Hydrogeological restrictions to saline ground-water discharge in the Red River of the North drainage basin, North Dakota

Conference · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:5638995

Strobel, M L ^[1]

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1. Geological Survey, Grand Forks, ND (United States) Univ. of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States)

Discharge of saline water from bedrock aquifers along the eastern margin of the Williston basin is restricted by surficial glacial till and lacustrine deposits in the Red River of the North drainage basin. Water from these aquifers reaches the surface by (1) diffusion; (2) slow, upward seepage along zones of relatively larger hydraulic conductivity in the till and lacustrine deposits; or (3) flow from artesian wells. Ground-water quality varies near the surface because of mixing of water being discharged from bedrock aquifers with shallower ground water in the surficial deposits. Ground-water quality, hydraulic-gradient, and hydraulic-conductivity data obtained from pumped-well and slug tests indicate that flow in the surficial deposits is eastward, but at slow rates because of small hydraulic conductivities. Base-flow and specific-conductance measurements of water in tributaries to the Red River of the North indicate that focused points of ground-water discharge result in substantial increases in salinity in surface water in the northern part of the basin in North Dakota. Core analyses and drillers' logs were used to generalize hydrogeologic characteristics of the deposits in the basin, and a two-dimensional ground-water-flow model was used to simulate the basin's geohydrologic processes. Model results indicate that the ground-water flow paths in the bedrock aquifers and surficial deposits converge, and that water from the bedrock aquifers contributes to the overall increase in ground-water discharge toward the east. Model results are supported by water-quality data collected along an east-west hydrogeologic section.

• OSTI ID: 5638995
• Report Number(s): CONF-921058-; CODEN: GAAPBC
• Journal Information: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 24:7; Conference: 1992 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Cincinnati, OH (United States), 26-29 Oct 1992; ISSN 0016-7592
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
GROUND WATER
FLOW MODELS
NORTH DAKOTA
WILLISTON BASIN
HYDROLOGY
AQUIFERS
DRAINAGE
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY
RIVERS
SALINITY
WATER QUALITY
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
USA
WATER
580000* - Geosciences
540250 - Environment
Terrestrial- Site Resource & Use Studies- (1990-)