Towards a quantification of karst water resources in the Maghreb
Swiss partners
- Swiss Institute for Speleology and Karst Studies (SISKA): Marc Luetscher (main applicant)
Partners in the MENA region
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Office National des Mines, Tunisia: Moez Mansoura (main applicant)
Presentation of the project
Based on a tunisian case study, the project aimed at evaluating the feasibility of a transboundary delineation of major karst aquifers across the Atlas mountain chain. The objective was to pave the way for a follow-up proposal dedicated to karst groundwater resources in North Africa. Following milestones were attained:
- Project meeting in Tunis A start-up project meeting was held on October 9 in Tunis to meet project partners and discuss the prospective work, including strategies for a follow-up proposal.
- Field work at Djebel Serdj: Field work at the pilot site Djebel Serdj was conducted together with ONM and included identification of potential karst springs, exploration of the Ain Dhab cave river and discharge gauging. This field work was supported by the presence of NatGeo photographer R. Shone to provide visual support for public and scientific outreach.
- Visual Karsys modelling: Visual KARSYS, a web-service software dedicated to hydrogeological modelling, was applied to Djebel Serdj. While under continuous development during the course of this project, results identify a main karst aquifer in the Serdj Fm, with several overflows located along tectonic discontinuities. These preliminary results shall serve as a basis for a master thesis at CERTE.
- Mid-term workshop at ONM: A short course about 3D-modelling techniques of karst aquifers was hold in Tunis March 16-20. Discussions included possible software developments to represent appropriately subterranean galleries in three dimensions. This innovation would be of direct benefit to the Tunisian project partner(s) in relation with present and past mining sites.
- Extension to neighbouring countries: Building-up on the pilot study at Djebel Serdj, we identified the karst area of Ain Azel (Sétif, Algeria). The planed collaboration with IFES is promising but is currently holdon due to political issues. We also identified the Wintimdouine karst as a future test site in Morocco.
- Follow-up proposal(s): A full proposal was submitted first of April to the Swiss National Science Foundation with a specific focus on the societal sensitivity to groundwater resources and hydroclimatic changes in central Tunisia. A proposal to integrate 3D-geometries of mine galleries was also submitted to the LH-MENA Innovation starting grant but, unfortunately, was not supported.
Story on Swiss Research (2024)
One and two conference papers at the EGU in Vienna, in April 2024