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Sandstone Aquifers of Southwestern Kansas

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Introduction

Economic stability and growth in southwestern Kansas depend on the continued availability of ground water for irrigation and other uses. The production of food and fiber from irrigated land in this region is of major significance to the economic well-being of Kansas and the nation. However, ground-water supplies for irrigation from the Ogallala Formation, the principal aquifer in western Kansas, are being depleted because water is being withdrawn at a rate many times faster than it is being replenished by recharge. Sandstone aquifers in underlying consolidated bedrock of Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous age are being developed to varying degrees for stock, domestic, industrial, and irrigation supplies in certain parts of southwestern Kansas. However, based on present information, the sandstone aquifers have significantly greater potential for additional development.

The study area for this report includes all or parts of 26 counties in southwestern Kansas (fig. 1). The area comprises approximately 17,400 mi2 and is bounded on the north by the Smoky Hill River, on the west by Colorado, on the south by Oklahoma, and on the east by the Arkansas River and Barton, Clark, and Kiowa counties.

Figure 1--Location of study area, wells, test holes, and other data sites.

Map of southwestern Kansas showing locations of wells and test holes.

This report presents the results of a geohydrologic study of the sandstone aquifers of Permian, Jurassic, and Cretaceous age in southwestern Kansas conducted in cooperation with the Kansas Geological Survey and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The report includes a description of the aquifers and their properties and the chemical characteristics of the ground water from these aquifers. In previous county and state studies, the sandstone units commonly were undifferentiated and were included in a single geohydrologic unit known as the "sandstone aquifer." Because an excessive amount of shale and siltstone also was included in this "aquifer," erroneous conclusions possibly could have been made as to the potential for development of water supplies from this "sandstone aquifer." For a summary of selected reports where the "sandstone aquifer" is addressed, see table 1.

Table 1--Summary of sandstone-aquifer data from selected previous reports. (Thickness is given in feet and is the stratigraphic unit thickness. Yield is given in gallons per minute. Depth to top of aquifer is given in feet. Asterisks [*] indicate units included in the "sandstone aquifer"; "Yes" indicates that the unit yields potable water to wells, but marginal for most uses; "No" indicates that the unit does not yield potable water to wells.)

Sandstone
aquifers
Finney
County
Grant
and
Stanton
counties
Gray
County
Greeley
and
Wichita
counties
Hamilton
County
Haskell
County
Hodgeman
and
northern
Ford
counties
Kearny
County
Lane
and
Scott
counties
Ness
County
Rush
County
Trego
County
Kansas
Gutentag,
Lobmeyer,
McGovern,
and Long,
1972
Fader,
Gutentag,
Lobmeyer,
and Meyer,
1964
McGovern
and Long,
1974
Slagle
and
Weakly,
1976
Lobmeyer
and
Sauer,
1974
Gutentag
and
Stullken,
1974
Lobmeyer
and
Weakly,
1979
Gutentag,
Lobmeyer,
and
McGovern,
1972
Gutentag
and
Stullken,
1976
Jenkins
and
Pabst,
1977
McNellis,
1973
Hodson,
1965
Keene
and
Bayne,
1977
Upper Cretaceous                          
Codell Sandstone
Member of the
Carlile Shale
                         
Thickness                     4 3-5  
Yield       5-10         5-10   0 small amount  
Lower Cretaceous * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Thickness 120-460   300-400 300-500 3S0 0-260   210-380 300-680 260-690 5-500 150-250 0-850
Yield 30-1,000 500 1,000 30-300     100-2.200 30-300 30-300 20-800     100-2,000
Dakota Formation * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Thickness   0-135         100-450     150-300 200-300 150-250 2-330
Yields potable
water to wells
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kiowa Formation * * * * * * * * *   *   *
Thickness   0-150         160-250     60-170 100-125   100-380
Yields potable
water to wells
          Yes No       No   No
Cheyenne Sandstone * * * * * * * * * * *   *
Thickness   0-120         20-300     50-220 25-100   33-300
Yields potable
water to wells
Yes Yes   Yes   Yes No Yes No No No   No
Upper Jurassic * * * * * *   * *        
Thickness 50-350 0-130 100-200 0-200 130-230 0-160   130-230 0-200        
Yield 30-300             30-300          
Upper Permian                          
Thickness 200-500 160 500   350-500 200-400   350-500     600-700    
Yields potable
water to wells
No No No   No No No No          
"Sandstone Aquifer"                          
Depth to top
of aquifer
300-800 70-500   600-1,500 0-800 300-600 100-350 0-700 530-1,060 100-700 80-530 300-1,000 100-2,600
Thickness, including
interbedded shale
300-650 450 400-600 400-550 350-500 0-400   350-500 430-710 260-690 70-500 150-250 0-850
Yield 30-1,000 500-1,000 1,000 30-300 10-400 30-1,000 100-2,200 30-300 30-300 20-800 5-500   100-2,000

