A potential groundwater aquifer for palaeoclimate reconstruction: Turonian aquifer, Tadla basin, Morocco

We undertook an environmental isotope investigation of groundwater from the Turonian Aquifer of Tadla Basin in Morocco in order to confirm that this aquifer could be a potential site for palaeoclimate reconstruction. The collected groundwater samples were examined for stable oxygen, hydrogen and carbon isotope ratio, as well as noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe), 14C and 3H concentration. The measured stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope values show that the Turonian aquifer has two recharge areas, one with a heavier isotopic signature from the unconfined aquifer in the northern region (the area of Boujad), while the other is characterised by lighter isotopic composition in the north-eastern to the south-western part of the basin (to the North from Kasba Tadla). The calculated noble-gas solubility temperatures of the confined part of the aquifer are 2 °C higher than the recent mean annual air temperature (19 °C). Radiocarbon ages obtained from running different versions of Ingerson-Pearson models indicated that the recharge of this water occurred during the Holocene. We conclude that the Turonian aquifer might be a potential place for Late-Pleistocene palaeoclimate reconstruction if the research area were extended in the direct of flow path towards the western part of the basin and towards the foothills of the Phosphates Plateau.