Citation:
Abstract:
There are several springs in the “Aures”. They represent an opportunity for mountain populations where connection to the drinking water is difficult. They are used for human consumption, but mostly for agriculture. In this paper we try to classify about twenty perennial springs and identify the origin of the mineralisation by linking each class to a lithological context. These sources belong to several chemical groups whose apparent type do not necessarily reflect the lithological composition of the corresponding aquifers. Thus, a carbonated water passing through evaporitic formations can acquire a new facies, which further complicates the interpretations. The combination of thermodynamic simulation, statistics and hydrochemistry has given satisfactory results on the chemical identity of these waters. There are, in fact, two groups : one of the carbonated waters ; dominant with 63% of samples. The other gypsum with 37% of the samples checked. The rHCO3/rSO4 ratio often gives values superior than 1 which can reach the threshold of 5. The results indicate that : Ca, SO4, HCO3 and Mg control the mineralisation of the water. The phenomena that generated these two groups are multiple and mainly concern the lithological composition of aquifers as well as the mechanisms of mineralisation acquisition during the underground journey before reaching the surface.