Ain ez Zarqa (also spelled Ayn ez Zarqa or Ain-el-Zerqa) is a natural artesian

karst spring A karst spring or karstic spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring (exsurgence, outflow of groundwater) that is part of a karst hydrological system. Description Because of their often conical or inverted bowl shape, karst springs are also known i ...

located south of Hermel in the

Beqaa Governorate Beqaa ( ') is a governorate in Lebanon and one of the eight districts of the country. It is located in the eastern part of Lebanon and borders with Syria. The capital of the district is the city of Zahlé. Districts Since 2014, Beqaa Governorate ...

, in central

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. Producing an average of 3,435 gallons per second, it is the main source of the

Orontes River The Orontes (; from Ancient Greek , ) or Nahr al-ʿĀṣī, or simply Asi (, ; ) is a long river in Western Asia that begins in Lebanon, flowing northwards through Syria before entering the Mediterranean Sea near Samandağ in Hatay Province, Turk ...

. Because of its heavy flow, it is characterized as a first-magnitude spring. It sits beneath the caves at Deir Mar Maroun, an ancient monastery carved into the cliffs that surround the spring. Melting snow from these nearby heights supplements the spring's large

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

reservoir, in the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

and

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

strata. It is estimated that the spring's

phreatic zone The phreatic zone, saturated zone, or zone of saturation, is the part of an aquifer, below the water table The water table is the upper surface of the phreatic zone or zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractur ...

reservoir contains as much as 10 billion cubic metres of storage. As a result, its flow has been less affected by overpumping and drought than other springs in the Orontes river basin.

References

Karst springs Springs of Lebanon {{Lebanon-geo-stub