Hitoshi Sakai memorial session: Measurements and applications of stable and radiogenic isotopes and other tracers

Groundwater from a volcanic aquifer is the main source of drinking water supply for the town of Axum. The groundwater is mainly hosted by fractured basalt rocks (Fig. 1). The lateral variation in water yield and water quality observed in the study area reflects the heterogeneous nature of the aquifer. Poor groundwater quality from high yielding bore holes has been a major problem for the water supply of the town. The local volcanic environment shows remarkable variation e.g. in terms of major ion concentrations (Ayenew et al. 2008).