August 2013 Vol. 1 No. 6

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Review

Nubian sandstone aquifer system

Essam Hassan Mohamed Ahmed, PhD

Lead Author, AR5, WG III, IPCC, GHG Inventory, National Expert, UNFCCC, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Consultant

E-mail: esamhasan62@yahoo.com; Mobile: (+2) 0100-511-3933

Accepted August 27, 2013

Abstract

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 north-eastern Africa. The aquifer is largely composed of hard ferruginous sandstone with great shale and clay intercalation, having a thickness that ranges between 140-230 meters. The groundwater is of meteoric origin (the term meteoric water refers to water that originated as precipitation; most groundwater is meteoric in origin). Many groundwater aquifers and surface bodies of water traverse borders and boundaries without regard to politics, those that don’t are frequently interrelated with the larger regional hydrologic system and are thus interconnected to surface or groundwater in neighboring states.

Keywords: Sandstone, Aquifer, Fossil, Sahara desert, Meteoritic origin, hydrologic system