Reports
Preliminary analysis of geohydrologic data from test wells drilled near Chester, on Kent Island, Queen Anne's County, Maryland
1983, Frederick K. Mack
USGS Open File Report 82-854
Abstract
During November and December 1979, a test hole was drilled on Kent Island, Queen Anne's County, Maryland, to a depth of 2,548 feet. The hole penetrated 2,518 feet of Coastal Plain sediments, ranging in age from Early Cretaceous to Quaternary, and 30 feet of the underlying bedrock. Drill cuttings, cores, and geophysical logs were used to identify five aquifers: the Patuxent, lower Patapsco, upper Patapsco, Magothy, and Aquia. The transmissivity of each of four of these aquifers in feet squared per day, was found to be: Patuxent - greater than 800; lower Patapsco - 4,000; upper Patapsco - 1,400; and Aquia - greater than 320. Chemical analyses showed that water from each aquifer is fresh and distinctly different in chemical character from the others. Iron exceeded the limit recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water in each of the aquifers. Water in the deeper aquifers is soft, but water in the Aquia aquifer has a hardness of about 160 milligrams/liter.
Data from recorders installed on the wells show that water levels are 1) affected by tidal changes in nearby estuaries of Chesapeake Bay, and 2) are highest in the deepest aquifer (16 feet above sea level) and progressively lower in each of the shallower aquifers.
