Construction of 3-D geologic framework and textural models for Cuyama Valley groundwater basin, California

Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5127
By: , and 

Links

Abstract

Groundwater is the sole source of water supply in Cuyama Valley, a rural agricultural area in Santa Barbara County, California, in the southeasternmost part of the Coast Ranges of California. Continued groundwater withdrawals and associated water-resource management concerns have prompted an evaluation of the hydrogeology and water availability for the Cuyama Valley groundwater basin by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Water Agency Division of the Santa Barbara County Department of Public Works. As a part of the overall groundwater evaluation, this report documents the construction of a digital three-dimensional geologic framework model of the groundwater basin suitable for use within a numerical hydrologic-flow model. The report also includes an analysis of the spatial variability of lithology and grain size, which forms the geologic basis for estimating aquifer hydraulic properties. The geologic framework was constructed as a digital representation of the interpreted geometry and thickness of the principal stratigraphic units within the Cuyama Valley groundwater basin, which include younger alluvium, older alluvium, and the Morales Formation, and underlying consolidated bedrock. The framework model was constructed by creating gridded surfaces representing the altitude of the top of each stratigraphic unit from various input data, including lithologic and electric logs from oil and gas wells and water wells, cross sections, and geologic maps. Sediment grain-size data were analyzed in both two and three dimensions to help define textural variations in the Cuyama Valley groundwater basin and identify areas with similar geologic materials that potentially have fairly uniform hydraulic properties. Sediment grain size was used to construct three-dimensional textural models that employed simple interpolation between drill holes and two-dimensional textural models for each stratigraphic unit that incorporated spatial structure of the textural data.

Study Area

Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Construction of 3-D geologic framework and textural models for Cuyama Valley groundwater basin, California
Series title Scientific Investigations Report
Series number 2013-5127
DOI 10.3133/sir20135127
Year Published 2013
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) California Water Science Center
Description vii, 46 p.
Country United States
State California
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details