Research Article

Characterization of Recharge Mechanisms and Sources of Groundwater Salinization in Ras Jbel Coastal Aquifer (Northeast Tunisia) Using Hydrogeochemical Tools, Environmental Isotopes, GIS, and Statistics

Figure 7

Piper diagram of groundwater: zone 1: alkaline earths (Ca + Mg) exceed alkalis (Na + K); zone 2: alkalis exceed alkaline earths; zone 3: weak acids (CO3 + HCO3) exceed strong acids (SO4 + Cl); zone 4: strong acids exceed weak acids; zone 5: carbonate hardness > 50% (alkaline earths and weak acid dominate); zone 6: noncarbonate hardness > 50%; zone 7: noncarbonate alkali > 50%; zone 8: carbonate alkali > 50% (groundwater is inordinately soft in proportion to the content of TDS); zone 9: no cation–anion pair >50% [34].