Geology topics
Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Kentucky.
This map is one of a series of seismicity maps produced by the U.S. Geological Survey that show earthquake data of individual states or groups of states at the scale of 1:1,000,000. This map shows only those earthquakes with epicenters located within the boundaries of Kentucky, even though earthquakes in nearby states or countries may have been felt or may have caused damage in Kentucky.
In April 1986, the U.S. Geological Survey began the National Water Quality Assessment Program, which at present (1987) is in a pilot phase in which assessment concepts and approaches are being tested and modified to prepare for full implementation of the program in the future. Seven pilot projects (four surface water projects and three groundwater projects) have been started. The preliminary plans for the surface water quality assessment of the Kentucky River basin pilot project are described. The Kentucky River basin drains an area of approximately 7,000 sq mi in east central Kentucky and is underlain by rocks that range in composition from limestone to sandstone and shale. Because greater than 95% of the basin population relies on surface water, surface water quality is of great concern. Land use practices that affect the surface water quality in the basin include agriculture, forestry, oil and gas production, coal mining, and urbanization. Water quality concerns resulting from the various land uses include the effects of: oil and gas field brine discharges; agricultural chemicals; sedimentation caused by coal mining; and trace element impacts from industrial and urban environments. Assessment activity is designed to occur over a 9-year period of time. During the first 3-year period of the cycle, concentrated data acquisition and interpretation will occur. For the next 6 years, sample collection will occur at a much lower level of intensity to document the occurrence of any gross changes in water quality. This 9-year cycle will then be repeated. Historical data will be evaluated to provide, to the extent possible, a description of existing and past trends in water quality conditions and to develop conceptual models that relate the observed conditions to the sources and causes, both natural and human-controlled. New data will be collected to verify the water quality conditions documented by historic data, to track long-term trends in water quality, to intensify temporal and spatial sampling densities, and to improve the understanding of the relations between water quality conditions and causative factors. (Lantz-PTT)
No abstract available.
The Beaver Creek Wilderness occupies an area of 4,791 acres within the cliffline bordering the Beaver Creek drainage in McCreary County, southeastern Kentucky. It is in the Daniel Boone National Forest and includes part of the Beaver Creek Cooperative Wildlife Management Area, which is managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. The area is located about 11 mi southeast of Burnside, Ky., and is accessible from the north and south via U.S. Route 27 and Forest Service Road 50, located at its northwest border (index map). From the east, the area can be reached via State Route 90 and Forest Service Road 46, located at the eastern edge of the area. Access by foot into the interior is provided by an abandoned Forest Service road and by several primitive trails that extend along the major streams. The Beaver Creek Wilderness is located at the western edge of the Appalachian coal region and is within the highly dissected Cumberland Plateau section of the Appalachian Plateaus physiographic province. It is drained by Beaver Creek and its tributaries, which flow northeastward into Lake Cumberland, a .reservoir on the Cumberland River about 1 mi north of the wilderness. Altitudes range from about 730 ft on the lower part of Beaver Creek to about 1,200 ft at its headwaters.
No abstract available.
The effects of a flood-control reservoir on downstream macroinvertebrates were assessed by comparing the tailwater community with that of a natural stream. Samples were collected 1.6 and 21.1 km below Barren River Lake dam in 1979, 1980, and 1981 and in a reservoir tributary in 1980 and 1981. An indication of environmental stress in the macroinvertebrate community was observed at both tailwater stations, whereas macroinvertebrates in the natural tributary stream had the characteristics commonly associated with a ‘healthy’ community. Densities of macroinvertebrates in tailwaters were highest during periods of low-stable flows and lowest during fluctuating and high-stable flows. Changes in temperature cycles and water quality were also considered factors in reducing macroinvertebrate abundance in the tailwater. Dominant macroinvertebrate taxa in tailwaters were primarily small organisms with a high tolerance for dynamic living conditions. Of these, aquatic Diptera, Oligochaeta, Caenis, Cheumatopsyche , and Planariidae were most common. The effects of reservoir discharge were most evident near the dam, where macroinvertebrate densities were relatively high and taxonomic diversity was low. Downstream, the impact of the reservoir was moderated, but recovery was judged incomplete.
