ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)

Unit - IV
Earthquakes
 Causes and Classifications
 Seismic waves, intensity and magnitude
 Seismic zones of India
 Geological Considerations
Underground Water
 Sources, Aquifers, Artesian wall
• Groundwater Provinces of India
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
GROUNDWATER PROVINCES OF INDIA
INTRODUCTION:
• India is occupied by rock types of different ages starting from
Archaean to recent and different mode of origins, mineral
composition and tectonic features.
• They are characterized by some sort of similarity in the
occurrence of ground water.
• These areas may be contiguous or not may be grouped into
common group of similarity of occurrence and can be called as
ground water provinces where minor difference in the hydrologic
and hydraulic properties of the formation is ignored.
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
GROUNDWATER PROVINCES OF INDIA
CLASSIFICATIONS:
The ground water provinces occurring in India generally coincide
with the stratigraphic units of India which have been classified into
eight categories as follows:
1. The Precambrian Crystalline
2. Precambrian Sedimentary
3. Gondwana Sedimentary
4. Deccan Trap
5. Cenozoic Sedimentary
6. Cenozoic Fault Basin
7. Indo- Gangetic Alluvial
8. Himalayan High Land
1) Pre-Cambrian Crystalline
Province:
It extends over half of the
country’s geographical area
covering Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra,
Dandakaranya, Bundelkhand and
Aravali range. This province is
deficient in ground water
resources.
2) Pre-Cambrian Sedimentary
Province:
It extends over Cuddapah and
Vindhyan basins where the rocks
belong to Cuddapah and
Vindhyan systems. This province
is also not much suitable for
ground water development and
contains inadequate amount of
ground water.
3) Gondwana Sedimentary
Province: The Gondwana
sedimentary rocks of the Barakar
and Godavari river basins contain
good aquifers of ground water.

4) Deccan Trap Province: These

are 1,200 metre thick covering of
impermeable basalt over the
surface which obstructs
percolation of water. As such, the
whole province is deficient in
ground water resources. The only
aquifers preserved are in the
fractures where secondary
porosity develops in the
weathered moorums.
5) Cenozoic Sedimentary
Province: This province includes
the Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,
Kerala and Gujarat coasts. These
areas have tertiary sandstones and
the province as a whole has good
aquifers.

6) Cenozoic Fault Basin: The rift

zone of the Narmada, the Purna
and the Tapi provides good
resource of ground water in their
80-160 metre thick alluvial cover
of sand, silt and clay.
7) Ganga-Brahmaputra Alluvial
Province: This is the richest
ground water province of the
country. The bhabar, tarai and the
axial belts are well defined. The
streams disappearing in the
unassorted materials of the bhabar
zone seep out in the tarai belt.
Moreover, the ground water table
is also high.

8) Himalayan Province: This

complex structural and
geographic unit is not very
significant with respect to ground
water resources. Local springs are
common but wells are a rare
feature.
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
GROUNDWATER PROVINCES OF INDIA
CONCLUSION:
The above description leads as to the conclusion that the ground
water resource are influenced by a number of natural conditions of
which climate (particularly rainfall and temperature), relief features
(topography), geological structure and hydrological setup are of
outstanding significance.
ENGINEERING GEOLOGY (TCE-406)
GROUNDWATER PROVINCES OF INDIA

ACTIVITY FOR STUDENTS:

• Draw the map of India and show underground provinces in India
using different colors.
• Distinguish between Aquifers, Aquitard, Aquifuge and Artesian
well with the help of diagram.