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List of Sandstone Aquifers

Completed
By Water Resources Mission Area March 8, 2021

Sandstone aquifers are more widespread in the United States than those in all other kinds of consolidated rocks. Fractures, joints, and bedding planes can store and transmit large volumes of water.

To learn more, visit the Sandstone Aquifers webpage for an overview, or access more extensive information from the Ground Water Atlas of the United States (USGS Hydrologic Atlas 730) by clicking on an individual region/chapter below.

 

Colorado Plateaus aquifers

Media
Map showing the Colorado Plateaus aquifers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The Colorado Plateaus aquifers underlie an area of more than 100,000 square miles. Although the quantity and chemical quality of water in the Colorado Plateaus aquifers are extremely variable, much of the and in this sparsely populated region is underlain by rocks that contain aquifers capable of yielding usable quantities of water of a quality suitable for most agricultural and domestic use.

 

Denver Basin aquifer system

Media
Map showing the Denver Basin aquifer system
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Denver Basin aquifer system consists of four aquifers that underlie the plains of Colorado to the east of the Rocky Mountains.

 

Lower Cretaceous aquifers

Media
Map showing the extent of the Lower Cretaceous aquifers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The major aquifers of the Northern Great Plains aquifer system are sandstones of Tertiary and Cretaceous age and carbonate rocks of Paleozoic age. These aquifers, along with regional confining units that separate some of them, form one of the largest confined aquifer systems in the United States. The lower Cretaceous aquifers contain freshwater only near where the aquifers receive recharge.

 

Rush Springs aquifer

Media
Map showing the Rush Springs aquifer
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The Rush Springs aquifer in west-central Oklahoma consists of fine-grained sandstone, and it is used primarily for irrigation.

 

Central Oklahoma aquifer

Media
Map of the Central Oklahoma aquifer
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The Central Oklahoma aquifer consists of fine-grained sandstone shale, and siltstone; it is an important source of water for suburban communities in the Oklahoma City area.

 

Ada-Vamoosa aquifer

Media
Map showing the Ada-Vamoosa aquifer
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The Ada-Vamoosa aquifer in east-central Oklahoma consists of sandstone, and it provides water for public and industrial use.

 

Early Mesozoic basin aquifers

Media
Map showing Early Mesozoic basin aquifers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The Early Mesozoic basins are bounded by faults and are filled with thick sequences of sedimentary rocks of fluvial and alluvial origin. Siltstone, mudstone and local beds of dolomite and coal were deposited in lakes and marshy areas within the basins as they filled.

 

New York sandstone aquifers

Media
Map showing New York Sandstone aquifers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Sandstone aquifers underlie several areas of New York. The aquifers are mostly in rocks of Cambrian and Ordovician age in northern New York.

 

Pennsylvanian aquifers

Media
Map showing Pennsylvanian aquifers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Pennsylvanian aquifers consist mostly of sandstone and limestone that are parts of repeating sequences of beds deposited during multiple sedimentary cycles.

 

Marshall aquifer

Media
Map showing the Marshall aquifer
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Water in the Marshall aquifer moves from recharge areas in the northern and southern areas eastward to Saginaw Bay and westward to Lake Michigan, where the water is discharged. Water probably does not move through the central area covered by the Bayport-Michigan confining unit, where saltwater is present.

 

Jacobsville aquifer

Media
Map showing the Jacobsville aquifer
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The Jacobsville aquifer consists of the Jacobsville Sandstone, which is a feldspathic to quartzitic sandstone and shale that is present along the Southern shore of Lake Superior and on the Keewanaw Peninsula of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Jacobsville Sandstone is Precambrian in age, and it overlies crystalline rocks that also are of Precambrian age.

 

Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system

Media
Map showing the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system is a complex multi-aquifer system with individual aquifers separated by leaky confining units. The aquifer system is under stress from extensive ground-water withdrawals in southeastern Wisconsin, much of Iowa, and especially in the Chicago, Illinois area.

 

Lower Tertiary aquifers 

Media
Map showing the extent of the Lower Tertiary aquifers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The major aquifers of the Northern Great Plains aquifer system are sandstones of Tertiary and Cretaceous age and carbonate rocks of Paleozoic age. These aquifers, along with regional confining units that separate some of them, form one of the largest confined aquifer systems in the United States. Beds of lignite and subitumious (soft) coal are common throughout the Lower Tertiary aquifers.

