Fracture pattern and electrical resistivity studies for groundwater exploration

Abstract

The occurrence, movement and control of groundwater, particularly in hard-rock areas, are governed by different factors such as topography, lithology, structures like fractures, faults and nature of weathering. An attempt is made in the present study to investigate the extent of the influence of structures such as fractures and thereby delineate the nature of subsurface lithology with the help of an electrical resistivity method. For this study, the Upper Gunjanaeru River basin, Cuddapah district Andhra Pradesh was chosen to determine groundwater potentials. In order to understand the significance of the fracture pattern, geological, hydrogeomorphological and lineament maps were prepared based on the field data and also from the LANDSAT TM imagery. Further, electrical resistivity surveys were conducted to determine the subsurface lithology and also to confirm the studies of LANDSAT imagery. The isoresistivity contour map has been prepared based on the 45 VES conducted to determine the resistivity variations in the study area. The isoresistivity contours obtained were found to conform to the structural trends obtained by geological studies and also confirm the relationship between the structure and secondary porosity present in the rocks. The lineaments in the area have two preferred directions. One set is a NE-SW direction (N 30°–70° E; S 30°–70° W) and another is a NW-SE direction (N 0°–30° W; S 0°–30° E and N 60°–80° W; S 60°–80° E). The water-table contour map shows that the direction of groundwater flow is south to north.