Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Port Said University, Port Said, 42523, Egypt.
Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, University of California, parlier, California, 93648, United States.
Environ Monit Assess. 2021 Apr 27;193(5):306. doi: 10.1007/s10661-021-09058-2.
The El Moghra area is located in northwestern Egypt in the Western Desert. It is classified as the first priority of the national project to reclaim 1.50 million feddan of Egypt's desert lands. Groundwater quality assessment of the El Moghra aquifer is essential because irrigation water requirements in the El Moghra area depend solely on groundwater. A geochemistry analysis was conducted for 230,000 feddans from forty-six groundwater samples collected during the drilling process of deep wells in year 2018 and 2019. Our study's main objective is to determine whether the groundwater in the El Moghra aquifer is suitable for irrigation use. ArcGIS was used to prepare the geospatial distribution maps of major elements. Hydrochemical characteristics and groundwater types were identified from descriptive analyses of groundwater samples. Multivariate statistical analysis was run using SPSS; correlation coefficients were first determined; then, a correlation matrix was generated. Principal component analysis was performed and a covariance matrix with varimax rotation was produced. Results revealed the alkalinity and the high salinity of groundwater in the project study area. Most of the samples had a total hardness greater than 300 mg/l. Sodium chloride (Na-Cl) is the dominant type for groundwater samples. The mechanism controlling groundwater chemistry depends on rock weathering. Principal component analysis results showed that two eigenvectors among ten have a 72.86% contribution to the cumulative variance. The higher TDS values (14,008 mg/l) confirm the ions release when the upward groundwater flow from the lower Nubian Sandstone aquifer system to the upper quaternary aquifer occurs. Additionally, the geospatial maps of ion distribution showed that the frequent release of minerals happens in the northwestern part of the project study area: the eastern Qattara Depression. A perfect correlation between sodium and chloride distributions was obtained, and it is identical to the electrical conductivity distribution as well. Our study recommends very salt-tolerant crops as canola, barley, quinoa, and jojoba to be planted in the project area. Drought-tolerant crops as Barbary fig and Jatropha are also recommended. Applying irrigation water frequently with short intervals between irrigations to avoid soil drying and surface clusters' formation, as well as enhance leeching of salts away from the root systems, is essential.
El Moghra 地区位于埃及西北部的西部沙漠中。它被归类为埃及开垦 150 万费丹沙漠土地国家项目的首要任务之一。由于 El Moghra 地区的灌溉用水需求完全依赖地下水，因此对 El Moghra 含水层的地下水质量评估至关重要。在 2018 年和 2019 年深井钻探过程中收集了 46 个地下水样本，对 23 万费丹的地下水进行了地球化学分析。我们研究的主要目的是确定 El Moghra 含水层中的地下水是否适合灌溉用途。ArcGIS 用于准备主要元素的地理空间分布图。通过对地下水样本的描述性分析，确定了水文地球化学特征和地下水类型。使用 SPSS 运行多元统计分析；首先确定相关系数；然后生成相关矩阵。进行主成分分析，并生成具有方差极大旋转的协方差矩阵。结果表明，项目研究区地下水呈碱性且含盐量高。大多数样本的总硬度大于 300mg/l。氯化钠（Na-Cl）是地下水样本的主要类型。控制地下水化学的机制取决于岩石风化。主成分分析结果表明，在十个特征向量中，有两个特征向量对累积方差的贡献为 72.86%。较高的总溶解固体值（14008mg/l）证实了当地下水从努比亚砂岩含水层系统的下部向上部第四纪含水层上升时，离子的释放。此外，离子分布的地理空间图表明，在项目研究区的西北部：东部卡塔拉洼地，矿物质频繁释放。在钠和氯的分布之间获得了很好的相关性，并且与电导率的分布也相同。我们的研究建议在项目区种植具有很强耐盐性的作物，如油菜、大麦、藜麦和霍霍巴。还建议种植耐旱作物，如巴巴里无花果和麻疯树。频繁地进行灌溉，灌溉间隔短，以避免土壤干燥和地表结块的形成，并增强盐分从根系中淋滤，这是很重要的。
