Milligan, Lisa

Musgrove, James R.

Ogden, Albert E.

English

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Journal of the Arkansas Academy of ScienceVolume 36 Article 341982Reconnaissance of Ground-Water Resources ofStone and Independence Counties, ArkansasAlbert E. OgdenSouthwest Texas State UniversityJames R. MusgroveUniversity of Arkansas, FayettevilleLisa MilliganUniversity of Arkansas, FayettevilleFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaasPart of the Geology Commons, and the Hydrology CommonsThis article is available for use under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Users are able toread, download, copy, print, distribute, search, link to the full texts of these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking priorpermission from the publisher or the author.This General Note is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the ArkansasAcademy of Science by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu, ccmiddle@uark.edu.Recommended CitationOgden, Albert E.; Musgrove, James R.; and Milligan, Lisa (1982) "Reconnaissance of Ground-Water Resources of Stone andIndependence Counties, Arkansas," Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 36 , Article 34.Available at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol36/iss1/34IArkansas Academy of Science Proceedings, Vol. XXXVI,1982 97General NotesRECONNAISSANCE OF THE GROUND-WATER RESOURCES OFSTONE AND INDEPENDENCE COUNTIES, ARKANSASGround water is utilized by most of the residents ofStone and Independence counties, Arkansas, but little is known about its occurrence>iovement. An early listing ofsome ground-water wells innorthern Arkansas was made by Branner (1973) without any hydrogeologic inter-ions. Avery generalized statement of ground-water resources in Arkansas was made by Baker (1955), and a reconnaissance of the deep (greater!000 feet in Stone and Independence counties) Roubidoux and Gasconade aquifers was made by Lamonds (1972). A recent study similarpe to this one was published by Liebelt et al. (1980) for neighboring Baxter, Fulton, Izard, and Sharp counties. The purposes of the presentwer to define the water-producing horizons in Stone and Independence Counties and to determine the range indepth and yield for each aquifer.One hundred and sixty-six rural water wells have drillers' lithologic logs were accurately plotted on 7Vi minute topographic maps with theaid of county platt books. The formation that produced water in each well was determined from detailed geologic maps made by the ArkansasGeologic Commission for the purpose ofproducing the geologic map of the state (Haley, 1976). Knowing the formation in which drillingbeganfor each well, and combining this with the drillers' crude lithologiclog and known average thickness of each formation (Caplain, 1954), it waspossible to determine which formation formed the aquifer. The rocks are essentially horizontal throughout most of the study area except adjacentto normal faults. Most of the outcrops in Stone and Independence Counties range from Ordovician to Pennsylvanian in age. Wells producingfrom rocks and sediments younger than Pennsylvanian were not studied.iSix aquifer zones were found to be utilized in Stone and Izard Counties. The Table shows the range, median, and mean depth and yieldch aquifer zone. The median yieldof the aquifer zones was essentially the same (5 to 8 gpm). It is surprising to note that the shale and siltstonesuch as the Morrow (Bloyd-Hale undifferentiated), Fayetteville, and Ruddell-Moorefield aquifers produce as much water as the limestonesn and Boone-St. Joe) and sandstones (St. Peter-Everton). This is probably due to the great number of bedding planes and closely-spacedires found inthe shales and siltstones. Unless conduits or fracture zones are intersected inlimestones and tightsandstones, the yieldwillusual-low.tThe Table indicates that the Morrow (Bloyd-Hale undifferentiated) is the most utilized aquifer zone. This is largely due to Morrow croppinga majority of the study area, but is also due toa greater population density found on Morrow rocks. Although the Boone-St. Joe aquiferout inmuch of the study area, the population density is low due to it being more rugged and because it is largely Natural Forest ServiceThe St. Peter-Everton aquifer zone is the most productive, but crops out inonly a small portion of the study area and is presently too deeper areas to be economically feasible. Therefore, the ground water sources of these counties have just begun to be utilized with much leftture growth.IApreliminary method ofdetermining the geologic controls on yield was made by using the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient statisticaliiegel, 1956) to compare welldepth, well yield,depth to bedrock (regolith thickness), depth to the water table, and piezometric surface level:haquifer. This information was provided on the drillers' lithologiclogs. For each of the aquifers except the Boone-St. Joe limestone, regolithless was found to be directly related (a = 0.1) to well yield and inversely related to depth to the water table. The regolith is usually thickestfracture zones, where weathering proceeds most rapidly. This explains why higher yields are found where the regolith is thickest. Also, thickth is expected in valleys where the water table is close to the surface. Likewise, valleys commonly form along fractures zones. Well yieldlso found to be inversely related to depth which can be explained by the closing of fractures with depth due to increase lithostatic pressure,ler possible explanation is simply that a well that is located on fractured rock willobtain water at a shallow depth, whereas a well not locatedfracture willprobably be a low producer no matter how far the well is drilled.¦One conclusion that can be drawn from the range in yield (Table) is that some wells in each of the aquifers can have very high yields with:t to the mean. Future studies should look closely at the geologic conditions around such wells so that highyield wells can be better located.LITERATURE CITED¦iRTE. OGDEN, Assistant Director, Edwards AquiferResearch and Data Center, Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas 78666AMESR. MUSGROVE and LISA MILLIGAN,Department ofGeology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701.97Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 36 [1982], Art. 34Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 1982

