Hydrology

 Prof. Sarah Pariente | Prof. Yishai Weinstein

Groundwater Hydrology

Hydrology deals with the flow of water in the subsurface (aquifers), water composition and its interaction with the aquifer solids. The study of hydrology involves physics (mass transport) and chemistry and has important environmental implications regarding the quality of water we all use. OF special consideration is the interaction of groundwater with surface water, such as the ocean. The increased over-utilization of groundwater, desertification processes and the impact of sea level rise on coastal aquifers all result in an enhanced stress on water resources, which in turn should be monitored and studied with high concern.

At the Department of Geography and the Environment, Bar-Ilan University, we focus on the interaction of groundwater with surface water. This includes:

- Livestock redistribute runoff and sediments in semi-arid rangeland areas;

- seawater intrusion and the tidal impact on coastal aquifers;

- submarine groundwater discharge (on both local and the entire Mediterranean-scale)

   and its impact on coastal water quality and ecology;

- the interaction of estuarine coastal rivers with the aquifer;

- the circulation of the Dead Sea water in the aquifer and the impact of the sharp lake

  level decline.

Our research includes field measurements (discharge, level and salinity, geophysical measurements, etc.), as well as analytical work (isotopic and artificial tracers, general chemistry, nutrients and others) and hydrological modeling. We have a lab of radon and radium isotopes, which are very efficient tools in documenting the mixing of water from different sources.