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USGS1957

Geology and ground-water resources of Outagamie County, Wisconsin

Outagamie County is in east-central Wisconsin. It has no serious groundwater problem at present, but the county is important as a recharge area for the principal aquifers supplying water to Brown County and industrial Green Bay to the east. The county is covered by glacial drift and lake deposits of the Wisconsin stage of glaciation. In the northwestern quarter of the county these deposits rest upon Precambrian crystalline rocks; throughout the remainder of the county they are underlain by sandstone, limestone, dolomite, and shale of Cambrian and Ordovician age. ·where they are sufficiently thick, and where more productive formations are absent, glacial sand and gravel are an important source of ground water. The major sources, however, are the St. Peter sandstone, of Ordovician age, and the sandstones of the Upper Cambrian series. The Precambrian crystalline rocks, which underlie all the county, yield little or no water to wells. The regional dip of the Paleozoic bedrocks is 25 to 30 feet per mile eastward and southeastward. There are no major folds, but the thickness of each geologic unit may change from place to place because of predepositional or postdepositional erosion. There is no conclusive evidence of major faulting in the area. Ground water in Outagamie County occurs under both water-table (unconfined) and artesian (confined) conditions. The source of the ground water is precipitation which falls on the surface and percolates downward into the underlying permeable materials. Regional movement of ground water in the eastern third of the county is controlled by the bedrock structure, and the discharge is toward the east and south. Throughout the rest of the county the movement of water is controlled mainly by bedrock and surface topography, and the water moves toward the streams and bedrock valleys. Water-level :fluctuations follow definite patterns. Where the effects of pumping are at a minimum, water levels reach a high in April or May, decline through the summer months owing to natural discharge, and lack of recharge, and do not begin to recover until after the ground thaws in the spring. In areas of heavy pumping where this pattern is distorted, the lowest water levels occur in the early fall and recoveries begin in October or November after the period of heaviest pumping. Pumpage in the county was estimated to be about 9.0 million gallons per day (mgd) in 1951 and 1952. Nearly half of this was for industrial, commercial, and public-supply use along the Fox River. Wells, most of which are drilled by the cable-tool method, range in diameter from 3 to 16 inches and in depth from 10 or 20 feet to 804 feet. In the alluvium and glacial drift 1~- to 2¥2-inch driven wells are common. Pumping tests were made to determine the hydraulic characteristics of the aquifers at Seymour, Appleton, and Hortonville. The average coefficient of transmissibility at Seymour is about 18,000 gpd per foot; at Appleton it is about 19,000 gpd per foot. The coefficients of storage are 0.00022 and 0.00015 at Seymour and Appleton, respectively. Movement of ground water out of the county, assuming an average transmissibility of 18,000 gpd per foot, was calculated to be more than 10 mgd toward the southeast. The ground water differs greatly in chemical quality from well to well, but it is generally a very hard calcium magnesium bicarbonate water, some of it high in iron. To aid in determining the source of well waters, 22 chemical analyses were plotted on a logarithmic diagram to obtain characteristic patterns for waters from several geologic sources.

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USGS1956

Drilling data in the Montfort, Rewey, Mifflin, Belmont, and Calamine quadrangles, Wisconsin

Sixty-six churn drill holes aggregating 10,351 feet were drilled in the fall of 1955 in the zinc-lead district of southwestern Wisconsin (fig. 1). This drilling was part of a cooperative program of geologic mapping by the U. S. Geological Survey and the Wisconsin Geologic and Natural History Survey. The holes penetrate the Maquoketa, Galena, Decorah, and Platteville formations of Late and Middle Ordovician age in areas of sparse outcrop and subsurface information. They provide basic data for stratigraphic study and for the projection of geologic structures in these areas. Exact location of the holes is shown in figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Generalized descriptive logs of the 66 holes were prepared mainly from driller's logs, and from a field study of the drill cuttings by J. E. Carlson. Where delineation of the formations drilled was difficult in the field, the cuttings were examined by binocular microscope.

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USGS1956

Ground water in Wisconsin

The purpose of this report is to describe in general the occurrence, source, movement, and use of ground water in Wisconsin in order that present problems of ground-water development may be understood and to point out the need for study and evaluation of the potential ground water available. Areas with specific problems are described as are other areas that are used as examples. For the sake of brevity complete reports of studies completed or under way are not included, but the general results of such studies are the basis for the report.

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USGS1955

Zinc and lead deposits of the Sinsinawa River area, Grant County, Wisconsin

A broad geologic study of the structure and ore deposits of the Wisconsin-Illinois-Iowa zinc-lead district (fig. 1) was begun by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1942. The main object of the present program is to delineate the areas favorable to future exploration for zinc-lead ore deposits. As part of the program the Sinsinawa River area in southeastern Grant County, Wis., was selected for a detailed geologic study. This study was made in cooperation with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey.

