PENNSYLVANIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY FOURTH SERIES

BULLETIN W 4 4

I GROUND WATER

IN

NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA

By STANLEY W. LOHMAN of the U. S. Geological Survey

With Analyses by MARGARET D. FOSTER, L. A. SHINN AND K. T. WILLIAMS

(Prepared in cooperation between the United States Geological Survey and the Pennsylvania Topographic and Geologic Survey)

Department of Internal Affairs GENEVIEVE BLATT, Secretary

Topographic and Geologic Survey CARLYLE GRAY, State Geologist

Harrisburg, Pa.

First Printing 1937 Second ,Printing 1957 COPYRIGHTEO 1937

BY THE

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PURCHASED FROM BUREAU OF PUBLICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF PROPERTY AND SUPPLIES HARRISBURG, PA. CONTENTS Page. Abstract 1 Introduction 3 Purpose of investigation ...... ; ...... 3 Location of the area ...... 3 Population ...... 4 Agriculture ...... 4 Manufacturing ...... 4 Climate ...... 5 Precipitation ...... 5 Temperature ...... 5 Source of information ...... 6 Published reports ...... 6 Bibliography ...... 6 Field work ...... 11 Acknowledgments 12 Surface features ...... 12 Relief ...... " ...... 12 Drainage ...... , ...... 12 Physical divisions ...... 13 Geology ...... 16 Outline of stratigraphy ...... ~ ...... )6 Structure ...•...... 16 Geologic history and geomorphology ...... 17 Ground water ...... 19

Source .. I ...... t ...... ' . .. .. 19 Occurrence ...... ; ...... 24 General features ...... 24 ...... 24 Permeability ...... 25 Relation to geologic structure ...... 28 Water in glacial drift ...... 28 Water in sandstone and conglomerate ...... 31 Water in shale ...... 31 Water· in limestone ...... 31 Water in coal ...... 32 Recovery ...... 32 Quality of water ...... 36 Water-bearing formations ...... 41 Quaternary system ...... 41 Recent alluvium ...... 41 glacial drift ...... 41 Carboniferous system ...... 46 Pennsylvanian series ...... , ...... " ., .... . 46 Post-Pottsville formations ~ ...... 46 Pottsville formation ...... 46 Mississippian series ...... 49 Mauch Chunk shale ...... 49 Pocono sandstone 50 iii Page. Devonian sY~tem.~ ....~ . . . ~i .. ~. .• 5! Upper Devonian series ...... ~ ...... 51 Catskill continental group ...... 51 Chemung formation ...... 54 Portage group ...... 54 Middle Devonian series ...... 55 Hamilton formation and Marcellus shale ...... 55 Onondaga formation ...... 57 Lower Devonian series ...... 59 Oriskany sandstpne ...... 59 Helderberg limestone ...... 61 Silurian system ...... 63 Cayuga group ...... , ...... 63 Clinton formation ...... 65 Tuscarora sandstone ...... 67 Unconformity at the base of the. Silurian ...... 67 Ordovician system ...... 68 Juniata formation ...... 68 County descriptions ...... 69 Carbon County ...... 70 Columbia County ...... ; .. 88 Dauphin and Lebanon Counties ...... 105 Lackawanna County ...... ;: ...... 120 Luzerne County ...... 135 Monroe County ...... 170 MontoJIr and Northumberland Counties ...... 193 Pike County ...... 219 Schuylkill County ...... 236 Susquehanna County ...... 259 Wayne County ...... 273 Wyoming c.ounty ...... 287 Index 300

iv 41

WATER-BEARING FORMATIONS QUATERNARY SYSTEM RECENT ALLUVIUM Recent deposits of , , and gravel are found along all the streams ground . in this area, but they are thin and unimportant as sources of of the water. A part of this material is derived from the disintegration from by rain, frost, and stream erosion, and a part is derived drift the reworking of glacial drift, which fills the valleys north of the borders. north­ Another type of material being deposited in the stream beds of north­ into eastern Pennsylvania is very fine coal, or culm, which is discharged the streams in enormous quantities from the numerous coal washeries.12 enough Wherever it is turned into a small stream that does not carry and in water to transport the culm, the stream bed soon becomes filled, the some streams no channel is left, the water running at will over and nu­ adjoining flat lands. The Lackawanna and Schuylkill Rivers and of merous smaller streams, like Shamokin Creek, deposit large amounts the culm. This transported coal is dredged at numerous places along Susquehanna River as far south as Holtwood, Lancaster County.

