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Mississippi Alluvial Plain: Shellmound, MS Geophysical Survey

November 16, 2020
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Interactive map screenshot from the geonarrative showing locations where geophysical data were collected for the USGS Mississippi Alluvial Plan project. The geonarrative, Mississippi Alluvial Plain: Shellmound, MS Geophysical Survey, is located at  https://apps.usgs.gov/lmg/map/shellmound_SM.html.

The area near Shellmound, Mississippi is the focus of a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrologic mapping and modeling effort to support a managed aquifer recharge pilot study being conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and other local stakeholders. The pilot study is investigating the use of bank filtration from a gallery of extraction wells adjacent to the Tallahatchie River. This extracted water could be used as a source of focused aquifer recharge via injection wells in an area of groundwater decline in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer (MRVA). To support this investigation, the USGS Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) Regional Water Availability Study carried out airborne and ground-based geophysical studies in the area to improve understanding of the geology and structure of the aquifer system.

This animation shows a 3D fly-through of the aquifer represented by the top and bottom elevation surfaces developed from the airborne geophysical survey and shown in the "Derived Aquifer Properties" tab above. Locations of proposed injection and extraction wells for the managed aquifer recharge pilot study are also indicated. Together, these data help to visualize the detailed aquifer geometry in the vicinity of these wells.

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