Application of Marine Seismic Profiling to a Ground Water Contamination Study, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland |
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| Authors: | W Brian Hughes |
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| Institution: | Brian Hughes received his B.S. degree in geology from Clemson University in 1982 and his M.S. degree in geology from Southern Illinois University in 1987. From 1984 through 1987, he worked as a hydrologist for the South Carolina Water Resources Commission. His activities included using offshore and onshore borehole drilling and marine seismic profiling to develop the hydrogeologic framework for a salt water intrusion study near Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. He is currently employed as a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (208 Carroll Building, 8600 LaSalle Rd., Towson, MD 21204) where he is project chief of a ground water contamination study at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. |
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| Abstract: | Continuous high-frequency marine seismic profiling was used to define the extent of geologic units in the offshore areas of J-Field, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, during March and April of 1988. J-Field is an area that was used by the U.S. Army for disposal of chemical warfare agents, munitions, and organic solvents from the 1950s through the 1970s. A major concern at this site is the subsurface migration of hazardous wastes into offshore areas and eventually into the Chesapeake Bay. A 150-foot (45.7 meter) deep paleochannel containing Pleistocene age fluvial and estuarine sediments was identified from boreholes constructed onshore. The paleochannel sediments consist of three lithic units. From bottom to top these units consist of gravel and sand, massive silty and sandy clay, and interbedded sand and clay. The seismic profiles were used to identify the extent of these units and map them in offshore areas. An accurate knowledge of the distribution of the geologic units in onshore and offshore areas is important to the investigation because the coarse-grained paleochannel sediments may provide a preferential flow path for contaminated ground water and the fine-grained sediments may impede the movement of contaminants into deeper aquifers. |
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