PLEISTOCENE GLACIAL· DRIFTlB by More than haH of the area described in this report was covered Glacial ice during some of the glacial stages of the Pleistocene epoch. erseyan, deposits of at least three ages-from oldest to youngest the J erseyan, Illinoian, and \\lisconsin-are preserved in northeastern Pennsylvania. on The drift borders or southern limits of these deposits are shown plate 1. off As the ice advanced, the soil and decomposed rock were scraped ice and, and shoved along. Masses of bedrock were plucked out by the ice bedrock. held firmly, formed tools with which the glacier scoured the bedrock. on Many grooves and striae produced in this manner are still preserved smooth rock surfaces and show that the general direction of ice movement was about S. 30° W. Except for a few high peaks, which were probably part "islands in the sea of ice," the glacier covered the entire northern the ice of the area, traversing mountains as well as valleys. When forced sheets reached their southern limits and warmer climatic conditions con­ them to retreat by melting back slowly, they left terminal moraines, gravel, sisting of a heterogeneous accumulation of unstratified , sand, and boulders. the old waste or wasbery Is a plant erected for the purpose of working over . 12 A coal metbods of handling passed culm Piles, to recover coal whicb jn earlier times under cruder out as waste. the tenninal moraine in P;nnsylvanla:P;nnsylvaola: 13 Leverett, Frank, Glacial deposits outside the 13 Se~ Leverett, 38 figs., 2 pIs. (incl. map), 1934. PennsYlvania Geo1. Survey. 4th ser.,ser. , Bull. G-7. 123 pp. 38 42 GROUND WATER

The oldest glacial drift in the area is called the "Jerseyan drift." This is no longer marked by a well-defined terminal moraine, and the Jerseyan drift border shown on plate 1 simply indicates the southernmost limit where glacial deposits have been found and includes some areas of ques­ t~onable glaciation. No extensive deposits of Jerseyan drift were ob­ served, and it is unimportant as a source of ground water. The Illinoian drift border is generally not far south of the Wisconsin drift border, except along Lehigh River and the North and West Branches of the Susquehanna River, where long, narrow lobes of ice extended farther south. In most places the Illinoian drift border is not marked by a well-defined terminal moraine, the absence of which is due to subsequent erosion. The noteworthy deposits of Illinoian drift are described in the sections on Carbon, Columbia, Montour, and N orthum­ berland Counties. Illinoian drift is unimportant as a source of ground water in northeastern Pennsylvania except in Carbon County and to some extent in Columbia, Montour, and Northumberland Counties. It ).jelds large supplies of potable water in the valley of Aquashicola Creek, in Carbon County. It probably supplies a few dug wells in Columbia, Montour, and Northumberland Counties, but no attempts have been made to recover large quantities of water from it. Th~ Wisconsin drift, resulting from the most recent glaciation, covers the north half of the area and is marked by a well-defined terminal moraine crossing the area as a series of low hills, hummocks, knobs, and ridges interspersed with depressions, called "kettles," many of which are filled with water. These depressions are due to slumping caused when a block of ice contained in the drift melted. This terminal moraine enters the area in southern Monroe County, traverses it in an irregular, sinuous line, and leaves it in northern Columbia County.14 Its course through the area is set forth in more detail in the county descriptions. As the Wisconsin ice cap retreated it left dri ft of two different types in till and cutwash. Till is an unstratified deposit of material that has been dropped directly by the melting ice and has not been sorted by running water. It usually consists of fine, impure clay containing stones of all sizes and shapes, without sorting. Many of the pebbles show one or more facets, or flat sides, which may be grooved or striated.' The facets indicate that the pebble was once frozen in the ice and ground flat against the bedrock. Deposits of stratified drift, usually clay, sand, and gravel, which have been sorted by running water are in many places associated with the till. Many of the transported boulders, or "erratics," dropped by the ice con­ sist of rock whose source is known to be hundreds of miles north of the area.