Ordovician formations above the Lexington Limestone crop out in the Blue Grass region of Kentucky and along the Cumberland River and its tributaries. The formations are all conformable and in places intertongue and intergrade. The major Ordovician units above the Lexington Limestone in the Blue Grass region are: The Clays Ferry Formation, the Kope Formation, the Garrard Siltstone, the Fairview Formation, the Calloway Creek Limestone, the Grant Lake Limestone, the Ashlock Formation, the Bull Fork Formation, and the Drakes Formation. The Clays Ferry Formation is made up of subequal amounts of fossiliferous limestone and shale and minor siltstone; the Clays Ferry is as much as 300 ft thick and intertongues with the Lexington Limestone and the Kope Formation. The Kope Formation resembles the partly equivalent Clays Ferry but has a higher shale content (60-80 percent) and thicker layers of shale; the Kope, as much as 275 ft thick, is mostly restricted to the northern part of the State. The Garrard Siltstone, which consists of very calcitic siltstone and minor shale, overlies the Clays Ferry Formation in the southeastern part of the Blue Grass region; the Garrard, as much as 100 ft thick, feathers out into the upper part of the Clays Ferry in southern central and northern east-central Kentucky. The Fairview Formation is characterized by even-bedded limestone interlayered with nearly equal amounts of shale and minor siltstone. The Fairview crops out in the northern part of the Blue Grass region, where it generally overlies the Kope Formation or the Garrard Siltstone; it grades southward into the Calloway Creek Limestone. The Calloway Creek contains more limestone (generally at least 70 percent) and is more irregularly and thinner bedded than the Fairview. The Grant Lake Limestone is composed of nodular-bedded limestone (70-90 percent), interlayered and intermixed with shale; it overlies the Fairview Formation in the northern part of the Blue Grass region and the Calloway Creek Limestone in the western and central parts. In east-central Kentucky, the Grant Lake is classified as a member of the Ashlock Formation, an assemblage of lithologically distinct units that were combined to facilitate mapping in the southeastern and southern part of the region. The Ashlock consists of the following members, in ascending order: The Tate (calcitic and dolomitic mudstone), the Grant Lake, the Gilbert (micrograined limestone and shale), the Stingy Creek (nodular-bedded mudstone and limestone), the Terrill (dolomitic and calcitic mudstone), the Sunset (micrograined limestone), and the Reba (nodular-bedded limestone and shale). The Bull Fork Formation, which overlies the Grant Lake Limestone, is made up of subequal amounts of thin-bedded highly fossiliferous limestone and shale; limestone makes up about 80 percent of the basal part of the formation and decreases in abundance irregularly upward to only 20 percent of the top part. On the east side of the Blue Grass region, the Bull Fork grades into the Reba Member of the Ashlock Formation; on the west side, it grades into the Grant Lake. The uppermost formation in the region is the Drakes Formation, which in east-central Kentucky consists of the Rowland Member (calcitic to dolomitic mudstone) overlain by the Preachersville Member (dolomitic to calcitic mudstone and dolomite and dolomitic siltstone). In northeast Kentucky, the Drakes is represented by only the Preachersville Member. In most of central and north-central Kentucky, the formation consists of three members: the Rowland at the base (dolomitic mudstone to muddy limestone), the Bardstown (fossiliferous limestone and shale), and the Saluda Dolomite (dolomite, in part calcitic and muddy). In northern north-central Kentucky, the Drakes is represented by only the Saluda Dolomite Member.
The principal aquifer in a 52 square mile karst area in north central Kentucky is the St. Louis Limestone of Mississippian age. Unconsolidated residuum and surficial deposits of slumped material may store water and recharge the underlying limestone aquifer. Precipitation averages 49 inches annually; 6 inches recharges ground-water reservoirs. The shallow ground-water velocity ranged from 0.30 to 1.40 feet per second. Flow net analysis indicates that about 2 million gallons of water per day flows through a 1.8 mile wide section of the aquifer. A water-level contour map indicates that the hydraulic gradient averages 40 feet per mile and that the water levels near the city supply wells have not lowered in 10 years. The effects of three faults on the ground-water flow system is shown as ponding on the upthrown side of the faults. Caliper logs suggest that shallow ground-water flow occurs in sheet-like openings within 100 feet of land surface. The openings range in height from 1 inch or less to 6 feet. A test well penetrated 5 zones of horizontal openings. The specific capacity ranged from 11.5 to 12.1 gallons per minute per foot of drawdown after 12 and 72 hours of pumping at 280 to 510 gallons per minute. Water in 28 wells and springs meets most drinking water standards and generally is a very hard calcium bicarbonate type. Heavily pumped industrial and public-supply wells tend to yield water with high values of specific conductance and sulfate. Coliform bacteria varied widely in rural wells and the city springs. Seven wells had no coliform bacteria. (USGS)
