Hydrogeology of the Schodack-Kinderhook Area, Rensselaer and Columbia Counties, New York U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Open-File Report 97-639 Prepared in cooperation with NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION Cover: View of Moordener Kill from State Rt. 150 in Brookview, N.Y., looking west (downstream). Note exposed bedrock in streambed. (Photo by R.J. Reynolds, 1999). Hydrogeology of the Schodack-Kinderhook Area, Rensselaer and Columbia Counties, New York By Richard J. Reynolds ______________________________________________________________ U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Open-File Report 97-639 Prepared in cooperation with the NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION science for a changing world Troy, New York 1999 i U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Charles G. Groat, Director ______________________________________________________________________ For additional information Copies of this report may be write to: purchased from: U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey 425 Jordan Road Branch of Information Services Troy, NY 12180-8349 P.O. Box 25286 Denver, CO 80225 ii CONTENTS Abstract ................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Purpose and Scope .......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................................... 2 Study Area ....................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Hydrogeology ....................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Surficial Deposits ............................................................................................................................................................ 4 Schodack Terrace ...................................................................................................................................................... 4 Kinderhook Terrace .................................................................................................................................................. 4 Deglacial Sequence ................................................................................................................................................... 5 Geologic Sections ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 Schodack Terrace ............................................................................................................................................... 6 Kinderhook Terrace ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Unconfined Aquifers ................................................................................................................................................. 7 Confined Aquifers ..................................................................................................................................................... 7 Altitude of the Water Table ....................................................................................................................................... 10 Ground Water Flow.................................................................................................................................................... 10 Recharge ................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Aquifer Properties ..................................................................................................................................................... 12 Well Yields ................................................................................................................................................................ 12 Specific Capacity ...................................................................................................................................................... 15 Bedrock ............................................................................................................................................................................ 16 Bedrock Surface Configuration ................................................................................................................................ 16 Pre-Glacial Drainage Channels ................................................................................................................................ 16 Faults ......................................................................................................................................................................... 18 Effects of Faults on Well Yields................................................................................................................................. 18 Summary and Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................... 18 Selected References .............................................................................................................................................................. 19 Appendix - Records of wells in the Schodack-Kinderhook area, Rensselaer and Columbia Counties, N.Y A. Wells north of 42° 30'................................................................................................................................................ 24 B. Wells south of 42° 30'................................................................................................................................................ 28 PLATES (in pocket) Maps of study area in Rensselaer and Columbia County, N.Y., showing: 1. Locations of wells and test holes 2. Surficial geology 3. Water-table altitude 4. Bedrock-surface altitude FIGURES 1. Map showing location and principal geographic features of study area in Rensselaer and Columbia Counties, N.Y...... 3 2. Hydrogeologic sections ..................................................................................................................................................... a.Geologic section A-A' through the Schodack Terrace, Rensselaer, N.Y. .................................................................... 8 b. Geologic section B-B' through the Kinderhook Terrace, Columbia County, N.Y...................................................... 9 Contents iii TABLES 1.Summary of Moordener Kill seepage investigation, October 18, 1960............................................................................. 11 2. Summary of aquifer tests from Myrick and Associates (1960)......................................................................................... 13 3. Well yield, by water-use and aquifer type, for the Schodack-Kinderhook area, Rensselaer and Columbia Counties, N.Y.................................................................................................................................................................... 14 4. Reported specific capacity data, estimated transmissivity, and estimated hydraulic conductivity at selected wells in the Schodack-Kinderhook area, Rensselaer and Columbia Counties, N.Y. ........................................................................... 17 CONVERSION FACTORS, ABBREVIATIONS, AND VERTICAL DATUM Multiply by To Obtain Length inch (in.) 2.54 centimeter foot (ft) 0.3048 meter mile (m) 1.609 kilometer foot per mile (ft/mi) 0.1894 meter per kilometer Area square mile (mi2) 2.59 square kilometer Flow cubic foot per second (ft3/s) 0.02832 cubic meter per second cubic foot per second (ft3/s) 28.32 liter per second gallon per minute (gal/min) 0.06309 liter per second million gallons per day (Mgal/d) 0.04381 cubic meters per second million gallons per day (Mgal/d) 3,785 cubic meters per day million gallons per day per square mile [(Mgal/d)/mi2] 1,461.4 cubic meters per day per square kilometer gallons per day per square mile [(gal/d)/mi2] 0.001462 cubic meters per day per square kilometer gallon per day per foot [(gal/d)/ft] 0.0001437 liter per second per meter Hydraulic Units transmissivity, feet squared per day (ft2/d) 0.0929 meter squared per day hydraulic conductivity, feet per day (ft/d) 0.3048 meter per day specific capacity, gallons per minute per foot [(gal/min)/ft] 0.2070 liter per second per meter 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 the United States and Canada, formerly called Sea level Datum of 1929. iv Contents Hydrogeology of the Schodack-Kinderhook Area, Rensselaer and Columbia Counties, New York by Richard J. Reynolds ABSTRACT Survey study, were 16.3 and