Groundwater occurrence in Basement aquifers in Limpopo Province,South Africa: model-setting-scenario approach

More than 1,000 constant discharge and step-drawdown pumping tests each were analysed for an area underlain by Basement granite in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The climate and topography vary greatly over the study area, with fairly constant prevailing neotectonic stresses. The pumping tests were analysed via the methods of Theis (Am Geophys Union Trans 14(2):519–524, 1935), Cooper and Jacob (Am Geophys Union Trans 27:526–534, 1946), Logan (Groundw 2:35–37,1964) and Birsoy and Summers (Groundw 18:137–146, 1980). Transmissivities obtained from the different methods were assigned a scenario of high (>100 m²/day), intermediate (10–100 m²/day) or low (<10 m²/day). These scenarios were superimposed on models controlling flow (shear zones, open structures, closed structures, contacts and the weathered aquifer) and settings (inherent prevailing climatic and neotectonic conditions) to evaluate the controls of groundwater occurrence in Basement terrain.