Browsing by Author "McLaughlin, P.P."
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Item Characterization Of The Potomac Aquifer, An Extremely Heterogeneous Fluvial System In The Atlantic Coastal Plain Of Delaware(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2004) McKenna, T.E.; McLaughlin, P.P.; Benson, R.N.Fluvial sands of the subsurface Cretaceous Potomac Formation form a major aquifer system used by a growing population in the northern Coastal Plain of Delaware. The aquifer is extremely heterogeneous on the megascopic scale and connectivity of permeable fluvial units is poorly constrained. The formation is characterized by alluvial plain facies in the updip section where it contains potable water. While over 50 aquifer tests indicate high permeability, the formation is primarily composed of fine-grained silt and clay in overbank and interfluvial facies. Individual fluvial sand bodies are laterally discontinuous and larger-scale sand packages appear to be variable in areal extent resulting in a labyrinth style of heterogeneity. The subsurface distribution of aquifers and aquitards has been interpreted within a new stratigraphic framework based on geophysical logs and on palynological criteria from four cored wells. The strata dip gently to the southeast, with generally sandy fluvial facies at the base of the formation lapping onto a south-dipping basement unconformity. The top of the formation is marked by an erosional unconformity that truncates successively older Potomac strata updip. Younger Cretaceous units overly the formation in its downdip area. In the updip area, the formation crops out or subcrops under Quaternary sands.The fine-grained facies include abundant paleosols that contain siderite nodules and striking mottling that commonly follows ped faces and root traces. These paleosols may serve as regional aquitards. This geologic complexity poses a challenge for determining the magnitudes and directions of ground-water flow within the aquifer that are needed for making informed decisions when managing this resource for water supply and contaminant remediation.Item Geology And Extent Of The Confined Aquifers Of Kent County, Delaware(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2006) McLaughlin, P.P.; Velez, C.C.Ground water comprises nearly all of the water supply in Kent County, Delaware. The confined aquifers of the area are an important part of this resource base. The aim of this study is to provide an up-to-date geologic framework for the confined aquifers of Kent County, with a focus on their stratigraphy and correlation. Seven confined aquifers are used for water supply in Kent County. All occur at progressively greater depths south-southeastward, paralleling the overall dip of the sedimentary section that underlies the state. The two geologically oldest, the Mount Laurel and Rancocas aquifers, are normally reached by drilling only in the northern part of the county. The Mount Laurel aquifer is an Upper Cretaceous marine shelf deposit composed of clean quartz sands that are commonly glauconitic. It occurs at around 300 ft below sea level in the Smyrna Clayton area and is typically just less than 100 ft thick. Southward, toward Dover, it passes into fine-grained facies that do not yield significant ground water. The Rancocas aquifer is a Paleocene to Eocene marine unit of shelf deposits consisting of glauconite-rich sands with shells and hard layers. It occurs as high as 100 ft below sea level in northwestern Kent County and deepens southeastward, rapidly changing facies to finer-grained, nonaquifer lithologies in the same direction.Item Internal Stratigraphic Correlation Of The Subsurface Potomac Formation, New Castle County, Delaware, And Adjacent Areas In Maryland And New Jersey(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2006) Benson, R.N.; McLaughlin, P.P.This report presents a new time-stratigraphic framework for the subsurface Potomac Formation of New Castle County, Delaware, part of adjacent Cecil County, Maryland, and nearby tie-in boreholes in New Jersey. The framework is based on a geophysical well-log correlation datum that approximates the contact between Upper and Lower Cretaceous sediments. This datum is constrained by age determinations based on published and unpublished results of studies of fossil pollen and spores in samples of sediment cores from boreholes in the study area. Geophysical log correlation lines established above and below the datum approximate additional chronostratigraphic surfaces. The time-stratigraphic units thus defined are not correlated parallel to the basement unconformity, as in previous practice, but instead onlap it in an updip direction. In future studies, the sedimentary facies of the Potomac Formation within each time-stratigraphic layer may be mapped and analyzed as genetically related contemporaneous units. This new stratigraphic framework will allow better delineation of the degree of lateral connection between potential aquifer sands, thus enhancing understanding of aquifer architecture.Item Results Of Trenching Investigations Along The New Castle Railroad Survey-1 Seismic