A Groundwater Resources Assessment of Copley Township, Summit County, Ohio, Using GIS Analysis Methods PDF Download

Author: J. Tyler McIlvaine
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Copley (Ohio : Township)
Languages : en
Pages : 127

Get Book

Book Description
This study assesses the groundwater resources of Copley Township, in Summit County, Ohio, by using the spatial analysis tools provided by a Geographic Information System. Copley Township has experienced a steady population influx since 1990, along with an increase in residential, commercial, and industrial development. Furthermore, over half of the households within the township rely upon private wells to provide drinking water. Using water well logs and additional data provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, it was possible to create maps that illustrate spatial relationships and variations within the aquifers that provide groundwater resources. There are two main types of aquifers within the study area: aquifers set within bedrock and aquifers set within unconsolidated materials. The primary aquifers used for groundwater resources within the study area are the Mississippian Cuyahoga Group, the Pennsylvanian Sharon Formation, and Quaternary drift filling pre-glacial valleys. The potentiometric surface of the bedrock aquifer follows closely with the bedrock topography, which is composed of bedrock knobs that form the topographic highs that are separated by pre-glacial valleys. Quaternary drift has filled in these valleys, producing thick aquifer units composed of unconsolidated materials of varying grain-size. There is evidence of the bedrock aquifer recharging the buried valley aquifer system, but there is no significant evidence that the unconsolidated aquifer is recharging the bedrock aquifer system. According to well data, the Quaternary drift that fills the pre-glacial valleys contains the most productive aquifers in the study area, and these aquifers have the greatest potential groundwater resources. The most productive bedrock aquifer system lies within the knobs of the Sharon Formation. However, this unit is present in only a small fraction of the study area. Thus, the most widely accessed bedrock aquifer lies within the Cuyahoga Group.