Outcrops of carbonate alpujárrides materials that are what make up the aquifer. The schists, phyllites and quartzites define the eastern and northern impervious substratum and edges, while contributing to the compartmentalization of the aquifer due to the existence of numerous tectonic scales. The southern and western limits are occupied by Miocene and Plioquaternary materials, which except those that make up the alluvial of the Almanzora River are of low permeability. The thickness of the limestone and aquifer dolomites is estimated at 300 m.
The feeding of the aquifer comes from the direct infiltration of part of the rain that falls on the permeable outcrops and from the surface run-off waters, coming from the shales and phyllites of the environment. The discharge is produced by boreholes and by springs and galleries located on the southern edge. This group of springs emerges together with a group of small Triassic carbonate outcrops that emerge in the Almanzora valley, in the middle of the Miocene loamy pack. The waters of these springs present the peculiarity of being slightly thermal (28 ° C or more), the most important being Cela, Perica, Cañada y Plaza, Algibe and Huelago. This thermalism is also manifested in certain soundings, some of which are upwelling.
The springs and galleries that are controlled show flows with slight decreases with a contribution of 3 to 4 Hm3 / year. The evolution of levels and flows of springs reveals the compartmentalisation of the aquifer in different blocks.
Like the Cela spring, the Fuencaliente upwellings are possibly linked to the existence of an important fracture, or zone of fractures forming the
"horst" of Fuencaliente, parallel to the edge of the Almanzora depression, thanks to which the emergence of water will take place, which would have circulated in depth through the carbonate formations of alpujarrides units.