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D. G. Adolphson

Publications and source records attributed to D. G. Adolphson.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1983

Hydrogeologic and water-quality characteristics of the Mount Simon-Hinckley aquifer, southeast Minnesota

The Mount Simon-Hinckley aquifer in southeast Minnesota consists of a thick sequence of sandstone that generally yields large quantities of good-quality water to wells. The aquifer is most important as a source of water supply in the Twin Cities area, where it supplies approximately 10 percent of the ground water used. It is the uppermost bedrock aquifer and, locally, the principal source of domestic supply where it is present north of the Twin Cities. Yield to wells are generally about 500 gallons per minute but may be as high as 2,000 gallons per minute. The aquifer is a good potential source of water because of (1) large quantities of water in storage, (2) adequate yields to wells, and (3) good water quality. The quality of water in the aquifer is generally acceptable for municipal, industrial, and domestic uses. The dissolved-solids concentration in water from the aquifer ranges from a minimum of 48 milligrams per liter to a maximum of 2,810 milligrams per liter. The lowest values are in the eastern and northern parts of the aquifer, where bedrock is at or close to land surface. The highest concentrations are in the southwestern part of the aquifer, where leakage from over lying Cretaceous rocks is highly mineralized water. Magnesium and sulfate concentrations are also high in the southwest. The dissolved-solids concentration generally increases with depth in the aquifer. The predominant water type in the aquifer is calcium magnesium bicarbonate, although sodium chloride waters are present at depth and in the discharge areas along large rivers. This report is one of a series of the hydrogeology and water quality of the 14 principal aquifers in Minnesota prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requested these studies because of the need for information to develop its Underground Injection Control Program.

Minnesota↗
USGS1983

Hydrogeologic and water-quality characteristics of the Prairie du Chien-Jordan aquifer, Southeast Minnesota

Quality of water in the Prairie du Chien-Jordan aquifer is generally good, except for some localized contamination, Coal-tar derivatives that contaminate the aquifer in St. Louis Park, a western suburb in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, pose the most serious threat to water quality. High hardness and iron concentration limit suitability for municipal and industrial use in parts of extreme southeast Minnesota. Confining beds of bedrock and drift, however, protect most of the aquifer from surface pollutants. The Prairie du Chien-Jordan aquifer is part of a sequence of sedimentary bedrock units in southeast Minnesota. The Jordan Sandstone is a white to yellow, fine- to coarse-grained sandstone. The Prairie du Chien Group comprises two dolomitic formations that are vuggy and fractured and interbedded with thin layers of shale. The aquifer formations were deposited in Paleozoic seas that occupied the Hollandale embayment. The aquifer dips toward the interior of the embayment where it is as deep as 750 feet below land surface and as thick as 500 feet. Permeability is secondary in the Prairie du Chien Group because of solution cavities and fractures, and intergranular in the Jordan Sandstone. Water in the aquifer is confined except in the eastern part. Water generally flows to the north and east into the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. A ground-water divide separates part of the flow southward into Iowa. This aquifer supplies more water than any other bedrock one in the State. Calcium magnesium bicarbonate type water is most common in the aquifer. Calcium and sulfate and, to a lesser degree sodium and magnesium, increase in concentration toward the southwestern part of the study area. Bicarbonate concentration, on the other hand, decreases toward the southwestern corner of the study area. Leakage from overlying Cretaceous deposits is the source of much of the sulfate and other minerals in the southwest. This report is one of a series on the hydrogeology and water quality of the 14 principal aquifers in Minnesota prepared by the U. S. Geological Survey. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency requested these studies because of the need for information to develop its Underground Injection Control Program.

