Bedrock geology and hydrostratigraphy of the Edwards and Trinity aquifers within the Driftwood and Wimberley 7.5-minute quadrangles, Hays and Comal Counties, Texas

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Publication Date

January 2017

Abstract

The Edwards and Trinity aquifers are major sources of water in south-central Texas and are both classified as major aquifers by the State of Texas. The population in Hays and Comal Counties is rapidly growing, increasing demands on the area’s water resources. To help effectively manage the water resources in the area, refined maps and descriptions of the geologic structures and hydrostratigraphic units of the aquifers are needed. This report presents the detailed 1:24,000-scale bedrock hydrostratigraphic map as well as names and descriptions of the geologic and hydrostratigraphic units of the Driftwood and Wimberley 7.5-minute quadrangles in Hays and Comal Counties, Tex. Hydrostratigraphically, the rocks exposed in the study area represent a section of the upper confining unit to the Edwards aquifer, the Edwards aquifer, the upper zone of the Trinity aquifer, and the middle zone of the Trinity aquifer. In the study area, the Edwards aquifer is composed of the Georgetown Formation and the rocks forming the Edwards Group. The Trinity aquifer is composed of the rocks forming the Trinity Group. The Edwards and Trinity aquifers are karstic with high secondary porosity along bedding and fractures. The Del Rio Clay is a confining unit above the Edwards aquifer and does not supply appreciable amounts of water to wells in the study area. The hydrologic connection between the Edwards and Trinity aquifers and the various hydrostratigraphic units is complex because the aquifer system is a combination of the original Cretaceous depositional environment, bioturbation, primary and secondary porosity, diagenesis, and fracturing of the area from Miocene faulting. All of these factors have resulted in development of modified porosity, permeability, and transmissivity within and between the aquifers. Faulting produced highly fractured areas which allowed for rapid infiltration of water and subsequently formed solutionally enhanced fractures, bedding planes, channels, and caves that are highly permeable and transmissive. Because of

Keywords

Trinity Aquifers, Edwards Aquifers, Geology, Hydrostratigraphy

Document Type

Article

Identifier

SFS0073539_00001

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