Hydrogeologic setting east of a low-level radioactive-waste disposal site near Sheffield, Illinois

Core samples from 45 test wells and 4 borings were used to describe the glacial geology of the area east of the low-level radioactive-waste disposal site near Sheffield, Bureau County, Illinois. Previous work has shown that shallow ground water beneath the disposal site flows east through a pebbly-sand unit of the Toulon Member of the Glasford Formation. The pebbly sand was found in core samples from wells in an area extending northeast from the waste-disposal site to a strip-mine lake and east along the south side of the lake. Other stratigraphic units identified in the study area are correlated with units found on the disposal site. The pebbly-sand unit of the Toulon Member grades from a pebbly sand on site into a coarse gravel with sand and pebbles towards the lake. The Hulick Till Member, a key bed, underlies the Toulon Member throughout most of the study area. A narrow channel-like depression in the Hulick Till is filled with coarse gravelly sand of the Toulon Member. The filled depression extends eastward from near the northeast corner of the waste-disposal site to the strip-mine lake. (USGS)