Hydrogeol J
DOI 10.1007/s10040-017-1603-3
REPORT
Mapping of groundwater prospective zones integrating remote
sensing, geographic information systems and geophysical techniques
in El-Qaà Plain area, Egypt
Sara M. Abuzied 1 & Hamed A. Alrefaee 2
Received: 11 October 2016 / Accepted: 24 April 2017
# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017
Abstract The geospatial mapping of groundwater prospec-
tive zones is essential to support the needs of local inhabitants
and agricultural activities in arid regions such as El-Qaà area,
Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. The study aims to locate new wells
that can serve to cope with water scarcity. The integration of
remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS) and
geophysical techniques is a breakthrough for groundwater
prospecting. Based on these techniques, several factors con-
tributing to groundwater potential in El-Qaà Plain were deter-
mined. Geophysical data were supported by information de-
rived from a digital elevation model, and from geologic, geo-
morphologic and hydrologic data, to reveal the promising
sites. All the spatial data that represent the contributing factors
were integrated and analyzed in a GIS framework to develop a
groundwater prospective model. An appropriate weightage
was specified to each factor based on its relative contribution
towards groundwater potential, and the resulting map delin-
eates the study area into five classes, from very poor to very
good potential. The very good potential zones are located in
the Quaternary deposits, with flat to gentle topography, dense
lineaments and structurally controlled drainage channels. The
groundwater potential map was tested against the distribution
of groundwater wells and cultivated land. The integrated
methodology provides a powerful tool to design a suitable
groundwater management plan in arid regions.
* Sara M. Abuzied
saraabozied2@gmail.com; saraabozied@yahoo.com
1
Faculty of Science, Geology Department, Suez Canal University,
Ismailia, Egypt
2
Faculty of Science, Geology Department, Kafr El-Sheikh University,
Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt
Keywords Egypt . Remote sensing . Geographic information
systems . Geophysical methods . Groundwater prospective
model
Introduction
Demand for groundwater resources in arid regions such as El-
Qaà Plain in Egypt, increases because of population growth
and fresh surface-water shortage. Since the last century, the
economic importance of Sinai Peninsula (Fig. 1) has become
more prominent, related to the quest for alternative water re-
sources. El-Qaà Plain is one of the most promising regions in
the Sinai Peninsula given the relatively high amount of pre-
cipitation. Several studies have focused on El-Qaà Plain as an
important area for economic development (El-Nahry and
Saleh 2004; Wahid et al. 2009; Sultan et al. 2013). In arid
and rural environments, groundwater is significant as the
reliable support for potable water provision. Mohamed et al.
(2015) considered the groundwater in El-Qaà Plain as a vital
natural resource for the Bedouin community and agriculture
activities; hence, the assessment of groundwater availability in
El-Qaà Plain is an extremely important task for management
of sustainability in the area. It is necessary to define ground-
water potential zones to locate appropriate areas for ground-
water exploration. The aim of this study has been the delinea-
tion of groundwater potential zones in El-Qaà Plain based on
the integration of remote sensing, geographic information sys-
tems (GIS), and geophysical techniques.
Application of remote sensing and GIS technologies has
been widely used for the assessment of different natural re-
sources (Sander et al. 1996; Solomon and Quiel 2006; Gabr
et al. 2010; Abuzied et al. 2016a). These technologies have
been used in several studies as the most powerful tools for the
evaluation and management of water resources (Houhoulis

Fig. 1 Location map of El-Qaà
Plain area, southwestern Sinai,
Egypt (Landsat ETM)
and Michener 2000; Tweed et al. 2007; Obiefuna and Sheriff
2011). In addition, geospatial mapping of groundwater poten-
tial zones using conventional maps, satellite image process-
ing, and rectified ground truth data has been extensively sup-
ported by researchers around the world (Robinson et al. 1999;
Muralidhar et al. 2000; Chowdhury et al. 2010; Abuzied
2016); however, few researchers have used the integrated ap-
proach of remote sensing, GIS and geophysical techniques to
define groundwater prospective zones (Shahid and Nath 2002;
Srivastava and Bhattacharya 2006). None of the studies con-
ducted applied an integrated approach based on remotely
sensed, gravity, and magnetic data to develop innovative
models that define groundwater potential zones.
Gravity methods are not commonly used in hydrogeology
compared with electrical methods, but still contribute signifi-
cantly (Carmichael and Henry 1977). The role of gravity ex-
ploration is to determine rocks with low densities such as
alluvium deposits in buried valleys which could be a possible
aquifer (Overmeeren 1980). Gravity methods also determine
the structural setting, which outlines the geometry of the aqui-
fers (Murty and Raghavan 2002). Magnetic methods are com-
monly used to determine the depth of the basement rocks, and
hence the thickness of the sedimentary fill. Previous re-
searchers (Meshref and El-Kattan 1989; Sultan et al. 2009
and 2013; Azab and El-Khadargy 2013; Ahmed et al. 2014)
conducted geophysical and hydrogeological studies focusing
on the central part of El-Qaà Plain neglecting its northern and
southern extensions. In the current study, the geophysical data
are used to delineate the subsurface structural setting, deter-
mine thickness of the sedimentary cover, and model the
Hydrogeol J
subsurface rock units and their densities to outline the subsur-
face extension and geometry of the entire area of El-Qaà Plain
basin.
The existence of groundwater and its flow in geological
formations are essentially controlled by fractures, cracks,
and joints in crushed zones (Ganapuram et al. 2009). Several
factors that give an indication of groundwater location are
defined in numerous studies, such as slope, geomorphology,
lithology, rainfall, topographic elevation, drainage, land use/
land cover, and lineaments (Houhoulis and Michener 2000;
Harinarayana et al. 2002; Saraf et al. 2004; Sener et al. 2005;
Madrucci et al. 2008; Magesh et al. 2012; Abuzied 2016). In
the current study, several digital image processing techniques
were performed to prepare the factors contributing to ground-
water potential using different data sources such as Landsat 8
(OLI) and Landsat 7 (ETM+), SRTM, geologic, hydrologic,
topographic, and geophysical data. Some notable studies con-
sidered the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) as an
important data source to prepare various factors including ele-
vation, geomorphology, drainage network, lineaments, and
slope (Solomon and Quiel 2006; Srivastava and Bhattacharya
2006). Abuzied et al. (2016b, c) supported the use of ETM + 7,
geologic, and topographic maps to extract and delineate drain-
age networks, lithological units, soil, and land use/land cover.
GIS is an effective tool to extract basic layers involving
drainage networks and lineaments (Bonham-Carter 1994).
Other thematic maps, such as lineaments density, density of
lineaments intersections and drainage density, could be driven
in the current study from these digital datasets. GIS techniques
facilitate the integration and analysis of large numbers of
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spatial and non-spatial data within the same georeferencing annual precipitation in El-Qaà Plain is less than 80 mm with a
outline (Saraf and Choudhury 1998). In this study, a ground- notable increase towards the east of the study area (Fig. 2). The
water potential map was constructed based on a weightage southern Sinai massif receives more than average precipitation of
analysis to evaluate the relative importance of each factor 65–100 mm annually. The precipitation comes almost exclusive-
contributing to groundwater location. Weightage analysis ly in winter and sometimes occurs as snow on the high peaks,
was applied in various studies to define groundwater prospec- whereas convective rains occur during all seasons, causing
tive zones by different ways (Solomon and Quiel 2006; flooding in the study area (Dayan and Abramski 1983). The
Madrucci et al. 2008; Magesh et al. 2012). Abuzied et al. hydrographical basins of El-Qaà Plain have high surface and
(2016a) performed weightage analysis in the Nuweiba area groundwater potentialities due to the eastern branches of their
of Egypt based on the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) steep sloping channels draining from the highlands of south and
method. Hence, the general objective of this study is to use a central Sinai where high rates of rainfall prevail.
digital database of groundwater availability to develop a Geomorphologicaly, El-Qaà Plain is divided into three parts:
groundwater prospective model (GWPM) for El-Qaà Plain the eastern mountainous region, the western sedimentary hills
area. The digital database includes geologic, geomorphologic and the central plain (Said 1962). Different types of landforms
and hydrologic information. The specific objectives are met can be recognized in El-Qaà area such as peaks, ridges, scarps,
by extracting thematic layers such as lineaments, lithology, terraces, irregular plains, and channels (Fig. 3). El-Qaà Plain is
landforms, land use/land cover, slope, and rainfall from re- considered geologically as a part of the Precambrian Arabian-
motely sensed and geophysical data. Nubian Massif that extends across southern Sinai to western
Saudi Arabia. The geology of El-Qaá area is related to the
northern granitic and sedimentary hills, and the south Sinai
The study area Mountains. The study area has several stratigraphic formations
that vary in their hydrological properties. The Precambrian
El-Qaà Plain extends from the eastern coast of the Gulf of Suez basement occupies nearly 46% of the area; and the
to the southwestern side of the Sinai rift zone, covering the area Phanerozoic sedimentary succession occupies the rest of the
between latitudes 27° 43′ 44″ to 28° 54′ 55″ N and longitudes area (Fig. 4). The recent deposits cover 40% of the area distrib-
33° 11 ′ 50″ to 34° 15′ 24″ E with a total area 6,070 km2 uting on deltas and alluvial fans, terraces and wadis deposits.
(Fig. 1). The study area is an elongated coastal plain, 150 km The Quaternary alluvial fans are shaped from several wadis
long and 20 km wide, occupying 10% of the Sinai Peninsula. where stream velocity reduces quickly.
The topography of El-Qaà area varies from gentle plain to steep
mountainous surface, sloping gradually towards the Gulf of
Suez. The relief of the study area changes from low-lying land
to high rugged mountains ranging in elevation between 100
and 2,615 m respectively. Separated drainage systems run over
El-Qaà Plain, namely wadis. During rainy periods and
Quaternary times, different cycles of sedimentation buried
these wadis (Gilboa 1980; Hammad 1980). Several active
wadis meander through the study area including W. Feiran,
W. El-Aawag, W. Habran, W. Meiar, W. Asla, W. Timan, W.
Eghshy, W. El-Taalby, W. Amlaq and W. Aat El-Gharby. The
wadis are considered as the main recharging source for the
coastal groundwater aquifers that are fed by seasonal floods
(Wahid et al. 2009). The groundwater is the main source of
water supply in El-Qaà Plain, existing in several aquifers, name-
ly Quaternary deposits, lower Miocene clastics, Nubian sand-
stones and basement rocks (Dames and Moore 1985; Górski
and Ghodeif 2000; Muralidhar et al. 2000; Sherief 2008).
El-Qaà Plain has an arid to extremely arid climate with
Mediterranean influences in which summers are very hot and
dry, and winters are cold with intense rain. The maximum tem-
perature at the Gulf of Suez area is nearly 37 °C, while
December and January are the coldest months with temperature
occasionally below freezing; the lowest temperature can reach Fig. 2 Rainfall map showing average annual precipitation of El-Qaà
−3 °C in the highland areas such as Saint Catherine. The average Plain
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basement mountains of the Sinai massif to the east (Noweir

and EL Shishtawy 1996). In addition to Feiran Block, El-Qaá
Block occupies the western part of the study area which is
covered by Quaternary deposits. The study area has been af-
fected by different types of faults involving mainly normal
with subordinate oblique-slip components, and a few strike-
slipped faults. In the eastern part of El-Qaá Plain, faults have a
prevailing NE–SW orientation; however, the western part is
exposed to predominant NW–SE faults (Fig. 5). Two major
oblique-slip faults bound the area include G. El-Tur fault and
Hadahid fault (Moustafa 1992). In addition to the two major
faults, other main faults with different trends are mapped in
the area including NW, NNW, NE, NNE, EW and NS direc-
tions (Fig. 5). The EW set characterizes generally the strike-
slip faults. The dominant trend of the faults is NW–SE, corre-
sponding to the regional trend of the structures in El-Qaà Plain
(Fig. 5). The NW–SE faults slice the rocks into a series of
tilted blocks, which are generally bounded by synthetic nor-
mal faults dipping westward towards the Suez rift; hence, the
NW strike-slip faults are considered the main faults in the
eastern area of El-Qaá Plain, followed by the NE strike-slip
faults.
Fig. 3 Geomorphological map showing different types of landforms in
El-Qaà Plain

Materials and methods

Structurally, El-Qaá Plain is represented by a major tilted
block called BFeiran Block^ which is bounded by two major
A holistic approach was taken to delineate groundwater potential
faults. The block is located between the topographically low
zones based on geological, topographical, geomorphological,
land of El-Qaá Plain to the west and the structurally high

Fig. 5 Lineaments map of El-Qaà Plain and rose diagram, revealing the
Fig. 4 Geologic map of El-Qaà Plain showing different lithological units different directions of linear features
Hydrogeol J
hydrological, and geophysical factors. The following data
sources were used for this purpose:
1. Geological maps at the scale of 1:250,000 were used to
digitize different geological zones of rock units and ex-
tract the training classes. The training classes added data
to support supervised image classification and accuracy
assessment.
2. Topographic maps at the scale of 1:50,000 were used to
digitize main channels and drainage networks to guide
hydrological feature extraction.
3. Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data, at a
spatial resolution of 29 m, were used to drive the topo-
graphic parameters such as elevation and slope. SRTM
DEM also assisted with the extraction of the stream net-
works and landform types.
4. Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM + 7) Landsat satellite
images acquired in May 2016 were used to extract linea-
ments features based on the band ratio processing and to
verify the extraction of drainage networks.
5. Operational Land Imager (OLI) Landsat 8 satellite images
acquired in June 2016 were used to extract different lith-
ological units and landforms based on a mixture of digital
image processing techniques.
6. Mean annual rainfall data from eight stations of the
Egyptian Meteorological Authority (1990–2014) to form
isohyet maps and estimate average annual rainfall amount
for El-Qaà Plain using spline interpolation in ArcMap
10.3. These stations included Ras Sudr, El-Tur, Sharm
El-Sheikh, Dahab, Saint Catherine and Nekhel stations.
7. The Bouguer gravity anomaly map at the scale of
1:100,000, acquired by the General Petroleum Company
(1986), contributed to determine the thickness of the sed-
imentary cover, to model the subsurface rock units and
their densities, and to outline the subsurface extension
and geometry of El-Qaà Plain basin.
8. The aeromagnetic reduced-to-the-pole (RTP) map at the
scale of 1:500,000, published by the Geological Survey of
Israel in 1980, and the Bouguer anomaly map were used
simultaneously to detect major faults and discontinuities
in order to interpret the relation between the subsurface
structural setting and groundwater potential.
Preparation of thematic layers
Nine prospective factors contributing to groundwater potential
were recommended in the current study as important thematic
layers for the groundwater prospective model (GWPM). The
thematic layers were prepared from the previously mentioned
data that were used to drive landforms, lithology, lineaments
density, density of lineaments intersections, slope, rainfall,
drainage density, residual gravity and residual magnetic maps.
The following paragraphs explain the data and methods used
to prepare these thematic layers.
Landforms
Features of landforms play an important role to predict the
groundwater locations (Horton 1945; Thornbury (1985). The
Landsat 8 (OLI) satellite images and SRTM DEM were utilized
to delineate different geomorphological units. Various image
processing methods were applied on OLI 8 to define features
of landforms such as principal component analysis (PCA), linear
contrast stretching and histogram equalization of radiometric
enhancement, and high-pass and edge-detector convolution fil-
ters for spatial enhancement. SRTM DEM was used in conjunc-
tion with processed OLI 8 false color composites (FCCs); how-
ever, SRTM DEM and the spatial analyst extension provided the
best results in landforms mapping based on Morgan’s workflow
(Morgan and Lesh 2005). A few modifications were done in the
present study, including change to the size and shape of the focal
statistics neighborhood operator from a 20 × 20 pixel radius to a
50 × 50 pixel rectangle, and clarification of reclassification rou-
tines. The landforms were extracted from the integration of
slope, relief, and profile using Map Algebra in ArcMap 10.3
(landform = slope + relief + profile). The geomorphological
map was classified into eight major landforms including peaks,
ridges, scarps, terraces, irregular plains, pediments, tableland
with moderate relief, and channels (Fig. 3).
Lithological units
The lithology of El-Qaà Plain was essentially classified chro-
nologically using digital image processing and information
from previous studies (Said 1962; Conoco 1982; Sherief
2008). Three scenes of Operational Land Imager (OLI)
Landsat 8 satellite were downloaded from the US Geological
Survey (USGS) website and pre-processed to reduce the effects
of haze before mosaicking and subsetting in ENVI 5.3 (Exelis,
Boulder, Colorado, United States). Several image enhancement
techniques were applied to OLI8 images for mapping litholog-
ical units (Fig. 4) such as PCA, band ratio combinations (BR),
independent components analysis (ICA), supervised classifica-
tion, decorrelation stretch, and intensity hue saturation (IHS)
transform of RGB combinations. Generally, the mixture of pro-
cessing techniques was applied to bands from each spectral
zone such as visible, mid infrared and SWIR II to give the
highest contrast on lithological units. Landsat 8 (R6 G7 B4)
was enhanced further using decorrelation stretch and IHS trans-
formation. In addition, PCA was created using all bands to
define the principal component (PC) containing most informa-
tion from bands 6, 7, and 4. PC combination (3, 4, and 5) was
created to enhance lithological units and were compared to
band ratio combinations. Band rationing was also achieved
from algebra combinations and permutation. The contrast

increased with using bands from different spectral zones such
as bands 6, 7 and 4. Combinations 4/3, 6/2 and 7/3 provided the
best contrast and were used as the input for lithological classi-
fication. Based on physical and hydrological characteristics, it
was an essential task to classify the rock units in El-Qaà Plain.
The lithological map delineates 18 rock units including Recent
wadi deposits, Quaternary deposits, Miocene rocks, basalt–dol-
erite dykes, Eocene rocks, Paleocene rocks, Ring complex,
Wadi Natash Volcanics, Cretaceous rocks, Pre-carboniferous
rocks, Carboniferous rocks, younger granite, Dokhan
Volcanics, older granitoids, Metagabbro-diorite complex, ser-
pentine, Geo-synclinal metasediments, and MIG’if-Hafafit
gneiss and migmatite (Fig. 4).
Structural features
Structural features such as faults, fractures and joints play a key
role for the hydrogeological scenario in El-Qaà Plain.
Lineaments features act as an essential tracker for groundwater
presence and create a fundamental part of the reservoir in the
area. Hence, the determination of linear features is necessary to
reflect fracture traces and zones of higher infiltration. The pur-
pose of lineaments analysis is to recognize the relationship be-
tween the lineaments density and high groundwater potential
zones. The linear features were extracted using a different data
source, including remotely sensed and geophysical data. Several
software packages were considered to define the structural fea-
tures: PCI Geomatica, ENVI 5.3, ArcMap 10.3, Rose Net, and
Oasis Montaj 7.0.1 (Geosoft 2008; Madrucci et al. 2008).
The structural features could be recognized by geophysical
data such as gravity and magnetic data, and by remotely
sensed data such as ETM + 7 and SRTM DEM. The linea-
ments extractions could be done by two main steps including
automatic and manual methods. The automatic extraction
method was used for small lineaments using the line module
of PCI-Geomatica. The second step is the manual extraction
of major faults that can be simply identified within the image.
For the manual extraction, images from two sensors were
utilized. The sensors include three mosaic scenes of ETM +
7 and four mosaic scenes of SRTM DEM. Firstly, all the bands
of ETM + 7 were smoothed with an average low-pass filter
(5 × 5) to remove the noise. Secondly, the Gradient-Sobel
method was chosen as an appropriate filter for edge detection
due to its efficiency to assess lineaments in four main direc-
tions (Süzen and Toprak 1998). A Sobel kernel of 5 × 5 pixel
size was applied along directions N (0°), NW (45°), NE (45°)
and EW (90°) to unveil linear features in their respective di-
rections. In addition, band ratios 5/1 and 6/2 were created to
enhance texture property and derive linear features in conjunc-
tion with band 8. A non-directional Sobel edge detector was
also performed to band ratios 5/1 and 6/2, and band 8 for slight
enhancement; furthermore, the mosaic scenes of SRTM DEM
were utilized to create hill shade and to verify the extracted
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lineaments locations. The numbers and the lengths of linea-
ments were determined in ArcMap 10.3 environment then a
rose diagram was used to reveal the relation between the ori-
entations and lengths of linear features (Fig. 5).
The lineaments were analyzed and combined to elaborate
two essential maps acting as prospective factors for ground-
water potential. The two maps are the length density map and
density of lineaments intersections. The lineaments density
map was created using the line density analyst extension
(Saraf 1999) of ArcMap 10.3 (Fig. 6a). The map determines
the count of length lineaments by area unit, showing areas
with the highest lineaments intensity. The lineaments density
map was classified into five classes from very low (0–1.6) to
very high (6.5–8.1) density. Additional major faults, which are
mega lineaments, were recognized and considered in the mod-
el as a significant factor. These faults have offsets of ridges
and drainage lines and present significant indications of
groundwater locations. The density of lineaments intersec-
tions data were also created using the Kernel density analyst
extension of ArcMap 10.3 and allocated five classes from very
low to very high density (Fig. 6b).
Topographic parameters
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data were
downloaded and processed to generate a DEM at a spatial
resolution of 29 m. The DEM is an important factor to extract
information on different elevation values and slope angles
(Fig. 7a,b). Slope is one of the main factors with respect to
groundwater potential zones. The slope map was created from
SRTM DEM with a 29-m grid cell size and classified into six
classes with equal intervals.
Rainfall
Mean annual rainfall data were used to prepare an isohyet map
and estimate the average annual rainfall amount in El-Qaà area
using spline interpolation in ArcMap 10.3. Data from eight
stations of the Egyptian Meteorological Authority (1990–
2014) were considered for that purpose, including Ras Sudr,
Abu Rudeis, Nekhel, Saint Catherine, Sharm El-Sheikh,
Nuweiba, El-Tur and Dahab stations. The average amount of
annual rainfall in El-Qaá area decreases gradually towards the
western side. However, the elevation and slope gradient affect
rainfall distribution in the study area, which increase the infil-
tration rate of runoff water and the possibility of groundwater
recharge in the western side (Fig. 2).
Drainage network
Topographic maps at the scale of 1:50,000 were used to dig-
itize main stream channels. The maps were rectified using
ground control points (GCPs). All topographic sheets were
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Fig. 6 Maps of a lineaments density and b lineaments intersections of El-Qaà Plain

georeferenced using UTM Coordinate system zone 36 to in- networks. The Arc Hydro tool of ArcMap 10.3 was used to
tegrate the data easily into the geographic information system. create the drainage network and watershed sub-basins in the
The digitized stream channels were utilized as known streams studied area. SRTM DEM was used as an input for terrain pre-
in terrain processing to guide the extraction of drainage processing to extract stream channels, while ETM + 7 was

Fig. 7 Maps of a elevation and b slope of El-Qaà Plain


utilized to verify the locations of extracted drainage network.
The drainage density was calculated as the ‘total length of
streams in the unit sub basin area’ and expressed as km/km2.
The drainage density was classified with equal intervals into
five classes from very low (0.11–1.35 km/km2) to very high
(5.1–6.3 km/km2) density (Fig. 8).
Geophysical data
The gravity method was applied to describe the subsurface
structures from their gravity effects caused by variations in
densities (Lowrie 2007). The Bouguer anomaly map was used
to measure the magnitude of the gravitational field which is
directly proportional to the mass reflecting the density of the
subsurface materials (Fig. 9a). The total magnetic intensity
map was also used and transformed to anomalies that would
be measured if the field was vertical using the reduction-to-
the-pole (RTP) technique (Fig. 9b). The high-pass filter was
selected to enhance the residual gravity map and clarify the
two local gravity lows (inside the big ovoid) associated with
the main basin of El-Qaà Plain (Fig. 10a). Similarly, the high-
pass filter was applied on the RTP map to enhance the local
magnetic low associated with El-Qaà Plain basin (Fig. 10b).
Numerical rating scheme and data integration
The previously prepared thematic layers play the chief role as
controlling parameters in the process of finding groundwater
Fig. 8 Drainage density map of El-Qaà Plain
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accumulations in El-Qaá Plain. For spatial prediction of
groundwater prospective zones, the thematic layers were com-
bined to achieve reasonable and higher accuracy results. Each
thematic layer was given a suitable rank and its classes were
assigned suitable weight on their relative importance to
groundwater potential. The groundwater prospective model
(GWPM) was developed in the current study based on nine
thematic layers (Table 1). The thematic layers were ordered,
depending on their contribution to groundwater potential, as
lithology, landforms, lineament density, slope, density of lin-
eaments intersections, rainfall, drainage density, residual grav-
ity and residual magnetic maps. The GWPM outcomes were
categorized into five classes ranging from very good to very
poor groundwater potential. The same classes were used in the
map of groundwater prospective zones. Consequently, the
groundwater potential map contains five classes: very good,
good, moderate, poor, and very poor. The ranks (R) and the
weights (W) of each factor were adopted based on several
sources involving the experience of authors with the study
area, the distribution of groundwater wells, and the informa-
tion derived from the similar previous works on groundwater
potential (Edet et al. 1998; Robinson et al. 1999; Abuzied
2016). The ranks of the effective factors were modified several
times to assign their suitable values reflecting the real relation-
ship between the groundwater potential and effective factors.
The groundwater potential index (GWPI) was extracted based
on Eq. (1) where Rk denotes the rank for factor k and Wki
denotes the weight of class i of factor k. The input parameters
were multiplied by their equivalent ranks and were added:
9
GWPI ¼ ∑ W ki  Rk ð1Þ
k¼1
Based on the data available on the El-Qaà Plain, all the
groundwater wells and cultivation lands are located in the
plain of Quaternary deposits. The lithological map was
reclassified to five weights 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9. Class 1 represents
the lowest weight, while 9 represents the highest weight
(Table 1). Based on infiltration abilities, the lithology layer
was assigned the maximum rank in the model and the maxi-
mum weight was assigned to the Quaternary and recent wadi
deposits. The lithological characteristics of rock units play a
main role in controlling groundwater recharge. Generally, the
rates of groundwater potential for each rock unit vary based on
hydraulic properties such as permeability. In Egypt, the per-
meability ranges of different lithological units were defined in
previous studies (Sherief 2008; El Naqa et al. 2009). The
Quaternary alluvial deposits have high permeability ranges,
while Precambrian rocks have low permeability and, hence,
low ability to infiltrate rainfall through them. Consequently,
the highest weight was assigned to the class of Quaternary
deposits indicating a high groundwater potential, while the
lowest weight was assigned to basement rocks indicating the
weak reaction for groundwater potential (Table 1).
Hydrogeol J
Fig. 9 a The Bouguer anomaly map (General Petroleum Company
1986) with the locations of the stations of measured gravity readings. b
The reduced-to-pole total magnetic intensity map (Geological Survey of
Fig. 10 a The residual gravity map obtained by applying a high-pass
filter on the Bouguer anomaly map. The locations of the stations of
measured gravity readings are shown as black dots. Five wells and three
profiles for crustal density models of the residual gravity are also shown.
b The residual magnetic map obtained by applying a high-pass filter on
Israel 1980) with the locations of the stations of measured magnetic
readings. The ovoid shows the boundary of the main basin of El-Qaà
Plain
the reduced-to-pole total magnetic intensity map. The locations of the
stations of measured magnetic readings are shown as black dots. The
big ovoid outlines the main basin of El-Qaà Plain and the small ovoids
show its northern and southern extensions
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Table 1 The rating scheme

reveals the ranks of thematic Thematic layer Classes Groundwater Rank Weight
layers and weights of their classes potentiality
based on their relative impacts on
groundwater accumulation Lithology Recent wadi deposits and Quaternary Very good 9 9
deposits
Clastic rocks in Pre-carboniferous, Good 7
Carboniferous, Cretaceous and
Miocene formations
Metamorphic rocks and older granitoids Moderate 5
Eocene and Paleocene rocks Poor 3
Younger granite and volcanic rocks Very poor 1
Landforms Peaks Very poor 8 1
Scarps and ridges Poor 3
Pediments Moderate 5
Terraces Good 7
Irregular plains and channels Very good 9
Lineaments density 0–1.6 Very poor 7 1
(km/km2) 1.6–3.2 Poor 3
3.2–4.8 Moderate 5
4.8–6.4 Good 7
6.4–8.1 Very good 9
Slope (degree) 0–12.3 Very good 6 9
12.3–24.6 Good 7
24.6–36.9 Moderate 5
36.9–49.2 Poor 3
49.2–61.7 Very poor 1
Density of lineaments 0–0.000000168 Very poor 5 1
intersections (km/km2) 0.000000168–0.000000336 Poor 3
0.000000336–0.000000504 Moderate 5
0.000000504–0.000000672 Good 7
0.000000672–0.00000084 Very good 9
Rainfall (annual, mm) <15 Very poor 4 1
15–30 Poor 3
30–45 Moderate 5
45–60 Good 7
>60 Very good 9
Drainage density (km/km2) 0–1.3 Very good 3 9
1.3–2.6 Good 7
2.6–3.9 Moderate 5
3.9–5.2 Poor 3
5.2–6.5 Very poor 1
Bouguer anomaly < −1.5 Very good 2 9
−1.5 to –0.5 Good 7
−0.5–0.5 Moderate 5
0.5–1.5 Poor 3
>1.5 Very poor 1
RTP magnetic intensity < −90 Very good 1 9
−90 to –30 Good 7
−30 to 30 Moderate 5
30–90 Poor 3
>90 Very poor 1
Hydrogeol J
The landforms layer was considered as the next significant
factor and assigned 8 as the rank value because also most of all
the groundwater wells and cultivation lands locate in the ir-
regular plains and channels. Different landforms such as
peaks, ridges, scarps, terraces, irregular plains, tableland and
channels were checked for their potentialities of groundwater
recharge from the present database of groundwater availabil-
ity. Therefore, the landforms layer was reclassified also to five
classes: 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9. Class 1 represents the lowest weight,
while 9 represents the highest weight (Table 1). The irregular
plains and channels show very good groundwater potential
prompting groundwater storage. Most of the drainage chan-
nels, which are filled with recent valley sediments, are struc-
turally controlled and form together an integrated aquifer sys-
tem; hence, the classes of irregular plains and channels were
adopted as the highest weight in the landforms layer. The
locations of the groundwater wells distribute moderately in
terraces and pediments; thus, they have moderate to good
groundwater potential. Scarps, ridges and peaks are types of
landforms that have poor to very poor groundwater potential,
and therefore they get the lowest weight in the layer (Table 1).
Due to the effect of lineaments on groundwater occurrences,
the lineament density was considered in the groundwater pro-
spective model and was given 7 as a rank value. Lineament
density is a principal factor for groundwater exploration because
of the joints, fractures and faults that control the movement of
groundwater in the Precambrian rocks in the eastern part of the
study area. The lineaments density map was also reclassified to
five numerical categories: 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9. The class with the
highest lineament density gets 9 as weight value, while the class
with the lowest density gets 1. The lineaments have a high ca-
pacity to hold water; thus, the maximum weight should be given
for the areas having highest lineament density (Table 1).
The slope layer was adopted in the model as the next chief
factor and was ranked 6 (Table 1). In correlation to run off, the
slope map was reclassified to five classes: 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9. Class
1 represents steep sloping areas having low weight, while 9 (high
weight) represents gently sloping areas (Table 1). Commonly,
flat and gentle sloping zones facilitate infiltration and groundwa-
ter recharge because the thickness of alluvial loose sediments
increases in low and gentle sloping zones; thus, the possibility
of groundwater recharge is high. However, steeply sloping areas
induce fast surface runoff due to little or no infiltration opportu-
nities, but the loose sediments within streams are rarely found in
steeply sloping land and their thicknesses are very small; there-
fore, the class of gentle slope was assigned the highest weight in
the slope layer because the degree of recharge is greater, leading
to potentially greater groundwater occurrences (Solomon 2003).
A considerable number of groundwater wells were associated
with lineaments intersections; thus, the density of lineaments
intersections was assigned 5 as a rank value, whereas the class
of very high-density intersections was assigned the highest
weight in this layer (Table 1).
Furthermore, the hydrologic parameters, such as the aver-
age rainfall, react as a primary factor in the scenario of ground-
water recharge. The produced isohyet map was reclassified to
five classes, from 1 to 9. Class 1 represents low annual rainfall
and thus low weight, while 9 represents high annual rainfall
with high weight (Table 1). The amount of rainfall decreases
in the western side of El-Qaà area as discussed previously but
the slope gradient directly governs the distribution of rainfall
amount, increasing the infiltration amount of runoff water.
Therefore, the average amount of annual rainfall was ranked
4 in the model and the highest weight was assigned to the class
of high rainfall amount (Table 1).
The drainage network is a useful guide for hydrogeological
features, because its pattern, texture and density are affected
essentially by the underlying lithological units (Sener et al.
2005). The ability of rainfall to infiltrate depends on the shape
of the streams network and its density. The drainage density can
increase groundwater storage, or cause overland flow creating
surface runoff. The drainage density map was reclassified in the
current study to five classes, from 1 to 9. It is well recognized
that the terrain with greater drainage density has a less-
permeable top soil layer offering a lower recharge rate (Edet
et al. 1998). Therefore, the drainage density was suggested as
an inverse function of permeability, whereas the high-density
class was assigned the lowest weight, while the low density
class was assigned the highest weight (Table 1). The drainage
density factor adopted was 3 in the groundwater prospective
model because some of the wells in El-Qaà area were found in
the high-drainage-density areas (Fig. 8).
The residual gravity map represents a powerful indicator to
delineate the groundwater prospective zones. The Bouguer
anomaly map can be used to define the thickness of the sedi-
mentary cover and to model the subsurface rock units, to outline
the subsurface extension and geometry of El-Qaà Plain basin.
The residual gravity map was reclassified to five classes, from 1
to 9. Groundwater accumulations depend on the thickness of
loose sediments and the configuration of subsurface structures;
therefore, the low relief classes were assigned high weight,
while the high relief classes were assigned low weight. The
residual gravity map was ranked 2 in the model (Table 1).
The residual magnetic map is a valuable guide to detect
major faults and discontinuities, to interpret the relation be-
tween the subsurface structural setting and groundwater po-
tential. The residual magnetic map was assigned the lowest
rank and reclassified to five classes: 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9. The
classes of residual magnetic anomalies related to shallow
sources were assigned high weight, while the classes of high
magnetic values were assigned low weight.
Geophysical data analysis
Potential field methods are commonly used in mineral and oil
exploration as well as in regional crustal studies. Gravity and

magnetic surveys are less expensive than reflection seismology,
and can be carried out at a larger regional scale (Naidu and
Mathew 1998). The density, magnetic susceptibility and natural
magnetization change considerably from one rock type to anoth-
er. Valuable information about the geology and structures of the
subsurface can be provided by knowledge of the distribution of
such properties in the subsurface. The gravity method aims to
locate and describe subsurface causative bodies and structures
from their gravity effects caused by variations in density (Lowrie
2007). The magnitude of the gravitational field is directly pro-
portional to the mass, and hence the density of the subsurface
materials. The depths to the anomalous bodies and their lateral
extent affect also the magnitude of the gravitational field.
The magnetic anomalies result from variations in the Earth’s
magnetic field. The uneven distribution of the magnetic min-
erals in the rocks of the upper part of the Earth’s crust is re-
sponsible for those variations. The pattern and distribution of
the magnetic anomalies can provide some information about
the locations of the magnetite-bearing rocks and depth to the
basement surface (Lowrie 2007). The shape and size of a mag-
netic anomaly depend on the shape of the causative body, in-
clination and declination of the body’s magnetization as well as
its orientation with respect to the magnetic north (Nabighian
et al. 2005). The anomalies of the total magnetic intensity maps
are transformed to anomalies that would be measured if the
field was vertical using the reduction-to-the-pole (RTP) tech-
nique. The RTP technique locates the anomaly maxima over
the body center (Baranov 1964; Salem et al. 2007).
The Bouguer anomaly map shows a NW–SE elongated
gravity low (blue color) parallel to the Gulf of Suez (Fig. 9a).
The gravity low has an amplitude of about 2 mille Gal with two
local anomalies and changes its orientation at its southern end
to be mostly N–S. The gravity low is surrounded by NW–SE
gravity highs (red color) from the eastern and western sides as
well as from the north and southeast corners where the gravity
highs reach their maxima of about 60 mille Gal. In addition, a
low-to-medium gravity exists at the southwestern corner; more-
over, the eastern side is characterized by steeper gravity gradi-
ent than the western side as indicated by steep color zones.
The RTP map shows configurations of magnetic anomalies
mostly like those of gravity anomalies (Fig. 9b). El-Qaà Plain
has a NW–SE magnetic low surrounded also by magnetic
highs from several directions and magnetic low from the south-
western side. Few differences are represented by magnetic low
at the northern side and medium to low magnetic in the south.
Regional-residual separation
The gravity signature of any Bouguer anomaly map shows
superposed anomalies from different sources. The regional
anomalies have long wavelengths, and they originate due
to deeply buried large geologic bodies or structures. The
regional anomalies are valuable for studying the large
Hydrogeol J
tectonic features such as subduction zones, oceanic ridges
and orogenic belts. The residual anomalies have short
wavelengths, and they originate due to shallow targets that
may have geological interest (Lowrie 2007). The isolation
of residual anomalies represents the main priority for ex-
ploration geophysicists. Residual anomalies are good indi-
cators for hydrocarbon accumulation traps, water reser-
voirs, mineral deposits and other shallow targets of geo-
logical interest. A residual gravity grid can be constructed
by removing the regional gravitational effect and showing
its residue due to the local structure (Griffin 1949).
The residual gravity map obtained by applying a high pass
filter on the Bouguer anomaly map enhances the two local
gravity lows (inside the big ovoid) associated with the main
basin of El-Qaà Plain (Fig. 10a). Moreover, another two neg-
ative anomalies are shown clearly to the north and south of the
main low gravity. In addition, the NW–SE regional high grav-
ity trend to the east is attenuated and several local anomalies
are clearly enhanced; moreover, the gravity high to the west is
also enhanced. Similarly, the residual magnetic map obtained
by applying a high-pass filter on the RTP map enhances the
local magnetic low associated with El-Qaà Plain basin
(Fig. 10b). The map also enhances and characterizes the
two-local negative magnetic anomalies located to the north
and south. The northern negative magnetic anomaly has a
N–S axis, while the southern anomaly has also a N–S axis
but with smaller areal extension. In addition, many local mag-
netic anomalies to the east and west are enhanced clearly.
Edge detection methods
The edge detection methods of the potential field data are com-
monly used to outline the fault trends and edges of the subsurface
magnetized sources (Lahti and Karinen 2010). The total horizon-
tal derivative (THDR) shows gravity maxima over the faults and
edges of subsurface bodies (Miller and Singh 1994). To create
the THDR maps for gravity and magnetic data (Fig. 11a,b), the
THDR magnitude of gravity and magnetic data were calculated
using the formula by Verduzco et al. (2004) where, T is the total
magnetic intensity of the magnetic field data:
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 .  2  . ffi
2
THDR ¼ dT dx þ dT dy ð2Þ
The map of the THDR of gravity data displays a NW–SE linear
gravity maxima over the eastern and western sides (Fig. 11a).
Similarly, the THDR of the magnetic data also show a NW–SE
magnetic maxima over the eastern and western sides (Fig. 11b).
Modeling
The modeling represents the final step of the interpretation
process of geophysical data. Modeling should contain all
Hydrogeol J

Fig. 11 The total horizontal derivative (THDR) of the a gravity data peaks over NW–SE faults which define the boundaries of El-Qaà Plain (dashed
white lines), and b magnetic data peaks over the same faults

appropriate and reliable data that may support constraint of the (Fig. 12a). The thickness of the sedimentary cover increases
model (Thornbury 1985). Modeling integrates information from the east towards the central part then decreases towards
from different techniques to get estimates of the variations in the west then increases again at the extreme west. The second
one or more possible physical properties such as density or model, CD, runs E–W passing by a broad extreme gravity high
magnetic susceptibility distributions across a specific region. at the east followed by a gravity low at the central and western
Any potential field model provides a non-unique solution parts (Fig. 12b). The thickness of the sedimentary cover ranges
(Jones-Cecil 1995), but when combined with other geological from a few meters to reach its maximum at the central part then
and geophysical information, the model is usually very useful decreases gradually to the west. The third model (EF) runs
(Saltus and Blakely 2011). NW–SE and passes through the axis of El-Qaà Plain basin
Three two-dimensional (2D) crustal density models along (Fig. 12c). The model reflects the gravity low that increases
selected profiles across the residual gravity map were con- from northwest to southeast and gravity highs at the northwest-
structed (Fig. 10a). Two models, AB and CD, extend perpen- ern and the southeastern ends. The thickness of the sedimentary
dicular to the Gulf of Suez trend (El-Qaà Plain axis) in NE– cover increases from the northwestern to reach its maximum at
SW and E–W directions, respectively, while the third model, the central part then decreases towards the southeast.
EF, extends parallel to the Gulf of Suez trend in the NW–SE
direction. The depth to the basement, and hence the approxi- Table 2 Locations of selected wells with depths to the basement
mate thickness of the sedimentary cover, was obtained from a surface
few deep wells that penetrate to the top of the basement
Well No. Well name Longitude Latitude Depth (km)
(Table 2). Depending on previous well logging and crustal
gravity models in the area (Sultan et al. 2009; Azab and El- 1 Nazzazzat-1 33° 12′ 56″ 28° 47′ 12″ 0.8
khadargy 2013; Ahmed et al. 2014), an average density of 2 Safariat-1 33° 35′ 33″ 28° 29′ 26″ 2.803
2.4 g/cm3 for the sedimentary cover was calculated from den- 3 Gs 287–1 33° 21′ 36″ 28° 25′ 12″ 2.49
sities of different stratigraphic units and the density of the 4 Ashiera-1 33° 32′ 53″ 28° 26′ 11″ 1.633
basement rocks was assumed to be 2.67 g/cm3. 5 El-Qaà-1 33° 41′ 33″ 28° 14′ 26″ 1.229
The first model, AB, extends NE–SW and shows gravity 6 Yoram-1 33° 40′ 20″ 28° 09′ 24″ 2.16
low at the east followed by gravity high then gravity low at 7 Yael-2 33° 52′ 42″ 27° 55′ 36″ 1.91
the central part and a medium to high gravity to the west
 Hydrogeol J

Fig. 12 Crustal density model

along a profile AB extending E–
W on the residual gravity map, b
profile CD extending E–W on the
residual gravity map, and c profile
EF extending NW–SE on the
residual gravity map
Hydrogeol J
Results
The geophysical data analysis supports the development of the
GWPM. In this respect, the presented holistic integrated ap-
proach successfully plays a chief role in the resulting ground-
water potential map. The Bouguer and RTP maps reflect low
gravity and magnetic anomalies corresponding to the main
basin of El-Qaà Plain (Fig. 9a,b). The maps reflect also that
El-Qaà Plain has northern and southern extensions but they
are associated with extremely high gravity and magnetic
values. The eastern and western margins of El-Qaà Plain are
characterized by significant gravity and magnetic contrasts.
El-Qaà Plain is surrounded by regional NW–SE high gravity
and magnetic trend from the eastern side and medium to high
gravity and magnetic from the western side.
The residual gravity and magnetic maps revealed two local
negative anomalies which coincide with the main basin of El-
Qaà Plain, indicating that the basin is structurally divided into
two mini basins (Fig. 10a,b). Moreover, the residual maps en-
hanced the two local negative anomalies that coincide with the
northern and southern extensions of El-Qaà Plain. The northern
anomaly has a N–S axis and represents the extension of the
negative anomaly of the main basin of El-Qaà Plain, while the
southern one has a NE–SW axis and is separated from El-Qaà
Plain’s negative anomaly. The total horizontal derivative shows
NW–SE linear gravity and magnetic maxima over both the
eastern and western margins of El-Qaà Plain (Fig. 11a,b). The
2D crustal models reflect a low gravity anomaly and thick
sedimentary cover that ranges from 2.2 to 3.2 km in the El-
Qaà Plain area (Fig. 12a–c). The northern and southern exten-
sions of El-Qaà Plain show extremely high gravity values and
strata underlain by sedimentary cover which reaches 800 m at
the northern extension and 2 km at the southern extension.
The geospatial mapping of groundwater prospective zones
in El-Qaà Plain was produced by combining the previously
interpreted layers through weighted multi-affecting factors
and finally the map was categorized into different potential
zones. The groundwater potential map contains five main
classes varying from very poor to very good potential
(Fig. 13). The interpreted potential map refers to the favorable
zones for groundwater accumulation. The promising zones are
mainly distributed in areas where the surficial outcropped
rocks are highly permeable, which are located mainly at the
western side of the study area close to El-Tur city and the
northeastern side of El-Qaà Plain. The very promising zones
for groundwater exploration are located in the areas of Wadi
Feiran and its tributaries, Wadi El-Aawag, Wadi Maier, Wadi
Timan, Wadi Asla and Wadi El-Mahasha (Fig. 13). Most of
promising zones for groundwater accumulation are character-
ized by gentle slope, low to moderate drainage density, and
widely spread sedimentary rocks and alluvial deposits.
Based on the groundwater potential map, the very good
potential zones occupy an area of 398.2 km2 representing
6.6% of El-Qaà Plain’s total area, whereas the very poor po-
tential zones occupy an area about 1,013.7 km2 representing
16.69% of El-Qaà Plain’s total area. The good potential zones
cover 593.5 km2 representing 9.8% of the mapped area, while
the poor potential zones cover 1,124.6 km2 representing
18.5% of the mapped area. The moderate potential zones are
the largest area of El-Qaà Plain representing 48.4% of the
mapped area (Fig. 13).
Discussion
Mapping of the groundwater prospective zones can be
achieved through the investigation of several factors control-
ling groundwater accumulations. The factors could be driven
from the preparation of thematic layers which include lithol-
ogy, landforms, lineament density, slope, density of linea-
ments intersections, rainfall, drainage density, residual gravity
and magnetic maps. The factors vary geographically and spa-
tially from one zone to another in the study area and the inte-
gration of geophysical data demonstrates more clearly and
quantitatively the novelty and holistic nature of the approach.
The holistic integrated approach would reveal the groundwa-
ter potential zones in arid regions such as Sinai Peninsula.
The perception of geophysical data
Close examination of the Bouguer anomaly and RTP maps
reflects low gravity and magnetic values corresponding to
the main basin of El-Qaà Plain. The low gravity and magnetic
values are related to a thick sedimentary cover where thick-
ness ranges between 2.2 and 3.2 km as indicated by the 2D
crustal models, which match with results by Sultan et al.
(2013) and Ahmed et al. (2014) who determined a thickness
of about 2.6 and 3.5 km, respectively. The northern and south-
ern extensions of El-Qaà Plain are associated with extremely
high gravity and magnetic values although they are underlain
by sedimentary cover which reaches 800 m at the northern
extension and about 2 km at the southern extension. The high
gravity and magnetic values were related to the intrusion of
dense and highly magnetized mafic igneous rocks which com-
pensate for the low gravity and magnetic values of the sedi-
mentary cover as shown by the third 2D model (Fig. 12c). In
addition, the regional NW–SE high gravity and magnetic
trend that surrounds El-Qaà Plain from the eastern side is
related to the exposed igneous rocks of Sinai Massive
Shield, while the medium-to-high gravity and magnetic anom-
aly at the western side is mainly attributed to the exposed
basement and Paleozoic rocks of Araba and Durba mountains
(Fig. 14). Azab and El-khadargy (2013) attributed the high
gravity at the western side to the basement rocks of Araba
and Durba mountains. The eastern and western margin of
El-Qaà Plain are characterized by significant gravity and

Fig. 13 a The groundwater potential map of El-Qaà Plain area, South western Sinai, Egypt. b The distribution of cultivated lands and Bedouin
communities surrounding groundwater wells in El-Qaà Plain. The distribution mainly locates in good to very good zones of groundwater potential
magnetic contrasts which reveal steep faults between the ig-
neous rocks of Sinai Complex and sedimentary fill of El-Qaà
Plain. This is supported by Meshref and El-Kattan (1989) and
Said (1962) who outlined major extensional faults that define
the eastern and western margins of El-Qaà Plain with a trend
mostly parallel to the Gulf of Suez. Moreover, the low to
medium gravity and magnetic values at the southwest corner
are related to the relatively thick coastal plain deposits of the
Gulf of Suez (Fig. 14).
The residual gravity and magnetic maps reveal two local
negative anomalies which coincide with the main basin of El-
Qaà Plain indicating that the main basin is structurally divided
into two local shallow mini-basins which is supported by
Ahmed et al. (2014) who concluded that the main basin of
El-Qaà Plain is composed of two sub-basins separated by a
saddle. Moreover, the two local negative anomalies which
were not clearly seen in the Bouguer and RTP maps become
clearer and coincide with the northern and southern extensions
of El-Qaà Plain. The northern negative anomaly with N–S
axis seems to be connected to or represents the extension of
the negative anomaly of the main basin of El-Qaà Plain, while
the southern negative anomaly is separated from El-Qaà Plain
with a NE–SW positive magnetic anomaly (Fig. 10b). From
these observations, it can be interpreted that the northern ex-
tension of El-Qaà Plain is mostly connected to the main basin
of El-Qaà Plain, while the southern extension is structurally
separated from El-Qaà Plain by a NE–SW ridge-like feature or
Hydrogeol J
intrusion body. The total horizontal derivative shows NW–SE
linear gravity and magnetic maxima over both the eastern and
western margins of El-Qaà Plain, which reveals and confirms
the existence of NW–SE normal faults that define the eastern
and western boundaries of El-Qaà Plain with their
downthrows towards El-Qaà Plain basin (Fig. 14).
Factors controlling groundwater potential
Lithological units are an essential factor to understand the
nature and distribution of water bearing properties (Fetter
1994). Lithological units define the soil and exposed rocks’
infiltration abilities and control the movement and occurrence
of water among them. The lithological map created in the
current study was based on infiltration ability; hence, a map
with several rock units was delineated to reveal rock forma-
tions of similar infiltration properties. The content of clay in
different lithological units controls water infiltration and re-
duces the permeability. Clay was recognized in the Eocene
and Paleocene formations (Fig. 4); hence, the class of these
formations were assigned low weight in the rating scheme
(Table 1); moreover, surface runoff is extremely fast for the
basement rocks and very slow for wadi filling deposits which
are considered friable and porous rocks. The wadi filling de-
posits are comprised essentially of thick alluvium containing
silt, sand and loose gravel, which have pore spaces between
the grains and permit water to infiltrate. Accordingly, the class
Hydrogeol J
Fig. 14 a The Bouguer anomaly map shows the major faults that define
the eastern and western boundaries of El-Qaà Plain basin. The map shows
also the two mini-basins (A and B) of El-Qaà Plain. b The reduced-to-pole
total magnetic intensity map shows the northern and southern extensions
of basement rocks was assigned low weight, while the class of
wadi deposits was assigned high weight (Table 1). Clearly,
most of the groundwater wells are distributed in the recent
wadi deposits especially in Wadi Asla, Wadi Timan, Wadi
El-Aawag and Wadi Feiran (Fig. 13).
Lineaments interpretation for groundwater potential assess-
ment is necessary because joints, fractures, and faults act as
of El-Qaà Plain. The map shows the possible connection between El-Qaà
Plain and its northern extension. c The structural setting of El-Qaà Plain
as derived from the geophysical data analysis
preferential flow paths for the water and support water-
holding capacity. Generally, fractures promote the penetration
of surface water, controlling the water movement and infiltra-
tion. Fractures usually increase secondary permeability and
porosity of the rocks, and thus accelerate water infiltration to
the aquifers. Major fault zones provide significant conduits for
groundwater recharge compared with small lineaments, due to

their greater widths and greater lengths (Edet et al. 1998). It is
not advisable to extract lineaments from satellite data without
a thorough knowledge of the structural setting in the study
area. The structural features in this study area are noticeable
in all the remotely sensed and geophysical data. The major
structures were dissected with various dykes and veins con-
trolled mainly by prevailing major faults. From the interpreta-
tion of all the previous data sources, the Precambrian base-
ment rocks have tremendous linear features compared with
the Phanerozoic terrain. The lineaments analysis also indicates
the fact that the major faults in El-Qaá Plain have been affect-
ed by the Red Sea Rifting system because these faults are
parallel to the NW–SE Gulf of Suez and NE–SW Gulf of
Aqaba fault trends (Fig. 5). The interpreted lineament map
shows the spatial distribution and orientations of the linear
structures. The areas with high lineament density represent
higher potential zones for groundwater accumulations com-
pared to areas with low lineament density. It is easily recog-
nized that the areas of high lineaments density occupy frac-
tured basement territory of southern Sinai, whereas the linea-
ments density decreases away from the territory towards the
north (Fig. 6a). Most of the northeastern side and the central
part of El-Qaá Plain have high lineaments density that in-
creases the possibility of groundwater recharge in the structur-
ally controlled wadis such as Wadi Asla, Wadi Timan, Wadi
El-Aawag, and Wadi Feiran. It is obvious that some main
aquifers are distributed in these wadis especially in the loca-
tions of lineaments intersections (Fig. 13).
The groundwater potential is mainly controlled by the slope;
thus, the infiltration capability is inversely proportional to the
slope, i.e. water infiltration decreases with increasing steepness
of the slope. The interpreted slope map in this study shows
variation in the surface gradient from 6.7 to 61.7° (Fig. 7b).
Steep slopes greater than 34.4° are much less prevalent in El-
Qaá Plain, while slopes ranging from 15° to 35° are much more
prevalent in the study area. The areas of very gentle to gentle
slopes occupy most of El-Qaá area, especially along its main
drainage and in areas of highly weathered rocks. These areas are
characterized by high surface-water infiltration and promising
groundwater recharge. This result might be verified by the ex-
istence of most drilled wells within the areas of this class
(Fig. 13). Generally, gentle sloping areas cover large parts of
the study area, increasing the potential for recharge. Moreover,
the slope supports the deposition of soil, increasing alluvial
deposits and enhancing the opportunity of groundwater storage;
however, the elevated areas and basement rocks in the eastern
side of El-Qaá Plain have extensively steep slopes that increase
the runoff velocity, thus making these areas unfavorable for
groundwater accumulation. Alluvial deposits are always rare
in steep sloping areas because the slopping surface accelerates
the rate of erosion. Consequently, the steep sloping zones were
assigned low weight, while the gentle sloping zones occurring
in wadi deposits were assigned high weight (Table 1).
Hydrogeol J
The topographic elevation of the terrain defines the direc-
tion of water runoff over the ground, and hence, controls
groundwater accumulations. The DEM indicates that ground
surface elevations vary from 0 to 2615 m. The slope governs
the water movement towards the lowest topographic locations
in the western part of El-Qaá Plain, whereas the Precambrian
basement rocks cover the highest topographic elevations in
the east. Commonly, the loose sediments within stream chan-
nels are thin at highly elevated ground, because of the effects
of slope; therefore, groundwater accumulations are rare in
high and steep terrains. On the other hand, the thicknesses of
alluvial loose deposits in low and gentle terrains increases the
possibility of groundwater recharge. It is clear that most of the
groundwater wells are located in the lowland of El-Qaà Plain
in the western side close to El-Tur city and Wadi Feiran basin
(Fig. 13). This fact was also confirmed for the current study
using geophysical modeling; therefore, the high-elevated
lands in the mountainous terrain were assigned low weight,
while the low lands in the western side were assigned high
weight in the rating scheme (Table 1).
The total annual rainfall in Sinai Peninsula is less than
200 mm occurring at Rafah and El Arish. The average annual
rainfall in El-Qaà Plain does not exceed 80 mm, with a notable
decrease towards the west of the study area. The isohyets
method and resulting rainfall map reveal that the elevated
regions obtain much more water than the lowland regions.
On some mountainous peaks in the eastern part of the study
area, the average annual rainfall reaches 70 mm, while it does
not exceed 20–40 mm in the coastal regions such as the west-
ern side of El-Qaá Plain. Commonly, higher rainfall amount
provides a higher groundwater potential; however, the eleva-
tion and slope play essential roles in the impact of rainfall in
El-Qaá Plain and raise the infiltration rate of runoff water and
the possibility of groundwater occurrences in the western side.
Thus, the northeastern side of the study area represents a suit-
able location for groundwater recharge due to the high amount
of annual rainfall (Fig. 2); furthermore, the western side of El-
Qaá Plain, particularly down stream of Wadi El-Aawag, is
considered a good location for groundwater recharge because
the elevation and slope enable transport of rainfall to the aqui-
fers (Fig. 13).
The drainage density controls the distribution of runoff,
affecting the amount of infiltration. The drainage pattern in
El-Qaá Plain is radial and dendritic type but locally reveals
structural control of topography and geology. In Sinai
Peninsula, the drainage system is of external type, which
drains to the coastal regions towards the Gulf of Suez, Gulf
of Aqaba, and the Mediterranean Sea. The lineaments control
the drainage channels in some parts of catchments, increasing
groundwater potential zones (Edet et al. 1998). The drainage
density varies between areas due to natural landscape charac-
teristics, land-use impacts, and different climatic settings
(Süzen and Toprak 1998). A denser drainage area results in
Hydrogeol J
less recharge according to the common geomorphologic con-
cept. The areas with high drainage density are distributed in
the western side of the study area. The central and north-
eastern sides of El-Qaá Plain are characterized by low drain-
age density, leading to a good potential for groundwater accu-
mulation (Fig. 8). Several groundwater wells are located along
the upstream and downstream of Wadi Feiran and Wadi El-
Aawag, verifying the relation between the drainage density
and the groundwater potential; furthermore, a few wells were
recently drilled at the upstream of Wadi Asla and Wadi Timan
(Fig. 13).
Groundwater potential map and its validation
The interpreted groundwater potential map identifies favor-
able locations for groundwater accumulation (Fig. 13a) and
these locations mainly occur in areas with gentle slope, low to
moderate drainage density, and widely spread sedimentary
rocks and alluvial deposits. The groundwater wells at the up-
stream of Wadi Feiran are distributed in moderately elevated
ground where they tap fractured basement aquifers.
Furthermore, the density of lineaments intersections and line-
ament density are very high at the western side of the study
area and the north-eastern side of El-Qaà Plain, affecting the
infiltration potential of the groundwater system.
The groundwater potential map was tested against the
available databases on the distribution of aquifers, Bedouin
communities and cultivated lands in El-Qaà Plain. All the very
good and good potential zones match with these indicators for
groundwater occurrence (Fig. 13a). The indicators were driv-
en from the field surveys, the digital database of groundwater
availability, and the high spatial resolution satellite images
(Google Earth; Fig. 13b). The groundwater potential map
was also checked by matching it with the published ground-
water potential map of Sinai (Elwa and El Qaddah 2011).
Moreover, the groundwater potential map refers to new prom-
ising locations for groundwater exploration in the upstream of
Wadi Timan, Wadi Asla and Wadi Mahasha. These locations
have not yet been investigated by local inhabitants.
Based on the database of groundwater availability, aquifers
in El-Qaá Plain could be found in several regions, including
the north-eastern side at Wadi Feiran, east of El-Tur to the
mountainous part, Wadi Timan and Wadi Asla (JICA 1999).
One of these aquifers, in Wadi El-Aawag basin, occupies a
limited area close to El-Tur and El-Wadi village. The second
main aquifer extends widely in El-Qaá Plain occupying about
678 km2. The aquifer covers about 60 km in length and about
10 km in width; therefore, most of groundwater wells are
exploiting the second aquifer. Some wells were found close
to the outlet of Wadi Timan and Wadi Asla, located about
5 km inland from the coast. These are Quaternary aquifers
that are exploited for water supply for domestic and irrigation
uses in El-Tur, Sharm El-Sheikh and the plain; furthermore,
Catherine region, in the eastern-central part of the study area,
is one of the main aquifers characterized by a high-density of
joints which store huge quantities of rain water (EL Shamy
and EL Rayes 1992).
All the aquifers of El-Qaá Plain are known to be clustered
in fault zones and alluvial deposits (JICA 1999). This matches
the findings of this study where all good to very good classes
in the groundwater potential map are located in the fault zones
and alluvial deposits. Hence, geophysical data analysis is a
suitable validation method for the results of the current study
since the gravity and magnetic data delineate the locations of
the major faults and define the thickness of the alluvial de-
posits in good to very good groundwater potential zones. In
addition, the gravity and magnetic data determine rocks with
low densities and magnetic content such as alluvium deposits
in buried valleys which could be a possible aquifer. Moreover,
the geophysical data determine also the structural setting
which outlines the geometry of the aquifers. Most of the good
to very good classes in the groundwater potential map are
interpreted based on the structural setting, which exactly out-
lines the geometry of El-Qaà aquifers. The geophysical tech-
niques supported the development of the groundwater pro-
spective model, which gives the groundwater potential map
a high degree of reliability and confidence (Figs. 13 and 14).
Conclusions
Groundwater prospective zones can be delineated with refer-
ence to suitable factors controlling groundwater occurrence.
These factors can be extracted from thematic layers such as
lithology, landforms, lineament density, slope, density of lin-
eaments intersections, rainfall, drainage density, residual grav-
ity and magnetic intensity. The factors are ordered here ac-
cording to their importance for groundwater potential. The
selection of suitable factors contributing to groundwater po-
tential played an important role in developing the novelty of
the presented groundwater prospective model (GWPM). The
integration of geophysical data into the methodology supports
more clearly the uniqueness and holistic nature of the ap-
proach. The thematic layers were generated from several data
sources such as geologic maps, topographic maps, rainfall,
ETM + 7, OLI + 8, SRTM DEM, gravity and magnetic data.
The data were processed using several remote sensing, GIS,
and geophysical techniques. The thematic layers were
assigned different ranks and their classes received different
weights according to their contribution for groundwater po-
tential. The weights and ranks were derived based on field
surveys, a digital database of groundwater availability, and
high spatial resolution satellite images (Google Earth).
The groundwater potential map was created from the ho-
listic integrated approach and classified into five potential
zones from very poor to very good potential. The groundwater

potential map reveals the promising zones for groundwater
exploration, which are mostly located where the surficial out-
cropping rocks are permeable such as in Wadi Feiran and its
tributaries, Wadi El-Aawag, Wadi Maier, Wadi Timan, Wadi
Asla and Wadi El-Mahasha. Most groundwater wells were
found to be located in the outlet areas of these wadis, in the
low to moderate elevation zones; these wells tap alluvial aqui-
fers. The good to very good potential zones are recorded in
Quaternary deposits and wadi filled sediments, in low to mod-
erate elevation lands with low drainage density, high linea-
ment density, and gentle sloping areas; hence, these locations
are recommended as promising zones for groundwater
exploration.
Geophysical modeling confirms the existing hypotheses,
through revealing the thickness of Quaternary alluvial deposits
and the presence of subsurface structures controlling the ground-
water occurrences. El-Qaà Plain is a structurally controlled rifted
basin with an NW–SE axis parallel to the Red Sea/Gulf of Suez
trend and bounded by NW extensional faults from both the east-
ern and western sides. El-Qaà Plain extends for a length of about
150 km and a width ranging from 15 to 20 km, and seems to be
connected to the Gulf of Suez coastal plain at its southwestern
end. El-Qaà Plain is structurally divided at the shallower levels
into three sub-basins the main central basin, the northern basin
and the southern basin. The main central basin occupies the
central part with mostly a NW–SE axis and is divided into two
local mini-basins with thick sedimentary cover (from 2.2 km at
the southern trough to 3.2 km at the northern trough). The north-
ern sub-basin, with an N–S axis, is connected to the central main
basin and has a sedimentary cover of about 800 m. The southern
sub-basin, with also a N–S axis, is separated from the main basin
by a NE–SW structurally controlled dyke-like feature and has a
sedimentary cover less than 2 km. Therefore, assessment and
evaluation of the hydrogeological potential and proposed loca-
tions for water wells should consider the entire area of El-Qaà
Plain, with more focus on the non or less-studied northern and
southern extensions of El-Qaà Plain for future urban planning
and development.
The groundwater potential map was tested and validated
using several sources such as previous work, field investiga-
tions high spatial resolution satellite images, digital databases
of groundwater availability and geophysical modeling. Hence,
the interpreted map can be cited with confidence as a primary
reference map to select promising sites to drill new wells. In
short, a strategy of resource management and protection for
areas associated with groundwater recharge are necessary for
El-Qaà Plain.
Acknowledgements The authors wish to express their appreciation to
the associate editor of Hydrogeology Journal and two anonymous re-
viewers, for constructive and fruitful criticism on an earlier draft of the
manuscript, and to Sue Duncan (technical editorial advisor) for her assis-
tance on the last draft of the manuscript.
Hydrogeol J
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