Revealing aquifer responses to glaciations using residential water-well data

Abstract

This study presents the impacts of glacial loading and unloading on the hydraulic conductivity (K) of bedrock aquifers using private residential wells. The scopes of this research were to i) compare the hydraulic conductivity of the bedrock aquifers under glaciated and unglaciated regions, ii) correlate the aquifer parameters (thickness and depth) with a K of the aquifer, and iii) study the variations in K of the sandstone aquifers due to cyclic loading and unloading of glaciers. It was hypothesized that glaciated regions would have greater K than unglaciated regions and thus would correlate with larger aquifer yield. To test this hypothesis, data were collected from 14 counties in northeastern Ohio that consist of well location, well construction details, well production test, and rudimentary lithological descriptions. These results suggested that glacial loading and unloading had created new fractures and reactivated the older fractures in the bedrock aquifers more so for glaciated regions than those in unglaciated regions. Because of that, the glaciated sandstone aquifers had a larger yield than the unglaciated sandstone aquifers. Furthermore, the sandstone aquifers in the northern counties had generally greater mean K than those in the southern counties. The frequency distribution curves of K of the aquifer in the glaciated regions were considerably tighter and shifted right compared to the unglaciated regions. Understanding the variations in K of the aquifer provides important insight into sustainable development/management of water resources in the glaciated landscape.