Hydrogeological study of the Burruyacu basin, Tucumán province, Argentina

Abstract

A geoelectrical survey (VES) was performed in the Burruyacu hydrogeological basin in the northeastern sector of Tucumán Province, Argentina. The area under study is bounded on the west by the Sierras de La Ramada and El Cajón, and on the east by Santiago del Estero Province (SEP). The Tajamar River is the only surface runway in the area; its source is west of the study area on the eastern slope of the mountains. The geoelectrical models, together with data from existing wells, made it possible to identify the permeable zones. Two aquifer systems have been distinguished. An upper unconfined aquifer system has sediments with larger grain size in the piedmont zone and the alluvial fan of Tajamar River, with aquifer levels at depths from 30 to 180m and waters suitable for irrigation.A lower confined aquifer system with artesian water is composed of mostly clay layers intercalated with sharp quartzy sands of medium to thick grain size. The sands are well developed throughout the depressed plain and beyond the boundary with SEP.