u Lewi~, H. c., Report on tbe terminal moraine in pennsylVanIa Bnd weste-rn NI'w York: Pennsylvania Geo!.Geol. Survey;. 2d ser., Rept. Z, pp. 1-125, 1884. Plate 6

A. Terraces of glacial outwash along Tunkhannock Creek ~ ~ mile east of Nicholson, Wyoming County (looking northeast from a point on top of the highest terrace) 44 GROUND WATER area Glacial drift consisting of till and stratified material covers the a few north of the Wisconsin drift border and ranges in thickness from erosion feet to several hundred feet, except in places where subsequent erosion to has removed it. Many valleys were filled up and the streams forced of the find new channels over or around the buried valleys. Many I and ...,!,I.!.. I :.:, streams were dammed up' by thick deposits of drift, forming lakes," of i!l other streams were diverted from their preglacial courses by heaps Lakes drift, which caused them to flow over cliffs, forming waterfalls. 11 and, waterfalls of glacial origin are numerous north of the Wisconsin :1 .~.I drift border. Much of the drift-covered terrane presents a hummocky topography, with odd-shaped hills or mounds of drift and undrained I ~:;:~~s~~n~n (~~g:;~1~3[he water-bearing properties of glacial till are ...... •••.•.,.,,•.,•.~.~I: ... o'.•.• sheet , n The sw{)llen streams that issued from the melting of the ice sheet quantity , . transported an immense quantity of material. Whenever the quantity I ~m~~:~~e~c:~~e'!.~~: t~:S~::.:!5 P~;;~e;f I:~t~!re::;~e::e t:;e:: I. ~ 6-A). through the outwash material, leaving terraces (pIs. 2-Band i ~I Deposits of glacial outwash fill the larger valleys north of the Wisconsin the drift border (pI. 3-A) and extend as Uoutwash trains" beyond I and " :'-'.I~.:. border. The outwash material consists of clay, sand, "quicksand," '" gravel (pI. 7-B).. ;;- J Many of the valleys were excavated by preglacial erosion much deeper with than they are at present, and these deep channels were later filled deeply clay, sand, and gravel, so th~t the present streams flow over filling buried valleys in many places. Locally the depth of the ranges these old channels is more than 300 feet, but generally the depth of the from 50 to 150 feet. The Wyoming Valley of the North Branch filling, Susquehanna River is one of the most notable examples of such sand, for from .Pittston to Nanticoke it is underlain by a deposit of and gravel, and day which attains a thickness of 309 feet at one locality miles.Hi is more than 100 feet thick under an area of nearly 20 square A cross section of the Wyoming Valley is shown in figure 4. page The occurrence of water in the glacial outwash is described on in the 30. The .thickness and character of the glacial drift varies for different counties, and the deposits are therefore described separately each county. mine workings in the Northern Anthracite 15 Darton, N._ H., Sand available for .filling 6, 1913. . Basin of Pennsylvania; U. S. Bur. Mines Bu1I. 45, p. LUZERNE COUNTY

GENERAL FEATURES [Area 892 square mfles. population 444,409] in this Luzerne County is about in the center of the area described corner. It report and is bordered by Sullivan County at the northwest than is by far the largest county in the area and has a greater population square mile any other county in the area. With 498 inhabitants to the square Luzerne County is second in density of population only to Lackawanna in this County. Of the 20 largest municipalities in the area described 36,765; report 6 are in Luzerne County-Wilkes-Barre, 86,626; Hazleton, Plymouth, Nanticoke, 26,043; Kingston, 21,600; Pittston, 18,246; and are the 16,543. The centers of population and industrial development the Wyom­ anthracite fields, foremost of which are the Northern field in the there were ing Valley and the Eastern Middle field at Hazleton. In 1929 valued at in the county 411 manufacturing establishments with products mines and $5,000 or more each, and in 1930 there were 102 anthracite on both sides 2,2,385 farms. The farms are scattered in the hlgher regions of the Wyo~ing Valley. SURFACE FEATURES border of The highest point in Luzerne County is on the western border Columbia Fainnount Township, at the corner of Luzerne, Sullivan and of 2,450 Counties where North Mountain reaches a maximum altitude Bald Moun­ feet. Southeast of Susquehanna River Penobscot Knob and Bald at Berwick tain are each 2,140 feet above sea level. The Susquehanna relief in the is 480 feet above sea level and therefore, the maximum Mountain, county is 1,970 feet. The greatest local relief is around North which rises 1,000 to 1,200 feet above the surrounding country. County is A portion of the eastern and southeastern part of Luzerne County and by drained by the headwaters of Lehigh River. The remainder Branch of far the greater part of the county is drained by the North the center Susquehanna River, which flows southwestward through about the North of the county. In flowing 42 miles from Ransom to Berwick Branch drops 40 feet-a gradient of 1.05 feet to the mile.

