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David C. Prowell

Publications and source records attributed to David C. Prowell.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2007

Preliminary physical stratigraphy and geophysical data of the USGS Hope Plantation core (BE-110), Bertie County, North Carolina

In March and April, 2004, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the North Carolina Geological Survey (NCGS) and the Raleigh Water Resources Discipline (WRD), drilled a stratigraphic test hole and well in Bertie County, North Carolina (fig. 1). The Hope Plantation test hole (BE-110-2004) was cored on the property of Hope Plantation near Windsor, North Carolina. The drill site is located on the Republican 7.5 minute quadradrangle at lat 36?01'58'N., long 78?01'09'W. (decimal degrees 36.0329 and 77.0192) (fig. 2). The altitude of the site is 48 ft above mean sea level as determined by Paulin Precise altimeter. This test hole was continuously cored by Eugene F. Cobbs, III and Kevin C. McKinney (USGS) to a total depth of 1094.5 ft. Later, a ground water observation well was installed with a screened interval between 315-329 feet below land surface (fig. 3). Upper Triassic, Lower Cretaceous, Upper Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Quaternary sediments were recovered from the site. The core is stored at the NCGS Coastal Plain core storage facility in Raleigh, North Carolina. In this report, we provide the initial lithostratigraphic summary recorded at the drill site along with site core photographs, data from the geophysical logger, calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphic correlations (Table 1) and initial hydrogeologic interpretations. The lithostratigraphy from this core can be compared to previous investigations of the Elizabethtown corehole, near Elizabethtown, North Carolina in Bladen County (Self-Trail, Wrege, and others, 2004), the Kure Beach corehole, near Wilmington, North Carolina in New Hanover County (Self-Trail, Prowell, and Christopher, 2004), the Esso #1, Esso #2, Mobil #1 and Mobil #2 cores in the Albermarle and Pamlico Sounds (Zarra, 1989), and the Cape Fear River outcrops in Bladen County (Farrell, 1998; Farrell and others, 2001). This core is the third in a series of planned benchmark coreholes that will be used to elucidate the physical stratigraphy, facies, thickness, and hydrogeology of the Tertiary and Cretaceous Coastal Plain sediments of North Carolina.

North Carolina↗
USGS2004

Data collected from USGS drilling in Lafayette Park, Washington, D.C. in November-December, 1976

In 1976, the U.S. Geological Survey drilled four holes in Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C. These holes encountered two Coastal Plain units (Quaternary (undifferentiated) and the Lower Cretaceous Potomac Group), and then bottomed in Paleozoic metamorphic bedrock. The stratigraphic relations of the Coastal Plain formations indicate that the Potomac Group strata become abruptly thicker from west to east across the park.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2002

Ground-water levels in the Floridan-Midville aquifer in the Breezy Hill area, Aiken and Edgefield counties, South Carolina, April 1999-November 2000

The Breezy Hill area in Aiken and Edgefield Counties of west-central South Carolina is a rapidly growing region in need of increasing amounts of ground water. From 1995 to 1998, the local water utility increased ground-water withdrawals in the Breezy Hill area from 1.4 to 2.1 million gallons per day to meet water-supply demands. As development continues, future demands for ground water will likely put stress on the surfaceand ground-water resources of the area. To address this issue, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Aiken County, compiled and interpreted geologic and hydrologic data needed to map the ground-water system in the Breezy Hill study area. The Breezy Hill study area consists of four interfluvial areas comprising the regions between Horse and Little Horse Creeks, Little Horse and Hightower Creeks, Hightower Creek and Franklin Branch, and Franklin Branch and Mims Branch. Across the interfluvial areas, the average elevation of the water-level surface ranged from 200 to 480 feet above sea level, and the average saturated thickness of the Floridan-Midville aquifer ranged from less than 20 to 70 feet thick. A water-level contour map of the surface of the Floridan-Midville aquifer indicates that recharge to the aquifer occurs mainly within the interfluves. Recharge is derived principally from precipitation, although there is some potential for ground-water recharge from underlying crystalline rocks. Ground water discharges along the flanks of the interfluves into the bounding streams where the elevations of the ground water and streams coincide. From April 1999 to November 2000, calculated long-term normal precipitation totaled about 84.0 inches; however, actual recorded precipitation totaled 69.2 inches, representing about a 17.6 percent decrease in precipitation during this period. Published estimates of annual evapotranspiration range from 30 to 35 inches. A U.S. Geological Survey surface-water gaging station located near the center of the study area on Little Horse Creek monitors runoff from a drainage area of 26.6 square miles. Average annual flow for the station for water years 1990-2000 was 33.8 cubic feet per second. From April 1999 to November 2000, the monthly average flow was less than the average monthly flow for the longterm record, excluding December 1999 to March 2000 when no data were collected. Monthly average flow for Little Horse Creek exceeded the normal monthly flow during June and July 1999. Ground water in the Breezy Hill area is principally withdrawn from the unconfined Floridan- Midville aquifer. Ground-water withdrawals by the local water utility increased 37 percent from 1989 to 2000 (315.2 to 500 million gallons, respectively). From January 1999 to December 2000, the utility exceeded the long-term monthly average groundwater withdrawals for every month except September and December 2000. Calculated long-term monthly ground-water withdrawals by the utility for a 20-month period from April 1999 to November 2000 totaled 674 million gallons; however, actual ground-water withdrawals totaled 883 million gallons, which is 31 percent more than the long-term average ground-water withdrawals for the production wells. Published estimates of average annual ground-water recharge rates for the study area range from 13 to 15 inches per year. A base-flow recession analysis of streamflow data for Little Horse Creek provided an estimated recharge rate of 14.9 inches per year for the drainage area. Using an estimated average porosity ranging from 30 to 35 percent observed in sand-aquifer cores, the average annual recharge of 13 to 15 inches would cause a 3.6- to 4.1-foot water-level change to the saturated thickness of the aquifer, if applied instantaneously. The water-level declines observed in wells from April 1999 to November 2000 approximated an average decline of 4 feet. From November 1999 to November 2000, ground-water levels in six wells near utility pumping centers declined 2 to 5 feet. Long-term waterlevel declines of 10.27 and 11.50 feet were measured in two wells between May 1992 and April 2000, respectively.

