Evidence for structurally controlled recharge in the Blue Ridge Province, Virginia, USA

Abstract

Physical and geophysical data collected at a fractured-rock research site in the Blue Ridge Province of Virginia, USA indicate that recharge rates to a fractured-rock aquifer are controlled by a small-scale thrust fault associated with regional thrust faulting. Recharge rates appear to be correlated to spatial variation in the hydraulic conductivity of the regolith, which has been influenced by weathering rates and the metamorphic and structural history of the underlying parent material. The angle of dip of the thrust-fault shear zone and the fracturing within the crystalline rock adjacent to the fault plane appear to serve as geologic controls that preferentially direct infiltrated meteoric water to a deeper confined fractured-rock aquifer. In-situ analysis of electrical resistivity, matric potential and moisture content shows two distinctly different recharge processes which are spatially correlated with the structure of the shallow subsurface (regolith overlying the vertically oriented shear zone and regolith overlying the thrust-fault hanging wall), and which have strong temporal correlations with the dynamics of the underlying saturated conditions. Recharge flux within the regolith overlying the vertically oriented shear zone is strongly controlled by the orientation and areal extent of the thrust-fault shear zone, highlighting the importance of accurate delineation of recharge areas in crystalline rock aquifer systems.