J.8. Department of the Interior 

.S. Geological Survey

lydrogeologic Framework of 

t ratified-Drift Aquifers in the 

jlaciated Northeastern United States

Regional Aquifer-System Analysis

Sessional Paper 1415-B

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Hydrogeologic Framework of 

Stratified-Drift Aquifers in the 

Glaciated Northeastern United States

By ALLAN D. RAND ALL

REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSISNORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1415-B
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

GALE A. NORTON, Secretary

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Charles G. Groat, Director

Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by 

the U.S. Government

Reston, Virginia 2001

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publications Data

Randall, Allan D.

Hydrogeologic framework of stratified-drift aquifers in the glaciated Northeastern United States : regional aquifer-system

analysis-Northeastern United States / by Allan D. Randall.

p. cm. (U.S. Geological Survey professional paper : 1415-B) 

Includes bibliographical references. 

1. Aquifers Northeastern States. 2. Hydrogeology Northeastern States. I. Title. II. Series: Geological Survey

professional paper : 1415-B.

GB1199.3.N77R36 1999 99-19895 

551.49'0974 dc21 CIP

ISBN 0-607-95702-6

For sale by the U.S. Geological Survey 

Information Services, Box 25286, 

Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225
FOREWORD

THE REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS PROGRAM

The RASA Program represents a systematic effort to study a number of the 

Nation's most important aquifer systems, which, in aggregate, underlie much 

of the country and which represent an important component of the Nation's 

total water supply. In general, the boundaries of these studies are identified 

by the hydrologic extent of each system and, accordingly, transcend the political subdivisions to which investigations have often arbitrarily been limited in 

the past. The broad objective for each study is to assemble geologic, hydrologic, and geochemical information, to analyze and develop an understanding 

of the system, and to develop predictive capabilities that will contribute to the 

effective management of the system. The use of computer simulation is an 

important element of the RASA studies to develop an understanding of the 

natural, undisturbed hydrologic system and the changes brought about in it 

by human activities and to provide a means of predicting the regional effects 

of future pumping or other stresses.

The final interpretive results of the RASA Program are presented in a 

series of U.S. Geological Survey Professional Papers that describe the geology, 

hydrology, and geochemistry of each regional aquifer system. Each study 

within the RASA Program is assigned a single Professional Paper number 

beginning with Professional Paper 1400.

Charles G. Groat 

Director

CONTENTS

Page

Abstract......................................................................................... Bl

Introduction.................................................................................. 2

Acknowledgments................................................................... 3

The singular results of multiple glaciation................................. 4

The environment of stratified-drift deposition: Proglacial

lakes at the ice margin...................................................... 8

Why proglacial lakes were ubiquitous................................... 8

Stream deposits and their relation to proglacial lakes......... 9

The nature of the ice margin.................................................. 10

Sources of sediment................................................................ 10

The universal three depositional facies................................. 12

Typical patterns of aquifer distribution within stratified

drift..................................................................................... 15

Aquifer geometry as a function of width and depth of

valleys........................................................................... 15

Regional trends in abundance of coarse-grained

stratified drift............................................................... 16

Stepwise retreat and the morphosequence concept.............. 18

Association of exposed facies 1 with shallow bedrock........... 20

Distribution of buried facies 1 beneath fine-grained

sediments...................................................................... 21

Meltwater channels and collapse at the ice margin.............. 26

Regional meltwater drainage systems................................... 36

Esker systems in Maine.................................................... 36

Eskers in the Connecticut River valley............................ 37

Through valleys in rugged terrain of central Vermont... 39 

Through valleys in rugged terrain of northwestern

Massachusetts....................................................... 43

Other temporary meltwater channels in uplands ........... 45

Through valleys in the Appalachian Plateau .................. 45

Meltwater channels in lowlands....................................... 49

Summary............................................................................ 51

Tributaries as sources of coarse sediment............................. 51

Increased saturated thickness around ice-block

depressions................................................................... 53

Classification and map representation of aquifers..................... 59

Hydrophysiographic regions in the glaciated Northeastern

United States..................................................................... 63

Glaciated regions that generally sloped away from

the ice............................................................................ 65

Regions with moderate to low relief and abundant

coarse stratified drift............................................ 65

Eastern Hills and Valley Fills..................................... 65

Outwash plains............................................................ 70

Lightly dissected uplands with negligible stratified

drift........................................................................ 74

Tug Hill Plateau........................................................... 74

Pocono Plateau............................................................. 74

Northeasternmost Adirondacks.................................. 75

Center of residual ice-cap area in Maine.................... 75

Low-relief fringes of Maine residual ice cap with

little coarse stratified drift................................... 77

Northwestern lake-dominated fringe.......................

Northeastern valley-fill fringe..................................

Eastern esker-dominated fringe...............................

Regions with high local relief.........................................

Eastern Mountains....................................................

Catskill Mountains....................................................

Eastern Appalachian Plateau...................................

Western Appalachian Plateau..................................

Broad lowlands inundated by large water bodies ..............

Connecticut River lowland and glacial Lake

Hitchcock............................................................

Facies distribution in Connecticut and

Massachusetts ................................................

Facies distribution in Vermont and New

Hampshire......................................................

Wallkill lowland..............................................................

Hudson River lowland and glacial Lake Albany...........

Basal or proximal ice-contact deposits (facies 1).....

Surficial sand-plain aquifers (facies 3).....................

Schenectady aquifer..................................................

Erie and Ontario lowlands.............................................

Lake history and extent............................................

Distribution of sand and gravel................................

Meltwater channel deposits......................................

Kame moraines..........................................................

Interdrumlin outwash...............................................

Erosional channels and perched deltas....................

Beach ridges and wave-built terraces ......................

Black River, St. Lawrence, and Champlain lowlands ..

Lake history and extent............................................

Distribution of sand and gravel................................

Mountain-front perched deltas and kame terraces . Black River valley .....................................................

St. Lawrence lowland south of Canton.....................

St. Lawrence lowland north of Canton.....................

Champlain lowland...................................................

Coastal Maine and New Hampshire..............................

Early ice-contact deposits .........................................

Fine-grained marine deposits...................................

Late coarse-grained surficial sediment....................

Aquifer geometry in this region................................

Smaller lowlands ............................................................

St. John River valley in Maine and New

Brunswick.......................................................

Lake Hackensack, New Jersey................................

Page

B77 

78 

78 

80

80

81

84

89

96

98

99

103

104

107

110

112

112

113

114

114

115

118

118

119

120

121

121

124

124

124

126

126

128

128

128

130

130

130

134

134

134
VI CONTENTS

	Page

Lake Hooksett, New Hampshire ................................ B135

Lakes south of the terminal moraine in New

Jersey................................................................ 135

Regions of high relief that sloped toward the ice ................. 136

Mountains bordering the Champlain lowland................ 137

Northern rim of the Appalachian Plateau ...................... 140

Schoharie Creek watershed........................................ 142

Mohawk River and West Canada Creek.................... 143

Tully Valley ................................................................. 144

Dryden Lake valley..................................................... 145

Cayuga Inlet valley..................................................... 145

Genesee River valley................................................... 147

Buttermilk Creek valley ............................................. 149

Conewango Creek and tributary valleys.................... 152

Cuyahoga River valley................................................ 154

Regions at or beyond the Wisconsinan drift border............

New Jersey terminal moraine........................................

Valley trains south of the drift border...........................

A comprehensive approach to appraisal of the hydrogeologic 

framework of stratified-drift aquifers............................

Area! extent of stratified drift..............................................

Aquifer geometry within the stratified drift.......................

Information that is useful in delineating aquifers ........

Conceptual models that are useful in organizing

information .........................................................

Anticipating aquifer distribution typical of particular

hydrophysiographic regions ......................................

References cited.........................................................................

Glossary......................................................................................

Page

B154 

154 

154

156

156

156

157

158

159

160

177

ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE 1. Hydrophysiographic regions in the glaciated Northeast In pocket

Page

FIGURE 1. Map showing extent of Wisconsinan glaciation in the Northeastern United States........................................................................ B3

2. Generalized geologic sections based on exposures along Nash Stream north of Groveton, N.H., showing outwash that

predates the most recent till........................................................................................................................................................ 6

3. Idealized stratigraphy resulting from two depositional mechanisms in proglacial lakes................................................................ 9

4. Geologic section showing stratigraphy of stratified drift beneath the floor of Stony Brook valley near Denville, N. J................... 12

5. Idealized development of three successive depositional facies.......................................................................................................... 14

6. Geologic section showing stratigraphy in the valley of the Quinnipiac River, Connecticut, from Wallingford center to

Fair Haven ................................................................................................................................................................................... 16

7. Idealized arrangement of successive morphosequences that comprise the stratified drift in a typical valley............................... 19

8. Idealized example of preferential deposition of coarse-grained proximal stratified drift (facies 1) in valley areas where

bedrock is shallow......................................................................................................................................................................... 20

9. Idealized block diagram showing geometry of unconsolidated sediment typical of narrow valleys in New Jersey....................... 23

10. Diagram showing generalized stratigraphy in West Canada Creek valley downstream from Gravesville, N.Y............................ 24

11 15. Maps showing:

11. Grain-size distribution and directions of meltwater flow during deposition of subaquatic fan within Upper Newport

lacustrine beds in West Canada Creek valley between Middleville and Newport, N.Y..................................................... 25

12. Examples of ice-channel fillings inferred to mark former subglacial channels along which meltwater transported

sediment to adjacent ice-marginal deltas ............................................................................................................................. 27

13. A collapsed morphosequence head in the town of Arlington, Vt. ............................................................................................. 29

14. Feeder channels at head of morphosequence near Danielson, Conn. ....................................................................................... 30

15. Feeder channels at head of morphosequence in Cromwell, Conn., and adjacent towns .......................................................... 31

16. Geologic section across the Connecticut River valley in Cromwell and Glastonbury, Conn............................................................ 33

17. Map showing the Mount Warner delta in the town of Hadley, Mass. ............................................................................................... 34

18. Map and geologic section showing buried aquifer along collapsed margin of morphosequence in Simsbury, Conn...................... 35

19. Map showing surficial geology in part of the town of Oxford, Maine................................................................................................ 38

20. Geologic and geoelectric sections across a buried esker in the Little Androscoggin River valley, Oxford, Maine.......................... 40

21. Map showing drainage patterns and saddles in central Vermont..................................................................................................... 41

22. Map showing drainage patterns and saddles in southwestern Vermont and northwestern Massachusetts.................................. 43

23. Geologic sections in Hoosic River valley, Massachusetts ................................................................................................................... 44

24. Map showing stratified deposits and erosional channels produced by meltwater flow through Eden Notch in northern

Vermont............................................................................ 46

25. Map showing drainage patterns and saddles in south-central New York and north-central Pennsylvania................................... 47

26. Seismic-reflection profiles across (A) northern Owasco Lake and (B) central Seneca Lake, New York.......................................... 48

27. Map showing surficial geology and geohydrology along part of the Connecticut River valley in central Massachusetts.............. 50
CONTENTS VII

Page

28. Map showing surficial geology of the Cold Brook watershed, Tamworth, N.H............................................................................ B52

29. Block diagram showing idealized relation of tributary delta (or fan) to the Jamestown aquifer in Cassadaga Creek

valley, New York....................................................................................................................................................................... 53

30. Geologic section across alluvial fan and delta in Cassadaga Creek valley north of Jamestown, N.Y....................................... 54

31. Geologic section across alluvial fan in the Susquehanna Eiver valley near Owego, N.Y............................................................ 55

32. Sketches showing development and hydrologic significance of typical ice-block depressions in outwash deposits.................. 56

33. Map showing geohydrology of the eastern part of the Clinton Street-Ballpark aquifer, Binghamton, N.Y............................... 57

34. Geologic sections in the eastern part of the Clinton Street-Ballpark aquifer, Binghamton, N.Y............................................... 58

35. Block diagrams showing movement of induced infiltration from Chenango Eiver to a production well................................... 59

36. Map showing geohydrology of the Susquehanna Eiver valley in the towns of Union and Vestal, N.Y...................................... 60

37. Geologic section showing outwash downwarped beneath ice-block depressions in the Susquehanna Eiver valley in

Union and Vestal, N.Y ............................................................................................................................................................. 61

38. Sketches showing geometry of idealized aquifer types that differ in their relations to hydraulic boundaries and

recharge sources....................................................................................................................................................................... 62

39. Map showing surficial geology in Southington and adjacent towns, Connecticut....................................................................... 68

40. Geologic section along the Quinnipiac lowland in Southington, Conn., and adjacent towns..................................................... 70

41. Geologic sections across the Quinnipiac lowland in Southington, Conn., and adjacent towns .................................................. 71

42. Geologic sections in outwash plains in southeastern Massachusetts.......................................................................................... 73

43. Maps showing the flow regime of the eastern Laurentide ice sheet 18,000 to 12,000 years ago, according to a

glaciological model.................................................................................................................................................................... 76

44. Map showing typical esker-dominated terrane in east-central Maine ........................................................................................ 79

45. Maps and section showing examples of stratified drift perched on valley sides in three areas of high relief........................... 82

46. Geologic section across East Branch Delaware Eiver at Peas Eddy, N.Y..................................................................................... 84

47. Idealized upland valley displaced by till accumulation in the shadow of an adjacent hill......................................................... 85

48. Map showing surficial geology and depositional facies in Otego Creek valley where it joins the Susquehanna River

valley near Oneonta, N.Y ........................................................................................................................................................ 87

49. Map and sections showing surficial geology and depositional facies in valleys near Smyrna, N.Y............................................ 88

50. Geologic sections showing depositional facies in the Tioga Eiver basin, Pennsylvania.............................................................. 91

51. Map and sections showing surficial geology and depositional facies in valleys near Cortland, N.Y.......................................... 92

52. Geologic sections in the Allegheny Eiver valley near Olean, N.Y................................................................................................. 93

53. Geologic sections showing multiple till sheets interbedded with gravel and (or) sand, as exposed in excavations in

upland localities in the Western Appalachian Plateau.......................................................................................................... 94

54. Geologic section across a buried valley beneath West Branch Mahoning Eiver near Eavenna, Ohio....................................... 95

55. Geologic sections in valleys in the Western Appalachian Plateau, Mercer County, Pa. ............................................................. 97

56. Map showing surficial geology and inferred distribution of buried facies-1 sand and gravel in part of the Connecticut

Eiver lowland............................................................................................................................................................................ 100

57. Generalized section across the Connecticut Eiver valley............................................................................................................. 101

58. Geologic section across the Connecticut Eiver valley along State Highway 3 in Wethersfield and Glastonbury, Conn........... 102

59. Geologic sections showing typical relations of facies-1 aquifers and facies-2 fines in the Wallkill lowland, New York............ 105

60. Geologic sections near the Wallkill Eiver in New Jersey and New York..................................................................................... 106

61. Geologic sections representative of glacial-lake deposits in the Hudson Eiver lowland near and north of Albany, N.Y.......... 108

62. Map showing distribution of ice-contact sand and gravel (facies 1) in relation to bedrock valleys and ice margins in

the Hudson Eiver lowland near Albany, N.Y. ......................................................................................................................... Ill

63. Geologic section along the Mohawk Eiver in Schenectady County west of Schenectady, N.Y.................................................... 113

64. Map showing locations of potential facies-1 sand and gravel aquifers in the Ontario lowland in Oswego County, N.Y.......... 116

65. Geologic sections near the south end of the Sand Ridge aquifer in southern Oswego County, N.Y........................................... 117

66. Sketch of exposure in Lake Ontario bluff between Point Breeze and Brighton Cliff, N.Y.......................................................... 119

67. Composite geologic section of strandlines south of Lake Erie in Lake and Ashtabula Counties, Ohio..................................... 120

68. Geologic sections across Lake Iroquois beach deposits................................................................................................................. 122

69. Geologic sections across deltas along the mountain front south of the St. Lawrence lowland, New York ................................ 125

70. Geologic sections showing typical stratigraphy in the St. Lawrence lowland north of Canton, N.Y......................................... 127
VIII CONTENTS

Page

71. Geologic sections representative of the area inundated by marine water during deglaciation in coastal Maine

	and New Hampshire.................................................................^ B132

72. Geologic section from the terminal moraine south through Kenvil, N.J., into the headwaters of the Lamington

	River valley............................................................................................................................................................................... 136

73. Geologic section across Dog River valley, Northfield, Vt............................................................................................................... 138

74. Map showing locations of described or cited valleys in the northern rim of the Appalachian Plateau of New York ................ 141

75. Idealized geologic section across the Mohawk River lowland west of St. Johnsville, NY. ......................................................... 144

76. Photograph of inactive mudboil in Tully Valley, Onondaga County, N.Y .................................................................................... 145

77. Geologic section along the axis of a through valley in Dryden and Harford, N.Y........................................................................ 146

78. Geologic section across Cayuga Inlet valley in Ithaca, NY.......................................................................................................... 147

79. Schematic geologic section along the Genesee River valley from Portageville to Belmont, N.Y................................................. 148

80. Geologic section along the Genesee River and Canaseraga Creek valleys from Avon to Dansville, N.Y. .................................. 150

81. Geologic sections in Buttermilk Creek valley, Ashford, N.Y......................................................................................................... 151

82. Map showing areal extent of the Jamestown aquifer and altitude of its upper surface ............................................................. 153

83. Geologic sections across the Allegheny and Ohio River valleys in Pennsylvania........................................................................ 155

TABLES

TABLE 1. Terminology and timing of Pleistocene ice-sheet expansion and deglaciation in the Northeastern United States..................... B4

2. Proposed local readvances during late Wisconsinan deglaciation of the Northeastern United States ........................................ 7

3. Geologic units in the glacial drift along the Susquehanna and Chenango River valleys in southwestern Broome

County, NY .................................................................................................................................................................................. 57

4. Areal extent of surficial sand and gravel in watersheds representative of several hydrophysiographic regions ........................ 81

5. Quaternary stratigraphic units in St. Lawrence lowland north of Canton, N.Y............................................................................ 126

CONVERSION FACTORS

Multiply

foot (ft)

mile (mi)

square mile (mi2)

foot per mile (ft/mi)

gallon per minute (gal/min)

foot squared per day (ft2/d)

By

Length

0.3048

1.609

Area

2.590

Gradient

0.1894

Flow rate

0.06309

Transmissivity

0.09290

0.0108

To obtain

meter

kilometer

square kilometer

meter per kilometer

liter per second

meter squared per day

centimeters squared per second

Sea level: In this report, "sea level" refers to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD of 1929) a geodetic datum derived from 

a general adjustment of the first-order level nets of both the United States and Canada, formerly called Sea Level Datum of 1929.
REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT 

AQUIFERS IN THE GLACIATED NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

By ALLAN D. RANDALL

ABSTRACT

The Northeastern United States was probably glaciated several 

times. In most valleys, however, the last ice sheet eroded down to 

bedrock, and all of the stratified drift that now overlies bedrock can 

be ascribed to the last deglaciation. Only in northeastern Ohio, 

northwestern Pennsylvania, and parts of southwestern and central 

New York do valleys commonly contain complex stratigraphy that 

results from repeated glaciation: multiple till sheets interlayered 

with lacustrine silt and with sand or gravel aquifers. Most stratified 

drift was deposited in the major valleys or lowlands when they were 

inundated by rising sea level or, more commonly, by proglacial lakes. 

Coarse-grained sediment was deposited in these water bodies as 

deltas and subaquatic fans, commonly amid stagnant ice blocks near 

the margin of the active ice, and also in channels within the ice sheet. 

The sediment was derived partly from debris-laden basal ice and 

subglacial till, entrained by meltwater flowing through tunnels, and 

partly from fluvial erosion of recently deposited drift in the uplands 

that bordered the valley-bottom lakes. The stratified drift consists of 

three facies deposited successively: proximal coarse-grained 

heterogeneous ice-contact deposits, followed by distal fine-grained 

lake-bottom sediment, and finally by coarse-grained surficial 

sediment deposited in shallow lakes or stream channels. One or two 

facies may be absent at any given site, but all three can be identified 

in many places along every major valley or lowland. Coarse-grained 

ice-contact deposits commonly constitute the bulk of the stratified 

drift in narrow or shallow valleys, whereas in broad lowlands they 

are widely scattered and occupy only a small fraction of the valley 

floor. In valleys where depth to bedrock exceeds about 100 feet, the 

bulk of the stratified drift commonly is fine grained, and 

transmissivity is not generally proportional to saturated thickness. 

Coarse sand and gravel tend to be more abundant in the southern 

part of the glaciated Northeast than farther north.

Several concepts or generalizations are widely applicable in 

interpreting the distribution of coarse-grained aquifers within 

glacial drift in the glaciated Northeast. In many localities, stratified 

drift can be divided into a series of morphosequences, which 

represent successive time intervals during deglaciation. Grain size 

decreases distally within each morphosequence; coarse, 

heterogeneous ice-contact sand and gravel predominates at the 

proximal end, whereas coarse sand commonly overlies lake-bottom 

fines at the distal end. Successive morphosequences can be difficult 

to distinguish, however, and coarse proximal deposits that are

especially prominent and easily recognized commonly overlie 

relatively high bedrock and have small saturated thickness. Some 

investigators have inferred that water-yielding coarse sand and 

gravel are widely distributed at the base of the stratified drift, 

overlying till or bedrock, as a result of continuous deposition of 

subaquatic fans at the ice margin during retreat, even in broad 

lowlands where surficial stratified drift is predominantly fine 

grained. Other studies indicate, however, that subaquatic fans did 

not form in all valley reaches and that within broad lowlands they 

are restricted to relatively narrow zones that follow former subglacial 

channels. Straight or sinuous narrow ridges composed of coarse sand 

and gravel extend a few thousand feet, generally northward, from the 

heads of at least some morphosequences. These ridges, termed 

eskers, were deposited within or at the mouths of subglacial tunnels 

and are potential sources of large water supplies. Narrow zones of 

coarse stratified drift, typically eskers bordered or interspersed with 

other ice-contact deposits, are nearly continuous for several miles 

along some valleys and across low saddles. These zones seem to be 

the product of meltwater flow through persistent subglacial tunnel 

systems, are spaced 5 to 15 miles apart, and typically constitute 

aquifers more productive than any in intervening valleys. Coarse 

sand and gravel derived from upland watersheds was deposited 

where tributary streams entered proglacial lakes in the valleys. In 

deep valleys of the Appalachian Plateau and perhaps elsewhere, this 

coarse sand and gravel was deposited largely as subaquatic and 

surficial fans that now provide vertical hydraulic continuity between 

those tributaries and deep aquifers. In many regions, however, much 

sand and gravel was deposited near the proglacial lake surface in the 

upper parts of deltas, overlying fines and largely above the water 

table today. Where the deltas or fluvial sand deposits were built 

against or atop stagnant ice, collapse or settlement as the ice melted 

lowered the surficial sand and gravel, thereby increasing its 

saturated thickness.

Stratigraphy, water-transmitting properties, and saturated 

thickness of stratified drift can vary greatly over distances of a few 

hundred feet. Such variations are seldom fully known and are 

difficult to represent at map scales much smaller than 1:50,000. The 

glaciated Northeast can, however, be classified into several broad 

hydrophysiographic regions that are distinctive in their typical 

aquifer geometry, although many boundaries are gradational. In 

most of these regions, valleys generally sloped away from the ice 

sheet, and stratified drift was deposited in local lakes that formed 

successively as the ice retreated. Regions of low to moderate relief

Bl
B2 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

characterized by abundant, generally coarse-grained stratified drift 

deposited in small, closely spaced valleys occur chiefly in the 

southern part of the glaciated Northeast. Locally, sandy outwash was 

thick enough to bury the pre-existing topography, resulting in small 

regions in which water-level response to pumping resembles what is 

expected in an infinite aquifer. Abundant sandy valley trains extend 

for miles in major valleys south of the limit of glaciation. By contrast, 

regions of low to moderate relief in northern Maine contain little 

surficial stratified drift; the most central of these regions has almost 

none and is bordered by regions of sparse stratified drift that is 

chiefly fine grained, or largely buried beneath till, or limited to 

narrow eskers that follow but do not fill the valleys. The Tug Hill 

Plateau in north-central New York and the Pocono Plateau in 

northeastern Pennsylvania also are regions of slight local relief 

(except near the plateau margins); their small valleys drain radially 

and contain little sand or gravel. The mountain regions in northern 

New England and northern New York have narrow valley floors 

where scattered bedrock outcrops imply even narrower aquifers; 

much stratified drift is perched above stream grade on the valley 

sides. Relief is comparably high in the Catskill Mountains and 

Appalachian Plateau, but stratified drift here is not generally 

perched on the valley sides, and bedrock does not crop out on the 

valley floors. In the Catskills, valley fills seldom exceed 150 feet in 

saturated thickness and include thick till deposited on lee (down-ice) 

sides of hills. In the Appalachian Plateau, valley fills commonly 

exceed 150 feet in saturated thickness; those that do are mostly silt 

and clay, capped and commonly underlain by sand and gravel, 

although west of Salamanca, New York, some valleys contain 

multiple drift sheets. Valleys that drained toward the ice along the 

northern margin of the Appalachian Plateau are unusually deep and 

also commonly contain multiple drift sheets. The drift is 

predominantly diamicton and fine-grained stratified sediment, but 

sand and gravel occur as discontinuous lenses at several depths. 

Broad lowlands along the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, coastal 

Maine and New Hampshire, the St. Lawrence, Connecticut, and 

Hudson Rivers, and a few other places were inundated by extensive 

proglacial lakes or marine waters. These lowlands are characterized 

by widespread silt, clay, and fine sand interrupted by till-covered 

hills. Ice-contact sand and gravel deposits underlie small parts of the 

inundated areas, commonly as ice-channel fillings or esker deltas. 

Extensive surficial sand-plain aquifers are common only where 

tributary watersheds are large in relation to lowland area. These 

lake-dominated lowlands offer few opportunities for induced 

infiltration from large streams, whereas in many regions induced 

infiltration is the principal source of water to most large-capacity 

wells.

INTRODUCTION

The Northeastern United States was repeatedly 

invaded and covered by continental ice sheets during 

the past 2.5 million years (Ruddiman and Wright, 

1987). The ice greatly deepened some valleys, transported vast quantities of sediment, and deposited the 

sediment upon the scoured bedrock as a mantle of glacial drift. Meltwater was released seasonally as the ice 

melted, particularly during periods of ice retreat 

(deglaciation), and deposited much sediment as stratified drift in valleys or lowlands at or beyond the ice 

margin. The stratified drift includes sand and gravel 

deposits that now constitute the Northeast's most

productive aquifers, which are capable of supplying 

well yields at least an order of magnitude larger than 

generally obtainable from the underlying bedrock. 

Evaluation, development, and protection of these aquifers require knowledge of what might be termed "aquifer geometry" that is, the three-dimensional extent 

and distribution of saturated, water-yielding coarse 

sand and gravel relative to bedrock, to fine-grained 

non-water-yielding drift, and to recharge sources such 

as streams and infiltrating precipitation. These relationships constitute the hydrogeologic framework that 

constrains any appraisal or simulation of hydraulic 

behavior, yield, or use of the aquifers.

The grain size, water-transmitting properties, and 

saturated thickness of stratified drift can vary greatly 

over distances of a few thousands, hundreds, or even 

tens of feet. Aquifer geometry in some localities has 

been reasonably well defined through examination of 

earth materials in excavations, abundant borehole 

records, geophysical exploration, and hydrologic testing. Commonly, however, hydrologists must evaluate 

localities where data are not readily available in sufficient detail that aquifer geometry is unmistakably 

obvious. Particularly in such localities, interpretations 

depend greatly on the conceptual models that the 

investigator uses to organize available data. Useful 

concepts or generalizations have been developed from 

well-documented studies of particular localities and 

from recognition of typical patterns based on experience or literature covering many localities. The first 

part of this paper explains several concepts that are 

widely applicable in interpreting aquifer geometry in 

the glaciated Northeast. The latter part describes distinctive aspects and examples of aquifer geometry in 

each of several regions, which are delineated on plate 1. 

Readers primarily interested in a particular locality 

would probably need to look at only one or two of these 

regional descriptions.

The glaciated Northeast, as described in this paper 

and illustrated in figure 1, includes nearly all parts of 

the United States east of Cleveland, Ohio, that were 

covered by the most recent (Wisconsinan) ice sheet: 

northeastern Ohio, northern Pennsylvania and New 

Jersey, nearly all of New York and New England an 

area of 122,000 square miles. Long Island, N.Y., eastern Cape Cod, and the islands of Massachusetts are 

excluded because even though they were glaciated, 

their geology and hydrology are fundamentally different: they are largely surrounded by saltwater and are 

generally underlain by poorly consolidated Cretaceous 

sediments that include aquifers much more permeable 

and productive than the bedrock elsewhere in the glaciated Northeast. South of the Wisconsinan glacial border (fig. 1), some valleys were glaciated during older
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B3

Base map from various sources

Lambert conformal projection

Standard parallells: 41°15' 46°15'

Central meridian. -74°15'

EXPLANATION

The glaciated Northeast, as described herein

Valleys aggraded with sandy outwash south of ice-sheet limit 

 Southern limit of late Wisconsinan ice sheet

FIGURE 1. Extent of Wisconsinan glaciation in the Northeastern United States.

glacial epochs and (or) contain sediments deposited 

beyond the ice sheets by meltwater; they are briefly discussed. Many place names are mentioned in this paper 

that could not be conveniently shown on plate 1; their 

locations are shown in cited references that contain 

information about the particular localities.