For this study, 15 observation wells were drilled for a total of 6,340 ft, and 20 piezometers were installed (fig. 1). The wells were constructed with plastic or steel pipe and screens. No sand pack was put into the hole. Air lift was used to develop some observation wells.

Data collection included the sampling and description of well cuttings from these wells (table 7), measuring ground-water levels from piezometers (table 8), and collecting water samples from wells for chemical analysis (table 9). Also borehole geophysical logs were run in the completed test holes. Tables 7-9 are given at the end of this report.

Selected electrical and nuclear logs of oil and gas test wells in southwestern Kansas were used to define and correlate geologic formations in the study area. Data from previous studies and logs of water wells were compiled and analyzed.

The geohydrologic data from this study are described in two reports prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey (Kume and Spinazola, 1982; 1983). These data complement and are the documentation for this report.

Acknowledgments

This report is the product of a cooperative study during 1976-79 conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Kansas Geological Survey and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Drillers' well logs were furnished by various commercial drillers, including Layne Western Co., Henkle Drilling and Supply Co., Inc., and Minter-Wilson Drilling Co.

Appreciation is expressed to the landowners who allowed access to their property for test drilling, observation-well construction, hydrologic measurements, and water-sample collection. Special thanks are expressed to the farmers, ranchers, and other individuals who provided information and assistance for this study.

Purpose and scope

The purpose of the investigation was 1) to define the geologic formations in which sandstone aquifers occur, 2) to describe the geohydrology of the sandstone aquifers, and 3) to describe the chemical characteristics of ground water in the sandstone aquifers and the suitability of the water for common uses.

The sandstone aquifers described in this report were limited to those that occur in the Upper Permian Series, the Upper Jurassic Series, and the Lower and Upper Cretaceous Series (table 2). These stratigraphic intervals were selected because they include those sandstones that contain or may contain freshwater. However, the Permian formations that subcrop beneath Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks may contain moderately saline to briny water in some areas of southwestern Kansas. The classification and nomenclature of the rock units in this report are those of the Kansas Geological Survey and differ somewhat from those of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Table 2--Generalized section of geologic formations and their hydrologic characteristics (classification and nomenclature used in this report are those of the Kansas Geological Survey and differ somewhat from those of the U.S. Geological Survey).