GEOLOGY AND GROUND WATER GENERAL SECTION the post­ The rock fonnations exposed in Luzerne County range from Onondaga Pottsville formations, of Pennsylvanian age, down to the lime­ formation, of Middle Devonian age. Outcrops of the Helderberg not extend stone reach the southwestern boundary of the county but do part beyond it. The Wisconsin terminal moraine crosses the southern is covered of the county (see pI. 1), and the greater part of the county Sus­ by glacial drift. Extensive deposits of glacial outwash occur along streams. quehanna River and less extensive deposits along the smaller 136 GROUND WATER Generalized section for Luzerne County

Maximum of rocks Ground-water conditions Geolo~Ic thickness Character formation (feet)

consisting of cluy and ~'ill yields small Bupplies t o Glacial drift 300± 'I'ill shallow wells. Outwash yields (Wisconsin) boulders, with sand lenses, outwash consisting of strati, moderate to very large sup. fled clay. sand, and gravel. plies. Yields water of excel- lent quality to numerous small sprjngs. Outwash in Susquchanna Valley yields water of less desirable qual. ity. --. Unimportant as water bearer; post-Pottsville 1,8OO± Sandstone, conglomerate, shale. carbonnceous "slate" head lowered and water pol· formations (of t1reelay, luted by mining operations. PennsylvanIan and coal, a few beds of lime- age) stone. Yields moderate to large sup-- Pottsville 500± Chiefly bard coarse quartz con- glomerate. witb gray, red plies o:f water of good quality. formation brown, and green sandstones, Many flowing wells. "slate", and a few thin seams of coal. supplIes 2,000j: Chiefly red shale, with red and Yields adequate of Mauch Chunk green water to shallow domestic shale £reen sandstone and shale. wells, find moderate to large gupplIes to d~ep drilled weils, especially in the Hazleton region. Aome flowing wells. Water Is of good quality.

Coarse and in places Wbbly Yields moderate . supplies of Pocono 600± w!lter to wells of moderate sandstone gray and yellowish-gray sand- stone, flaggy sandstone, and depth, some of which are 110w- greenish-gray sandstone: thin Ing wells. With one exception, seams of coal may be :found wllter . is of good quality. locally. Red shale, Ted and gray YIelds moderate supplies of CatSkill 1,700± moderat.e group cross-bedded sandstone, gray. water to wells of green, and white sandstone. depth. Few flowing wells. gray shale and sandstone in Water is of good qualIty. lower part. Alternating' gray and olilvc- Yields aroan sopplit'S of water. Chemung forma- 3,100± obtain tion and Por- green sbale and sandstone, Deeperer wens likely to tage group dark shale nt base: tossili- salty or brackish water. Water ferous; marine. generally hard HDd may give off bydrogen sulphide.

Hamilton for- 1.000±: Brown, gray. and bluish-gray Yield sman supp]!es of potable matlon sandy sbales; fossiliferous: water. Water usually hard. marine. likely to be blgh in dissolvea mineral matter. chiefly sul- llhnte, and likely to give off Marcellus s_hale 410 Blaek and dark-blue flssH/'_ hydrogen sulphide; I shales; :fossiliferous; marine. Onondaga 10- Limestone. Unimportant. formation 15

STRUCTURE Nearly all of Luzerne County lies in the Valley and Ridge province, in which the rocks have been strongly folded. In going from north to south across the county, five major folds are encountered, all of which trend northeast. The first of these is a shallow syncline on the crest of North Mountain, forming the Mehoopany coal basin. The second is the Milton anticline, which exposes the Portage group·group · in the north­ western part of the county and gradually flattens out toward the norh­ east. The third and most pronounced is the Lackawanna syncline, which Wyoming has preserved the post-Pottsville formations throughout the vicinity Valley. The maximum depth of tbis syncline is reached in the syncline is of Wilkes-Barre and Plymouth. The double rim of this sep­ formed by the resistant Pottsville formation and Pocono sandstone, fold is the arated by the less resistant Mauch Chunk shale. The fourth the Onon­ Berwick (Montour) anticline, which exposes a few feet of reaches its daga formation in the vicinity of Beach Haven, This fold reaches maximum development farther west, and only the eastern portion of anticlines Luzerne County. The fifth major fold comprises a series

