Viagem virtual ao Aqüífero Guarani em Botucatu (SP): Formações Pirambóia e Botucatu, Bacia do Paraná

Abstract

This virtual trip comprises a short list of noticeable places around the city of Botucatu, State of São Paulo, where the exposed rocks compose the Guarani Aquifer. The Aquifer is an immense fresh water source whose limits exceed the Brazilian borders. The water of the Guarani Aquifer is mostly used for public supply of hundreds of medium- to large cities. The quality of the resource is at risk by inadequate human activities, of agriculture, industrial activity and unapropriate disposal of domestic and industrial waste. The trip helps understanding what is an aquifer and the environmental issues related to quality preservation of underground water sources. In the area the sedimentary layers of the Parana basin exposed in the surface have been formed during a time when the territory was covered by a vast interior climatic desert whose dimensions have been probably bigger than the present-day Sahara desert. To preserve the present-day conditions of the reservoir it seems to be useful to enhance three basic aspects: (i) the unique geologic conditions under which the rocks have originated; (II) the confinement of the reserves, an increasing fragility factor of the system to pollution; (III) the finitude of the reserves, in spite of the fact the reserves are very large. The virtual trip comprises three routes, each one involving three stops. All of them try to stress out a few essential aspects to give an idea of the singular geologic history and fragility of the natural system