Geology topics

F. H. Olmsted

Publications and source records attributed to F. H. Olmsted.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

USGS1962

Relation between ground water and surface water in Brandywine Creek basin, Pennsylvania

The relation between ground water and surface water was studied in Brandywine Creek basin, an area of 287 square miles in the Piedmont physiographic province in southeastern Pennsylvania. Most of the basin is underlain by crystalline rocks that yield only small to moderate supplies of water to wells, but the creek has an unusually well-sustained base flow. Streamflow records for the Chadds Ford, Pa., gaging station were analyzed; base flow recession curves and hydrographs of base flow were defined for the calendar years 1928-31 and 1952-53. Water budgets calculated for these two periods indicate that about two-thirds of the runoff of Brandywine Creek is base flow--a significantly higher proportion of base flow than in streams draining most other types of consolidated rocks in the region and almost as high as in streams in sandy parts of the Coastal Plain province in New Jersey and Delaware. Ground-water levels in 16 observation wells were compared with the base flow of the creek for 1952-53. The wells are assumed to provide a reasonably good sample of average fluctuations of the water table and its depth below the land surface. Three of the wells having the most suitable records were selected as index wells to use in a more detailed analysis. A direct, linear relation between the monthly average ground-water stage in the index wells and the base flow of the creek in winter months was found. The average ground-water discharge in the basin for 1952-53 was 489 cfs (316 mgd), of which slightly less than one-fourth was estimated to be loss by evapotranspiration. However, the estimated evapotranspiration from ground water, and consequently the estimated total ground-water discharge, may be somewhat high. The average gravity yield (short-term coefficient of storage) of the zone of water-table fluctuation was calculated by two methods. The first method, based on the ratio of change in ground-water storage as calculated from a witner base-flow recession curve is seasonal change in ground-water stage in the observation wells, gave values of about 7 percent using 16 wells) and 7 1/2 percent (using 3 index wells). The second method, in which the change in ground water storage is based on a hypothetical base-flow recession curve (derived from the observed linear relation between ground-water stage in the index wells and base flow), gave a value of about 10 1/2 percent. The most probable value of gravity yield is between 7 1/2 and 10 percent, but this estimate may require modification when more information on the average magnitude of water-table fluctuation and the sources of base flow of the creek become available. Rough estimates were made of the average coefficient of transmissibility of the rocks in the basin by use of the estimated total ground-water discharge for the period 1952-53, approximate values of length of discharge areas, and average water-table gradients adjacent to the discharge areas. The estimated average coefficient of transmissibility for 1952-53 is roughly 1,000 gpd per foot. The transmissibility is variable, decreasing with decreasing ground-water stage. The seeming inconsistency between the small to moderate ground-water yield to wells and the high yield to streams is explained in terms of the deep permeable soils, the relatively high gravity yield of the zone of water-table fluctuation, the steep water-table gradients toward the streams, the relatively low transmissibility of the rocks, and the rapid decreases in gravity yield below the lower limit of water-table fluctuation. It is concluded that no simple relation exists between the amount of natural ground-water discharge in an area and all the proportion of this discharge that can be diverted to wells.

