DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DONALD PAUL HOD EL, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director For additional information Copies of this report can write to: be purchased from: Subdistrict Chief U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Books and Open-File Reports Section 521 W. Seneca Street Federal Center, Bldg. 41 Ithaca, New York 14850 Box 25425 Denver, Colorado 80225 ii DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DONALD PAUL HOD EL, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director For additional information Copies of this report can write to: be purchased from: Subdistrict Chief U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Books and Open-File Reports Section 521 W. Seneca Street Federal Center, Bldg. 41 Ithaca, New York 14850 Box 25425 Denver, Colorado 80225 ii CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................... 1 Introduction ............................. 1 Purpose and scope ........................ 2 Description of study area .................... 2 Physiographic setting. ................... 2 Land use .......................... 4 Methods of data collection. ................... 4 Well inventory and test drilling .............. 4 Seismic surveys. ...................... 5 Streamflow-seepage measurements. .............. 5 Ground-water sampling. ................... 5 Identification and location of wells and streamflow- measurement sites ....................... 5 Acknowledgments ......................... 5 Geology of the Tug Hill aquifer. ................... 6 Stratigraphy. .......................... 6 Bedrock. .......................... 6 Lodgment till. ....................... 8 Glaciofluvial deposits ................... 8 Kames ......................... 8 Outwash ........................ 10 Glaciolacustrine deposits. ................. 12 Beaches and deltas. .................. 12 Lake-bottom sediments ................. 13 Recent deposits. ...................... 13 Alluvium. ....................... 13 Swamp deposits. .................... 13 Chronology of glaciation. .................... 14 Camden moraine complex ................... 14 Williamstown moraine .................... 14 Orwell-Bennett Bridge moraine. ............... 16 Lake Iroquois. ....................... 16 Recent deposits. ...................... 17 Hydrology of the Tug Hill aquifer. .................. 19 Recharge. ............................ 22 Infiltration of precipitation on the aquifer ........ 23 Runoff from adjacent hillsides ............... 23 Infiltration from streams. ................. 23 Ground-water movement and discharge ............... 24 Water-level fluctuations. .................... 26 Ground-water availability .................... 27 Water use. ......................... 27 Potential well yields. ................... 28 Bedrock ........................ 29 Till. ......................... 30 Alluvium. ....................... 30 Beach sand and gravel ................. 30 Sand-and-gravel-filled valley near Richland ...... 31 Kame deposits ..................... 31 Outwash ........................ 31 111 CONTENTS (continued) Page Upland sand and gravel deposits ............ 32 Buried aquifer in West Branch Fish Creek valley .... 32 Water quality of the Tug Hill aquifer. ................ 33 Chemical and physical characteristics .............. 33 pH ............................. 33 Specific conductance and dissolved solids. ......... 33 Hardness .......................... 33 Alkalinity ......................... 35 Nitrate. .......................... 35 Chloride and sodium. .................... 35 Trace elements ....................... 36 Environmental influences. .................... 36 Temporal changes. ........................ 37 Comparison with water quality in other upstate aquifers ..... 37 Summary and conclusions. ....................... 41 References cited ........................... 43 ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Map showing location and major geographic features of the Tug Hill area. ...................... 3 2. Map showing bedrock geology and glacial lobes and sub- lobes of the Wisconsin ice sheet that covered the Tug Hill area. ........................ 7 3. Idealized diagrams showing origin of typical glacial features in the West Branch Fish Creek valley. ....... 9 4. Map showing surficial geology of Tug Hill aquifer. .... 11 5. Schematic diagram showing typical glaciolacustrine deposits in northern and central parts of the aquifer. 12 6. Map showing ice-margin positions of the Tug Hill aquifer area ........................... 15 7. Map showing extent of glacial Lake Iroquois. ....... 17 8. Map showing location of profiles and diagram showing profiles of Lake Iroquois beach deposits ......... 