1& MILES 6 IZ . wells Figure 11. Map of Luzerne County showing location of water Twp. runs name omitted (wells 362-3). South boundary of Plains Laurel Run TW}), Twp. from L in Plains to B in Barre. Well 339 is in Union the vicinity and synclines forming the Eastern Middle anthracite field in shallow, of Hazleton. The synclinal basins in this region are relatively been eroded. and there are large areas from which all the coal beds have 0 dips The general dips of the region are 0 to 40°, and the maximum Although are found on the rims and within the synclinal coal basins. viewed in a these synclines are relatively simple canoe-shaped folds as cores are general way, the relatively soft post-Pottsville beds in their The north.. severely folded and contorted, with numerous minor faults. GROUND WATER ern and the easternmost parts of the county border the A~.palac: Plateaus province and are characterized by horizontal zontal strata. W.~TER-BEARING ,F"ORMAT!ONS

{See PD. 41J,;1} for further uescnptionl Glacial dTift.-The terminal moraine left at the end of the 'W'i,~",n" glaciation crosses the southern part of the county from a point Beach Haven to the southeast corner on Lehigh River. North line the-county is covered by gladal drift except where erosion posed the underlying bedrock. On both sides of Susquehanna River the unsorted till and the outwash material yield small to moderate supplies of potable shallow dug wells, and where lenses of gravel occur stronger wells and aTe obtainable. In the smaller rural communities dug wells ;Y1 in the glacial drift are the chief sources of domestic water SUI)pl The many of these springs are used for small public supplies. waters are exceptionally low in dissolved mineral matter. (See on p. 165.) Very few drilled wells end in the glacial drift in Luzerne CountYf the ...... many of them. penetrate 20 to 200 feet or drift before reaching lying bedrock. In many of these drilled wells lenses of water~ is sand and gravel are cased off. In some places the glacial drift posed largely of clay or Hhardpanuand may yield litUe or no walte1t'~ Along Susquehanna Riva"t particularly in the Wyoming Valley, Ienl5es are thick deposits of glacial outwash consisting of irregular ...... 11.·". stratified claY1 sand; and gravel. The river flows over a buried o (jeI'atil many places, and buried channels are encountered in mining Near Beach Haven, where the terminal moraine crosses in River. there are at least three terraces, two of which are visible 2-B. The buried valley of the Susquehanna in the Wyoming lU the glacial outwash has been studied by Darton , who found that (See . posits reached a maximum depth of 309 feet near Plymouth. (See Moderate supplies of water are obtained by dug and driven are the glacial outwash deposits. and exceptionally large supplies with tamed in a few places by means of drilled wells equipped screens or strainers. An excellent example of proper well co]ns1;ruc~ of '· is furnished by the three gravel-walled and screened wells Stanton Operating Co,) of Pittston, which are by far the stronge~t cross noted in northeastern Pennsylvarria~ (See well 294). A pages of welll is shown in figure 5, and the wells are described on pages Each well was tested at 1,280 gallons a minute with a ariaW-ClI(}wn . (See also only 9 01" 10 feet after 8 hours continuous pumping 295, 353).' Doubtless many more wells of this type could be devej~ o an in the county. The Horn Dairy Co., of Wilkes-Barre, obtains driven qua:te supply of water from outwash sand by means of a driven wen only 45 feet deep (well 358). An analysis of water from this be that the water is high in nitrate, and this would probably other wells obtaining water from outwash deposits within the t'oal Post-Pottsville jormationjormatiol1.s.-The post-Pottsville formations) 11'lCiud: the the Allegheny and part of the Conemaugh, crop out in the in thenorthe:rnthenorthe:m untimu!!untlmu! UDarton. N. R •• Sand . nV~llhtbJ~ for fiJaogmineiHHllgmine workItngs UDar 445.5, p. {').tl. 1003. "'k .... t ... e>i'e»-¥ ...... "P.. nnSlvlvannn~vI:van iai a U.U, S. Bur. MinesYines Bun. where theil combined thickness is about 1,1,800 feet. All of the le1naugn le1naugn lormationhas been swept away by erosion in the Hazleton and .only about 700 feet of the Allegheny formation remains in , deepest (Hazleton) basin. coal and sandstone beds are well fractured and in most places considerable water. However, .in the coal basins mine drainage the water level considerably~ and the oxidation products from the exposure of the coal to air in the mines have rendered ur.,;,Tt:>'l" unfit for ordinary use in most places. According to Mr. Paul · engineer of the Lehigh Valley Coal Co., Wilkes-Barre, most ground water o~curs within about 450 feet of the surface, and beds are usually dry. Individual collieries in the Wyoming pump from 1,500 to2t 500 gallons a minute on a yearly average, in the Hazleton basin pump from 500 to 8,000 galloosa minllte. to Mr. Sterling] 17 to 20 tons of water is pumped for every coal mined. Mine drainage water is used only for washing coal. the drainage and pollution several wells obtain satisfa~tory of potable water from sandstone beds in the Wyoming Valley. wells 357, 361.) Well 361 yields water containing hydrogen sul-

