Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Seawater intrusion impacts on groundwater and soil quality in the northern part of the Nile Delta, Egypt

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Seawater intrusion (SI) is thought to be a significant threat to groundwater and soil quality in arid costal ecosystems, causing a reduction in freshwater availability and soil productivity. This study investigated the effects of seawater intrusion on soil and groundwater quality in the Nile Delta region at 16 sites located at distances of 5–45 km from the coast. We found that groundwater and soil quality were significantly affected by seawater intrusion. Results from the investigations indicated that: (1) the salinity and alkalinity of groundwater and soil pore-water decreased with increasing distances towards the inland, and showed significant positive correlations for EC, SAR, Na+ and Cl− by 0.80, 0.46, 0.78 and 0.66 respectively offshore (45 km); (2) there were significant positive correlations between salinity and alkalinity of both groundwater and soil pore-water inland up to 15 km distance from the coast;(3) mixing ratio values (F%) of seawater and groundwater were 9.30 to 37.56% in different sites, recording a maximum value close to the sea (5 km), while a minimum value was observed offshore (45 km); and (4) increasing seawater intrusion had negative impacts on the quality of groundwater and soil up to 15 km from the sea, providing the possibility of exploiting irrigated land in Nile delta up to 15 km from the Mediterranean sea.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The dataset(s) supporting the conclusions of this article is(are) included within the article and its additional file(s).

References

  • Alameddine I, Jawhari G, El-Fadel M (2017) Social perception of public water supply network and groundwater quality in an urban setting facing saltwater intrusion and water shortages. Environ Manag 59:571–583

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alfarrah N, Walraevens K (2018) Groundwater overexploitation and seawater intrusion in coastal areas of arid and semi-arid regions. Water 10(2):143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arslan H, Demir Y (2013) Impacts of seawater intrusion on soil salinity and alkalinity in Bafra Plain. Turkey Environ Monit Assess 185(2):1027–1040

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badaruddin S, Werner AD, Morgan LK (2015) Water table salinization due to seawater intrusion. Water Resour Res 51:8397–8408. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015WR017098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bado S, Ghanim AMA, Joanna J, Liu L (2016) Protocols for pre-field screening of mutants for salt tolerance in rice. Wheat Barley. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26590-2_3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chambers G (2014) The biogeochemical effects of sea level rise on coastal wetland soil carbon. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P O Box1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106–1346.

  • Custodio E (1987) Ground water problems in coastal areas. Studies and reports in hydrology. UNESCO, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • El-Shahawi MI (1994) Pedochemical Studies on Some Egyptian Soils. PhD Thesis, Faculty of Agriculture, Tanta University.

  • Flower H, Rains M, Fitz C (2017) Visioning the Future: Scenarios Modeling of the Florida Coastal Everglades. Environ Manag 60:989–1009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gee GW, Bauder JW (1986) Particle size analysis, in methods of soil experimental approach. J Soil Sci 32:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Gleeson T, Wada Y, Bierkens MFP, van Beek LPH (2012) Water balance of global aquifers revealed by groundwater footprint. Nature 488:197–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernandez JA, de Oro N, Ortiz SR (2004) Electrolytic conductivity of semiarid soils (southeastern Spain) in relation to ion composition. Arid Land Res Manag 18:265–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kheir AMS, El Baroudy A, Aiad MA, Zoghdan MG, Abd El-Aziz MA, Marwa GMA, Fullen M (2019) Impacts of rising temperature, carbon dioxide concentration and sea level on wheat production in North Nile delta. STOTEN 651:3161–3173

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee W, Yoo Y, Yeong Y, Hur D (2019) Experimental and numerical analysis on hydraulic characteristics of coastal aquifers with seawall. Water 11:2343. https://doi.org/10.3390/w11112343y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Megdal SB, Gerlak AK, Huang L, Delano N, Varady RG, Petersen-Perlman JD (2017) Innovative approaches to collaborative groundwater Governance in the United States: case studies from three high-growth regions in the sun belt. Environ Manag 59:718–735

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moujabber EM, Samra B, Darwısh T, Atallah T (2006) Comparison of different indicators for groundwater contamination by seawater intrusion on the Lebanese coast. Water Resour Manag 20(2):161–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ranjbar A, Cherubini C, Saber A (2020) Investigation of transient sea level rise impacts on water quality of unconfined shallow coastal aquifers. Int J Environ Sci Technol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-020-02684-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richards LA (1954) Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkaline soils, vol 25. US Dept Agric, Handbook, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • RIGW/IWACO (1998) Environmental management of groundwater resources (EMGR), “Identification, priority setting and selection of area for monitoring groundwater quality”. Technical reports, research institute for groundwater (RIGW), Egypt.