Reconnaissance of Ground-Water Resources of Stone and Independence Counties, Arkansas

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Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science Volume 36 Article 34 1982 Reconnaissance of Ground-Water Resources of Stone and Independence Counties, Arkansas Albert E. Ogden Southwest Texas State University James R. Musgrove University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Lisa Milligan University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas  Part of the Geology Commons, and the Hydrology Commons Recommended Citation Ogden, Albert E.; Musgrove, James R.; and Milligan, Lisa (1982) "Reconnaissance of Ground-Water Resources of Stone and Independence Counties, Arkansas," Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 36 , Article 34. Available at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol36/iss1/34 This article is available for use under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Users are able to read, download, copy, print, distribute, search, link to the full texts of these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This General Note is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu. IArkansas Academy of Science Proceedings, Vol. XXXVI,1982 97General NotesRECONNAISSANCE OF THE GROUND-WATER RESOURCES OFSTONE AND INDEPENDENCE COUNTIES, ARKANSASGround water is utilized by most of the residents ofStone and Independence counties, Arkansas, but little is known about its occurrence>iovement.An early listing ofsome ground-water wells innorthern Arkansas was made by Branner (1973) without any hydrogeologic inter-ions. Avery generalized statement of ground-water resources in Arkansas was made by Baker (1955), and a reconnaissance of the deep (greater!000 feet in Stone and Independence counties) Roubidoux and Gasconade aquifers was made by Lamonds (1972). A recent study similarpe to this one was published by Liebelt et al. (1980) for neighboring Baxter, Fulton, Izard, and Sharp counties. The purposes of the presentwer to define the water-producing horizons in Stone and Independence Counties and to determine the range indepth and yield for each aquifer.One hundred and sixty-six rural water wells have drillers' lithologic logs were accurately plotted on 7Vi minute topographic maps with theaid of county platt books. The formation that produced water in each well was determined from detailed geologic maps made by the ArkansasGeologic Commission for the purpose ofproducing the geologic map of the state (Haley, 1976). Knowing the formation in which drillingbeganfor each well, and combining this with the drillers' crude lithologiclog and known average thickness of each formation (Caplain, 1954), it waspossible to determine which formation formed the aquifer. The rocks are essentially horizontal throughout most of the study area except adjacentto normal faults. Most of the outcrops in Stone and Independence Counties range from Ordovician to Pennsylvanian in age. Wells producingfrom rocks and sediments younger than Pennsylvanian were not studied.iSixaquifer zones were found to be utilized in Stone and Izard Counties. The Table shows the range, median, and mean depth and yieldch aquifer zone. The median yieldof the aquifer zones was essentially the same (5 to 8 gpm). It is surprising to note that the shale and siltstonesuch as the Morrow (Bloyd-Hale undifferentiated), Fayetteville, and Ruddell-Moorefield aquifers produce as much water as the limestonesn and Boone-St. Joe) and sandstones (St. Peter-Everton). This is probably due to the great number of bedding planes and closely-spacedires found inthe shales and siltstones. Unless conduits or fracture zones are intersected inlimestones and tightsandstones, the yieldwillusual-low.tTheTable indicates that the Morrow (Bloyd-Hale undifferentiated) is the most utilized aquifer zone. This is largely due to Morrow croppinga majority of the study area, but is also due toa greater population density found on Morrow rocks. Although the Boone-St. Joe aquiferout inmuch of the study area, the population density is low due to it being more rugged and because it is largely Natural Forest ServiceThe St. Peter-Everton aquifer zone is the most productive, but crops out inonly a small portion of the study area and is presently too deeper areas to be economically feasible. Therefore, the ground water sources of these counties have just begun to be utilized with much leftture growth.IApreliminary method ofdetermining the geologic controls on yield was made by using the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient statisticaliiegel, 1956) to compare welldepth, well yield,depth to bedrock (regolith thickness), depth to the water table, and piezometric surface level:haquifer. This information was provided on the drillers' lithologiclogs. For each of the aquifers except the Boone-St. Joe limestone, regolithless was found to be directly related (a = 0.1) to well yield and inversely related to depth to the water table. The regolith is usually thickestfracture zones, where weathering proceeds most rapidly. This explains why higher yields are found where the regolith is thickest. Also, thickth is expected in valleys where the water table is close to the surface. Likewise, valleys commonly form along fractures zones. Well yieldlso found to be inversely related to depth which can be explained by the closing of fractures with depth due to increase lithostatic pressure,ler possible explanation is simply that a well that is located on fractured rock willobtain water at a shallow depth, whereas a well not locatedfracture willprobably be a low producer no matter how far the well is drilled.¦One conclusion that can be drawn from the range in yield (Table) is that some wells in each of the aquifers can have very high yields with:t to the mean. Future studies should look closely at the geologic conditions around such wells so that highyield wells can be better located.LITERATURE CITED¦iRTE. OGDEN, Assistant Director, Edwards AquiferResearch and Data Center, Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas 78666AMESR. MUSGROVE and LISA MILLIGAN,Department ofGeology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701.97Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 36 [1982], Art. 34Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 1982

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Reconnaissance of Ground-Water Resources of Stone and Independence Counties, Arkansas

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