Behavior of the Guaraní Aquifer System on the uruguayan-brazilian border
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21701/bolgeomin.119.1.014Keywords:
Guaraní Aquifer system, hydrogeochemistry, numerical modeling, rechargeAbstract
The Guaraní Aquifer System (GAS) is a transboundary groundwater reservoir shared by Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The study presented here was performed in an area of the GAS covering an area of 650 km2, centered in the cities of Rivera (Uruguay) and Santana do Livramento (Brazil). In that region the sandstones of the Tacuarembó / Rivera Formation that forms the GAS outcrop to the surface receiving direct recharge from precipitation and indirect recharge from fractured basalts that locally overlie the sandstones. Piezometric levels, geologic/structural analysis and hydrogeochemical analyses, along with background information of the area, were used to construct the conceptual model of the system hydraulic behavior. Numerical simulations allowed to validate the hydrogeologic conceptual model, to reproduce the current system behavior, and to estimate an approximate recharge rate. Recharge rates resulted in 1.3 mm/year, and 140.2 mm/year over basalts and sandstones, respectively, equivalent to 0.08 % and 8.55 % of the mean annual precipitation. The model would indicate the presence of downward vertical flow, i.e. recharge between fractured basalt toward shallow sandstones, and from shallow sandstone to deep sandstones, verifying the working hypothesis regarding the multilayer nature of the aquifer. This hypothesis was postulated based on field data surveyed by the working group.
Downloads
References
Araújo, L.M., Franca, A.B., y Potter, P.E. 1995. Acuífero Gigante del Mercosur (Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay y Paraguay) Mapas Hidrogeológicos de las Formaciones Botucatú, Piramboiá, Rosario do Sul, Buena Vista, Misiones y Tacuarembó. PETROBRAS-UFPR., Brasil.
Bossi, J. and Schipilov, A. 1998. The Arapey Group: confining basalts of the Guarani Aquifer in Uruguay, Revista Agrociencia, Facultad de Agronomia, Universidad de la República Oriental del Uruguay, Vol II - 1, pp 12-25.
Decoud, P. y Rocha, L. 2000. Aportes a la hidráulica subterránea del Acuífero Guaraní en el NW del Uruguay. 1º Encuentro Mundial de Hidrogeología. Fortaleza, Brasil.
Dirección Nacional de Meteorología, DNM. Uruguay. 05/2006. http://www.meteorologia.com.uy.
Flores Machado, J.L. 2005. Compartimentação espacial e arcabouço hidroestratigráfico do Sistema Acuífero Guaraní no Rio Grande do Sul. Tese de Doutorado. Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos. Sao Leopoldo, Brasil.
Groundwater Modeling System - GMS V. 6.0 - 2006 Bringham Young University. EMS, Inc. Utah, USA.
Harbaugh, A.W., Banta, E.R., Hill, M.C. and McDonald, M.G. 2000. Modflow 2000, the U.S.G.S. Modular groundwater model - User guide to modularization concepts and the ground water flow process. USGS Open file report 00-92. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr200092
Montaño, J. y Carrión, R. 1990. Optimización de la explotación del sistema acuífero Jurásico Triásico Tacuarembó-Buena Vista. Anais 6º Congreso Brasileiro de Aguas Subterráneas. Trabajo Nº 44, pp. 181-189.
Montaño, J. y Pessi, M. 1985. Estudio hidrogeológico de Rivera. O.S.E. Montevideo, Uruguay.
Montaño, J., Tujchneider, O., Auge, M., Fili, M., Paris, M., D´Elía, M., Pérez, M., Naghi, M., Collazo, P. y Decoud, P. 1998. Acuíferos regionales en América Latina, Sistema Acuífero Guaraní, Capítulo Argentino-Uruguayo. Centro de Publicaciones, Secretaría de Extensión, U.N.L., Santa Fe, Argentina. 217 pp.
Oleaga, A. 2002. Contribución a la Hidrogeología del Acuífero Guaraní en el Sector Uruguay. Un enfoque Integral. Tesis de Maestría en Ciencias de la Tierra (Aguas Subterráneas). Instituto de Geología. UNAM. México D.F., México.
Pacheco, V.F. 2004. Informe Final: Estudio Hidrogeológico del Sistema Acuífero Guaraní en la zona Rivera - Santana do Livramento. II Curso Internacional de Hidrología Subterránea (Versión a Distancia). Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña, Barcelona, España.
Pérez, A. y Rocha, L. 2002. Aportes al conocimiento del acuífero Guaraní. Área Ciudad de Rivera - Uruguay. Groundwater and Human Development Conference. XXXII International Congress of the International Association of Hydrogeologists. Oct/02. Mar del Plata, Argentina.
Pessi, M. y Hardy, G. 1998. El Sistema Acuífero Tacuarembó en la ciudad de Rivera, Uruguay. 4º Congreso Latinoamericano de Hidrología Subterránea. ALHSUD. Montevideo, Uruguay. pp. 460-468.
Puri S., B. Appelgren, G. Arnold, A. Aureli, S. Burchi, J. Burke, J. Margat, P. Pallas, and W. von Igel. 2001. Internationally shared (transboundary) aquifer resources management, their significance and sustainable management: A framework document. IHP-VI, International Hydrological Programme, Non Serial Publications in Hydrology SC-2001/WS/40. Paris, France, UNESCO.
Rodríguez, L., Gómez, A., Oleaga, A., Pacheco, F., Roullier, G., Seoane, N., Silva Busso, A., Vives, L. 2006. Informe Final del proyecto “Desarrollo Metodológico para la Evaluación de la Recarga y la Vulnerabilidad del Sistema Acuífero Guaraní en Argentina y Uruguay”, Fondo de Universidades, Secretaría General del Proyecto para la Protección Ambiental y el Desarrollo Sostenible del Sistema Acuífero Guaraní.
Silva Busso, A. 1999. Contribución al Conocimiento Geológico e Hidrogeológico del Sistema Acuífero Termal de la Cuenca Chacoparanaense Oriental Argentina. Tesis Doctoral, Facultad de Cs. Exactas y Naturales, UBA.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
© CSIC. Manuscripts published in both the print and online versions of this journal are the property of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and quoting this source is a requirement for any partial or full reproduction.
All contents of this electronic edition, except where otherwise noted, are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. You may read the basic information and the legal text of the licence. The indication of the CC BY 4.0 licence must be expressly stated in this way when necessary.
Self-archiving in repositories, personal webpages or similar, of any version other than the final version of the work produced by the publisher, is not allowed.
