| Abstract: | The U.S. Geological Survey is investigating the relation of ground- water quality and land use in the regolith and fractured rock ground-water system of the North Carolina Piedmont. The initial phase of this study provides a description of the ground-water flow system and a review of available ground-water data and formulates hypotheses that guide the design of a water-quality monitoring network for study of selected areas.
In the Piedmont, the solid igneous and metamorphic bedrock grades upward into unweathered fractured rock that is covered by a transition zone of highly-fractured, partially weathered rock, clay-rich saprolite, and the soil. The fractured bedrock, transition zone, saprolite, and soil make up a complex flow system.
A review of available ground-water quality data shows a lack of information about organic compounds and trace metals and changes in ground- water quality with depth. Land use, soils, and geology significantly influence ground-water quality.
The hypotheses that need to be tested in the next study phase are: (1) that ground-water contamination can be related to land use, and (2) that the transition zone between bedrock and regolith serves as a primary transmitter of contaminants.
Monitoring of basins containing industrial, urban, residential, and agricultural land uses in future studies will help define the relation of ground-water quality to land use. Water quality at different depths in the flow system and in streams during base flow needs to be identified. |
| Genre: | USGS Numbered Series |
| ProdID: | 27553 |
| Citation Author: | Harned, Douglas |
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| Citation Language: | ENGLISH |
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| Citation Phsyical Description: | vi, 55 p. :ill., maps ;28 cm. |
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| Citation Publisher: | U.S. Geological Survey, |
| Citation Series: | Water-Resources Investigations Report |
| Citation Series Code: | WRI |
| Citation Series Number: | 88-4130 |
| Citation Search Results Text: | The hydrogeologic framework and a reconnaissance of ground-water quality in the Piedmont Province of North Carolina, with a design for future study; 1989; WRI; 88-4130; Harned, Douglas |
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| Citation Year: | 1989 |
| Type: | citation/reference |
| Text: | The hydrogeologic framework and a reconnaissance of ground-water quality in the Piedmont Province of North Carolina, with a design for future study; 1989; WRI; 88-4130; Harned, Douglas |
| URL (THUMBNAIL): | http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/1988/4130/report-thumb.jpg |
| URL (DOCUMENT): | http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/1988/4130/report.pdf |
| Date Other: | Sat, 1 Jan 1994 00:00 -0600 |
| Publisher: | U.S. Geological Survey, |
