Is the North-Western Sahara aquifer system recharged?

Here, we use gravity data and groundwater flow modeling to provide further evidence of modern recharge of the North-Western Sahara Aquifer System (NWSAS, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya).

What is intensive farming in the North Western Sahara aquifer system?

Intensive farming in sandy soils with a high water table (1 to 2 m below the sand) in the North Western Sahara Aquifer System: (a) aquaculture, (b) date plantation, with surface drains installed to remove brackish water, and (c) a large canal network to drain the brackish water.

Did Sahara aquifers recharge during the Holocene?

Sahara aquifers are often taken as an illustration of how large fossil reservoirs recharged during the wet periods of the Quaternary (e.g., the Holocene), but otherwise received virtually no recharge. This view was contradicted for the NWSAS by hydrogeological modeling and geophysical approaches using GRACE data.

Are fossil Sahara aquifers sustainable?

In recent years, geochemical and geophysical studies have challenged the commonly held view that the use of fossil Sahara aquifers is completely unsustainable because they have not been recharged since the last wet period of the Holocene.

What is a traditional Sahara landscape?

(a) Traditional Sahara landscape, (b) the traditional ghout system of farming date palm. The ghout system consists of digging into the sand to plant date palm at the top of the groundwater.

Does the Green Sahara have a rainfall regime?

Rainfall regimes of the Green Sahara. Science Advances 3(1). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1601503. 2012. We’ll drink to that: Massive underground reserves of water found in some of Africa’s desert areas—including the Sahara Desert.