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Northeastern Section - 38th Annual Meeting (March 27-29, 2003)

Paper No. 2
Presentation Time: 8:40 AM

MARITIMES GROUNDWATER INITIATIVE: TOWARDS AN INVENTORY OF GROUNDWATER RESOURCES OF THE MARITIMES CARBONIFEROUS BASIN, CANADA


MICHAUD, Yves1, RIVARD, Christine1, MORIN, Roger H.2, BOISVERT, Vincent3, CARRIER, Cynthia4, CASTONGUAY, S.ébastien1, CALVERT, Tom5, PUPEK, Darryl A.6, LEFEBVRE, René7 and CHALIFOUX, Stéphane8, (1)Geological Survey of Canada, Nat Rscs Canada, 880 Chemin Sainte-Foy, bureau 840, Quebec, QC G1S 2L2, Canada, (2)U.S. Geol Survey, Mail Stop 403, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225, (3)INRS-Eau, Terre et Environnement, 880 Chemin Ste-Foy, bureau 840, Quebec, QC G1S 2L2, Canada, (4)Geography, Laval Univ, Cité Universitaire, Sainte-Foy, QC G1K 7P4, Canada, (5)Geol Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, ON K1A 0E8, Canada, (6)NB Department of Environ and Local Goverment, 12 McGloin street, Marysville, NB, Canada, (7)Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique - Eau, Terre et Environnement, 880 Chemin Sainte-Foy, bur. 840, C.P. 7500, Sainte-Foy, QC G1V 4C7, Canada, (8)Tecsult Inc, 85 Ste-Catherine West, Montreal, QC H2X 3P4, Canada, ymichaud@nrcan.gc.ca

Groundwater is an important source of water supply for the Maritimes population. Most of this groundwater originates from aquifers within sedimentary rocks of the Carboniferous Basin. The Maritimes Groundwater Initiative (MGWI) is a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency research project that aims to improve the understanding of groundwater flow dynamics within the major aquifers of the Carboniferous Basin, mainly in eastern New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and north-western Nova Scotia. The main objective of the project is to provide a regional groundwater resource assessment in the Maritimes, that will facilitate the efficient integration of groundwater management and protection. Hydrogeological delineation and characterization were carried out at 1:250000 map scale in the Moncton sub-basin to develop a representative conceptual hydrogeological model for the Maritimes Carboniferous Basin. The region under study covers approximately 20 000 km2. Both existing information and extensive field work were utilized to define the geological context, the groundwater quantity and quality, and a water budget for the area. Field work consisted in a regional water-level survey, pumping, permeability and packer tests, soil and rock sampling, groundwater sampling, drilling and installation of shallow monitoring wells, borehole geophysical logging and near-surface geophysical surveys. This work showed that the main regional aquifer system exploited consists mainly of unconfined and confined fractured rock. The study also shows that some groundwater can be found in both porous-media (granular aquifers) and wetlands. In general, groundwater is of fairly good quality and quite abundant in some locations with an estimated recharge rate of up to 300 mm/year depending on the spatial distribution of permeable surficial sediments. However, where thick impermeable till overlays the bedrock, groundwater recharge can be quite limited.

Session No. 19

S1. Regional Hydrogeological Studies in Northeastern America
Friday, 28 March 2003: 8:15 AM-12:00 PM
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 35, No. 3, February 2003, p.31
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