System Series Formation Member Range of
Thickness
(feet)
Physical Character Water Supply
Quaternary Pleistocene   Loess and dune sand 0-100 Silt and fine sand, mostly eolian. Mantles most of the uplands and masks much of the valley walls. Most of the deposits are above the water table. Locally aquifer yields from 5 to 10 gal/min to wells.
Alluvium 0-80 Stream-laid deposits ranging from sand and gravel to silt and clay. Occurs along principal stream valleys. Generally above the water table. Locally aquifer yields from 10 to 500 gal/min to wells.
Undifferentiated
deposits
0-200 Sand and medium to very coarse gravel, interbedded with clay, silt, fine sand, and caliche. Principal unconsolidated aquirer in central Scott County. Yields ranged from 250 to 1,500 gal/min to irrigation wells.
Tertiary Miocene-
Pliocene
Ogallala Formation   0-350 Sand, gravel, silt, clay, and caliche, commonly unconsolidated. Locally cemented by calcium carbonate (lime) or silica (opal) into mortar beds. Contains freshwater limestone beds. Principal unconsolidated aquifer in most of study area. Aquifer yields from 100 to 2,500 gal/min to irrigation wells .
Cretaceous Upper Niobrara Chalk Smoky Hill Chalk 0-700 Chalk and chalky shale, gray to yellow, with interbedded shale. Limonitic concretions. Consolidated aquifer, but not known to yield significant amounts of water to wells in most areas. In southwestern Scott County, where rocks have been fractured, the aquifer yields as much as 1,000 gal/min to wells. In Finney County, where solution cavities are present, the aquifer yields as much as 800 gal/min.
Fort Hays Limestone 0-65 Limestone, chalky, white and yellow to gray, with chalky light- to dark-gray shale beds.  
Carlile Shale Codell Sandstone 0-25 Sandstone, fine-grained, silty. Locally shaly. Sandstone aquifer that may yield 5-10 gal/min in a few areas.
Blue Hill Shale 0-200 Shale, clayey, blocky to fissile, dark-gray. Not known to yield significant amounts of water to wells. In a few areas, the Greenhorn Limestone may yield 5-10 gal/min to wells. Generally considered a confining layer in most of study area.
Fairport Chalk 0-150 Shale, chalky, bluish-gray to gray, with chalky limestone and thin bentonite beds throughout member.
Greenhorn Limestone   0-135 Limestone, chalky, light- to dark-gray, and yellowish-gray to light-gray shale.
Graneros Shale   0-65 Shale, calcareous, dark-gray; interbedded with noncalcareous black shale, gray limestone, and silty fine-grained sandstone.
Upper Dakota Formation   0-580 Sandstone, fine- to medium-grained, white, gray, and brown; interbedded with shale and siltstone. Contains lignite. Principal sandstone aquifer in study area; yields 30-2,200 gal/min to wells. The Kiowa Formation is generally considered a confining layer in the study area. Water from wells in Cheyenne aquifer may not be potable in some areas. Untested in many places.
Kiowa Formation   0-190 Shale, light-gray to black, with interbedded thin limestone beds and, locally, sandstones.
Cheyenne Sandstone   0-245 Sandstone, very fine to medium-grained, mostly fine-grained, white, brown, and gray, with interbedded dark-gray shale.
Jurassic Upper Undifferentiated rocks   0-247 Shale, sandy, calcareous, green, with noncalcareous gray shale, limestone lenses, and fine-grained silty sandstone.  
Permian Upper Big Basin ("Taloga") Formation   0-45 Shale, silty, red, with siltstone, dolomite, and very fine grained feldspathic sandstone. Sandstone aquifer, but not known to yield potable water to wells. Untested in many places.
Day Creek Dolomite   0-3 Dolomite, light-gray to pink, dense. May yield potable water to wells in isolated areas. Untested in many places.
Whitehorse Formation   0-270 Sandstone, siltstone, and feldspathic red shale. Minor amount of dolomite. Sandstone aquifer, but not known to yield potable water to wells. Untested in many places.

Well-numbering system

The well-numbering system, as shown in fig. 2, gives the location of a well or test hole according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's system of land subdivision. In this system, the first set of digits of a well number indicates the township; the second set, the range east or west of the Sixth Principal Meridian; and the third set, the section in which the well or test hole is located. The first letter after the section number denotes the quarter section or 160-acre tract; the second, the quarter-quarter section or 40-acre tract; and the third, the quarter-quarter-quarter section or 10-acre tract. The 160-, 40-, and 10-acre tracts are designated A, B, C, or D in a counterclockwise direction, beginning in the northeast quadrant. Multiple well or test-hole locations within a 10-acre tract are assigned consecutive numbers, beginning with "1," in the order in which data were collected. When only one well is present in a 10-acre tract, that "1" is frequently omitted. Thus, in Finney County, the number 23-28W-5DCC means that the well is in the SW SW SE sec. 5, T. 23 S., R. 28 W.

Figure 2--Well-numbering system.

Well 5dcc is also known as SW SW SE sec 5 (a = NE, b = NW, c = SW. d = SE).


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Kansas Geological Survey, Geohydrology
Placed on web June 14, 2013; originally published 1985.
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