Interpretation of domestic water well production data as a tool for detection of transmissive bedrock fractured zones under cover of the glacial formations in geauga county, ohio

Tracing fractures under glacial drift commonly involves costly and often unfeasible (in populated areas) geophysical methods or outcrop surveys, often far from the area of interest. A hypothesis is tested, that the specific capacity data for wells penetrating through glacial drift into a bedrock aquifer display two statistical populations: assuming uniform well construction, the wells with high specific capacity penetrate transmissive fracture zones, while those with low specific capacity encounter non-fractured rock characterized by primary porosity. The hypothesis was tested on 617 wells drilled into the Pennsylvanian Sharon Sandstone, Geauga County, Ohio (USA). Hydraulic conductivity, calculated using the Cooper and Jacob (1946) approximation to Theis’ non-equilibrium radial flow equation, followed quasi-log-normal distribution (geometric mean 9.88 × 10−6 m/s). The lower values presumably correspond to primary porosity, and higher values correspond to bedrock fracture zones. The higher hydraulic conductivity followed two distinct orientations (N34°E, N44°W), corresponding with the regional fracture pattern of the Allegheny Plateau. A variogram showed that the wells within a kilometer of each other correlate and that wells penetrating the thicker glacial blanket have lower hydraulic conductivity and larger drawdown. Cooper and Jacob (1946) A generalized graphical method for evaluating formation constants and summarizing well-field history, Am. Geoph. Union Trans. 27/4:526–534.

Detecting transmissive bedrock fracture zones under cover of glacial formations using residential water-well production data

In any aquifer the porosity can be either primary or secondary or a combination of the two, referred to as dual porosity. Primary porosity is the diffused, inter-granular porosity inherent to the rock, generated at the time of lithogenesis. Secondary porosity is the porosity created by post-genetic processes, e.g. fracturing or dissolution of the rock. Rates of groundwater production from bedrock sandstone units are commonly directly related to the presence and extent of secondary porosity. Bedrock fracturing can be product of tectonic stress or, in recently glaciated areas, unloading from the retreat of glaciers. The goals of our study were to test the hypothesis that the values of hydraulic conductivity, computed from the data stored in water well archives for single-home water wells penetrating bedrock sandstone formations may delineate mappable areas of high hydraulic conductivity, thus showing the distribution of fracture zones. We analyzed ninety-one well logs of private single-home water wells drilled through the glacial sediments into the sandstone bedrock formations in Geauga and Portage Counties of Northeastern Ohio. Aquifer thickness in each water well was determined from the lithological profiles, while the specific capacity data from production tests were used to estimate the values of the coefficient of transmissivity for each well. Combination of the two parameters yielded mappable values of hydraulic conductivity. The resulting values of hydraulic conductivity were characterized by a distinctly binary distribution, with low values apparently corresponding to massive un-fractured zones and high values corresponding to fractured zones with dual porosity. Once contoured on a map, these zones appeared clearly, with a transition between the areas of high and low hydraulic conductivity, i.e. high and low potential for groundwater production, respectively.

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Ann Winegar

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A procedure for delineation of bedrock fracture zones under glacial drift formations in ohio