Effects of sediment mineralogy to high-iron content in the groundwater of Rrogozhina aquifer (Western Albania)

Authors

Arjan Beqiraj, Polytechnic University of Tirana, AlbaniaFollow
Enkeleida Beqiraj, Polytechnic University of Tirana, AlbaniaFollow

Abstract

The groundwater of Rrogozhina aquifer (western Albania) is generally characterized by high iron contents. Its water-bearing medium consists of soft to hard sandstone and conglomerate with intercalations of impermeable clay layers. The groundwater of Rrogozhina aquifer, that extends over a surface of 2100 km² in the pre-Adriatic depression of Albania, occurs under typically artesian conditions. The iron content in ground water ranges from 0.2% up to 2.5%, but most of them fall within the interval 0.5-1.0 %. In groundwater iron occurs as reduced divalent ferrous iron (Fe⁺²) which is conditioned by the lack of water exposure to oxygen and the long residence time of the groundwater. Iron is more frequent in sandstone related groundwater as it is shown by the positive correlation between the iron content in groundwater and sandstone thickness in the section. The predomination of iron-bearing minerals such as magnetite, epidote, granate, sphene, amphibole and pyroxene in the silt fraction indicates that it must be responsible for the iron content in groundwater.

Recommended Citation

Beqiraj, Arjan and Beqiraj, Enkeleida (2011) Effects of sediment mineralogy to high-iron content in the groundwater of Rrogozhina aquifer (Western Albania), Studia UBB Geologia 56 (2): 25-30
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1937-8602.56.2.3
Available at: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geologia/vol56/iss2/art3