Geohydrology of the Valley-Fill Aquifers between the Village of Greene, Chenango County and Chenango Valley State Park, Broome County, New York

Abstract

This set of maps and geohydrologic sections depicts the geology and hydrology of valley-fill aquifers in the 14-mile reach of the Chenango River valley between the Village of Greene and the Chenango Valley State Park, N.Y. It depicts the aquifers; locations of domestic, production, and test wells; surficial geology; water-table altitude; potentiometric-surface altitude; generalized saturated thickness of the unconfined (water-table) aquifer; generalized thickness of the confined aquifer; and includes three geohydrologic sections.The valley fill in the Chenango River valley consists primarily of (1) glaciofluvial deposits comprised of stratified coarse-grained sediment (sand and gravel) that were deposited by meltwater streams flowing on, below, and in front of a glacier; (2) lacustrine sediments consisting of stratified fine-grained sediment (very fine sand, silt, and clay) that were deposited in proglacial lakes that formed at the front of a glacier; and (3) recent alluvium consisting of alluvial fan deposits (sand, silt, and gravel), floodplain sediments (fine-to-medium sand and silt), and channel deposits (sand and gravel).The Chenango River valley contains an unconfined valley-fill aquifer throughout much of the study area, and a confined valley-fill aquifer in the area between the northern edge of the Chenango Valley State Park and the Village of Greene. The unconfined aquifer consists predominantly of alluvial and outwash sand and gravel. The water table was mapped using water-level measurements obtained from wells completed in the unconfined aquifer, and from altitudes of lakes, ponds, and streams as indicated on U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000-scale topographic maps. The depth to the water table typically ranges from 5 to 15 feet below land surface, but can locally be as much as 100 feet, such as in the ice-contact deposits in the Chenango Valley State Park.The confined aquifer is widely used by people living and working in the Chenango River valley. The confined aquifer consists of ice-contact sand and gravel, typically overlies bedrock, and underlies a confining unit consisting of lacustrine fine sand, silt, and clay. The confining unit is typically more than 100 feet thick in the central parts of the valley between Greene Landing Field and along the northern edge of the Chenango Valley State Park. The thickness of the confined aquifer is more than 40 feet near the Greene Landing Field.