The information and interpretations in this paper 

were drawn together during a study of stratified-drift 

aquifers in the glaciated Northeast conducted as part of 

the U.S. Geological Survey's Regional Aquifer-System 

Analysis program (see Foreword). The principal findings 

of the study are presented in three chapters of 

Professional Paper 1415. Chapter A (Haeni, 1995) 

describes the application of surface geophysical methods 

to delineation of those aquifers. Chapter B (this paper) 

presents geologic insights and generalizations that can 

be used as conceptual templates in interpreting the 

hydrogeologic framework of the stratified-drift aquifers

in localities within the region. Chapter C (Kontis, 

Randall, and Mazzaferro, in press) sets forth some typical values of hydraulic properties of stratified-drift aquifers, methods of computing those properties, and 

hydrologic principles, all useful in constructing groundwater flow models. Chapter C also presents a new 

method of simulating boundaries of those aquifers and 

recharge from the bordering uplands.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This paper was improved by advice from M.H. 

Frimpter, T.S. Miller, R.B. Moore, G.C. Prescott (all currently or formerly with the U.S. Geological Survey), 

E.H. Muller (Syracuse University), and J.C. Ridge 

(Tufts University) regarding topics or areas with which 

they are familiar, and by many learning opportunities 

provided by other Friends over the years.
B4 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

THE SINGULAR RESULTS OF 

MULTIPLE GLACIATION

The chronology of glaciation and deglaciation is long 

and complex. Studies of ocean-bottom cores have 

revealed cycles in oxygen isotopes, microbiota, seasurface temperature, and the ratio of detrital sediment 

to calcium carbonate that have been interpreted to 

indicate many episodes of global cooling over the past 

2.5 million years. Each episode was presumably accompanied by ice-sheet expansion in North America. Most 

episodes apparently incorporated minor oscillatory 

temperature fluctuations and were followed by relatively rapid warming and deglaciation (Imbrie and 

others, 1984). The most recent major glacial episode, 

termed Wisconsinan, reached its maximum extent in 

most of eastern North America about 21,000 years ago 

(Mickelson and others, 1983; Stone, 1995). The previous major glacial episode, termed Illinoian, peaked 

150,000 to 130,000 years ago (Ruddiman and Wright, 

1987). Each ice sheet eroded soil and bedrock and eventually redeposited the debris as a widespread but 

highly variable mantle of glacial drift. Table 1 lists the 

principal episodes of ice-sheet expansion (stades) and 

deglaciation (interstades) in Wisconsinan time. Events 

more recent than 60,000 years ago have been dated 

chiefly from radioactive-carbon isotopes in wood and 

other organic matter, a method which has been found to 

slightly understate the actual age. Thus, the 

Wisconsinan maximum measured in true (sidereal) 

years occurred about 24,000 years ago (Stone, 1995).

The maximum extent of Wisconsinan drift in the 

Northeastern United States is shown in figure 1. Discontinuous remnants of older drift are found south of 

the Wisconsinan drift border in parts of New Jersey, 

Pennsylvania, and New York. Most of these remnants 

have been considered Illinoian in age (White and 

others, 1969; Marchand and others, 1978; Growl and 

Sevon, 1980; Evenson and others, 1985, p. 85; Stone 

and others, 1989). The southern fringe of the drift in 

northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania is likewise 

older than that farther north and has been considered 

middle Wisconsinan in age (White and others, 1969; 

White, 1982; Szabo and Miller, 1986). Regardless of the 

specific age assignments, many of which have been 

revised as new information became available, field evidence makes clear that the Northeastern United States 

has been covered by continental ice sheets more than 

once, and that the most recent deglaciation was interrupted by several readvances, some of regional extent 

that reflected changes in climate and others of more 

local extent that could be attributed to ice dynamics 

and interaction of ice sheets with proglacial lakes 

(Teller, 1987).

TABLE 1. Terminology and timing of Pleistocene ice-sheet

expansion and deglaciation in the Northeastern United States

(after Muller and Calkin, 1993)

Subdivisions of Geologic Time

PLEISTOCENE EPOCH

WISCONSINAN STAGE

SUBSTAGE LATE 

MIDDLE SUBSTAGE

EARLY SUBSTAGE

Two Creeks Interstade

Port Huron Stade

Mackinaw Interstade

Port Bruce Stade

Erie Interstade

Nissouri Stade (Kent)

Plum Point Interstade 

(Port Washington)

Cherrytree Stade

Port Talbot Interstade

Guildwood Stade

St. Pierre Interstade

Nicolet Stade

SANGAMON INTERGLACIAL

ILLINOIAN STAGE

Thousands of 

years before 

present

11.9 

13.0

15.5 

16.5 

23

35 

40 

64

117 

130

Each cycle of ice advance and retreat resulted in 

deposition over most of the landscape of a sheet of till, 

which is a nonsorted and generally nonstratified 

mixture of grain sizes that can range from clay and silt 

to large boulders. Multiple layers of till are observed at 

many locations in the Appalachian Plateau of northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania and in 

the northern fringe of the Appalachian Plateau of New 

York. The till layers are commonly interlayered with 

stratified drift, especially in the major valleys, and the 

resulting complex stratigraphy is what might be 

expected as the product of repeated glaciation. Two or 

more tills interlayered with stratified drift also are 

preserved near the massive moraines that approximately mark the southernmost extent of Wisconsinan 

ice in New Jersey (Vecchioli and others, 1967), 

Martha's Vineyard (Kaye, 1964), and Cape Cod (Sayles 

and Knox, 1943). Elsewhere in the Northeast, however, 

glacial drift seems to be largely the product of a single 

cycle of ice advance and retreat; that is, till is found 

only atop bedrock, and any overlying stratified drift can 

reasonably be ascribed to a single deglaciation. Apparently the late Wisconsinan ice eroded away most older 

drift, especially in the valleys where ice thickness, 

velocity, and abrasive pressure were greatest (Sugden 

and John, 1977, p. 154, 165, 182). Alternatively, if the 

Wisconsinan ice did not erode to bedrock, the sediments deposited during successive deglaciations must 

be so similar that they are indistinguishable. Examples
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B5

of apparent single-stade stratigraphy are legion. Many 

papers explicitly interpret local deglacial history or 

aquifer geometry in single-stade terms, and a singlestade conceptual model is adequate for most geohydrologic site studies. In most regions, although scattered 

deposits provide evidence for multiple ice advances, 

those deposits are so located or so small in volume that 

they have little effect on the geometry of stratified-drift 

aquifers, as explained in the next few paragraphs.

Pre-Late Wisconsinan Drift. In most of the glaciated Northeast, remnants of unconsolidated deposits 

older than late Wisconsinan have been found chiefly in 

upland localities remote from extensive stratified-drift 

aquifers. Several authors have described sites in New 

England where loose or compact nonoxidized till is 

underlain by compact oxidized till, the upper several 

feet of which are characterized by chemical alteration 

of clay minerals and by abundant joints whose surfaces 

are darkened by iron and manganese stains. Pessl and 

Schafer (1968), Newton (1978), Koteff and Pessl (1985), 

Weddle and others (1989), and Newman and others 

(1990) reviewed and augmented these observations 

and concluded that the oxidized till was significantly 

older than the late Wisconsinan surface till. The older 

till has been identified chiefly in drumlins and similar 

smooth upland hillsides where till is unusually thick 

(Weddle and others, 1989). Other authors have 

described sites where remnants of deeply weathered 

bedrock are preserved beneath till (Goldthwait and 

Kruger, 1938; Randall, 1964, p. 21; Feininger, 1965; 

Muller, 1965b, p. 50; Larsen, 1987b; Ridge, 1988, 

p. 176-178). Two tills with differing directional fabric 

and provenance are superposed in a small valley in 

southern Connecticut (Flint, 1961). Two small valleys 

carved into upland hillsides bordering Cayuga Lake in 

central New York are partly or entirely filled with drift 

that includes till overlain by fossiliferous stratified sediments deposited at least 35,000 and 54,000 years ago, 

as dated from radiocarbon (Maury, 1908; Shumaker, 

1957; Bloom, 1967; Muller and Cadwell, 1986). Tills 

about 27,000 and 38,000 years in age are interbedded 

with stratified sediments and overlain by late 

Wisconsinan till at a site on the side of the Genesee 

River valley within the lowlands south of Lake Ontario 

(Young, 1993). In a small valley at Tahawus, N.Y., near 

the headwaters of the Hudson River, surficial till and 

three older tills are separated by sand, gravel, and 

(above the lowest till) wood-bearing clay that is more 

than 55,000 years old (Muller, 1965b; Craft, 1969; 

Muller and Calkin, 1993). Near New Sharon, Maine, 

the Sandy River has cut a gorge 100 feet deep through 

a ridge in which several diamicton layers are 

interbedded with clay, silt, fine sand, and one layer of 

sandy gravel (Caldwell and Weddle, 1983), all of which

overlies organic debris more than 35,000 years old that, 

in turn, overlies till (Caldwell, 1960) or 80 feet of compact drift (Weddle and others, 1989). The entire section 

predates stratified drift from the last deglaciation that 

fills nearby reaches of the Sandy River valley. Along 

Nash Stream in northern New Hampshire, late 

Wisconsinan till and fluvial outwash overlie till and 

deltaic ice-contact coarse sand (fig. 2) that are attributed to an earlier glaciation (Pessl and Koteff, 1970; 

Koteff and Pessl, 1985). Whether the older sand 

extends below stream grade is unknown. None of these 

pre-late Wisconsinan stratified deposits has been 

shown to have enough saturated thickness and areal 

extent to be considered a significant aquifer.

Differences in the depth of leaching of carbonates 

from the drift, and in ice-flow directions as indicated by 

till fabric and striations, were at one time interpreted 

as evidence for deglaciation followed by readvance over 

large areas in the Appalachian Plateau of New York 

(MacClintock and Apfel, 1944), in the St. Lawrence 

lowland of New York (MacClintock and Stewart, 1965), 

and in Vermont (Stewart and MacClintock, 1969). Subsequent studies showed that the differences in depth of 

leaching were due largely to differences in the initial 

carbonate content of the drift, which, in turn, was a 

reflection of bedrock lithology, and also showed that iceflow indicators did not support the distinct boundaries 

between drift sheets previously inferred; therefore, the 

surface drift in each of these areas was judged to be the 

product of a single glaciation (Dreimanis, 1957; Merritt 

and Muller, 1959; Larsen, 1972, 1987a; Wagner and 

others, 1972; Clark and Karrow, 1983).

Stratified Drift Deposited as Late Wisconsinan Ice 

Advanced. Volumes of seasonal meltwater were probably much smaller when late Wisconsinan ice was 

advancing than in the warmer climate of deglaciation, 

and any sediment deposited by that meltwater was 

readily subject to erosion by the advancing ice. Near 

the terminal moraine in New Jersey, however, late 

Wisconsinan till overlies extensive fine-grained 

sediments and deltaic sands deposited in ponds ahead 

of the advancing ice (Vecchioli and others, 1967; 

Stanford, 1989b). Fine-grained deposits beneath late 

Wisconsinan till also have been recognized in a few 

other localities (Larsen, 1972, stop 1; Randall, 1980; 

Ridge, 1988). Along the Connecticut River at West 

Lebanon, N.H., pebbly sand exposed in two excavations 

was interpreted as advance outwash beneath 15 to 

40 feet of late Wisconsinan till (Larsen, 1987a). Discontinuous thin lenses of stratified sediment occur in 

many places within the late Wisconsinan till; most 

probably were deposited in subglacial cavities, and 

some yield small amounts of water to springs or dug 

wells.
B6 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

SOUTH

FEET

150-,

NORTH

100-

Nash Stream Till . ... .. (nonoxidized) (ox.dized)

Ablation till

Stratford Mountain Till

Water-laid sediment 

with interstratified till

Colluvium 

50 Upper 

outwash

\

NO VERTICAL EXAGGERATION Break in section

0

Nash Stream Till (nonoxidized)

50 100 FEET

\ 

25 METERS

A. Exposures of lower outwash between two tills. 

(From Koteff and Pessl, 1985, fig. 5.)

QUEBEC

Canaan

NEW \ 

HAMPSHIREf

SOUTH

Upper outwash Upper outwash Lower 

outwash

NORTH

Upper outwash

NO VERTICAL EXAGGERATION

B. Exposures of upper outwash directly overlying lower outwash without | , \ 

intervening till. (From Pessl and Koteff, 1970, fig. 5.) o

FIGURE 2. Generalized geologic sections based on exposures along Nash Stream north of Groveton, N.H., 

showing outwash that predates the most recent till.

25 METERS

Late Wisconsinan Readvances. The disappearance 

of the late Wisconsinan ice sheet has long been recognized to have been an unsteady process, marked by 

pauses and temporary readvances that complicated the 

stratigraphic record in some localities. Mickelson and 

others (1983) concluded from stratigraphic evidence 

and radiocarbon dates that the southern margin of the 

ice sheet readvanced roughly every 1,000 years 

between 21,000 and 13,000 years ago in the region west 

of central Ohio, but state that regionally extensive 

readvances have not been documented in the glaciated 

Northeast before about 15,500 years ago. Teller (1987, 

p. 46, p. 62) reported that glacial retreat since 

14,000 years ago was interrupted by several rapid 

readvances, many of which may have been ice surges 

facilitated by the presence of lakes and fine-grained 

sediments in front of the ice margin. Readvances in 

several localities in the glaciated Northeast during the

last deglaciation have been proposed (table 2). Evidence for these local readvances, unlike the evidence 

for earlier glaciations discussed above, is largely in 

areas of stratified drift in the major lowlands. The principal evidence cited is scattered occurrences of till and 

(or) disturbed sediments (thrust faults, folds, or erosion 

by ice) within or atop stratified drift.

Most features attributed to the ice readvances listed 

in table 2 fall into one of two categories, either of which 

implies that the readvance did not alter aquifer 

geometry.

1. Minor interruptions in continuous deposition of finegrained sediments, such as a few feet of till or 

disturbed bedding within lake-bottom fine sands 

or rhythmites. For example, a sparsely pebbly 

zone(s) within an extensive layer of fine sand that 

caps lacustrine silt and clay between Albany and 

Saratoga, N.Y., has been interpreted as outwash
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B7

from the Delmar readvance (Dineen and Hanson, 

1983). A readvance is not required to account for 

the upward coarsening from silt to sand in this 

region; the sand can be explained by increased 

water velocities as the lake filled with sediment 

and lake level declined, and by wind blowing fine 

sand into the lake from adjacent sandy terraces 

(Dineen and Rogers, 1979; Dineen and Hanson, 

1983).

2. Significant sand and gravel aquifers whose stratigraphy seems equally consistent with readvance or 

with a pause in retreat without readvance. For 

example, a 5-mile-long, deeply kettled valley train 

near Lake Luzerne, N.Y. (Connally and Sirkin, 

1971), deltas near Rosendale, N.Y. (Dineen, 

1986a) and near Middlebury, Vt. (Connally, 1982), 

and a deltaic outwash plain near Westfield, Mass. 

(Larsen and Hartshorn, 1982, p. 123) were 

ascribed to deposition from readvanced ice. None 

of the authors cited, however, presented evidence 

that rules out deposition of these features partly 

or entirely during the initial retreat (whether or 

not the ice subsequently readvanced to the head of 

each feature), nor do they mention any package of 

sediments underlying these features that could be 

ascribed to initial retreat prior to the proposed 

readvance. Fleisher and Cadwell (1984) ascribed 

thick, pitted outwash gravel overlying finegrained lake deposits near Cooperstown, N.Y., to 

readvance, and Fleisher (199 la, b) later hypothesized that ice tongues could easily readvance as 

much as 12 miles across the deformable bed provided by the fine-grained lake deposits. A similar 

stratigraphic section would have resulted from a 

prolonged pause in retreat north of the locality 

described, however, whether or not the ice 

readvanced.

The most extensive of the proposed readvances 

listed in table 2 is the readvance in northeastern 

Maine. It represents a well-documented but quantitatively minor interruption in deposition of coarsegrained sediments and may be of hydrologic significance in that the discontinuous near-surface diamicton 

could slightly decrease the transmissivity of valleyfill aquifers and recharge to those aquifers. The diamicton is a distinctive feature of northeastern Maine, 

described further on in the section "Low-Relief Fringes 

of Maine Residual Ice Cap."

In summary, although the Northeastern United 

States was glaciated several times, multiple drift 

sheets in which sand and gravel aquifers alternate 

with confining layers are generally lacking. Apparently, 

the Wisconsinan ice generally eroded to bedrock in the

major valleys. Remnants of pre-late Wisconsinan drift, 

chiefly till, are preserved in some upland localities, and 

evidence for readvance by late Wisconsinan ice has 

been reported from several valleys or lowlands. Some of 

the proposed readvances probably never occurred or 

were quite localized, however, and others apparently 

had little effect on the depositional environment or the 

topography that controlled it. Consequently, sediment 

deposition was commonly much the same before and 

after these minor readvances, or changed in ways that 

would be expected whether or not readvance occurred. 

By contrast, multiple drift sheets are widespread and 

hydrologically significant in three regions identified on 

plate 1 and discussed later in this paper: the Western 

Appalachian Plateau, the northern rim of the 

Appalachian Plateau, and the New Jersey terminal 

moraine.

TABLE 2. Proposed local readvances during late Wisconsinan 

deglaciation of the Northeastern United States

Locality References and remarks

Eastern New England

Northeastern Maine Kite, 1983; Boms and Borns, 1986; diamicton 

at or near top of sand and gravel at many 

sites in lower St. John and Aroostook 

valleys.

Pineo Ridge, Maine Borns, 1973; Borns and Hughes, 1977.

Kennebunk, Maine Bloom, 1963. Readvance reinterpreted as 

minor ice-front oscillation by Smith, 1981.

Manchester, N.H. stone and Koteff, 1979. Interpretation based 

on one exposure of till over disturbed 

rhythmites.

Connecticut River lowland

Middletown, Conn. Flint and Cushman, 1953; Flint, 1956. 

Readvance refuted by Stone and others 

(1982) and London (1985).

Chicopee, Mass. Larsen and Hartshorn, 1982; Larsen, 1982. 

Hudson-Champlain lowland

Tappan, N.Y. Averill and others, 1980. Readvance disputed 

by Stanford and Harper, 1991.

Rosendale, N.Y. Connally and Sirkin, 1970; Dineen, 1986a. 

Readvance disputed by Duskin, 1986.

Delmar, N.Y. Dineen and Rogers, 1979; Dineen and 

(also Yosts, N.Y.) Hanson, 1983; Dineen and Hanson, 1985.

Luzerne, N.Y. Connally and Sirkin, 1971. Readvance

disputed by DeSimone and LaFleur, 1986.

Bridport, Vt. Connally, 1970, 1982.

Lake Ontario lowland

Niagara County, N.Y. Smith and Calkin, 1990. Two tills separated 

by silt in Lake Ontario bluffs.
B8 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

THE ENVIRONMENT OF STRATIFIEDDRIFT DEPOSITION: PROGLACIAL

LAKES AT THE ICE MARGIN

Glacial drift is collectively the end product of erosion 

and deposition by the ice itself and by meltwater. Ice 

eroded most effectively in the valleys and deposited till 

most abundantly as hills or localized accumulations on 

upland hillsides. Meltwater, by contrast, eroded channels in the uplands and deposited stratified drift chiefly 

in the major valleys. The stratified drift was deposited 

in proglacial lakes or marine embayments that developed in major valleys or lowlands during deglaciation 

and, to a lesser extent, along stream channels that 

spread across the valley floors after the proglacial 

water bodies had filled with stratified drift or had 

drained.

The importance of proglacial water bodies as sites of 

sediment deposition has been long and widely recognized. Davis (1890) and Salisbury (1892) recognized 

that sand or "wash" plains (outwash plains) in 

Massachusetts and New Jersey were predominantly of 

deltaic origin. Flint (1930, p. 63, map) interpreted the 

stratified drift of Connecticut as "successions of marginal ice-contact terraces of debris built delta-wise into 

temporary glacial lakes." Smith and Ashley (1985, 

p. 136, p. 169) mentioned that glaciolacustrine deposits 

are major components of the glacial drift in North 

America, and that the most common ice-contact lakes 

are small, short-lived lakes that form at glacier margins. Teller (1987, fig. 21) calculated that more than 

40,000 square miles along the ice margin in eastern 

North America were inundated by large lakes during 

most of the last deglaciation, not counting the numerous small lakes or the extensive areas where marine 

water bordered the ice sheets.

Nearly 10,000 years elapsed between initial retreat 

of the late Wisconsinan ice sheet from its southernmost margin in Pennsylvania and New Jersey (fig. 1) 

and the disappearance of the last ice from northcentral Maine. In any given locality, however, uncovering of the landscape and deposition of stratified drift 

took place within a few hundred to, at most, a few thousand years, during which depositional conditions 

changed and after which incision and regrading by 

postglacial streams generally prevailed. In this paper, 

discussions of events or conditions during deglaciation 

in any locality refer to the relatively short period when 

proglacial lakes existed there and the ice margin was 

retreating, or perhaps briefly readvancing, through 

that locality

WHY PROGLACIAL LAKES WERE UBIQUITOUS

Proglacial lakes developed along ice margins during 

deglaciation for several reasons:

1. Deep erosion by ice in some valley reaches created 

closed basins that trapped water after the ice 

melted. The Finger Lakes of New York, some of 

which were eroded far below sea level, are prime 

examples (Coates, 1968; Mullins and Hinchey, 

1989); ice-scoured closed basins also have been 

documented in other localities (Newman and 

others, 1969; Handman and others, 1986; Fleisher 

and others, 1992; Moore and others, 1994).

2. Many valleys drained or sloped toward the ice sheet, 

which blocked the natural outlet of runoff. Thus, 

water accumulated as proglacial lakes in these 

valleys during ice advance and retreat. Each lake 

spilled across the lowest saddle on the divide or, in 

a few instances, across or under the ice. Among 

the many proglacial lakes of this type were those 

in the Genesee and former Allegheny valleys of 

western New York (Frimpter, 1974; Muller and 

others, 1988), the northern Adirondack region 

(Denny, 1974), the Nashua valley of eastern 

Massachusetts (Koteff, 1982), and the northwestern Green Mountains (Wagner, 1972). The apparent absence of lacustrine deposits in a few northdraining valleys several miles in length has been 

ascribed to the presence of stagnant ice, which 

was inferred to have occupied all space below the 

lowest saddle on the watershed perimeter (Denny, 

1974, p. 7; Cadwell, 1985, p. 83) or to have allowed 

water to drain out through crevasses or tunnels to 

a lower, more northerly outlet (Randall, 1978a, 

p. 13; Miller and Randall, 1991).

3. In the glaciated Northeast, far more valleys drained 

away from the ice sheet than toward it. During 

deglaciation, most of these valleys also contained 

proglacial lakes, each of which was ponded behind 

drift recently deposited downvalley. Whenever the 

surface of the ice melted down to an altitude lower 

than the surface of the drift downvalley, a proglacial lake developed. Overflow from the lake 

spilled across the earlier deposits, slowly incising 

them or, in a few localities, spilled across a bedrock saddle that was slightly lower than the 

deposits choking the main valley. Commonly, sediment filled these lakes almost as fast as they 

formed, thereby lengthening the dam or spillway 

that controlled the lake level. Examples of selfdamming sequences of stratified drift are found in 

the lower Connecticut River valley (Stone and 

others, 1982, p. 9; Koteff and others, 1987, p. 3),
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B9

the Susquehanna River valley (Randall, 1986a), 

and the Merrimack River valley (Koteff and 

others, 1984).

4. Northward tilting caused by isostatic depression of 

the Earth's crust beneath the ice sheet decreased 

gradients of south-draining valleys, thereby 

increasing the size of lakes ponded behind drift 

dams. The depression also allowed some 

postglacial streams to flow in directions opposite 

to their preglacial ancestors. For example, the 

Farmington River in Connecticut once flowed 

southward from Farmington center but now flows 

13 miles northward at low gradient to cross 

Talcott Mountain through a saddle at Tariffville, a 

diversion facilitated by isostatic depression of the 

saddle during deglaciation (Flint, 1934; Lougee, 

1938). The potent effects of isostatic depression on 

the relative altitude of the widely separated saddles that successively accepted overflow from the 

proglacial Great Lakes are described by Teller 

(1987) and Larsen (1987).

STREAM DEPOSITS AND THEIR RELATION 

TO PROGLACIAL LAKES

Stratified drift ranges in grain size from cobbleboulder gravel to laminated or massive silty clay. The 

fine-grained sediments obviously settled on the bottoms of proglacial lakes or marine embayments, so are 

termed glaciolacustrine (or glaciomarine). Most sand 

and gravel deposits are so located with respect to 

upland topography, planar depositional surfaces, delta 

foresets, and (or) fine-grained sediments that they also 

must have been deposited below the surface of 

proglacial water bodies. Thus, they are also glaciolacustrine (or glaciomarine). Nevertheless, many such 

deposits have been termed glaciofluvial in some publications because their coarse grain size, heterogeneity, 

and sedimentary structures such as channels, plane 

and trough crossbedding, and imbricated gravel 

indicate deposition by rapid unidirectional flows of 

meltwater. Presumably, these coarse sediments were 

deposited where meltwater streams entered the water 

bodies. This type of depositional setting has been 

described in some detail by Rust and Romanelli (1975), 

Smith (1982), Thompson and Smith (1983), Shaw 

(1985, p. 64), and Smith and Ashley (1985, p. 171). Two 

idealized models of depositional processes that occur 

where sediment-laden meltwater enters proglacial 

water bodies are illustrated in figure 3; the subaquatic 

fan generates a stratigraphic section that coarsens 

downward, whereas the delta model coarsens upward.

Sinuous or linear ridges of sand and gravel, termed 

ice-channel fillings, are found in many localities. Some

A. Subaquatic Fan

EXPLANATION

PE^E:

Gravel and sand 

Sand 

Sand foreset beds 

Silt

' / '/.$ ,#£ &

->

Clay 

Diamicton lens

Sediment-laden meltwater underflows 

Debris flow

FIGURE 3. Idealized stratigraphy resulting from two 

depositional mechanisms in proglacial lakes.

were deposited in ponded water by the mechanisms 

illustrated in figure 3 that is, they constitute deltas 

built along linear lakes in ice crevasses (LaSala, 1961) 

or successive subaquatic fans built at the mouth of a 

subglacial tunnel as the ice margin retreated in ponded 

water (Banerjee and McDonald, 1975, p. 135). Others, 

known as eskers, are inferred to have been deposited in 

tunnels beneath the ice that, although water-filled, 

could not be described as ponded because the meltwater was flowing rapidly under pressure (Banerjee 

and McDonald, 1975; Shreve, 1984, 1985).
BIO REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Sand and gravel also were deposited along meltwater streams whose channels were open to the 

atmosphere rather than beneath ice. Such glaciofluvial 

sediments are fairly widespread at land surface but 

generally are thin; thus, they constitute only a small 

fraction of total stratified-drift volume. They occur 

chiefly as topset beds of deltas and as veneers deposited 

as streams aggraded or incised the former beds of 

water bodies that had drained or had filled with sediment (Gustavson and others, 1975, p. 268; Stone and 

others, 1982). Thus, they are generally found within 

the boundaries of the former proglacial water bodies 

and overlie fine-grained sediments that were deposited 

in those water bodies. Beyond the limit of glaciation, 

however, many tens offset of glaciofluvial outwash unrelated to lakes accumulated in some south-draining 

valleys or lowlands (Kaye, 1960; Larson, 1982; Stone 

and Peper, 1982; White, 1982).

THE NATURE OF THE ICE MARGIN

Deposition of stratified drift depended not only on 

the presence of proglacial lakes but also on the nature 

of the ice margin in those lakes. The manner of retreat 

of the last ice sheet has long been a subject of debate, 

particularly with regard to the extent of stagnant, 

motionless ice relative to active, advancing ice. Koteff 

and Pessl (1981), Connally (1982), and Dineen (1986a) 

reviewed and appraised the history of contrasting opinions. Two conceptual models of ice-margin retreat are 

widely accepted:

Stagnation-Zone Retreat. Ice ceases to deform and 

flow under the influence of gravity when its thickness 

decreases to the point that gravity forces no longer 

exceed the combination of atomic bonding forces within 

the ice and friction at the base of the ice (Hughes, 1981, 

p. 236). The minimum thickness that will flow on land 

is 200 feet (von Engeln, 1961, p. 63), but thinner ice 

tongues can advance in ponded water because buoyancy reduces basal friction. Some authors envision the 

ice sheet as bordered by a marginal zone in which the 

ice is thin, motionless, and melting in place. Active ice 

to the north gradually thins by ablation (downwasting), 

so periodically another marginal segment stagnates, 

generally south of some topographic irregularity that 

provides resistance to flow. Evidence that stratified 

drift was deposited against or atop stagnant ice exists 

in many places in the form of kettleholes, hummocky 

terrain, irregular collapsed margins of level terraces, 

and downwarped beds or downthrown faults bordering 

these collapse features. The width of the zone of continuous stagnant ice in southern New England has been 

estimated to be 0.3 to 1.2 miles typically (Stone and

others, 1982) and as much as 1.5 miles locally (Koteff 

and Pessl, 1981, p. 12); large, detached ice blocks commonly remained over a much larger area. The stagnation zone was estimated to be at least 1.5 miles wide in 

the Champlain valley of Vermont (Connally, 1982) and 

even wider in eastern Vermont (Larsen, 1987).

