The effect of 20th century industrialization: Power station, acid rains, over-pumping, on an erstwhile uniform freshwater dune aquifer in Haifa Bay, Israel

Abstract

A small phreatic sand dune aquifer lies along the shore of Haifa Bay. It has been exploited for its freshwater resources since the 1930s. During this time the salinity has increased continuously, partly by seawater intrusion due to overpumping. The chemistry of the young aquifer water is laterally variable and is characterized by excess SO$_4^{2-}$, high $Sr^{2+}$ concentrations above that of modern seawater, high alkalinity, and markedly enriched $δ^{13}C_{DIC}$ values. Acidic winter rains, formed from $SO_x$ and $NO_x$ gaseous emissions from a nearby power station, leach the dry deposition that accumulated across the dune surface during the dry summers. The acidity also partially dissolves the aragonite sea shells in the dune sands, remnants of a previous marine transgression. As a consequence, this adds $Sr^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$ excess, and alkalinity, while leading to enriched $δ^{13}C_{DIC}$ values, particularly during the winter, at which time the radiocarbon activity in the DIC is observed to decrease.