Abstract Despite numerous studies, there are many knowledge gaps in our understanding of uranium (U) contamination in the alluvial aquifers of Punjab, India. In this study, a large hydrogeochemical dataset was compiled to better understand the major factors controlling the mobility and enrichment of uranium (U) in this groundwater system. The results showed that shallow groundwaters (\textless60 m) are more contaminated with U than from deeper depths (\textgreater60 m). This effect was predominant in the Southwest districts of the Malwa, facing significant risk due to chemical toxicity of U. Groundwaters are mostly oxidizing and alkaline (median pH: 7.25 to 7.33) in nature. Spearman correlation analysis showed that U concentrations are more closely related to total dissolved solids (TDS), salinity, Na, K, HCO3−, NO3− Cl−, and F− in shallow water than deep water, but TDS and salinity remained highly correlated (U-TDS: ρ = 0.5 to 0.6; U-salinity: ρ = 0.5). This correlation suggests that the salt effect due to high competition between ions is the principal cause of U mobilization. This effect is evident when the U level increased with increasing mixed water species (Na-Cl, Mg-Cl, and Na-HCO3). Speciation data showed that the most dominant U species are Ca2UO2(CO3)2− and CaUO2(CO3)3−, which are responsible for the U mobility. Based on the field parameters, TDS along with pH and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) were better fitted to U concentration above the WHO guideline value (30 μg.L−1), thus this combination could be used as a quick indicator of U contamination. The strong positive correlation of U with F− (ρ = 0.5) in shallow waters indicates that their primary source is geogenic, while anthropogenic factors such as canal irrigation, groundwater table decline, and use of agrochemicals (mainly nitrate fertilizers) as well as climate-related factors i.e., high evaporation under arid/semi-arid climatic conditions, which result in higher redox and TDS/salinity levels, may greatly affect enrichment of U. The geochemical rationale of this study will provide Science-based-policy implications for U health risk assessment in this region and further extrapolate these findings to other arid/semi-arid areas worldwide.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number THL @ christoph.kuells @ sahoo_meta-analysis_2022 Serial 150  
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