Initial Research

Before a project starts ...

Fracture Trace Analysis and Lineament Studies

Fracture trace analysis and lineament studies are applied when large areas shall be scanned for water. This method helps us narrowing down the size of the area to be surveyed, to preselect target areas with high probability of finding water, and to prioritize targets. Since this analysis will be carried out by evaluation of existing geologic and geophysical maps (desktop research), it will be done well in advance of any site visit, thereby saving cost and time.

Source: Water Well Location by Fracture Trace Mapping, PennState Extension

The basis for fracture trace water well location is quite simple. There are zones of structural weakness in the earth’s crust that contain zones of fracture concentration in the underlying bedrock.

These fractures are actually cracks in the rock that are clustered in zones 5 to 50 feet wide, 100 to 200 feet deep, and several thousand feet to more than a mile in length.

Each fracture zone may contain one or as many as 200 separate fractures or cracks and there may be five or ten fractures or zones of fractures in any 100-acre area.

Source: Water Well Location by Fracture Trace Mapping, PennState Extension

Water resource mapping using advanced geophysical analytics will reveal more lineaments–and which ones carry the signature of high probability for water.

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Radiometric survey