Imaging of Fault and Fracture Controls in the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer, Southern Oklahoma, USA, through Electrical Resistivity Sounding and Tomography Methods

Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer in southern Oklahoma, USA, is a major source of water for industrial and municipal use. It is also a major source for spring-fed streams in the area. As part of an ongoing study to map and characterize the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, an electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) study and electrical resistivity sounding studies were conducted in Johnston County, Oklahoma, USA, to map the subsurface of a small area of the carbonate aquifer. The main aim of the study was to obtain constraints on the location of near surface faults and fractures and how they control groundwater flow in the study area. The interpreted resistivity section along an N-S profile indicates that the water table in the region is deepening to the south and probably bounded in the north by a south dipping fault. Inverse modeling of 2D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) data acquired at two adjacent locations within the study area indicate shallow, fractured Arbuckle group rocks saturated with water adjacent to dry rocks. From electrical resistivity mapping results, it is inferred that the Mill Creek block in the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer is an isolated system, interacting with the northern segment of a silicate-based aquifer through dissolution faults and fractures.