Carbonate Aquifer Characterization Laboratory
The Carbonate Aquifer Characterization Laboratory (CACL) was initiated to promote collaborative research on carbonate aquifer characterization between the USGS and other governmental scientific agencies and academia. And, also to provide applied research for local, state, and federal agencies, and private industry, when research needs are within the scope of the USGS mission.
As the primary Federal science agency for water-resources information, the USGS is responsible for monitoring the quantity and quality of water in the Nation's rivers and aquifers and assessing the sources and fate of contaminants in aquatic systems. Towards this goal, a top priority for the USGS is to provide information to better define and manage the quality of the Nation's water resources. The CACL directly addresses this priority issue for the USGS by improving strategies to identify and protect drinking-water sources. The approach of the CACL is focused on the integration of the various disciplines that include core examination, sequence stratigraphy, borehole geophysics, digital optical borehole imaging, seismic, ground-penetrating radar, and 3D geomodeling.
Our mission
The mission of the Carbonate Aquifer Characterization Laboratory (CACL) is to develop methods for carbonate aquifer characterization and conduct applied research that focuses on better understanding groundwater flow in multi-porosity carbonate aquifers. Groundwater flow in carbonate aquifers is particularly difficult to characterize because of a broad range in pore size and complicated pore connectivity. Diverse porosity and permeability networks represent a significant challenge to the accurate simulation of carbonate aquifer groundwater flow. This research is integrating the use of state-of-the-art technologies, including:
- Study of outcrop and subsurface carbonate rocks
- Cyclostratigraphy
- Ichnology
- High-multichannel 2D and 3D seismic
- Advanced borehole geophysics
- Digital optical borehole imagingComputational methods (eg., Lattice Boltzmann methods)
- 3D geomodeling with ROXAR RMS™
- Ground-penetrating radar
Capabilities
The capabilities of the Carbonate Aquifer Characterization Laboratory (CACL) are diverse and have largely concentrated on (1) hydrogeologic framework studies, (2) aquifer characterization, and (3) freshwater-saltwater interface delineation. Major specific technologies used by and available at the CACL include:
- Geologic analyses (sequence stratigraphy, lithostratigraphy, paleontology, petrography, ichnology, karstology [Reese and Cunningham, 2000; Cunningham et al., 2001a,b, 2003, 2004a,b, 2006a,b, 2007, 2008, 2010a,b; Ward et al., 2003; Rigby and Cunningham 2007; Cunningham and Florea, 2009; Cunningham and Walker, 2009; Hine et al., 2009; Cunningham and Sukop, 2011; Cunningham and Sukop, 2012; Cunningham et al., 2012a,b])
- Marine high-resolution multi-channel seismic (Kingdom Suite SMT™ software [Cunningham and Walker, 2009; Cunningham et al., 2012]) Marine high-resolution, multichannel seismic-reflection data acquired on the southeastern Florida peninsula in a canal. [larger image]
- Advanced borehole geophysics (Cunningham et al., 2004c, 2010b; Wacker and Cunningham, 2008) Geophysical Equipment List (Available from CFWSC-Davie) [USGS]
- Computational simulations (Shoemaker et al., 2008; Sukop et al., 2008; Cunningham et al., 2009, 2010b, 2012; Cunningham and Sukop, 2011; Sukop et al., 2013)
- 3D geomodeling (ROXAR RMS™ software) (Cunningham et al., 2012)
- Ground-penetrating radar (Cunningham et al., 2001b; Cunningham et al., 2003; Cunningham 2004)
- Tracer studies (Renken et al., 2005; Cunningham et al., 2008; Harvey et al., 2008; Renken et al., 2008; Shapiro et al., 2008)
- Hydraulic well testing (Renken et al., 2008; Shapiro et al., 2008)
- Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (Florea et al., 2009)
- X-ray computed tomography (Cunningham et al., 2009, 2010b; Cunningham and Sukop, 2011; 2012; Cunningham et al., 2012a; Sukop et al., 2013)
- CHIRP portable sub-bottom profiler Geophysical Equipment List (Available from CFWSC-Davie) [USGS]
- Distributed temperature surveys Geophysical Equipment List (Available from CFWSC-Davie) [USGS]
- Water-based Supersting™ continuous resistivity surveys (CRP) Geophysical Equipment List (Available from CFWSC-Davie) [USGS]
- Geonics™ time-domain electromagnetic system (TDEM) (Scott T. Prinos, personal communication) Geophysical Equipment List (Available from CFWSC-Davie) [USGS]
- Geometrics™ Ohm-Mapper capacitively-coupled resistivity system Geophysical Equipment List (Available from CFWSC-Davie) [USGS]
Below the data associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.
