The main object of this research is to classify the groundwater vulnerability to contamination in a limited area of the Sedimentary Basin of Araripe. The area includes eight counties located in the south of the State of Ceará, in the Northeast region of Brazil. The methodology was based on the GOD method (Foster & Hirata, 1988) that consists in the analysis of the groundwater presence, the overall geological stratification of aquifer and the depth of water. The methodology uses several indexes to classify the aquifer. The final result is obtained by the multiplication of the indexes and they can be used to generate a map that indicates the distribution vulnerability levels of the aquifer. The results, in percentile terms, indicate that the area presents predominant vulnerability to contamination between moderate (41%) to high (59%), suggesting the need for development and implementation of groundwater protection zoning.
Groundwater; vulnerability; contamination; GOD method; Sedimentary Basin of Araripe; Brazil
