Assessment of metal contamination in Jurassic water tables of Ziz high basin (Central High Atlas,Morocco) [Evaluation de la contamination métallique des eaux des nappes du Jurassique du haut bassin de Ziz (Haut Atlas central,Maroc)]

The objective of this work is the hydro chemical groundwater quality assessment of jurassic aquifers in the region of the ziz high basin. this study focused on the determination of heavy metal concentrations. during march 2014,twenty water points,distributed in the basin,were sampled. these water samples were analyzed to determine concentrations of seven elements: lead,zinc,nickel,iron,copper,cobalt and cadmium. to study and compare their spatial distribution,the analyses results were presented as thematic maps using geographic information system (gis). the exploitation of gis helped highlight the links between geochemical data and geological,hydrogeological and mineralogical data. this study has highlighted a deterioration in the water quality of the ziz high basin jurassic aquifer due to lead levels that exceed drinking water standards. this contamination would be linked to the natural mineralization of the geological formations. the contents of the other elements remain low compared to the moroccan standards.