Cretaceous aquifers in North Carolina: analysis of safe yield based on historical data |
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Authors: | Ralph?C?Heath Email author" target="_blank">Richard?K?SpruillEmail author |
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Institution: | (1) , East Carolina University, 27858, Greenville, North Carolina, USA, |
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Abstract: | The Cretaceous aquifers underlying the central part of the North Carolina Coastal Plain are used extensively as the preferred
source of water for municipalities, industries, and agriculture. Regional decline in head in the middle parts of the system
(the Upper Cape Fear and Black Creek aquifers) began in the late 1950s to early 1960s. The trends in head during the 1960s,
together with data on land subsidence, were analyzed to demonstrate the value of using early data, in conjunction with conceptual
models, before collecting additional data. The sources of withdrawals from the Cretaceous aquifers identified in the conceptual
model are: (1) movement of water (recharge) across confining beds, (2) reduction in natural discharge, (3) release of water
from aquifer storage, (4) drainage of water from fine-grained lenses in aquifers and confining beds, and (5) release of water
resulting from advance of the salt-water front. Estimates of the amounts derived from each of these sources resulted in a
reduction of the estimated safe yield of the Cretaceous aquifers in the 2,486-mi2 (6,439-km2) area of the central Coastal Plain from 75 mgd (million gallons per day) (284,000 m3/day) to less than 5 mgd (19,000 m3/day).
Electronic Publication |
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Keywords: | Coastal aquifers Conceptual models Cretaceous aquifers Groundwater management Groundwater recharge/water budget Over-abstraction Safe yield Salt-water/fresh-water relations Subsidence |
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