Browsing by Subject "karst"
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Item 19 June 2006 Dye Trace of the Cave Farm Blind Valley Stream Sink (MN23:B0058)(2006-08) Costello, Daniel E; Alexander Jr., E. CalvinA qualitative fluorescent dye trace has established that water sinking in the Cave Farm Blind Valley resurges at Bly’s Spring on Bear Creek in Fillmore County, Minnesota. This trace establishes the resurgence point for the Cave Farm Blind Valley and a lower limit of > 1 kilometer per day on the groundwater flow velocity. This trace documents the potential impact of a break in the British Petroleum pipeline, which is directly below the blind valley, could have on the Spring Valley karst. The Spring Valley karst also may act as an underground flow path that pirates water from Deer Creek to Bear Creek.Item 2015 Olmsted County Dye Traces(2019-04-17) Larsen, Martin R; Johnson, Scot B; Green, Jeffrey A; Kasahara, Sophie M; Wheeler, Betty J; Alexander Jr, E CalvinItem 2017 York Blind Valley Dye Trace Fillmore County, MN(2018-10) Larsen, Martin R; Green, Jeffrey A; Barry, John D; Kasahara, Sophie M; Wheeler, Betty J; Alexander Jr., E CalvinItem Ahrensfeld Creek and Borson Northeast Dye Trace Report 2007-2010 Winona County, MN(2017) Green, Jeffrey A; Alexander Jr., E. Calvin; Alexander, Scott C; Luhmann, Andrew J; Runkel, Anthony C; Peters, Andrew JSoutheastern Minnesota’s karst lands support numerous trout streams. These trout streams are formed by springs discharging from Paleozoic bedrock. Dye tracing has been the tool of choice for mapping the springsheds (karst groundwater basins) that feed these springs. Previous work was focused on the Galena limestone karst. In order to accelerate springshed mapping, a two-year study was funded by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR). Across southeastern Minnesota, numerous springs discharge from the Cambrian St. Lawrence formation. The St. Lawrence is considered to be a confining unit under the Minnesota well code. A dye trace was initiated when a stream sink was discovered in the upper St. Lawrence Formation. The sampling points included springs, stream crossings, and a municipal well that may be at risk for surface contamination. Dye was recovered at one spring in less than two weeks and at two other springs in less than three weeks. This translates into travel times of 200-300 meters/day. The springs all discharge from the lower St. Lawrence Formation. The St. Lawrence contains beds of dolostone; the dye trace demonstrates that there is a karst conduit flow component in this formation. This is evidence that these springs are significantly more susceptible to degradation than previously thought.Item Altura Minnesota lagoon collapses(Proceedings of the First Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes. Orlando, Florida 15-17 October 1984. "Sinkholes: Their Geology, Engineering and Environmental Impact. Edited by Barry F. Beck of the Florida Sinkhole Research Institute, University of Central Florida, Orlando. Page 311 - 318. Taylor & Francis, London, UK. Offprint, 1984-10-17) Book, Paul R; Alexander Jr., E. CalvinIn April 1976, a series of karst sinkholes opened in the holding lagoon of the Altura, Minnesota Waste Treatment Facility. This major failure was preceded by minor sinkhole formation during the construction of the facility in 1974. Subsequent detailed field mapping of the region around the community revealed at least 23 sinkholes not shown on existing maps. The distribution of the sinkholes as well as post-failure investigations of the lagoon indicate that catastrophic collapse is related to the presence of a thin, poorly indurated, jointed sandstone overlying a thick carbonate unit. The sandstone served to collect solutionally aggressive vadose water and to concentrate that water onto specific areas of the underlying carbonate. The resulting differential solution produced voids into which the overlying materials collapsed.Item Altura, MN Waste Treatment Lagoon Failures: A Hydrogeologic Study(1984-02) Book, Paul R; Alexander Jr., E. CalvinIn April 1976, a series of karat sinkholes opened in the holding lagoon of the Altura MN Waste Treatment Facility. Subsequent detailed field mapping of the region around the community revealed at least 22 sinkholes not shown on existing maps. The distribution of the sinkholes as well as post-failure investigations of the lagoon indicate that catastrophic collapse is related to the presence of a thin, poorly indurated, jointed sandstone overlying a thick carbonate unit. The sandstone served to collect solutionally aggressive vadose water and to concentrate that water onto specific areas of the underlying carbonate. The resulting differential solution produced voids into which the overlying materials collapsed. The disabled facility has been diverting partially treated effluent into a nearby dry run since the lagoon collapsed. A dye trace documented that the effluent