 

Upper Cretaceous aquifers

Media
Map showing the Upper Cretaceous aquifer
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The major aquifers of the Northern Great Plains aquifer system are sandstones of Tertiary and Cretaceous age and carbonate rocks of Paleozoic age. These aquifers, along with regional confining units that separate some of them, form one of the largest confined aquifer systems in the United States. The Upper Cretaceous aquifers extend throughout much of the area, but are principally in the subsurface, where they contain mostly saline water.

 

Wyoming Tertiary aquifers 

Media
Map showing the Wyoming Tertiary Aquifers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
In Wyoming, upper Tertiary aquifers are important sources of water although they do not extend over large areas. The permeability of the upper Tertiary aquifers is variable, and it is directly related to the grain size and sorting of the deposits that compose the aquifers.

Below are other web pages related to principal aquifers.

link
Photograph shows Upper Cretaceous Sandstone of the Northern Great Plains aquifer system.

Sandstone aquifers

Sandstone aquifers are more widespread than those in all other kinds of consolidated rocks. Groundwater movement in sandstone aquifers primarily is along bedding planes, but joints and fractures provide avenues for the vertical movement of water. Sandstone aquifers can be highly productive and provide large volumes of water.
By
Water Resources Mission Area
link

Sandstone aquifers

Sandstone aquifers are more widespread than those in all other kinds of consolidated rocks. Groundwater movement in sandstone aquifers primarily is along bedding planes, but joints and fractures provide avenues for the vertical movement of water. Sandstone aquifers can be highly productive and provide large volumes of water.
Learn More

Below are publications associated with principal aquifers.

Ground Water Atlas of the United States

PrefaceThe Ground Water Atlas of the United States presents a comprehensive summary of the Nation's ground-water resources and is a basic reference for the location, geography, geology, and hydrologic characteristics of the major aquifers in the Nation. The information was collected by the U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies during the course of many years of study. Results of the...
Authors
Water Resources Division U.S. Geological Survey
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Principal aquifers [of the United States]

No abstract available.
Authors
James R. Miller

Sandstone aquifers are more widespread in the United States than those in all other kinds of consolidated rocks. Fractures, joints, and bedding planes can store and transmit large volumes of water.

To learn more, visit the Sandstone Aquifers webpage for an overview, or access more extensive information from the Ground Water Atlas of the United States (USGS Hydrologic Atlas 730) by clicking on an individual region/chapter below.

 

Colorado Plateaus aquifers

Media
Map showing the Colorado Plateaus aquifers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The Colorado Plateaus aquifers underlie an area of more than 100,000 square miles. Although the quantity and chemical quality of water in the Colorado Plateaus aquifers are extremely variable, much of the and in this sparsely populated region is underlain by rocks that contain aquifers capable of yielding usable quantities of water of a quality suitable for most agricultural and domestic use.

 

Denver Basin aquifer system

Media
Map showing the Denver Basin aquifer system
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Denver Basin aquifer system consists of four aquifers that underlie the plains of Colorado to the east of the Rocky Mountains.

 

Lower Cretaceous aquifers

Media
Map showing the extent of the Lower Cretaceous aquifers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The major aquifers of the Northern Great Plains aquifer system are sandstones of Tertiary and Cretaceous age and carbonate rocks of Paleozoic age. These aquifers, along with regional confining units that separate some of them, form one of the largest confined aquifer systems in the United States. The lower Cretaceous aquifers contain freshwater only near where the aquifers receive recharge.

 

Rush Springs aquifer

Media
Map showing the Rush Springs aquifer
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The Rush Springs aquifer in west-central Oklahoma consists of fine-grained sandstone, and it is used primarily for irrigation.

 

Central Oklahoma aquifer

Media
Map of the Central Oklahoma aquifer
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The Central Oklahoma aquifer consists of fine-grained sandstone shale, and siltstone; it is an important source of water for suburban communities in the Oklahoma City area.

 

Ada-Vamoosa aquifer

Media
Map showing the Ada-Vamoosa aquifer
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The Ada-Vamoosa aquifer in east-central Oklahoma consists of sandstone, and it provides water for public and industrial use.

