Abstract
Two types of aquifer are present on the West African Shield: those in the hardrock, connected with fault and fissure systems, and the weathered mantle aquifer. This hydraulically connected aquifer system is generally regarded as highly discontinuous with individual compartments in which isolated groundwater circulation occurs. Extensive drilling for rural and urban water supply in Burkina Faso, Niger and Ghana has, however, brought evidence for the presence of a continuous piezometric surface over large areas. Hydrochemical and isotope data and the cyclic fluctuation of groundwater levels provide evidence for a regional recharge-discharge system. The importance of this regional system increases from north to south in tandem with higher precipitation. The hypothesis of a substantial lateral flow in the fault and fissure system was applied in the study for the location of new well fields for the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou.
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© 1988 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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van der Sommen, J.J., Geirnaert, W. (1988). On the Continuity of Aquifer Systems on the Crystalline Basement of Burkina Faso. In: Simmers, I. (eds) Estimation of Natural Groundwater Recharge. NATO ASI Series, vol 222. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7780-9_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7780-9_3
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