Minnesota↗
USGS1982

Hydrogeologic and water-quality characteristics of the Ironton-Galesville aquifer, southeast Minnesota

Quality of water in the Ironton-Galesville aquifer is generally acceptable for all kinds of uses. Calcium magnesium bicarbonate type water is most common. The dissolved-solids concentration ranges from about 200 to 1,000 milligrams per liter. The lowest values are in the northern part of the aquifer, where the bedrock is at or close to land surface, and the lowest ones are in the southwestern part, where leakage into the aquifer from overlying Cretaceous deposits is highly mineralized water. The concentrations of the major ions, except for bicarbonate and chloride, also increase toward the southwest. Confining beds protect the aquifer from surface pollutants, but high sulfate and iron concentrations and hardness degrade water quality locally in some places. The aquifer was deposited from Paleozoic seas that occupied a shallow depression known as the Hollandale embayment. The surface of the Ironton-Galesville aquifer dips toward the interior of the embayment. The aquifer is as deep as 1,000 feet below land surface and as thick as 325 feet. The Ironton and Galesville Sandstones are both white and medium grained. The aquifer is used mainly in the northern and western parts of the study area, where it is the uppermost bedrock aquifer, This report is one of a series on the hydrogeology and water quality of the 14 principal aquifers in Minnesota prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requested these studies because of the need for information to develop its Underground Injection Control Program.

Minnesota↗
USGS1981

Designation of principal water-supply aquifers in Minnesota

Fourteen aquifers, ranging from Quaternary to Precambrian in age, have been identified as the principal sources of water to wells in Minnesota. Half the municipal population anc nearly all the rural population depend on water from these aquifers. Buried and surficial sand and gravel aquifers of Quaternary age occur in nearly all areas of the State and are composed of outwash, beach-ridge, valley-train, and ice-contact deposits. Cretaceous aquifers, absent in the northeast, are nearly continuous in the western half, and are thin or discontinuous in the central and southeast areas. Sandstone and carbonate rocks of Paleozoic and late Precambrian age in southeastern and northwestern Minnesota comprise the Cedar Valley-Maquoketa-Dubuque-Galena, Red River-Winnipeg, St. Peter, Prairie du Chien-Jordan, Franconia-Ironton-Galesville, and Mount Simon-Hinckley-Fond du Lac aquifers. Aquifers of early Precambrian age occur in all but southeastern Minnesota and include the North Shore Volcanic Group, Sioux Quartzite, Proterozoic metasedimentary rocks, Biwabik Iron-formatIon, and undifferentiated Precambrian rocks. The State's ground water generally contains less than 1,000 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids, except in the extreme southwest, northeast, and western areas. Mineralized water is present at depth throughout the State. Freshwater extends to depths of about 1,000 feet in the center of the Hollandale embayment and in the Twin Cities basin. Six principal water-quality types are present in the .aquifers. Calcium magnesium bicarbonate type water, the most common, is generally present throughout the upper part of the ground-water system.

Minnesota↗
USGS1975

Test drilling at Soldier Creek, Rosebud Indian Reservation, Todd County, South Dakota

Thirty-six test holes were augered by the U.S. Geological Survey in the vicinity of Sol,,r Creek, Rosebud Indian Reservation, Todd County, South Dakota. Wells prcducing more than S gallons per minute (0.32 litre per second) from the Tertiary deposits are rare. However, as much as 20 feet (6.1 metres) of permeable alluvial deposits were penetrated in several test holes. One test ell was pumped for hours at a rate of 10 gallons per minute (0.63 litre per second).

South Dakota↗
USGS1973

Water resources and geology of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota

Ground water suitable for public supply can be obtained from fractured metamorphic and igneous rooks at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, S. Dak. The memorial comprises three main drainage basins: Starling basin, Lafferty Gulch basin, and East Boundary basin. Ground water is most prevalent in Lafferty Gulch basin but Starling basin contributes the most surface water. The total water supply was obtained from springs until 1967 when increasing numbers of visitors required development of additional sources. As a result of this investigation, wells 3 and 4 were drilled in Lafferty Gulch basin and East Boundary basin. Well 3 is 200 feet deep in mica schist and granite. It produced 7.3 million gallons of water in 1968 and 7.7 million gallons of water in 1969, the total supply for the memorial. Well 4 is 500 feet deep, also in mica schist and granite. It is not used at the present time (1970) but will be used in the future when more water is needed. Water from both wells is potable, but the quality of water from well 3 is superior to that from well 4. Mica schist is the most abundant rock in the memorial. The more prominent hills and mountains, however, are in large, northerly striking granite sills, some of which are several hundred feet thick. Pegmatite sills and dikes are also numerous. The western boundary of the memorial is at the east edge of the Harney Peak Granite batholith. The dip of schistosity and bedding in schist adjacent to the batholith is about 30 ? E. but increases across the memorial to about 65 ? E. in the northeast corner. At some locations in the memorial, granite or pegmatite sills act as ground-water dams preventing the movement of ground water down gradient. A pegmatite or granite sill is probably the cause of the accumulation of water in the vicinity of well 3. The well flows when it is not being pumped. The occurrence of ground water is dependent upon the presence of joints and fractures in the schist and granite bedrock. The rocks themselves are relatively impermeable and would yield little or no water in their unaltered state. Mica schist that has been intruded by granite and (or) pegmatite is more fractured and yields more ground water in the memorial than mica schist alone. This condition may be due to jointing and to the greater fracturability of the intruded rocks in the vicinity of granitic intrusions. Ground water is also available from alluvium in major valleys such as Starling basin and the valleys of Grizzly Bear Creek and Battle Creek. Evapotranspiration is the greatest use-item in the water budget. An approximation of evapotranspiration based upon an average annual precipitation of 19 inches is 1,600 acre-feet, or 80 percent of the annual precipitation. Several locations in the memorial have potential as future, sources of ground-water supplies. The most promising areas are near spring 6 in the southeast corner and alluvium in the valleys of Battle and Grizzly Bear Creeks. Developed and potential water resources in the memorial probably are sufficient to meet demands beyond the year 2000.

South Dakota↗
USGS1971

Hydrology of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota

An investigation of the geology and ground-water resources of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota, was made at the request of the Bureau of Indian Affairs as part of the U.S. Department of Interior's program for the development of the Missouri River basin. Originally, the Reservation included all of Mellette, Todd, and Tripp Counties; most of Gregory County, and a small part of Lyman County. (See index map.) However, of the 1,500 square miles of land now owned by individual Indians or by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, nearly 95 percent is located in Mellette and Todd Counties. Accordingly, the area of this investigation (about 2,700 square miles) was restricted to these two counties.

South Dakota↗
USGS1971

Hydrogeology of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota

An investigation of the geology and ground-water resources of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, was made at the request of the Bureau of Indian Affairs as part of the U.S. Department of the Interior's program for the development of the Missouri River basin. The area of investigation (about 3,930 square miles) includes all the land within the original boundaries of the Reservation, except for that part of Bennett County south of the U.S. Highway 18, where there are only small tracts of Indian land. Emphasis in the study was placed on mapping major rock units and on determining their potential as sources of water for domestic and stock use. The geologic map on sheet 1 shows the areal extent of the major rock units, and a summary of the stratigraphy and physical characteristics of the exposed geologic formations is given in the table on this sheet. The writers appreciate the cooperation of the personnel of the South Dakota State Geological Survey, who provided most of the well data for Bennett County, information about the stratigraphy and geology of selected areas, and copies of published and unpublished geologic maps. (See map showing areas mapped prior to this investigation.) Also, they appreciate the cooperation of ranch owners and tenants, who permitted access to their lands, and the personnel of the Bureau of Indian affairs, who supplied soils mps and other data. Data on which this report is based, including logs of wells and test holes, chemical analyses of water and records of wells and springs, have been summarized by the authors in a basic-data report published jointly by the South Dakota Geological Survey and South Dakota Water Resources Commission (Water Resources Report 4, Basic hydrogeologic data - Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota). A selected bibliography of reports pertaining to the geology of the area has been included in the basic-data report. This atlas will be more useful if studied in conjunction with a copy of the basic-data report.

South Dakota↗
USGS1963

Geology and ground water resources of Kidder County, North Dakota

Kidder County was covered with glacial ice at least three times during the Wisconsin Stage of the Pleistocene, but the entire sequence of drifts has not been observed in one exposure. The drift which covers the area was deposited during three ice advances termed the Long Lake, Burnstad and Streeter advances. The position of the drift border of the Long Lake advance is marked by the prominent Long Lake end moraine on the western border of the county.

North Dakota↗