@phdthesis{Klock2001, author = {Klock, Heike}, title = {Hydrogeology of the Kalahari in north-eastern Namibia}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-1181287}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2001}, abstract = {This study has focused on hydrogeological and hydrochemical settings of the Northern Namibian Kalahari Catchment which is the Namibian part of the Makgadikgadi-Kalahari-Catchment. Recharge has been the subject of process-understanding, quantification and regionalisation. Within the semiarid study area a bimodal surface constitution is prominent: hardrocks areas allow for fast infiltration along karsts and joints, whereas areas covered by unconsolidated sediments receive minor diffuse recharge and locally some preferred flow path recharge develops along shrinkage cracks and rootlets. Five substratum classes have been soil physically studied: Pans and vleis, brown to red soils, dune sand, soil with an aeolian influence, and calcrete. Aeolian sands are most promising for the development of direct diffuse recharge. Recharge by preferred flow might occur in all soil classes either due to joints in calcrete or structures and rootlets in soils. All soil classes contribute to indirect recharge because even the dune sand allows, albeit very locally, the generation of runoff. The occurrences of recharge through the unconsolidated soil and the hardrocks have been confirmed by hydrograph interpretation and by a study of hydrochemical data which identified groundwater of flood water and flood water after soil passage composition. Other prominent hydrochemical processes in the Kalahari are associated with the carbonate-equilibrium-system, mixing with highly mineralised water that is either sulphate (central area) or chloride dominated (fringe area) and development of sodium hydrogencarbonate water types. The latter is mostly generated by feldspar weathering. Variations of the hydrochemical compositions were observed for shallow groundwaters. They do not only reflect the recharge amount but also the recharge conditions, e.g. a wetter year is allowing more vegetation which increases the hydrogencarbonate content. Inverse determination of recharge by the chloride mass balance method gives recharge amounts between 0.2 and locally more than 100 mm/a. The least favoured recharge conditions are found for Kalahari covered areas, the largest amount occurs in the Otavi area. The distribution of recharge areas within the catchment is rather complex and regionalisation of recharge for the entire catchment was done by a forward approach using satellite images and by an inverse approach using hydrochemical data. From the inverse hydrochemical approach a basin-wide balanced recharge amount of 1.39 mm/a is achieved. The forward approach gave a basin-wide figure of 0.88 (minimum assumption) to 4.53 mm/a (maximum assumption). A simplistic groundwater flow model confirmed the results from the minimum recharge regionalisation by satellite images and the result from the hydrochemical approach. Altogether a mutually verified basin-wide recharge figure of ca. 1 mm/a turns out.}, subject = {Kalahari}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Gehring2001, author = {Gehring, Iris}, title = {Volcanostratigraphy using geophysical methods on La Fossa di Vulcano (S-Italy)}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-1181941}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2001}, abstract = {For many active volcanoes all over the world a civil protection program, normally combined with hazard maps, exists. Optimising of hazard maps and the associated hazard assessment implies a detailed knowledge of the volcanostratigraphy, because the deposits provoke information on the potential behaviour during a new activity cycle. Pyroclastic deposits, however, may vary widely in thickness and distribution over very short lateral distances. High resolution characterisation of single strata often cannot be archived, if solely sedimentological and geochemical methods are used. Gamma-ray measurements taken in the field combined with grain-size depended magnetic susceptibility measurements made in the laboratory are used in this work to optimise the resolution of volcanostratigraphic investigations. The island of Vulcano is part of the Aeolian Archipelago sited of the northern coast of Sicily. La Fossa cone is the active centre of Vulcano, where fumarolic and seismic activity can be observed. The cone was built up during the last 6,000 years, whereby the last eruption period is dated to historic times (1888-1890). For the tuff cone La Fossa the most likely volcanic hazards are the emplacement of pyroclastic deposits as well as gas hazards (especially SOx and CO2), due to this the detailed knowledge of the stratigraphy is mandatory. Most of the population resides in Vulcano Porto and the nearby sited peninsula of Vulcanello, which are highly endangered locations for a future eruption scenario. Measurements, made in standard outcrops, allow a characterisation of the successions Punte Nere, Tufi Varicolori, Palizzi, Commenda, and Cratere Attuale. A discrimination of all successions by solely one of the methods is rarely possible. In some cases, however, the combination of the methods leads to clear results. It can also be noticed that the exposition as well as the sedimentation type (wet-surge or dry-surge deposits) affect the measurements. In general it can be assumed that the higher the magma is evolved the higher the g -ray values and the lower the susceptibility values. Measurements from the Wingertsberg (Laacher See deposits, Eifel, W-Germany) show clearly that a higher degree of magma evolution correlates with lower susceptibility and higher gamma-ray values. Variations of the values can be observed not only by the change of the degree of magmatic evolution but also by the inhomogeneous deposition conditions. Particularly the gamma-ray measurements show lower values for the wet-surge deposits than for the dry-surge deposits, even though the erupted material has the same geochemical composition. This can be explained especially by reactions inside of the moist eruption cloud and short-time after deposition, when easily soluble elements like K, U, and Th can be leached by these aggressive fluids. Even extended exposition and high water content can provoke depletion of various elements within the complete or parts of the outcrop, too. If the deposits are affected by a fumarolic activity especially the susceptibility values show significant variations, whereas in general extreme low values are observed. Contamination of deposits also can occur, if they are overlain by weathered deposits of higher concentration of K, U, and Th. Weathering and mobilisation within the upper deposits can generate an element enrichment within the lower deposits. In general the element ratios of the barried underlying deposits are less affected than the exposed ones. After gauging the values of the well defined succession for standard outcrops undefined outcrops were measured. These outcrops are not clearly classified by sedimentological and geochemical methods, thus a correlation with the combined geophysical methods is useful. In general the combination of the methods allows a correlation, although in some cases more than one interpretation is possible. But in connection with time marker horizons as well as sedimentological features an interpretation is feasible. These situations show that a classification solely based on geophysical methods is possible for many cases but, if the volcanic system is more complex, a combination with sedimentological and geochemical methods may be needed. The investigations on Vulcano, documented in this work, recommend a re-interpretation of the dispersial of some successions of La Fossa cone, especially the presumption that Tufi Varicolori only exist inside of the Caldera of La Fossa. As a consequence the eruption and energy model especially for Tufi Varicolori have to be reviewed.}, subject = {Vulcano}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{AlFarajat2001, author = {Al-Farajat, Mohammad}, title = {Hydrogeo-Eco-Systems in Aquaba/Jordan - Coasts and Region}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-1182066}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2001}, abstract = {The coast of Aqaba and the Aqaba region (Jordan) were investigated on their hydrogeo-ecosystem. The results of the research were translated into digits to build a geo-spatial data base. The fillings of the graben aquifer receive indirect type of recharge through the side wadis which drain the highlands. Surface water balance was modeled for a period of 20 years of daily climate records using MODBIL program which attributes direct recharge to wet years only. The hydrodynamic fresh water/seawater interface in the coastal zones was investigated by applying vertical geoelectric surveys and models of several methods to confirm its coincidence with the aquifer's flow amounts, where human impacts in terms of over-pumping allowed more encroachment of seawater into land, and unintended recharge which led to seaward interface migration. A groundwater balance and solute transport were approached by developing a flow model from the hydrogeological and hydrochemical data. The nature of soil cover and aquifer whose physical properties enhance human impacts indicated the vulnerability of groundwater to pollution. This certainly threatens the marine ecology which forms the sink where the in-excess flow ends. The constructed digital background was exported into GIS to sub-zone the study area in terms of the aquifer's vulnerability to pollution risks using DRASTIC index. However, it was unable to meet all geo-spatial factors that proved to have significant impacts on the vulnerability. Consequently, a comprehensive index -SALUFT- was developed. This suggests the suitable land use units for each zone in the light of vulnerability grades aiming at protecting the available groundwater resources.}, subject = {Golf von Akaba}, language = {en} }