[Research] The Fylde Aquifer

Structural controls on groundwater flow in the Permo-Triassic sandstones of NW England
K. J. Seymour (keith.seymour@environment-agency.gov.uk), J. A. Ingram (john.ingram@environment-agency.gov.uk) and S. J. Gebbett (simon.gebbett@environment-agency.gov.uk)
+ Author Affiliations

Environment Agency , Richard Fairclough House, Knutsford Road, Warrington, Cheshire WA4 1HG, UK
Abstract

There is increasing evidence that groundwater flow in many parts of the major Permo-Triassic sandstone aquifers of NW England is influenced strongly by predominantly N-S-trending faults. These structural controls on groundwater flow may only become apparent when the aquifers are subject to abstraction stress. A series of case examples are presented, from the Fylde Sandstone aquifer north of Preston, and from the sandstone aquifers of the Lower Mersey Basin, Manchester and Wirral areas. In these studies the ‘compartmentalization’ of the aquifers by faults has been recognized in field investigations and also in numerical modelling studies related to groundwater resources development on both local and aquifer-wide scales.
http://sp.lyellcollection.org/content/263/1/169.abstract