IC 29 GEORGIA STATE DIVISION OF CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT OF MINES, MINING AND GEOLOGY GARLAND PEYTON, Director THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Information Circular 29 GEOLOGY AND GROUND-WATER RESOURCES OF WALKER COUNTY, GEORGIA By Charles W. Cressler U.S. Geological Survey Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey ATLANTA 1964 CONTENTS Page Abstract _______________________________________________ -··---------------------------- _____________________ ----------------·----- _____________ __________________________ __ 3 In trodu ction ------------------------------------------ ________________________________ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Purpose and scope ------------------------------"--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Previous inv es tigati o ns ____ _____ ________ _______ __________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 Geo Io gy _________________________________________________________________ --- ___________________ -- ___________ ------------- __________________ ---- _________________ ---- _______ 5 Ph ys i ogr a p hy ______________________________________________________ ---------------------------------------- __________________ -------------------------------- 5 Geo Io gi c his tory __________________________ _ __ ___ ___ _______ _____________________________________________ ------------------------------------------------- 5 Stratigraphy -·· __________________ . --------------------------·------------------------------ _--------------------·---------------------------------------------- 5 Cambrian System __ _______ __ ____ _____________________ ______________ ____ __ _________________ ____________________________ _____ ___ ___ 5 Rome Formation _________________________________________________________________________ ---------------------------------------------- 5 Conasauga Formation __ __ _ ________________________________________________ ---------------------------------------------- 5 Cambrian and Ordovician Systems --------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ 7 Knox Group ______ ---·- ____________________ -------·--------------------- _________________________ ---------------------------------------------- 7 Copper Ridge Dolomite ___ _______________________ ---------------------------- ---------------------------------------------- 7 Chepultepec Dolomite _______________________________________________________ ---------------------------------------------- 7 Longview Limestone _________ ______________________ ____ _ ___________________ --------------------------------------- 7 Ordovician Sy stern __ _______ __________ __ ____ __________ ______________________________ ____ ____________ .---------------------------------------------- 7 Chickamauga Limestone _______________________________________________________________ ---------------------------------------------- 7 Silurian System _ _ _ _____ _________ _ _ ---------------- ___ _______ __ __ ___ __ __________ ____________ __ ___ 7 Red Mountain Formation ____________________________________________ _ 7 Devonian and Mississippian System __ __ ____ ___ _ ____ ___ ____________ _ 8 Chattanooga Shale ------- ---·- -------------------------------- 8 Mississippian System ___ _ -------------- -- -- ------------------------.---------------------------------------------- 8 Western facies _ ----------------- -----------··- -·- ----------------------------- 8 Fort Payne Chert ____ _ ----- ------- ·----------- 8 St. Louis Limestone ____ _____ _ ------------------------- 8 Ste. Genevieve Limestone _ 8 Gasper Limestone ____ _ ___ ___________ _ 8 Golconda Formation _ __ ______ _____ ________________________ _______ ________ __ ___ 8 Hartselle Sandstone ________ __ ---------------------------------- ____________________________________________ ----------- 8 Bangor Limestone (restricted) ____________________ ___________________ ______ ____ _ ___ _ _______ __ __ 8 Pennington Shale -------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________ ------------------------------ 8 East ern facies ____ --------------------------- -· __________________________________________________________________________ --------------------- 8 Pennsy Ivanian S ystern _____________________________________________________________________________________________ --------------------------- 9 Lookout Sandstone ______________ -------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------- 9 Whitwell Shale ------------------------------------ ____________________________________ ·---------------------------------------------- 9 Bonair Sandstone ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 Vandever Shale _____________ ·------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 Rockcastle Sandstone ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------- 9 1 CONTENTS-Continued Page Geology - continued Structure ______________ ------------------------- ________________________________ ------------------ _________ _ 9 Ground Water ____________ ______________ _______________________ _ ___________________________________________ _ -- -- -------------------------------- ---- 9 Source and occurrence ________________________ _____ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------ - 9 Chemical quality _ ______ __ _____ _________________ ---------------------------- _____________________________________________________ _ 10 Utilization _____________________________________ ---------------------------------------------- _______________________________ _ 10 Water-level fluctuations ___ _ _ ____ _ _ _ _________ _____ __________ _ __ _______ _ 10 Water-bearing character of the geologic formations_______ ________ _______ ___ 10 Rome Formation ______ --------------------------- ------------------------------- ___________________ -------------- 10 Conasauga Formation _______________________________ --------------- _____________ -------------------------------------------------- 11 Knox Group _______________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Chickamauga Limestone __________________________________ ------------------- ---------------- -------- ______ ----------------------- ________ 14 Red Mountain Formation _ __ --------------------------------------------------------------- _---------------------------------------------- 14 Chattan oo ga Shale _______________ ---------------------------------------------------------------. -- ----------------------------------------------- 14 Mississippian System-western facies ---------------------------------------- _______ _____ _____________ ________________ ______ __ 14 Mississippian System-eastern facies ------------------------------------------- __________ -------------------------------- ______ 15 Pennsylvanian System _ ____ __ __ __ _ ------------------------------------- __ -- __ -- ______ ____________ __________ _______ 15 Summary of ground water ______________________ ---------------------------------------------- _______ --------------------------------------- ___ __ 15 Selected references ___________________________________________ ----------------------------- ----------- _ -- -------------------------------- ___ -- 15 ILLUSTRATIONS Page Figure 1. Map of Georgia showing Walker County and areas described in previous reports 4 2. Geology and well and spring locations, Walker County, Ga. __ _ __ _Pocket 3. Water-level fluctuations in well 237 and daily precipitation at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, 1959-60 ____________ _ ____________ _____ _ _______ _ _ _ 11 TABLES Page Table 1. Geologic formations and their water-bearing properties, Walker County, Ga. 6 2:--Chemkal analyses of ground water; Walker County, Ga. ______________________ _ 12 _ 3, __Spring flows in Walker County, Ga. 13 2 - GEOLOGY AND GROUND-WATER RESOURCES OF WALKER COUNTY, GEORGIA by Charles W. Cressler ABSTRACT Tennessee. The remainder of the county drains southward into the Coosa River. Walker County is in the Cumberland Plateau and the Valley and Ridge physiographic provinces of The principal industries of Walker County are Georgia. It is underlain by rocks ranging in age textile and furniture manufacturing, dairying and from Early Cambrian (Rome Formation) to Pen:t;l­ milk processing, poultry and egg raising, and sylvanian (Rockcastle Sandstone). All the geol~gic farming. Agriculture is mainly part-time and resi­ formations except the Chattanooga Shale yield dential farming. A major part of the agricultural sufficient water to wells for domestic and farm income is derived from poultry and poultry prod­ use. Most wells in the county are between 50 and ucts. The soils of the county are of medium pro­ 200 feet deep, but a few are deeper than 300 feet. ductivity. The valleys are used for growing cotton, corn, small grains, and pasture crops. The lower The largest sustained pumpage from a well was ridges are used for truck, hog, and pasture crops, 60 gpm (gallons per minute), but wells in the and the rougher terrane is used for growing Knox Group, the Conasauga Formation, the Chick­ timber. amauga Limestone