form.ation.-The Pottsville formation crops out asa high ridge sur:rounding the Wyoming Valley coal basin and is also ex­ .fl]:-ollnd and between the small coal basins in the Hazleton region. lCkne~;s around the Wyoming Valley avaverages about 220 feet and between 150 and 300 feet. In the Hazleton region the Pottsville is about 500 feet thick~ and the conglomerate is considerably than it is in the Wyoming Valley. Thin beds 'Of coal occur in IUlSV l.lJ~e in bothth regions, but few of them areaf workable thickness. wells believed to penetrate the Pottsville-around the Wyoming reported to yie1d large supplies of potable water, and aU the which data are available are said to be flowing wells. The (\PI"n:r'.C1. in open fractures and crevices in the hard conglomerate nd!rtOlne, and the artesian head is probably due to the presence of beds above the fractured conglomerate. Most of these wells ~rn:lel'Jly used for municipal supply but have been abandoned in larger surface-water supplies. . Hazleron region numerous drilled wells (chiefly for municipal ... • penetrate the Pottsville, though many of these wells extend the underlying M.M.auch Chunk shale. In many wells it is not : whe1I;hf~ the water comes from the Pottsviile or from sandstone .... the- Mauch Chunk Chunkt and in some the water probably comes from formations. These wells range in depth from 150 to more ....feet, and most of them yiyield from 50 to 150 gallons a minute, . a few yield as little as 10 gallons a minute. The wells in the region show great variation in water level. Many ofof the wells wet seasons, and during dry seasons the water level drops far surface. (See pp. 160-163.) basis of three analyses the water trom the Pottsville formation be of good quality_ It is very · soft" and contains a relatively of dissolved mineral matter. Chunkshale.-The Mauch Chunk shale bas two areas of out­ > l,.,lttEU"nl,.,lltt'm1~e:e County_ It crops out in a long, narrow v:alley between GROUND WATER

ridges of the Pottsville formation and the Pocono sandstone around; . Wyoming Valley. and in the large valley area drained by N . Creek and Lehigh River. In the western part of the Wyoming the Mauch Chunk is about 400 feet thick, but it thins rapidly northeast, and the red beds gradually disappear. giving way to about feet of greenish shale and thin-bedded sandstones. In the part of the county the Mauch Chunk is about 2,000 feet thick. The Mauch Chunk yields adequate supplies of potable water to ous shallow farm wens 50 to 250 feet deep in the southern part county. Large suppplies are obtained from the Mauch Chunk Hazleton region by wells that reach it after penetrating the rocks:. Some of these wells that encounter sandstone beds ·yleld

