Water-resources activities of the Kentucky District, FY 1995-96
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Open-File Report↗
Geology topics
T. O. Mesko
Publications and source records attributed to T. O. Mesko.
Estimated hydrologic characteristics of shallow aquifer systems in the Valley and Ridge, the Blue Ridge, and the Piedmont Physiographic Provinces based on analysis of streamflow recession and base flow
Inferences are drawn about properties of aquifer systems from the interpretation of streamflow records in the Appalachian Valley and Ridge, Piedmont, and Blue Ridge physiographic provinces. The analysis is divided into two parts--analysis of streamflow recession and base-flow analysis. Analysis of recession yields information about aquifer diffusivity and variation in specific yield. Base-flow analysis is used to develop water balances for representative basins in the study area.
Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, ↗
Subsurface geology of Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic units in southeast Missouri
The U.S. Geological Survey is conducting a regional water-resources investigation of the Gulf Costal Plain, which includes all of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain of southeastern Missouri, locally known as the southeast lowlands. The purpose of the regional study is to describe and evaluate the major aquifer systems in sediments of Tertiary and younger age in parts of 10 states (Grubb, 1984). In the southeast lowlands of Missouri, the sub-surface stratigraphy and structural configuration of geologic units need to be described in detail to define the major aquifer syustems in the area. The purpose of this report is to describe the subsurface geologic framework for Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic units in the southeast lowlands of Missouri and to correlate these units to those in adjecent States using geophysical and geologic methods (index map). Geophysical logs of wells were used to determine which units are aquifers or confining beds. The drilling of the U.S. Geological Survey test well 1-X in New Madrid County, Missouri, and the subsequent interpretation of geohydrologic data from the well have provided valuable information used in the preparation of this report.
Missouri↗
Hydrogeology and preliminary assessment of regional flow in the upper Cretaceous and adjacent aquifers in the northern Mississippi embayment
On a regional scale, the ground-water system of the northern Mississippi embayment is composed of a series of nonindurated elastic sediments that overlie a thick sequence of Paleozoic carbonates, sandstones, and shales. Precambrian crystalline rocks form both the structural and the hydrogeologic basement throughout the northern embayment. The units that comprise the hydrogeologic framework of this study are the alluvium-lower Wilcox aquifer, the Midway confining unit, the Upper Cretaceous aquifer, the Cretaceous-Paleozoic confining unit, and the Ozark-St. Francois aquifer. The Upper Cretaceous aquifer of Late Cretaceous age is the primary focus of this investigation; the study is part of the Gulf Coast Regional Aquifer-System Analysis. A ground-water flow model was developed as the main tool to refine the concepts of deep regional flow in the northern Mississippi embayment. This four layer finite-difference model enabled testing of alternative boundary concepts and provided a refined definition of the hydrologic budget of the deep aquifers. The alluvium-lower Wilcox aquifer, the Upper Cretaceous aquifer, and the Ozark-St.Francois aquifer form layers 2 through 4, respectively. Layer 1 is an inactive layer of constant heads representing shallow water levels, which are a major control on recharge to and discharge from the regional system. A matrix of leakance values simulates each confining unit, allowing vertical interchange of water between different aquifers. The model was calibrated to 1980 conditions by using the assumption that 1980 was near steady-state conditions; it was calibrated to simulate observed heads within acceptable limits. For this preliminary model, calculated heads were found to be most sensitive to pumping, and least sensitive to the leakance. By using all available water-quality and water-level data, alternative boundary conditions were tested by comparing model simulated heads to observed heads. Simulation indicated that the major discharge zone for the Upper Cretaceous aquifer occurred along a narrow area coincident with the boundary of a buried rift. The results of the early modeling effort also contribute to a better understanding of the regional hydrologic budget, indicating that upward leakage from the Ozark-St. Francois aquifer to the Upper Cretaceous aquifer is about 43 cubic feet per second, with about 30 cubic feet per second occuring west of the western margin of the embayment. Calculations suggest upward recharge of about 68 cubic feet per second occurs to the lower Wilcox-alluvium aquifer from the Upper Cretaceous aquifer. Simulation results also indicate that the Midway is an effective regional confining unit.
northern Mississippi embayment↗
Missouri ground-water quality
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Open-File Report↗
Surface-water hydrology of the Little Black River basin, Missouri and Arkansas, before water-land improvement practices
The U. S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, in accordance with Public Law 566, is implementing various types of water-land improvement practices in the Little Black River basin in southeastern Missouri. These practices are designed, in part, to decrease the suspended sediment (SS) transport in the basin, decrease flood damage in the basin, and improve drainage in the agricultural area. The general features of the basin, such as geology, groundwater hydrology, soils, land use, water use, and precipitation are described; surface water quantity, quality, and suspended sediment discharge are also described. The aquifers are the Mississippi River valley alluvial aquifer, which can yield about 3,500 gal/min to properly constructed wells, and the Ozark and St. Francois aquifers, which can yield from about 30 to 500 gal/min to properly constructed wells. Soils in the area have formed in loess and cherty residuum in the uplands or have formed in alluvial sediment in the lowlands. About 93% of the estimated 3 billion gal/year of water used in the basin is for crop irrigation. The average monthly precipitation varies slightly throughout the year, with an average annual precipitation of about 47 inches. Water quality data were collected at seven stations. Specific conductance values ranged from 50 to 400 microsiemens/cm at 25 C. Water temperatures ranged from 0.0 C in the winter to 33.5 C in summer. pH values ranged from 6.4 to 8.5 units. Dissolved oxygen concentrations ranged from 2.2 to 12.8 ml/l. Total nitrogen concentrations ranged from 0.13 to 2.20 ml/l as nitrogen, with organic nitrogen as the most abundant form. Phosphorus concentrations ranged from zero to 0.29 ml/l as phosphorus. Bacterial counts were largest during storm runoff in the basin with livestock waste as the significant contributor. For the period from October 1, 1980, to September 30, 1984, the average annual SS discharge ranged from 2,230 tons/yr in the headwater areas to 27,800 tons/yr at the most downstream station. The average annual SS yield ranged from 59.6 to 85.9 tons/sq mi.
Arkansas, Missouri↗
Ground-water quality data from the northern Mississippi embayment: Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi
Forty-five analyses of ground-water quality from 42 selected wells in the McNairy-Nacatoch-Ripley and lower Wilcox aquifers of the northern Mississippi embayment have been compiled as part of the Gulf Coast Regional Aquifer System Analysis (RASA) project of the U.S. Geological Survey. Thirty-seven wells were sampled during the period October 1983 to September 1984 specifically for this RASA study; three of these wells were sampled twice. Five wells were sampled during the period January 1981 to March 1985 for other projects. All 45 analyses are included herein as a single data base that will be used for geochemical modeling of mineral saturation and mass transfer in the McNairy-Nacatoch-Ripley aquifer. The report contains two figures, six tables of data, and a brief documentation of the methods used for sample collection and analysis. The figures are maps showing locations of sampling sites for each of the two aquifers. The tables of data include (1) well descriptions and (2) concentrations of major constituents, trace constituents, dissolved gases, stable and unstable isotopes of low mass (C, H, 0, and S>, and unstable isotopes of high mass (Rn, Ra, and U).
Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tenness↗