Active Retreat. Other authors envision the ice 

sheet as remaining active and solid all the way to the 

margin. Layers of till, and deformation attributable to 

lateral pressure or drag from overriding ice, are both 

found locally within stratified drift and are taken as 

evidence of an active ice margin. Channels carved into 

some upland hillsides at gentle gradients (rather than 

heading directly downslope) are believed to mark 

where the sloping margin of solid ice once intersected 

the hillside and bordered the channel (Goldthwait and 

Mickelson, 1982; Stanford, 1989a; Larsen, 1992; 

Stanford and others, 1998). Active ice margins and 

rapid retreat are commonly observed where modern 

valley glaciers terminate in deep, extensive water bodies. Large blocks of ice break off and float away, a process known as calving. The ice may be grounded at the 

edge of the lake (or ocean) and terminate in a steep cliff, 

or it may terminate in an ice shelf or ramp that is floating (Smith and Ashley, 1985, p. 172; Teller, 1987).

In summary, depositional features of stratified drift 

suggest that during deglaciation the outermost active 

ice was commonly but not universally bordered by a 

fringe of decaying stagnant ice. Sediment deposition 

into open water beyond or beneath an active, floating 

ice margin was most likely in large, deep proglacial 

water bodies, whereas deposition in progressively 

expanding interlaced ponds amid and over stagnant ice 

was most likely in narrow, shallow valleys.

SOURCES OF SEDIMENT

Much of the sediment deposited in proglacial lakes 

as stratified drift was entrained by meltwater directly 

from the ice sheet, as basal ice was eroded by subglacial 

streams or melted at the ice margin. Some of the sediment was eroded from recently deposited drift in 

uplands bordering the lakes, as streams incised their 

channels in a landscape shaped by the ice. 

Jokulhlaups catastrophic floods resulting from 

sudden draining of proglacial lakes locally provided 

large volumes of coarse sediment by erosion of upland 

channels (Hand and Muller, 1972; Hildreth and Moore, 

1993).

Studies of debris transport by modern ice sheets and 

valley glaciers have revealed that most of the sediment 

is carried in the lowest 10 to 50 feet of the ice (Boulton, 

1975; Lawson, 1979; Shaw, 1985). Some melting occurs
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS Bll

at the base of the ice sheet, caused by friction and pressure and the geothermal gradient, but the volume of 

seasonal melting at the ice surface is far greater. Active 

ice can override stagnant ice or recently deposited drift 

near the ice margin. Some authors have suggested that 

this upward shearing process can bring much basal ice 

up to the glacier surface where its sediment is readilj 

accessible to melt-water (Goldthwait, 1951; Koteff, 

1974; Koteff and Pessl, 1981). Under some conditions, 

sediment-laden subglacial meltwater freezes onto the 

base of the glacier, and the addition of multiple layers 

of sediment-laden ice by repetition of this process can 

raise the uppermost sediment far above the base 

(Boulton, 1967; Lawson, 1979). Other studies have concluded, however, that entrainment of sediment by 

surficial meltwater at the ice margin is relatively 

minor. Evenson and others (1984) estimated from field 

observation and mass-flux calculations that only about 

10 percent of the drift at the terminus of a glacier in an 

Alaskan valley was delivered by the ice itself. The rest 

was delivered by subglacial and ice-marginal streams 

and was derived from glacially or nonglacially fed tributaries and from melting of the glacier some distance 

above its terminus. Surficial meltwater commonly disappears into moulins or crevasses over the entire 

length, or at least the distal part, of modern glaciers 

(Gustavson, 1984; Shreve, 1984, 1985), then flows 

through subglacial channels to the ice margin (Kamb 

and others, 1985). By this mechanism, surficial 

meltwater would obtain access to abundant basal sediment. Sediment-laden meltwater discharged from tunnels at the toe of a glacier into ponded water may jet 

upward as fountains because of density differences, 

thereby carrying suspended sediment up to the water 

surface (Gustavson, 1984; Cowan and Seramur, 1990). 

When distal flow of basal meltwater is blocked by accumulation of sediment in a subaquatic fan at the ice 

margin (Boothroyd, 1984), presumably similar meltwater fountains carry sediment up to the top of the fan, 

which may eventually build up to the water surface and 

become a surficial outwash fan or fan delta (Gustavson, 

1975).

Meltwater in subglacial tunnels obtains sediment 

from the melting of sediment-laden ice along the tunnel 

walls by heat derived from viscous friction in the 

flowing meltwater. The tunnels do not enlarge appreciably because the ice flows toward them by plastic 

deformation in response to a hydraulic pressure gradient (Shreve, 1984, 1985). Creep of subglacial till also 

can deliver sediment to tunnels (Alley, 1990), and 

migration of subglacial tunnels can erode drift beneath 

the ice (Gustavson, 1984). Some eskers are bordered by

bedrock surfaces that have been scoured free of till for 

many tens of feet on either side of the esker (Banerjee 

and McDonald, 1975, p. 134).

In the glaciated Northeast, till mantles the bedrock 

not only in uplands, where it is normally the only 

unconsolidated sediment, but also in lowlands, where it 

underlies stratified drift. Several water-resource 

appraisals in Connecticut (Ryder and others, 1970; 

Mazzaferro and others, 1979; Handman and others, 

1986; report that till thickness beneath stratified drift 

in lowlands averages 5 to 10 feet, much less than the 

average of 25 feet in the surrounding uplands. Melvin 

and others (1992, p. 8) reported that till in southern 

New England is generally less than 10 feet thick where 

overlain by stratified drift and 10 to 30 feet thick where 

exposed at land surface. Randall (1972) compiled lithologic logs of 1,110 wells and test borings in the 

Susquehanna River basin of New York. Of these logs, 

256 penetrated to bedrock in major valleys and were 

sufficiently explicit for a fairly confident determination 

of whether the unit immediately overlying bedrock was 

till. More than one-third of these logs reported no till 

atop bedrock, and about half reported less than 3 feet 

of till. The other half penetrated 3 to 67 feet of till; 

these larger thicknesses were mostly near the valley 

sides or in a few hills composed of till on the valley floor. 

Canace and others (1993) drew geologic sections across 

several valleys north of the terminal moraine in Morris 

County, N.J., where many feet of till separate stratified 

drift from bedrock in some places, but more commonly 

geologic mapping showed that till mantles bedrock on 

the valley sides, whereas well records indicated sand 

and gravel atop bedrock beneath the valley floor (fig. 4). 

The absence or negligible thickness of till in so many 

places beneath stratified drift in valleys could result 

from erosion by subglacial meltwater. Subglacial meltwater channels tend to follow valleys because valleys 

deflect hydraulic equipotential contours in the ice sheet 

(Shreve, 1984, 1985) and because subglacial melting 

occurs first where the ice is relatively close to geothermal heat. Many subglacial channels persisted throughout the later stages of deglaciation and deposited sand 

or gravel atop bedrock near the retreating ice margin, 

as described further on.

In the glaciated Northeast, meltwater issuing 

directly from the ice and streams from bordering 

uplands each contributed substantially to the deposition of stratified drift, but the ratio of sediment derived 

from these two sources differs from place to place. 

Along the Wallkill valley in New Jersey, pebble counts 

from stratified drift generally indicate a marked lack of 

mixing: 30 to 85 percent of the pebbles in gravel along
B12 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

the valley axis were derived from the carbonate bedrock that underlies the valley, suggesting a subglacial 

source, whereas nearly all pebbles in gravel along the 

sides of the valley were bedrock types from the adjacent 

uplands (Stanford and others, 1998). In Berkshire valley, New Jersey, a linear valley with only a few small 

tributaries, pebbles derived from bedrock that underlies the valley predominate in all gravel deposits 

(Stanford, 1989b). In the Susquehanna River basin of 

New York, erratic-rich gravel was transported from the 

north along most large valleys by ice flow and (or) subglacial meltwater, but an influx of erratic-poor gravel 

from tributaries draining adjacent uplands locally 

diluted the erratic-rich gravel (Moss and Ritter, 1962) 

and (or) preceded it (Randall, 1978a). In the Delaware 

River basin, most large accumulations of stratified drift 

are near the mouths of tributaries, which must have 

been major sediment sources (Kirkland, 1973). The 

central lowland of Connecticut and Massachusetts 

received much inwash from tributaries draining the 

adjacent uplands during dcglaciation, as indicated by 

the relative abundance of coarse-grained deposits 

along the margins of the lowland (Stone and others, 

1979) and by the substantial admixture of crystalline 

rock fragments from the uplands with red sedimentary 

rock fragments from the lowland in those deposits 

(Lougee, 1938; Randall, 1970). In localities where sediment derived from upland sources differs in lithology 

from that derived up-ice, the contrast has proved useful 

in stratigraphic correlation and in explaining spatial 

variations in water quality.

THE UNIVERSAL THREE 

DEPOSITIONAL FACIES

In nearly all valleys or lowlands throughout the glaciated Northeast, the stratified drift consists of three 

facies that are successive in any given locality, 

although transgressive over longer distances:

Facies 1. Early deglacial, proximal, or ice-contact 

facies: predominantly coarse-grained sediment, 

heterogeneous, varying widely in degree of sorting, 

deposited close to active ice and (or) amid abundant 

stagnant ice masses.

Facies 2. Mid-deglacial, distal facies: predominantly 

fine-grained sediment, deposited in moderately 

large bodies of water, farther than facies 1 from the 

active ice.

Facies 3. Late-deglacial or postglacial, surficial facies: 

coarse-grained sediment, commonly well sorted, 

deposited in shallow water and commonly atop 

facies 2 or 1.

40°26

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

Boonton, N.J., quadrangle, rj 

1954,1:24,000

1,000 2,000 FEET

0 300 600 METERS

FEET 

650 i

600 -

550 

500 

450 -

400 -

350 -

A1

., 

<^ A Bedrock

Horizontal scale 1 inch = 2,000 feet 

Datum is sea level 

Vertical exaggeration x 20

Weathered

Bedrock

EXPLANATION

Postglacial alluvium Sand, silt

Outwash Sand, minor gravel

Lake-bottom deposits Fine sand, silt, minor clay

Qld Delta, subaquatic fan Sand and gravel

Qt \ Till

I Well, casing length and generally driller's

-L log available

 A' Line of geologic section

FIGURE 4. Stratigraphy of stratified drift beneath the floor of 

Stony Brook valley near Denville, N.J. (Modified from Canace and 

others, 1993, pi. 3.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B13

Facies 1 was deposited near the ice margin by rapidly flowing meltwater wherever its velocity 

decreased in tunnels beneath stagnant ice and probably beneath active ice as well, in crevasses, moulins, or 

erosional channels within or beside stagnant ice, and in 

lakes or the ocean where subglacial streams emerged 

from the front of the ice sheet. Much of the fine-grained 

sediment remained in suspension, to be deposited 

downvalley as facies 2. Diamicton layers are commonly 

interbedded within the stratified drift, having been 

deposited by mass movements of loose sediments 

freshly exposed on the ice surface or valley sides, or by 

the ice sheet during minor oscillations. Two alternative 

conceptualizations of the depositional environment for 

facies 1 are shown in the top panel of figure 5.

As the ice margin retreated, the locus of coarse 

facies-1 sedimentation retreated with it, and any stagnant ice left behind gradually melted. Consequently, in 

valley reaches not already choked with facies-1 sediments, proglacial lakes expanded, meltwater velocities 

slowed proportionately, and fine-grained sediment was 

deposited. Sediment was transported within proglacial 

lakes largely by density underflows and turbidity currents that traveled along the bottom but also, in part, 

by turbid overflows that fanned out at the surface 

(Powell, 1981; Smith and Ashley, 1985). Drifting and 

subsequent melting of sediment-laden icebergs 

dropped sediment pellets, sand, and stones as large as 

several feet in diameter into the lake-bottom muds. In 

some places, diamicton layers similar to till were 

formed by this process and (or) by subaquatic slumping 

of unstable sediments (Powell, 1981; Ridge, 1985).

As long as the rate of retreat was reasonably steady, 

facies 1 and 2 could potentially form a physically continuous time-transgressive onlapping stratigraphic 

sequence in any given valley, interrupted only where 

high ground limited the extent of the proglacial lake or 

when the lake ceased to exist because water drained 

out through some outlet that had previously been 

plugged by the ice sheet. Continuity of the facies-2 fine 

sediments also could be interrupted if a pause in the 

rate of retreat allowed coarse sediment to accumulate 

up to the lake surface near the ice margin.

Facies 3 consists of coarse to fine sand and gravel 

that were deposited in shallow ponded water or along 

stream channels late in deglaciation or even after the 

complete disappearance of the ice. It typically occurs 

atop facies 2 but can overlie facies 1 as well and is commonly, but not necessarily, finer grained and better 

sorted than facies 1. Several processes resulted in the 

widespread presence of surficial sand and gravel atop 

fine-grained sediment. For example, when a substantial influx of sediment took place at the same location

for some time, whether derived from a tributary stream 

or from an ice-marginal or subglacial stream during a 

pause in retreat, coarse sediment eventually prograded 

outward across fine sediment in the form of a delta. 

When lake levels declined because erosion lowered the 

spillway, or because ice-margin retreat exposed a lower 

outlet, deltas could fill the lake more quickly and 

prograde farther. When lakes drained completely 

through new outlets, tributary streams commonly covered the former lake floor with sand and gravel derived 

from erosion of older stratified drift along the valley 

margins and from erosion in upland drainage basins. 

Postglacial stream incision converted many of these 

alluvial deposits to terraces.

Each of the three depositional facies can be identified in many places along almost any major valley or 

lowland throughout the glaciated Northeast. For this 

reason, the three-facies single-deglaciation model is 

termed universal. Where all three facies occur at one 

location, they form a characteristic coarse/fine/coarse 

stratigraphic section. At many locations, however, only 

one or two facies are present. For example, in narrow 

valleys where small, shallow lakes developed, meltwater velocities generally remained too large for deposition of facies 2. In broad lowlands, surficial sediment 

is fine grained over large areas that were too distant 

from major streams to be capped by facies-3 sand or 

gravel after the lake drained, and facies 1 is commonly 

restricted in areal extent, occupying the entire stratigraphic section at some locations but completely absent 

nearby. Despite these variations, each facies is widely 

distributed.

Locally, the three-facies model can be an oversimplification of the true complexity of stratified-drift stratigraphy. For example, localized complexity can result 

where ice-marginal deltas prograde over fine-grained 

sediment but are then abandoned by retreat before the 

lake is filled so that continued fine-grained deposition 

overlaps the delta (Thompson, 1978, fig. 9; Smith, 1982, 

fig. 9). Complexity also can result from the persistence 

of large stagnant ice blocks long after the retreat of the 

ice margin. Randall (1986) mapped several kettleholes 

in which fine-grained organic-rich sediment accumulated atop collapsed deltaic outwash typical of facies 3, 

and illustrated how these complexities can be accommodated by a quasi-three-dimensional digital aquifer 

model designed to represent the concept of three successive depositional facies. Fleisher (1986a) described a 

depositional setting in which large, detached ice blocks 

create depressions (termed dead-ice sinks) that are 

crossed by late-deglacial or postglacial rivers. As the 

detached ice blocks melt, a succession of small ponds
Si

Facies 1

Early deglacial

(proximal; ice contact)

Subaquatic fans at 

tunnel mouths

Streams, deltas in ice-marginal,

englacial, 

or subglacial 

channels >

Facies 2 

Mid-deglacial (distal)

Fine-grained sediment

settles from suspension

and from turbidity currents

on lake floor

Facies 3 

Late-deglacial (surficial)

Coarse deltaic outwash 

progrades across lake

Later, streams incise 

lake deposits and leave 

._- stream terraces

EXPLANATION

K = Ice-block depression

(kettlehole)

G = Gravel and sand deposited 

earlier in subglacial tunnel

FIGURE 5. Idealized development of three successive depositional facies. Left panel assumes active retreat; right panel assumes stagnation-zone retreat. Under both 

assumptions, similar stratigraphic suites can develop: all coarse grained in some places, coarse over fine in other places, and elsewhere coarse over fine over coarse.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B15

form and trap both coarse-grained and fine-grained 

sediment. Collapse and subsidence disrupt the deposits 

in these ponds, and the resulting stratigraphic heterogeneity makes correlation of units very difficult.

Despite local complexities and absences of individual 

facies, the concept of three depositional fades is widely 

applicable throughout the glaciated Northeast and is 

useful in geohydrologic analysis. Many geologic reports 

have discussed and illustrated in maps and sections the 

distribution of early deglacial proximal or ice-contact 

stratified drift bordered or buried by deltaic outwash 

that grades down into fine-grained sediments (for example, Borns and Hagar, 1965a, b; Hartshorn, 1967; Stone 

and Randall, 1977; Stone and others, 1982; Dineen and 

Hanson, 1983; Koteff and others, 1984, stop 2), and a few 

reports have explicitly acknowledged a three-fades 

stratigraphy to be typical (Fleisher, 1986, p. 132; Canace 

and others, 1993, p. 5; Randall, 1981, p. 149). Several 

geohydrologic maps have depicted aquifer geometry 

within the stratified drift by units such as coarse, 

coarse/fine, and fine/coarse that, in effect, represent the 

distribution of facies 1,2, and 3 as described in this 

paper (for example, Meade, 1978, and the 10 reports on 

which Meade's map is based; Cederstrom and Hodges, 

1967; Frimpter, 1972; Grain, 1974; MacNish and 

Randall, 1982; Randall, 1986; Miller, 1987; Moore, 1990; 

Canace and others, 1993). Map units of this type represent reasonably well the geometry of aquifers and confining layers and can be useful in guiding exploration for 

water supplies. Saturated thickness must be taken into 

account because facies 1 and 3 can be thinly saturated 

where they overlie bedrock or facies 2 at altitudes above 

stream grade, as discussed in more detail further on. 

Such map units also can guide regulation of land use 

because contaminants spilled into facies 2 (or 3 over 2), 

where surficial aquifers are absent or thin, can be contained and removed more easily with less risk to groundwater supplies than can spills into facies 1 (or 3 over 1), 

where no barrier is present to inhibit downward flow.

TYPICAL PATTERNS OF AQUIFER

DISTRIBUTION WITHIN

STRATIFIED DRIFT

The delineation of aquifers in any particular locality 

requires site-specific information and also a conceptual 

framework within which to organize that information. 

Maps of surficial geology and (or) soils, which are available for many areas in the glaciated Northeast, are 

useful in that they show the distribution at land 

surface of coarse-grained stratified drift relative to 

fine-grained stratified drift, till, and bedrock. However, 

the distribution of stratified-drift aquifers is by no

means coincident with the surficial distribution of 

coarse-grained stratified drift. For example, some 

coarse facies-1 deposits constitute productive aquifers 

but are buried beneath facies-2 fines and, thus, are not 

depicted on surficial geology or soils maps; others are 

surficial but useless as aquifers because they rest on 

shallow bedrock and are thinly saturated. In many 

localities, some site-specific information can be 

obtained from borehole logs and records, surface geophysical exploration, examination of exposures, and 

streamflow records. Generally, however, the interpretation of that information depends as much on what patterns of aquifer geometry the investigator expects or 

recognizes as it does on the information itself. The following sections describe several typical patterns or 

generalizations regarding aquifer distribution within 

stratified drift that are widely applicable across the 

glaciated Northeast.

AQUIFER GEOMETRY AS A FUNCTION 

OF WIDTH AND DEPTH OF VALLEYS

The stratified drift in most narrow, shallow valleys 

consists largely of ice-contact deposits (facies 1); the 

small lakes that formed during deglaciation were 

promptly filled with coarse sediment, while most fine 

sediment remained in suspension to be deposited elsewhere. By contrast, the stratified drift in valleys that 

are unusually broad or deep is largely fine grained, presumably because the amount of coarse sediment available during deglaciation was insufficient to fill the 

large lakes that developed. In broad valleys and lowlands, widely scattered coarse ice-contact deposits 

occupy only small fractions of the proglacial lake bottom or valley floor. In deep valleys, basal coarse proximal deposits (facies 1) and surficial coarse deposits 

(facies 3) commonly are separated by great thicknesses 

of very fine sand, silt, and clay (facies 2).

Transmissivity of stratified drift is roughly proportional to saturated thickness in the narrow, shallow 

valleys where ice-contact deposits predominate. This 

generalization cannot be extended to deeper valleys, 

however. Several studies have reported that an 

increase in depth to bedrock is likely to be accompanied by a comparable increase in thickness of very fine 

sand, silt, and clay. For example, depth to bedrock 

beneath stream grade is as much as 500 feet in the 

Susquehanna River basin of New York, but thickness 

of water-yielding gravel and coarse sand rarely 

exceeds 150 feet and is much less in some localities 

(MacNish and Randall, 1982). In the Taunton River 

basin of Massachusetts, wherever stratified drift 

approaches 200 feet in thickness, it consists of silt and
B16 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

clay interbedded with fine sand and yields little water; 

productive aquifers in this basin generally range from 

20 to 80 feet in saturated thickness (Lapham, 1988). In 

the lower Quinnipiac valley of Connecticut, saturated 

thickness of stratified drift exceeds 200 feet in many 

places (Mazzaferro and others, 1979), but only 1 of 16 

drillholes that reached refusal or bedrock penetrated 

more than 100 feet of saturated sand and gravel 

(fig. 6). In deep valleys, therefore, transmissivity generally does not correlate well with depth to bedrock or 

saturated thickness of stratified drift.

REGIONAL TRENDS IN ABUNDANCE OF 

COARSE-GRAINED STRATIFIED DRIFT

In a general or regional sense, coarse-grained stratified drift seems to decrease in abundance northward, 

from areas near the limit of glaciation to the Canadian 

border, probably because the rate of ice retreat increased 

and meltwater flux decreased as deglaciation progressed. Grain size of glacial drift also varies regionally 

as a function of bedrock lithology. These broad regional 

trends are commonly overwhelmed by variations in

NORTH

FEET

100 -,

50

Outwash terrace

SOUTH

Outwash terrace VluddyRiver delta

VERTICAL SCALE GREATLY EXAGGERATED MILES

EXPLANATION

Peat

Alluvium

Stream-terrace deposits

Quinnipiac valley outwash terrace 

deposits Sand and gravel

.

CONNECTICUT

Silt, clay, very fine sand

Ice-contact deposits Sand, gravel

Till

Bedrock, New Haven Arkose

Refusal

FIGURE 6. Stratigraphy in the valley of the Quinnipiac River, Connecticut, from Wallingford center to Fair Haven. Longitudinal profiles 

of flood plain and terraces were constructed by projection of highest surface altitudes of each deposit to valley center line. The upper 

surfaces of ice-contact deltas and some buried ice-contact deposits are depicted by lines that terminate downward at the apparent limit 

of the deposit. Locations and narrative logs of boreholes are given by Mazzaferro (1973) or Haeni and Anderson (1980). (Modified from 

Stone and others, 1985, fig. 8.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B17

abundance of coarse stratified drift over short distances 

caused by more localized aspects of bedrock topography 

and ice dynamics, but nevertheless deserve consideration in regional studies.

Several authors have inferred that the net rate of 

ice-margin retreat increased with time during 

deglaciation in New England and eastern New York; 

some interpretations (Schafer, 1968, 1979; Mickelson 

and others, 1983) were based on a few radiocarbon 

dates, others (DeSimone and LaFleur, 1986, p. 226) on 

volumes of ice-marginal stratified drift. When the 

Wisconsinan ice sheet was at its maximum extent, it 

flowed approximately southward from central Canada 

across all of the northeastern United States (Andrews, 

1987, p. 15; Hughes, 1987); as the ice thinned, however, 

its flow was more affected by relief, and after about 

14,000 years ago, most ice from Canada flowed eastward along the St. Lawrence lowland or westward 

along the axes of Lakes Ontario and Erie (David and 

Lebuis, 1985; Hughes, 1987, fig. 21). These diversions 

could be expected to decrease the flux of ice and 

sediment toward the ice margin between Maine and 

Pennsylvania, resulting in faster retreat, less meltwater generated per unit area uncovered, and less 

erosion and transport of sediment by meltwater. Furthermore, the direction of both superglacial and subglacial meltwater flow is controlled by the slope of the 

ice surface (Shreve, 1985) and parallels the flow of the 

ice itself. At the Wisconsinan maximum, therefore, the 

ice margin in the glaciated Northeast must have 

received whatever seasonal meltwater was generated 

in much of southeastern Canada, as well as all of the 

Northeastern United States. Late in deglaciation, however, seasonal meltwater flux from Canada would have 

been diverted in the same manner as the ice flux. All of 

these changes could be expected to result in a decrease 

from south to north in volume of sand and gravel transported and deposited by meltwater.

The ratio of clay and silt to sand and gravel within 

the glacial drift varies considerably across the glaciated 

Northeast as a function of bedrock lithology. At one 

extreme, coarsely crystalline metamorphic bedrock 

yields many hard, durable cobbles, pebbles, and 

sandsize mineral grains. By contrast, shale and siltstone bedrock yield weak fragments that readily 

separate into their constituent particles of clay and silt 

size during transport by ice and meltwater. Many 

authors have reported that till consists largely of fragments of the underlying bedrock. For example, Denny 

and Lyford (1963, p. 6) stated that till in the 

Appalachian Plateau of New York and Pennsylvania 

has a sandy texture near coarse-grained sandstone and

conglomerate of Pennsylvanian age, but has a silty-clayloam or silt-loam texture where the bedrock is fine 

sandstone and siltstone of Devonian age. Clark and 

Karrow (1983) reported that till on dolomite and sandstone in the St. Lawrence lowland contains 57 percent 

sand and 35 percent silt, whereas till on the 

Precambrian metamorphic bedrock at the north edge of 

the Adirondack Mountains contains 66 percent sand 

and 27 percent silt. Melvin and others (1992, fig. 4) 

showed that till derived from granitic crystalline rocks 

in southern New England is consistently more sandy 

and less silty than till derived from phyllite, marble, or 

from metasedimentary rocks in eastern Massachusetts. 

Where multiple drift sheets occur in Ohio, 

Pennsylvania, and western New York, the lowermost 

sheet closely reflects the local bedrock, whereas one or 

more overlying tills are enriched in silt and clay because 

the ice readvanced across interstadial silt and clay in 

the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario basins (LaFleur, 1979b; 

White, 1982).

Because stratified drift includes many beds that differ widely in grain size and sorting, its average grain 

size in a particular region cannot be determined as 

readily as that of till. Some striking regional differences are apparent, however. For example, in New 

England and the Adirondack Mountains of New York, 

most sand grains are individual mineral species, and 

fine sand to coarse silt are abundant in deltaic stratified drift. In the Appalachian Plateau of New York, by 

contrast, many sand grains are tiny fragments of shale 

or siltstone; deltaic foresets are commonly fine to 

coarse sand to gravel, and fine to very fine sand is 

much less abundant than silt and clay. In a reach of 

West Canada Creek valley that borders the western 

Adirondacks, lake-bottom sediments derived from the 

Adirondacks contain thin clay layers alternating with 

thick fine-sandy silt layers, whereas lake-bottom sediments derived from regions of shale and carbonate 

bedrock to the west and southeast contain more clay 

and finer grained silt (Ridge, 1985, p. 62, 104-112). In 

central Connecticut, poor sorting and interstitial silt 

and clay are more abundant in ice-contact deposits 

derived from Mesozoic shale and arkosic sandstone 

than in nearby deposits derived from Paleozoic gneiss 

and schist (Randall, 1964, p. 54). These qualitative 

observations suggest that both aquifers and confining 

units within the stratified drift could be somewhat 

more permeable in regions of metamorphic bedrock 

than in regions of shale or siltstone, but whether the 

differences are enough to affect ground-water flow significantly has not been demonstrated.
B18 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

STEPWISE RETREAT AND THE 

MORPHOSEQUENCE CONCEPT

Stratified drift in much of southern New England and 

New Jersey has been classified into a series of units, 

known as morphosequences, that represent successive 

time steps or intervals in deglaciation. The development 

of the morphosequence concept has been summarized by 

Koteff (1974) and Koteff and Pessl (1981). The concept is 

essentially as follows: whenever the ice margin 

remained in the same location long enough for stratified 

sediment to build up to the surface of a proglacial lake, 

streams flowing across that sediment imparted a 

smooth fluvial profile graded to lake level or (if the lake 

filled completely) to the spillway across which it drained; 

all the stratified deposits that underlie that profile are of 

nearly the same age and constitute a single morphosequence, within which grain size decreases distally. 

Coarse, heterogeneous, poorly sorted gravel (facies 1) 

predominates near the proximal (upslope) end but 

grades distally into deltaic sands that, in turn, prograde 

across fine-grained sediment, such that the distal 

(downslope) end of the morphosequence commonly consists of fine gravel and sand (facies 3) overlying lakebottom silt, clay, and (or) very fine sand (facies 2).

