Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
• in the center: the Murzuk basin (aquifer in the Triassic-Jurassic and
Lower Cretaceous continental formations) is essentially contained
within Libya;
• to the south and to the east: the Nubian aquifer (Cambrian and Upper
Cretaceous sandstone, sand, and conglomerate) is one of the largest
artesian aquifers in the world (2 million km 2 ). It is shared between
Egypt, Libya, Sudan, and Chad.
Egypt has clearly expressed its fears, and has threatened Libya with
retaliation, if it observes a decrease in its deep resources in the Nubian
Sandstone aquifer.
4 WATER AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
It is possible to sustainably impact an aquifer on the qualitative and
quantitative levels. The migration of pollutants within the aquifer and the
renewal of resources can last for decades. In addition, the overexploitation
of an aquifer can have consequences on its natural environment, by drying
the soil and destroying the vegetation, or by provoking cave-ins in the
terrain (see chap. D2-3.3).
4.1 Quantitative aspect
The problem of drawing upon non-renewable deep resources has been
mentioned above. The overexploitation of Saharian aquifers is happening
to the detriment of future generations, who will have no other solution than
to abandon those areas. In France, M. Detay (1997) cites the example of the
overexploitation, since over a hundred years, of the confi ned Lower Triassic
sandstone Lorraine aquifer, which is only weakly recharged, leading to a
continuous decrease in the piezometric level affecting the entire Lorraine
basin and reaching 72 m in Nancy.
4.2 Qualitative aspect
4.2.1 Saline intrusions
In coastal or island regions, the overexploitation of coastal aquifers can lead
to a permanent migration of the salt water intrusion. The case of Malta was
described above.
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