Geology topics
Publications and source records attributed to Roy S. Socolow.
Hydrologic data and conditions throughout Rhode Island during water year 2014 are presented in this report. Stream discharge and groundwater level conditions varied geographically across the State. Ten streamgages reached record-low minimum monthly mean discharges during the year, and a record-high maximum groundwater level was observed at one groundwater well.
A device that uses a siphon tube to establish a hydraulic connection between the bottom of an onshore standpipe and a point at the bottom of a water body was designed and tested for monitoring surface-water levels. Water is added to the standpipe to a level sufficient to drive a complete slug of water through the siphoning tube and to flush all air out of the system. The water levels in the standpipe and the water body equilibrate and provide a measurable static water surface in the standpipe. The siphon gage was designed to allow quick and accurate year-round measurements with minimal maintenance. Currently available devices for monitoring surface-water levels commonly involve time-consuming and costly installation and surveying, and the movement of reference points and the presence of ice cover in cold regions cause discontinuity and inaccuracy in the data collected. Installation and field testing of a siphon gage using 0.75-in-diameter polyethylene tubing at Ashumet Pond in Falmouth, Massachusetts, demonstrated that the siphon gage can provide long-term data with a field effort and accuracy equivalent to measurement of ground-water levels at an observation well.A device that uses a siphon tube to establish a hydraulic connection between the bottom of an onshore standpipe and a point at the bottom of a water body was designed and tested for monitoring surface-water levels. Water is added to the standpipe to a level sufficient to drive a complete slug of water through the siphoning tube and to flush all air out of the system. The water levels in the standpipe and the water body equilibrate and provide a measurable static water surface in the standpipe. The siphon gage was designed to allow quick and accurate year-round measurements with minimal maintenance. Currently available devices for monitoring surface-water levels commonly involve time-consuming and costly installation and surveying, and the movement of reference points and the presence of ice cover in cold regions cause discontinuity and inaccuracy in the data collected. Installation and field testing of a siphon gage using 0.75-in-diameter polyethylene tubing at Ashumet Pond in Falmouth, Massachusetts, demonstrated that the siphon gage can provide long-term data with a field effort and accuracy equivalent to measurement of ground-water levels at an observation well.
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The U.S. Geological Survey began systematic streamflow monitoring in Massachusetts nearly 100 years ago (1904) on the Connecticut River at Montague City. Since that time, hydrologic data collection has evolved into a monitoring network of 103 streamgage stations and 200 ground-water observation wells in Massachusetts and Rhode Island (2000 water year). Data from this network provide critical information for a variety of purposes to Federal, State, and local government agencies, engineering consultants, and the public. The uses of this information have been enhanced by the fact that about 70 percent of the streamgage stations and a small but increasing number of observation wells in Massachusetts and Rhode Island have been equipped with digital collection platforms that transmit data by satellite every 4 hours. Twenty-one of the telemetered streamgage stations are also equipped with precipitation recorders. The near real-time data provided by these stations, along with historical data collected at all stations, are available over the Internet at no charge. The monitoring network operated during the 2000 water year was summarized and evaluated with respect to spatial distribution, the current uses of the data, and the physical characteristics associated with the monitoring sites. This report provides maps that show locations and summary tables for active continuous record streamgage stations, discontinued streamgage stations, and observation wells in each of the 28 major basins identified by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and five of the major Rhode Island basins. Metrics of record length, regulation, physiographic region and physical and land-cover characteristics indicate that the streamflow-monitoring network represents a wide range of drainage-area sizes, physiographic regions, and basin characteristics. Most streamgage stations are affected by regulation, which provides information for specific water-management purposes, but diminishes the usefulness of these stations for many types of hydrologic analysis. Only 26 of the 103 active streamgage stations operated by the U.S. Geological Survey in Massachusetts and Rhode Island are unaffected by regulation; of these, 17 are in Massachusetts and 9 are in Rhode Island. The paucity of unregulated stations is particularly evident when the stations are grouped into five drainage-area size classes; the fact that about half of these size classes have no representative unregulated stations underscores the importance of establishing and maintaining stations that are unaffected by regulation. The observation-well network comprises 200 wells; 80 percent of these wells are finished in sand and gravel, 19 percent are finished in till, and 1 percent are finished in bedrock. About 6 percent of the wells are equipped with continuous data recorders, and about half of these are capable of transmitting data in near real time.
