Hydrogeologic units, contour maps, and cross sections of the Boone and Roubidoux aquifers, northeastern Oklahoma, 2020

The Boone and Roubidoux aquifers (or their equivalents) are the main sources of fresh groundwater in northeastern Oklahoma. Projected total water demand of both surface water and groundwater in northeastern Oklahoma is expected to increase approximately 56 percent from 2010 to 2060. This report provides an overview of the hydrogeology of northeastern Oklahoma, with an emphasis on the hydrogeologic units composing and surrounding the Boone and Roubidoux aquifers (the Western Interior Plains confining unit, the Boone aquifer, the Ozark confining unit, and the Roubidoux aquifer). This report also provides the hydrogeologic framework for an ongoing (as of 2020) hydrologic investigation to aid the Oklahoma Water Resources Board in determining the maximum annual yields of the Boone and Roubidoux aquifers. As a first step of this ongoing hydrologic investigation, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, developed hydrogeologic-unit maps, contour maps for the bases of the four hydrogeologic units, and generalized cross sections to further characterize the hydrogeologic framework of the Boone and Roubidoux aquifers. The contour maps illustrate the altitudes of the bases of each hydrogeologic unit. The altitude of the base of the Western Interior Plains confining unit ranged from 1,316 to −6,437 feet (ft) relative to North American Vertical Datum of 1988. The altitude of the base of the Boone aquifer ranged from 1,327 to −6,681 ft. The altitude of the base of the Ozark confining unit ranged from 1,275 to −6,720 ft. The altitude of the base of the Roubidoux aquifer ranged from 403 to −9,488 ft.