An overview of how glacial depositional processes control characteristics of outwash aquifers
- Indiana Geological Survey, Bloomington, IN (United States)
Sedimentological processes, acting on a variety of scales, are among the more important factors that determine the hydraulic properties of outwash aquifers. On a regional scale, the heterogeneity imposed on aquifer systems by such processes affects the shape of an aquifer and its relationships to enclosing units, the location and hydraulic properties of discharge and recharge areas, and the occurrence of low-permeable material. At the scale of individual aquifers, sedimentary heterogeneity is commonly a major control on the rate and complexity of groundwater movement. Glacial facies models can provide important insights into the characteristics of aquifers, aquifer systems and confining units. Outwash is produced and transported differently along active glacial margins and on active ice sheets, within stagnant ice sheets, and down glacial sluiceways, and these differences are reflected in regional-scale variations of the characteristics of aquifers and aquifer system. An understanding of such models are especially important to regional planners who must have knowledge of aquifer sensitivity when determining land-use policy. An understanding of how sedimentological processes act within glacial regimes can help determine local variations in aquifer characteristics on intermediate or small scales. Variations in grain size within outwash aquifers are the result of lateral and/or temporal changes in the intensity of the hydraulic regime imposed by proximity to melting ice and variations in meltwater flow. Examples will be provided that show how these processes operated during the evolution of glacial outwash sequences in various terrains in Indiana.
- OSTI ID:
- 6974717
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9404217-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 26:5; Conference: 27. annual conference of the North-Central Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Kalamazoo, MI (United States), 28-29 Apr 1994; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AQUIFERS
GEOLOGIC MODELS
STRATIGRAPHY
INDIANA
MORAINES
DEPOSITION
HYDROLOGY
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGY
NORTH AMERICA
USA
580000* - Geosciences
540250 - Environment
Terrestrial- Site Resource & Use Studies- (1990-)