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USGS1955

Electrical resistivity measurements in the Neillsville area, Wisconsin

Sixty-eight electrical depth profiles were completed in the vicinity of Neillsville, Wis. to obtain information on the water-bearing beds in the glacial moraine and consolidated sedimentary rocks in the area. No productive aquifers were found but the best areas for test drilling are described. The basic theory and interpretation procedures, together with a short description of field methods on electrical resistivity measurements are also presented.

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USGS1955

Airborne and ground reconnaissance of part of the syenite complex near Wausau, Marathon county, Wisconsin

Airborne and ground reconnaissance for radioactive minerals in part of the syenite complex near Wausau, Marathon county, Wis., found 12 radioactive mineral localities. The rocks in the area are of Precambrian age and consist of syenite and nepheline syenite, which have intruded older granite, greenstone, quartzite, and argillite. There are very few outcrops, and much of the bedrock is deeply weathered and covered by residual soil. Thorium-bearing zircon pegatite float was found within the area of syenite and nepheline syenite at four localities. Reddish-brown euhedral to subeuhedral crystals of well-zoned zircon (variety cyrtolite) comprise more than 40 percent of some of the specimens. The radioactive mineral at four localities outside the area of syneites was identified as thorogummite, which occurred in nodular masses in residual soil. Alinement of the thorogummite float and associated radioactivity suggests that the thorogummite has resulted from weathering of narrow veins or pegmatites containing thorium-bearing minerals. Unidentified thorium-bearing minerals were found at three localities, and a specimen of allanite weighing about 2 pounds was found at one locality. Shallow trenches at two of the largest radioactivity anomalies showed that the radioactive material extended down into weathered bedrock. The occurrences might warrant additional physical exploration should there be sufficient demand for thorium. Further reconnaissance in the area would probably result in the discovery of additional occurrences.

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USGS1955

Some effects of preciptiation on ground water in Wisconsin

The importance of our water supplies has become increasingly apparent to most of us in recent years. The importance of water was forcefully dramatized by the water shortage in New York City in 1950. In nearly every State in the Union, one or more communities now has or has had a water problem whose effect on the citizens has been no less to them as was the one in New York City to New Yorkers. The increasing numbers of these problems have led to widespread speculation as to the adequacy of the Nation' s water supplies.

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USGS1954

Geology and zinc-lead-barite deposits in the area east of Cuba City, Wisconsin

The current study of the Wisconsin-Illinois-Iowa zinc-lead district (fig. 1) was begun in 1942, with the major emphasis placed on detailed mapping of geologic structure and ore deposits. Preliminary reports for several areas in the mining district have been prepared, and the present study of the are east of Cuba City, Wis., is a continuation of that program.

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USGS1954

Ground-water conditions in southwestern Langlade County, Wisconsin

Glacial outwash sand and gravel deposits are the principal aquifer in southwestern Langlade County, Wis. The underlying bedrock of pre-Cambrian age contains little or no water. The source of ground water is local precipitation. Information was collected on more than 300 wells in the area. Movement of ground water is generally southward and locally toward streams. Discharge is by streams and subsurface flow. Fluctuations of water levels in wells show a close correlation with seasonal precipitation and with average precipitation over a period of years. Pumping tests made at the city of Antigo's well field gave a coefficient of transmissibility of 62,000 gpd per ft and a coefficient of storage of 0.15 for the outwash deposits. It is estimated that recharge to a 90-squaremile area of the Antigo flats averages about 30,000 acre-feet per year. Of the 1,100 acrefeet pumped from wells in 1948, 69 percent was for municipal supply, 26 percent for rural supply, and 5 percent for irrigation. Use of water for irrigation has caused no measurable decline of water levels in the area as a whole.

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USGS1953

Stratigraphic relations of the Shakopee dolomite and the St. Peter sandstone in southwestern Wisconsin

This paper is concerned with the origin and geologic history of the boundary that separates the widespread St. Peter sandstone from the underlying Shakopee dolomite. That international surface is highly undulatory, and most contemporary geologists who have examined it believe that the contact irregularities result from pre-St. Peter subaerial erosion of the upper Shakopee surface. Some earlier investigators do not entirely concur. This report is a by-product of work done for the U. S. Geological Survey during an investigation of the lead-zinc resources of Wisconsin by the U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey. Attention was focused on the problem by stratigraphic studies of the Prairie du Chien formations, particularly of the Shakopee dolomite, in which structural and lithologic characters observed in the carbonate sediments seemed to be incompatible with the widely accepted erosional origin of the upper Shakopee surface. It was decided, in 1950, to explore the whole problem of the Shakopee-St. Peter relations by detailed outcrop examinations, supplemented by subsurface and other studies that might contribute to a better understanding of the genetic relationships involved. The area of the investigation was restricted to three counties in southwestern Wisconsin and closely adjacent areas in Iowa(fig. 1), differing in this respect from the broader and more general studies that previously have tended to be the rule.

