Structural controls on bedrock weathering in crystalline basement terranes and its implications on groundwater resources
Abstract Crystalline basement rock aquifers underlie more than 20% of the earth’s surface. However, owing to an inadequate understanding of geological structures, it is challenging to locate the groundwater resources in crystalline hard rock terranes. In these terranes, faults, fractures, and shear...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15889-x |
| _version_ | 1811293480278818816 |
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| author | Rudra Mohan Pradhan Anand Singh Arun Kumar Ojha Tapas Kumar Biswal |
| author_facet | Rudra Mohan Pradhan Anand Singh Arun Kumar Ojha Tapas Kumar Biswal |
| author_sort | Rudra Mohan Pradhan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Crystalline basement rock aquifers underlie more than 20% of the earth’s surface. However, owing to an inadequate understanding of geological structures, it is challenging to locate the groundwater resources in crystalline hard rock terranes. In these terranes, faults, fractures, and shear zones play an important role in bedrock weathering and ultimately groundwater storage. This study integrates important geological structures with 2D high-resolution subsurface resistivity images in understanding the factors that influenced bedrock weathering and groundwater. The results reveal the variability of weathered zone depth in different structural zones (Zone-I to Zone-IV). This is due to the presence of foliations, fractures, and faults. A thicker weathered zone develops when a fracture/fault overprints a pre-existing planar pervasive structure like foliations (Zone-II) as compared to zones only with faults/fractures (Zone-III). Further, the transmissivity of boreholes also shows relatively higher in Zone-II than Zone-III, which implies a good pact between different structural features and possible groundwater storage. The study also demonstrates the role of paleostress and different tectonic structures influencing the depth of the “Critical Zone”. While the geology may vary for different structural terranes, the approach presented in this paper can be readily adopted in mapping bedrock weathering and groundwater resources in crystalline basement terranes globally. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:02:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ba06abc8d47646a4a6d0a28497cbf58d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:02:02Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-ba06abc8d47646a4a6d0a28497cbf58d2022-12-22T03:01:18ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-07-0112112210.1038/s41598-022-15889-xStructural controls on bedrock weathering in crystalline basement terranes and its implications on groundwater resourcesRudra Mohan Pradhan0Anand Singh1Arun Kumar Ojha2Tapas Kumar Biswal3Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology BombayDepartment of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology BombayNational Geophysical Research InstituteDepartment of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology BombayAbstract Crystalline basement rock aquifers underlie more than 20% of the earth’s surface. However, owing to an inadequate understanding of geological structures, it is challenging to locate the groundwater resources in crystalline hard rock terranes. In these terranes, faults, fractures, and shear zones play an important role in bedrock weathering and ultimately groundwater storage. This study integrates important geological structures with 2D high-resolution subsurface resistivity images in understanding the factors that influenced bedrock weathering and groundwater. The results reveal the variability of weathered zone depth in different structural zones (Zone-I to Zone-IV). This is due to the presence of foliations, fractures, and faults. A thicker weathered zone develops when a fracture/fault overprints a pre-existing planar pervasive structure like foliations (Zone-II) as compared to zones only with faults/fractures (Zone-III). Further, the transmissivity of boreholes also shows relatively higher in Zone-II than Zone-III, which implies a good pact between different structural features and possible groundwater storage. The study also demonstrates the role of paleostress and different tectonic structures influencing the depth of the “Critical Zone”. While the geology may vary for different structural terranes, the approach presented in this paper can be readily adopted in mapping bedrock weathering and groundwater resources in crystalline basement terranes globally.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15889-x |
| spellingShingle | Rudra Mohan Pradhan Anand Singh Arun Kumar Ojha Tapas Kumar Biswal Structural controls on bedrock weathering in crystalline basement terranes and its implications on groundwater resources Scientific Reports |
| title | Structural controls on bedrock weathering in crystalline basement terranes and its implications on groundwater resources |
| title_full | Structural controls on bedrock weathering in crystalline basement terranes and its implications on groundwater resources |
| title_fullStr | Structural controls on bedrock weathering in crystalline basement terranes and its implications on groundwater resources |
| title_full_unstemmed | Structural controls on bedrock weathering in crystalline basement terranes and its implications on groundwater resources |
| title_short | Structural controls on bedrock weathering in crystalline basement terranes and its implications on groundwater resources |
| title_sort | structural controls on bedrock weathering in crystalline basement terranes and its implications on groundwater resources |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15889-x |
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