A study of dissolution and water-bearing characteristics of the restricted platform dolomite facies in the karst areas of Guizhou, China

Abstract

The restricted platform facies dolomites are widely distributed in the northern and northeastern Guizhou, China, and they are the main lithology of karst groundwater and a primary target for locating drinking water resources in the province of Guizhou. The geological history and deposition environment of the restricted platform dolomite facies vary significantly across the province, making it more difficult to evaluate the dissolution and water-bearing capacity of karstic dolomites. This paper explores a quantitative approach to assessing the solubility of four typical geological strata using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) modeling. Properties including CaO/MgO, clast content, porosity, permeability and fracture density are investigated and used as the major criteria in the AHP analysis to render the rankings for solubility among the studied formations. Hydrogeological characteristics are also discussed. Overall the presented results demonstrate the feasibility of AHP as a modeling tool to provide a quantitative approach when a wide range of properties need to be considered. The explored approach can have strong implications for the exploitation and utilization of karst groundwater in Guizhou, China.