Groundwater Resource in the Crystalline Rocks of the Johannesburg Area, South Africa

Tamiru A. Abiye, Haile Mengistu, Molla B. Demlie

.

DOI: 10.4236/jwarp.2011.34026                

Abstract

Understanding the groundwater dynamics is very important for strategic management of the water resource as urbanization and population growth put South Africa’s current water supply under tremendous stress. The groundwater resources potential and quality characteristics of the greater Johannesburg area, was thoroughly assessed using hydrogeochemical and environmental isotope techniques. The results of the geochemical and stable isotope investigations help understand the groundwater setting. Mixing process of fresh and polluted water is taking place at shallow zones within the weathered crystalline rocks and dissolution cavities in dolomites, where the rocks are characterized by the lithological and structural complexities. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the solute composition of the water results from two basic contributions: the reaction of meteoric water with weathered zones in the near surface area and direct infiltration through dolomite dissolution cavities. The results further indicate that the dominant movement mechanism of ions is through a diffusive process, which could be due to the limited availability of fractures with depth and its possible sealing by calcite precipitation. Consequently, the provenance of groundwater circulation is limited to shallow depths, however, dissolution cavities, fractured and sheared zones allow deeper circulation of groundwater. Moreover, the natural water quality is found to be highly impacted by acid mine drainage which is derived from the gold mines in the Witwatersrand basin as it has been observed in previous studies.

Keywords

Crystalline Aquifer, Diffusive Circulation, Dissolution Cavities, Johannesburg, Water Supply