Oil shales in Kentucky are rocks of predominantly Devonian age. The most prominant are the Ohio, Chattanooga, and New Albany Shales. A leaching study was done on six fresh oil shale samples and one retorted oil shale sample. Leaching reagents were distilled water, 0.0005 N sulfuric acid, and 0.05 N sulfuric acid. The concentration of constituents in the leachates were highly variable. The concentration of sodium, manganese, and zinc in the retorted shale leachate was several orders of magnitude higher than those of the leachates of fresh shale samples. The major oil shale outcrop covers approximately 1,000 square miles in a horseshoe pattern from Vanceburg, Lewis County , in the east, to Louisville, Jefferson County, in the west. The Kentucky, Red, and Licking Rivers cross the outcrop belt, the Rolling Fork River flows along the strike of the shale in the southwest part of the outcrop, and the Ohio River flows past the outcrop at the ends of the horseshoe. Oil shale does not appear to significantly alter the water quality of these streams. Oil shale is not an aquifer, but seeps and springs found in the shale indicate that water moves through it. Ground water quality is highly variable. (USGS)
Fish abundance and population stability were compared in the tailwater and in an unregulated tributary of Barren River Lake, a flood control reservoir in south central Kentucky. Fish abundance was greater in the tailwater near the dam and was dominated by three species common in the reservoir: gizzard shad ( Dorosoma cepedianum ), bluegills ( Lepomis macrochirus ), and white crappies ( Pomoxis annularis ). Three riverine suckers were less abundant in the tailwater than in the unregulated stream: northern hog suckers ( Hypentelium nigricans ), black redhorse ( Moxostoma duquesnei ), and golden redhorse ( Moxostoma erythrurum ). The fish populations in the tailwater, particularly common carp ( Cyprinus carpio ), northern hog suckers, black redhorse, and golden redhorse, were less stable than those in the unregulated stream. Population stability is defined as the extent to which fish remain in a stream section. This study suggests that the occurrence of reservoir species in the tailwater was the result of fish passage from the reservoir during high discharges in fall and winter. Reservoir operations (altered flow, low summer water temperature, and poor summer water quality) probably were responsible for the unstable populations of common carp and riverine suckers in the tailwater.
No abstract available.
Burial trenches at the Maxey Flats radioactive waste burial site cover an area of about 20 acres, and are located on a plateau, about 300 to 400 feet above surrounding valleys. All waste is buried in the Nancy Member of the Borden Formation, and most is in the weathered shale (regolith) part of this member. Recharge to the rocks is probably by infiltration of rainfall through regolith at the top of the hill. At least two water tables are present: near the base of the regolith, at a depth of about 25 feet and; in the Ohio Shale, at a depth of about 300 feet. About 95 percent of ground-water discharge to streams is from colluvium on hillsides and valley alluvium. The remaining 5 percent is discharge from bedrock, of which about 0.5 percent is from rocks underlying the burial area. Waste radionuclides in the subsurface, other than tritium, were observed only in the regolith of the Nancy Member. Only tritium was observed with certainty in deeper rocks and in the adjacent valley alluvium. Other waste radionuclides were in streamwater and stream sediment, and may have been transported with overland runoff from the surface of the burial site. (USGS)
No abstract available.
A study of the effects on water quality of coal mining in the basin of the North Fork Kentucky River shows increases in the mean annual total dissolved solids concentrations from about 8 to 50 milligrams per liter. It shows that the Hazard Number 9 coal seam produces the largest quantities of acid and sulfate. The study also shows that most of the acid mine drainage is neutralized by carbonate minerals or is replaced by exchangeable bases from the aquifer materials before it reaches the streams. The generation of sediment is probably the most damaging effect of strip mining on water quality in the basin. (USGS)
The report reviews and summarizes 10,578 chemical analyses, from 2,362 wells and springs in Kentucky. These water-quality data were collected prior to September 30, 1981, and are available in computer files of the U.S. Geological Survey. The principal water-bearing rocks in Kentucky were combined into 10 major groups to aid in data summary preparation and general description of the ground-water quality of the State. Ground water in Kentucky is generally fresh near the outcrop of the rocks comprising the aquifer. Slightly saline to briny water occurs at variable depths beneath the freshwater. Preparation of quadrilinear diagrams revealed three principal geochemical processes in the aquifers of Kentucky: (1) mixing of freshwater and saline water in an interface zone; (2) dedolomitization of the Devonian and Silurian and Lower Mississippian carbonate rocks; (3) sodium for calcium exchange in the freshwater sections of many of the sandstone-shale aquifers. A number of errors and deficiencies were found in the data base. The principal deficiencies were: (1) very few complete analyses which included important field measurements; (2) inadequate definition of the chemistry of the freshwater-saline water interface zone throughout much of the State; (3) no analyses of stable isotopes and dissolved gases; (4) fewer than 10 analyses of most trace metals, radionuclides, and man-made organic chemicals; and (5) no data on bacteria in ground water from any aquifer in the State. (USGS)