More than 10 inches of rain fell on some areas of eastern Massachusetts and more than 7 inches fell on some areas of Rhode Island during and intense and prolonged rainstorm from June 12 through June 15, 1998. On some streams, the magnitude of the floods resulting from the rain would be exceeded, on average, only once every 50 years. Estimated property damage from the June 1998 floods totaled nearly 5 million dollars.
Aquifers--water-bearing deposits of sand and gravel, glacial till, and fractured bedrock--provide an extensive and readily accessible ground-water supply in Massachusetts. Ground water affects our everyday lives, not just in terms of how much water is available, but also in terms of the position of ground-water levels in relation to land surface. Knowledge of ground-water levels is needed by Federal, State, and local agencies to help plan, manage, and protect ground-water supplies, and by private construction companies for site planning and evaluation. A primary part of the mission of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Water Resources Division, is the systematic collection of ground-water, surface-water, and water-quality data. These data are needed to manage and protect the nation's water resources. The Massachusetts-Rhode Island District of the USGS, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management (DEM), Office of Water Resources, and county and town environmental agencies, has maintained a network of observation wells throughout the Commonwealth since the mid 1930's. The purpose of this network is to monitor seasonal and long-term changes in groundwater storage in different lithologic, topographic, and geographic settings. These data are analyzed to provide a monthly index of ground-water conditions to aid in water-resources management and planning, and to define long-term changes in water levels resulting from manmade stresses (such as pumping and construction-site drainage) and natural stresses (such as floods and droughts).
Estimates of future high, median, and low ground-water levels in Rhode Island are needed for engineering and architectural design decisions and for appropriate selection of land uses. For example, the failure of individual underground sewage-disposal systems due to high ground-water levels can be avoided if accurate water-level estimates are available. Estimates of extreme or average conditions are needed because short-duration re-construction observations are unlikely to be representative. The technique described in this report utilizes a single water-level measurement at a site of interest, in combination with a long-term water-level record at an observation well, to estimate the long-term high, median, and low water levels at the site of interest. The transfer of information to the site of interest depends on four fundamental assumptions: (1) Water levels will fluctuate in the future as they have in the past, (2) Water levels fluctuate seasonally, (3) Ground-water fluctuations depend on site geology, and (4) Water levels throughout Rhode Island are affected by similar precipitation and climate. The technique is based on the equivalent relation between the ratio of potential water-level change to maximum annual water-level range at the site and the ratio of potential water-level change to annual water-level range at the observation well. Equations for estimating high, median, and low water levels, and graphs of probable annual water-level range are given for selecting representative ranges of water levels for sand and gravel and till in Rhode Island. The accuracy of the technique is evaluated by use of the equations to estimate water levels at long-term observation wells where high, median, and low water levels are known from monthly measurements over many years. As a test of the estimating procedure, 6,697 estimates each of high, median, and low water levels (depth to water level exceeded 95, 50, and 5 percent of the time, respectively) were compared with measured water levels exceeded 95, 50, and 5 percent of the time at 14 sites unaffected by pumping or other known factors. Mean squared errors (average differences squared, between estimated and measured water levels) for the estimates ranged from 0.34 to 1.53 ft 2 for high water levels, 0.30 to 1.22 ft 2 for median water levels, and 0.32 to 2.55 ft 2 for low water levels. All mean squared errors are less than the State required 3-foot separation between the bottom of the stone underlying the seepage system and the maximum altitude of the water table. This degree of accuracy is acceptable for many design purposes.