after sinking underground reemerges from three local springs and then flows into a river which is a regional trout fishery. However, a second dye trace from the sinkhole in the lagoon failed to establish a connection to any local well or spring.Item August 1982 Root River Dye Trace(Journal of Freshwater, 1982) Alexander Jr., E CalvinItem Bear Spring, Olmsted County, Minnesota; April 2018 Dye Trace and 2016-2018 Spring Monitoring Report(2019-01-29) Barry, John D; Larsen, Martin R; Tipping, Robert G; Alexander, Scott C; Alexander Jr, E CalvinItem Canton Area Dye Tracing- Canton Stormwater Estavelle and Highway Runoff Receptor Sinkholes, Fillmore County, MN(2020-06) Green, Jeffrey A.; Alexander, E. Calvin Jr.; Alexander, Scott C.; Barry, John D.Item Contamination of Water Supplies in Limestone Formation(American Water Works Association. Vol 35, p. 1450-1456, 1943-11) Kingston, S.P.Item Crystal Creek Dye Trace Report Fillmore County, Minnesota(2017-05) Kuehner, Kevin J; Green, Jeffrey A; Barry, John D; Rutelonis, J. Wes; Wheeler, Betty J; Kasahara, Sophie M; Luhmann, Andrew J; Alexander Jr., E. CalvinItem Crystal Creek Fillmore County, Minnesota 2018 Dye Trace and Spring Monitoring Report. Traces: March 14 2018, March 17 2018(2019-01-14) Barry, John D; Kuehner, Kevin J; Green, Jeffrey A; Fischer, Caleb; Mathison, Aaren; Ribikawskis, Matthew; Alexander Jr, E CalvinItem Daley Creek Dye Trace Report 2009 Houston County, Minnesota(2009-12) Green, Jeffrey A; Peters, Andrew J; Luhmann, Andrew J; Alexander Jr., E. CalvinA dye trace was conducted from a stream sink on Daley Creek in Houston County. Daley Creek is a state designated trout stream west of the City of Houston (Figure 1). This trace was run to begin to delineate springsheds in this area.Item Dye Tracing Sewage Lagoon Discharge in a Sandstone Karst, Askov, Minnesota(Proceedings of the 10th Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst. © 2005 American Society of Civil Engineers. Published online: April 26, 2012, 2005-09-28) Alexander Jr., E. Calvin; Alexander, Scott C; Piegat, James J; Barr, Kelton D; Nordberg, BradAn investigation of the sandstone karst at Askov, Pine County, Minnesota was conducted utilizing fluorescent dye tracing techniques. Connections were documented between the effluent from WWTF lagoons discharged into a sinking stream and local residential water supply wells southwest of the stream sink, over kilometer-scale distances. The apparent velocity of dye from the steam sink to the residential well was 57 m/day, much faster than would be expected for porous-media flow in a sandstone but slower than expected for well-developed conduit karst in carbonate rock. The traces also document stage-dependent, divergent flow to the northeast and west from recharge to a sinkhole adjacent to the lagoons. A well-developed conduit system extends a few hundred meters under the northern portion of the lagoons with flow velocities greater than 128 m/day to the northeast. A slower flow system extends for at least a kilometer to the west and northwest with a range of apparent flow velocities that average about 9 m/day. The slower flow system reached a broad “fan” of residential wells to the west but was not detected in other wells in the same direction.Item Dye Tracing to Camp Coldwater Spring, Minneapolis, MN(Minnesota Ground Water Association Newsletter Volume 20 Number 4: December 2001 Page 4 - 6. Additional results from Sophie Kasahara's Senior Thesis "A Hydrological Study of Coldwater Spring, Minneapolis, MN." - UM Geoengineering Department, 2016., 2017-06) Alexander Jr., E. Calvin; Alexander, Scott C; Barr, Kelton D; Kasahara, Sophie M; Wheeler, Betty JCamp Coldwater Spring is a ~6.3 liter/sec spring that emerges from a Platteville Limestone ledge at the top of the west side of the Mississippi River gorge. It was the original water supply for Ft. Snelling in the early-mid 1800’s and is a registered Minnesota State Landmark. Potential impacts from nearby highway construction led to two successful dye traces to help define the groundwater basin feeding the spring. These traces are the first traces through the Platteville in the Twin Cities. Dye input trenches were dug with a backhoe to the top of the water table. Input B reached the top of the Platteville and the water table was a few inches above the bedrock surface. Eosin dye input into the trench reached Camp Coldwater Spring, 125 meters away in less than 1.5 hours. The minimum flow velocity in the fractured Platteville Limestone was 83 m/hr. Input C reached the water table while still in glaciofluvial sediments and was 305 meters from the spring. Fluorescein dye from Input C reached the spring in 16 days. The slower flow velocity is a combination of flow through the glaciofluvial sediments and through the fractured Platteville Limestone. These two positive traces demonstrate that Inputs B and C are inside the ground-watershed that supplies the Spring and support concerns