Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6443760 | Journal of African Earth Sciences | 2014 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
The aim of this study is to determine fluoride enhancement in the groundwater of semi-arid urban area of Khan Younis City, southern Gaza Strip. Physicochemical data for a total of 200 groundwater samples were analyzed. The fluoride concentrations were varied from 0.3 to 6.45Â mg/L with average value of 2.87Â mg/L. Correlations between fluorides with other measured ions were relatively observed, negative correlation with calcium and the positive correlation with pH, bicarbonate and sodium increase the dissolution/solubility of fluoride bearing minerals, leading to fluoride leaching into the groundwater. Fluoride enrichment in the groundwater of the area is due to water hydrochemistry, mineral-water interaction (mainly calcite and fluorite), fluorite resulted from fluorapatite dissolution. The saturation indexes evaluation indicated that 42% of the samples are over saturated with respect to calcite and 35.5% under saturated with respect to fluorite, while 40.5% approached equilibrium with respect to both calcite and fluorite. At fluoride concentrations of less than 2.2Â mg/L fluorite saturation indexes show under-saturation condition for fluorite and at higher fluoride concentrations show near saturation condition.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Geology
Authors
Mohamed Shaban Abu Jabal, Ismail Abustan, Mohd Remy Rozaimy, Hussam Al-Najar,