  • Rodell M, Velicogna I, Famiglietti JS (2009) Satellite-based estimates of groundwater depletion in India. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowell DL (1995) Soil sciences methods and applications. Library of Congress Cataglogin-in publication data New York, Ny 1158-USA.

  • Sefelnasr A, Sherif M (2014) Impacts of seawater rise on seawater intrusion in the Nile delta aquifer. Egypt Natl Ground Water Assoc 52(2):264–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seleiman MF, Kheir AMS (2018) Saline soil properties, quality and productivity of wheat grown with bagasse ash and thiourea in different climatic zones. Chemosphere 193:538–546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sherif MM, Sefelnasr A, Javadi A (2012) Incorporating the concept of equivalent freshwater head in successive horizontal simulations of seawater intrusion in the Nile Delta aquifer. Egypt J Hydrol 464–465:186–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.07.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sherif M, Mohamed M, Shetty A (2018) Assessment of groundwater quality in the northeastern coastal area of UAE as precursor for desalination. Desalination 273(2–3):436–446

    Google Scholar 

  • Somay MA, Gemici U (2009) Assessment of the salinization process at the coastal area with hydrogeochemical tools and geographical ınformation systems (GIS): Selçuk Environ Monit Assess Plain, Izmir, Turkey. Water Air Soil Pollut 185:1027–1040

    Google Scholar 

  • Ullman JL (2013) Soil Salinity in Agricultural Systems: The Basics. Strategies for Minimizing Salinity Problems and Optimizing Crop Production In-Service Training, Hastings, FL. Agricultural and Biological Engineering University of Florida, Gainesville

    Google Scholar 

  • Werner AD, Lockington DA (2006) Tidal impacts on riparian salinities near estuaries. J Hydrol 328:511–522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2005.1012.1011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu Z, Bassett SW, Hu B, Dyer SB (2016) Long distance seawater intrusion through a karst conduit network in the Woodville Karst Plain, Florida. Sci Rep 6:32235. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep32235

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute (SWERI), Agricultural Research Centre, Key Research, Development Project of Hainan Province (Grant No. ZDYF2019106), Talented Young Scientist Program (Egypt19-010) and China Agriculture Research System(CARS-31-19) for providing the financial support and research facilities.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Haikou Experimental Station, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), Haikou, China

    Zheli Ding & Ahmed M. S. Kheir

  2. Soils and Water Sciences Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt

    Mohamed A. Koriem, Shaaban M. Ibrahim & Mohamed A. Ewis

  3. Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt

    Antar S. Antar & Ahmed M. S. Kheir

  4. University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Indian River Research and Education Center, Fort Pierce, FL, USA

    Zhenli He

Authors
  1. Zheli Ding
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mohamed A. Koriem
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shaaban M. Ibrahim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Antar S. Antar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mohamed A. Ewis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Zhenli He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ahmed M. S. Kheir
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceptualization, AMSK and ASA; Methodology, MAE, ASA and AMSK; Software, ZD, AMSK; Formal Analysis, ZH, MAE, and SAI; Investigation, ZH; Data Curation, ZD, and AMSK; Writing Original Draft Preparation, ZD, and ZH; Writing Review and Editing, ZH, and AMSK; Supervision, ASA; Project Administration, MAK; Funding Acquisition, ZD.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ahmed M. S. Kheir.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 307 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ding, Z., Koriem, M.A., Ibrahim, S.M. et al. Seawater intrusion impacts on groundwater and soil quality in the northern part of the Nile Delta, Egypt. Environ Earth Sci 79, 313 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09069-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09069-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation