Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde im Rahmen des BMBF-geförderten Projektes "Luft- und bodengestützte spektrometrische Untersuchungen zur Differenzierung reaktiv veränderter Braunkohlentagebaugebiete in Mitteldeutschland" (Vorhaben 02 WB 9667/5) als Kooperation zwischen dem GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ), dem Deutschen Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), der Gesellschaft für Angewandte Fernerkundung (GAF) und dem Umweltforschungszentrum Leipzig/Halle GmbH (UFZ) angefertigt. Grundidee des Projektes war es, die durch spektrometrische Erfassungsmethoden der Fernerkundung erhaltenen Überfliegungsdaten mittels konventioneller petrographischer, mineralogischer und geochemischer Analytik zu kalibrieren. Der Schwerpunkt dieser Arbeit lag dabei in der Charakterisierung der hydro- und geochemischen Veränderungen in den Kippensedimenten des im mitteldeutschen Raum südlich von Leipzig aufgeschlossenen Braunkohlentagebaus Zwenkau. Zu diesem Zweck wurden die Kippensedimente in Abhängigkeit des Schüttungsalters und der Lagerung untersucht sowie die spezifischen Merkmale der Kippenwässer und Bodengase erfaßt, um die im Kippenkörper ablaufenden chemischen, petrographischen und gefügemäßigen Veränderungen sowie die Wechselwirkungen zwischen den Sedimenten, Wässern und Bodengasen zu beschreiben. Schließlich wird ein Modell zur zeitlichen Entwicklung der Abraumförderbrückenkippe, beginnend bei ihrer Verkippung bis hin zu einem Alter von etwa 20 Jahren, vorgestellt, welches die beobachteten Erscheinungen bezüglich der auftretenden endogenen und exogenen Wechselwirkungsfaktoren gut erklärt. / This thesis was prepared in cooperation with the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (GFZ), the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), the Gesellschaft für Angewandte Fernerkundung (GAF), and the Umweltforschungszentrum Leipzig/Halle (UFZ) in frame of the project "Airborne and laboratory spectroscopic studies for differentiation of reactively alterated lignite mining pits in Central Germany" (No. 02 WB 9667/5) which was gratefully supported by the Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie (BMBF). The major idea of the project was to achieve a calibration of the spectroscopic data acquired by the remote sensing though the results obtained from conventionally petrographical, mineralogical and geochemical analyses. The main goal of this thesis was the characterization of the hydro- and geochemical alterations in the conveyor bridge dump of the open lignite mining pit Zwenkau which is located in the Central Germany District southern of Leipzig. Therefore, dependent on their ages in terms of dumping and their surface-near locations the dump sediments were investigated and the specific properties of the different types of dump water and soil gases were acquired as well in order to describe the ongoing chemical, petrographical and structural alterations and interactions between the sediments, the water and the soil gases in the conveyor bridge. Finally, a model of the chronological development of the overburden sediments starting from their spilling up to an age of about 20 years is proposed which well explains the observed phenomena regarding the appearing endogenous and exogenous interaction factors.

Groundwater is the only fresh water resource in the semi-arid to hyper-arid Western Dead Sea catchment. Due to exploitation of groundwater the water level is decreasing in the surrounding Cretaceous aquifer system and sustainable water management is needed in order to prevent the progressive yields and contamination of those water resources. In addition, the water level of the Dead Sea decreases dramatically by at least one meter per year. This is connected to channel off the water from the Jordan River to supply intensive agriculture in the semi-arid to hyper-arid region. Hydrological and hydro-geological analysis and modelling in arid regions, like the study area, frequently suffer from data scarcity and uncertainties regarding rainfall and discharge measurements. The study showed that spatial and temporal interpolations as well as additional methods (e.g. empirical relationships and simultaneous numerical approaches) were suitable tools to overcome data shortage for modelling. Water balances are the result of a calibrated model and are the basis for sustainable management of surface and subsurface water resources. The present study investigates beside the hydrological characterisation of selected sub-catchments (wadis) also the hydro-geology of the Judean limestone aquifer and calculates a comprehensive water balance of the entire western flank of the Dead Sea by the application of two numerical open source codes: OpenGeoSys (OGS) and J2000g. The calibrated two-dimensional hydrological model J2000g provides a 33 years time series of temporal and spatial distributed groundwater recharge for the numerical groundwater flow model of OGS. The mean annual groundwater recharge of 139.9 · 10^6 m^3ˑ a^-1 is nearly completely depleted by abstractions from pumping wells close to the replenishment area in the Judea Mountains.

This study focuses on the environmental impact assessment of trace elements concentrations in spent shale, which is the main residual besides gas and steam from the utilization of oil shale. The study area El-Lajjun covers 28 km2, located in the centre of Jordan approximately 110 km south of Amman. It belongs mainly to the Wadi Mujib catchment and is considered to be one of the most important catchments in Jordan. The Wadi El-Lajjun catchment area (370 km2) consists of two main aquifer systems: The intermediate aquifer (Amman Wadi As Sir Aquifer or B2/A7) and the deep sandstone aquifer (Kurnub/Ram Group Aquifer). The B2/A7 aquifer (Upper Cretaceous) is considered as the main source of fresh water in Jordan. El-Lajjun oil shale was deposited in a sedimentary basin and comprises massive beds of brown-black, kerogen-rich, bituminous chalky marl. The oil shale was deposited in shallow marine environment. It is by definition a sedimentary rock containing organic material in the rock matrix. The shale oil extraction is an industrial process to decompose oil shale and to convert the kerogen into shale oil by hydrogenation, pyrolysis or by a thermal dissolution. Several classifications of extraction technologies are known; the classification with respect to the location where the extraction takes place distinguishes between off-site, on-site, and in situ. The oil shale utilization may have serious repercussions on the surrounding environment if these issues are not investigated and evaluated carefully. Ten representative oil shale rock samples with a total weight about 20 kg were collected from different localities of oil shale exposures in the study area. A standardized laboratory Fischer Assay test was performed with the samples to determine oil shale characteristics and to obtain spent shale, which was used in this study for further investigations. Sequential extraction was used to evaluate the changes in the mobility and distribution of the trace elements: Ti, V Cr, Co, Zn, As Zr, Cd, Pb and U. Column leaching experiments were performed to simulate the leaching behavior of the above elements from oil shale and spent shale to evaluate the possible influence on the groundwater in the study area. The concentrations in the leachate were below the maximum contaminant levels of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for drinking water and the Jordanian standards for drinking water. An immobilization method by using Kaolin was applied to reduce the mobilization and bioavailability of the trace elements fraction that are contained in the spent shale. Immobilization was evaluated as a function of liquid-solid ratio (solid-liquid partitioning) and as a function of pH. A comparison between the results obtained from column leaching experiments and the results that were obtained from immobilization for the oil shale and spent shale samples indicated that the immobilization reduced the mobility of the trace element except for Ti, V, and Cr. However, even the concentrations of these elements were lower than the maximum acceptable limits of the Jordanian Standard Specifications for waste water. The catchment of the study area (Wadi El-Lajjun catchment) is ungauged. Therefore, the soil conservation service (SCS) runoff curve number method was used for predicting direct runoff from rainfall. The results obtained showed that the infiltration of water is very small (approximately 0.6 cm/year) and rarely can´t reach the groundwater through the oil shale beds. Thus, a contamination of groundwater is unlikely under normal conditions. DRASTIC was used to assess groundwater vulnerability for the B2/A7 aquifer with respect to pollution by oil shale utilization. The aquifer vulnerability map shows that the area is divided into three zones: low (risk index 10-100; intermediate (risk index 101–140) and high groundwater vulnerability (risk index 141-200). The high risk areas are small and mainly located in the northeastern corner of the El-Lajjun graben, where the hydraulic conductivity is relatively high and rocks are highly fractured and faulted. The water table of the deep sandstone aquifer (Kurnub/Ram group) in the El-Lajjun area is relatively deep. At least two geological formations above the Kurnub aquifer are aquitards and protect the deep aquifer. However, the area is highly fractured and thus there is a certain possibility for contact with surface pollutants. Finally, further research with respect to trace elements including REE elements and isotopes in the intermediate and deep sandstone aquifers are highly recommended. Isotopic signatures will be very helpful to investigate to which extend hydraulic connections between the aquifers exist. Further and in particular mineralogical studies on the spent shale and the possibilities for industrial utilization are recommended because huge quantities of spent shale are expected. Because most oil shale extraction technologies especially the power generation require considerable amounts of water detailed studies on water supply for the oil shale treatment have to be performed.

The subject of this diploma thesis is the analysis of the business entity Geodrill, s.r.o., which deals with the provision of services in the field of geology. Appropriately chosen analysis evaluates the external and internal environment of the business and its financial situation. The result of the thesis is the identification of suggestions and recommendations for improvement of the state.

Die vorliegende Studie befasst sich mit einer hydrochemischen Untersuchung des Aquifersystems auf der Westseite des Toten Meeres. Für die Untersuchungen der Grundwasserressourcen der kreidezeitlichen Grundwasserleiter, insbesondere Grundwasserherkunft, Mischprozesse, Identifizierung von Wasser-Gesteins- Wechselwirkungen, Datierung von Grundwasseraltersbereichen, Identifizierung der Herkunft des Quellen an der Küste des Toten Meeres und Abtrennung quartärer Grundwassermuster, wurde eine Tracerkombination auf Wasser- und Gesteinsproben angewendet. Die hier vorgestellte Multitracer-Methodik ist auch in anderen datenarmen Gebieten mit komplexer Hydrogeologie (Karst oder Störungen) unter anthropogenem Einfluss anwendbar. / The present study deals with a hydrochemical investigation of the aquifer system on the western side of the Dead Sea. To examine the groundwater resources of the Cretaceous aquifer, particularly groundwater origins, mixing processes, identification of water-rock interaction, dating of groundwater age ranges in the aquifers and identification of spring water origins at the Dead Sea coast and separation of Quaternary groundwater patterns, a combination of tracer is applied on water and rock samples. The multi-tracer method presented here is also applicable in other data-poor areas with complex hydrogeology (karst or fracture) under anthropogenic influence.

With a size of ~10,000 km² the Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt lake in the world. It is located at a height of 3,653 m a.s.l. in the southern part of the Bolivian Altiplano, an endorheic high plateau separating the Eastern and Western cordillera of the Andes. The salt flat is characterized by an alternating sequence of evaporate layers mainly consisting of halite and lacustrine mud layers up to a depth of at least 220 m, whereby the stratification is ascribed to the alternation of dry and humid climatic phases during the Quaternary. With estimated 7 Mio tonnes in brine, the salt lake is considered the world’s largest Li deposit. Knowledge About genesis and distribution of Li is essential for the possible extraction of Li and other valuable elements from the brine in a commercial scale, which is the driving force for the Investigation of hydrochemical properties of the Salar de Uyuni. Practical work comprised the sampling of brines from drilled wells and along transects, salts from the surface, sampling of streams, rocks and sediments in the catchment, as well as chemical and isotopical analyses. The surface catchment, delineated with ArcGIS, has a size of 63,000 km² and is mainly characterized by volcanic deposits as ignimbrites, and unconsolidated sediments, salt deposits and lacustrine material in widespread flood plains. The pores of the upper salt crust, which shows a varying thickness of 2-11 m, are filled with a saturated NaCl brine rich in Mg, K, Li and B. The distribution of Li along the salt lake is inhomogeneous, with two regions of significantly higher concentrations up to 1.5 g/L in the southern part near the delta of the main inflow Río Grande and in the northern part, compared to an average of 0.3-0.4 g/L in brine. The age of brines from the upper salt crust was determined to 6,200 - 13,340 years, corresponding in age to the surrounding evaporates and showing a stable stratification with depth. However, a local mixing of the brine with freshwater feeding from groundwater Aquifers especially near the shore of the salar was observed by the analysis of δ2H and δ18O in the brines. The distribution of stable isotopes also shows the strong influence of evaporation, even smaller tributaries feeding the Río Grande are enriched in heavy isotopes of H and O. Element to bromine ratios in the brine showed that Li, K and Mg are not removed from solution by the formation of precipitates, but are rather released from clay minerals by ion exchange leading to their enrichment in the pore brine. Analyzed rocks, mostly of rhyolitic and dacitic type, show moderate lithium concentrations in the range of 4 to 37 mg/kg. Different types of digestion revealed that rock types occurring in the Salar de Uyuni catchment are a substantial supplier of lithium by the intensive physical and chemical weathering due to the specific environmental conditions. Increased Lithium concentrations in rock and sediment samples from the volcano flanks south of the salar indicate, that the southern catchment is the main supplier of lithium to the salt lake. The enrichment of lithium could also be observed by the analysis of superficial salts from the upper crust. Salt efflorescences are significantly enriched regarding Li, K, Mg and other Ions compared to the surface within the polygons. The enrichment of Li in brine occurs all-Season along shrinkage cracks at polygon borders, where brine rises up, water evaporates and NaCl precipitates, leaving a solution even more concentrated in Li and other solutes as Br, B, K and Mg. In conclusion, the accumulation of lithium in the brine of the Salar de Uyuni results from the combination of various site-specific circumstances, which are analyzed and discussed in the present thesis. / Mit einer Größe von ~10.000 km² ist der Salar de Uyuni der größte Salzsee der Welt. Er befindet sich auf einer Höhe von 3.653 m im Süden des bolivianischen Altiplano, einer abflusslosen Hochebene zwischen der Ost- und Westkordillere der Anden. Der Salzsee besteht bis zu einer Tiefe von mind. 220 m aus einer Wechselfolge evaporitischer Schichten (hauptsächlich halitisch) und lakustrinen Tonschichten, wobei die Schichtung auf den Wechsel von trockenen und feuchten klimatischen Phasen während des Quartärs zurückzuführen ist. Mit einer geschätzten Menge von 7 Mio. t gilt der Salzsee als die gegenwärtig größte Li-Ressource der Welt. Das Wissen über Genese und Verteilung von Li ist grundlegend für eine mögliche Gewinnung von Li und anderen Elementen in kommerziellem Maßstab, worin sich die Motivitation für die Untersuchung hydrochemischer Eigenschaften des Salar de Uyuni begründet. Praktische Tätigkeiten umfassten die Probenahme von Solen aus eigens gebohrten Brunnen und entlang von Transekten, die Entnahme von Oberflächensalzen, die Beprobung von Zuflüssen, Gesteinen und Sedimenten im Einzugsgebiet, sowie deren chemische und isotopische Analytik. Das oberflächliche, mittels ArcGIS ermittelte Einzugsgebiet, weist eine Größe von 63.000 km² auf und besteht hauptsächlich aus vulkanischen Gesteinen wie Ignimbriten und unverfestigten Ablagerungen, Salzausblühungen und lakustrinen Sedimenten in ausgeprägten Überschwemmungsebenen. Die Poren der obersten, zwischen 2 und 11 m mächtigen Salzschicht, sind mit einer an NaCl gesättigten Salzlösung, die reich an Mg, K, Li und B ist, gefüllt. Die inhomogene Verteilung von Li im Salzsee weist zwei Bereiche signifikant erhöhter Konzentrationen von bis zu 1,5 g/L auf, und zwar im südlichen Einmündungsbereich des Hauptzuflusses Río Grande und im Nordosten etwa 20 km von der Küste entfernt, verglichen mit einem durchschnittlichen Gehalt von 0,3-0,4 g/L in der Sole. Das Alter der Solen der obersten Salzkruste wurde auf 6.200 – 13.340 Jahre bestimmt, was dem Alter der umgebenden Evaporite entspricht und eine stabile Schichtung aufweist. Allerdings weist die Analytik von δ2H und δ18O auch auf eine lokale Vermischung der Sole mit Frischwasser aus ufernahen Aquiferen hin. Die Verteilung der stabilen Isotope δ²H und δ18O deutet auf einen signifikanten Einfluss der Verdunstung auf die Entwicklung der Porenlösung hin, denn auch kleinere Zuflüsse zum Salar sind angereichert an 2H und 18O. Das Verhältnis verschiedener Elemente zu Brom zeigt, dass Li, K und Mg weniger durch die Ausfällung von Salzen aus der Lösung entfernt, sondern eher durch Ionenaustausch aus Tonmineralen freigesetzt und folglich in der Sole angereichert werden. Die analysierten Gesteine, hauptsächlich rhyolitischen und dazitischen Typs, weisen moderate Lithiumkonzentrationen von 4 – 37 mg/kg auf. Die Anwendung verschiedener Aufschlüsse zeigte, dass die im Einzugsgebiet des Salar de Uyuni vorkommenden Gesteinstypen aufgrund der intensiven physikalischen und chemischen Verwitterung unter den spezifischen Umweltbedingungen eine wesentliche Quelle des Lithiums im Salzsee sind. Erhöhte Li-Konzentrationen in Gesteinen und Sedimenten der vulkanischen Flanken südlich des Salars deuten auf das südliche Einzugsgebiet als hauptsächlichen Zulieferer für Li hin. Die Anreicherung von Li wurde auch mittels der Untersuchung der Salze der obersten Kruste bestätigt. Im Vergleich zur Oberfläche innerhalb der Polygone sind die Salzausblühungen entlang der Polygonränder signifikant an Li, K, Mg und anderen Ionen angereichert. Die Anreicherung von Li geschieht ganzjährig entlang der Schrumpfungsrisse an Polygonrändern, indem die Sole durch kapillare Kräfte aufsteigt, Wasser verdunstet und NaCl ausfällt. Schließlich bleibt eine an Li und anderen Ionen wie Br, B, K und Mg noch stärker aufkonzentrierte Lösung zurück. Schlussfolgernd resultiert die Akkumulation von Lithium in der Porenlösung aus der Kombination zahlreicher standortspezifischer Faktoren, welche innerhalb der vorliegenden Arbeit untersucht und bewertet wurden.

Groundwater is the only fresh water resource in the semi-arid to hyper-arid Western Dead Sea catchment. Due to exploitation of groundwater the water level is decreasing in the surrounding Cretaceous aquifer system and sustainable water management is needed in order to prevent the progressive yields and contamination of those water resources. In addition, the water level of the Dead Sea decreases dramatically by at least one meter per year. This is connected to channel off the water from the Jordan River to supply intensive agriculture in the semi-arid to hyper-arid region. Hydrological and hydro-geological analysis and modelling in arid regions, like the study area, frequently suffer from data scarcity and uncertainties regarding rainfall and discharge measurements. The study showed that spatial and temporal interpolations as well as additional methods (e.g. empirical relationships and simultaneous numerical approaches) were suitable tools to overcome data shortage for modelling. Water balances are the result of a calibrated model and are the basis for sustainable management of surface and subsurface water resources. The present study investigates beside the hydrological characterisation of selected sub-catchments (wadis) also the hydro-geology of the Judean limestone aquifer and calculates a comprehensive water balance of the entire western flank of the Dead Sea by the application of two numerical open source codes: OpenGeoSys (OGS) and J2000g. The calibrated two-dimensional hydrological model J2000g provides a 33 years time series of temporal and spatial distributed groundwater recharge for the numerical groundwater flow model of OGS. The mean annual groundwater recharge of 139.9 · 10^6 m^3ˑ a^-1 is nearly completely depleted by abstractions from pumping wells close to the replenishment area in the Judea Mountains.:Acknowledgements Abstract Nomenclature Content List of Figures List of Tables 1 Introduction 1.1 Motivation 1.2 State of the Field 1.3 General research questions 1.4 Challenges 1.5 Structure of the Thesis 2 Theory and Methods 2.1 Data analysis 2.2 Governing equations 2.2.1 Surface Flow - Hydrological Model: J2000g 2.2.2 Subsurface Flow - Groundwater Flow Model: OpenGeoSys 2.3 Groundwater recharge 3 Study area 3.1 Study site selection 3.2 Geography 3.2.1 Climate 3.2.2 Soils 3.2.3 Vegetation 3.2.4 Land use 3.3 Hydrology 3.3.1 Wadis 3.3.2 Flashfloods 3.3.3 Dead Sea 3.4 Geology 3.5 Hydro-geology 3.5.1 Springs 3.5.2 Well fields 4 Hydrological Model 4.1 Conceptual Model 4.2 Hydrological Model J2000g 4.2.1 Data base 4.2.2 Simulation results from J2000g 5 Structural geological model 5.1 Stratigraphy 5.2 Database 5.3 Workflow 6 Numerical groundwater flow model 6.1 Work flow of 2D and 3D meshing 6.2 Parametrisation 6.3 Boundary conditions 6.4 Model Set-up 6.5 Calibration of Steady-State model 6.6 Transient Model 6.6.1 Model assumptions 6.6.2 Challenges 6.6.3 Preliminary results 7 Conclusions and Outlook 7.1 Important results from the hydrological model 7.2 Important results from the geological structural model 7.3 Important results from the hydro-geological model 7.4 Deficiencies 7.5 Outlook References 8 Enclosed Publications

Die Analyse der hydrogeologischen Verhältnisse im weiteren Vorerzgebirgssenkenraum setzte neben einer großräumigen Erfassung, einen Abgleich und eine Interpretation und Zusammenfassung hydrogeologischer, hydrologischer, geologischer und weiterer Daten voraus. Es entstand eine breite maßstabsgerechte Basis für die Bearbeitung hydrogeologischer Schwerpunktthemen und eine großräumige hydrogeologische Modellierung des Untersuchungsraumes. In Verbindung mit der Recherche und Analyse hydrogeologischer Prozesse in sedimentären Senken weltweit und der Prüfung der Übertragbarkeit solcher Vorgänge auf die Vorerzgebirgssenke konnten hypothetische Ansätze zur Erklärung von Genese und Hydraulik tiefer Grundwässer in der Vorerzgebirgssenke entwickelt werden. Im Ergebnis wurden (para-) autochthone Genesemodelle zur Erklärung der Vorkommen höher mineralisierter Grundwässer favorisiert. Die hydraulische Modellierung belegte die Bedeutung von Störungs- und Kluftzonen als Hauptbewegungsbahnen des Grundwassers. Lokale und intermediäre Grundwasserfließsysteme dominieren dabei den topographisch induzierten Grundwasserfluss.

Due to the low amount or unfavorable annual distribution of precipitation the exploration, allocation, sustainable exploitation, and protection of replenishable as well as fossile water resources are challanging tasks in semiarid and arid regions. Beside a few natural or artifcial surface water reservoirs the porous underground at the same time is the largest storage and transport medium for water and provides protection against evaporation and to a certain degree against surcficial introduction of contaminants. This situation is characteristic for the Near East and thus for the selected investigation areas, that are located in Israel and the West Bank, and that are subject of the conducted partail studies that are presented. The work focuses on three main subjects. On the one hand, it deals with the characterization of the young groundwater components of the discharge of four major springs of Wadi Qilt and Jericho, as well as of sampled deep wells of three important well fields. All of these objects discharge or abstract water from the Upper and Lower Judea Group Aquifer. With a thickness of about 750 m it is one of the most important groundwater reservoirs of the region and comprises mainly to varying degrees karstified and fractured limestones and dolomites. These formations underwent uplift during Senonian to Eocenian times forming a pair of double-plunging anticlinal structures (Hebron and Ramallah or Judea and Samaria Mountains, respectively) that are again subdivided into minor anticlines and synclines. The groundwater replenishment is restricted to the winter season between October and April, and to the crestal area of the mountains, where the otherwise covered aquifer rocks crop out. A strategy was developed to interpret the applied tracers for all locations in a similar way using a lumped parameter approach, which enables a direct comparison. On the other hand, the work investigates salinization processes in the Shallow Aquifer of Jericho and their discrimination. Potential sources for salinization are remnant brines that are activated to flow into the range of well extraction due to groundwater overexploitation, dissolution of salts, or formation waters from the Lisan formation. These layers represent the sediments of Lake Lisan, the Pleistocene precursor of the Dead Sea. A discrimination of the salinization mechanisms is important to develope reasonable measures to limit or lower the salt concentration in the affected wells. Consequently, the relevant measured but also potential main hydrochemical indicators and isotope tracers are identified. The large uncertainties with respect to the establishment of a well-founded water balance and to the insuffcient knowledge about the geology of the small-scale area of Jericho are discussed. Because the interpretation of the measured helium samples from the fractured and karstified aquifer of the Cretaceous Judea Group is limited, the dependencies of the He-4 accumulation in groundwater in an idealized dual-continuum aquifer are investigated with respect to the relation of the He-4 mass fluxes and the system response time to the varied parameters (groundwater head gradient, hydraulic conductivities, dispersivities, porosities) by means of a sensitivity analysis. Although the system response time is not a system variable as such it clearly turned out that knowledge about it may be an important information for the interpretation of He concentrations in groundwaters of non-stationary systems. To enhance the visual post-processing of the parameter sensitivity analysis an easily interpretable way of data presentation is introduced.:Impressum Kurzfassung Abstract List of Figures List of Tables Introduction Geology and hydrogeological background Theory and application of environmental tracers to characterize groundwater flow Methodology Results Summary Conclusions / Semiaride und aride Gebiete stellen aufgrund des niedrigen oder ungünstig verteilten Niederschlagsdargebots eine besondere Herausforderung bezüglich Erkundung, Bereitstellung, nachhaltiger Nutzung und Schutz sich neu bildender, aber auch fossiler Wasserresourcen dar. Abgesehen von wenigen natürlichen oder künstlich angelegten Oberflächenreservoiren ist der poröse Untergrund dabei gleichzeitig Hauptspeicher und Transportmedium für Wasser und bietet einen Schutz gegen Verdunstung und bis zu einem gewissen Grade gegen oberflächig einwirkende Verunreinigungen. Diese Situation ist charakteristisch für den Nahen Osten und damit für die im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit beschriebenen Teiluntersuchungsgebiete, die sich in Israel und der West Bank befinden. Die Arbeit behandelt drei Hauptthemen. Einerseits geht sie auf die Charakterisierung der Jungwasseranteile im Abfluß vier bedeutender Quellen des Wadi Qilts und Jerichos sowie in beprobten tiefen Brunnen dreier wichtiger Brunnenfelder ein. Alle diese Objekte entwässern bzw. entnehmen Wasser aus dem Oberen oder Unteren Judea Group Aquifer. Mit ca. 750 m Mächtigkeit stellt dieser eines der bedeutensten Grundwasserreservoire der Region dar und besteht hauptsächlich aus unterschiedlich stark verkarsteten und gestörten Kalkstein- und Dolomitformationen, welche zwischen dem Senon und Eozän in Form einer in sich weiter gegliederten, beid-seitig abtauchenden Doppelantiklinalstruktur herausgehoben wurde (Hebron und Ramallah bzw. Judea und Samaria Mountains). Die Grundwasserneubildung ist beschränkt auf die Zeit zwischen Oktober und April sowie auf die Kammlagen des Gebirges, wo die sonst bedeckten Schichten des Aquifers ausstreichen. Es wurde eine Strategie entwickelt, die eingesetzten Tracer auf ähnliche Weise mit Hilfe von Lumped Parameter-Modellen für alle Lokationen zu interpretieren und somit eine Vergleichbarkeit zu gewährleisten. Andererseits untersucht die Arbeit Versalzungsprozesse im Shallow Aquifer von Jericho und deren Abgrenzung untereinander. Mögliche Hauptquellen der Versalzung sind durch überhöhte Grundwasserentnahme verstärke Zuflüsse von Solen, die Lösung von Salzen aus der Lisan-Formation oder Formationswässer der Lisan-Formation, welche die Ablagerungen des Lisan-Sees, des Pleistozänen Vorgängers des heutigen Toten Meeres, repräsentieren. Eine Unterscheidung der Mechanismen hat dabei durchaus Bedeutung für die Festlegung geeigneter Gegenmaßnahmen. Demzufolge werden die ermittelten, aber auch weitere, potentielle hydrochemische Hauptindikatoren und Tracer benannt. Unsicherheiten sowohl hinsichtlich der Aufstellung einer Wasserbilanz, als auch einer unzureichend bekannten Geologie für das sehr kleinräumige Gebiet von Jericho werden diskutiert.:Impressum Kurzfassung Abstract List of Figures List of Tables Introduction Geology and hydrogeological background Theory and application of environmental tracers to characterize groundwater flow Methodology Results Summary Conclusions

Arid regions, that have a terrestrial share of 30 %, heavily rely on groundwater for do-mestic, industrial and irrigation purposes. The reliance on groundwater has partly turned into a dependency in areas where the increasing population number and the expansion of irrigated agricultural areas demand more groundwater than is naturally replenished. Yet, spatial and temporal information on groundwater are often scarce induced by the facts that groundwater is given a low priority in many national budgets and numerous (semi-) arid regions in the world encompass large and inaccessible areas. Hence, there is an urgent need to provide low-cost alternatives that in parallel cover large spatial and temporal scales to gain information on the groundwater system. Remote sensing holds a tremendous potential to represent this alternative. The main objective of this thesis is the improvement of existing and the development of novel remote sensing applications to infer information on the scarce but indispensable resource groundwater at the example of the Dead Sea. The background of these de-velopments relies mainly on freely available satellite data sets. I investigate 1) the pos-sibility to infer potential groundwater flow-paths from digital elevation models, 2) the applicability of multi-temporal thermal satellite data to identify groundwater discharge locations, 3) the suitability of multi-temporal thermal satellite data to derive information on the long-term groundwater discharge behaviour, and 4) the differences of thermal data in terms of groundwater discharge between coarse-scaled satellite data and fine-scaled airborne data including a discharge quantification approach. 1) I develop a transparent, reproducible and objective semi-automatic approach us-ing a combined linear filtering and object based classification approach that bases on a medium resolution (30 m ground sampling distance) digital elevation model to extract lineaments. I demonstrate that the obtained lineaments have both, a hydrogeological and groundwater significance, that allow the derivation of potential groundwater flow-paths. These flow-paths match results of existing groundwater flow models remarkably well that validate the findings and shows the possibility to infer potential groundwater flow-paths from remote sensing data. 2) Thermal satellite data enable to identify groundwater discharge into open water bodies given a temperature contrast between groundwater and water body. Integrating a series of thermal data from different periods into a multi-temporal analysis accounts for the groundwater discharge intermittency and hence allows obtaining a representa-tive discharge picture. I analyse the constraints that arise with the multi-temporal anal-ysis (2000-2002) and show that ephemeral surface-runoff causes similar thermal anomalies as groundwater. To exclude surface-runoff influenced data I develop an au-tonomously operating method that facilitates the identification. I calculate on the re-maining surface-runoff uninfluenced data series different statistical measures on a per pixel basis to amplify groundwater discharge induced thermal anomalies. The results reveal that the range and standard deviation of the data series perform best in terms of anomaly amplification and spatial correspondence to in-situ determined spring dis-charge locations. I conclude on the reason that both mirror temperature variability that is stabilized and therefore smaller at areas where spatio-temporal constant groundwater discharge occurs. 3) The application of the before developed method on a thermal satellite data set spanning the years 2000 to 2011 enables to localise specific groundwater discharge sites and to semi-quantitatively analyse the temporal variability of the thermal anomalies (termed groundwater affected area - GAA). I identify 37 groundwater discharge sites along the entire Dead Sea coastline that refine the so far coarsely given spring areas to specific locations. All spatially match independent in-situ groundwater discharge observations and additionally indicate 15 so far unreported discharge sites. Comparing the variability of the GAA extents over time to recharge behaviour reveals analogous curve progressions with a time-shift of two years. This observation suggests that the thermally identified GAAs directly display the before only assumed groundwater discharge volume. This finding provides a serious alternative to monitor groundwater discharge over large temporal and spatial scales that is relevant for different scientific communities. From the results I furthermore conclude to observe the before only assumed and modelled groundwater discharge share from flushing of old brines during periods with an above average Dead Sea level drop. This observation implies the need to not only consider discharge from known terrestrial and submarine springs, but also from flushing of old-brines in order to calculate the total Dead Sea water budget. 4) I present a complementary airborne thermal data set recorded in 01/2011 over the north-western part of the Dead Sea coast. The higher spatial resolution allows to refine the satellite-based GAA to 72 specific groundwater discharge sites and even to specify the so far unknown abundance of submarine springs to six sites with a share of <10 % to the total groundwater discharge. A larger contribution stems from newly iden-tified seeping spring type (24 sites) where groundwater emerges diffusively either ter-restrial or submarine close to the land/water interface with a higher share to the total discharge than submarine springs provide. The major groundwater contribution origi-nates from the 42 identified terrestrial springs. For this spring type, I demonstrate that 93 % of the discharge volume can be modelled with a linear ordinary least square re-gression (R2=0.88) based on the thermal plume extents and in-situ measured discharge volumes from the Israel Hydrological Service. This result implies the possibility to determine discharge volumes at unmonitored sites along the Dead Sea coast as well that can provide a complete physically-based picture of groundwater discharge magni-tude to the Dead Sea for the first time.:1 Introduction 1.1 Remote sensing applications on groundwater 1.1.1 Classical aspects 1.1.2 Modern aspects 1.2 Motivation and main objectives 1.3 Why the western catchment of the Dead Sea? 1.4 Overview 2 The western catchment of the Dead Sea 2.1 Geological and Structural Overview 2.2 Groundwater system 2.3 Groundwater inputs 2.4 Dead Sea 3 Groundwater flow-paths 3.1 Prologue 4 Method development for groundwater discharge identification 4.1 Prologue 5 Localisation and temporal variability of groundwater discharge 5.1 Prologue 6 Qualitative and quantitative refinement of groundwater discharge 6.1 Prologue 7 Conclusion and Outlook 7.1 Main results and implications 7.2 Outlook References Appendix