Caracterização hídrica da Lagoa da Gruta da Faustina, região cárstica de Lagoa Santa, município de Matozinhos, MG

Abstract

The Lagoa Santa karst is an environmentally protected area located near the city of Belo Horizonte. The region is home to numerous lakes resulting from its complex water system due to the karst evolution in the region. This study aims to understand the water dynamics of one of the lakes in the karst, the Gruta da Faustina lake, by monitoring hydrological data and collecting geospatial data. The study was based on the identification of historical climatological data in order to assess the climatological balance of the region, later emphasized by means of geoprocessing methods for the identification and detection of the water mirrors of the Gruta da Faustina lake. The variations in precipitation, despite contributing in part to the increase in volume, were not sufficient to account for the variations in the volume of the lake, thus indicating a relationship between the lake and the groundwater that circulates in the karst. The geomorphology of the system is typical of a karst aquifer system, and is one of the factors responsible for maintaining the aquifer level. The high water level of the lake during some dry periods confirms that it is being fed by groundwater, since despite the high percentage of real evapotranspiration in the region, the water level of the lake remained high during several periods, indicating that the aquifer system is probably connected and elevated in the region.