Relationship Between Fault Zone Architecture and Groundwater Compartmentalization in the East Tintic Mining District, Utah

The Eureka Lilly fault zone provides an impermeable barrier for groundwater flow in the East Tintic mining district. The fault zone separates two distinct groundwaters that have different temperatures, compositions, and potentiometric surfaces. The damage zone of the fault is an extensive network of interconnected open fractures and fault intersections that provide conduits for groundwater flow in otherwise impermeable units. The fault core breccia has been re-cemented and mineralized, which eliminates porosity in the rock by creating a thick impermeable zone, which has compartmentalized groundwaters across the fault zone. The compartmentalization of groundwater shows that fault zone variability (from strain partitioning and multiple deformation episodes) make traditional basin flow concepts inaccurate and difficult to apply in this area.

Name thesis:degree_name

MS

Grantor dc:publisher

Brigham Young University - Provo

Author dc:creator

• Hamaker, Sandra Myrtle Conrad

• fault zone
• compartmentalization
• East Tintic
• Geology
• Hydrology
• groundwater
• fracture

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/708

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarsarchive.byu.edu:etd-1707