Trace elements in water samples from Lake Nasser-Lake Nubia

Lake Nasser, one of the largest man made lakes in the world, is the reservoir created by the High Dam in the southermost part of Egypt and extends beyond Daal Cataract in the Sudan. The reservoir is about 480 kms long, of which, 300 kms are in Egypt (Lake Nasser) and 180 kms in the Sudan (Lake Nubia) and extends approximately within the latitudes of 21 No in the Sudan and 24 No in Egypt. In the west is the Great Western Desert and in the east the Eastern Desert of Egypt which extends up to the Red Sea. The deepest part is found near the High Dam (Lake Nasser) which reaches approximately about 86 metres. The depth decreases to the south and reaches approximately about 15 meters at Akasha in the Sudan. The Lake is much more wider in the egyptian part. The attached map shows the geographical locations of the lake from which the samples were collected. This work deals with the determination of 38 trace elements in water by neutron activation analysis (NAA). Also some parameters such as pH, (electric conductance), CO2-, HCO 3 -, CO2, SO 4 2-, residue (after evaporation), dissolved oxygen, NO 2 - and temperature were determined in the field. The temperature ranged from 20.7-29.7°C, while the pH values from 7.45 to 9 (for the bottom and surface waters). The dissolved oxygen was determined and found to be 0.8-9.4 mg/l for bottom and surface waters, respectively. © 1980 Akadémiai Kiadó.