Title
OFR14-04, Hydrogeologic Properties of the St. Lawrence Aquitard, Southeastern Minnesota
Publisher
Minnesota Geological Survey
Abstract
To better understand the properties of bedrock aquitards, we initiated a project that utilizes widely ranging methods to gain insights into the properties of the St Lawrence Formation and adjacent strata of the upper Tunnel City Group (Mazomanie and Lone Rock Formations) and lower Jordan Sandstone. The St Lawrence Formation has been traditionally regarded as an aquitard in the Paleozoic bedrock hydrogeologic system.Our investigation addresses hydraulic properties at site-specific as well as sub-regional (square miles) scales. Specific activities included drilling, testing and instrumentation of a borehole in the eastern Twin Cities Metro area (TCMA), the Afton multilevel system (MLS) hole, that has provided us with detailed multi-level measurements of hydraulic characteristics above, below and within the St. Lawrence Formation. We also analyzed the distribution of fractures in bedrock outcrops, in an effort to understand the controls these fractures might have on borehole hydraulic conditions. Borehole and outcrop scale data are augmented with ground-water tracer experiments that provide horizontal and vertical travel times at the sub-regional scale. Compilation of existing published and unpublished hydraulic and water chemistry data provide additional insights into the properties of the St Lawrence Formation and adjacent units across a wider extent of southeastern Minnesota.
Description
Results are synthesized into a conceptual model of flow through the lower Jordan Sandstone, St Lawrence Formation, and upper Tunnel City Group in variable geologic conditions. This provides a better understanding of the “aquitard integrity”
of these and other bedrock units inferred to protect deeper groundwater in southeastern
Minnesota.
Funding information
Funded through the Environment and Natural Resource Trust Fund as recommended by the
Legislative and Citizen’s Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
Suggested Citation
Runkel, Anthony C.; Tipping, Robert R.; Green, J.A.; Jones, Perry M.; Meyer, Jessica R.; Parker, Beth L.; Steenberg, Julia R.; Retzler, Andrew J..
(2014).
OFR14-04, Hydrogeologic Properties of the St. Lawrence Aquitard, Southeastern Minnesota.
Minnesota Geological Survey.
Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy,
https://hdl.handle.net/11299/165299.