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USGS1953

Ground-water conditions in artesian aquifers in Brown County, Wisconsin

The principal water-bearing rocks underlying Brown County, Wis., are thick sandstone units of Cambrian and Ordovician age. Other aquifers include limestone and dolomite of Ordovician age, dolomite of Silurian age, and sands and gravel of Pleistocene and Recent age. Underlying the water-bearing formations are crystalline rocks of pre-Cambrian age which contain little or no water. Ground water is the source of all public and most private and industrial supplies in. the county. Several of the large industries use large quantities of surface water also. Most of the water is pumped from wells that penetrate the Cambrian sandstones where the water occurs under artesian conditions. From 1886, when the first deep well was drilled, to 1949, the pumpage in the county increased to an average of about 5 million gallons a day (mgd) in 1939 and to about 10 mgd in 1949. The piezometric level, which was about 100 feet above the land surface in 1886, was about 300 feet below the land surface in 1949. About 200 feet of this decline took place after 1938. The water-level-measurement program begun in 1946 shows that yearly fluctuations of water levels in observation wells range from less than 1 foot to about 90 feet, the fluctuations being larger at the center of the heavily pumped area. The highest water levels occur in the winter or spring and the lowest in the summer near the end of the season of maximum withdrawal. Coefficients of transmissibility and storage for the sandstones were obtained by making controlled pumping tests at Green Bay and De Pere. The coefficients were verified by comparing computed water-level declines and rates of withdrawal with actual ones. The computed values were within I0 percent of the actual values. Probable declines of water levels by 1960 were computed, using the same coefficients of transmissibility and storage, and assuming three different conditions of pumping. The additional decline in water level will be 15 to 150 feet in the center of the pumped area, depending upon the amount of increased pumping and its distribution relative to the present pumped area and to the recharge area. The water from the sandstones is a hard calcium magnesium bicarbonate water. Further work is needed to determine whether there is danger of contamination by salt water which occurs down the dip in the same formations. It is concluded that the rate of withdrawal from the area can be increased to 15 mgd by 1960 without dangerously lowering water levels, provided that new wells are properly spaced. In order to avoid expressive lowering of water levels, it is recommended that new wells be located west of Green Bay toward the recharge area. A detailed study has not been made of shallow aquifers in the county. Further work should be done to evaluate the possibilities of auxiliary supplies from the limestone of the Platteville formation or from the Niagara dolomite. Conservation should be practice.4 by all users of ground water to avoid waste resulting in lower water levels and higher pumping costs.

