Fault Zone Identification for Groundwater Flow Assessment Based On Seismic Reflection Survey Data at the Area of Felda Lepar Utara, Pahang, Malaysia

Abstract

Geological structures such as faults and fractures have an important influence in the process of fluid movement below the surface. The hydraulic behavior in aquifers can be determined by proper characterization of fractures, fault zones and their connectivity. In this study, we concern on detection and identification of fault zones in the groundwater basin to verify whether faults in the basin area connect to the surface, and whether the fault zones occurring serve as conduits or barriers for groundwater to flow. The seismic reflection method with Common Depth Point (CDP) profiling technique has been applied in this study. Through this study, we have identified that several large and small-scale faults were found in the study area. Generally, these large-scale faults cut the bedrock (granodiorite) up to impermeable layer. This large-scale fault group can be a barrier that block the groundwater flow. The fault zone is connected to the surface as evidenced by the presence of normal fault that is clearly observed at the surface. This seismic method is good to apply in this study because it can be used to record deeper subsurface conditions, especially for fault zone detection purposes.