The Proton Magnetic Resonance (PMR) or Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) method, coupled with geometrical aquifer modelling, has been used to create a map of groundwater reserves over a 270 km2 study area in a weathered basement setting. Most of the reserves are contained in a stratiform multi-layer aquifer whose geometry is influenced by the weathering front. The depths to the interfaces determined by PMR are considered and validated by comparison with the geometrical approach. Water contents and decay times of the PMR signal for each weathered layer are compared with the hydrogeological model. The results of the study show a decrease in water content from the top downwards for the three main aquifer layers (respectively : unconsolidated alterite, and an upper and a lower fissured zone). The groundwater reserves (80 % in the fissured zone and 20 % in unconsolidated alterite) represent approximately three years of average infiltration.
Terra Nova, 23, 145–161, 2011
Abstract
The hydrogeology of superficial (∼0–100 m b.g.l.) Hard Rock Aquifers (HRA; i.e. plutonic and metamorphic rocks) has so far been dominated by a few concepts considered to be relevant by a large majority of the HRA community. One of the most fundamental of these concepts is that their (secondary, fissure/fracture) permeability is either of tectonic origin or related to unloading processes. We will show that these genetic concepts are erroneous. We will demonstrate how the hydraulic conductivity of HRAs is a consequence of the (palaeo) weathering processes, with a stratiform fissured layer located immediately below the unconsolidated saprolite and, to a lesser extent, a verticalized fissured layer at the periphery of (or within) pre‐existing discontinuities (veins, joints, ancient faults, lithological contacts, etc.). This result opens up large perspectives in terms of applied hydrogeology and applied geology. A specifically dedicated methodological toolkit well adapted to the operational survey, management and protection of HRAs is briefly presented.
A country-scale (1:1,000,000) methodology has been developed for hydrogeologic mapping of hard-rock aquifers (granitic and metamorphic rocks) of the type that underlie a large part of the African continent. The method is based on quantifying the "useful thickness" and hydrodynamic properties of such aquifers and uses a recent conceptual model developed for this hydrogeologic context. This model links hydrodynamic parameters (transmissivity, storativity) to lithology and the geometry of the various layers constituting a weathering profile. The country-scale hydrogeological mapping was implemented in Burkina Faso, where a recent 1:1,000,000-scale digital geological map and a database of some 16,000 water wells were used to evaluate the methodology.
Based on research work in the Truyère River catchment of the Massif Central (Lozère Department, France), a methodology has been developed for delineating favorable prospecting zones of a few square kilometers within basement areas of several hundred, if not thousand, square kilometers for the purpose of sitting high-yield water wells. The methodology adopts a functional approach to hard-rock aquifers using a conceptual model of the aquifer structure and of the functioning of the main aquifer compartments: the alterites (weathered and decayed rock), the underlying weathered-fissured zone, and the fractured bedrock. It involves an economically feasible method of mapping the thickness and spatial distribution of the alterites and the weathered-fissured zone, on which the long-term exploitation of the water resource chiefly depends. This method is used for the first time in hydrogeology. The potential ground water resources were mapped by GIS multicriteria analysis using parameters characterizing the structure and functioning of the aquifer, i.e., lithology and hydrogeological properties of the substratum, nature and thickness of the alterites and weathered-fissured zone, depth of the water table, slope, fracture networks and present-day tectonic stresses, and forecasted ground water quality. The methodology involves a coherent process of downscaling that, through applying methods that are increasingly precise but also increasingly costly, enables the selection of sites with diminishing surface areas as the work advances. The resulting documents are used for ground water exploration, although they can also be applied to the broader domain of land-use management.
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