Geology topics

Randall W. Conger

Publications and source records attributed to Randall W. Conger.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

USGS1998

Identification of water-bearing zones by the use of geophysical logs and borehole television surveys, collected February to September 1997, at the Former Naval Air Warfare Center, Warminster, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Between February 1997 and September 1997, 10 monitor wells were drilled near the site of the former Naval Air Warfare Center, Warminster, Bucks County, Pa., to monitor water levels and sample ground-water contaminants in the shallow, intermediate, and deep water-bearing zones. The sampling will determine the horizontal and vertical distribution of contaminated ground water migrating from known or suspected contaminant sources. Four wells were drilled north of the property adjacent to Area A, three wells along strike located on Lewis Drive, and three wells directly down dip on Ivyland Road. Well depths range from 69 feet to 300 feet below land surface. Borehole-geophysical logging and television surveys were used to identify water-bearing zones so that appropriate intervals could be screened in each monitor well. Geophysical logs were obtained at the 10 monitor wells. Borehole television surveys were obtained at the four monitor wells adjacent to Area A. Caliper and borehole television surveys were used to locate fractures, inflections on fluidtemperature and fluid-resistivity logs were used to locate possible water-bearing fractures, and heatpulse- flowmeter measurements verified these locations. Natural-gamma logs provided information on stratigraphy. After interpretation of geophysical logs, borehole television surveys, and driller's logs, all wells were screened such that water-level fluctuations could be monitored and water samples collected from discrete water-bearing zones in each borehole.

Open-File Report↗

USGS1998

Geohydrology and distribution of volatile organic compounds in ground water in the Casey Village area, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Casey Village and the adjoining part of the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) are underlain by the Late Triassic-age Stockton Formation, which consists of a dipping series of siltstones and sandstones. The direction of vertical ground-water gradients in the Stockton Formation varies among well locations and sometimes with time. Vertical gradients can be substantial; the difference in water levels at one well pair (two wells screened at different depths) was 7.1 ft (feet) over a 32-ft vertical section of the aquifer. Potentiometric-surface maps show a groundwater divide that bisects the Casey Village area. For wells screened between 18 and 64 ft below land surface (bls), the general ground-water gradient is to the east and northeast on the east side of the divide and to the south and southwest on the west side of the divide. For wells screened between 48 and 106 ft bls, the general ground-water gradient is to the northeast on the east side of the divide and to the southwest and northwest on the west side of the divide. An aquifer test at one well in Casey Village caused drawdown in wells on the opposite side of the ground-water divide on the NAWC and shifted the ground-water divide in the deeper potentiometric surface to the west. Drawdowns formed an elliptical pattern, which indicates anisotropy; however, anisotropy is not aligned with strike or dip. Hydraulic stress caused by pumping crosses stratigraphic boundaries. Between 1993 and 1996, the trichloroethylene (TCE) concentration in water samples collected from wells in Casey Village decreased. The highest concentration of TCE measured in water from one well decreased from 1,200 mg/L (micrograms per liter) in 1993 when domestic wells were pumped in Casey Village to 140 mg/L in 1996, 3 years after the installation of public water and the cessation of domestic pumping. This suggests that pumping of domestic wells may have contributed to TCE migration. Between 1993 and 1996, the tetrachloroethylene (PCE) concentration in water samples collected from wells in Casey Village decreased only slightly. The highest concentration of PCE measured in water from one well decreased from 720 mg/L in 1993 to 630 mg/L in 1996. The distribution of TCE and PCE in ground water indicates the presence of separate PCE and TCE plumes, each with a different source area. The TCE plume appears to be moving in two directions away from the ground-water divide area. The pumping of a domestic well may have caused TCE migration into the ground-water divide area. From the divide area, the TCE plume appears to be moving both to the east and the west under the natural hydraulic gradient. Aquifer-isolation tests conducted in the well with the highest TCE concentrations showed that concentrations of TCE in water samples from the isolated intervals were similar but slightly lower in the deeper isolated zones than in the shallower isolated zones. Upward flow was measured in this well during geophysical logging. If the source of TCE to the well was from shallow fractures, upward flow of less contaminated water could be flushing TCE from the immediate vicinity of this well. This may help explain why the concentration of TCE in water from this well decreased an order of magnitude between 1993 and 1996.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗

USGS1997

Identification of potential water-bearing zones by the use of borehole geophysics in the vicinity of Keystone Sanitation Superfund Site, Adams County, Pennsylvania, and Carroll County, Maryland

Between April 23, 1996, and June 21, 1996, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency contracted Haliburton-NUS, Inc., to drill four clusters of three monitoring wells near the Keystone Sanitation Superfund Site. The purpose of the wells is to allow monitoring and sampling of shallow, intermediate, and deep waterbearing zones for the purpose of determining the horizontal and vertical distribution of any contaminated ground water migrating from the Keystone Site. Twelve monitoring wells, ranging in depth from 50 to 397.9 feet below land surface, were drilled in the vicinity of the Keystone Site. The U.S. Geological Survey conducted borehole-geophysical logging and determined, with geophysical logs and other available data, the ideal intervals to be screened in each well. Geophysical logs were run on four intermediate and four deep wells, and a caliper log only was run on shallow well CL-AD-173 (HN-1S). Interpretation of geophysical logs and existing data determined the placement of screens within each borehole.

Maryland, Pennsylvania↗

USGS1996

Borehole geophysical logging for water-resources investigations in Pennsylvania

Borehole geophysical logging is a procedure to collect and transmit specific information about the geologic formations penetrated by a well by raising and lowering a set of probes or sondes that contain water-tight instruments in the well. The data collected can be used to determine general formation geology, fracture distribution, vertical borehole flow, and water-yielding capabilities.

Pennsylvania↗

USGS1995

Geohydrology and vertical distribution of volatile organic compounds in ground water, Fischer and Porter Company Superfund Site, Warminster, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

The Fischer and Porter Company Superfund Site is underlain by sedimentary rocks of the Upper Triassic Stockton Formation, which consists of interbedded siltstone, very-fine grained to coarse-grained sandstone, and conglomerate in crudely defined, upward fining cycles. These rocks form a complex, heterogeneous, leaky, multiaquifer system comprised of a series of gently dipping lithologic units with different hydraulic properties. Ground water is unconfined in the shallower part of the aquifer and confined or semiconfined in the deeper part of the aquifer. Water levels measured in monitor well clusters and borehole-flow measurements made in open boreholes show a downward hydraulic head gradient at the site, caused in part by the pumping of nearby, deep public-supply wells and the Fischer and Porter treatment system extraction wells. Downward borehole flow was measured at rates up to 9 gallons per minute. Aquifer-isolation tests were run in the six boreholes to obtain depth-discrete specific-capacity and water-quality data. On the basis of specific-capacity data for 27 isolated intervals, specific capacity is not related to depth. Water levels in monitor wells at the Fischer and Porter Site are greatly affected by the pumping of nearby public-supply wells, as well as the pumping of the Fischer and Porter treatment system extraction wells. Pumping of the public-supply wells causes daily water-level fluctuations in wells at the site as great as 5.3 feet. The shutdown of the Fischer and Porter treatment system extraction wells caused a rise in water level in all wells screened in the intermediate and deep zones. The rise in water level was as great as 4.3 feet in the intermediate zone and as great as 5.9 feet in the deep zone. The direction of ground-water flow is toward the north in the shallow and intermediate zones and toward the west and west-southwest in the deep zone. Ground-water discharge probably is to the unnamed tributary to Pennypack Creek north and west of the site. Volatile organic compounds (VOC's) were detected in most depth-discrete water samples. No general trend of increasing or decreasing concentrations of VOC's with depth were observed, and none of the isolated intervals had highly elevated concentrations of VOC's. Observed fairly constant concentrations of VOC's with depth are the result of the downward head gradient and the former presence of open boreholes on the site. The downward head gradient and pumping of nearby, deep public-supply wells caused the vertical migration and outward movement of VOC's into the aquifer through former supply and monitor wells of open-hole construction in the main area of contamination.

Pennsylvania↗