Geology and ground-water resources of Fond De Lac County, Wisconsin

Abstract

Introduction ______________________________________________________ 2 Purpose and scope of investigation.______________________________ 2 Description of the area_____________________________________ 2 Location and population.___________________________________ 2 Economic development_____________________________________ 3 Topography and drainage.._________________________________ 3 Climate __________________________________________________ 4 Previous investigations. _ ________________________________ 4 Numbering system. ____________________________________________ 4 Acknowledgments _____________________________________________ Geologic formations and their water-bearing properties,________________ 6 Precambrian rocks_____________________________________________ Cambrian system. _____________________________________________ 12 Dresbach group ___________________________________________ 13 Eau Claire sandstone.__________________________________ Galesville sandstone__________ __________________________ Franconia sandstone _______________________________________ 14 Trempealeau formation..-_________________________________ Ordovician system.____________________________________________ Prairie du Chien group,____________________________________ St. Peter sandstone ________________________________________ Platteville formation and Galena dolomite.___________________ Maquoketa shale __________________________________________ Neda formation ___________________________________________ Silurian system._______________________________________________ Niagara dolomite__________________________________________ Quaternary system. ____________________________________________ Ground water.____________________________________________________ Source and occurrence. _________________________________________ Artesian conditions ________________________________________ 21 Water-table conditions _____________________________________ Recharge of ground water ______________________________________ Discharge of ground water_________________________________ Movement of ground water_____________________________________ Water levels and their significance-______________________________ Aquifer tests. _ ________________________________________________ Sandstones of Cambrian and Ordovician ages at Fond du Lac___ Analysis of data_______________________________________ Application of coefficients to past records-________________ Application of coefficients to future conditions.____________ Niagara dolomite._ ________________________________________ Specific capacity of wells_______________________________________ 41 Utilization of water____________________________________________ Domestic and stock supplies

An evaluation of the bedrock aquifer system in northeastern Wisconsin

“…The steady-state model potentiometric head in the city of Fond du Lac area was 33 ft higher than reported by Weidman and Schultz (1915). As a result, the 1957 modelcomputed drawdown is 33 ft higher than the drawdown reported by Newport (1962). Olcott (1966) reports that, by 1963, the water level in the city of Oshkosh area had been lowered by 25 to 30 ft below the 1915 levels reported by Weidman and Schultz (1915).…”

“…The composite transmissivity of aquifers 1 and 2, obtained by multiplying the hydraulic conductivities times the aquifer thickness, resulted in transmissivity values much higher than those obtained from aquifer tests. Newport (1962) reported an average transmissivity value of approximately 3,400 ft2/d in the city of Fond du Lac area. Olcort (1966) reported a transmissivity value of 2,700 ft2/d in Winnebago County, and an average transmissivity of about 1,600 ft2/d was reported for the Green Bay area (Knowles, Dreher, and Whetstone, 1964).…”

“…In Fond du Lac County (Newport, 1962) and Winnebago County (Olcott, 1966), the Franconia Sandstone is capable of yielding hundreds of gallons per minute of water to wells. Lower yields are produced where the sandstone contains siltstone and dolomite layers.…”

“…Computed drawdowns in 1957 are 123 ft in aquifer 1 and 85 ft in aquifer 2. Newport (1962) reports that between 1885 and 1956, the water-level decline in a well in the center of the cone of depression was 91 ft. It is assumed that the well is open to both aquifers 1 and 2 but there are no data to substantiate this assumption.…”

Quaternary Geology of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin

“…In places such as the Niagara Escarpment, the bedrock is exposed at the surface; however, in most of the county, it is buried by glacial and postglacial deposits that are locally more than 45 m thick. In the subsurface, beneath the Cambrian rocks, well-drilling records indicate the presence of Precambrian quartzite, granite, gneiss, and schist (Newport, 1962). Steep slopes that extend linearly across the landscape (escarpments) have formed where the western edge of a resistant rock unit reaches the surface.…”