Progressive melting of the ice sheet resulted in frequent creation of new morphosequences, as illustrated 

in figure 7. When the ice margin bordering a small lake 

retreated past a spillway that was lower than the existing lake surface, the lake began to drain through the 

new outlet; subsequent stratified deposits were graded 

to the new lake level and generally can be distinguished 

by their lower elevation from earlier deposits. When the 

ice margin retreated without exposing new outlets, the 

proglacial lake expanded headward past the former 

proximal sediments without change in lake level, and 

eventually a new morphosequence formed with its head 

against the repositioned ice margin. In this situation, 

the distal parts of successive morphosequences 

approached the same lake level and, thus, cannot be 

easily distinguished by means of elevation. Whether 

lake levels remained constant or declined abruptly, 

however, several successive profiles developed along 

each valley system as the ice retreated, and generally 

overlap in shingled fashion (fig. 7). Their gradients are 

typically about 20 or 25 feet per mile, but approach 

40 feet per mile near the heads of some morphosequences and can be as gentle as 8 feet per mile in distal outwash plains (Cadwell, 1972, table 6: Koteff, 1974, 

p. 125; C. Koteff, U.S. Geological Survey, oral commun., 

1994). Generalization as to gradient is difficult because 

initial depositional gradients varied and have been 

variably altered by isostatic rebound. Koteff and Larsen 

(1989) and Larsen and Koteff (1988) presented evidence

that isostatic rebound in central New England did not 

commence until the ice margin had retreated at least as 

far as northern Vermont, and that lake shorelines and 

morphosequence profiles south of northern Vermont 

have all been upwarped by 4.74 feet per mile to the 

N. 21° W Farther north, rebound began before the ice 

was gone; therefore, early depositional surfaces such as 

morphosequences were upwarped more than later lake 

shorelines (Larsen, 1987). In western New York and 

northeastern Ohio, the direction of maximum rebound 

is N. 27° E., and the magnitude of rebound increases 

northeastward (Calkin and Feenstra, 1985).

In principle, delineation of morphosequences can be 

useful in geohydrologic appraisals because thin 

surficial sand or fine gravel can be expected to overlie 

fine-grained sediments near the distal end of a morphosequence, whereas coarse sand and gravel, in part 

highly permeable, can be expected to predominate near 

the head of a morphosequence. In practice, however, 

delineation of individual morphosequences can be difficult, for several reasons. Large parts of many morphosequences were deposited over or against stagnant 

ice and subsequently collapsed to the point that the fluvial depositional profiles are unrecognizable. Parts of 

some morphosequences were planed off by meltwater 

or postglacial streams. In some deep valleys or where 

the ice melted quickly, subaquatic fans never built up 

to lake surface, so no fluvial profile ever developed. In 

some places, successive ice-marginal deltas butt 

against one another to form a large terrace that seems 

to be one morphosequence but is actually several morphosequences, some of which can be so short that they 

are predominantly coarse grained throughout. Because 

these complications are so common, delineation and 

geohydrologic interpretation of morphosequences on 

the basis of topography or elevation alone are unlikely 

to be reliable; some information from strategically 

placed excavations and (or) boreholes is generally 

needed as well. Examples of successive abutting deltas 

that can be distinguished by elevation and by lithology 

in excavations are described by Evenson and others 

(1985, stops 8-9), Stanford and others (1998), Koteff 

and others (1984), and Larsen (1992). A detailed example of morphosequence analysis that considers several 

complications is presented farther on in the section 

"Eastern Hills and Valley Fills."

Reports that evaluate stratified-drift aquifers in 

localities within the glaciated Northeast generally 

include a brief account of the study methods; few such 

reports mention identifying ice margins or basing 

interpretations on morphosequence maps. Some maps 

of transmissivity or ground-water availability bear a 

close resemblance to maps of bedrock topography or 

saturated thickness; this resemblance suggests that
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B19

A. Longitudinal profiles along valley

EXPLANATION

Land-surface profile and morphosequence number 1 is oldest

 Inferred depositional profile Shown where land surface is now lower 

as a result of collapse

S1 Spillway, on till or bedrock Numbered morphosequence 1 is graded 

to spillway SI

NOT TO SCALE

B. Plan view of same valley reach

EXPLANATION

{ ) Remnant of depositional surface and morphosequence number 1 is oldest

/I I \\^ Steeply sloping or hummocky land surface The result of collapse when buried ice melted

a Alluvium

sw Swamp

~* S2 Spillway to which numbered morphosequence is graded

H2 /^/^/^ Ice margin at head of numbered morphosequence Shown only along valley walls

 Contact between units of different age

FIGURE 7. Idealized arrangement of successive morphosequences that comprise the stratified drift in a typical valley.

the association of permeable coarse stratified drift with 

morphosequence heads was not consistent or not 

recognized from the data available when the maps 

were drawn. The morphosequence concept has been 

used in geohydrologic reports from several geographic 

areas, however, including the following examples.

1. Eastern Massachusetts. Hartshorn (1960, 1967) 

mapped and described several outwash plains 

that grade distally (downgradient) into lakebottom deposits that border the collapsed heads of 

older morphosequences. He did not identify the 

outwash plains as morphosequences, but his
B20 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

description clearly indicates that they are; he 

specifically mentioned the heads of outwash 

plains as proximal coarse stratified drift. The geohydrology of the same area was evaluated by 

Lapham (1988), who generally inferred transmissivity to be higher near the heads of morphosequences than farther downgradient. Deltas a 

few miles to the northwest were assigned to a secondary rank of aquifer potential by Williams 

(1968) because they tend to become finer with 

increasing depth.

2. South-Central New York. MacNish and Randall 

(1982, fig. 6) identified several localities in which 

ice tongues deposited recessional moraines during 

pauses in retreat. In these localities, proximal 

sand and gravel deposits many tens of feet thick 

prograde south across lake clay. Surficial aquifers 

more than 40 feet thick underlie most of these 

localities (MacNish and Randall, 1982, pi. 1).

3. Northeastern Connecticut. Randall and others 

(1966) described the northern or proximal parts of 

several morphosequences (Randall and Pessl, 

1968, units Qq 4, 5, and 6, Qw2, Qb2, Qc2) as 

coarse grained, and the southern or distal parts as 

fine grained (capped by a coarse surficial layer 

that is largely above the water table). Some other 

morphosequences in the same area were not similarly described, however.

In summary, the concept of ice-margin retreat as a 

stepwise process with morphosequences recording successive increments of retreat is potentially of fundamental importance in delineating aquifer geometry. 

The morphosequence concept has not been easily or 

widely applied in hydrogeologic studies, however, probably because sediment deposition was continuous and 

often included small or gradational steps that are intermediate between the most prominent morphosequences and are not obvious from examination of 

topographic maps or sparse exposures. The concept 

could prove increasingly useful as geohydrologic studies become increasingly detailed.

ASSOCIATION OF EXPOSED FACIES 1 

WITH SHALLOW BEDROCK

As implied in the foregoing discussion of morphosequences, in most valleys or lowlands throughout the 

glaciated Northeast, remnants of several gently sloping, terracelike surfaces underlain by stratified drift 

can be identified. In each locality, the highest surfaces 

formed first, when the retreating ice margin was 

nearby, and are likely to be underlain by proximal icecontact deposits (facies 1). Low surfaces may represent

the floors of large lakes underlain by fine-grained 

deposits (facies 2), or the distal parts of morphosequences that head farther north (facies 3, commonly 

overlying facies 2), or terraces and flood plains incised 

by postglacial streams into one or more of the above 

categories. Thus, the stratified drift that stands highest 

in altitude generally consists of relatively coarse sand 

and gravel (facies 1), whereas lower surfaces are likely 

to be underlain by a substantial thickness of finegrained sediment (facies 2). Nevertheless, many highstanding stratified deposits, easily recognized as 

facies 1, are not productive aquifers because the underlying bedrock is too high to allow appreciable saturated 

thickness. This is true regardless of the mode of ice 

retreat. As melting lowered the surface of a retreating 

ice tongue, stagnation was likely to occur first where ice 

was thinnest over bedrock knolls and along the sides 

of the valley or lowland. The stagnant ice was not 

replaced as it melted, and, thus, the earliest ponds 

developed over shallow bedrock and were filled with 

coarse-grained facies-1 deposits. Where a thick ice 

tongue extended into a deep lake and remained active 

as it retreated by calving, any sublacustrine bedrock 

knoll high enough to provide resistance to flow was 

likely to cause a pause in retreat and, at the same time, 

provide a shallow platform from which proximal 

facies-1 sediments could easily build up to lake surface. 

This principle of preferential facies-1 deposition over 

bedrock highs is illustrated in figure 8 and has been 

observed in many localities, including the following:

EXPLANATION 

Gravel

Sand foreset beds 

Silt, clay 

-fSS^^s^ Meltw=iter stream

FIGURE 8. Idealized example of preferential deposition of coarsegrained proximal stratified drift (facies 1) in valley areas where 

bedrock is shallow.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B21

1. Southern Maine. Where isostatic depression 

allowed the ocean to abut the retreating ice margin, many marine deltas were formed on the distal 

side of bedrock ridges, fed by meltwater streams 

through gaps in those ridges (Thompson and 

Smith, 1983, p. 8), and subaquatic outwash was 

commonly localized on the proximal sides of other 

bedrock ridges (Thompson, 1982, p. 222). The bedrock ridges seem to have temporarily anchored the 

active ice margin, which elsewhere retreated rapidly by calving. This concept of bedrock highs as 

localized anchors (pinning points) for floating ice 

shelves is commonly invoked in the geological literature (for example, Powell, 1981).

2. North-Central Connecticut. West of Route 10 in 

southern Granby and northern Simsbury, Conn., 

level depositional surfaces at altitudes of 270 to 

310 feet cap deltaic ice-contact deposits (facies 1) 

that are sandy and permeable but thinly saturated, as evidenced by well records and by exposures that indicate the sand rests on till or 

bedrock at altitudes at or above adjacent streams 

or lowlands (Randall, 1970; Melvin and Bingham, 

1991). Near Route 10, the bedrock surface declines 

eastward to altitudes below sea level, and east of 

Route 10, broad terraces of stratified drift at altitudes of 200 feet or lower are underlain by more 

than 100 feet of fine-grained facies-2 lake sediment (fig. 18).

3. Southeastern New York. Frimpter (1972, pi. 2) 

mapped many localities as underlain by unsaturated surficial sand and gravel. Most of these features are topographically prominent ice-contact 

deposits (facies 1) whose unsaturated condition 

could result only from high bedrock beneath.

Thus, although some facies-1 ice-contact deposits 

can be easily identified from their relatively high altitude and position at the heads of morphosequences, as 

well as from exposures of coarse-grained sediment, the 

typical occurrence of such deposits over buried knolls or 

valley sides of bedrock or till precludes interpreting 

such deposits as potentially productive aquifers without investigating bedrock topography and saturated 

thickness.

Some maps of surficial geology depict units 

characterized by constructional topography of knobs 

and hollows, or undulating gentle slopes, and by 

exposures described as sandy diamicton and (or) variably sorted, variably stratified deformed sand. These 

materials are commonly interpreted as the result of 

resedimentation, mass movement, and collapse of 

earlier deposits, at least some of which had been

transported and deposited by meltwater. They have 

been mapped as ablation till, morainal till, complex or 

mixed deposits, kame moraine, or inwash according to 

the perception of the investigator and the array of sediments visible in typically poor exposures. They occur 

particularly in areas of sandstone or coarse crystalline 

bedrock and particularly on lower hillsides in regions of 

high relief. Predominance of diamicton and position 

above stream grade severely limit the aquifer potential 

of most such deposits.

DISTRIBUTION OF BURIED FACIES 1 

BENEATH FINE-GRAINED SEDIMENTS

As previously explained, many broad valleys or lowlands are underlain by extensive fine-grained sediments (facies 2), in part capped by a thin surficial sand 

or gravel layer (facies 3). Landforms commonly include 

broad flood plains, swamps, former lake bottoms, and 

low terraces. Coarse ice-contact deposits (facies 1) are 

locally evident as high-standing landforms that border 

the valley floor or interrupt low-lying areas. The preceding section pointed out that many of these icecontact deposits were built where bedrock is relatively 

high or shallow and, thus, are too thinly saturated to be 

major aquifers. An important question is whether 

facies 1 also is present beneath facies 2 in the low-lying 

areas and constitutes a buried, basal aquifer.

No simple, universal answer to this question is yet 

available. On the one hand, conceptual models of the 

retreat of an active ice margin in ponded water call for 

deposition of gravel and sand in subaquatic fans near 

the mouths of subglacial meltwater conduits (Shaw, 

1985, p. 53; Smith and Ashley, 1985, p. 171). Multiple 

subglacial streams flow beneath some modern glaciers 

and deposit their load of coarse sediment near the 

glacier snout (Gustavson, 1975; Powell, 1981). Lateral 

continuity of the resulting sand and gravel across the 

valley presumably depends on the sediment load, rate 

of retreat, and spacing of conduits (Rust and 

Romanelli, 1975, fig. 14). Continuity along the length of 

the valley seems likely, because meltwater must have 

been generated continuously during retreat, at rates 

that often increased when the rate of retreat increased. 

On the other hand, any blocks of stagnant ice that lingered south of the active ice margin would have prevented proximal coarse stratified drift from being 

deposited over the entire width of the valley. Furthermore, where the ice margin retreated by stepwise stagnation, coarse sediment would likely be concentrated in 

crevasses between shrinking ice blocks near the head of 

each stagnation zone and might be completely absent 

in the distal part of each zone. Many maps provide evidence of ice-block depressions and ice-walled channels
B22 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

in the glaciated Northeast, and many borehole records 

document sites where facies-2 fines directly overlie till 

or bedrock.

Studies of several lowlands or valleys in the glaciated Northeast have inferred that basal sand and 

gravel deposits are widespread and have interpreted 

those deposits as the products of multiple subaquatic 

fans. For example:

1. Coastal Maine. Bingham (1981), Smith (1982, 

1983), and Smith and others (1982) reported that, 

in much of coastal Maine, a discontinuous but 

widespread layer of sand and (or) gravel overlies 

bedrock and is, in turn, mantled by clay (facies 2) 

that was deposited in the marine waters that 

fronted the retreating ice and inundated the 

region for a time after deglaciation. Smith (1982, 

1983) considered the basal layer to be ice-contact 

deposits or subaquatic outwash and ascribed it to 

numerous small meltwater streams or sheetflow 

that emerged from the base of the ice and (or) to a 

"tidal pumping" process wherein a floating ice 

shelf rises and falls with the tide, creating cyclical 

landward and seaward flows in the thin wedge of 

water beneath the ice and thereby winnowing the 

upper part of the underlying till and any sediment 

dropped from the floating ice. The stratigraphy 

described by Smith was based largely on exposures on low hills; he did not collect subsurface 

data to investigate whether an extensive sandy 

layer also was present beneath the thicker marine 

clay in major valleys. Reports on the ground-water 

hydrology of coastal Maine and New Hampshire 

generally do not mention such a thin, widespread 

aquifer.

2. Rockaway River Basin, N.J. Canace and others 

(1993) presented an interpretive map that represents the vertical sequence of unconsolidated sediments in much of Morris County, N.J. The map 

and accompanying geologic sections indicate valley floors north of the terminal moraine to be 

underlain in most places by all three depositional 

facies, including a basal confined aquifer. Stanford 

(1988; 1989a, b) inferred the presence of a generally active ice margin retreating in a stepwise 

manner during deglaciation, and Stanford and 

others (1990) drew conceptual diagrams of aquifer 

geometry in New Jersey that indicate a nearly 

continuous blanket of coarse subaquatic-fan 

deposits atop bedrock in narrow valleys (fig. 9). 

The well logs and yields compiled by Canace and 

others (1993) demonstrate that such a basal layer 

is indeed virtually continuous in the Lockjaw 

River-Stony Brook valley northeast of Denville,

N.J., a reach 5 miles long by 0.5 mile wide (fig. 4); 

water depth was about 125 feet. Logs of wells in 

nearby valleys, however, indicate that the basal 

aquifer can be very thin or absent locally or are too 

sparse to demonstrate continuity Large areas in 

two broad valleys in eastern Morris County apparently lack a basal aquifer. Most well logs in Morris 

County do not suggest a progressive downward 

coarsening from facies 2 to facies 1, as would be 

expected under conditions of continuous deposition of subaquatic fans at a retreating ice margin.

3. Appalachian Plateau, N.Y. MacNish and Randall 

(1982, pi. 1) inferred basal aquifers to be widespread in deep valleys of south-central New York 

and considered them to have resulted, in part, 

from retreat so rapid that coarse sediment could 

not build up to lake surface. Lake depths probably 

ranged from 150 to 500 feet. Well logs from this 

area (Randall, 1972) included 110 wells north of 

latitude 42° 14' that penetrated through a substantial thickness of fine sediment (facies 2) into 

sand, gravel, or bedrock at depths greater than 

100 feet. Of these, 21 percent did not penetrate a 

basal aquifer above bedrock; 56 percent reported a 

sharp contact of fine sediment over gravel, sand 

and gravel, or coarse sand; 17 percent indicated 

some downward coarsening, generally clay over 

"quicksand" (silt to fine sand) over gravel; and 

8 percent penetrated fine sediment over "sand," 

which might have proved to coarsen further had 

drilling continued. Drilling generally stopped as 

soon as an adequate water supply was obtained, 

so thickness of the deep aquifer(s) cannot be estimated. The abundance of deep aquifers beneath 

fine sediments seems consistent with the hypothesis of subaquatic-fan deposition; the sparse evidence for systematic downward coarsening does 

not. Perhaps coarsening downward may be more 

widespread than indicated by the data cited, inasmuch as most logs were reported by drillers who, 

after drilling through many feet of non-wateryielding fine sediment, may have been little interested in subtle differences until they reached 

coarse layers that produced water.

4. Central Massachusetts. Walker and Caswell (1977) 

inferred that a basal layer of sand and gravel 

occurs "widely but not everywhere" beneath the 

fine-grained sediments of glacial Lake Hitchcock 

in central Massachusetts. More detailed studies, 

however, have emphasized the absence of such a 

basal layer in particular localities. For example, in 

an area near the Connecticut River where the lake 

had been 250 to 400 feet deep, the fine-grained
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B23

1 MILE Former stable 

ice margin Flood plain

Fluvial

deposits

(unconfined

aquifer)

Lake-bottom

deposits

(confining or

semiconfining unit)

Delta deposits 

(unconfined aquifer, 

recharge area for 

confined aquifer)

Subaquatic fan 

deposits 

(Facies 1)

Subaquatic fan

deposits

(confined or

semiconfined aquifer)

Lake-bottom 

deposits 

(Facies 2)

Fluvial 

deposits 

(Facies 3)

FIGURE 9. Geometry of unconsolidated sediment typical of narrow valleys in New Jersey. 

(Modified from Stanford and others, 1990.)

sediments generally coarsen downward from silt 

and clay to coarse silt and very fine sand, but none 

of nine test wells penetrated a basal coarse aquifer (Hansen, 1986); a few municipal wells outside 

the area tested did penetrate a basal aquifer, 

however.

In two other valleys, by contrast, study of exposures 

along deeply incised streams has shown that proglacial 

Subaquatic fans were uncommon.

1. West Canada Creek, N.Y. Ridge (1985) described in 

detail the areal and vertical distribution of several 

glacial lithostratigraphic units exposed in the 

bluffs along West Canada Creek and its tributaries in Herkimer County, N.Y. (fig. 10). Most of the 

section consists of subglacial till, proglacial 

sediment flows that were generally derived from 

till or fine-grained lacustrine sediments, silty clay 

turbidites, and silt-clay varves that commonly

contain drop pellets of unconsolidated sediment. 

The drift was deposited in a persistent proglacial 

lake(s) that varied in extent and elevation as West 

Canada Creek valley was repeatedly invaded by 

ice tongues from the west, ooutheast, and (more 

distantly) from the north. The diamicton units 

shown in figure 10 include till and proglacial sediment flows. Only a few sand or gravel units are 

present in this overwhelmingly fine-grained 

sequence. One of these, within the upper Newport 

beds (fig. 10), was identified as a Subaquatic fan 

(Ridge, 1985, p. 108) or esker-subaquatic fan 

complex (Ridge and others, 1991, p. 1040 and 

appendix). The southeast (proximal) facies of that 

fan is as much as 40 feet thick and includes gently 

dipping boulder-cobble gravel, muddy gravel, very 

sparsely to moderately stony silty-clay diamicton, 

megarippled coarse sand to granule gravel, rippled and laminated fine-medium sand, and
B24 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

muddy fine sand to silt with interbedded varves. 

Where the fan is best exposed (Ridge, 1985, 

sites 324, 111, 116), a tendency to upward fining is 

evident. The fan extends nearly 4 miles northwest 

from the inferred ice margin at the time of deposition (fig. 11), becoming thinner and grading to 

medium-fine sand interbedded with silty, sandy 

diamicton, and finally to fine sand interbedded 

with silty-clay rhythmites. The subaquatic fan 

was interpreted by Ridge (1985, p. 109) as a brief, 

unusual event that interrupted normal varve 

deposition in the proglacial lake. It immediately 

overlies the West Canada diamicton (fig. 10) and 

was deposited during retreat of the southeastern 

(Mohawk) ice tongue that deposited that 

diamicton. Evidently, the subglacial meltwater 

conduit that created the fan did not function

continuously during the retreat of the ice tongue 

from the position of maximum advance shown in 

figure 11; instead, subglacial meltwater suddenly 

burst forth in this locale midway in the retreat. 

Otherwise, the stratigraphic record along West 

Canada Creek contains only sparse evidence of 

subglacial meltwater flow associated with the ice 

tongues that advanced and retreated at other 

times through the proglacial lakes in this locality. 

Most sand or gravel units recognized by Ridge 

(1985) are apparently small and (or) were interpreted as deltaic inwash or ice-marginal deltas. 

The ice lobes that deposited nearly all of the drift 

studied by Ridge advanced from the west and from 

the southeast; during the early stages of deglaciation, however, the outlet for meltwater was not 

ahead of these advancing ice lobes into the

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WEST CANADA CREEK VALLEY

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Bridge SE

 v.v Holland' v& fr Patent <!:->- ; '1 

' Djarnicto.n '-'y

^/V Patent ^ 

"';/ 'Diarrifctbri

Post-Norway Beds

Post-Hawthorne Beds

Sand only, of 

Adirondack 

provenance

Pre-Hawthorne Beds

Pre-Norway Beds 

3 Beds

"X» -,V.'. '<' ,-f' Yv.'- J.l ' rr'-,'f!- -"i ' fr -,'i-'- -.1 .~r . v .'..'.,' ' .-»'-.'r.'./I - ,-»' .'i-i/J ,-»'-.'i -..'.* ' ,-»'-.'r-' /" ' .-»'; ^c^' i g AV^'' £r vV^'; ^-/f-j^". >r ».V^ . f-n^c-"; Jo/vc'.' fo/v-::-': <?T>A\.* i ir;/*- 

ds

r^^^>-r^ - 

Upper Newport Beds

Upper V ' /* ^_____---" 

-O Newport \ /< " = - - - - _ _Subaquatic Fan J m Beds /^F^T^V ,x^'-j C-r- ';; ' j C7- ' c-' i i-/ VIT'-.J i-/-Vv''-j i-.'-^^'-i v-r.-^c-^j i-*'- " c-'-j -r.'' <; ' j £-r. v-'"-j,^/ 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _X^?4^/CfV*>7777Tf^r^^/^>///^/,VJ.v//> y '''-' '>''J '".?*''ii;J '~-**''i''4£fVifylif?''y-^iW

"^^i«V'\V^':')'1»'"' >-'{'^*iVV'''-Y^^"^1/' >-V1 ^''-*'. ^p^t 'Qafiadq piarnic|o,n ^;<f^^/ -^{^i^^' -^f{'^;!vV* ^l^^^v'-VF ^''!^'i "|

t X^^ \ Bedrock 

0. Top unit of Lower Newport Beds / Lower units of Middleville

5

^2 Lower Newport 

Beds

/^ \ Bedrock

Top unit of Lower Newport Beds / Lower units of Middleville

_____/ Formation not exposed

 - - - - - - > > ^ 'J.- ' ! >*> I south or east of Middleville

Basal Lower Newport Beds

r ______^ _____ ______r ______^ _____ ______ __________

f:.^y r{y:j?,-y/-^:'- ^?^'$&&i-££*^${s* 3^^-:>/

Bedrock

Diamicton

Deltaic sand and 

some gravel

Unconformity

FIGURE 10. Generalized stratigraphy in West Canada Creek valley downstream from Gravesville, N.Y.

(Modified from Ridge, 1985, fig. 17.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B25

75°00'

/Inferred minimum extent 

-'""-/ of proglacial lake

Inferred minimum 

extent of proglacial 

lake

Inferred we"Sterh 

limit of West N 

Canada Readvaftce

^Inferred ice-margin position 

"X during deposition of fan

EXPLANATION

End moraine

Sand

Gravel

Silt and clay

.324 Exposure of Upper Newport Beds 

Numbers refer to sections in Appendix A of Ridge (1985) 

Trend of meltwater flow

- Direction of meltwater flow 

^ Range of flow directions in sand and gravel

FIGURE 11. Grain-size distribution and directions of meltwater flow during deposition of subaquatic fan within upper Newport 

lacustrine beds in West Canada Creek valley between Middleville and Newport, NY. (Modified from Ridge, 1985, fig. 20.) Inset map 

shows ice lobes, ice margin, proglacial lake in West Canada Creek valley, and meltwater drainage route during deposition of the 

diamicton that immediately underlies the subaquatic fan (fig. 10). (From Ridge, 1985, fig. 24.)

proglacial lake, but rather to the south, through 

subglacial tunnels to saddles in the Appalachian 

Plateau (inset map, fig. 11). Perhaps, therefore, 

regional meltwater drainage systems within these 

lobes did not generally continue to the ice margin 

in West Canada Creek valley, but instead followed

the deeper Mohawk River valley and tributary 

valleys that led to the Plateau saddles. After deposition of the West Canada diamicton (fig. 10), the 

southeastern (Mohawk) and western (Ontario) ice 

tongues separated for the first time, allowing 

water to flow unobstructed by ice to the lowest
B26 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

nearby Plateau saddle (Ridge and others, 1991, 

fig. 12). A sudden decline in lake level of at least 

225 feet resulted, which increased hydraulic gradients within the ice and may have temporarily 

retarded its retreat (Ridge and others, 1991, 

p. 1046), thus stimulating construction of a subaquatic fan into the proglacial lake that had 

become the lowest outlet for meltwater. West 

Canada Creek valley would always have been the 

lowest outlet for meltwater beneath the Black 

River lobe (fig. 11), which advanced southward to 

the northern end of the valley where exposures of 

interlayered gravel and sand were attributed to 

esker-fed subaquatic fans from that lobe by Ridge 

and others (1984, p. 248).

2. Sandy River, Maine. Several exposures along the 

Sandy River near New Sharon, Maine, have been 

described by Caldwell (1959, 1960), Caldwell and 

Weddle (1983), and Weddle and others (1989). 

They consist primarily of massive sandy and silty 

diamictons, stratified diamicton with thin layers 

of silt, clay, and sand, rhythmic silt and clay with 

thin layers of sand and diamicton, and one 

discontinuous layer of medium sand several feet 

thick. This stratigraphy is rather similar to that 

studied by Ridge (1985) and was similarly interpreted by Weddle and others (1989) as till and 

subaquatic debris flows deposited amid finegrained sediment as an ice lobe advanced into a 

proglacial lake. Subglacial meltwater flow was 

sufficient to deposit only one sand layer, perhaps 

because the ice at New Sharon was a southwestflowing sublobe of an ice sheet that flowed primarily southeastward down the Kennebec valley 

where subglacial meltwater flow may have been 

concentrated.

In summary, the concept that multiple subaquatic 

fans deposited coarse sand and gravel early in deglaciation over large areas on the floors of proglacial water 

bodies is an attractive hypothesis that implies widespread, laterally continuous, basal aquifers, especially 

where proglacial water bodies were deep and the ice 

margin could retreat by calving without leaving large 

stagnant ice blocks. This hypothesis is supported by 

borehole data in some places, but borehole data and 

exposures also demonstrate that basal aquifers differ 

widely in thickness and are absent in many places, and 

geomorphic evidence of stagnant ice blocks also is widespread. The coarse sediment carried by subglacial conduits, whether deposited in ice tunnels or in subaquatic 

fans at tunnel mouths, seems commonly to be concentrated in narrow, channel-like strips, as discussed in 

the next sections.

MELTWATER CHANNELS AND COLLAPSE 

AT THE ICE MARGIN

Two geomorphic features, ice-channel fillings and 

collapsed ice-contact faces, are typical of many icemarginal positions or morphosequence heads and serve 

to enhance the potential for productive aquifers at 

these locations. The nature and hydrologic significance 

of both features are described below and illustrated by 

several examples.

Subglacial or englacial meltwater channels are 

important avenues of sediment transport that often 

become sites of coarse-grained sediment deposition as 

well. Linear or sinuous ridges composed of sand or 

gravel have been observed in areas freshly uncovered 

by the retreat of modern glaciers and have been interpreted as recording the former courses of meltwater 

channels below or within the ice (Price, 1964, 1966; 

Goldthwait and Mickelson, 1982). Theoretical studies 

(Rothlisberger, 1972; Shreve, 1972, 1984, 1985) have 

offered explanations for the formation of subglacial 

conduits and deposition of sediment therein. Gravel 

ridges deposited in subglacial conduits or tunnels are 

known as "eskers," whereas the more general term "icechannel fillings" also includes deposits in narrow 

ice-walled channels open to the sky.

