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Analysis of ground-water flow along a regional flow path of the Midwestern Basins and Arches aquifer system in Ohio

January 1, 1994

A cross-sectional analysis of ground-water flow in central-western and northwestern Ohio was done as part of the Midwestern Basins and Arches Regional Aquifer-System Analysis project. The Midwestern Basins and Arches aquifer system is composed of carbonate bedrock of Silurian and Devonian age and overlying glacial flow analysis of the Scioto and Blanchard rivers in the study area were used to describe patrems of ground-water flow, to evaluate stream-aquifer interaction, and to quantify recharge and discharge within the ground-water-flow system along a regional ground-water-flow path. The selected regional flow path begins at a regional topographic high in Logan County, Ohio, and ends in Sandusky Bay (Lake Erie), a regional topographic low. Recharge to the ground-water system along the selected regional flow path was estimated from hydrograph separation of streamflow and averaged 3.24 inches per year. Computer model simulations indicate that 84 percent of the water entering the ground-water system flows less than 5 miles from point of recharge to point of discharge and no deeper than the upper surficial aquifers. The distance and depth that ground water travels and traveltime from point of recharge to point of discharge is controlled largely by where ground water enters the flow system. Ground water entering the flow system in the vicinity of major surface- water divides generally travels further, deeper, and longer than ground water entering the flow system elsewhere along the regional flow path. Particle tracking simulations substantiate the concept that the 80-mile-long regional flow path is within a continuous ground-water basin. Estimated traveltimes for ground-water from the regional high to Sandusky Bay range from 22,000 to 40,700 years, given a range of porosities from 8 to 22 percent for the carbonate-rock aquifer.

Publication Year 1994
Title Analysis of ground-water flow along a regional flow path of the Midwestern Basins and Arches aquifer system in Ohio
DOI 10.3133/wri944105
Authors R. H. Hanover
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Water-Resources Investigations Report
Series Number 94-4105
Index ID wri944105
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse