Borehole Geophysics

Numerical models provide a means to synthesize existing hydrogeologic information into an internally consistent mathematical representation of a real system or process, and thus are useful tools for testing and improving conceptual models or hypotheses of groundwater flow systems. The goal of this effort is to develop a regional model for the Long Island aquifer system to simulate changes in water...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has partnered with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to conduct a comprehensive study of the Long Island aquifer system. The major findings of this investigation include: The location of the boundary between fresh and salty groundwater is much closer to the shoreline than previously thought. The historical onshore saltwater...

Introduction The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is evaluating alternative treatments for road deicing with the goal of reducing the impact of this activity on the State’s water resources. The NYSDOT has requested support from the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) in monitoring the effects of these alternative treatments on the water resources. In the past, the USGS has cooperat

GEOPHYSICAL METHODS CAPABILITIES The New York Water Science Center (NY WSC) makes extensive use of geophysical methods in its hydrologic investigations and research in cooperation with local, State, and Federal partners. The NY WSC staff has many years of experience in collecting and interpreting surface and borehole geophysical data, and applying the results to provide a better understanding of t

Borehole geophysics is the science of recording and analyzing measurements of physical properties made in wells or test holes. Probes that measure different properties are lowered into the borehole to collect continuous or point data that is graphically displayed as a geophysical log. Multiple logs typically are collected to take advantage of their synergistic nature--much more can be learned by...

The New York Water Science Center conducts research and investigations used across a broad range of industries and other services.

Long Island’s aquifer system consists of a seaward-dipping wedge of mostly unconsolidated stratified sediments comprised of sand, gravel, silt and clay.

The Marcellus Shale of the Appalachian Basin is one of the largest unconventional gas plays in the United States.

Problem The Town of Riverhead in the northeastern Suffolk County includes rural farmland and suburbs and is bounded by the Long Island Sound to the north and Peconic Bay to the southeast. Riverhead’s close proximity to saline embayments and its location along the northeastern discharge area for Long Island’s groundwater flow system makes it vulnerable to saltwater intrusion. Several public-suppl

Background and Problem The Retsof salt mine in the Genesee River valley, Livingston County, New York flooded after roof collapses in 1994 created two rubble chimneys in overlying bedrock that intersected a confined aquifer in the basal glacial-drift deposits (figs. 1 and 2). Groundwater flowed downward through the rubble chimneys causing widespread drawdown in the lower confined aquifer until the

Problem Perchlorate detected in a shallow supply well within the southern portion of the Locust Valley Water District (LVWD) has prompted interest in determining the possible existence of a deeper confined aquifer (North Shore Aquifer) that may be protected from shallow contamination (fig. 1). Previous USGS studies in this area indicate the northern part of Nassau County has a complex hydrogeolog

Problem - The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provided technical assistance between 2001 and 2013 to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an investigation of the presence of chlorinated solvents (trichloroethylene and degradates) in ground water in the Middle-to-Lower Devonian and Upper Silurian carbonate bedrock southwest of Auburn in Cayuga County, N.Y. Pieziometric and water-quali