Assessment of Groundwater Vulnerability to Pollutants by Electrical Resistivity Tomography at Mateur Plain, Northeastern Tunisia: Preliminary Result

Humankind existence is tied to groundwater and, as scientists, we need to protect its quality. Alluvial aquifers are very vulnerable to pollutants especially when they are beneath a high agricultural activity as is the case in the alluvial Mateur plain. This study has brought out a correlation between the presence of nitrate in Ras el-Ain region and the resistivity values. To achieve our study, we used the electrical resistivity tomography, the ERT profile was performed on Ras el-Ain area, the center of Mateur plain, on 21 January, during the wet season. The resistivity value of this study was compared with an early resistivity test made on 22 August, dry season, and a previous geochemical study result. This preliminary result indicates that the highest figure of resistivity was spotted in the area where there is less pollution. It was noticed that there is an interaction between resistivity and nitrate (NO₃⁻) in Ras el-Ain region.