Line, New Castle, Delaware(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2002) McLaughlin, P.P.; Baxter, S.J.; Ramsey, K.W.; McKenna, T.E.; Strohmeier, S.A.Five trenches were excavated to a depth of 5 to 8 ft along the path of an abandoned railroad grade near the city of New Castle to investigate potential near-surface faults that may be related to earthquake activity in northern Delaware. Seismic reflection profiles along this line suggested the existence of significant faulting in the area, which lies along a postulated fault trend in eastern New Castle County. Subsequent drilling, however, failed to substantiate displacement interpreted for faults in the sedimentary section. Detailed examination of exposures in the trenches also failed to reveal the existence of near surface faults. Together these findings suggest that there has been minimal or no modern near-surface fault activity in this area of New Castle County.Item Stratigraphy And Correlation Of The Oligocene To Pleistocene Section At Bethany Beach, Delaware(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2008) McLaughlin, P.P.; Miller, K.G.; Browning, J.V.; Ramsey, K.W.; Benson, R.N.; Tomlinson, J.L.; Sugarman, P.J.The Bethany Beach borehole (Qj32-27) provides a nearly continuous record of the Oligocene to Pleistocene formations of eastern Sussex County, Delaware. This 1470-ft-deep, continuously cored hole penetrated Oligocene, Miocene, and Pleistocene stratigraphic units that contain important water-bearing intervals. The resulting detailed data on lithology, ages, and environments make this site an important reference section for the subsurface geology of the region.Item Subsurface Geology of the Area Between Wrangle Hill and Delaware City, Delaware(Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware, 2013-03) Jengo, J.W.; McLaughlin, P.P.; Ramsey, K.W.The geology and hydrology of the area between Wrangle Hill and Delaware City, Delaware, have been the focus of numerous studies since the 1950s because of the importance of the local groundwater supply and the potential environmental impact of industrial activity. In this report, 490 boreholes from six decades of drilling provide dense coverage, allowing detailed characterization of the subsurface geologic framework that controls groundwater occurrence and flow. The region contains a lower section of tabular Cretaceous strata (Potomac, Merchantville, Englishtown, Marshalltown,and Mount Laurel Formations in ascending order) and a more stratigraphically complex upper section of Pleistocene-to-modern units (Columbia, Lynch Heights, and Scotts Corners Formations, latest Pleistocene and Holocene surficial sediments and estuarine deposits). The lowermost Potomac Formation is a mosaic of alluvial facies and includes fluvial channel sands that function as confined aquifer beds; however, the distribution of aquifer-quality sand within the formation is extremely heterogeneous. The Merchantville Formation serves as the most significant confining layer. The Columbia Formation is predominantly sand and functions as an unconfined aquifer over much of the study area. To delineate the distribution and character of the subsurface formations, densely spaced structural-stratigraphic cross sections were constructed and structural contour maps were created for the top of the Potomac Formation and base of the Columbia Formation. The Cretaceous formations form a series of relatively parallel strata that dip gently (0.4 degrees) to the southeast. These formations are progressively truncated to the north by more flatly dipping Quaternary sediments, except in a narrow north-south oriented belt on the east side of the study area where the deeply incised Reybold paleochannel eroded into the Potomac Formation. The Reybold paleochannel is one of the most significant geological features in the study area. It is a relatively narrow sandfilled trough defined by deep incision at the base of the Columbia Formation. It reaches depths of more than 110 ft below sea level with a width as narrow as 1,500 ft. It is interpreted to be the result of scour by the sudden release of powerful floodwaters from the north associated with one or more Pleistocene deglaciations. Where the Reybold paleochannel cuts through the Merchantville confining layer, a potential pathway exists for hydrological communication between Columbia and Potomac aquifer sands. East of the paleochannel, multiple cut-and-fill units within the Pleistocene to Holocene section create a complex geologic framework. The Lynch Heights and Scotts Corners Formations were deposited along the paleo-Delaware River in the late Pleistocene and are commonly eroded into the older Pleistocene Columbia Formation. They are associated with scarps and terraces that represent several generations of sea-level-driven Pleistocene cut-and-fill. They, in turn, have been locally eroded and covered by Holocene marsh and swamp deposits. The Lynch Heights and Scotts Corners Formations include sands that are unconfined aquifers but complicated geometries and short-distance facies changes make their configuration more complex than that of the Columbia Formation.