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.
Sandstone retains only a small part of the intergranular pore space that was present before the rock was consolidated; compaction and cementation have greatly reduced the primary pore space. Secondary openings, such as joints and fractures, along with bedding planes, contain and transmit most of the groundwater in sandstone. Accordingly, the hydraulic conductivity of sandstone aquifers is low to moderate, but because they extend over large areas, these aquifers provide large amounts of water.
This map of sandstone aquifers in the United States shows the shallowest principal aquifer. In some places, other, sometimes more productive, aquifers underlie those mapped. Only small areas of some aquifers may be shown on the map because they are covered in many places by aquifers closer to the surface. In other places, local aquifers, such as those along stream valleys, might overlie the aquifers mapped. Local aquifers are not shown because of the scale of the map. Some aquifers in sedimentary rocks are overlain by confining units, and the aquifers extend into the subsurface beyond the areas shown on the map.
The sandstone aquifers are level or gently dip. Because they are commonly interbedded with siltstone or shale, most of the water in these aquifers is under confined conditions. Groundwater-flow systems in mostly level, relatively thin sandstone aquifers are local to intermediate. Regional, intermediate, and local flow is present in the sandstone aquifers in the western United States, except for those in Oklahoma, where flow is mostly local. Many sandstone aquifers contain highly mineralized water at depths of only a few hundred meters.
In Wisconsin and adjacent states, three Cambrian and Ordovician age sandstone aquifers are combined into an aquifer system that is as much as 650 meters thick. Paleozoic through Cenozoic age sandstones that extend northeastward from Wyoming form the Northern Great Plains aquifer system, which has permeable parts of more than 2,000 meters thick in some places in a deep structural basin. Not all of these thick aquifers, however, contain freshwater.
Sandstone aquifers include:
- Colorado Plateaus aquifers
- Denver Basin aquifer system
- Lower Cretaceous aquifers (Northern Great Plains aquifer system)
- Rush Springs aquifer (Oklahoma)
- Central Oklahoma aquifer
- Ada-Vamoosa aquifer (Oklahoma)
- Early Mesozoic basin aquifers (eastern U.S.)
- New York sandstone aquifers
- Pennsylvanian aquifers (central and eastern U.S.)
- Marshall aquifer
- Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system (northern Midwest)
- Jacobsville aquifer (Michigan)
- Lower Tertiary aquifers (northern Great Plains)
- Upper Cretaceous aquifers (northern Great Plains)
- Upper Tertiary aquifers (Wyoming)
Below are other web pages related to principal aquifers.
Principal Aquifers of the United States
Unconsolidated and semiconsolidated sand and gravel aquifers
Sandstone and carbonate-rock aquifers
List of Sandstone Aquifers
Carbonate-rock aquifers
Igneous and metamorphic-rock aquifers
Minor aquifers, confining units, and areas identified as "not a principal aquifer"
- Overview
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.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Fractures, joints, and bedding planes, such as these in the Eagle sandstone, can store and transmit large volumes of water. This photograph shows Upper Cretaceous Sandstone of the Northern Great Plains aquifer system. Sandstone retains only a small part of the intergranular pore space that was present before the rock was consolidated; compaction and cementation have greatly reduced the primary pore space. Secondary openings, such as joints and fractures, along with bedding planes, contain and transmit most of the groundwater in sandstone. Accordingly, the hydraulic conductivity of sandstone aquifers is low to moderate, but because they extend over large areas, these aquifers provide large amounts of water.
This map of sandstone aquifers in the United States shows the shallowest principal aquifer. In some places, other, sometimes more productive, aquifers underlie those mapped. Only small areas of some aquifers may be shown on the map because they are covered in many places by aquifers closer to the surface. In other places, local aquifers, such as those along stream valleys, might overlie the aquifers mapped. Local aquifers are not shown because of the scale of the map. Some aquifers in sedimentary rocks are overlain by confining units, and the aquifers extend into the subsurface beyond the areas shown on the map.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain.Principal sandstone aquifers in the United States. The sandstone aquifers are level or gently dip. Because they are commonly interbedded with siltstone or shale, most of the water in these aquifers is under confined conditions. Groundwater-flow systems in mostly level, relatively thin sandstone aquifers are local to intermediate. Regional, intermediate, and local flow is present in the sandstone aquifers in the western United States, except for those in Oklahoma, where flow is mostly local. Many sandstone aquifers contain highly mineralized water at depths of only a few hundred meters.
In Wisconsin and adjacent states, three Cambrian and Ordovician age sandstone aquifers are combined into an aquifer system that is as much as 650 meters thick. Paleozoic through Cenozoic age sandstones that extend northeastward from Wyoming form the Northern Great Plains aquifer system, which has permeable parts of more than 2,000 meters thick in some places in a deep structural basin. Not all of these thick aquifers, however, contain freshwater.
Sandstone aquifers include:
- Colorado Plateaus aquifers
- Denver Basin aquifer system
- Lower Cretaceous aquifers (Northern Great Plains aquifer system)
- Rush Springs aquifer (Oklahoma)
- Central Oklahoma aquifer
- Ada-Vamoosa aquifer (Oklahoma)
- Early Mesozoic basin aquifers (eastern U.S.)
- New York sandstone aquifers
- Pennsylvanian aquifers (central and eastern U.S.)
- Marshall aquifer
- Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system (northern Midwest)
- Jacobsville aquifer (Michigan)
- Lower Tertiary aquifers (northern Great Plains)
- Upper Cretaceous aquifers (northern Great Plains)
- Upper Tertiary aquifers (Wyoming)
- Science
Below are other web pages related to principal aquifers.
Principal Aquifers of the United States
This website compiles USGS resources and data related to principal aquifers including Aquifer Basics, principal aquifers maps and GIS data, and the National Aquifer Code Reference List.Unconsolidated and semiconsolidated sand and gravel aquifers
Unconsolidated sand and gravel aquifers are characterized by intergranular porosity and all contain water primarily under unconfined, or water-table, conditions. They are grouped into four categories: basin-fill, blanket sand and gravel, glacial-deposit, and stream-valley aquifers. Semiconsolidated aquifers consist of semiconsolidated sand interbedded with silt, clay, and minor carbonate rocks...Sandstone and carbonate-rock aquifers
In scattered places in the United States, carbonate rocks are interbedded with almost equal amounts of water-yielding sandstone. In most places where these two rock types are interbedded, the carbonate rocks yield much more water than the sandstone.List of Sandstone Aquifers
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.Carbonate-rock aquifers
Aquifers in carbonate rocks are most extensive in the eastern U.S. Most of the carbonate-rock aquifers consist of limestone, but dolomite and marble locally yield water. The water-yielding properties of carbonate rocks vary widely; some yield almost no water and are considered to be confining units, whereas others are among the most productive aquifers known.Igneous and metamorphic-rock aquifers
Igneous and metamorphic-rock aquifers can be grouped into two categories: crystalline-rock and volcanic-rock. Spaces in crystalline rocks are microscopically small, few, and generally unconnected. However, because these aquifers extend over large areas, large volumes of water can be withdrawn. Volcanic-rock aquifers have a wide range of chemical, mineralogic, structural, and hydraulic properties...Minor aquifers, confining units, and areas identified as "not a principal aquifer"
Aquifer maps often include large-to-small areas that are designated "minor aquifer," "not a principal aquifer," or "confining unit.” These are usually areas are underlain by low-permeability deposits and rocks, unsaturated materials, or aquifers that supply little water because they are of local extent, poorly permeable, or both. - Publications