Active Faulting and Its Relationship with Regional Hydrogeological Regimes: A Case Study in the Villa de Reyes Graben, Central México
摘要
The Villa de Reyes Graben is a tectonic basin where structural studies have focused mainly on normal faulting, but little attention has been given to the active strike-slip faults in its interior. Moreover, the application of geophysical and hydrogeological methods is usually made separately, and research regarding the link between active faults and contaminant pathways to aquifers has yet to be made in this graben. This study integrates aeromagnetic, geoelectric, and hydrogeochemical data, to assess the likelihood that active faults act as contaminant pathways, and how these active faults influence the regional hydrogeological regime. Aeromagnetic data shows similar trending anomalies compared to mapped faults and flower structures that probably influence the area. The western sector of the study area shows the lowest magnetic anomaly values, which agrees with the cluster of recent seismic activity epicenters. Geoelectric data show how water infiltration takes place through shallow non-filled fractures, which may alter the water table at greater depths. Hydrogeochemical data reveal that meteoric water influence tends to increase near the more tectonically active western sector and decrease in the less active eastern sector. Geothermometer analysis reveals that geothermal water influence is non-existent. Finally, faulting analysis suggests that surface faulting appears to merge at depth, which could indicate that the tectonics of the area are controlled by flower structures. This study reveals zones that could act as either barriers or pathways for contaminants, which could have implications for land use planning and in the assessment of water scarcity challenges in the area.