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Radium and Radon in Ground Water in the Chickies Quartzite, Southeastern Pennsylvania

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Radium and Radon in Ground Water in the Chickies Quartzite, Southeastern Pennsylvania Radium and Radon in Ground Water in the Chickies Quartzite, Southeastern Pennsylvania By Lisa A. Senior and Karen L. Vogel U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Water-Resources Investigations Report 92-4088 Prepared in cooperation with the PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES, BUREAU OF TOPOGRAPHIC AND GEOLOGIC SURVEY BUREAU OF RADIATION PROTECTION Lemoyne, Pennsylvania 1995 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Gordon P. Eaton, Director For additional information Copies of this report can be write to: purchased from: U.S. Geological Survey Earth Science Information Center District Chief Open-File Reports Section U.S. Geological Survey, WRD Box 25286, MS 517 840 Market Street Denver Federal Center Lemoyne, Pennsylvania 17043-1586 Denver, Colorado 80225 WATER-RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS REPORT 92-4088 CONTENTS Page Abstract ..........................................................................1 Introduction ...................................................................... .2 Purpose and scope .............................................................2 Description of area.............................................................2 Population and land use ........................................................4 Well-numbering system........................................................ .4 Methods of data collection and analysis ............................................4 Previous investigations .........................................................8 Acknowledgments..............................................................8 Hydrogeologic setting................................................................9 Geology ......................................................................9 Ground-water system..........................................................13 Well-construction characteristics. .......................................... .14 Well yield and specific capacity .............................................15 Ground-water quality.....................................................16 Radium and radon in ground water ...................................................22 Sources in the rocks of the Chickies Quartzite......................................24 Radioactive elements and isotopes ..........................................29 Uranium and thorium ...............................................30 U-238 and Th-232 decay series radionuclides.............................35 Radioactive minerals.................................................... .37 Distribution of radium and radon in ground water ..................................39 Spatial distribution ......................................................42 Factors affecting spatial distribution ...................................47 Lithology .....................................................47 Chemistry of ground water.......................................49 Aquifer and well-construction characteristics........................59 Hydrogeologic setting................................................60 Transects perpendicular to strike .................................60 Transects parallel to strike.......................................65 Local variability ....................................................67 Distributions in adjacent geologic units ......................................69 Distributions in other quartzites in the Piedmont..............................71 Temporal variability.......................................................71 Conceptual model of radium and radon in ground water .............................74 Removal of radium and radon from water supplies..................................75 Summary ........................................................................76 References cited...................................................................77 Glossary .........................................................................82 Appendix. Caliper and natural gamma logs for wells in the Chickies Quartzite, southeastern Pennsylvania .......................................................124 CONTENTS iff ILLUSTRATIONS PLATE [In pocket] Plate l.~Map showing outcrop of Chickies Quartzite and location of selected wells and springs in Berks, Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, Montgomery, and York Counties, Pennsylvania FIGURES Page Figure l.~Map showing location of the Chickies Quartzite, southeastern Pennsylvania ...................................................... 3 2. Generalized stratigraphy of lower Ordovician and older rocks in northcentral Chester County, Pennsylvania.......................... 10 3-4.~Piper diagrams showing chemical composition of ground water in the: 3.--Quartzite, conglomerate, slate, and slate-quartzite lithologies of the Chickies Quartzite .......................... 19 4.--Eastern, central, and western areas of outcrop of the Chickies Quartzite. ........................................ 20 5.~Sketch showing uranium-238 and thorium-232 decay series. ................... 23 6.~Caliper, natural-gamma-ray, and lithologic logs for well CH-3219 ............... 25 7.--Natural-gamma-ray logs for wells drilled into light-colored quartzite, dark-colored quartzite, and conglomerate of the Chickies Quartzite. ........ 26 8.~Natural-gamma-ray logs for wells LN-1713, CH-3122, and CH-3188 drilled at the Chickies Quartzite contact with underlying Precambrian crystalline-rock units. .............................................. 27 9.--Natural-gamma-ray logs of wells drilled into the Harpers Phyllite and Antietam Quartzite (YO-1169, YO-1170, and YO-1171) ............... 28 10. Map showing quarries and outcrop sites for rock samples of the Chickies Quartzite................................................. 31 11.-Natural-gamma-ray logs of wells CH-3315 and CH-3122 ...................... 34 12.-Photomicrograph of zircon with metamict core from well CH-3122 cuttings ....... 37 13.~Autoradiographs and thin sections of heavy-mineral separates from well CH-3122 cuttings.............................................. 38 14-15.-Graphs showing: 14.-Cumulative frequency of radium-226 and radium-228 activities in ground water in the Chickies Quartzite ..................... 40 15.-Cumulative frequency of radon-222 and the sum of radium-226 and radium-228 activities in ground water in the Chickies Quartzite ................................................ 41 iv WA TER-RESOURCESINVESTIGA TIONS REPORT 92-4088 ILLUSTRATIONS-Continued Page Figure 16-18.~Boxplots showing: 16.~Distribution of radium-226 and radium-228 in ground water from the eastern, central, and western areas of Chickies Quartzite ................................................ 44 17. Distribution of radon-222 and the sum of radium-226 and radium-228 in ground water from the eastern, central, and western areas of Chickies Quartzite ...................... 45 18.-Distribution of radium-226, radium-228, and radon-222 in ground water from the conglomerate, quartzite, and slate lithologies of the Chickies Quartzite .......................... 48 19.~Piper diagram comparing chemical character of groud water with and without elevated radium activities from wells in the Chickies Quartzite................................................. 50 20-23. Graphs showing: 20.~Relation between pH and radium-226 and radium-228 for ground water in the quartzite and conglomerate lithologies of the Chickies Quartzite .......................... 52 21. Relation between the sum of radium-226 plus radium-228 and pH for ground water in the Chickies Quartzite.................. 53 22. Relation among dissolved organic carbon, pH, radium-226, and radium-228 in ground water in the Chickies Quartzite. ....... 55 23. Relations among barium, sulfate, radium-226, and radium-228 in ground water in the Chickies Quartzite ........... 56 24.~Boxplots showing distribution of pH, dissolved organic carbon, sulfate, and barium in ground water from the conglomerate, quartzite, and slate lithologies of the Chickies Quartzite. ................. 58 25-29.-Maps showing: 25. Location of transects of sampled wells ............................. 61 26. Geology and location of selected wells, Welsh Mountain, Lancaster County ......................................... 63 27. Radium and radon activities and pH in ground water and schematic geologic sections perpendicular to strike, Welsh Mountain, Lancaster County. .......................... 64 28.~Geology and locations of selected wells, Barren Hills, Chester County ... 65 29.~Radium and radon activities and pH in ground water and schamatic geologic sections parallel to strike, Barren Hills, Chester County ........................................... 66 30. Graph showing relations among radon-222, radium-226, and radium-228 activities; pH; sulfate; and ammonium concentrations; and depth to water in well CH-3335, September 1988 to November 1989 .... 73 CONTENT: TABLES Page Table 1.--Average bulk composition of 26 rock samples of the Chickies Quartzite, Lancaster County, 1 rock sample from the type locality and 3 rock samples from Bucks and Montgomery Counties ................ .12 2.-Number of water-bearing zones per 100 feet of uncased borehole for 151 wells drilled in the Chickies Quartzite ................... .13 3. Range and median of depth and casing length of wells drilled in the Chickies Quartzite .................................................. 14 4.-Range and median of reported yield and specific capacity of wells drilled in the Chickies Quartzite ............................................ .15 5. Range and
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