Geology, altitude, and depth of the bedrock surface; altitude of the water table in 1980; and saturated thickness of the Ogallala aquifer in 1980 in the southern High Plains of Colorado

Ronald G. Borman; Thomas S. Meredith; Sean M. Bryn

doi:10.3133/ha673

Home/Archive/USGS

USGS · ha673

Geology, altitude, and depth of the bedrock surface; altitude of the water table in 1980; and saturated thickness of the Ogallala aquifer in 1980 in the southern High Plains of Colorado

Ronald G. Borman·Thomas S. Meredith·Sean M. Bryn

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The southern High Plains of Colorado, an area of about 2,800 square miles in the southeastern part of the state, is underlain by the Ogallala Formation of late Tertiary age, The southern High Plains of Colorado extend from the Colorado State line on the east and the ans south to the edge of the Ogallala Formation on the north and west. The Ogallala Formation is an unconsolidated or partly consolidated seposit of sand, gravel, clay silt, and caliche.

Explore related subjects

Hydrologic Atlas Report

Source-reported bounding extent: 37.22158045838652° to 39.86758762451019° latitude; -109.09423828125° to -104.75463867187499° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

Ronald G. Borman, Thomas S. Meredith, Sean M. Bryn. 1984. Geology, altitude, and depth of the bedrock surface; altitude of the water table in 1980; and saturated thickness of the Ogallala aquifer in 1980 in the southern High Plains of Colorado. https://doi.org/10.3133/ha673

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2002

Atlas of water resources in the Black Hills area, South Dakota

The Black Hills area is an important resource center that provides an economic base for western South Dakota through tourism, agriculture, the timber industry, and mineral resources. In addition, water originating from the area is used for municipal, industrial, agricultural, and recreational purposes throughout much of western South Dakota. The Black Hills area also is an important recharge area for aquifers in the northern Great Plains. Population growth, resource development, and periodic droughts have the potential to affect the quantity, quality, and availability of water within the Black Hills area. Growth has resulted in competing interests for available water supplies. The Black Hills Hydrology Study was initiated in 1990 to address these concerns. This long-term study is a cooperative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the West Dakota Water Development District, which represents various local and county cooperators.

Hydrologic Atlas↗

USGS2002

Potentiometric surfaces, altitudes of the tops, and hydrogeology of the Minnelusa and Madison aquifers, Black Hills area, Wyoming

The topographically defined Black Hills and adjacent areas (Black Hills area) of Wyoming (fig. 1) are underlain by two regionally important aquifers - the Minnelusa and the Madison. The Minnelusa aquifer is used extensively in the Black Hills area as a source of domestic and livestock water. The Madison aquifer is an important source of municipal, industrial, agricultural, and domestic water in both the Black Hills area and other parts of Wyoming. Increased demand for water from the Minnelusa and Madison aquifers in the Black Hills area of Wyoming and South Dakota have created a need for better understanding of the hydrology of these two important aquifers. This report presents information on the potentiometric surfaces and altitudes of the tops of the Minnelusa and Madison aquifers in the Black Hills area of northeastern Wyoming using new data collected since completion of earlier studies. In addition, ground-water levels in selected wells are examined, and the relative age of a limited number of ground-water samples are discussed. The information will be of use to government officials, land planners and other individuals who must manage the limited water resources of this growing and developing area. The scope of the project was limited to wells and springs in the Black Hills area of Wyoming. Water levels were measured during 1998 and 1999 in wells completed in the Minnelusa and Madison aquifers to construct potentiometric-surface maps. The potentiometric surfaces and altitudes of the tops of the Minnelusa and Madison aquifers were contoured at the same scale (1:100,000) as studies of the aquifers recently conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in the Black Hills area within South Dakota (Carter and Redden, 1999a, 1999b; Strobel and others, 2000a, 2000b). The contours in these studies of the Minnelusa and Madison aquifers in South Dakota were "edge matched" as closely as possible along the Wyoming-South Dakota State line using the same contour interval. Use of the same contour interval and edge matching will allow for the use of the maps across State boundaries and improve understanding of the aquifers in a larger area within the Black Hills uplift. In places, some contours could not be matched across the Wyoming-South Dakota State line because this investigation was completed after the South Dakota investigations, and additional control points used in this investigation were located in Wyoming near the State line. The reader should note that Minnelusa and Madison outcrop areas and some structural features may not match in some areas along the Wyoming-South Dakota State line when maps in this study area are aligned or "edge matched" with maps produced for the South Dakota studies because different sources of geological mapping were used for the studies. Ground-water samples were collected from a subset of measured wells and analyzed for tritium to qualitatively estimate the time of ground-water recharge. This project was conducted by the USGS in cooperation with the Wyoming State Engineer's Office (WSEO). The study area was almost entirely within Crook and Weston Counties in Wyoming and was bordered on the east by the Wyoming-South Dakota State line.

Hydrologic Atlas↗

USGS2000

Water levels and ground-water discharge, regional aquifer system of the midwestern Basins and Arches Region, in parts of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan

Aquifers in Quaternary glacial deposits and the underlying Silurian and Devonian carbonate bedrock in parts of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan compose the regional aquifer system under investigation as part of the Midwestern Basins and Arches Regional Aquifer System Analysis (Midwestern Basins and Arches—RASA) project of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The Midwestern Basins and Arches—RASA is part of a USGS program to assess the regional hydrology, geology, and water quality of the Nation's most important aquifers (Sun, 1986). An objective specific to the Midwestern Basins and Arches—RASA project is to conceptualize and describe regional ground-water flow in the glacial-deposit and carbonate-bedrock aquifer system, including regional recharge and discharge areas and regional relations between surface and ground water (Bugliosi, 1990). Water-level and ground-water discharge data were collected and (or) analyzed to help meet the above objective. Specifically, data from the USGS Ground-Water Site Inventory (GWSI) data base were used to determine relations between land-surface altitude and water levels in glacial-deposit aquifers. Water levels in the carbonate-bedrock aquifer were synoptically measured during July 1990, and the data were used to construct a potentiometric surface map of the aquifer. Regional hydraulic gradients and general directions of regional flow in the carbonate-bedrock aquifer can be inferred from this map. Steady-state groundwater discharge to streams that drain the area underlain by the glacial-deposit and carbonate bedrock aquifer system was estimated from base-flow daily values computed from streamflow records. Water-level and ground-water-discharge data collectively form the sample information necessary to develop calibration targets for calibration of a ground-water-flow model (Anderson and Woessner, 1992). Such a ground-water-flow model of the glacial-deposit and carbonate-bedrock aquifer system was constructed to help conceptualize and describe regional ground-water flow in the aquifer system. The model was calibrated to the water-level and ground-water-discharge data presented in this atlas.

Hydrologic Atlas↗