about the potential impact of dewatering and construction activities on the Spring. The trace is ongoing.Item Dye Tracing to Understand Karst Groundwater Flow Systems In Southeastern Minnesota(2009) Greene, Julie; Alexander Jr., E. CalvinItem Dye Tracing Within the St. Lawrence Confining Unit in Southeastern Minnesota(Proceedings of the 11th Multidisciplinary Conference on Sinkholes and the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of Karst. © 2008 American Society of Civil Engineers. Published online: June 20, 2012, 2008-09-26) Green, Jeffrey A; Luhmann, Andrew J; Peters, Andrew J; Runkel, Anthony C; Alexander Jr., E. Calvin; Alexander, Scott CSoutheastern Minnesota’s karst lands support numerous trout streams. These trout streams are formed by springs discharging from Paleozoic bedrock. Dye tracing has been the tool of choice for mapping the springsheds (karst groundwater basins) that feed these springs. Previous work was focused on the Galena limestone karst. In order to accelerate springshed mapping, a two-year study was funded by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative- Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR). Across southeastern Minnesota, numerous springs discharge from the Cambrian St. Lawrence formation. The St. Lawrence is considered to be a confining unit under the Minnesota well code. A dye trace was initiated when a stream sink was discovered in the upper St. Lawrence Formation. The sampling points included springs, stream crossings, and a municipal well that may be at risk for surface contamination. Dye was recovered at one spring in less than two weeks and at two other springs in less than three weeks. This translates into travel times of 200- 300 meters/day. The springs all discharge from the lower St. Lawrence Formation. The St. Lawrence contains beds of dolostone; the dye trace demonstrates that there is a karst conduit flow component in this formation. This is evidence that these springs are significantly more susceptible to degradation than previously thought.Item Educational Series 4. Guide to the Caves of Minnesota(Minnesota Geological Survey, 1967) Hogberg, R.K.; Bayer, T.N.CAVES have fascinated man since he first used them for shelter some hundreds of thousands of years ago. They have been the subject of many legends and stories that were carried down by word of mouth from generation to generation. The ogres and other cave monsters of European folklore are well known, as are the stories of caves having bottomless pits, disappearing streams, clouds of bats, and unusual rock formations that puzzled yet intrigued the early settlers of the United States. Caves have been described in song and story. "Fingalls Cave Overture" by Felix Mendelssohn portrays the waves washing into a famous cave on one of Scotland's Hebrides Islands. Mark Twain in his popular "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" gave a vivid account of McDougal's cave in which Becky Thatcher and Tom were lost for three days. In the history of our country, caves provided shelter for the aborigines, dens for Spanish treasure in the early exploration period, temporary family shelters in the colonial period, sources of chemicals for fertilizer and explosives in the Revolutionary War, hiding places for escaped slaves in the Civil War, places to hide loot from stage coach holdups in the western frontier, and shelters for people and storage for valuable documents in the nuclear age. Many of the caves in the United States are well known because of their historical and legendary background. However, few people are aware that some of the Nation's most interesting caves are found in Minnesota. Names such as Devil's Den, Indian Treasure, and Horse Thief reflect the romance of these caves. Other fascinating names of Minnesota caves are listed in the Appendix. The majority of Minnesota' s caves occur in the southeastern part of the State --mostly in Fillmore and Olmsted counties (see back outside cover). This area is reached from the north and south by U. S. Highways 52 and 63, and from the east and west via U. S. Highways 14 and 16. Caves also occur in Blue Earth, Dodge, Houston, LeSueur, Mower, Nicollet, Wabasha, and Winona counties and in the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area. The Minnesota caves, as we find them today, are the result of some hundreds of millions of years of preparation by interacting earth processes. It is the purpose of this booklet to attempt to describe their natural history in the hope that the account will give the reader a richer and fuller understanding of these subterranean wonders.Item Fountain Spring Cave Dye Trace Fillmore County, MN 2016 Dye Trace Report(2018-10) Larsen, Martin R; Barry, John D; Kasahara, Sophie M; Wheeler, Betty J; Alexander Jr., E CalvinItem From spring to stream: water quality analysis in Trout Brook, Dakota County, MN(2018-04) Pencak, Edward S; Alexander, Scott C; Alexander, E Calvin