PUBLICATIONS

• Publications by topic
  • Groundwater
  • Surface Water
  • Water Quality
  • Water Use

• Publications by date
  • Recent publications

Annual Water Data Report

USGS Publications Warehouse

USGS IN YOUR STATE

USGS Water Science Centers are located in each state.

Characterization of Piedmont and Blue Ridge fractured bedrock ground-water systems in North Carolina - a federal and state cooperative study

Poster for 50th Annual Meeting Southeastern Section GSA, Raleigh, N.C., April 5-6, 2001
By M.L. Strobel, C.C. Daniel, III, M.J. Chapman, and B.M. Wrege

Download PowerPoint version of the poster (5.8 MB)

Abstract

The U.S. Geological Survey has begun a multiyear cooperative study with the North Carolina Division of Water Quality, Groundwater Section, to characterize ground-water flow systems at selected locations in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Provinces of North Carolina. The study is focused on identifying hydrogeologic conditions that influence water quality at specific sites that, conceptually, are representative of regional hydrogeologic terranes.

The goal of the study is to provide a better understanding of the hydraulics of ground-water flow systems and thereby, controls on water quality within the hydrogeologic terranes. During the first phase, seven sites are planned. The site may be as small as a few acres or as large as a ten-square-mile watershed, depending on site research objectives. Soil and rock cores are being examined for factors that affect ground-water quality and movement. Borehole geophysical logs are being used to describe the subsurface hydrogeologic setting, including lithology, fabric orientation, fracture occurrence and orientation, and flow characteristics.

Wells are being installed in clusters along transects to characterize flowpaths, hydraulic gradients, and water-level fluctuations. Aquifer tests and water-quality geochemistry in these wells will provide information on the hydrologic characteristics of the various geologic units. Tracer tests and age-dating techniques will be used to provide estimates of time-of-travel and to delineate flowpaths in the fractured rock ground-water system. Analyses of major ions will be used to examine rock-water interactions and geochemical processes within each hydrogeologic terrane. Surface-water samples from sites having nearby lakes and(or) streams will be analyzed to evaluate ground-water/surface-water interactions.

Data produced by this study will provide a baseline for measuring the effects of changes in watersheds that affect water quality and flow characteristics. This information will be useful as a management tool for identifying ambient ground-water quality, delineating areas of high vulnerability to ground-water contamination, and abundant or limited ground-water supplies for meeting potable water needs.

Strobel, M.L., Daniel, C.C., III, Chapman, M.J., and Wrege, B.M., 2001, Characterization of Piedmont and Blue Ridge fractured bedrock ground-water systems in North Carolina - a federal and state cooperative study [poster]: 50th Annual Meeting Southeastern Section GSA, Raleigh, N.C., April 5-6, 2001.