Use Hydrochemistry and Environmental Isotopes for the Assessment Mineralization of Groundwater in Miopliocene Aquifers in Douala 3 (Cameroon)

Tatou Rel Dechangue; Kamgang Kabeyene Veronique

American Journal of Water Resources. 2023, 11(1), 11-19
DOI: 10.12691/AJWR-11-1-2

Original Research

Use Hydrochemistry and Environmental Isotopes for the Assessment Mineralization of Groundwater in Miopliocene Aquifers in Douala 3 (Cameroon)

Tatou Rel Dechangue^1, and Kamgang Kabeyene Veronique²

¹Department of Earth Sciences, University of Maroua, Cameroon

²Department of Earth Sciences, University of Dschang, Cameroon

Pub. Date: March 01, 2023

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Tatou Rel Dechangue and Kamgang Kabeyene Veronique. Use Hydrochemistry and Environmental Isotopes for the Assessment Mineralization of Groundwater in Miopliocene Aquifers in Douala 3 (Cameroon). American Journal of Water Resources. 2023; 11(1):11-19. doi: 10.12691/AJWR-11-1-2

Abstract

Linked hydrochemical and isotopic studied were carried out to identify and explain the processes that control the mineralization in miopliocene aquifers in Douala basin. According to the results of the chemical analysis, the water is acidic and poor mineralized. The investigation highlights that groundwater mineralization is mainly influenced by ion exchange process, carbonate dissolution and silicate weathering. Based on isotopic signatures, shallow aquifer groundwater samples were classified into waters with depleted δ¹⁸O contents, highlighting the result of a rapid infiltration of local meteoric waters which has undergone a low evaporation process. Deep aquifer and some points of shallow aquifer are more enriched in ¹⁸O than the local rains. This reflects a certain level of evaporation which the rainwater would have undergone before reaching the aquifer or the leaching of heavy isotopes accumulated in the unsaturated zone during the dry season. The relatively recent age of the waters that recharge the aquifer explains the weak action of the water-rock interaction hence the weak mineralization of the waters overall.

Keywords

hydrochemistry, isotopes, mineralization, groundwater, miopliocene aquifers, Douala

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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