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USGS1953

Ground-water conditions in the Milwaukee-Waukesha area, Wisconsin

Three major aquifers underlie the Milwaukee-Waukesha area: sandstones of Cambrian and Ordovician age, Niagara dolomite of Silurian age, and sand and gravel deposits of Pleistocene age. The Maquoketa shale of Ordovician age acts as a more or less effective seal between the Pleistocene deposits and Niagara dolomite above and the sandstone aquifer below. Crystalline rocks of pre-Cambrian age form an impermeable basement complex below the Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. The Paleozoic strata dip east at 25 to 30 feet to the mile. There is no evidence that any of the faults and folds known or surmised to be present acts as a barrier to the movement of ground water. The bedrock surface underlying the Milwaukee-Waukesha area is formed by the Niagara dolomite except in northeastern Milwaukee County, where it is dolomite and shale of the Milwaukee formation of Devonian age, and in some of the preglacial valleys where the uppermost bedrock formation is the Maquoketa shale. Unconsolidated deposits of glacial drift cover the surface of the bedrock almost completely. Buried valleys in the bedrock surface contain as much as 150 feet of water-bearing sand and gravel deposits. These deposits, along with the Niagara dolomite, could be developed as sources of water supplemental to that of the sandstone aquifer. The Niagara dolomite is an important aquifer; it yields water from crevices and solution channels. The sandstone aquifer consists of the Galena dolomite, the Platteville limestone, and the St. Peter sandstone of Ordovician age, and the Eau Claire and Mount Simon sandstones of Cambrian age. The St. Peter and Mount Simon are the most productive formations but the others supply some water to wells. Static water levels in the shallow aquifers have not declined to any great extent except in downtown Milwaukee, where a 50-foot-deep cone of depression exists. Static water levels in the sandstone aquifer declined as much as 350 feet in the Milwaukee area from 1880 through 1950. Recharge to the two shallow aquifers occurs locally from precipitation within the area. The major recharge area of the sandstone aquifer lies about 25 miles west of Wauwatosa. Some ground water is recharged to the sandstone aquifer locally by leakage from the Niagara dolomite, mostly through deep uncased wells. Ground water is the source of six municipal supplies and many industrial and commercial supplies in the area. Pumpage from deep wells has increased from about 2.5 mgd in 1900 to about 25 mgd in 1949, of which 6.0 mgd was derived from the shallow aquifers. The total withdrawal from the shallow aquifers, including the 6.0 mgd from the deep wells, was about 19.5 mgd in 1949. Thus the total in 1949 was 38.5 mgd for the area as a whole. Coefficients of transmissibility and storage for the sandstone aquifer were obtained by means of controlled pumping tests at Wauwatosa, Waukesha, Greendale, Town of Lake, and Jefferson. The coefficients were used to calculate the amount of water recharged from the Niagara dolomite to the sandstone aquifer in the area. About 5.5 mgd of the 23 mgd pumped from deep wells in 1950 was supplied locally by leakage from the Niagara dolomite. The coefficients, with corrections for boundaries, were also applied to past records of pumpage to calculate the water-level decline in the sandstone aquifer at Wauwatosa from 1880 through 1950. The calculated decline was 317 feet, and the actual decline was 307 feet. The future water-level decline in the sandstone aquifer at Wauwatosa resulting from estimated future pumping conditions was computed. If the pumpage in the area as ?. whole increases from about 23 mgd in 1950 to about 28 mgd in 1960, the water levels at Wauwatosa will decline as much as 65 feet more by 1960. It is estimated that the available recharge to the sandstone aquifer underlying the Milwaukee-Waukesha area is approximately 60 mgd. It is recommended that new deep wells be located to the west toward the recharge area and that the shallow aquifers be used as auxiliary sources to void excessive lowering of water levels in the sandstone aquifers. Conservation should be practiced by all users of ground water to avoid waste resulting in lower water levels and higher pumping costs.

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USGS1952

Electrical resistivity studies of subsurface conditions near Antigo, Wisconsin

Resistivity measurements are reported for the glaciated area near Antigo, Wis., to locate buried sand and gravel deposits in the glacial drift, which might be developed as aquifers, and to determine depths to the pre-Cambrian bedrock. The results of the resistivity study are presented both as cross sections and as contour maps. The apparent resistivity curves, their interpretation in terms of the thickness and character of the geological materials, as well logs of the area are given. On the basis of the study a number of sites were selected that would be suitable for drilling water-supply wells, no drilling has been done on the sites selected.

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USGS1951

Exploratory drilling in the Prairie du Chien Group of the Wisconsin zinc-lead district by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1949-1950

The U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey explored the Prairie du Chien group in the main productive area of the Wisconsin zinc-lead district during 1949-50. Eight properties--Crow Branch diggings, Leix, Harris, Spitzbarth, Kennedy, James, Raisbeck and Vinegar Hill Roaster--were explored using both diamond and churn drills. Twenty holes were drilled that totaled 8,582 feet in depth. The objectives of the exploration were to determine if the Prairie du Chien and other formations below the principal ore-bearing strata (Galena, Decorah, and Platteville formations) of the district are favorable for ore deposits, and to determine the type of ore deposits, if present. Lean deposits of sphalerite, marcasite, and pyrite were found in the Prairie du Chien on five properties--Crow Branch, Leix, Harris, Spitzbarth, and Vinegar Hill Roaster-and also in the Franconia sandstone on the Leix property. In the drilled area the sulfides in the Prairie du Chien group occur in certain more brittle or soluble dolomite beds that contain cavities formed by brecciation or solution.

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USGS1950

Lead and zinc deposits of the Beetown area, Wisconsin

The Beetown area, in Grant County, Wisconsin, in the Northwestern part of the Upper Mississippi Valley zinc-lead district, lies in the western part of T. 4 N., R. 4 W., and the eastern part of T. 4 N., R. 5 W. The village of Beetown is at about its center. Recent geologic investigations in the area by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, indicate that further prospecting for both lead and zinc ore is justified. This brief preliminary paper discusses geologic features of the lead and the zinc deposits. It is one of several areas within the district chosen for detailed geologic study because surface indications and past production suggest that the area may contain undiscovered lead and zinc deposits. This report is based on field work that began in July 1947 and continued at intervals until September 1949.

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