In the glaciated Northeast, ice-channel fillings were 

deposited near the retreating ice margin in many localities. Some topographic maps reveal large, commonly 

flat-topped constructional landforms from which one or 

more linear or sinuous ridges extend generally 

northward (fig. 12). Such tadpole-shaped landforms are 

readily interpreted as ice-contact deltas fed by meltwater that flowed through tunnels or crevasses in the 

ice (feeder channels) in which sediment also accumulated and is now preserved as ice-channel fillings 

(Lougee, 1938; Hartshorn, 1967, p. 31, map; Thompson, 

1982, p. 221; Stone and others, 1985, p. 569; Warren 

and Stone, 1986, fig. 6; Larsen and Koteff, 1988, p. 122; 

Thompson, 1989, p. 178). Topographically distinct icechannel fillings, some as long as 1.5 miles, extend 

headward from many morphosequence heads in southern New England (Koteff, 1974, p. 134). Elsewhere, 

exposures and (or) borehole logs have revealed narrow 

deposits of coarse sand and gravel that seem to have a 

linear, ridgelike form but are mantled by sand and, in 

some localities, further mantled or bordered by finegrained sediment. The coarse sand and gravel deposits 

are interpreted to be the product of ice-tunnel or 

proximal tunnel-mouth deposition (facies 1), 

overlapped by subsequent deltaic and lacustrine sediment deposited as the ice margin retreated further.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B27

Examples from Canada are described by Parsons 

(1970) and Rust and Romanelli (1975). Examples from 

the Northeastern United States are presented in several guidebook article^, including Thompson (1983, 

stops 1-2 near Augusta, Maine), Mayewski and Birch 

(1984, stops 1-2 near Farmington, N.H.), Koteff and 

others (1984, stop 2 near Nashua, N.H.), Larsen 

(1987a, stop 5 near Sharon, Vt; 1987b, stops 7-8 near 

Northfield, Vt.), Larsen and Koteff (1988, stops 2-3 

near Brattleboro, Vt.), and Connally and others (1989, 

stop 2 near Middletown, N.Y.).

Some ice-channel fillings are merely deltas built in 

narrow lakes within ice crevasses. LaSala 11961) 

described ice-channel fillings whose linear segments 

with angular intersections suggest crevasse systems in 

ice sheets, and whose stratigraphy resembled nearby 

deltas. Stone and others (1985) observed 11 feet of 

coarse-sandy foreset beds exposed beneath 12 feet of 

coarse gravel topsets in a sinuous ice-channel filling at 

the head of a kame delta in Southington, Conn. The 

foresets indicate that, late in the depositional history, 

the proglacial lake extended into a crevasse at this 

location. The foresets may, however, be underlain by

EXPLANATION

1- -1- -1- Approximate contact 

between till and 

stratified drift Ticks 

point toward till 

1C Ice-channel filling

ms Mine spoil

74°32' 74°31' 74°30'

42°2V

1 KILOMETER

FIGURE 12. Examples of ice-channel fillings inferred to mark former subglacial channels along which meltwater transported 

sediment to adjacent ice-marginal deltas. A. From U.S. Geological Survey St. Regis Falls, N.Y., 7.5-minute quadrangle, 1964, 

1:24,000. B. From U.S. Geological Survey State Line and Stockbridge, Mass., 7.5-minute quadrangles, 1975, 1:25,000.
B28 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

coarse sand and gravel deposited earlier along a subglacial tunnel that conveyed sediment to the kame 

delta, just as early subaquatic-fan deposits presumably 

underlie part of the delta. Thus, some ice-channel fillings may owe their sinuous form to buried eskers that 

predate the sediments exposed at land surface.

Even more common than ice-channel fillings at the 

heads of deltas or morphosequences are steep, highly 

irregular proximal slopes characterized by gravel and 

scattered boulders and by knoll and kettlehole topography that reflects collapse of the proximal stratified drift 

as buried ice melted. The gravel exposed at land surface may or may not extend down to the water table 

beneath the proximal slopes, but saturated gravel can 

be expected immediately north of the toe of that slope, 

buried beneath younger stratified drift. These buried 

proximal deposits might be simply the toe of a collapsed 

ice-contact face, or they might be feeder-channel deposits that lack topographic expression because they are 

thin or deeply buried. Several examples of collapse and 

(or) feeder channels at former ice-marginal positions 

are described below.

1. Arlington, Vt. (fig. 13). The topographic setting in 

figure 13 is typical of many morphosequences. The 

mesalike feature at A is probably a kame delta; its 

south face was not exposed, but fine sand predominated in exposures at B. The nose at C, on the 

north face, was capped by at least 15 feet of coarse 

gravel, including openwork cobble gravel; very 

coarse sand was exposed lower on the 70-foot-high 

slope. The surface at 800-foot altitude north and 

east of the kame delta is underlain by lake-bottom 

deposits, predominantly silt but locally capped by 

coarse, pebbly sand. No information is available 

on depth to bedrock in this locality, nor on 

whether the coarse sediments that constitute the 

north face of the kame delta extend northward 

beneath the alluvium and lake-bottom deposits, 

as might be expected.

2. Danielson, Conn. (fig. 14). The Quinebaug River at 

Danielson is bordered by the distal or downvalley 

part of a morphosequence designated Qq5 in 

figure 14. Exposures in this unit on both sides of 

the river reveal a few feet of pebbly, coarse sand 

over silt and very fine sand, typical of the 

downvalley end of an ideal morphosequence. The 

fine sediment was deposited in a lake that 

expanded northward in the Quinebaug valley 

as the ice retreated. The downvalley end of morphosequence Qq6, 2 miles to the north (fig. 14), is 

similar in stratigraphy and altitude to the downvalley end of Qq5; the same lake was base level for

each, and the two depositional profiles merge near 

Danielson. Excavations in East Brooklyn, just 

west of Danielson, revealed very coarse gravel in 

a linear ridge bordered and overlapped by the 

fine-grained sediment of Qq5. This ridge was 

interpreted by Randall and Pessl (1968) as an icechannel filling, part of the next older morphosequence, Qq4 (fig. 14). Although morphosequence 

Qq4 heads farther north along both sides of the 

Quinebaug lowland, near the valley axis this icechannel filling represents the most headward part 

of the sequence. A municipal well was drilled on 

the axis of the gravel ridge (fig. 14); its log indicates 80 feet of gravel and coarse sand from which 

350 gallons per minute were pumped (Thomas 

and others, 1966). No other buried feeder-channel 

deposits headward of the mapped extent of 

morphosequence Qq4 were penetrated by boreholes. Such deposits might be expected, however, 

especially north of the proximal end of the icechannel filling and kame terrace east of Long 

Brook (fig. 14), as inferred by Randall and others 

(1966).

3. Cromwell, Conn. (fig. 15). Extensive surficial sands 

and gravels were deposited near the CromwellRocky Hill town line in central Connecticut as coalesced deltas (Langer, 1977; Stone and others, 

1982; Koteff and others, 1987) in water ponded 

behind older morphosequences downvalley 

(London, 1985). Excavations and logs of boreholes 

(Ryder and Weiss, 1971; Grady and Handman, 

1983) revealed that the deltaic sands are underlain by coarser sand and gravel that seems to represent a feeder-channel system. A large pit has 

exposed and largely removed the stratified drift 

between Dividend Pond and the railroad (fig. 15). 

The northeast end of the pit, near the end of the 

dashed extension of Dividend Road (fig. 15), 

revealed coarse, heterogeneous proximal icecontact deposits, including vertical and chaotic 

bedding, resedimented diamicton layers, steeply 

dipping cobble-boulder gravel, and horizontal silty 

fine sand; Stone and others (1982) report up to 

15 feet of collapse. Bedrock is exposed at the 

Dividend Pond dam (Deane, 1967) and might not 

be far below the pit floor. The coarse ice-contact 

deposits were overlain by sand that coarsened 

upward, contained depositional structures typical 

of deltas, and was capped by 10 feet of gravel 

topset beds (Stone and others, 1982; Koteff and 

others, 1987). About 2,000 feet northeast of the 

pit, beneath a younger terrace surface that formed
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B29

73°12' 73°10'

EXPLANATION

Alluvium and swamp deposits

\- ' i^v'Ji VS. ^^^ '

- ^fe^Sx N^~S~ I

/ V rS-T .

' V '-^4 '. "./ J-"

}\\«-t^ '

Base from U.S. Geological Survey rj 

Arlington 1:24,000,1967

J

1/2 MILE

_|

Lake-bottom deposits Chiefly silt, capped 

locally by pebbly sand north of m2

Second morphosequence (m2) Includes 

kame delta, from A to B, fed by ice-channel 

fillings at C, D, and E.

 £ -i f \ Collapsed fringe of ml With fans or

deltas of sand and gravel eroded from ml

First morphosequence (ml) Kame terraces 

^^B Esker Associated with ml; fed deltas south of

 j Till With bedrock outcrops

 - Geologic contact Dashed where uncertain

0 .5 KILOMETER

FIGURE 13. A collapsed morphosequence head in the town of Arlington, Vt.
B30 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

71°55'

EXPLANATION

Postglacial stream deposits

41°

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

Danielson 1:24,000,1970

,350

Flood-plain alluvium Silt over sand 

and gravel, about 25 feet thick

Terrace alluvium Sand and pebble 

gravel. 10 to 20 feet thick

Stratified drift In morphosequences; higher 

numbers are younger; grain size decreases 

southward within each morphosequence, so 

younger morphosequences are finer grained than 

nearby parts of older morphosequences

Morphosequences 5 and 6 Surficial pebbly medium 

to coarse sand, 3 to 20 feet thick; grades to pebbleto-cobble gravel where hachured; overlies lakebottom silt and fine to very fine sand

Lake-bottom fines of Qq6 and(or) Qq5 At land 

surface or capped by only a few feet of alluvium

Morphosequences 2 and 4 Gravel, ranging from 

pebbles to boulders, and fine to coarse sand. 41° 

Ice-channel fillings where crosshatched 47'

Till 

Geologic contact

Municipal well Number 

is yield, in gallons per minute

FIGURE 14. Feeder channels at head of morphosequence near Danielson, Conn. 

(Modified from Randall and Pessl, 1968.)
72°38' 72°37'

Qd

EXPLANATION

Flood-plain alluvium 

Terrace alluvium

Stratified drift Chiefly deltaic fine to medium 

sand qrading up to pebbly sand

TiH or bedrock

Extent of basal gravel deposits Inferred to 

have been deposited in subglacial channels that fed 

successive morphosequences; dashed where subsurface data are lacking

J - Boundary between deltaic morphosequences 

Double ticks from Koteff and others (1987); single ticks 

from Langer (1977). Ticks point toward older 

morphosequence

A' Line of geologic section (fig. 16)

250

Geologic contact

Well Log available (Ryder and Weiss. 1971; Grady and 

Handman, 1983)

Municipal or industrial well Number is yield, in 

gallons per minute

_ __ __ 72°39'

,' 1

§Q

<od

Base from U.S. Geological Survey Hartford South and Glastonbury 

1:24,000,1984.

FIGURE 15. Feeder channels at head of morphosequence in Cromwell, Conn., and adjacent towns. Surficial geology from Deane (1967) and Langer (1977).
B32 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

when the Connecticut River was diverted to its 

present course, two wells obtain yields of 700 and 

4,200 gallons per minute from sand and gravel 

that may well have been deposited as part of the 

same ice-channel system that was responsible for 

the ice-contact deposits exposed in the pit.

About 0.5 mile south and slightly east of the pit, 

several municipal test wells were drilled on the 

Connecticut River flood plain. Most penetrated 

the following materials:

Very fine sand and silt, 25 feet thick; 

overlies

Sand, varying from very fine to mediumfine to medium-coarse, 20 to 60 feet 

thick; overlies

Sand and gravel, water-yielding, 30 to 

60 feet thick.

The upper 25 feet, at least, is alluvium deposited by the Connecticut River, which has aggraded 

as sea level rose in Holocene time (Upson and 

Spencer, 1964). The basal sand and gravel unit 

seems to form a buried ridge, as does the overlying 

fine to coarse sand (fig. 16), inasmuch as a well just 

west of the river penetrates only very fine sand to 

silt, and a well just east of the river also penetrates 

fine sand and silt above fine-coarse sand. The 

basal sands and gravel penetrated by these test 

wells are probably slightly older than that exposed 

in the pit near Dividend Pond; they could have 

been deposited along a channel that fed the 

slightly higher, earlier delta at the Edgewood 

Country Club, south of the ice-marginal position 

shown in figure 15. East of the Connecticut River 

near Old Maids Lane (fig. 15), two ice-channel fillings occur side-by-side along the same inferred ice 

margin; they are probably the product of other 

feeder channels active at about the same time. The 

sand and gravel from land surface to 35 feet below 

sea level just east of the river may have been 

deposited during incision of the river through the 

deltaic stratified drift, when base level downstream was deeper than at present (London, 1985).

The data cited above constitute reasonably convincing evidence for the presence in this locality of 

linear gravel aquifers deposited atop bedrock at the 

ice margin within or at the mouths of subglacial 

tunnels. An inferred distribution of these deposits 

is sketched in figure 15. That figure also illustrates 

the difficulty of predicting the distribution of buried aquifers in the absence of borehole records.

Morphosequence heads are not topographically 

distinct and were differently interpreted by different investigators, probably because they represent 

only small changes in base level within a continuous depositional process, and each may include several successive deltas deposited as the ice margin 

retreated (Koteff and others, 1987). Except for the 

two ice-channel fillings east of the Connecticut 

River, the topographic map provides no clue as to 

where buried channels may be.

4. Mount Warner, Mass. (fig. 17). The Mount Warner 

delta, one of several prominent kame deltas 

deposited at the retreating ice margin in 

proglacial Lake Hitchcock, has been described by 

Webb (1957), Mcllvride (1982), Hansen (1986), 

and Koteff and others (1987 °top 9). Its location in 

midvalley, remote from any tributary or icemarginal drainage, requires that it was fed by one 

or more subglacial or englacial channels. On the 

southwest face, delta foresets of coarse sand with 

lesser amounts of pebble gravel and fine sand 

(Koteff and others, 1987) become finer downdip 

and interfinger with lake-bottom varves (Webb, 

1957). The north face is an ice-contact slope; collapsed beds and possible flowtill have been 

reported. At the bottom of the slope are two 

municipal wells (fig. 17) that yield 550 and 

1,080 gallons per minute from sand and gravel 

beneath 140 to 190 feet of fine-grained stratified 

drift (Hansen, 1986). Three nearby wells also tap 

this basal aquifer. The aquifer is probably a proximal subaquatic fan at the mouth of a feeder channel, but might instead be collapsed coarse icecontact sediment at the head of this deltaic 

morphosequence.

5. Other Examples. Collapse of ice-contact margins 

has created many other aquifers. For example, in 

Proctor, Vt., a municipal well penetrates 72 feet of 

sand and gravel beneath 52 feet of fine sand and 

clay (Willey and Butterfield, 1983) just north of 

the steep proximal slope of a kame terrace 

mapped by Stewart and MacClintock (1970). The 

proximal slope coincides with an abrupt southward decrease in width and depth of the bedrock 

valley. In Simsbury, Conn., collapse along the east 

side of a deltaic morphosequence is indicated by 

multiple ice-block depressions and by wells farther east that tap sand beneath younger 

fine-grained sediments (fig. 18). The collapsed 

margin coincides with the side of a bedrock valley 

(Randall, 1970).
EAST

150 -VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X10

EXPLANATION

Fine-grained alluvium 

Fine sand and silt (Facies 2) 

Sand and gravel (Facies 1 or 3)Coarse sand and gravel (Facies 1) Highly 

permeable

BedrockBorehole Well screen

- - - Geologic contact Dashed where uncertain

Materials penetrated by boreholes

C Coarse sand

M Medium sand

F Fine to very fine sand

S Sand

G Gravel

L Silt

Y Clay

T Till

O 

H 

O t-1 O O O

^

S3

O

§

FIGURE 16. Geologic section across the Connecticut River valley in Cromwell and Glastonbury, Conn. Location of section shown in figure 15.

W 

w w
B34 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

72°35' 72°33'

Base from U.S. Geological Survey Mt. Toby (1971) and Mt. Holyoke

(1979) 7.5-minute quadrangles, 1:25,000 FXPI ANATION

F

Till and bedrock

Mount U/amer kame delta Graded to glacial 

Lake Hitchcock; exposures reveal 6 feet of gravel 

over more than 50 feet of coarse sand

Municipal production well Taps coarse sand 

and gravel beneath fine-grained sediment

Well

Lake-bottom varved clay, commonly grading 

downward to silt or silty very fine sand, 

and overlain by:

Little or no surficial sand Clay is at or near 

land surface

Sand, fine to coarse Generally 10 to 30 

feet thick, in part fluvial and dune 

deposits on former lake floor

Alluvium Silt and sand on terraces and flood 

plains incised below former lake floor

FIGURE 17. The Mount Warner delta in the town of Hadley, Mass. (Adapted from 

Jahns, 1951; Balk, 1957; Stone and others, 1979; and Hansen, 1986.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B35

Town of Granby 72°47'30"

41°55'

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

Tariffville, Conn., 1970,1:24,000

0

EXPLANATION

SURFICIAL 

GEOLOGY

Till 

Stratified Drift

Coarse-grained 

(sand, some gravel)

Fine-grained (very 

fine sand, silt, clay)

Fine-grained overlying coarse

Thick sand (deltaic?) 

overlying clay

A' Line of geologic section

40 - - Line of equal thickness of

saturated stratified drift Interval, 

in feet, is variable. Dashed where 

inferred

EXPLANATION

Coarse-grained stratified 

drift

Fine-grained stratified 

drift

Till or mixed coarse and 

fine stratified drift

 - Geologic contact Dashed 

where inferred

Borehole Log available

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X5

FIGURE 18. Buried aquifer along collapsed margin of morphosequence in Simsbury, Conn. 

(From Melvin and Bingham, 1991.)
B36 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Other examples of proximal ice-channel fillings 

also can be cited. An esker, clearly depicted along 

Dolf Brook on the Hopkinton, N.H., topographic 

quadrangle, once fed a delta in a small proglacial 

lake and has been tapped by a municipal well 

(Hildreth and Moore, 1993, p. 19). Eskers in the 

towns of Northfield, East Montpelier, Norwich, 

and Hartland, Vt., are bordered and partly buried 

by younger and finer grained sediments and 

yielded large water supplies to test wells (Hodges 

and others, 1976a, 1976b). Ice-contact deposits 

form a buried ridge that extends for several miles 

beneath younger sediment along the Chenango 

and Susquehanna River valleys near 

Binghamton, N.Y., and are tapped by several 

municipal wells (Randall, 1986a).

In summary, ice-channel fillings that extend north 

from distinct morphosequence heads are likely to consist 

of coarse sand and gravel. One or more feeder channels 

should be anticipated on the proximal side of each 

morphosequence head or ice-margin position, in addition to collapsed coarse sediment at the base of proximal 

ice-contact slopes. Morphosequence heads can be difficult to identify with certainty, however, especially where 

hummocky stratified drift extends more or less continuously for several miles along a valley; and if deposits 

along feeder channels are covered by younger sediments, their location may not be marked by topographic 

ridges. Pumping tests and oriented resistivity soundings 

can be used to identify the orientation of buried aquifers 

that are not apparent from surface topography.

REGIONAL MELTWATER 

DRAINAGE SYSTEMS

The previous section pointed out that some of the 

coarsest sand and gravel transported by meltwater was 

deposited along narrow subglacial channels where they 

approached or reached the ice margin. This section presents evidence that large meltwater channel systems 

were spaced several miles apart, generally followed the 

lowest valleys and saddles on the bedrock surface, generally continued to function along the same route as the 

retreating ice margin encroached upon their lower 

reaches, and resulted in concentration of coarse stratified drift in semicontinuous narrow bands at least several miles in length, each perpendicular to a succession 

of temporary ice margins. Seasonal meltwater drainage systems must commonly have headed a few hundred miles north of the ice margin. Near the margin, 

meltwater flowed for at least several miles through 

tunnels at the base of the ice where it entrained sediment and, farther downstream, deposited some of that 

sediment. Coarse sand and gravel are likely to be more

abundant, better sorted, and more continuous along 

persistent trunk channels that drained large watersheds on the ice sheet than in intervening areas where 

less meltwater was available. Several examples of 

nearly continuous linear sand and gravel deposits 

(facies 1) that are ascribed to persistent regional meltwater channel systems are described on the following 

pages.

ESKER SYSTEMS IN MAINE

The most obvious evidence of extensive subglacial 

channels in the glaciated Northeast are the esker systems of Maine, whose distribution is shown on a statewide map (Thompson and Borns, 1985) and on many 

geologic and geohydrologic maps of larger scales. The 

esker systems have been described in detail by Stone 

(1899) and more briefly in many subsequent publications. Eskers typically consist of medium to fine gravel, 

capped by coarser gravel (Leavitt and Perkins, 1935). 

In form, they are typically single steep-sided, sharpcrested ridges on the order of 60 feet high and 500 feet 

wide (Shreve, 1985). They commonly extend with only 

short interruptions for several tens of miles. In southern Maine, where local relief is less than 1,000 feet 

(Denny, 1982), they are subparallel, spaced 5 to 

15 miles apart, and commonly branched like river systems. They tend to follow valleys for several miles, 

occupying only part of the valley-bottom width, then 

cross low saddles, thereby maintaining a gross orientation that reflects the slope of the ice surface at the time 

of deposition (Shreve, 1985). The large, complex Pine 

River esker system in eastern New Hampshire 

(Goldthwait, 1968) is a continuation of this pattern. In 

west-central Maine, where local relief generally 

exceeds 1,000 feet, eskers follow valleys consistently, 

seldom crossing saddles, and commonly occur as a 

series of discontinuous short segments. Although 

eskers are typically sharp-crested ridges, they locally 

grade into broad hummocky forms termed "reticulated 

kame fields" (Leavitt and Perkins, 1935) or "multiplecrested ridges" (Shreve, 1985). Eskers also grade into 

broad ridges with flat tops and, where the meltwater 

channel bordered a valley wall, into kame terraces. 

Shreve (1985) explained several variations in form as 

well as local discontinuities near saddles in terms of 

glacier physics specifically, heat generated within the 

meltwater by internal friction interacting with changes 

in the pressure and melting temperature of the ice as 

subglacial tunnels ascend or descend in elevation or as 

the ice sheet crosses obstacles such as hills. These 

changes in esker form are reflected on the map of 

Maine by Thompson and Borns (1985) in that some of 

the linear stratified deposits that align with eskers are 

mapped as other ice-contact landforms.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B37

Most esker systems in Maine terminate in deltas, and 

some are mantled by deltas at several separate points 

along their lower reaches (Leavitt and Perkins, 1935). 

The multiple deltas must have formed sequentially, 

which led Thompson (1982) to conclude that the eskers 

were built in successive segments. Alternatively, Shreve 

(1985) argued that continuity of the Katahdin esker system over 90 miles and a downstream increase in size 

indicate that the entire system was deposited simultaneously. He explained some features that had been 

thought to indicate sequential deposition intervals of 

nondeposition, changes in pebble lithology that correspond to underlying bedrock units in terms of glacier 

physics. Perhaps each subglacial meltwater conduit system initially functioned throughout its length, but its 

lower reaches were progressively abandoned as the ice 

margin retreated, and deltas were built at successive 

ice-margin positions by the continuing sediment flux 

along the conduit.

Eskers in Maine are commonly significant aquifers, 

inasmuch as they consist predominantly of coarse sand 

and gravel and tend to follow valleys. A few esker 

reaches are largely unsaturated, however, because they 

are perched above the present stream grade on the valley sides or where the esker crosses a saddle. Apparent 

gaps between topographically distinctive esker segments are likely to result from (a) deposition of enough 

younger sediment along the valley to completely bury 

low-lying esker reaches, or (b) postglacial stream erosion that planed off the crest of the esker flush with an 

adjacent terrace or flood plain, or (c) gradation of a typical sharp-crested esker into some less distinctive landform. Each of these explanations implies that the sand 

and gravel deposited along the former meltwater channel is likely to be continuous between, as well as 

within, visible esker segments and probably constitutes a continuous linear aquifer. Gaps between esker 

segments also can represent reaches of the subglacial 

conduit system in which sediment was not deposited, 

but Shreve (1985) pointed out that such reaches occur 

chiefly where the eskers cross saddles. Where an esker 

is overlapped by younger sediment, it can be tapped by 

wells alongside the exposed esker as well as on or in 

line with it.

An esker in the town of Oxford, west-central Maine, is 

illustrated in figure 19. Several esker segments, mapped 

as ice-contact deposits (Prescott, 1968; Morrissey, 1983), 

extend in slightly sinuous alignment along the Little 

Androscoggin River valley and a tributary. The segments lie along or slightly west of the thalweg of the 

bedrock valley (Morrissey, 1983, pi. 2) and are less than 

500 feet wide at land surface. Most of the valley is filled 

with silt, clay, and very fine sand (facies 2) overlain by

fine-sandy outwash (facies 3), as illustrated in the geologic section in figure 20A. Just north of the Little 

Androscoggin River, a pit (identified in fig. 19) revealed 

sand overlying marine clay that, in turn, overlapped the 

esker. A municipal well, drilled just north of an esker 

segment south of the river, obtained 325 gallons per 

minute from 52 feet of sand and gravel underlying 

30 feet of fine sand and clay (Prescott, 1967). Test holes 

and a geophysical survey described by Haeni (1995) led 

to the interpretation shown in figure 20B a buried 

esker segment thinly mantled and bordered by finegrained sediment. Prescott (1968) inferred that this 

esker constitutes a nearly continuous aquifer more than 

10 miles long and 1,000 feet or more wide, including the 

esker flanks and gaps between exposed segments where 

the esker is buried beneath younger fine-grained 

sediments.

ESKERS IN THE CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY

Esker segments have been identified along two 

reaches of the Connecticut River valley and also along 

the Passumpsic River valley, which continues the 

straight northeast-southwest trend followed by the 

Connecticut River valley farther south. Larsen and 

Koteff (1988) reported at least 10 successive icecontact, apparently esker-fed deltas between the 

Massachusetts State line and Putney, Vt., a distance of 

15 miles; Moore and others (1994) identified a buried 

esker beneath fines just north of the State line. Several 

esker segments, one 7 miles long, occur between 

Hartland, Vt., and Lyme, N.H., a distance of 18 miles 

(Stewart and MacClintock, 1969, p. 91; Larsen, 1987a, 

p. 36). Hodges and others (1976b) demonstrated that 

these segments are productive aquifers. An esker is 

nearly continuous for a distance of 24 miles along the 

Passumpsic River. In each of these three valley reaches, 

esker segments are, in part, overlapped or buried by 

clay, silt, and fine sand deposited later in glacial Lake 

Hitchcock. Continuity of coarse sand and gravel deposits has not been demonstrated for even the short gaps 

between visible esker segments within the three 

reaches mentioned, let alone the many miles between 

reaches. Nevertheless, the known distribution of esker 

segments suggests a persistent subglacial meltwater 

conduit along this straight valley, and the substantial 

depth to bedrock (Hodges, 1968a-d; Moore and others, 

1994) allows for the possibility that a basal aquifer 

might be nearly continuous, deposited at a conduit 

mouth as the ice margin retreated, but commonly buried beneath the abundant younger deltaic and lakebottom sediment mapped by Stewart and MacClintock 

(1970).
B38 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

70°3V 70°30' 70°29' 70°28'

44°09' -

Base from U.S. Geological Survey Oxford (1980) 

and Mechanic Falls (1981) 7 5-minute 

quadrangles. 1:24,000

FIGURE 19. Surficial geology in part of the town of Oxford, Maine. 

(Modified from Morrissey, 1983, pi. 3.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B39

EXPLANATION

Alluvium Sand, silt, clay, and some gravel beneath stream 

channels and in flood plains and low terraces

Swamp deposits Peat and organic muck and some interbedded 

silt, clay, and sand

Outwash (facies 3) Stratified deposits of sand and gravel in 

outwash plains and valley trains; overlies or is interfingered 

with marine deposits

Marine deposits (facies 2) Dark blue to gray silt, clay, and fine 

sand, tan where weathered. Contains layers of sand and 

gravel. Underlies outwash and may crop out in stream valleys

Ice-contact deposits (facies 1) Well- to poorly stratified 

deposits of sand, gravel, and cobbles with some silt and 

boulders. Landforms include eskers

Till and bedrock Till is an unsorted, unstratified mixture of clay, 

silt, sand, gravel, and boulders. Below the first few feet, 

particularly where thick, till is clay rich and very dense. Till 

covers the bedrock in the upland areas with a mantle of 

varying thickness

Contact between stratified drift and till or bedrock

A- A' Line of geologic section (fig. 20)

325 O Municipal well; number is yield in gallons per minute

FIGURE 19. Surficial geology in part of the town of Oxford, Maine. 

