Pennsylvanian- and Mississippian-age aquifers occupy approximately 86,000 square-miles in the Appalachian Plateaus Physiographic Province of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. As one of several USGS Regional Groundwater Studies, the primary goal of this study is to provide a regional understanding of groundwater flow and availability in the Appalachian Plateaus.
Defining the Largest Flow System of Relevance to Groundwater Flow in the Appalachian Plateaus
Groundwater flow in Appalachian Plateaus aquifers is characterized by short flowpaths, typically extending no more than tens of miles. Active flow occurs within a few hundred feet of the land surface where stress-relief fracture permeability is constrained near valley walls and under valley bottoms.
Regional flow is dominantly seated in valley bottoms (Booth, 1988) where stress-relief fracturing is superimposed on the regional hydrostratigraphic framework. In this convention, groundwater flow is controlled both by the regional dip of bedrock, local topography, and distal hydrologic boundaries coincident with large river valleys (Carswell and Bennett, 1963).
The scope of existing conceptual models needs to be expanded to include the contribution of underflow or regional structure on streamflow discharge and definition of saline-water boundaries. Mixing of shallow groundwater and deep formation brines along naturally occurring pathways as documented by Warner and others (2012) suggests that local frameworks provide limited transferability to address variability in water quality and water availability at scales exceeding a few tens of miles.
See also: USGS Groundwater Resources Program
See below for publications associated with this project.
Annual and average estimates of water-budget components based on hydrograph separation and PRISM precipitation for gaged basins in the Appalachian Plateaus Region, 1900-2011
Groundwater availability of the Denver Basin aquifer system, Colorado
Conceptual model of the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system
Groundwater availability in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of North and South Carolina
The Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS): Documentation of a groundwater-flow model constructed to assess water availability in the Mississippi embayment
Ground-water resources of the middle Rio Grande basin, New Mexico
Below are partners associated with this project.
- Overview
Pennsylvanian- and Mississippian-age aquifers occupy approximately 86,000 square-miles in the Appalachian Plateaus Physiographic Province of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. As one of several USGS Regional Groundwater Studies, the primary goal of this study is to provide a regional understanding of groundwater flow and availability in the Appalachian Plateaus.
A conceptual model Of Appalachian Plateau groundwater availability. Defining the Largest Flow System of Relevance to Groundwater Flow in the Appalachian Plateaus
Groundwater flow in Appalachian Plateaus aquifers is characterized by short flowpaths, typically extending no more than tens of miles. Active flow occurs within a few hundred feet of the land surface where stress-relief fracture permeability is constrained near valley walls and under valley bottoms.
Regional flow is dominantly seated in valley bottoms (Booth, 1988) where stress-relief fracturing is superimposed on the regional hydrostratigraphic framework. In this convention, groundwater flow is controlled both by the regional dip of bedrock, local topography, and distal hydrologic boundaries coincident with large river valleys (Carswell and Bennett, 1963).
The scope of existing conceptual models needs to be expanded to include the contribution of underflow or regional structure on streamflow discharge and definition of saline-water boundaries. Mixing of shallow groundwater and deep formation brines along naturally occurring pathways as documented by Warner and others (2012) suggests that local frameworks provide limited transferability to address variability in water quality and water availability at scales exceeding a few tens of miles.
See also: USGS Groundwater Resources Program
- Publications
See below for publications associated with this project.
Annual and average estimates of water-budget components based on hydrograph separation and PRISM precipitation for gaged basins in the Appalachian Plateaus Region, 1900-2011
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Groundwater Resources Program study of the Appalachian Plateaus aquifers, annual and average estimates of water-budget components based on hydrograph separation and precipitation data from parameter-elevation regressions on independent slopes model (PRISM) were determined at 849 continuous-record streamflow-gaging stations from Mississippi to New York and coAuthorsDavid L. Nelms, Terence Messinger, Kurt J. McCoyGroundwater availability of the Denver Basin aquifer system, Colorado
The Denver Basin aquifer system is a critical water resource for growing municipal, industrial, and domestic uses along the semiarid Front Range urban corridor of Colorado. The confined bedrock aquifer system is located along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountain Front Range where the mountains meet the Great Plains physiographic province. Continued population growth and the resulting need forConceptual model of the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system
A conceptual model of the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system (GBCAAS) was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for a regional assessment of groundwater availability as part of a national water census. The study area is an expansion of a previous USGS Regional Aquifer Systems Analysis (RASA) study conducted during the 1980s and 1990s of the carbonate-rock province of the GrGroundwater availability in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of North and South Carolina
The Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifers and confining units of North and South Carolina are composed of crystalline carbonate rocks, sand, clay, silt, and gravel and contain large volumes of high-quality groundwater. The aquifers have a long history of use dating back to the earliest days of European settlement in the late 1600s. Although extensive areas of some of the aquifers have or currently (2009AuthorsBruce G. Campbell, Alissa L. CoesThe Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS): Documentation of a groundwater-flow model constructed to assess water availability in the Mississippi embayment
The Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS) was conducted with support from the Groundwater Resources Program of the U.S. Geological Survey Office of Groundwater. This report documents the construction and calibration of a finite-difference groundwater model for use as a tool to quantify groundwater availability within the Mississippi embayment. To approximate the differential equatioAuthorsBrian R. Clark, Rheannon M. HartGround-water resources of the middle Rio Grande basin, New Mexico
AuthorsJames R. Bartolino, J. C. Cole - Partners
Below are partners associated with this project.