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Characterization of hydrogeologic properties of the Tabriz plain multilayer aquifer system, NW Iran

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Abstract

A detailed hydrogeological investigation was carried out in the Tabriz plain in Iran using conventional hydrogeological field investigations and hydrochemistry. The study was carried out because the aquifers are of particular importance as they are more or less the only source of water supply available to the rural population and for agricultural and industrial activities. Analytical and numerical methods were applied to the constant rate pumping test data from the Tabriz airport and the Tabriz Power Station well fields. Two types of aquifers of different water quality were identified in the study area: an unconfined aquifer that extends over the plain and confined aquifers that are found in the deeper layers of the multilayered sediment terraces of the Aji-Chay River course. Therefore, the central part of the Tabriz plain contains both unconfined and confined aquifers, while close to the highlands, there is only an unconfined aquifer. There was evidence of minor leakage in the confined aquifers when the numerical method was used for analysis. The groundwater in the area can be identified by three main geochemical facies: Na-Cl, Ca-HCO3, and mixed Ca-Mg-Cl-SO4. The processes responsible for the hydrochemical evolution in the area fall into five categories: dissolution of evaporate minerals, precipitation of carbonate minerals, evaporation, ion exchange, and anthropogenic activity.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge Masoud Ouruji for his significant contribution in water sample analysis and the East Azarbaijan Regional Water Authority for providing data. The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggested revisions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

    Rahim Barzegar & Asghar Asghari Moghaddam

  2. East Azarbaijan Regional Water Authority, Tabriz, Iran

    Mortaza Najib

  3. East Azarbaijan Province Water and Waste Water Company, Tabriz, Iran

    Naeimeh Kazemian

  4. Department of Bioresource Engineering, McGill University, Ste Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada

    Jan Adamowski

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  1. Rahim Barzegar
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  2. Asghar Asghari Moghaddam
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Correspondence to Rahim Barzegar.

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Barzegar, R., Asghari Moghaddam, A., Najib, M. et al. Characterization of hydrogeologic properties of the Tabriz plain multilayer aquifer system, NW Iran. Arab J Geosci 9, 147 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-015-2229-1

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