"GEOPHYSICAL STUDY ON THE GROUNDWATER OCCURRENCE IN THE DELTAS OF SOME WADIS, GULF OF AQABA, SINAI"

Abstract

The growing settlements, communities and tourism resorts along the Gulf of Aqaba coast have caused an ever-increasing demand for water. Groundwater can be considered as main source in supplying that' coastal area with the needed water.

The deltas of Wadi Dahab and Wadi Kid on the Gulf of Aqaba are two promising areas concerning agricultural and tourism development. The extensive area and outstanding location of these two Deltas support the capability of the two areas to share in such a development. Both• of the deltas have been selected to carry out the present geophysical study.

The Delta of Wadi Dahab occupiesan area of about 8 km 2 and lies between longitudes 28° 28' 0 I" and 28° 31 ' 02" E and between latitudes 34° 32' 01" and 34° 28' 05" N. On the other hand, the Delta of Wadi Kid covers an area of about 100 km2 and bounded by longitudes 28° 27' 30" and 28° 19' 53"E and latitudes 34° 15' 00" and 34° 05' 01" N.

The present geophysical work has been carried out with the mam purposes of delineating the subsurface geologic setting, delineating th:o groundwater aquifer/aquifers in the study area and to study the impacts of the structural elements on the groundwater occurrence in the study area.

In order to fulfill such objectives, land magnetic measurements as well as geoelectrical resistivity sounding survey have been carried out in the investigated Deltas. The measurements included measuring the total magnetic intensity along 3 profiles in the Delta of Wadi Dahab and 8 profiles in the Delta of Wadi Kid. The geoelectrical resistivity soundir.