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Publications

Publications are the cornerstone of the Pennsylvania Water Science Center’s dissemination of scientific data and conclusions. 

Filter Total Items: 940

Factors affecting phosphorus transport at a conventionally-farmed site in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1992-95

The U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Land and Water Conservation of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection conducted a cooperative study to determine the effects of manure application and antecedent soil-phosphorus concentrations on the transport of phosphorus from the soil of a typical farm site in Lancaster County, Pa., from September 1992 to March 1995. The relation bet
Authors
Daniel G. Galeone

Effects of coal-mine discharges on the quality of the Stonycreek River and its tributaries, Somerset and Cambria counties, Pennsylvania

This report describes the results of a study by the U.S. Geological Survey, done in cooperation with the Somerset Conservation District, to locate and sample abandoned coal-mine discharges in the Stonycreek River Basin, to prioritize the mine discharges for remediation, and to determine the effects of the mine discharges on water quality of the Stonycreek River and its major tributaries. From Octo
Authors
Donald R. Williams, James I. Sams, Mary E. Mulkerrin

Geohydrology of the Stockton Formation and cross-contamination through open boreholes, Hatboro Borough and Warminster Township, Pennsylvania

The study area consists of a 9-square-mile area underlain by sedimentary rocks of the middle arkose member of the Stockton Formation of Upper Triassic age. In the Hatboro area, the Stockton Formation strikes approximately N. 65 degrees E. and dps approximately 9 degrees NW. The rocks are chiefly arkosic sandstone and siltstone. Rocks of the Stocton Formation form a complex, heterogeneous, multiaqu
Authors
Ronald A. Sloto, Paola Macchiaroli, Michael T. Towle

Assessment of severity and distribution of corrosive ground water in Pennsylvania

Relations between corrosive ground water, water chemistry, and geology in Pennsylvania were evaluated by use of a modified version of the Langelier Saturation Index (LSIsn) and a geologic contact dataset in a Geographic Information System. Water-chemistry information for water samples collected from 4,839 combined private and public-supply wells from 1900 to 1993 was used to calculate the LSIsn. T
Authors
M. J. Langland, D.L. Dugas

Water quality of large discharges from mines in the anthracite region of eastern Pennsylvania

In 1991, 99 of the 102 coal mines in the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania that discharged 1.0 cubic foot per second or more when water-quality samples were collected in 1975 were revisited. Water was not discharging from 15 of these 99 mines in 1991. Discharge, water temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, sulfate, iron, manganese, alkalinity, and acidity were measured in wa
Authors
C. R. Wood

Radium and radon in ground water in the Chickies Quartzite, southeastern Pennsylvania

The Chickies Quartzite, a Lower Cambrian-age formation compromised of quartzite and slate overlying a basal conglomerate, forms a narrow ridges and crops out discontinuously over 112 square miles in the Piedmont physiographic province of southeastern Pennsylvania. The formation is a low-yielding, fractured- rock, water-table aquifer recharged primarily by local precipitation. It is the sole source
Authors
L.A. Senior, K.L. Vogel

Land use, organochlorine compound concentrations, and trends in benthic-invertebrate communities in selected stream basins in Chester County, Pennsylvania

Land use was analyzed for the drainage areas of 26 stream sites in Chester County, Pa., that cover a total area of 227 square miles or about 30 percent of the country. The most significant land-use changes during 1967-87 were decreased agricultural land use, increased residential land use, and increased commercial and industrial land use. Bulk samples of stream-bottom materials were colle
Authors
Mark A. Hardy, Kim L. Wetzel, Craig R. Moore

A strategy for delineating the area of ground-water contribution to wells completed in fractured bedrock aquifers in Pennsylvania

Delineating a contributing area to a well completed in a fractured bedrock aquifer in Pennsylvania is difficult because the hydrogeologic characteristics of fractured rocks are extremely complex. Because of this complexity, a single method or technique to delineate a contributing area will not be applicable for all wells completed in fractured-bedrock aquifers. Therefore, a strategy for refining t
Authors
D. W. Risser, G. J. Barton

Altitude and configuration of the potentiometric surface in part of lower Providence Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, May and June 1994

A map showing ground-water levels in part of Lower Providence Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, was constructed from water levels measured in 62 wells from May and June 1994. Observed water-level altitudes range from 60 feet above sea level near the Betzwood Picnic Area to 187 feet above sea level near the intersection of Egypt Road and Rittenhouse Road in Lower Providence Township.
Authors
B. C. McManus

Geographic information system data sets of hydrogeologic conditions in Pequea and Mill Creek watersheds, Pennsylvania; Part II, Hydrogeologic interpretations

This report describes Geographic Information System data sets of ground-water levels, unsaturated-zone thickness, and regolith thickness in the Pequea and Mill Creek watersheds, a 210-square-mile area in Lancaster and Chester Counties, Pa. The data sets, which represent hydrogeologic interpretations, were developed by the use of ARC/INFO software during 1990-93 by the U.S. Geological Survey, in co
Authors
Dennis J. Low, Douglas C. Chichester, Stephen J. Char

Geographic information system data sets of hydrogeologic conditions in Pequea and Mill Creek watersheds, Pennsylvania: Part I — Basic data

This report describes basic data used to develop Geographic Information System data sets of bedrock geology, sinkholes and closed depressions, and spring and well locations attributed with hydro- geologic and water-quality data in the Pequea and Mill Creek watersheds, a 210-square-mile area in Lancaster and Chester Counties, Pa. The data sets, which do not contain hydrogeologic interpretations, we
Authors
Diana L. Dugas, Stephen J. Char, Gary E. Baumbach

A feasibility study to estimate minimum surface-casing depths of oil and gas wells to prevent ground-water contamination in four areas of western Pennsylvania

Hydrologic data were evaluated from four areas of western Pennsylvania to estimate the minimum depth of well surface casing needed to prevent contamination of most of the fresh ground-water resources by oil and gas wells. The areas are representative of the different types of oil and gas activities and of the ground-water hydrology of most sections of the Appalachian Plateaus Physiographic Provinc
Authors
T. F. Buckwalter, P. J. Squillace