Crystalline Rock Aquifers: Their Occurrence, Use And Importance

Abstract

Only recently has significant attention been paid to groundwater in hard rocks. The reason is probably the normally limited yield of water wells in such lithologies. Their importance for water-supply has increased, especially in the Third World, during recent years. In shield areas in temperate regions, hard rocks have been important for rural water supply for a long time. The relatively new attention to hard rock hydrogeology is also due to the fact that crystalline rocks are vulnerable to acidification and that several countries plan to use deep repositories in crystalline rocks for spent nuclear fuel. Added to this, new hydrogeological investigation methods for fractured aquifers have come into use in pre-investigations for rock installations. This paper gives a brief overview of the occurrence and properties of aquifers in crystalline rocks, and also examines some practical aspects of their use.