18 9. Diagram showing the hydrologic cycle in the Tug Hill area. 19 10. Graphs showing ronthly precipitation at three stations in the study area (January 1983 through September 1986). 20 1L. Map showing the distribution of precipitation in New York ........................... 21 i v CONTENTS (continued) Page Figure 12. Diagram of water table in unconfined aquifer and potentioinetric surface in a confined aquifer ....... 21 13. Hydrographs showing annual precipitation and fluctuation of ground-water levels in the Tug Hill aquifer ...... 22 14. Diagram showing relation between topography and direction of ground-water movement ................. 25 15. Sketch showing generalized directions of ground-water movement in the West Branch Fish Creek valley during nonpumping and pumping conditions. ............ 26 16. Diagram showing ranges of hydraulic conductivity for selected types of unconsolidated and consolidated deposits ......................... 29 17. Map showing locations of seven glacial-drift aquifers used in water-quality comparison ............. 38 TABLES Table 1. Summary of average annual recharge to the northern, central, and southern part of the Tug Hill aquifer .... 24 2. Population served and ground-water pump age from the Tug Hill aquifer ..................... 27 3. Representative porosity, specific yield, and specific- retention values for different aquifer materials ..... 28 4. Minimum, maximum, mean, and median concentration or value and standard deviation for selected constituents and properties of ground water from the Tug Hill aquifer ... 34 5. Chemical analyses of water from public water supplies. 39 6. Statistical comparison of constituent concentrations in the Tug Hill aquifer with those in other upstate aquifers. 40 7. Records of wells in the study area ............ 46 8. Streamflow gains and losses in streams crossing the Tug Hill aquifer ....................... 57 9. Chemical analyses of water from selected wells in the Tug Hill aquifer ..................... 59 PLATES (in jacket) Plate 1. Camden West and Camden East quadrangles: A. Location of wells, streamflow-measurement sites, and seismic survey sites B. Surficial geology C. Bedrock-surface altitude D. Potentiometri c surface of unconf ined aquifer and hydro- graphs of selected wells E. Potential well yields F. Land use 2. Williamstown and Westdale quadrangles: A. Location of wells, streamf1ow-measurement sites, and seismic survey sites B. Surficial geology C. Bedrock-surface altitude D. Potentiomet ric surface of unconf ined aquifer and hydro- graphs of selected wells E. Potential well yields F. La nd use 3. Richland and Orwell quadrangles: A. Location of wells, streamflow-measurement sites, and seismic survey sites B. Surficial geology C. Bedrock-surf ace altitude D. Potentiometrie surface of unconfined aquifer and hydro- graphs of selected wells E. Potential well yields F. Land use 4. Sandy Creek, Adams, and Rodman quadrangles: A. Location of wells, streamflow-measurement sites, and seismic survey sites B. Surficial geology C. Bedrock-surface altitude D. Potentiometric surface of unconfined aquifer and hydro- graphs of selected wells E. Potential well yields F. Land use vi CONVERSION FACTORS AND ABBREVIATIONS The following factors may be used to convert the inch-pound units used in this report to metric (International System) units: Multiply inch-pound unit By_ To obtain metric units inch (in) 2.54 centimeter (cm) foot (ft) 0.3048 meter (m) mile (mi) 1.609 kilometer (km) square mi le (mi 2 ) 2.590 square kilometer (km 2) gallon per minute (gal/tnin) 0.06309 liter per second (L/s) million gallons per day (Mgal/d) 0.003786 cubic meter per day (m^/d) million gallons per day per 1,461.4 cubic meter per day per square mile [ (Mgal/d ) /mi 2 ] square kilometer [(m^/d/)km 2 ] feet per mile (ft/mi) 0.1894 meter per kilometer (m/km) gallons per day (gal/d) 3.785 liter per day (L/d) feet per day (ft/d) 0.3048 meter per day (m/d) feet squared per day (ft 2/d) 0.0929 meter squared per day (m 2/d) Chemical concentrations and water temperature are given in metric units. Chemical concentration is given in milligrams per liter (mg/L) or micrograms per liter (ug/L). Milligrams per liter is a unit expressing the concentration of chemical constituents in solution as weight of solute per unit volume of water, and 1,000 mi crograms per liter is equivalent to 1 milligram per liter. For concentrations less than 7,000 mg/L, the numerical value is the same as for concentrations in parts per million. Sea level: In this report "sea level" refers to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD of 1929) a geodetic datum derived from a general adjustment of the first-order level nets of both the United States and Canada, formerly called "Sea Level Datum of 1929.") vii HYDROGEOLOGY AND WATER QUALITY OF THE TUG HILL GLACIAL AQUIFER IN NORTHERN NEW YORK By Todd S. Miller, Donald A. Sherwood, and