 

Early Mesozoic basin aquifers

Media
Map showing Early Mesozoic basin aquifers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The Early Mesozoic basins are bounded by faults and are filled with thick sequences of sedimentary rocks of fluvial and alluvial origin. Siltstone, mudstone and local beds of dolomite and coal were deposited in lakes and marshy areas within the basins as they filled.

 

New York sandstone aquifers

Media
Map showing New York Sandstone aquifers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Sandstone aquifers underlie several areas of New York. The aquifers are mostly in rocks of Cambrian and Ordovician age in northern New York.

 

Pennsylvanian aquifers

Media
Map showing Pennsylvanian aquifers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Pennsylvanian aquifers consist mostly of sandstone and limestone that are parts of repeating sequences of beds deposited during multiple sedimentary cycles.

 

Marshall aquifer

Media
Map showing the Marshall aquifer
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Water in the Marshall aquifer moves from recharge areas in the northern and southern areas eastward to Saginaw Bay and westward to Lake Michigan, where the water is discharged. Water probably does not move through the central area covered by the Bayport-Michigan confining unit, where saltwater is present.

 

Jacobsville aquifer

Media
Map showing the Jacobsville aquifer
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The Jacobsville aquifer consists of the Jacobsville Sandstone, which is a feldspathic to quartzitic sandstone and shale that is present along the Southern shore of Lake Superior and on the Keewanaw Peninsula of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Jacobsville Sandstone is Precambrian in age, and it overlies crystalline rocks that also are of Precambrian age.

 

Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system

Media
Map showing the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system is a complex multi-aquifer system with individual aquifers separated by leaky confining units. The aquifer system is under stress from extensive ground-water withdrawals in southeastern Wisconsin, much of Iowa, and especially in the Chicago, Illinois area.

 

Lower Tertiary aquifers 

Media
Map showing the extent of the Lower Tertiary aquifers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The major aquifers of the Northern Great Plains aquifer system are sandstones of Tertiary and Cretaceous age and carbonate rocks of Paleozoic age. These aquifers, along with regional confining units that separate some of them, form one of the largest confined aquifer systems in the United States. Beds of lignite and subitumious (soft) coal are common throughout the Lower Tertiary aquifers.

 

Upper Cretaceous aquifers

Media
Map showing the Upper Cretaceous aquifer
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
The major aquifers of the Northern Great Plains aquifer system are sandstones of Tertiary and Cretaceous age and carbonate rocks of Paleozoic age. These aquifers, along with regional confining units that separate some of them, form one of the largest confined aquifer systems in the United States. The Upper Cretaceous aquifers extend throughout much of the area, but are principally in the subsurface, where they contain mostly saline water.

 

Wyoming Tertiary aquifers 

Media
Map showing the Wyoming Tertiary Aquifers
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
In Wyoming, upper Tertiary aquifers are important sources of water although they do not extend over large areas. The permeability of the upper Tertiary aquifers is variable, and it is directly related to the grain size and sorting of the deposits that compose the aquifers.

Below are other web pages related to principal aquifers.

link
Photograph shows Upper Cretaceous Sandstone of the Northern Great Plains aquifer system.

Sandstone aquifers

Sandstone aquifers are more widespread than those in all other kinds of consolidated rocks. Groundwater movement in sandstone aquifers primarily is along bedding planes, but joints and fractures provide avenues for the vertical movement of water. Sandstone aquifers can be highly productive and provide large volumes of water.
By
Water Resources Mission Area
link

Sandstone aquifers

Sandstone aquifers are more widespread than those in all other kinds of consolidated rocks. Groundwater movement in sandstone aquifers primarily is along bedding planes, but joints and fractures provide avenues for the vertical movement of water. Sandstone aquifers can be highly productive and provide large volumes of water.
Learn More

Below are publications associated with principal aquifers.

Ground Water Atlas of the United States

PrefaceThe Ground Water Atlas of the United States presents a comprehensive summary of the Nation's ground-water resources and is a basic reference for the location, geography, geology, and hydrologic characteristics of the major aquifers in the Nation. The information was collected by the U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies during the course of many years of study. Results of the...
Authors
Water Resources Division U.S. Geological Survey
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Principal aquifers [of the United States]

No abstract available.
Authors
James R. Miller
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