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84

TACONIC STATE PARKWAY

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73°55' 73°50' 73°45'

41°45'

41°40'

41°35'

41°30'

Hydrology modified from Moore and others, 1982 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1

MILE

0 0.5 1

KILOMETER

EXPLANATION

0 to 10

0 to 20

0 to 40

40 to 100

100 to 180

Limit of mapped area—Indicates arbitrary truncation of mapped area

Surficial geologic boundary—Denotes boundary between adjacent

surficial geologic units. Surficial geologic units explained on Sheet 2

Till or bedrock hill—surrounded by aquifer

Saturated thickness of surficial aquifer, in feet

Aquifer boundary—Denotes boundary between unconsolidated

deposits that comprise the Sprout and Fishkill Creeks aquifer and

adjacent deposits of till and bedrock

Saturated Thickness of the Surficial Aquifer

Sheet 4 shows the estimated saturated thickness of the surficial sand and gravel aquifer in the Sprout Creek-Fishkill Creek 

study area. It is based on the previous map published in Moore and others (1982); however, two new ranges of saturated 

thickness have been added. The estimated saturated thickness is based primarily on well logs from both domestic wells and test 

holes in the expanded study area. The categories of saturated thickness represent estimates of the thickness of relatively highly 

permeable sediments extending from the water table downward to the top of the first major unit of low permeability, which may 

be either fine-grained lacustrine silt or clay, till, or bedrock. The unconsolidated surficial aquifer is composed of sediments 

ranging from fine sand to coarse gravel, including some poorly sorted ice-contact material in the Shenandoah Moraine. In some 

areas, deep confined sand and gravel aquifers may be present beneath thick confining units of lacustrine silt and clay; however, 

the available well data do not permit detailed mapping of these areas. The two new ranges, 0 to 10 feet and 0 to 20 feet, imply 

that the saturated thickness of the surficial aquifer in these areas is discontinuous and “spotty,” in part as a result of the presence 

of isolated, partly buried kames, and therefore may range from 0 feet where no permeable material is present, to the upper end of 

the range given, where permeable material is present at land surface. This is particularly true where valley areas are underlain by 

fine-grained lacustrine sediments, beneath which isolated buried kames, where present, may act as small localized aquifers. In 

some areas where the saturated thickness is less than 10 feet, notably the Fishkill Creek flood plain north of the Shenandoah 

Moraine, the valley is floored with thin deposits of lacustine silt and clay directly overlying till, with only isolated buried kame 

units comprising localized aquifers. In areas floored by outwash sand and gravel and post-glacial alluvium, the saturated 

thickness in the tributary valleys can range from 40 to 100 feet, as in the wider Sprout Creek valley south of Freedom Plains, and 

in the adjacent Whortlekill Creek north of Hopewell Junction. 

Summary

The hydrogeology of the stratified-drift aquifer in the Sprout Creek and Fishkill Creek valleys in southern Dutchess County, 

New York, initially studied by Moore and others (1982), was updated primarily through the use of newly acquired well data 

made available through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Water Well Program. In addition, 

USEPA remedial investigations of two groundwater contamination sites near the villages of Hopewell Junction and Shenandoah, 

NY, contributed valuable well data used in this update. The boundary of the stratified-drift aquifer described in the original 1982 

USGS report (Moore and others, 1982) was extended slightly eastward and southward to include adjacent tributary valleys and 

the USEPA groundwater contamination site at Shenandoah, NY. The new well data allowed for completion of the saturatedthickness map in areas where well data previously had been insufficient. The updated report consists of four maps showing well 

locations, surficial geology, altitude of the water table, and saturated thickness of the aquifer. GIS coverages of these four maps 

were created as part of the update process.

Selected References

CDM Federal Programs Corporation, 2008, Final focused feasibility study report—Hopewell Precision Site, Hopewell Junction, 

New York: CDM Federal Programs Corporation, 98 p.

Connally, G.G., 1980, Reconnaissance surficial geologic map of the Hopewell Junction 7.5-mi. quadrangle: New York State 

Geological Survey Open-File report no. 2gk561, 1 sheet, 1:24,000.

Connally, G.G., and Sirkin, L.A., 1986, Woodfordian ice margins, recessional events, and pollen stratigraphy of the mid-Hudson 

valley, in Cadwell, D.H., ed., The Wisconsinan stage of the First Geological District, eastern New York: New York State 

Museum Bulletin no. 455, p. 50-72.