than 100 gallons a minutet and many of them flow during the Like the water in the other non-marine formations, that in the Chunk contains very small amounts of dissolved mineral matter rather soft. Poc(!tU) sandstiY'fl.e.-The Pocono sandstone is the principal maker of the county. Its: horizontal strata cap the high North and its tilted strata form the outer and highest ridge Lackawanna syncline and the highest ridge (Nescopeck Mountain) of: the Hazleton coal basin. Most of the wells that obtain water from the PDcono Luzerne County are along the north rim of Vtyoming Valley. vicinity of West Nanticoke there are sevenli shallow flowing the Pocono, some of which supply water for bottling. The high ported yield for any of these wells is 20 gallons . a minute. probable that greater yields are obtainable. The water from the is as a rule noticeably low in dissolved mineral matter, but the from well 334., at Hunlock Creek. 'Contains 393 parts per million dissolved solids, principally sodium chloride and sodium Catskill continental group.-The Catskill continental group most of the county north and southeast of the Wyoming Vdlll~V ...... crops out in two strips about 1 * miles wide around the Benvick tour) anticline. Because of its great areal extent the Catskill supplies more wells than. any other formation in the county, generally with an quate supply 0·£0·£ good water. The water is generally of good. ·

but salty or brackish water such as was obtained in well 256t is to be encountered by deep wells in the western part of the county of the river. Chemung formati01t and Portage group.-In Luzerne County Portage group is deeply buried in most places and crops out only ...... the Milton anticline and around the Berwick (Montour) anticlinet a few feet of marine Chemung are present near Beach Haven. The Portage is a rather poor wafer-bearing formation in this · Domestic wells in the Portage yield from 2 to 10 gallons a minute. water is generally hard, and some of it gIves off an odor of sulphide. An analysis of wate-r from well 342 showed 224 millionmiilion of total dissolved solids,solids" chiefly calcium bicarbonate and ch1odde~ch1oride~ and a hardness of llO parts per million. HoweverHowever,1 most shallow drilled wells in the Portage yield water that is SatlSl:acsatls:1:ac"tory1tor:y domestic purposes. LUZERNE COUNTYCOUN'ry

Hamiltonformation, formation, M::arcell1ts Marcellus shale and shale Onondaga and Onondaga fO'l"'rJ1ation.-The formation.-The Hamiltonformation formation and Marcellus and Marcellusshale have shale a very have small a very area small of out­ area of out­ in Luzerne County, being exposed only along the core ·of the Ber-Bel'" wick. (Montour) (Montour) anticline anticline between between Nescopeck Nescopeck and andDorrance, Dorrance, and andthe the Onondagaformation formation is present onlyis present near Beach only nearHaven. Beach Haven. Thisgroup group of .formations of .formations is much is much like thelike Portage the Portage group group both bothin litho­ in litho­ logyand in and water-bearing in water-bearing properties. properties. Most Mostof the of wells the wellsend inend shale in shale ore'~ "slate" and have and smallhave yields. small A yields.few wells A fewobtain wells somewhat obtain moresomewhat more water. from frombeds ofbeds fractured of fractured sandstone. sandstone. No water No watersamples samples were werecol­ col­ .lected from this from groupthis groupof formations of formations within within the COWlty, the COWlty, but ~amplesbut ~amples takenin other in countiesother counties and reports and reports within withinthe county the countyindicate indicate that the that the waterlikely is likelyto contain to a containlarge amounta large ofamount dissolved of dissolvedmineral matter,mineral matter, islenlllly generally high highin sulphate. in sulphate. isgeneralIy isgeneralIy hard, hard, and inand many in many places places gives gives Vi'f'rocr·Anoff hydrogen sulphide. sulphide.

ARTESIAN OONDITIONS

Inm!1!nv many of of the the wells wells penetrating penetrating the the hard-rock hard-rock formations formations the the wa.ter wa.ter standssOlrnewlmt sornewhat above theabove level the at level which at itwhich was itfirst was encountered. first encountered. In In some:WEills wellsthe artesianthe artesian head head is sufficient is sufficient to produce to produce a flow. a flow. The Thedeep deep synclinalcoal basins coal arebasins the structuralare the structuralfeatures thatfeatures produce that nearlyproduce nearly allflowing the flowingwells in wells Luzerne in Luzerne County. County.Several Severalflowing flowingwells occur wells occur '~<': '.ut:' aroundWyoming the Val1ey1 Wyoming but Val1ey1not every but we11adJace-ntnot every we11adJace-nt to the valley to the valley isn(HVU],jf! a flowing well, well, for for locally locally the the confining confining beds beds may may allow allow the the water water to to ·escapeimto overlying into overlying fonnations. fonnations.The wells inThe the wellssmall in synclinal the small coal synclinal coal the Hazleton region are noteworthy for their great seasonal in artesian head. Many of the wells flow during the winter,winte!". the summer the water level may drop to a point several feet below the surface of the ground. This.is probably due to thattbat all the wells are relatively close to the catchment areas of rm~ati()fis from which they draw water. Thus the wells continue only as lolong as the catchment areas continue to be supplied by rainfall

