Hydrogeological favorability of fractured aquifers: São Domingos River Basin, Rio de Janeiro state

Abstract

Studies of aquifer favorability have been developed to reduce uncertainty in water well location and to define the hydrogeological potential of crystalline aquifers. The use of geoprocessing tools and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) proved efficient in determination of areas with a higher hydrogeological potential. The area of study is the São Domingos River Basin (SDRB), located in the Northwestern Region of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, including the entire São José de Ubá and a small part of Itaperuna municipalities. The main objective is to determine the hydrogeological favorability of the SDRB as a contribution to the management of the region's water resources, as well as elaborate a methodology to produce a cartography of hydrogeological favorability. As a result, hydrogeological favorability maps of SDRB were elaborated, comprising five classes of favorability, with two great domains: the central portion presenting classes of higher favorability and the upper basin with classes of lower favorability. The conclusions are: 1) favorability of the SDRB is strongly conditioned by the basin's geologic-structural settings; 2) the method used proved efficient in the evaluation of the fractured aquifers favorability.