Dana, J.D., 1872, Green Mountain geology—The quartzite of Poughquag, Dutchess County, New York: American Journal of 

Science, Series 3, v. 3, p. 253-256.

Dana, J.D., 1879, On the Hudson River age of the Taconic schists and on the dependent relations of the Dutchess County and 

western Connecticut limestone belts: American Journal of Science, Series 3, v. 17, p. 375-388, and v. 18, p. 61-64.

Dwight, W.B., 1887, Recent explorations in the Wappinger Valley limestones of Dutchess County, NY, no. 6: American Journal 

of Science, Series 3, v. 34, p. 139-153.

Fisher, D.W., 1968, Draft geologic map of the Hopewell Junction 7.5-min. quadrangle: New York State Geological Survey 

Open-File report no. 1gG744, 3 sheets, 1:24,000. 

Fisher, D.W., 1977, Correlation of the Hadrynian, Cambrian, and Ordovician rocks in New York State: New York State Museum 

and Chart Series no. 25, 75 p., 5 sheets.

Fluhr, T.W., 1931, Geology of the Fishkill area, New York—A report prepared for the Board of Water Supply, City of New York: 

New York State Geological Survey Open-File report no. 6mF302, 8 p.

Gerber, R.G., 1982a, Reconnaissance surficial geologic map of the Hopewell Junction 7.5-min. quadrangle: Unpublished map on 

file with the U.S. Geological Survey, Troy, NY, 1:24,000.

Gerber, R.G., 1982b, Water resources study for Dutchess County: South Harpswell, Maine, Robert G. Gerber, Consulting Civil 

Engineer and Geologist, 20 p.

Gordon, C.E., 1911, Geology of the Poughkeepsie Quadrangle: New York State Museum Bulletin No. 148, 121 p.

Groundwater Sciences Corp., 2002, Shenandoah Road groundwater contamination Superfund site remedial 

investigation/feasibility study work plan outline: Harrisburg, PA, Groundwater Sciences Corp., 100 p.

Helenek, H.L., 1972, Bedrock geology of the Hopewell Junction, NY, 7.5-minute quadrangle—A preliminary report: New York 

State Geological Survey Open-File report no. 1g274, 13 p., 1 sheet, 1:24,000.

Holzwasser, F., 1926, Geology of Newburgh and vicinity: New York State Museum Bulletin no. 270, 95 p.

Knopf, E.B., 1946, Stratigraphy of the lower Paleozoic rocks surrounding Stissing Mountain, Dutchess County, New York (abs.): 

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 57, p. 1211-1212.

Moore, R.B., LaFleur, R.G., and others, 1982, Geohydrology of the valley-fill aquifer in the Sprout and Fishkill Creeks area, 

Dutchess County, NY: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 82-81, 6 sheets, 1:24,000.

Offield, T.W., 1962, Geology reconnaissance maps, southern portion of the Hopewell Junction 7.5-minute quadrangle: New York 

State Geological Survey Open-File report no. 1gB660, 2 sheets, 1:24,000.

Simmons, E.T., Grossman, I.G., and Heath, R.C., 1961, Ground-water resources of Dutchess County, New York: New York State 

Department of Conservation Bulletin GW-43, 82 p.

Snavely, D.S., 1980, Ground-water appraisal of the Fishkill-Beacon area, Dutchess County, New York: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 80-437, 14 p.

Walcott, C.D., 1891, Overlap relations at the base of the Paleozoics in the northern Appalachians: Bulletin of the Geological 

Society of America, v. 2, p. 163-164.

Prepared in cooperation with the

NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Hydrogeologic Data Update for the Stratified-Drift Aquifer in the Sprout and Fishkill Creek Valleys, Dutchess County, New York

by

Richard J. Reynolds and F.J. Calef III

2010

SCALE 1:24,000

SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS MAP 3136

Saturated thickness of the surficial aquifer - SHEET 4 of 4

Reynolds, R.J., and Calef, F.J., III., 2010,

Hydrogeologic data update for the stratified-drift aquifer in the Sprout

and Fishkill Creek valleys, Dutchess County, New York

Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital raster graphics, 1:24,000

Universal Transverse Mercator projection, North American Datum 1983, Zone 18N

Lake Ontario

Lake

Erie

DUTCHESS

COUNTY

NEW YORK

CANADA

VERMONT

PENNSYLVANIA

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Ocean

NEW

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MASSACHUSETTS

CONNECTICUT

NEW

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0 25 50 75 100 MILES

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Study area