South Carolina↗
USGS1983

Index of faults of Cretaceous and Cenozoic age in the eastern United States

The information in this report was collected between 1974 and 1982 as part of the Reactor Hazards Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). This program was initiated to delineate and assess geologic hazards that could be particularly detrimental to major constructions, especially nuclear reactors. Faults are of principal interest to the program because earthquakes associated with them can cause major damage in short periods of time. Prior to 1970, very little was known about Cenozoic faulting in the eastern United States. the most abundant data were available in the western gulf Coastal Plain where oil exploration had generated a considerable amount of subsurface stratigraphic information. The Atlantic coastal Plain was considered to be generally devoid of faults, although scientists such as McGee (1888) and Darton (1891, 1951) had proposed major faulting or uplift along the Fall Line. The Piedmont and Blue Ridge Provinces of the eastern United States contained numerous mapped faults, abut the recency of fault movement was unknown because of the absence of Cenozoic strata. One of the initial efforts of the Reactor Hazards Program was a compilation and evaluation of Cretaceous and younger faults in the East. Topical studies were initiated in areas of particular interest, and these studies in turn generated a broader scientific interest in the problem of Cenozoic deformation. A preliminary literature investigation of Cretaceous and younger faulting was published by York and Oliver (1976), and was followed by an interpretive map of young faults by Howard and others (1978). The data in this report represent the presently available knowledge of fault characteristics and distribution. Clearly, as current investigations progress and as geologists become more aware of the evidence for Cenozoic faulting, the number of known Cenozoic faults will increase substantially. Until such time, the data that are shown here must be viewed conservatively because I believe they are not a totally representative collection of information at this scale. the data are useful in characterizing basic fault patterns in the region, but certain factors limit the usefulness of the map. Limitations of this information are discussed in the following text, and the reader should give them major consideration when using the map and fault table.

Miscellaneous Field Studies Map↗
USGS1976

Detailed investigation of a coastal plain-Piedmont fault contact in northeastern Virginia

A trench across the Dumfries fault of the Stafford fault zone near Stafford, Virginia (see Mixon and Newell, 1976) exposed a high-angle reverse fault juxtaposing Paleozoic Quantico Slate and Cretaceous Potomac Group rocks. A system of subsidiary reverse faults and small scale normal faults disrupt the Coastal Plain strata adjacent to the main fault. Cross-cutting relations and stratigraphic details indicate that the subsidiary faults in the Cretaceous rocks document a history of episodic deformation, in part active during accumulation of the Coastal Plain strata. Slickensides and stereo net analysis of theorientation of subsidiary reverse faults, normal faults, and bedding indicate that, through time, faulting consistently included right lateral separation.

Virginia↗
USGS1975

Preliminary evidence for Holocene movement along the Belair fault zone near Augusta, Georgia

The Belair fault zone has the youngest displacement recognized to date in the southeastern United States and is the only fault zone dated as having moved in Holocene time. A trench cut across one of the faults in the zone shows lenses of organic material cut by and dragged into the fault. Radiocarbon dates indicate that this organic material is younger than 2500 years.

Open-File Report↗