(Modified from Morrissey, 1983, pi. 3.) Continued

THROUGH VALLEYS IN RUGGED TERRAIN 

OF CENTRAL VERMONT

Meltwater generated during deglaciation in the 

mountainous headwaters of the Winooski River in 

Vermont drained south across the modern divide into 

the White River watershed because the lower reaches 

of the west-draining Winooski watershed were still 

occupied by ice. Five saddles, ranging in altitude from 

1,660 to 915 feet, link the heads of major tributaries 

across that divide (fig. 21), but the distribution and 

character of stratified drift suggest that only the lowest 

two saddles were crossed by meltwater drainage systems that carried large volumes of sediment. The 

White River and its tributaries, south of the divide, 

were inundated by glacial Lake Hitchcock below an 

altitude of roughly 770 feet. Lakes also existed during 

deglaciation in valleys north of the divide (Larsen, 

1987a, b). The five saddles are as follows:

1. Washington Heights (1,660 feet altitude). No evidence of stratified drift associated with meltwater 

drainage through this saddle is shown by Stewart 

and MacClintock (1970) or mentioned by Larsen

(1987b).

2. Brookfield Gulf (1,420 feet altitude). No coarse 

sand or gravel is graded to the north end of 

Brookfield Gulf, and little occurs at the south end 

(Stewart and MacClintock, 1970; Larsen, 1987b). 

Farther south, the valley of Ayers Brook is filled 

with silt, clayey silt, and some very fine sand from 

somewhat north of East Braintree to Randolph. 

The fines are capped by a few feet of fluvial sand 

and gravel deposited after Lake Hitchcock 

drained, and small deltas of coarser sand and 

gravel occur where tributaries entered the lake 

(F.D. Larsen, Norwich University, written commun., 1985; A.D. Randall, unpub. data).

3. Granville Notch (1,410 feet altitude). A lake was 

ponded north of this saddle during deglaciation, 

as evidenced by small inwash deltas along tributaries at the altitude of the saddle (Larsen, 1987b; 

Ackerly and Larsen, 1987, stop 3). Coarse sediment tentatively interpreted as esker or subaquatic fan deposits occur along the valley axis 

near Warren (Ackerly and Larsen, 1987), but little 

or none occurs within 5 miles north or south of 

Granville Notch (Stewart and MacClintock, 1970).

4. Roxbury (1,010 feet altitude). A delta graded to the 

Roxbury saddle heads in an esker that extends 

north along the axis of the Dog River valley for at 

least 10 miles. The esker is composed of poorly 

sorted gravel that grades upward into pebbly 

medium to coarse sand and then into fine sand to 

silt. All of these sediments contain structures 

indicating southward flow (Larsen, 1972) and 

were deposited while ice still choked the valley 

(Larsen, 1987b). This subglacial channel was not 

only responsible for most of the stratified drift 

north of the Roxbury saddle but also probably 

functioned earlier as a source of meltwater and 

sediment to Third Branch valley south of Roxbury. 

No coarse ice-contact deposits have been recognized in Third Branch valley, perhaps because it 

was above the level of Lake Hitchcock, but the 

entire length of the valley has a smoothly graded 

floor underlain by coarse gravel that was interpreted by Stewart and MacClintock (1970) as outwash, and an unusually large delta was built into 

Lake Hitchcock at Randolph (Larsen, 1987a, 

stop 7; also written commun., 1985). All these features suggest that Dog River and Third Branch 

valleys, linked at Roxbury, constituted a through 

valley, a major avenue for sediment transport during deglaciation.
B40 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Marine sands, 

silt, and clay

(Presumpscot equivalent)

Very fine sand 

Fine sand 

Medium sand 

Coarse sand 

Clay, silt 

Till 

Bedrock

100

50

1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000

DISTANCE , IN FEET 

A. Geologic section across the entire valley. (From Morrissey, 1983, pi. 3.)

8,000 9,000 10,000 11,000 12.000

B

FEET

350 ,

B'

^3 Coarse-grained

_o stratified drift,

^ 1,500 ohm-meters

Coarse-grained

stratified drift

(esker)

1,000 1,500 5,000

(ohm-meters) 

Refusal

Crystalline bedrock

2,000 2,000 2,500 3,000 5,000 7,000 10,000 2,500

2,000 . , .

(ohm-meters)

Seismic-refraction data used to interpret depth to water table and bedrock

5,000

5,000

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X4 

DATUM IS SEA LEVEL 0 100 200 300 FEET

0 30 60 METERS

B. Geoelectric section across buried esker, interpreted from direct-current resistivity, seismic refraction, and very-low-frequency apparent resistivity 

data. (From Haeni, 1995, fig. 57.) The interpreted resistivity in ohm-meters of each unit is shown; the numbers suggest that the fine-grained 

stratified drift is more resistive (coarser grained) near the esker than at a distance, as indicated by test-hole logs (Haeni, 1995) and as would be 

expected if the esker were mantled by upward-fining subaquatic outwash deposited at the tunnel mouth (fig. 3). The numbers also suggest that grain 

size within the esker increases toward the right (northeast) side.

FIGURE 20. Geologic and geoelectric sections across a buried esker in the Little Androscoggin River valley, Oxford, Maine.

Location of sections shown in figure 19.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B41

Winooski

River 

watershed

White

River

watershed

EXPLANATION

915

) ( Saddle Number is altitude, 

in feet above sea level

 Drainage divide

Sharon

Base from Larsen (1987b, fig. 1) 8 KILOMETERS VERMONT

FIGURE 21. Drainage patterns and saddles in central Vermont.
B42 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

5. Williamstown Gulf (915 feet altitude). The abundant ice-contact deposits in Second Branch valley 

were deposited in Lake Hitchcock, which extended 

north as far as the foot of Williamstown Gulf. 

These severely faulted deposits of coarse sand and 

gravel imply large meltwater flows while ice still 

choked the valley. The valley floor is characterized 

by low, streamlined landforms composed of gravel 

and interpreted by Larsen (1987b) to be longitudinal channel bars deposited by large meltwater 

flow that continued after Lake Hitchcock drained; 

the gravel may have been derived from ice-contact 

deposits planed off by meltwater. The valley of 

Stevens Branch, which heads on the north side of 

Williamstown Gulf, contains many esker segments and other ice-contact deposits of southflowing meltwater (Larsen, 1972). Like similar 

deposits south of the gulf, they suggest abundant 

meltwater and sediment flow along englacial or 

subglacial channels early in deglaciation. Data 

and interpretive maps by Hodges and others 

(1976a) indicate a nearly continuous band of 

coarse, permeable stratified drift from 

Williamstown Gulf north along Stevens Branch to 

Barre, then north to the Winooski valley near 

East Montpelier, and farther north along the 

Kingsbury Branch valley to Lake Woodbury and 

beyond. All these valleys are aligned nearly northsouth and seem to have constituted a regional 

meltwater channel system that resulted in coarsegrained stratified drift being more abundant than 

in other valleys.

In summary, surficial geology in the Winooski and 

White River watersheds of central Vermont indicates 

that meltwater channels, each largely subglacial and 

many miles in length, carried sediment through saddles at Roxbury and Williamstown Gulf during deglaciation. A channel along Second Branch extended 

northward through Williamstown Gulf, then along 

Stevens Branch, part of the Winooski valley, and 

Kingsbury Branch. About 10 miles to the west, a channel along Third Branch extended northward through 

Roxbury saddle, along much of the Dog River valley, 

and perhaps farther north. Either or both of these 

channels might have fed an esker at Sharon (Larsen, 

1987a, stop 5). Coarse sand and gravel seem to be more 

abundant along these valleys than in parallel valleys 

heading at higher saddles, and, if so, greater aquifer 

potential could be expected.

THROUGH VALLEYS IN RUGGED TERRAIN 

OF NORTHWESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

The Hoosic River drains northwesterly from 

Massachusetts into the Hudson River lowland of New 

York. During deglaciation, ice retreated from southeast 

to northwest (Warren and Stone, 1986), so water was 

ponded in the upper reaches of the Hoosic watershed 

for a time while active ice still blocked the lower 

reaches. Most stratified drift was deposited in glacial 

Lake Bascom, which originally drained south through 

the Berkshire spillway (fig. 22) and later through a succession of lower outlets to the southwest (Bierman and 

Dethier, 1986; DeSimone and Dethier, 1988). Major valleys in this region are developed on interbedded marble 

and quartzite and form a crude H-pattern (fig. 22). The 

distribution and lithology of the stratified drift within 

these valleys, described below, suggest that a regional 

subglacial channel system may have carried meltwater 

and sediment south and east through the combination 

of valleys and saddles that offered the lowest route 

toward the margin of the ice sheet at the time.

1. Northwest Limb: Vermont valley. Ice-contact stratified drift, including kame fields, deltas, and 

eskers, is abundant throughout this broad valley 

from beyond the northern limit of figure 22 

through Bennington to Pownal Center (DeSimone 

and Dethier, 1988; A.D. Randall, unpub. data). 

The hummocky topography, numerous eskers, and 

the presence of sandy diamicton atop constructional topography suggest ice stagnation and s>ubglacial deposition by meltwater (DeSimone and 

Dethier, 1992).

2. Central Limb: Hoosic River valley west of North 

Adams. Ice-contact stratified drift is exposed 

near North Adams (Bierman and Dethier, 1986). 

Lacustrine silt and clay of Lake Bascom mantle 

valley walls below 750 feet (A.D. Randall, unpub. 

data) and underlie the valley floor, where they 

conceal a continuous basal gravel aquifer (Hansen 

and others, 1973; Bierman and others, 1988). The 

aquifer (fig. 23) was presumably deposited in or at 

the mouth of one or more subglacial channels.

3. Southeast Limb: Upper Hoosic valley. Ice-contact 

landforms are abundant (Bierman and Dethier, 

1986) and were once even more abundant 

(Hitchcock, 1841). The ice-contact deposits form a 

continuous aquifer on the valley side and (or) 

beneath clay on the floor (fig. 23), except locally 

near Adams where the river occupies a gorge 

(Hansen and others, 1973). Some deposits were 

graded to the Lake Bascom water plane, others to
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B43

895

.1905

EXPLANATION

J ( Saddle on drainage divide Number 

is altitude, in feet above sea level

Base of steep hills that bound 

Vermont Valley

A1 Line of geologic section (fig. 23A)

Heartwellville

5 MILES

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

Albany 1°x2° sheet, 

1974,1:250,000

_/ Berkshire 

^1005

5 KILOMETERS

FIGURE 22. Drainage patterns and saddles in southwestern Vermont and northwestern Massachusetts.
B44 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X14

A. Section along Hoosic valley west of North Adams. Location shown in figure 22. 

(From Bierman and others, 1988, fig. 8.) EAST

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION XI0 

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL

B. Idealized section across Hoosic valley south of North Adams. (From Hansen and others, 1973.)

EXPLANATION

Sand, gravel; some clay and silt 1^^^^^ Till

Clay, silt, fine sand

Fine sand

Clay, silt

Sand and gravel

Bedrock

I Borehole Log used in

constructing section A-A'

FIGURE 23. Geologic sections in Hoosic River valley, Massachusetts.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B45

higher lake levels. Meltwater and sediment 

poured through the Berkshire spillway to build a 

large delta near Dalton (Warren and Stone, 1986).

4. Northeast Limb: North Branch valley. Surficial 

sand and gravel deposits are sparse and largely 

associated with tributaries. They include alluvial 

fans and flood plains, small deltas and ice-channel 

deposits on the valley sides, and a broad plain 

near Roaring Brook, interpreted by Bierman and 

Dethier (1986, p. 37) as a delta into Lake Bascom. 

A band of constructional topography bordering the 

valley floor is mantled by sandy ablation till that, 

at least locally, overlies and is interlayered with 

sand and silt (A.D. Randall, unpub. data). The 

stratified sediment may have been deposited subglacially but it seems too small in volume, lacking 

in gravel, and distant from the Heartwellville saddle to suggest meltwater flow through this valley.

5. Southwest Limb: Green River valley. Sand and 

gravel are limited to flood plains and to a few 

widely scattered deltas, fans, and kames, mostly 

bordering modern streams (A.D. Randall, unpub. 

data) at altitudes that suggest base level was the 

Berkshire spillway of Lake Bascom. Silt and clay 

mantle land surface locally, but its apparently 

sparse distribution suggests early Lake Bascom 

may have existed here only in a few channels amid 

a widespread cover of stagnant ice. No evidence of 

early meltwater flow through the watershed 

toward saddles to the south has been reported.

In summary, the abundance and apparent continuity 

of coarse-grained ice-contact stratified drift along the 

Vermont valley and along the Hoosic River valley from 

Pownal Center east and south to Berkshire suggest 

that these valleys, which link the lowest saddles in the 

region, carried a large flow of meltwater early in deglaciation, at least in part along subglacial channels. Adjacent parallel valleys that head at higher saddles 

contain much smaller volumes of ice-contact deposits 

whose distribution generally suggests deposition by 

local tributaries amid crevassed stagnant ice that 

drained readily to the Hoosic valley. The inferred meltwater conduit system had an important effect on aquifer distribution: a continuous basal aquifer (facies 1) is 

present beneath silt and clay (facies 2) in the reach of 

the Hoosic valley from North Adams through 

Williamstown to Pownal Center, even though few icecontact deposits are exposed at land surface in that 

reach.

OTHER TEMPORARY MELTWATER 

CHANNELS IN UPLANDS

At a few places in northern New England, meltwater 

channel systems extend for several miles through saddles and across uplands at orientations discordant with 

postglacial drainage. For example, the Cherry Valley 

esker, near Fabyans, N.H., extends at least 9 miles 

through an area of very high relief (Goldthwait and 

Mickelson, 1982, p. 175). It connects two saddles 

(notches) and constitutes the lowest possible route for 

subglacial meltwater southward across the White 

Mountains. A channel system at least 18 miles in 

length extends from the upp< r reaches of the northdraining Mississquoi River in Vermont, south through 

Eden Notch, past Eden Mills and Garfield, to a large 

delta built across the present Lamoille River valley 

east of Morrisville (fig. 24). Sand and gravel deposits 

mapped as kames and kame terraces by Stewart and 

MacClintock (1970) north of Eden Notch are mostly 

below the altitude of the notch and hence are presumed 

to have been deposited in tunnels and (or) as subaquatic fans at the mouth of a subglacial conduit along 

the axis of the Mississquoi valley. Probably, they were 

later reworked and slightly augmented by the small 

north-flowing tributaries. The reach between Eden 

Mills and Garfield includes a short esker and other constructional landforms and was interpreted by Hodges 

(1967a) as a continuous gravel aquifer; the map by 

Stewart and MacClintock (1970), however, implies the 

channels are mostly erosional. These deposits probably 

did not all form simultaneously, but collectively they 

reflect a persistent channel system that carried considerable meltwater. North of Lowell, Vt., the Mississquoi 

valley is largely mantled by fine sand, silt, and clay 

deposited later in large lakes that drained across saddles to the east and west at or below 840 feet in altitude. Stewart and MacClintock (1969, p. 171), however, 

mention localities near the Mississquoi River at Troy, 

Vt., where these lake fines mantle ice-contact kame 

gravels that may well represent headwater segments of 

the earlier channel system.

THROUGH VALLEYS IN THE APPALACHIAN PLATEAU

Several lines of evidence indicate that extensive subglacial drainage systems followed the major valleys of 

the Susquehanna River basin during deglaciation. The 

absence of stratified drift in many north-flowing tributaries indicates that the outermost several miles of the 

ice sheet were porous and capable of internal subglacial 

drainage that was controlled by bedrock topography. 

The lithology and volume of the stratified drift in the 

major valleys provides further evidence that meltwater 

drainage systems apparently extended for long distances through or beneath sediment-laden basal ice.
B46 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

72°30'

44°50'

44°45'

44°40'

44°35'

^^MAa? *** ^'"'; 'r " '""'^

i^lfyv-r yA jst'V-t ^ '^/ 

i&^V'l&ft

J. ^J^fi^^ -vi , . tfr -'u * --X

^ "l^/rr^ '- j^f f:^l

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

Lake Champlain 1 °x 2° sheet, 

1972,1:250,000

5 MILES

0

1 I

5 KILOMETERS

EXPLANATION

Kames, kame moraine, 

kame terraces, esker

Delta

Erosional channel

FIGURE 24. Stratified deposits and erosional channels produced by 

meltwater flow through Eden Notch in northern Vermont. 

(Modified from Stewart and MacClintock, 1970.)

In south-central New York, the Susquehanna River 

flows generally westward for 45 miles from Great Bend. 

Pa., through Binghamton and Owego to Waverly, N.Y., 

before turning south into Pennsylvania (fig. 25). In this 

reach, it is joined by several north-flowing tributaries 

that range in length from 5 to 12 miles. Saddles at the 

heads of these tributary valleys range upward from 

1,140 feet in altitude, whereas the depositional surfaces of stratified drift in the Susquehanna River valley 

are generally between 800 and 900 feet in altitude. The 

four lowest saddles (fig. 25) are narrow, straight-sided 

gorges interpreted to be spillways carved by large volumes of meltwater during advance and (or) retreat of 

one or more ice sheets (Denny and Lyford, 1963; 

Harrison, 1966; Coates and King, 1973). Only one of 

these tributaries, Salt Lick Creek, contains appreciable 

amounts of stratified drift graded to a headwater saddle. Several deltaic ice-contact deposits line the walls of 

Salt Lick Creek valley (Harrison, 1966; Coates and 

King, 1973), all reaching altitudes approximately level 

with the saddle near New Milford, Pa., which would 

have been the lowest potential outlet for meltwater 

from the Susquehanna River basin anywhere east of 

Waverly, N.Y. These ice-contact deposits were apparently derived largely from inwash rather than 

subglacial flow along the valltv, Coates and King 

(1973, also supplemental field trip itinerary) indicate 

that three deltas on the east side of Salt Lick Creek valley were deposited by meltwater from the next valley to 

the east, which poured across saddles on the intervening north-south ridge and eroded gullies as it 

descended 250 feet or more to the 1,150-foot level of the 

lake in Salt Lick Creek valley. No deposits graded to 

the New Milford spillway have been identified on the 

walls of the Susquehanna River valley near or northwest of the mouth of Salt Lick Creek (Harrison, 1966), 

which suggests that when the locus of ice-contact deposition reached the north end of Salt Lick Creek valley, 

meltwater began to drain beneath or through the ice 

down the Susquehanna River valley to Binghamton 

and beyond. The other north-flowing tributaries 

contain postglacial alluvial fans and flood plains, but 

virtually no surficial stratified drift. One small icecontact deposit was recognized by Denny and Lyford 

(1963); other constructional landforms in several 

valleys are composed of or mantled by till (Grubb, 1986; 

Reber, 1973); all these features are much lower in altitude than the headwater saddles and distant from 

them. The spillway in Wappasening Creek valley 

(fig. 25) contains a small plug of drift so located as to 

deny the possibility of large meltwater flow during the 

last deglaciation. No soils derived from surficial
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B47

lake-bottom sediments have been recognized in any of 

these valleys (Grubb, 1986; Reber, 1973). Thus, surficial 

geology and topography indicate that:

1. The ice was so porous or crevassed that proglacial 

lakes seldom developed in these north-draining 

valleys. Instead, early in deglaciation, meltwater 

readily drained 5 to 12 miles northward through 

the decaying ice, then westward down the 

Susquehanna River valley.

2. Sediment-laden subglacial meltwater from the north 

did not generally flow southward (upslope) 

through these tributary valleys during 

deglaciation. Instead, it apparently followed 

drainage routes along deep valleys such as the 

Susquehanna and the Chenango.

Contrasts in drift lithology within the Appalachian 

Plateau (Moss and Ritter, 1962; Denny and Lyford, 

1963; Randall, 1978a, 1981) also are consistent with the 

concept of extensive subglacial flow systems. Drift in 

the uplands and in the Susquehanna River valley 

upstream from Binghamton is composed almost

entirely of fragments of local shale and siltstone bedrock. So are the earliest stratified deposits all along the 

Susquehanna River valley from Binghamton to 

Waverly. These early deposits comprise kame terraces 

along the sides of the valley and buried ridges along the 

valley axis that suggest subglacial conduits (Randall, 

1986a). Later deposits, however, contain much larger 

percentages of erratic bedrock types derived from areas 

far to the north and transported to the Susquehanna 

valley byway of the Chenango River, Owego Creek, and 

Cayuta Creek valleys (fig. 25), which extend as continuous, deep through valleys to and across the divide 

near the northern perimeter of the Appalachian 

Plateau. This change in stratified-drift lithology suggests that early in deglaciation of the Susquehanna 

valley west of Binghamton, most sediment was derived 

from melting ice and fluvial erosion in the uplands 

roundabout, probably augmented by meltwater flux 

from the southeast along the Susquehanna valley, 

whereas later in deglaciation, sediment transport 

along the south-flowing tributary valleys predominated. Transport of erratic pebbles has been ascribed to

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

State Base Maps, 1:500.000

1370

EXPLANATION

) ( Spillway incised into saddle 

on divide Number is altitude 

of spillway, in feet above sea level

Figure 25. Drainage patterns and saddles in south-central New York and north-central Pennsylvania.
B48 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

rapidly moving ice streams within the ice sheet but 

confined to the through valleys (Muller, 1965a) and to 

subglacial streams along the through valleys (Randall, 

1978a) that not only transported erratic pebbles southward but also increased the erratic content of the stratified drift by attrition of the less durable stones (Bugh 

and others, 1970).

Fleisher (199la, b) calculated from well records that 

the valleys of the Susquehanna and Unadilla watersheds upstream from Sidney, N.Y., contain 14 cubic 

miles of fine-grained lacustrine sediment. Removal of 

an average of 50 feet of till from the intervening 

uplands during or shortly after deglaciation would be 

required to account for all this fine sediment as inwash. 

Fleisher argued that this much erosion by stream incision, mass wasting, sheetwash, or winnowing would 

have left conspicuous evidence of dissection and widespread bouldery lag gravel, neither of which exist, and 

concluded that the bulk of the fines must have entered

proglacial lakes from conduits beneath active ice 

tongues in the valleys, having been eroded by meltwater from basal ice or subglacial sediment. If so, two 

corollaries follow: (a) the subglacial drainage systems 

must have headed a long distance north of the ice 

margin to generate sufficient sediment; and (b) the 

sand and gravel eroded from the basal ice or subglacial 

sediment must have been deposited concurrently atop 

bedrock (facies 1) near the mouths of the subglacial 

conduits, especially in through valleys, which would be 

the most likely routes of long subglacial conduits.

Farther north, seismic-reflection surveys across 

Cayuga, Seneca, and Owasco Lakes (Mullins and 

others, 1991) disclosed a sinuous ridge in each valley 

that overlies bedrock near the valley axis and can be 

traced for a few miles. The ridges ifig. 26) are 1,000 to 

1,600 feet wide at the base, 65 to 115 feet high, and are 

composed of seismically chaotic, unconsolidated 

sediment like that which blankets bedrock to lesser

WEST

0

B

o o

0 300 METERS 

EXPLANATION

M Multiple Repetition of 

a shallower reflection

O

CO 

DC

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X7

FIGURE 26. Seismic-reflection profiles across (A) northern Owasco Lake and (B) central Seneca Lake, New York. 

(From Mullins and others, 1991.) Near the axis of each valley is a buried ridge interpreted as an esker.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B49

thickness on either side of the ridges; a piston core at 

one site recovered clast-supported gravel. The ridges 

are recognized only beneath the northern half of each 

lake, where bedrock is appreciably shallower than farther south, and are interpreted as eskers deposited in 

extensive subglacial conduits.

MELTWATER CHANNELS IN LOWLANDS

Linear bands of coarse-grained ice-contact deposits 

have been demonstrated or inferred to be continuous 

over distances of several miles at several localities in 

broad lowlands, where they are overlapped or buried to 

varying degrees by fine-grained sediment.

Ontario, Canada. Two esker systems in lowlands 

outside the Northeastern United States are cited 

briefly because they provide exceptionally clear examples of the spacing and continuity of meltwater 

channels.

Parsons (1970) described a lowland area near 

Cochrane, Ontario, that was part of a large proglacial 

lake during deglaciation. Two parallel esker complexes 

are 7 miles apart and more than 12 miles long; each 

includes a linear gravel ridge as much as 1,000 feet 

wide that is locally mantled, bordered, or replaced by 

relatively flat sand plains (presumably deltas or subaquatic fans) as much as 8,000 feet wide. The remainder of the area is a swampy plain underlain by varved 

clay that grades down into silt and very fine sand that 

overlaps the esker complexes.

Rust and Romanelli (1975) described a broad lowland south of Ottawa, Ontario, that also is crossed by 

eskers mantled by sandy subaquatic fan deposits. 

These features occur as ridges 5 to 8 miles apart, 8 to 

10 miles long, and less than 50 feet high. They are generally oriented parallel to each other, and parallel to ice 

movement as indicated by striations. They were deposited below at least 150 feet of water and are bordered 

and overlapped by marine silty clay.

Eastern New York. LaFleur (1965, fig. 3; 1979a, 

figs. 2-6) recognized within the Hudson River lowland 

near Albany, N.Y., a set of ice-contact deposits, chiefly 

kames or kame deltas, aligned roughly north-south and 

overlapped in part by fine sand, silt, and clay deposited 

later in proglacial Lake Albany. LaFleur interpreted 

the ice-contact deposits as the product of a major subglacial or englacial drainage system that persisted in 

approximately the same alignment while the ice front 

retreated 15 miles over irregular topography. Dineen 

and Hanson (1983) traced this alignment of ice-contact 

deposits farther north, for a total length of at least 

21 miles. They interpreted it as a zone 1 to 3 miles wide 

in which basal ice-contact deposits are generally 

present, mostly thin, but locally 25 to 100 feet thick. 

Much of the zone follows a buried bedrock valley, but

the thickest ice-contact deposits commonly occur on the 

valley sides rather than along the thalweg; thick icecontact deposits presumably reflect pauses in retreat 

where sediment carried along the subglacial drainage 

system had time to accumulate. The interpretation by 

Dineen and Hanson (1983) is illustrated later in this 

paper (fig. 62).

Wallkill Valley in New York and New Jersey. The 

valley of the north-draining Wallkill River was 

inundated by large proglacial lakes during deglaciation. In northern New Jersey, ice-contact deposits form 

a continuous line about 1,000 feet wide for 8 miles 

along the west side of the Wallkill valley south from the 

New York border, interrupted by a large delta at 

Sussex, N.J., and terminating in another large delta 

near Hamburg, N.J. (Stanford and others, 1998). Over 

most of this distance, the ice-contact deposits are probably largely unsaturated, perched on bedrock that is 

probably above stream grade and certainly well above 

the thalweg of the bedrock valley to the east. The icecontact deposits were laid down by south-flowing 

currents and are interpreted by Stanford and others 

(1998) as sublacustrine fans deposited at the mouth of 

a persistent meltwater channel within the retreating 

ice. In New York, the Wallkill valley is broader than in 

New Jersey and is generally characterized by finegrained lacustrine sediment at land surface. Icecontact deposits are locally exposed near the west side 

of the valley, however, and were interpreted by 

Frimpter (1972) as constituting a continuous buried 

aquifer as much as a mile wide that extends for 

11 miles along the west side of the valley. Only a few 

well records (Frimpter, 1970) were available to document the inferred continuity of the basal aquifer in 

New York, but it seems evident that early in deglaciation, meltwater flow and ice-contact deposition were 

concentrated along the west side of the Wallkill valley 

in both New York and New Jersey, over a north-south 

distance of at least 19 miles.

Central Massachusetts. The geologic setting of the 

Mount Warner delta in central Massachusetts was 

described earlier (fig. 17) as an example of a sand and 

gravel aquifer buried beneath younger fine-grained 

sediment at the head of a morphosequence. The sand 

and gravel probably were deposited along a meltwater 

channel that fed the delta. A similar feature, known as 

the Dry Brook delta (Saines, 1973), is about 7 miles to 

the south, southeast of the water gap where the 

Connecticut River cuts through the Holyoke Range 

(fig. 27». Immediately upstream from this delta, chiefly 

west of the Connecticut River, several wells penetrate 

coarse ice-contact or deltaic deposits (Saines, 1973; 

Cederstrom and Hodges, 1967).
B50 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

72°35' 72°30'

42°25'

42°20'

42°15'

EXPLANATION

Till

Delta, built into glacial Lake Hitchcock; 

sand and gravel D, Dry Brook delta; 

M, Mount Warner delta; L, Long Plain delta

Other ice-contact deposits; sand and gravel

Lake-bottom varved clay, silt, and very

fine sand, commonly capped by alluvium

Surficial sand over varved clay, silt, and 

very fine sand

Water-yielding sand and gravel in proximal 

subaquatic fans known or inferred to 

underlie fine-grained sediments

I I I I

0 1 2 3 KILOMETERS

3 MILES

J

MASSACHUSETTS

Base from U.S. Geological Survey. 1974

FIGURE 27. Surficial geology and geohydrology along part of the Connecticut River valley in central Massachusetts. 

(Adapted from Stone and others, 1979; Hansen, 1986; and Saines, 1973.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B51

Immediately northeast of the water gap, wells penetrate water-yielding gravel beneath 125 feet of finegrained lake-bottom deposits (Saines, 1973; Hansen, 

1986). Several seismic-reflection and well records farther north along the Connecticut River led Hansen 

(1986) to infer that a continuous band of ice-contact 

deposits lies buried beneath fine sediment from the 

water gap northeastward at least as far as the 

Mount Warner delta (fig. 27). Both of these deltas are 

so located that they could not have received sediment 

directly from upland tributary watersheds; the sediment must have come through a meltwater channel(s) 

within or under the ice sheet. Collectively, these observations suggest a persistent subglacial channel at least 

7 miles in length, which formed here because the water 

gap is the lowest place at which subglacial meltwater 

could drain south through the Holyoke Range. 

