PT Journal
AU El Mandour, A
   El Yaouti, F
   Fakir, Y
   Zarhloule, Y
   Benavente, J
TI Evolution of groundwater salinity in the unconfined aquifer of Bou-Areg, Northeastern Mediterranean coast, Morocco
SO Environmental Geology
PY 2007
BP 491
EP 503
VL 54
IS 3
DI 10.1007/s00254-007-0842-3
DE Unconfined aquifer; Groundwater salinity; Seawater intrusion; Nitrate pollution; Lagoon; Morocco 
 Bou-Areg
AB The Bou-Areg plain in the Mediterranean coast at the North-eastern of Morocco is characterized by a semiarid climate. The aquifer consists of two sedimentary formations of Plio-quaternary age: the upper formation of fine silts and the lower one of coarse silts with sand and gravels. The aquifer is underlain by marly bedrock of Miocene age that dips toward the coastal lagoon of Bou-Areg. Thehydrodynamic characteristics vary between 10–4 and 10–3 m/s; and transmissivities range between 10–4 and 10–1 m2 /s. The general direction of flow is SW to NE, toward the lagoon. The aquifer is crossed by the river Selouane, which also ends in the lagoon. The groundwater is characterized by a high salinity that can reach 7.5 g/l. The highest values are observed in the upstream and in the downstream sectors of the aquifer. The temporal evolution of the physicochemical parameters depends on the climatic conditions andpiezometric variations. The analysis of the spatio-temporal distribution of the physico-chemical parameters suggests different sources of groundwater salinization: the seawater intrusion, the influence of marly gypsum-bearing terrains, and the influence of anthropogenic products as the agricultural fertilizers, which cause great nitrate concentrations that vary between 80 and 140 mg/l.
ER