Exploration of an alluvial aquifer in Oman by time-domain electromagnetic sounding

 One-third of the population of Oman depends upon groundwater extracted from the alluvium of the Batinah Plain, on the coast of the Gulf of Oman. Deep geophysical exploration techniques were used to determine the depth and nature of the alluvium and the boundaries of the aquifer. The base and structural controls of the alluvial basin at its contact with Tertiary marine sediments and Cretaceous ophiolite were mapped with seismic reflection data, recorded originally for oil exploration. The base of the alluvium dips northward from the foothills of the Northern Oman Mountains, reaching a maximum depth of 2000 m at the coast. The varying facies of the alluvium are grossly characterised by different, overlapping ranges of electrical resistivity, depending largely on the clay content and degree of cementation. Resistivities near the coast are reduced by saline intrusion. These variations of resistivity were mapped with time-domain electromagnetic sounding along 400 km of profile, to distinguish among the three zones of the alluvial aquifer. The wedge of saline intrusion was also delineated, up to 10 km from the coast. The thickness of the saturated gravel aquifer ranges from 20–160 m in an area greater than 600 km². Received, April 1997 · Revised, January 1998 · Accepted, April 1998