Pennsylvania Water Science Center

Photograph showing dipping sedimentary rocks of the Newark Basin in southeast Pennsylvania. Taken during the 2018 Field Conference of Pennsylvania Geologists. 

This photo shows one of 8 storm sensors deployed in Pennsylvania to monitor the potential effects Hurricane Florence could have on already high rivers across the state. Photo by Matthew Gyves, USGS. 

The Kafrein Dam captures runoff from Jordan River side valley wadis, near the Dead Sea, Jordan. USGS hosted a field trip that included a stop at the dam in February, 2017 during a regional workshop on aquifer storage & recovery in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, in cooperation with the U.S. Agency for International Development. 

Brian Selck, a USGS National Association of Geoscience Teachers intern, collects a water level measurement from a domestic well at a site north of Jersey Shore in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, June 2014.

Photo of low-flow conditions in a Wadi along the Dead Sea escarpment. Springflow generated by groundwater discharge at higher elevations eventually flows into the hypersaline Dead Sea. 

Large groundwater withdrawals in the Azraq Oasis area, Jordan, have contributed to declining water levels in wells. This map shows the withdrawal footprint and observed water-level trends (labeled triangular symbols, from Goode et al. 2013). The footprint depth-rate index is 0.1 meter per year (m/yr), corresponding to a water-level decline rate of 1 m/yr, scaled by a

Streamflow-gaging stations used in development of flood-flow regression equations for Pennsylvania streams (Figure 1 from USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5102). 

Carbonate aquifers are made up of limestone and dolomite. Crystalline aquifers are typically schists or other metamorphic or igneous rocks. Siliciclastic aquifers are commonly sandstones, siltstones, and shale. Surficial aquifers are often comprised of unconsolidated sands and gravels.