Three-dimensional seismic characterization of karst in the Floridan aquifer system, southeastern Miami-Dade County, Florida
Origins and delineation of saltwater intrusion in the Biscayne aquifer and changes in the distribution of saltwater in Miami-Dade County, Florida
Hydrogeologic framework and salinity distribution of the Floridan aquifer system of Broward County, Florida
Integrating seismic-reflection and sequence-stratigraphic methods to characterize the hydrogeology of the Floridan aquifer system in southeast Florida
Megaporosity and permeability of Thalassinoides-dominated ichnofabrics in the Cretaceous karst-carbonate Edwards-Trinity aquifer system, Texas
Carbonate aquifers
Multiple technologies applied to characterization of the porosity and permeability of the Biscayne aquifer, Florida
Prominence of ichnologically influenced macroporosity in the karst Biscayne aquifer: Stratiform "super-K" zones
NMR imaging of fluid exchange between macropores and matrix in eogenetic karst
Borehole Geophysical Logging Program: Incorporating New and Existing Techniques in Hydrologic Studies
Characterization of aquifer heterogeneity using cyclostratigraphy and geophysical methods in the upper part of the Karstic Biscayne Aquifer, Southeastern Florida
The Carbonate Aquifer Characterization Laboratory (CACL) was initiated to promote collaborative research on carbonate aquifer characterization between the USGS and other governmental scientific agencies and academia. And, also to provide applied research for local, state, and federal agencies, and private industry, when research needs are within the scope of the USGS mission.
As the primary Federal science agency for water-resources information, the USGS is responsible for monitoring the quantity and quality of water in the Nation's rivers and aquifers and assessing the sources and fate of contaminants in aquatic systems. Towards this goal, a top priority for the USGS is to provide information to better define and manage the quality of the Nation's water resources. The CACL directly addresses this priority issue for the USGS by improving strategies to identify and protect drinking-water sources. The approach of the CACL is focused on the integration of the various disciplines that include core examination, sequence stratigraphy, borehole geophysics, digital optical borehole imaging, seismic, ground-penetrating radar, and 3D geomodeling.
Our mission
The mission of the Carbonate Aquifer Characterization Laboratory (CACL) is to develop methods for carbonate aquifer characterization and conduct applied research that focuses on better understanding groundwater flow in multi-porosity carbonate aquifers. Groundwater flow in carbonate aquifers is particularly difficult to characterize because of a broad range in pore size and complicated pore connectivity. Diverse porosity and permeability networks represent a significant challenge to the accurate simulation of carbonate aquifer groundwater flow. This research is integrating the use of state-of-the-art technologies, including:
- Study of outcrop and subsurface carbonate rocks
- Cyclostratigraphy
- Ichnology
- High-multichannel 2D and 3D seismic
- Advanced borehole geophysics
- Digital optical borehole imagingComputational methods (eg., Lattice Boltzmann methods)
- 3D geomodeling with ROXAR RMS™
- Ground-penetrating radar
Capabilities
The capabilities of the Carbonate Aquifer Characterization Laboratory (CACL) are diverse and have largely concentrated on (1) hydrogeologic framework studies, (2) aquifer characterization, and (3) freshwater-saltwater interface delineation. Major specific technologies used by and available at the CACL include:
- Geologic analyses (sequence stratigraphy, lithostratigraphy, paleontology, petrography, ichnology, karstology [Reese and Cunningham, 2000; Cunningham et al., 2001a,b, 2003, 2004a,b, 2006a,b, 2007, 2008, 2010a,b; Ward et al., 2003; Rigby and Cunningham 2007; Cunningham and Florea, 2009; Cunningham and Walker, 2009; Hine et al., 2009; Cunningham and Sukop, 2011; Cunningham and Sukop, 2012; Cunningham et al., 2012a,b])
- Marine high-resolution multi-channel seismic (Kingdom Suite SMT™ software [Cunningham and Walker, 2009; Cunningham et al., 2012]) Marine high-resolution, multichannel seismic-reflection data acquired on the southeastern Florida peninsula in a canal. [larger image]
- Advanced borehole geophysics (Cunningham et al., 2004c, 2010b; Wacker and Cunningham, 2008) Geophysical Equipment List (Available from CFWSC-Davie) [USGS]
- Computational simulations (Shoemaker et al., 2008; Sukop et al., 2008; Cunningham et al., 2009, 2010b, 2012; Cunningham and Sukop, 2011; Sukop et al., 2013)
- 3D geomodeling (ROXAR RMS™ software) (Cunningham et al., 2012)
- Ground-penetrating radar (Cunningham et al., 2001b; Cunningham et al., 2003; Cunningham 2004)
- Tracer studies (Renken et al., 2005; Cunningham et al., 2008; Harvey et al., 2008; Renken et al., 2008; Shapiro et al., 2008)
- Hydraulic well testing (Renken et al., 2008; Shapiro et al., 2008)
- Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (Florea et al., 2009)
- X-ray computed tomography (Cunningham et al., 2009, 2010b; Cunningham and Sukop, 2011; 2012; Cunningham et al., 2012a; Sukop et al., 2013)
- CHIRP portable sub-bottom profiler Geophysical Equipment List (Available from CFWSC-Davie) [USGS]
- Distributed temperature surveys Geophysical Equipment List (Available from CFWSC-Davie) [USGS]
- Water-based Supersting™ continuous resistivity surveys (CRP) Geophysical Equipment List (Available from CFWSC-Davie) [USGS]
- Geonics™ time-domain electromagnetic system (TDEM) (Scott T. Prinos, personal communication) Geophysical Equipment List (Available from CFWSC-Davie) [USGS]
- Geometrics™ Ohm-Mapper capacitively-coupled resistivity system Geophysical Equipment List (Available from CFWSC-Davie) [USGS]
Below the data associated with this project.
Below are publications associated with this project.