Groundwater residence time and paleorecharge conditions in the deep confined aquifers of the coastal watershed, South-East Tanzania

Abstract

Analysis of radiocarbon and stable isotopes of C, H and O in groundwater samples from the coastal watershed of Southeastern Tanzania is used to decipher the age of groundwater and the climatic conditions at the time of recharge. Radiocarbon dating was corrected on the basis of stable carbon isotope ratios and hydrochemical data. Two main recharge periods are recognised: (1) a recent recharge period with residence times dated to younger than 1.3 ka BP, for the shallow aquifer and some deep groundwater aquifers; and (2) a paleorecharge occurring during the Late Pleistocene to Holocene transition (between 6 and 13 ka BP), for the lower confined aquifer. The climatic excursions (arid and humid phases) identified in this study match well with those identified from studies of paleo-climatic records in Tanzania and East Africa.

The oxygen-18 and radiocarbon results show that there is a potential mixing of groundwater of varying ages along flow paths in the coastal aquifer system. This has also been shown by redox parameters in some of the deeper aquifer samples. The data also revealed that there is relatively simple pattern of lateral groundwater flow in the deeper confined aquifer. Isotopic evidence from this study and related studies in paleolimnology improves our knowledge of the past climates. The data suggests that the paleorecharge to the confined aquifer was from inland under wetter climatic conditions than present. Therefore, paleorecharge from the adjacent mountain regions to coastal area like Ifakara, Morogoro and Udzungwa mountains could be important parts of recharge area of the Kimbiji aquifer. However, the hinterland mountains of Dar es Salaam (mainly Pugu, Mkuranga, Ruvu and Kisarawe) could also play an important role in replenishing the Kimbiji coastal aquifers. In contrast, recharge in the shallow unconfined aquifer is characterized by local rainfall and river water infiltration.

This study is the first of its kind, assessing fingerprinting of paleoclimates in Southeastern coastal Tanzania using the isotopic composition of deep groundwater aquifers. The freshwater resources in the Neogene aquifer contain paleo-groundwater aquifers that have been mixed with recently-recharged flow systems. Hence, the resources may be sustainable. This study also provides information that may be useful for designing optimum strategies for a sustainable management of groundwater resources in the coastal aquifer, and it testifies to the importance of groundwater as a paleoclimatic archive. Such information is also essential for consideration by modellers in their attempts to simulate the hydrogeological processes in confined aquifers over very long time spans.