Meltwater flowing along the channel built the deltas 

during pauses in retreat that occurred while the ice 

was grounded on the Holyoke Range and later on 

Mount Warner.

Four miles north of the Mount Warner delta is the 

Long Plain delta, another large accumulation of coarsegrained sediment. The Long Plain delta was deposited 

by meltwater from a tributary valley aligned with the 

meltwater channel inferred in figure 27. Several test 

holes on the intervening lake plain penetrated thick 

lake-bottom sediments but did not detect a northward 

extension of the basal gravel aquifer.

SUMMARY

The preceding sections have described or cited examples of linear bands of coarse-grained ice-contact deposits (facies 1) that are known or inferred to extend 

without interruption for several miles. They are 

inferred to be the products of meltwater flow along persistent subglacial channels whose spacing was 

controlled by interaction of glacier physics and topography. They commonly include eskers, but also include 

other constructional landforms. They commonly have 

sufficient saturated thickness to constitute productive 

aquifers. In areas of low relief, they tend to be spaced 5 

to 15 miles apart and to be oriented down the icesurface slope, perpendicular to the ice margin, but are 

confined to some extent in valleys and cross from one 

valley to another at low saddles. In areas of rugged terrain, their orientation conforms more closely to major 

valleys, but they still link some valleys across the lowest available saddles and are absent or less prominent 

in parallel valleys that head at higher saddles. In the 

Appalachian Plateau, they probably follow all the deep, 

glacially eroded troughs, although they are not as well 

exposed so their continuity is difficult to demonstrate.

Throughout the glaciated Northeast, where surficial or 

subsurface data indicate the existence of linear channel 

deposits in particular localities, interpolation or 

extrapolation of the linear trend is a reasonable 

method of exploration for water supplies.

TRIBUTARIES AS SOURCES 

OF COARSE SEDIMENT

The stratified drift in valleys of the glaciated 

Northeast was derived in part from subglacial flow 

systems that followed these valleys, as described in 

preceding sections, but also in part from tributary 

streams that drained watersheds in the adjacent 

uplands. The tributaries entrained sediment from 

melting ice in those uplands as well as from the freshly 

exposed drift into which they were incising their 

channels.

Wherever a proglacial lake existed temporarily at a 

level much higher than the modern valley floor, deltas 

or deltaic ice-contact landforms are common along the 

former lake shore near upland tributaries. Such deltas 

are obvious evidence that the tributaries were sources 

of coarse sediment to the major valleys, although they 

generally are not important aquifers today. For example, in the 5-square-mile upland watershed of Cold 

Brook near South Tamworth, N.H. (fig. 28), an 

ice-channel filling about 100 feet wide and a few 

hundred feet long lies alongside each of several small 

tributaries; these landforms were deposited in 

channels or tunnels that had been carved in the ice by 

the tributaries, then ponded up to an altitude of about 

1,060 feet. The Mad River watershed of central 

Vermont contained a proglacial lake that spilled 

through Granville Notch (fig. 21), and small deltas 

have been recognized along the inferred shoreline near 

each tributary (Ackerly and Larsen, 1987, stop 3; 

F.D. Larsen, Norwich University, oral commun., 1987). 

Along the west side of the Green River watershed south 

of Williamstown, Mass., isolated deltas or fans more 

than 100 feet above the valley floor were recognized 

near most small tributaries (Holmes, 1965) at altitudes 

that probably correspond to the earliest level of 

proglacial Lake Bascom (Bierman and Dethier, 1986). 

A vast complex of coalesced sandy deltas was formed 

along the east side of the Black River valley in northern 

New York by streams descending from the Adirondack 

Mountains (Waller and Ayer, 1975, p. 15; Waller, 1976). 

Deltas also were built by all major streams flowing 

north from the Adirondacks into a succession of lakes 

in the St. Lawrence lowland (Clark, 1984). All the deltaic deposits cited above are perched high on the sides 

of valleys or lowlands and, thus, are thinly saturated
B52 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

and of minor importance as aquifers, although many 

are sources of perennial springs or seepage that contribute significantly to low flow of streams and are 

locally used for water supply. Several studies, however, 

have reported saturated stratified drift within valley 

fills to be especially coarse where a prominent tributary enters the valley (Randall, 1964, p. 53; Kammerer 

and Hobba, 1967; Schiner and Gallaher, 1979, p. 9), and 

other studies have presented pebble counts or mineralogic analyses that indicate some of the coarse sediment 

in valley fills to be derived from bedrock in the adjacent 

uplands (Langer, 1977; Randall, 1978a; Ridge, 1985; 

Stanford, 1989a, b; Stanford and others, 1998).

43°50'

71 020'

43°47'

Base from U.S. Geological 

Survey Mt. Chocorua 15-minute 

quadrangle. 1 958, 1 :62,500

1MILE 

I

1 KILOMETER

EXPLANATION

Alluvium of Cold Brook NEW HAMPSHIRE

Alluvial fans Gravel and sand; head at 

1,170 feet altitude near Pollard Brook, 

1,060 feet near Hobb Brook

Ice-channel fillings Chiefly pebbly sand: 

most head at about 1,060 feet altitude

Till

Bedrock outcrop 

 Drainage divide

FIGURE 28. Surficial geology of the Cold Brook watershed, 

Tamworth, N.H.

In the Appalachian Plateau, sand and gravel deposited where tributaries enter major valleys are significant aquifers and transmit recharge to deep aquifers. 

Erosion by ice scoured the bedrock surface in most 

major valleys to depths 100 to 500 feet below the thalwegs of tributary valleys. Where the tributaries 

descend from these "hanging" valleys in the uplands to 

the modern floor of the main valley, they have deposited 

large alluvial fans composed of variably silty, sandy 

gravel. Apparently the tributaries also contributed 

coarse sediment to the proglacial lakes that occupied 

the major valleys during deglaciation. Fleisher and 

others (1992) inferred from geophysical surveys that 

most of the sediment beneath the southern half of 

Otsego Lake was derived from ice-free upland 

tributaries during deglaciation. Grain (1966) demonstrated the presence and hydrologic function of the 

deglacial and postglacial fans deposited by tributaries 

in Cassadaga valley near Jamestown, N.Y.; his interpretation can be summarized as follows: A gravel aquifer ranging from 10 to 40 feet in thickness lies below 

the floor of Cassadaga Creek valley over a distance of 

10 miles. It might have been deposited as a subaquatic 

fan(s) by meltwater issuing from a retreating ice 

tongue or by north-flowing streams as fan and channel 

alluvium during an interstadial interval. It is overlain 

by 80 to 120 feet of silty clay deposited in a proglacial 

lake that persisted for several hundred years or was 

reestablished by ice readvance. It is tapped for municipal supply near Jamestown and is known as the 

Jamestown aquifer. The coarse sediment that was 

deposited near the mouths of tributaries merges with 

the Jamestown aquifer and interfingers with the fine 

sediment that subsequently accumulated over most of 

the lake floor (fig. 29). The coarse deposits of the tributary streams were termed deltas by Grain (1966), but 

the stratigraphy and form (fig. 30) are suggestive of 

subaquatic fans rather than flat-topped Gilbert-type 

deltas. Teller (1987, p. 44) mentioned that the sediment 

load deposited in proglacial lakes by rivers commonly 

occurs as sublacustrine splays with concave-up surfaces and bedding that dips toward the center of the 

lake. The tributaries in Cassadaga Creek valley lose 

large amounts of water as they cross their alluvial fans, 

and on one fan (fig. 30) an annual temperature 

fluctuation from 3° to 13°C recorded in the well nearest 

to the head of the fan showed that seepage losses from 

the tributary moved quickly to depths of at least 

55 feet. The potentiometric surface in the same fan paralleled land surface in the spring, but sloped toward the 

valley wall in September (fig. 30). From this evidence,
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B53

FIGURE 29. Idealized relation of tributary delta (or fan) to the 

Jamestown aquifer in Cassadaga Creek valley, New York. 

(From Grain, 1966, fig. 22.)

Grain (1966) deduced that coarse sediment near the 

head of the tributary fan is continuous from land 

surface to a depth of at least 125 feet and constitutes a 

window or conduit through which recharge from 

precipitation and tributary-stream seepage on the 

alluvial fan can migrate downward and recharge the 

Jamestown aquifer beneath the valley floor (figs. 29, 

30).

The concept of tributary fans as localized aquifers 

along the valley walls and as conduits that convey 

recharge to buried aquifers has been adopted by other 

investigators in the Appalachian Plateau. For example, 

MacNish and Randall (1982, figs. 8-9, pi. 1) found the 

concept consistent with scattered borehole records and 

applied it in interpreting aquifer geometry in the 

Susquehanna River basin. Randall (1978b) drew geologic sections based on borehole records beneath seven 

alluvial fans deposited by tributaries in major valleys 

of south-central New York. All seven fans overlie coarse 

sand and gravel near the valley wall; but nearer the 

center of the valley, a wedge of fine sand or silt separates four of the fans from the deeper aquifer (fig. 31). 

Williams (1991) drew sections beneath several tributary fans in north-central Pennsylvania that indicated 

most of the valley fill to be sand and gravel. Both 

Randall (1978b) and Williams (1991) inferred that the 

sand and gravel beneath postglacial alluvial-fan gravels were deposited by meltwater flowing along the 

major valley, perhaps augmented by sediment from 

tributaries, rather than solely a product of tributary 

inflow as inferred by Grain (1966) for Cassadaga Creek 

valley.

INCREASED SATURATED THICKNESS 

AROUND ICE-BLOCK DEPRESSIONS

Ice-block depressions, a common feature of stratified 

drift in the glaciated Northeast, can significantly 

influence aquifer geometry. Blocks of stagnant ice were 

buried or overlapped by rapidly accumulating stratified 

drift in many places. As those ice blocks melted, the 

loss of support caused the overlying or adjacent stratified drift to sag or settle, by gentle downwarping and by 

abrupt displacement along normal faults, resulting in 

irregularly shaped depressions known as kettleholes or 

ice-block depressions. Examples abound throughout 

the glaciated Northeast. In figure 15, for example, 

Great Pond and Potter Pond occupy linked ice-block 

depressions that extend below the modern water table, 

whereas the "Mustard Bowl" 1 mile southwest of Great 

Pond is a single, dry ice-block depression. Where an ice 

block melted before local proglacial lakes drained, the 

kettlehole is likely to contain fine-grained lake-bottom 

sediment.

The origin and potential hydrologic significance of 

ice-block depressions are illustrated in figure 32. 

Deltaic or fluvial outwash overlies lake-bottom fines in 

the distal parts of many morphosequences, but modern 

streams commonly are incised below the base of 

facies 3, leaving the surficial aquifer thinly saturated. 

Where the outwash is downwarped or collapsed around 

the margin of ice-block depressions, however, its saturated thickness is thereby increased, and wells at such 

locations could effectively capture recharge from surrounding areas of smaller saturated thickness. Organic 

matter accumulates in many ice-block depressions, 

however, and trash as well in some; decay of these 

materials can result in low pH, reducing conditions, 

and elevated dissolved iron and manganese in ground 

water pumped nearby (Randall and others, 1966; Gay 

and Frimpter, 1984).

Several examples of downwarping of surficial outwash beneath ice-block depressions and of groundwater flow along the downwarped aquifers have been 

documented along the Chenango and Susquehanna 

River valleys in Broome County, N.Y. The stratigraphy 

in these valleys is summarized in table 3. Complex 

downwarping just west of the Chenango River is 

illustrated by a map (fig. 33), three geologic sections 

(fig. 34), and a block diagram (fig. 35). Ice-contact 

deposits and outwash in the sections were distinguished by pebble lithology, as explained in table 3. 

Water-level measurements and temperature profiles in 

several wells (Randall, 1977) indicated that at least 

78 percent of the 1,500 gallons per minute pumped by
B54 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

0 2,000 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X10

4,000 

DISTANCE IN FEET

79°14' 79°13' 79° 12'

42°10'

42°09'

6,000

EXPLANATION 

Sand

Interbedded layers of sand and of gravel 

Silt and clay 

Till

Bedrock i NEW YORK 

Well

EXPLANATION

Sand, gravel (alluvial fan) 

Silt, clay 

I Till

-A'Line of section and well location

1/2 1MILE

1 KILOMETER

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

Gerry 7.5-minute quad., 1979.1:24.000

FIGURE 30. Geologic section across alluvial fan and delta (or subaquatic fan) in Cassadaga Creek valley 

north of Jamestown, N.Y (Modified from Grain, 1966, fig. 18.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B55

76°19'

42°06'

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

Owego, N.Y.. 1:24,000,1969 

0 1/2 MILE

\ 

.5 KILOMETER

500

EXPLANATION 

Line of section is along creek

1,000 1,500 

DISTANCE, IN FEET

2,000 2,500 3,000

Silty sandy gravel, yields little water to 

drilled wells; tributary creek alluvium

Sandy gravel or sand, variably silty, in part water 

yielding; glaciofluvial valley-train deposits

EliriZq Silt to fine sand; lake-bottom deposits

Uncertain

Well or test boring, projected perpendicular to stream. 

Solid line represents casing, dashed where casing 

has been removed. Log available (Randall, 1972) 

unless otherwise indicated

Streambed cut in dense silt

Well or test boring

Stream and point of dryness

Water level in well October 1 1, 1968

Water table

Contact between lithologic units

FIGURE 31. Geologic section across alluvial fan in the Susquehanna River valley near Owego, N.Y.

(From Randall, 1978b, fig. 1.)

production well 7 was derived from the Chenango 

River by induced infiltration, which moved to the well 

along the downwarped outwash layer on the northeast 

side of an ice-block depression (fig. 34, section B-B1 ). 

The path of the induced infiltration is shown by the 

solid arrows in figure 35. A few miles to the west, in 

the towns of Union and Vestal, at least four ice-block 

depressions contain fine-grained lake-bottom sediment 

(fig. 36). Borehole logs demonstrate that one of these 

ice-block depressions, near Snapp Jr. High School, is 

underlain by downwarped surficial outwash (fig. 37); 

the boreholes are not generally deep enough to indicate what underlies the outwash, but calibration of a 

digital aquifer model suggested some hydraulic continuity between the downwarped outwash and basal icecontact deposits tapped by several municipal wells

nearby (Randall, 1986, p. 28). Borehole logs suggest 

that downwarped outwash beneath another depression, on the south side of the Susquehanna River, also 

abuts ice-contact deposits (fig. 37). Continuity and 

ground-water flow through downwarped outwash 

beneath the depression near the mouth of Nanticoke 

Creek and the sewage disposal (fig. 36) are demonstrated by numerous borehole logs and by movement 

of organic solvents from a landfill west of Nanticoke 

Creek to a public-supply well (Endicott Ranney well, 

fig. 36) east of the creek (^dams and Grant, 1984J. 

These examples indicate that ground water often can 

flow readily through downwarped outwash beneath 

ice-block depressions and suggest that well yield 

would benefit from the greater saturated thickness 

and potential drawdown at these locations.
B56 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

SOUTH NORTH

^ ' J V-,S-.r>/^.V»*t r;v-*^

'

Bedrock 

A. Ice-contact deposits laid down by meltwater streams at the ice margin

7 7 7 / 7 7 7

B. Lake develops after the next segment of ice stagnates; fine-grained 

sediment accumulates

T T 7 T "7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

C. Deltaic outwash progrades across lake

Water table

Ice-contact 

deposits ~r~r~7~r

D. Present conditions: organic-rich sediment accumulates in ice-block 

depressions that extend below the water table. Outwash attains 

maximum saturated thickness where downwarped and may make 

contact with any basal ice-contact deposits

EXPLANATION

Postglacial fines with 

organic matter

Deltaic outwash, facies 3 

(sand and gravel)

Meltwater stream / 7 7 7

Lake-bottom fines, facies 2 

(silt, clay, very fine sand)

Ice-contact deposits, facies 1 

(sand and gravel)

Bedrock or Till

FIGURE 32. Development and hydrologic significance of typical ice-block depressions in outwash deposits.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B57

TABLE 3. Geologic units in the glacial drift along the Susquehanna and Chenango River valleys in southwestern Broome County, N.Y.

Geologic unit Distribution and lithology

Fill

River alluvium

Older river alluvium 

Postglacial lake beds

Stratified drift 

Outwash

Lake beds 

Ice-contact deposits

Till 

Bedrock

In natural and excavated depressions, chiefly trash and ashes; in levees and embankments, natural materials.

Beneath flood plains of large streams; silt to fine sand that may contain organic-rich layers, overlying a few feet 

of sandy pebble-cobble gravel.

Caps low terraces, interfingers with postglacial lake beds in some depressions; sand and gravel.

In ice-block depressions; silt and very fine sand with some clay and scattered plant fragments; commonly grades 

to peat or highly organic silt at the top; may contain thin lenses of sandy gravel near streams.

Caps broad terraces; sandy pebble gravel and coarse-fine sand; commonly deltaic; bright appearance because of 

numerous exotic pebbles. Facies 3.

Silt; silt with clay layers; silty very fine sand: commonly underlies outwash. Facies 2.

Sandy pebble-cobble gravel and pebbly sand, clean to very silty; locally includes thick silt layers; drab appearance 

because of few exotic pebbles. Facies 1.

Immediately overlies bedrock; commonly thin, but forms rounded hills in some localities. 

Shale, siltstone.

75°56' 75°55'

42°07'

42°06'

Base from U.S. Geological 

Survey, Binghamton West 

7.5-minute quadrangle, 

1976,1:24,000

1000 2000

I

3000 FEET

500 1000 METERS

EXPLANATION

Postglacial lake beds in ice-block depressions

Facies 3, overlies Facies 2 Facies 3 is sand and gravel, 

generally outwash but also includes 

older river alluvium; Facies 2 is clay, silt and very fine 

sand of glacial, or locally postglacial, origin

Facies 3, directly overlies Facies 1 No intervening lakebottom deposits

Facies 1 Sand and gravel, variably silty; ice-contact deposits 

Till

Well or test boring, log available (Randall, 1972)

- 

: Approximate location of block diagram (fig. 35)

 C1 Line of geologic section (fig. 34)

FIGURE 33. Geohydrology of the eastern part of the Clinton Street-Ballpark aquifer, Binghamton, N.Y.

(Modified from Randall, 1986a, pi. 1.)
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HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B59

Flow

toward

central

part

of aquifer

* Riverbed 

(Zone of infiltration)

Riverbed 

{Zone of infiltration) 'V

EXPLANATION

Silt and clay 

Sand and gravel

Gravel and sand of low 

hydraulic conductivity

Flow in plane of cross section Dashed 

where relatively slow

Flow beneath plane of land surface

Flow toward

central part

of aquifer

FIGURE 35. Movement of induced infiltration from Chenango River to a production well. The three blocks represent adjacent 

segments of valley fill, sliced and separated to show the aquifer geometry. (Modified from Randall, 1977, fig. Fl.) Location of blocks 

shown in figure 33. Not to scale.

CLASSIFICATION AND MAP 

REPRESENTATION OF AQUIFERS

The foregoing sections have described several typical 

patterns or concepts that generally characterize aquifer geometry in the glaciated Northeast, and have suggested how they can be recognized amid the sometimes 

bewildering heterogeneity of the stratified drift. The 

discussion has emphasized the three-dimensional spatial variation in saturated thickness of sand and gravel 

and in distribution of sand and gravel relative to finegrained sediments. These aspects are important in 

locating sites for large-yield wells, in delineating capture areas around such wells, and in identifying 

ground-water flow paths. When the water-transmitting 

properties of earth materials and the location and magnitude of recharge sources also are considered, aquifer 

yield can be estimated.

Despite the many influences on aquifer form and distribution and the heterogeneity that is so common 

within even single exposures of stratified drift, aquifer 

geometry can be and has been mapped. For example, 

the three-dimensional spatial distribution of the three 

universal depositional facies can be represented effectively on maps by "stacked units" such as coarse/fine, 

fine/coarse, coarse/fine/coarse, coarse only, and fine 

only (Randall and others, 1966; Meade, 1978; Stone 

and others, 1992; Canace and others, 1993). Alternatively, saturated thickness or transmissivity of surficial 

aquifers (facies 1 and 3) could be represented by a set 

of map patterns or contours, while contrasting patterns 

or overlays could be used to represent any facies-1 aquifers confined or buried beneath fines. For example, 

MacNish and Randall (1982) divided surficial sand and 

gravel in the Susquehanna River basin of New York 

into three ranges of saturated thickness and divided 

buried aquifers into three depth intervals. Moore
B60 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

76C 05' 76D 04' 76°03'

42°06'

42°05'

Base from U.S. Geological Survey, Endicott 

7.5-minute quadrangle, 1969,1:24,000 1,000 2.000 3,000 FEET

500

EXPLANATION

1,000 METERS

I I

H

Postglacial lake beds, in ice-block depressions; overlies Facies 3 outwash 

Postglacial lake beds, overlies Facies 2 or older units

Facies 3, overlies Facies 2 Facies 3 is sand and gravel, mostly outwash but also includes some 

older river alluvium and modern alluvium; Facies 2 is silt, clay, and very fine sand deposited 

in proglacial lakes

Facies 3, directly overlies Facies 1 No intervening lake-bottom deposits

Facies 1 Ice-contact deposits; coarse sand and gravel, variably silty, locally includes 

thick silt lenses; largely unsaturated near valley sides

Till

Well or test boring, log available

Line of geologic section (fig. 37)

FIGURE 36. Geohydrology of the Susquehanna River valley in the towns of Union and Vestal, N.Y. (Modified from Randall, 1986a, 

pi. 1.) Logs of wells are given in Randall (1972), Martin and others (1983), Adams and Grant (1984), and Ecology and Environment, 

Inc. (1986).
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B61

NORTH

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X10

EXPLANATION

Fill

River alluvium

Borehole log Dashed if projected 

to line of section

See table 2 for lithologic description of units

"^r^^\ Postglacial lake beds 

Outwash 

Lake beds

' I Ice-contact deposits 

Bedrock

FIGURE 37. Outwash downwarped beneath ice-block depressions in the Susquehanna River valley in Union and Vestal, N.Y.

Location of section shown in figure 36.

(1990) and Stekl and Flanagan (1992) depicted aquifer 

geometry in southern New Hampshire by stacked units 

expressed as patterns. They also presented contours of 

saturated thickness and patterns for several ranges of 

transmissivity; the saturated thickness contours pertain to the entire unconsolidated section rather than 

only to aquifers, however, and the patterns pertain only 

to the principal aquifer (surficial or buried) at any location. Extremely complex maps or multiple overlays 

would be required to fully describe the valleys in southwestern New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio that contain multiple drift sheets.

Aquifer geometry, saturated thickness, and transmissivity of the stratified drift can change radically 

over distances of a few hundred feet and therefore cannot be delineated accurately at scales much smaller 

than 1:50,000. A map(s^ delineating any of these 

properties over the entire glaciated Northeast would be 

unwieldy at a large scale or overgeneralized at a small 

scale. Such a map(s) also would be deceptively 

unreliable because surface and subsurface data and 

comprehensive interpretation are lacking for so many

localities. The remainder of this paper addresses 

regional differences in aquifer geometry in general 

terms, however, by delineating several regions and 

characterizing distinctive aspects of the hydrogeologic 

framework of the stratified-drift aquifers within each 

region by brief descriptions or sketches.

Aquifer yield is a function not only of the dimensions 

and water-transmitting properties of saturated sand 

and gravel, but also of aquifer location in relation to 

sources of recharge. The most productive aquifers are 

surficial riparian aquifers whose yields can be sustained by induced recharge from large streams in addition to recharge from local precipitation. Some aquifers, 

however, are useful precisely because they do not adjoin 

large streams and, thus, can be pumped down seasonally or during droughts without depleting flow in any 

large stream when streamflow is already critically low. 

This concept is explained by Randall and others (1988). 

A classification of aquifers on the basis of their relation 

to hydraulic boundaries and recharge sources is 

illustrated in figure 38. Those relations are important 

in evaluating aquifer yield and designing aquifer
B62 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

models, as discussed briefly below and in more detail in 

Chapter C of this Professional Paper (Kontis, Randall, 

and Mazzaferro, in press).

Most stratified-drift aquifers are in valleys, bordered 

laterally by till and bedrock at the base of upland hillsides (fig. 38A1-A4). Some valley fills are predominantly coarse (fig. 38A1), whereas others contain all

three depositional facies, with facies 1 linked to facies 3 

(fig. 38A2), or separated from facies 3 (fig. 38A3), or 

with multiple aquifers (fig. 38A4). Because the adjacent 

bedrock transmits ground water into the stratified drift 

only at slow rates, the valley walls are commonly simulated as barrier boundaries in analytical or digital 

models. Nevertheless, the uplands are a major source of

Valley-fill aquifers, with several typical geometries 

of coarse and fine-grained stratified drift

B Headwater aquifers (same as A, but lacking the major stream)

C Isolated aquifer

E Hillside aquifer D Sand-plain aquifer

EXPLANATION

Fine-grained stratified drift, facies 2

Coarse-grained stratified drift, 

facies 1 or 3

Bedrock surface 

Water table

F Outwash-plain aquifer

FIGURE 38. Geometry of idealized aquifer types that differ in their relations to hydraulic boundaries and recharge sources.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B63

recharge to the valley-fill aquifers (Morrissey and others, 1988), chiefly by means of the runoff in channels of 

tributary streams but also by unchanneled surface or 

subsurface runoff. Most surficial valley-fill aquifers are 

crossed by large trunk streams that could provide 

abundant induced recharge if ground-water development were to take place; those that are crossed only by 

small, ephemeral tributaries that originate locally in 

the adjacent uplands are classified separately as headwater aquifers (fig. 385).

Other types of aquifers are less numerous than 

valley-fill aquifers but nevertheless are widely distributed across the glaciated Northeast. For example, 

broad lowlands commonly contain isolated kames, 

kame deltas, or ice-channel fillings (fades 1) bordered 

and overlapped by fine-grained sediment (fig. 38C). 

Some coarse ice-contact deposits (facies 1) on hillsides 

are perched above stream grade (fig. 38E). Some outwash or alluvial deposits (facies 3) on valley floors are 

also perched above stream grade, where postglacial 

streams have incised their channels into the underlying fine-grained sediment (fig. 38Z>). All these 

perched deposits are distinctive because saturated 

thickness is commonly small and induced recharge is 

impossible. In a few localities, surficial outwash is so 

thick and extensive that it inundates the bedrock 

topography (fig. 38F) and, thus, approaches the condition of an infinite aquifer without boundaries, in which 

upland hillsides are of minor importance as recharge 

sources. A few aquifers are completely buried beneath 

fine-grained sediment and, being separated from surficial aquifers, receive recharge only by slow seepage 

through bedrock or the fine-grained sediment 

(fig. 38A3,A4).

A common approach in modeling flow in valley-fill 

aquifers has been to treat the entire valley fill as the 

aquifer. This approach was used in some valleys only 

because the aquifer geometry was not well enough 

understood to do anything else. This approach is 

entirely appropriate, however, for valley fills that consist almost entirely of facies 1 (and/or 3) with only 

small lenses of fine-grained sediment (fig. 38A1). It also 

may be appropriate for valley reaches that contain 

extensive lake-bottom deposits (fig. 38A2-A3) if those 

deposits are chiefly fine sand to coarse silt that is sufficiently permeable to transmit water fairly readily to 

wells that tap coarser sand and gravel. A more sophisticated approach that can accommodate any combination of aquifer geometry represented in figure 38A1-A3 

would be a two-layer quasi-three-dimensional model 

(Randall, 1986; Bergeron, 1987). By contrast, the 

aquifer geometries shown in figure 38B-E could all be

simulated by models with a single active layer and 

various boundary conditions. Kontis, Randall, and 

Mazzaferro (in press) discuss in more detail the design 

of models to simulate typical aquifer geometries and 

the estimation of hydraulic properties of aquifers for 

use in those models. Except near the edges, valley-fill 

and outwash-plain aquifers typically contain 50 to 

100 feet of saturated sand and gravel that typically 

ranges from 50 to 100 feet per day in hydraulic conductivity, resulting in transmissivity between 2,500 and 

50,000 feet squared per day. Saturated thickness of 

sand-plain and hillside aquifers tends to be inversely 

proportional to hydraulic conductivity, so transmissivity is likely to average around 2,000 feet per day in 

sand-plain aquifers, probably less in hillside aquifers.

HYDROPHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS

IN THE GLACIATED NORTHEASTERN

UNITED STATES

The glaciated Northeast has been divided into 

regions (pi. 1) that differ in the typical distribution or 

geometry of coarse-grained stratified drift with respect 

to fine-grained stratified drift, till, bedrock, and 

streams. The regions are termed "hydrophysiographic 

regions" because their delineation is based on aspects 

of hydrology that can be important in the evaluation of 

aquifer yield or water-resource development, and yet 

those aspects are, in part, functions of such physiographic properties as relief, slope orientation, drainage 

density, and size of tributary watersheds, and boundaries of some regions on plate 1 correspond closely to 

physiographic boundaries delineated by Fenneman 

(1938), Cressy (1966), and Denny (1982). The salient 

characteristics of these regions are summarized in the 

next few paragraphs. The remainder of the paper is 

devoted to capsule descriptions of individual regions.

