earth science

Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System

Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System rather than just read about it. In short: The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) is the world's largest known fossil water aquifer system. It is located underground in the eastern end of the Sahara desert and spans the political boundaries of four countries in northeastern Africa.

Key takeaways

Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) is the world's largest known fossil water aquifer system. It is located underground in the eastern end of the Sahara desert and spans the political boundaries of four countries in northeastern Africa. The NSAS covers a land area spanning just over two million km2, including northwestern Sudan, northeastern Chad, southeastern Libya, and most of Egypt. Containing an estimated 150,000 km3 of groundwater, the significance of the NSAS as a potential water resource for future development programs in these countries is immense. The Great Man-Made River (GMMR) project in Libya makes use of the system, extracting substantial amounts of water from this aquifer, removing an estimated 2.4 km3 of fresh water for consumption and agriculture per year.

Characteristics

Since 2001, the Nubian Sandstone aquifer situated between the Toshka and Abu Simbel areas of Egypt has undergone intensive drilling and development as part of a land reclamation project. Drilling information was used to conduct a variety of studies regarding the hydrogeological setting of the area's aquifer. Results indicated that lithological characteristics and tectonic settings have a substantial effect on groundwater flow patterns and the area's overall aquifer potentiality, which is considered relatively low when compared to neighboring areas in eastern Oweinat or Dakhla.

Geology The aquifer is largely composed of hard ferruginous sandstone with great shale and clay intercalation, having a thickness that ranges between 140 and 230 meters. Groundwater type varies from fresh to slightly brackish (salinity ranges from 240 to 1300 ppm). The ion dominance ordering shows that sodium cation is most commonly predominating over calcium and magnesium – whereas chloride is predominant over sulfate and bicarbonate. The groundwater is of meteoric origin (the term meteoric water refers to water that originated as precipitation; most groundwater is meteoric in origin). High concentrations of sodium, chloride, and sulfates reflect the leaching and dissolution processes of gypsiferous shales and clay, in addition to a lengthy duration of water residence. Two recharge locations tied to specific epochs have been identified by Reika Yokochi et al.: one 38,000 years ago originating from the Mediterranean, and the second dated at around 361,000 years ago from the tropical Atlantic.

International development projects Since 2006, the International Atomic Energy Agency has been working in cooperation with the four NSAS countries to help increase understanding of the aquifer's complexities through the IAEA-UNDP-GEF Nubian Project. Project partners include the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/Global Environment Facility (GEF), IAEA, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and government representatives from the NSAS countries. The project's long-term goal is establishing rational and equitable management of the NSAS as a productive way of advancing socio-economic development in the region and protecting biodiversity and land resources.

See also Lake Ptolemy African humid period

References

Bibliography Essay and Maps: Groundwater Resources of the Nubian Aquifer System Dahab, K.A., El Sayed, E.A. Study of Hydrogeological Conditions of the Nubian Sandstone Aguifer in the Area Between Abu Simbel & Toschka, Western Desert, Egypt. American Geophysical Union, Spring 2001

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System

In research: Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aquifers, Aquifers of Africa, Geography of Libya, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System in simple terms?

Why does Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System.