QUALITY OF WATER sampJesof water were collected from Luzerne County, 12 wells and 6 from springs, the analyses of which are tabulated 165. The waters from drilled wells contain moderate or small of dissolved mineral matter and are generally soft. The from a well in Hunlock Creek in the Pocono sandstone (well was soft buteontailled393 parts per million of total dissolved solids, ~f which was sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate. The other of warerfrom the Pocono sandstone show negligible amounts constituents and but small amounts of dissolved mineral matter. t samples:ample$s fromfrom springs,allofsprings,allof whichwhich areare inin glacialglacial drift,drift, containedcontained dissolved material and were very soft. at:La1:VS(~S were made of drainage waters from coal mines, but it is that such waters may be very acid,presumably from the pyrite M than from the sulphur contained in the coal • With the exception .. Pottsville formations all the rock formations above the Port­ water of good quality. The water from the Portagege and older is satisfactory for most purposes but is likely to contain more mineral matter and to have greater hardness than water from

B. D •• Acidity of drainage from hihigh pyritic coal areas in Pennsylvania. U.S.U.S • R(!.pt.. rov. 3148..3148.. p. i}.~~ JM.Jan. 1982.19&2. 142 GROUND WATER theovedymg formations. Deep wells may encounter brackish or water in the region north of Wyoming Valley (see well 256), braclrish or salty water has been reported south of the valley_ In places water from the Portage and underlying formations small quantity of hydrogen sulphide but nowhere in amounts enough to be objectionable. A driven well in Wllkes-Barre (well 358) obtains water from glacial outwash that has a hardness of 198 parts per million and t.ains considerable chloride and nitrate& This is not characteristic of in the glacial drift of the higher and more sparsely populated and may be due t&the large amounts of mine drainage and which are discharged into Susquehanna River above Wilkes-Barre, from Lackawanna River-s.

PUBLIC SUPPLIES The larger cities in Luzerne County depend entirely on surface Wilkes-Barre and surrounding towns in the Wyoming Vaney being plied by the Wilkes-Barre division of the Scranton Spring Brook Co~ ·· The water is obtained from numerous small streams imlPou on both sides of the valley. The Wyoming Valley Water Co. Hazleton and the nearby Hudsondale, Bear Creek, Wolffs Run, Run,. Mount Pleasant} and a ,small part of Harleigh. This COJrnpan:'!1 obtains its water from numerous small streams fed by springs. The communities supplied by ground water are tabulated below. water from supplies for which analyses are available is low in mineral matter, soft} and satisfactory for domestic and irui1li;t:rllal Of the- 22 ground-water supplies tabulated, only one is treated for tary reasons. The- water from spring supplies is noticeably low wIved mineral matter and is comparable in this respect to the water used for public supply.

INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES GroUIle! water is used by a variety of industries inin Luzerne Perhaps the largest industrial use is in coal washing, in which a quantity of mine drainage water is used. At times. particularly dry. seasons, the water pumped from the mines is insufficient to this n~ and additional water is pumped from wells. Both water and ground water are used to supply the boilers in the A large quantity of ground water derived from glacial Qutwash is for cooling in the generation of electric power. Ground water used for bottling, for swimming pools, and for washing bottles and . ing in dairies. DOMESTIO SUPPLIES Domestic supplies in the more thickly settled parts of Luzerne lying outside of the coal basins are derived largely from drill~ In the rural communities the proportion of drilled wells to dug is steadily increasing, because many of the dug wells are reported unteliable during dry seasollS and subject to contamination.

115.~ See8~ Lclghton,LeIghtOfl, lLM~ 0..0 .• Quality of water in tIm Susquenanna U.S. G001. 8nr-reySurvey Watar-&lpply Paper lOS. p-p ~1. 19Q.!.