Groundwater Resources of Península Valdés

ALVAREZ MARÍA DEL PILAR; HERNÁNDEZ, MARIO ALBERTO

Late Cenozoic of Península Valdés, Patagonia, Argentina. An Interdisciplinary Approach

Springer

Año: 2016;

In this chapter, the groundwater resources of Península Valdés are analyzed in order to recognize the influence of the late Cenozoic stratigraphic record and the geomorphology on the hydrogeology of the region. The geology of the study area defines a hydrogeological sequence that begins with a non-saturated zone of variable thickness and an essentially aquifer-like behaviour. Under the non-saturated zone there is a phreatic aquifer within the Quaternary deposits or in the sandstones of the Puerto Madryn Formation, and below it, one or more semi-confined or confined aquifers in the same formation or in the underlying Gaiman Formation. The aquifer levels located in the Puerto Madryn Formation are main water supply that supports the farming activities in the region. The groundwater hydrodynamic and the associated hydrochemical and isotopic characteristics are closely related to the climate and to the relationship between the geomorphology and lithology of the region. As climate is quite homogeneous all over the peninsula, the different relationships between the geomorphological and lithological unit allows to define four hydrogeological regions: (1) Aeolian landforms, which represents the main recharge zone with the low salinity waters; (2) Terrace levels, as the circulation area with high salinity waters, (3) Endorheic depressions that are the inland discharge sector where the evaporation is the dominant process and hypersaline playa lakes occurs, and (4) Coastal systems which represents both the regional discharge area as well as the local recharge zone with low salinity groundwater reservoirs