Professional Paper↗

USGS1962

Generalized structure contour maps of the New Jersey coastal plain

Twelve generalized structural contour maps were prepared from a study of 169 well logs or sample logs of drill cuttings from the Coastal Plain of New Jersey, Delaware, and the E astern Shore of Maryland. The configuration of the tops of the nonmarine Cretaceous deposits (Patuxent , Patapsco, Raritan, and Magothy formations) and the Piney Point Formation (Eocene) show the known subsurface extent of these formations in both New Jersey and Delaware. The structural contour maps show the tops of the Merchantville Formation and Woodbury Clay, the Englishtown Formation, the Marshalltown Formation, the Wenonah Formation and Mount Laurel Sand, the Navesink Forma ti on, and the Red Bank Sand which are a ll of Late Cretaceous age. The maps of the Hornerstown Sand, the Vincentown Formation, and the Manasquan Formation and Shark River Marl of early Tertiary age show the subsurface extent of these formations only in New Jersey. Also included is an outline map showing the locations of wells and seismic station s and a structural contour map showing the configuration of the bedrock surface of the report area. Structural contours on top of the Magothy Formation, or on the top of the Raritan Formation where the Magothy formation is absent, show the configuration of the nonmarine deposits of Cretaceous age. Isopachs of the nonmarine deposits are derived by interpolation between contours on top of the bedrock and the top of either the Magothy Formation or the Raritan Formation where the Magothy is absent. The Merchantville Formation and Woodbury Clay are difficult to separate in the subsurface, and therefore the contour a re drawn on top of the Woodbury Clay. In New Jersey, the thickness of the combined Merchantville Form a ti on and Woodbury Clay ranges from ab out 100 to 140 feet near the outcrop, but exceeds 250 feet in the subsurface along the coast in Ocean County. The top of the Englishtown Formation is easy to recognize because it generally consists of a micaceous white and yellow sand, although locally it is a silty clay . The formation thins toward the southwest from about 160 feet in central Ocean County to less than 20 feet in Salem County . It has not been recognized in Delaware. The Marshalltown Formation varies from black clay to a glauconitic sand. It usually ranges in thickness from 20 to 60 feet . It is very thin or absent in Delaware. The Wenonah Formation and Mount Laurel and arc difficult to separate in New Jersey, and therefore are shown as a unit. The combined thickness range from 60 to 100) feet. In Delaware the two formations are easily separated. The Navesink Formation is generally highly glauconitc and it is difficult to determine the upper limit where overlain by the Hornerstown Sand which is also glauconitic. The contour map on the top of the Navesink is based upon relatively little control. The Red Bank Sand reaches a thickness of about 160 feet in Monmouth County. It thins southwestward and is absent in outcrop in the southern part of the Coastal Plain of New Jersey. A probable equivalent of the Reel Bank has be recognized in Delaware. The Tinton Sand Member is the topmost unit of the Red Bank and in Monmouth County. The Hornerstown Sand is most glauconitic and is about 30 feet thick in outcrop. This is overlain by the Vincentown Formation which consists of two facies (1) calcareous sand facies and (2) quartz sand facies. These a re overlain by the Manasquan Formation and Shark River Marl which are here treated as a unit . In outcrop the combined thickness of the Manasquan Formation and Shark River Marl is about 40 feet, but in the subsurface they thicken to about 200 feet. The Piney Point Formation of Jackson age occur in the subsurface in Cape May and Atlantic Counties, N.J. and in southern Delaware but is not exposed in these States. Brief notes are given on formation of later Tertiary and Pleistocene age , but no contour maps were constructed.

Delaware;New Jersey↗

USGS1961

Geologic features and ground-water storage capacity of the Sacramento Valley, California

The Sacramento Valley constitutes the northern and smaller arm of the Central Valley of California. It is about 150 miles long by about 30 miles wide; and its area is about 5,000 square miles. The Sacramento Valley is drained by the Sacramento River, the largest in California, which rises west of Mount Shasta and flows southward to join the San Joaquin River near Suisun Bay and discharges through San Francisco Bay to the Pacific. Most of the valley floor is suitable for growing crops, and under irrigation the land is highly productive. The Sacramento Valley is underlain by sediments transported from the surrounding mountains by the Sacramento River and its tributaries. The floor of the valley slopes southward from about 300 feet above sea level at the north end near Red Bluff to sea level at Suisun Bay. The Sutter Buttes, which are erosional remnants of an old volcano rise to 2,132 feet above sea level near the center of the valley. The valley floor is not a featureless plain but is characterized by various types of topography, which have been assigned to four principal groups: 1, low hills and dissected alluvial uplands; 2, low alluvial plains and fans; 3, flood plains and natural levees; and 4, flood basins; a fifth and relatively minor group consists of the tidal Islands of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which are south of the principal area of investigation. The rocks that underlie the Sacramento Valley and the bordering mountains range from crystalline rocks of Paleozoic and Mesozoic age to unconsolidated alluvium of Recent age. These rocks have been subdivided into 20 geologic units which may be assigned to 2 broad categories: rocks that yield little water and rocks that yield water freely. The rocks of the first category are chiefly marine sedimentary rocks of Late Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Early Tertiary age and a basement complex of pre-Tertiary crystalline rocks. The rocks of the second category consist predominantly of nonmarine valley-filling sediments of late Tertiary and Quaternary age, which constitute the principal ground-water reservoir in the Sacramento Valley. The rocks that yield little or no water includes the following geologic units: 1, Basement complex of the Sierra Nevada (pre-Tertiary); 2, Shasta series (Lower Cretaceous); 3, Chico formation (Upper Cretaceous); 4, Paleocene series; 5, Eocene series (in part, water yielding); 6, basalt (Tertiary); 7, sedimentary rocks of volcanic origin on the west side of the Sacramento Valley (Tertiary, in part water yielding) ; 8, intrusive rhyolite and andesite and vent tuff of the Sutter Buttes (Pliocene); and 9, tuff-breccia of the Sutter Buttes (Pliocene, in part water yielding). The rocks that yield water freely, comprises the following geologic units: 1, Volcanic rocks from the Sierra Nevada (Eocene to Pliocene; in part yield little or no water); 2, Tuscan formation (Pliocene; in part yield little or no water); 3, Tehama formation (Pliocene); 4, Tehama formation and related continental sediments, undifferentiated (Pliocene and Pleistocene); 5, Laguna formation and related continental sediments (Pliocene and Pleistocene); 6, fanglomerate from the Cascade Range (Pleistocene); 7, Red Bluff formation (Pleistocene); 8, Victor formation and related deposits (Pleistocene); 9, alluvial-fan deposits (Pleistocene and Recent); 10, river deposits (Recent); and 11, flood-basin deposits (Recent). The volcanic rocks from the Sierra Nevada consist chiefly of andesitic and rhyolitic detritus. Most of these volcanic rocks are fragmental and were deposited either as mudflows or by streams. Their permeability is extremely variable, the poorly consolidated sandstone and conglomerate strata locally yield water copiously to wells, but the interbedded fine-grained and cemented strata are virtually impermeable and act as confining layers. The Tuscan formation, which occurs in the northeastern part of the valley, consists of fragmental andesitic and basaltic mate

Water Supply Paper↗

USGS1960

Geology, water resources and usable ground-water storage capacity of part of Solano County, California

The area described is confined largely to the valley-floor and foothill lands of Solano County, which lies directly between Sacramento, the State capital, and San Francisco. The area is considered in two subareas: The Putah area, which extends from Putah Creek southward to the Montezuma Hills and from the foothills of the Coast Ranges eastward to the west edge of the Yolo Bypass; and the Suisun-Fairfield area, which is to the southwest in the notch in the Coast Ranges through which the waters of the Great Central Valley of California reach San Francisco Bay. There are no known hydrologic interconnections between the two subareas, through either surface streams or underground aquifers. The climate of the area is characterized by warm, rainless summers and by cool winters in which temperatures seldom drop much below freezing. The rainfall ranges from about 17 inches per year along the east side to perhaps 24 inches in the foothills to the west, and irrigation is necessary for all crops except dry-farmed grains, pastures, and some orchards. PUTAH AREA The Putah area occupies the southwestern corner of the Sacramento Valley, a topographic and structural basin underlain by a thick accumulation of sediments eroded from the surrounding hills and mountains by the Sacramento River and its tributaries. The eastern Coast Ranges and foothills lying west of the Sacramento Valley are a generally northward-trending belt of eastward-dipping sedimentary rocks that range in age from Cretaceous to Pleistocene. Successively younger strata are exposed eastward, and the essentially undeformed deposits of late Pleistocene and Recent age that immediately underlie the valley lap onto the tilted sediments of the foothills. Most of the streams of the Putah area rise east of the high ridge of Cretaceous rocks marking the western boundaries of Solano and Yolo Counties, but Putah Creek, the largest stream in the area, rises far west of that ridge and flows across it in a deep, narrow canyon. Putah Creek and the smaller streams have constructed an alluvial plain, herein designated the Putah plain, which slopes eastward and southeastward from the foothills toward the Sacramento River. A large part of the Putah plain is traversed by a branching set of distributary channel ridges or natural levees formed at times of overflow of Putah Creek. The rocks in the Putah area range in age from Cretaceous to Recent. For the purposes of this investigation they are divided into eight geologic or stratigraphic units, from youngest to oldest: (1) Stream-channel deposits, (2) younger alluvium, (3) older alluvium, (4) Tehama formation and related continental sediments, (5) volcanic sedimentary rocks, (6) basalt, (7) undifferentiated sedimentary rocks of Paleocene(?) and Eocene age, and (8) undifferentiated rocks of Cretaceous age. The stream-channel deposits are predominantly loose sand and gravel along the channel of Putah Creek. In part they are actively moving downstream and shifting. The younger alluvium, of Recent age, consists of flood-plain deposits underlying the Putah plain, Vaca Valley, Pleasants Valley, and the small valleys in the foothills north of Putah Creek and in the English Hills. Exposures of younger alluvium are characterized by soils lacking significant profile development and in many places by channel-ridge topography. The older alluvium occupies the stratigraphic interval between the younger alluvium and the Tehama formation and related continental sediments and is probably of late Pleistocene age. Its contact with the underlying Tehama formation and related continental sediments is unconformable near the foothills, but it may be gradational beneath much of the Putah plain. The base of the older alluvium is not well defined at many places but is inferred to be at the bottom of an irregular and ill-defined zone of coarse deposits, which ranges from about 50 feet to more than 150 feet below the land surface. Exposures of the older