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	M. S. Basson and J. A. Van Rooven, “Tunneling into the Future: The Role of Water Resources Development in South Africa,” Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1998, pp. 35-38. doi:10.1016/S0886-7798(98)00019-4
[2]	F. S. Botha and J. L. Van Rooy, “Affordable Water Resource Development in the Northern Province,” African Earth Sciences, South Africa, Vol. 33, 2001, pp 687-692.
[3]	D. B. Bredenkamp, C. Van der Westhuizen, F. E. Wiegmans and C. Kuhn, “Groundwater Supply Potential of Dolomite Compartments West of Krugersdorp,” Directorate of Geohydrology, DWAF1986., Report No. GH 3440. Pretoria, South Africa.
[4]	D. B. Buttrick, J. L. VAN Root and R. Ligthelm, “Environmental Geological Aspects of the Dolomites of South Africa,” Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol. 16, 1993, pp. 53-61. doi:10.1016/0899-5362(93)90161-I
[5]	D. B. Bredenkamp and Y. Xu, “Perspectives on Recharge Estimation in Dolomitic Aquifers in South Africa,” In: Y. Xu and H. F. Beekman, Eds., Groundwater Recharge Estimation in Southern Africa, UNESCO, 2003, p. 207.
[6]	DWAF (Department of Water Affairs and Forestry), “Hydrology of Upper Crocodile River Sub-System,” Report No. PA200/00/1492, Vol. 1-2, DWAF 1992, Pretoria, South Africa.
[7]	P. G. Cook, A. J. Love, N. I. Robinson and C. T. Simmons, “Groundwater Ages in Fractured Rock Aquifers,” Journal of Hydrology, 2005, Vol. 308, pp. 284-301. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2004.11.005
[8]	M. Gascoyne, “Hydrogeochemistry, Groundwater Ages and Sources of Salts in a Granitic Batholiths on the Canadian Shield, Southern Manitoba,” Applied Geochemistry, 2004, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 519-560.doi:10.1016/S0883-2927(03)00155-0
[9]	I. Stober and K. Bucher, “Deep Groundwater in the Crystalline Basement of the Black Forest Region,” Applied Geochemistry, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1999, pp. 237-254.
[10]	H. C. Barnard, “An Explanation for the 1:500,000 Hydrogeological Map of Johannesburg 2526,” Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Pretoria, Johannesburg, RSA, 2000.
[11]	Ferret Report, “Derivation of a Numerical Model for a Cumulative Water Balance of the Central Rand Basin,” Council for Geosciences, Pretoria, South Africa, 2005.
[12]	Africa Geo-Environmental Services (AGES) Report, “Numerical Modeling of Seepage Potential at Three Ingress Areas of the Central Rand Basin of the Witwatersrand Goldfields,” Council for Geosciences, Pretoria, South Africa, 2005.
[13]	K. T. Witthüser and M. Holland, “Hydrogeology of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, South Africa,” The 12th International Conference of International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics (IACMAG), 1-6 October, 2008, Goa, India.
[14]	H. Coetzee, E. Chirenje, P. Hobbs and J. Cole, “Ground and Airborne Geophysical Surveys Identify Potential Subsurface Acid Mine Drainage Pathways in the Krugersdorp Game Reserve, Gauteng Province, South Africa,” Proceedings of the 11th SAGA Meeting and Exhibition, Swaziland, 16-18 September 2009, pp. 461-470.
[15]	P. J. Hobbs and J. E. Cobbing, “A Hydrogeological Assessment of Acid Mine Drainage Impacts in the West Rand Basin,” Report No. CSIR/THRIP, Gauteng Province, South Africa, 2007.
[16]	M. Poujol and C. R. Anhaeusser, “The Johannesburg Dome, South Africa: New Single Zircon U-Pb Isotopic Evidence for Early Arcahean Granite-Greenstone Development within the Central Kaapvaal Craton,” Precambrian Research 2001, Vol. 108, pp. 139-157. doi:10.1016/S0301-9268(00)00161-3
[17]	E. S. Barton, W. Compston, I. S. Williams, J. W. Bristow, D. K. Hallbauer and C. B. Smith, “Provenance Ages for the Witwatersrand Supergroup and the Ventersdorp Contact Reef: Constraints from Ion-Microprobe U-Pb Ages of Detrital Zircons,” Economic Geology, Vol. 84, 1989, pp. 2012-2019. doi:10.2113/gsecongeo.84.7.2012
[18]	R. A. Armstrong, W. Compston, E. A. Retief, L. S. William and H. J. Welke, “Zircon Ion Microprobe Studies Bearing on the Age and Evolution of the Witwatersrand triad,” Precambrian Research, Vol. 53, 1991, pp 243-266. doi:10.1016/0301-9268(91)90074-K
[19]	J. M. Barton, E. S. W. Barton and A. Kroner, “Age and Isotopic Evidence for the Origin of the Archaean Granitoid Intrusive of the Johannesburg Dome, South Africa,” Journal Afrcan Earth Sciences, Vol. 28, No. 3, 1999, pp 693-702. doi:10.1016/S0899-5362(99)00039-1
[20]	R. E. Meyers, T. S., McCarthy and I. G. Stanistreet, “A Tectono-Sedimentary Reconstruction of the Development and Evolution of the Witwatersrand Basin, with Particular Emphasis on the Central rand Group,” South African Journal of Geology, Vol. 93, No. 1, 1990, pp. 180-201.
[21]	L. J. Robb and F. M. Meyer, “The Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa: Geological Framework and Mineralization Processes,” Ore Geology Reviews, Vol. 10, No. 2, 1995, pp. 67-94. doi:10.1016/0169-1368(95)00011-9
[22]	T. S. McCarthy, “The Witwatersrand Supergroup,” In: C. R. Haeusser, R. J. Thoms, and M. R. Johnson, Eds., The Geology of South Africa, 2006, pp. 155-186.
[23]	P. G. Eriksson and C. W. Clendenin, “A Review of the Transvaal Sequence, South Africa,” Journal of African Earth Sciences, Vol. 10, No. 1-2, 1990, pp. 101-116. doi:10.1016/0899-5362(90)90049-K
[24]	P. G. Eriksson, W. Altermann and F. J. Hartzer, “The Transvaal Supergroup and Its Precursors,” In: M. R. Johnson, C. R. Anhaeusser and R. J. Thoms, Eds., The Geology of South Africa, 2006, pp. 237-260.
[25]	H. C. Barnard, “Hydrogeological Map of Johannesburg 2526. 1:500 000 Department of Water Affairs and Forestry,” Pretoria, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1999.
[26]	M. J. Duane, G. Pigozzi and C. Harris, “Geochemistry of Some Deep Gold Mine Waters from the Western Portion of the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa,” Journal of African Earth Sciences, 1997, Vol. 24, No. 1-2, pp. 105-123. doi:10.1016/S0899-5362(97)00030-4
[27]	C. R. Anhaeusser, “Ultramafic and Mafic Intrusions of the Kaapvaal Craton,” In: M. R. Johnson, C. R. Anhaeusser, R. J. Tomas, Eds., The Geology of South Africa, Council for Geosciences, 2006, pp. 95-134.
[28]	K. Barnes, W. Ellery and A. Kindness, “A Preliminary Analysis of Water Chemistry of the Mkuze Wetland System, KwaZulu-Natal: A mass Balance Approach,” WaterSA, Vol. 28, No. 1, 2001, pp. 1-12.
[29]	B. O’Shea and J. Jankowski, “Detecting Subtle HydroGeochemical Anomalies with Multivariable Statistics: An Example from ‘Homogenous’ Groundwater in the Great Artesian Basin, Australia,” Hydrological Processes, Vol. 20, 2006, pp. 4317-4333.
[30]	D. Dong, Q. Wu, R. Zhang, Y. Song, S. Chen, P. Li, S. Liu, C. Bi, Z. Lv and S. Huang, “Environmental Characteristics of the Groundwater: An Application of PCA to Water Chemistry Analysis in Yulin,” Journal of China University Mining and Technology, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2007, pp. 0073-0077.
[31]	X. L. Statisti, “Statistixl 1.5, Broadwa-Nedlands, Western Australia,” 2005. http://www.statistixl.com
[32]	K. Sami, “Recharge Mechanisms and Geochemical Processes in a Semi Arid Sedimentary Basin, Eastern Cape, South Africa,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 139, 1992, pp. 27-48. doi:10.1016/0022-1694(92)90193-Y
[33]	S. Adams, R. Titus, K. Pietersen, G. Tredoux and C. Harris, “Hydrochemical Characteristics of Aquifers Near Sutherland in the Western Karoo, South Africa,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 241, No. 1-2, 2001, pp. 91-103. doi:10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00370-X