Temporal and spatial variability of cross-fault groundwater-level differences: the impact of fault-induced permeability reduction, precipitation and evapotranspiration

Faults in the Roer Valley Rift System (Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany) act as barriers to lateral groundwater flow in unconsolidated sedimentary aquifers. This causes a cross-fault groundwater-level step of up to several metres. Using a dataset obtained through 5 years of high-frequency monitoring, the effect of fault-zone permeability,...