Water Supply Paper↗

USGS1959

Ground-water conditions and storage capacity in the San Joaquin Valley, California

The San Joaquin Valley includes roughly the southern two-thirds of the Great Central Valley of California. It is a broad structural trough surrounded by mountains. The northern part of the valley drains through the San Joaquin River northward to San Francisco Bay ; the southern part of the valley normally is a basin of interior drainage tributary to evaporation sumps in the trough of the valley, chiefly Tulare and Buena Vista Lake beds. In years of normal discharge most of the streamflow in the southern part of the valley not diverted for irrigation finds its way to Tulare and Buena Vista Lake beds. In the historic past, however, during years of heavy floods the low divide between Buena Vista and Tulare Lakes and the low divide between Tulare Lake and the San Joaquin River were overtopped and through-flowing drainage occurred over the full length of the valley. Because the Tulare Lake bed is the lowest point and also the largest sump, this whole basin of interior drainage is commonly referred to as the Tulare Lake drainage basin. Average annual precipitation ranges from more than 15 inches in the north- eastern part of the valley to less than 4 inches in the southwestern part. The precipitation decreases from north to south and from east to west across the valley. Streamflow, the critical quantity in the water supply, depends almost wholly on the amount and distribution of precipitation in the Sierra Nevada to the east. Much of this precipitation falls as snow, and the snowpack acts as a natural reservoir retaining much of the annual runoff until late spring and early summer. The mean seasonal runoff to the San Joaquin Valley is nearly 10 million acre- feet, of which about two-thirds is tributary to the San Joaquin River; the remaining third is tributary to Tulare Lake drainage basin. In 1952 about 8.5 million acre-feet of surface water was diverted for irrigation. Withdrawals of ground water for irrigation in 1952 approximated 7.5 million acre-feet. The surface of the San Joaquin Valley is not a featureless plain but is characterized by various types of physiography such as dissected uplands, low alluvial plains and fans, river flood plains and channels, and overflow lands and lake bottoms. The dissected uplands fringe the valley along its mountain borders. They are underlain by unconsolidated to semiconsolidated continental deposits of late Tertiary and early Quaternary age which have been moderately tilted and folded. The topography of these uplands ranges from deeply dissected hill land having a relief of several hundred feet to gently rolling land whose relief Is only a few feet. The low plains and fans border the dissected uplands along their valley- ward margins. They are generally fiat to gently undulating and featureless and are underlain by undeformed to slightly deformed alluvial deposits of Quaternary age. The river flood plains and channels lie along the San Joaquia and Kings Rivers in the axial part of the valley and along the major east-side streams. Where the rivers are incised below the general land surface, the flood plains are well defined; but in the axial trough of the valley, where the rivers are flanked by low-lying overflow lands, the flood-plain and channel deposits are confined to the stream channel and to the natural levees that slope away from the river. Overflow lands and lake bottoms include the historic beds of Tulare, Buena Vista, and Kern Lakes in the southern part of the valley, and the low-lying lands in the axial trough between the low alluvial plains and fans and the natural levees of the San Joaquin River and its major tributaries. They are level and featureless and are underlain by lake and swamp deposits of Recent age. The San Joaquin Valley is a great structural downwarp between the tilted block of the Sierra Nevada on the east and the complexly folded and faulted Coast Ranges on the we

Water Supply Paper↗

USGS1958