In about 70 percent of the glaciated Northeast, 

major valleys sloped generally away from the ice sheet, 

and waterborne sediment was deposited as stratified 

drift in a succession of local lakes within those valleys. 

The lakes drained across recently deposited stratified 

drift downvalley or across saddles on the divides. This 

large area contains a wide variety of terranes, however.

1. Southern New England, eastern New York, and 

northern New Jersey are generally characterized 

by low to moderate relief with closely spaced, 

small valleys. Most proglacial lakes in these valleys were relatively small and shallow, deglaciation took place slowly, and large seasonal 

meltwater volumes were generated from the vast
B64 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

expanse of ice to the north. Consequently, coarsegrained stratified drift (facies 1 and 3) is abundant, especially at the numerous morphosequence 

heads or ice-marginal positions. In a few areas of 

low relief, sandy deltaic or fluvial outwash is 

abundant enough to bury the preexisting topography, creating extensive outwash-plain aquifers.

2. Other regions, however, have equally low to moderate relief but much less stratified drift. In northern and northeastern Maine, volumes of coarsegrained stratified drift are small because a nearly 

stagnant residual ice cap that no longer transported sediment was the only source of meltwater 

at the time this region was deglaciated. The central part of this region, which contains almost no 

stratified drift, is bordered on the northwest by an 

area where valley floors are underlain by silt and 

clay, on the northeast by an area where valley 

floors are underlain by sand and gravel largely 

buried beneath till, and on the southeast by an 

area where narrow eskers commonly follow the 

valleys but do not fill them. Other areas characterized by low internal relief and by small valleys 

that generally lack significant stratified-drift 

aquifers include the Tug Hill Plateau of New York 

and Pocono Plateau of Pennsylvania (although 

relief is high along plateau margins).

3. Several regions have consistently high relief. Those 

in northern New England and northern New York 

are characterized by small areal extent of coarse 

stratified drift, much of which is perched above 

stream grade on the valley sides where it is easily 

drained. Bedrock outcrops are fairly common in 

the flood plains, so valley-fill aquifers must be 

even narrower than the narrow valley floors. By 

contrast, the Catskill Mountains and Appalachian 

Plateau of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio 

have little stratified drift perched on the valley 

sides, and bedrock outcrops do not occur on the 

valley floors. In the Catskill Mountains, valley fills 

rarely exceed 150 feet in saturated thickness; they 

include till (deposited chiefly on the lee side of 

hills) and silty to clean sand and gravel but 

relatively little fine-grained stratified drift. In the 

Appalachian Plateau from the Catskills west to 

Salamanca, N.Y., valley fills commonly exceed 

150 feet in saturated thickness, so silt and clay 

are correspondingly thicker and more extensive, 

although commonly capped and underlain by sand 

and gravel. The sand and gravel are especially 

thick at ice-marginal positions and in wedges of

valley-train outwash. West of Salamanca, stratigraphy in some valleys is similar to that farther 

east, but relief is smaller, the network of intersecting valleys more complex, and many valleys contain multiple till layers or drift sheets.

In about 10 percent of the glaciated Northeast, deep 

valleys sloped northward toward the ice sheet. Valleys 

in the northern 10 to 30 miles of the Appalachian 

Plateau were deeply eroded and later filled with thick 

drift, predominantly layers of diamicton and finegrained stratified drift. Sand and gravel occur as discontinuous lenses at multiple depths, especially near 

tributaries. In the northern reaches of some valleys in 

this region, and also in northwestern Vermont where 

ice similarly advanced against a steep slope, most 

valleys contain chiefly fine-grained sediments, but 

stratigraphy seems to conform to the 3-facies singledeglaciation model.

About 20 percent of the glaciated Northeast consists 

of broad lowlands that were inundated by large proglacial lakes or marine waters during deglaciation. Clay, 

silt, and fine sand widely mantle the lower parts of the 

landscape, interrupted by till-covered hills. Ice-contact 

sand and gravel underlie only a small fraction of the 

inundated areas, commonly as ice-channel fillings or 

esker deltas, but also as thin basal sand sheets in some 

places. Surficial facies-3 sand aquifers are absent or 

insignificantly thin in many lowland areas but are 

extensive in the relatively narrow Connecticut and 

Hudson River lowlands and elsewhere near mountain 

fronts. Very few opportunities for induced infiltration 

exist anywhere in these lowlands.

South of the glacial border, in Ohio, Pennsylvania, 

and New Jersey, valleys that drained away from the ice 

contain sandy valley-train deposits that, despite postglacial incision, still constitute aquifers in many valley 

reaches.

The capsule descriptions of individual regions that 

follow were written from the bottom up; that is, any 

generalizations or insights about the hydrogeologic 

framework of each region that could be extracted from 

maps or other literature were summarized and illustrated by typical examples, rather than attempting to 

select representative values from each region to populate some preconceived array of aquifer characteristics 

or dimensions. Persons who are primarily interested in 

one or more specific localities need not read all the 

material that follows but should examine the description of the appropriate region(s), as shown on plate 1, 

for concepts and references that apply to those particular localities.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B65

GLACIATED REGIONS THAT GENERALLY 

SLOPED AWAY FROM THE ICE

In about 70 percent of the glaciated Northeast, the 

major valleys sloped away from the retreating late 

Wisconsinan ice sheet, chiefly as a result of 

pre-Pleistocene geomorphic development, but locally 

because streams were diverted southward when their 

former valleys were blocked by earlier ice sheets. 

Generally, these major valleys contained a succession 

of small proglacial lakes during deglaciation and 

received large volumes of sediment-laden meltwater. 

They now contain nearly continuous surficial deposits 

of coarse stratified drift that also extend across saddles 

between valleys in some areas of low relief and are 

locally underlain or interrupted by fine-grained 

stratified drift. Some tributary valleys and some segments of major valleys sloped toward the ice and contained proglacial lakes that spilled through saddles on 

the watershed perimeter, but commonly these lakes 

were similar in size and depth to the lakes that spilled 

over older stratified drift in the more numerous valleys 

that sloped away from the ice. The stratified-drift-filled 

valleys are separated by much more extensive uplands 

in which the bedrock is mantled predominantly by till. 

The uplands are incised by small tributary valleys 

whose floors are above the grade of the stratified drift 

in the major valleys. The tributary valleys are floored 

by several feet of alluvium but contain no stratified 

drift, other than a few isolated deposits on hillsides. A 

few uplands are large enough to be shown as areas of 

scant stratified drift on regional maps.

REGIONS WITH MODERATE TO LOW RELIEF 

AND ABUNDANT COARSE STRATIFIED DRIFT

Much of southern New England, eastern New York, 

and northern New Jersey is a region of moderate to low 

relief in which valleys that contain stratified drift are 

closely spaced but separated by till-mantled ridges or 

uplands. Sand and gravel underlie 15 to 35 percent of 

most large watersheds. This nearly contiguous region 

(pi. 1) is referred to herein as the Eastern Hills and 

Valley Fills region. A few parts of southeastern New 

England are designated as outwash plains regions on 

plate 1 because relief is especially low and the entire 

landscape is inundated by abundant sand and gravel. 

Elsewhere in the glaciated Northeast, several small 

areas have been assigned to the outwash plains and 

Eastern Hills and Valley fills regions because the sand 

and gravel they contain are similarly distributed.

EASTERN HILLS AND VALLEY FILLS

Local relief in the Eastern Hills and Valley Fills 

region is less than 1,000 feet, commonly much less, as 

indicated for much of the region by Denny (1982, 

fig. 10). Deglaciation took place chiefly by stagnationzone retreat, during which a succession of morphosequences developed along most valleys. Proglacial 

lakes were generally small and shallow enough that 

sandy or gravelly facies-1 deposits predominate in 

many places. Silt and very fine sand, generally capped 

by coarser sand and (or) fine gravel, were deposited in 

the distal parts of morphosequences.

Stone and others (1982, p. 6) categorized the stratified drift of Connecticut into four depositional environments: (1) Major glacial lakes in lowlands, (2) icemarginal ponding in north-draining valleys in uplands, 

(3) glaciolacustrine-glaciofluvial systems in southdraining valleys, and (4) glaciofluvial systems. Their 

descriptions and example maps indicate considerable 

stratigraphic similarity among the four categories, 

however. All categories generally consist of surficial 

fluvial sand and gravel (delta topsets or fluvial 

terraces) overlying delta foresets and (or) bottomsets, 

and all include fine-grained sediments at the distal 

ends of morphosequences. Categories 1 and 2 both 

include small areas in which surficial stratified drift is 

fine grained because deltas never prograded completely 

across lake-bottom deposits to fill the lake. 

Categories 1, 2, and 3 all include areas in which successive deltas abut one another and are difficult to distinguish. Only the largest proglacial lakes, where finegrained lake-bottom deposits are continuous for miles 

and large tributary deltas and (or) fluvial terraces 

result in extensive thin surficial sand-plain aquifers, 

were deemed sufficiently distinctive in aquifer geometry to warrant separate classification in this paper.

The northwestern part of New York's Adirondack 

uplands is assigned to the Eastern Hills and Valley 

Fills region on plate 1, even though all major streams 

drain northward, because the volume, landforms, and 

relief of the stratified drift are similar to that in southern New England. During deglaciation, meltwater 

drained away from the ice sheet southwestward across 

low saddles and eventually to the Black River lowland. 

Stratified drift is extensive; it covers more than half of 

some quadrangles, and in some places it forms an 

anastamosing network of valley fills that connect 

across former saddles and surround till-mantled hills 

(Cadwell and Pair, 1991). Most hills rise only about 

200 feet above the adjacent valley fills. Few drillhole 

records are available in this sparsely populated area, 

but surficial stratified drift is predominantly coarse 

grained, and morphosequences have been identified in
B66 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

many localities from topography and scattered exposures. In the Brother Ponds quadrangle, for example, 

cobble gravel at the head of an esker-fed morphosequence grades southeastward to sand beneath a 

smooth depositional surface that ends near a former 

saddle incised by the postglacial Grass River 

(J.T. Gurrieri, field maps, New York State Geological 

Survey files). Gurrieri (1983) described proximal 

subaquatic-fan or delta deposits at two ice-marginal 

positions near Saranac Lake and a gross morphosequence (probably multiple) extending southwestward from Loon Lake.

Three small areas within or bordering the Ontario 

lowland of western New York were slightly above the 

level of proglacial lakes that inundated most of this 

region and are characterized by distinct valleys containing well-defined morphosequences. One area, along 

the Wayne-Ontario County line, is described in the subsection "Interdrumlin Outwash" under "Erie and 

Ontario Lowlands." Another area, south of Tug Hill, 

contains several valley-fill aquifers, including much of 

the Tug Hill aquifer described by Miller and others 

(1988).

Example: Quinnipiac Valley in Southington, 

Conn. Aquifer geometry in Southington, Conn., and 

adjacent towns (fig. 39) is reasonably well understood as 

a result of detailed surficial geologic mapping and compilation of borehole records. It is described here in some 

detail to illustrate the closely spaced variability that is 

typical of stratified drift in the Eastern Hills and Valley 

Fills region and how that variability can be deciphered. 

Early in deglaciation, meltwater drained southward 

through three saddles in a low divide in Cheshire (near 

the south edge of fig. 39). Later, meltwater drained eastward through the Quinnipiac Gorge (1.5 miles north of 

the southeast corner of fig. 39), although it was ponded 

100 feet above the present river level for a while by drift 

barriers in the gorge (LaSala, 1961) or immediately to 

the west (Stone and others, 1982). Deposition of stratified drift in water ponded behind these saddles and drift 

barriers was undoubtedly a continuous process, but 

topography and lithology indicate that the resulting 

deposits can be divided into several areally distinct morphosequences (fig. 39) that reflect stagnation of successive marginal segments of the ice.

The distribution of water-yielding gravel and 

medium to coarse sand within the stratified drift was 

affected by at least four factors:

1. Deltaic Deposition. Meltwater flow was consistently southward, and deposition was commonly 

deltaic. Hence, coarse sand and gravel are most 

abundant near the north margin of each morphosequence, whereas deposits farther south tend

to be fine grained at depth but coarsen upward 

toward the delta surface, as illustrated in a geologic section (fig. 40). Cobble gravel layers can be 

found even at the south margin of deltas, however 

(Stone and others, 1982, p. 19).

2. Collapse. Each morphosequence was built against 

or atop stagnant ice, which eventually melted, 

leaving irregularly shaped depressions. At least 

the margins of the depressions are commonly 

underlain by sediments similar to, and collapsed 

from, the adjacent landforms. Hanshaw (1962) 

observed anticlinal structure in several icechannel fillings and ascribed it to collapse as the 

channel walls melted. Undisturbed delta surfaces 

are many feet above the modern water table, but 

surficial coarse sand and gravel that collapsed 

along the delta margins are now saturated.

3. Depth to Bedrock. The retreating ice margin stagnated in successive segments, often at narrow or 

shallow valley reaches that offered maximum 

resistance to flow. Hence, the northern (proximal) 

ends of morphosequences commonly lie on shallow 

bedrock.

4. Feeder Channels. Ice-channel fillings occur at the 

north margin of many morphosequences; some 

extend as much as a mile farther north as continuous or segmented sinuous ridges (fig. 39). Some 

probably formed in tunnels at the base of the ice 

sheet through which pressurized meltwater carried sediment southward to feed subaquatic fans 

and deltas at the ice margin an interpretation 

suggested by their position at the north end of deltas and by coarse sediments observed in exposures and well records (Lougee, 1938; Simpson, 

1959; LaSala, 1961; Mazzaferro, 1973, well S235; 

Stone and others, 1982, p. 19). Others, however, 

are merely deltas built in narrow lakes within ice 

crevasses. One well on an ice-channel filling in 

Cheshire penetrated a typical downward-fining 

deltaic section of gravel over sand over silt 

(Mazzaferro, 1973, well Csl86). Short northpointing noses at the north margin of a few 

morphosequences may mark lesser feeder 

channels.

Eastern Southington. Morphosequences 2, 3, and 4 

(fig. 39) are separated by lowlands underlain by clay, 

silt, fine to very fine sand, and a little coarser sand, all 

of which were deposited on the lake bottom during and 

after deposition of these sequences. By contrast, 

sequences 4, 5, and 6 are part of a continuous pitted 

outwash plain (Hanshaw, 1962) of nearly uniform slope 

(fig. 40), interpreted as a single morphosequence by
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B67

LaSala (1961) but separated into three morphosequences by Stone and others (1982) at places where 

topography, excavations, and (or) well records indicate 

coarse, severely collapsed deposits that could mark an 

ice margin. Large stratified deposits in the Eastern 

Hills and Valley Fills region commonly consist of multiple deltas that are difficult to distinguish because 

they are built against each other and graded to a common lake level. Sequence 8 is much younger than the 

others; a thin fluvial sand and gravel layer overlies 

thick and extensive fine-grained lake-bottom sediments that separate sequence 7 from younger deltaic 

deposits to the north.

Most boreholes on the deltaic outwash plains in eastern Southington did not penetrate thick sections of saturated coarse-grained materials (fig. 39). Typically, 

surficial coarse sand and gravel either overlie bedrock 

at shallow depth (where deltas were built over bedrock 

knolls) or grade downward into finer sediment. Thick 

sections of saturated coarse sand and gravel were penetrated, however, by five of the six holes drilled on icechannel fillings or in gaps between closely spaced segments thereof. The presence and general alignment of 

ice-channel deposits in successive morphosequences 

suggest that a continuous subglacial channel system 

traversed the entire valley in eastern Southington from 

north to south and was a major source of water and sediment to the retreating ice front. The ice-channel fillings identified in figure 39 were by no means the only 

sources of coarse sediment, however. Virtually all boreholes near the west side of sequences 5 and 6 penetrated predominantly coarse sands and gravels with 

substantial saturated thickness; this suggests that 

southward flows of meltwater and sediment through 

subglacial channels may have been greater in the valley west of Churchill Hill than in the valley to the east, 

which is wider but less deep. If so, the younger valley 

train and underlying lake-bottom deposits west of 

Churchill Hill (sequence 8) may conceal gravel deposited along a subglacial channel(s) that fed sequences 5 

and 6. A few boreholes have penetrated coarse sediment at depth west of Churchill Hill, but continuity has 

not yet been demonstrated.

Many wells or test holes drilled in low areas north of, 

beside, or between deltaic outwash plains or icechannel fillings penetrated saturated coarse-grained 

sediments that could be collapsed extensions of adjacent deposits, at least in part. Collapse at the north end 

of each sequence is depicted in figure 40, and borehole 

records (figs. 39, 41) demonstrate that coarse sand and 

gravel buried beneath fines extend at least 1,000 feet 

northward from the exposed heads of sequences 3 and 

7. A few wells penetrate through deltaic sediments into

gravel or coarse sand that are probably either early 

deposits in subglacial channels or the collapsed heads 

of ice-contact deltas intermediate between the morphosequences recognized in figure 39. One such deposit 

is partly exposed immediately south of morphosequence 4 (figs. 39, 40).

Western Southington. Only three morphosequences were recognized by LaSala (1961) in the 

western part of the lowland in Southington. The second 

of these, sequence 2W in figure 39, is approximately 

time-equivalent to sequence 1. Ice-channel fillings are 

not obvious on the valley floor at the head of sequence 

2W in Cheshire, but clearly sequence 2W was fed, in 

part, by meltwater that flowed between the ice and the 

upland to the west and deposited kame terraces high 

on the west side of the lowland (figs. 39, 41). The third 

morphosequence (3W) heads 6 to 8 miles farther north 

near the Bristol-Southington town line, where ice next 

stagnated in an area of shallow bedrock. Here, most 

deposits are coarse grained, thinly saturated, and 

much collapsed. A delta was built southward several 

miles across fine-grained lake-bottom sediments, ending in a natural delta front in southern Southington. 

Some shallow wells tap saturated deltaic medium to 

fine sand just below the water table, but otherwise, saturated sand and gravel are scarce beneath and south of 

this large delta, except in two places:

1. Along the west side of the valley, several boreholes 

penetrated thick coarse sand and gravel (figs. 39, 

41). These deposits are likely to be collapsed 

margins of the higher kame terraces 

(sequence 2W) and later deposits of meltwater 

that continued to flow southward along the west 

side of the lowland for a while after base level 

dropped to that of sequence 3W, but before enough 

ice melted near the Bristol-Southington town line 

to trap coarse sediment there. An ice-channel 

filling near Lake Compounce in northwest 

Southington trends southward into gravel knolls 

that are higher than the rest of sequence 3W, suggesting deposition along a meltwater channel 

early in the history of the morphosequence.

2. South of the delta front, near the CheshireSouthington town line, many (but not all) wells 

penetrate 10 to 40 feet of gravel or sand between 

the lake-bottom deposits and bedrock. These 

coarse sediments do not thicken southward 

toward the head of sequence 2W but may thicken 

westward toward the kame terrace (fig. 41). They 

are commonly interbedded with fine sand to silt 

and could represent local subaquatic fan deposition beneath a floating margin of the ice tongue.
B68 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

72°56' 72°54' 72°52'

; &',< - - '"'ILy ® /"'* - -\^;^Pif#^*3^S 

> .;tW -' £'v:, "-'A *

V7 &f i IC-< ^ ^?^v >d?0

A.' ''' ""' ^.- -.^r* "> *""T -*l."U^,' -'''-r

?\.. ->.^<" ^-r-^ -f s . i/ -"^ i" i-" '^/ -lr'

a4^ ^m^*¥-f:'V

jr-^si^ *'>: * m: > f !i----nf!- 

,-,-,«. ', <>e . *t,. ,. r * /

^g> i|-»^:r©rM- v^^

k. *.& "/llfe-^tHU, -,>4^ -"T^SL-W.*

FIGURE 39. Surficial geology in Southington and adjacent towns, Connecticut. Geology adapted from Stone and others (1982), LaSala 

(1961), Hanshaw (1962), and Simpson (1959). Borehole data chiefly from Haeni and Anderson (1980) and Mazzaferro (1973).
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B69

72°56' 72°54' 72°52'

Base from U.S. Geological Survey, Bristol, New Britain, Meriden, 

and Southington, Conn., 7.5-minute quadrangles, 1984,1:24,000

EXPLANATION

Till, bedrock

Ice-contact stratified drift, predominantly deltaic

Lake-bottom deposits, commonly capped by thin fluvial 

outwash or alluvium

Approximate proximal limit of morphosequence, including 

collapsed deposits not known to be mantled by younger 

sediment Ticks point toward ice. Numbers at ends of limit 

lines indicate relative age (1 is oldest); numbers followed by 

W indicate location in western Southington

Morphosequence that heads north of map area 

Trend of ice-channel filling, or closely spaced segments thereof 

C" Line of geologic section (see figs. 40 and 41) 

> Saddle or channel through which meltwater drained

A

LITHOLOGY OF STRATIFIED DRIFT AT BOREHOLES

Coarse to medium sand to gravel, grading down into 

medium-fine sand, very fine sand, or silt (all deltaic)

Fine sand to clay (lake bottom) commonly capped by 

thin sand or gravel (fluvial)

Same as open triangles, but fines are underlain by 

medium-coarse sand or gravel

Well ends in sand or gravel, but no record of lithology 

at shallow depth

Stratified drift is predominantly medium-coarse sand 

or gravel; X indicates saturated thickness is less than 

25 feet over till or bedrock

FIGURE 39. Continued.
B70 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Evaluation. Valleys in the Eastern Hills and Valley 

Fills region may contain multiple deltas, each partly 

collapsed and overlapped by subsequent deltas. If so, 

aquifer geometry is likely to be complex, and detailed 

surface and subsurface exploration may be required to 

decipher it. The first step in characterizing aquifer 

geometry is to map the extent of stratified drift. Commonly, the easiest second step is to identify and delineate any extensive deposits of fine-grained sediment, 

either surficial or capped by thin facies-3 deltaic or fluvial sand. The remaining stratified drift ordinarily constitutes an aquifer of variable thickness and 

transmissivity. Within such an aquifer, relatively 

coarse deposits that include the most suitable sites for 

large-capacity wells can be located through application 

of several concepts: northward coarsening within individual morphosequences, continuous coarse-grained 

deposits in feeder channels that are now visible as discontinuous ice-channel fillings, and collapse of coarse 

deltaic sand and gravel below the water table along icecontact margins. In Southington, the large delta in the 

southern part of sequence 3W, the fluvial valley train of 

sequence 8, and the lowlands south of sequences 3, 4, 

and 3W are readily identified as the only extensive 

areas of fine-grained deposits, in part capped by a thin 

surficial aquifer. The localized presence of buried aquifers beneath these fine sediments, but remote from any 

collapsed margins, defies prediction so far.

OUTWASH PLAINS

In some regions of low relief, coarse-grained stratified drift is so abundant that it not only fills valleys and 

crosses saddles but also completely buries low hills or 

ridges, surrounds higher hills, and blankets 50 to 

100 percent of the land surface. A few such regions, 

each several tens of square miles in areal extent, are 

delineated on plate 1. Most of these regions include outwash plains or sandurs: broad expanses of sand and 

gravel deposited by multiple coalescing braided meltwater streams in front of an ice margin. Locally, the 

outwash progrades southward across fine-grained sediments of lacustrine or marine origin. Most of these 

regions are termed interlobate because the meltwater 

and stratified drift were concentrated in temporary 

lowlands between walls or lobes of ice. The sand and 

gravel was deposited partly against or atop ice and is 

commonly marked by large ice-block depressions; some 

deposits are so severely collapsed that they can be 

described as kame fields or kame moraines.

Where best developed, an outwash plain region 

approaches that rarest of hydrologic conditions in the 

glaciated Northeast, an aquifer of infinite areal extent.
HYDRO-GEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B71

Collapsed margin of kame

terrace and younger sand and gravel

EXPLANATION

Fine to very fine sand, silt, clay

Sand, chiefly medium to very 

coarse, and (or) gravel

Till

 Geologic contact Dashed where 

uncertain

Borehole, log available Dashed 

where projected to line of 

section

t Till

S Sand

g Gravel

f Fine to very fine sand, silt, clay

0 1,000 2,000 FEET

500

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X20

WEST

FEET C

350 -i

300 -

250 -

200 -

150 -

100 -

50 -

SEA 

LEVEL

50

Collapsed or subaguatic head 

of sequence 3; fining upward

Collapsed margin of 

kame terrace

Collapsed head of 

. seouenceS ,

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X20

FIGURE 41. Geologic sections across the Quinnipiac lowland in Southington, Conn., and adjacent towns. Traces of the sections 

shown in figure 39. Stacked symbols in bar across the top of each section indicate vertical distribution of lithology in segments of 

the section.

Permeable, water-yielding sand and gravel extends 

well below stream grade, and streamflow consists 

entirely of discharge from the aquifer, except for brief 

episodes of storm runoff from wetlands and from a few 

till-covered hills that protrude through the outwash. 

Locally, however, buried ridges of till or bedrock 

beneath the broad expanse of sand and gravel greatly

reduce saturated thickness and transmissivity, such 

that the continuous outwash-plain aquifer grades into 

linear valley-fill aquifers typical of much of the glaciated Northeast. Locally, where the outwash overlies 

fine-grained lake or marine sediments, streams are 

incised into the fines, and the outwash-plain aquifer 

grades into a perched sand-plain aquifer (fig. 38D, F).
B72 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Southeastern New England. A strip 10 to 15 miles 

wide along the coast of Massachusetts, from Kingston 

to Falmouth, is continuously mantled by sand and 

gravel that was deposited largely as outwash south of 

four ice margins identified by Larson (1982) in an interlobate area that was fed by meltwater from ice lobes in 

Narragansett Bay and Cape Cod Bay. The ice margins 

are marked by moraines that have highly irregular 

topography and are generally capped by sandy till and 

large boulders but are composed at least partly of stratified sand and gravel similar to that in the extensive 

outwash plains south of each moraine (fig. 42). The 

moraines also contain layers of dense clayey till, and 

well yields and water-table gradients indicate that 

transmissivity is lower within the moraines than in the 

outwash plains (LeBlanc and others, 1986). Mather 

and others (1942, p. 1153) described the outwash in the 

coastal strip as generally becoming siltier with depth 

and distance from the source. Hansen and Lapham 

(1992) also indicated that well logs and geophysical 

data generally show increased siltiness with depth, but 

interpret the outwash as consisting, in detail, of 

stacked packages that represent different depositional 

environments and were laid down during nonsynchronous pulses of ice retreat and readvance. Their groundwater flow model simulated hydraulic conductivity of 

the outwash as decreasing with depth but areally uniform. A model of the Mashpee outwash plain and vicinity by Guswa and LeBlanc (1985) simulated hydraulic 

conductivity as variable both laterally and vertically; 

moraines were described as areas of extreme lithologic 

variation over short distances, but transmissivity was 

simulated as between 8,000 and 30,000 feet squared 

per day at most locations, about the same as the adjacent outwash. Smith (1985, p. 124) reported that 

areally uniform, vertically repeated sedimentary packages have been recognized in some outwash plains 

worldwide, but the more common condition is "a bewildering array of vertical and lateral assemblages of 

varying sedimentary textures, structures, and bedding 

relationships."

Immediately west of the continuous coastal outwash 

in Massachusetts is the Narragansett basin, a broad 

lowland with less than 200 feet of relief underlain by 

sedimentary bedrock of Pennsylvanian age. Three icemarginal zones are readily traced from northeast to 

southwest across the southern and north-central parts 

of that basin, through the hamlets of Middleboro, 

Bridgewater, and East Bridgewater, respectively 

(Hartshorn, 1976; Stone and Peper, 1982). Each is 

marked by a concentration of karnes, ice-channel fillings, and collapsed stratified drift, interrupted by tillcovered hills and by ice-block depressions, at and near 

the heads of several outwash plains and karne deltas

(Hartshorn, 1960, 1967, 1976; Koteff, 1964). Large lowlying areas between the successive ice-marginal zones 

are underlain chiefly by fine-grained lake sediments 

but also, locally, by buried sand and gravel. The watertransmitting capacity of these stratified deposits is a 

function of depositional history and bedrock topography. Hartshorn (1960, p. D38; 1967) pointed out that 

outwash plains, kame deltas, and kame terraces associated with ice margins in the Narragansett basin consist largely of coarse gravel near the head or proximal 

end but grade southward to pebbly coarse sand 

overlying fine sand to silt. Williams (1968) described 

several localities in which a layer of saturated deltaic 

sand and gravel 20 to 120 feet thick overlies a finer 

grained layer, each layer becoming coarser and thicker 

northward. Williams and others (1973) and Lapham 

(1988) inferred that transmissivities greater than 

1,300 feet squared per day are more common along the 

ice-marginal positions than elsewhere, but delineated 

zones of even higher transmissivity that seem to be 

associated with the large saturated thickness in bedrock valleys more than with the coarse lithology near 

ice margins or meltwater channels. Much of the coarse 

surficial stratified drift apparently overlies buried till 

hills and is thinly saturated.

Ohio. Parts of Stark, Summit, and Portage 

Counties of northeastern Ohio are shown on surficial 

geology maps (Winslow and White, 1966; White, 1982, 

1984) as mantled continuously by kame and kameterrace deposits, except for younger outwash and alluvium along some streams and a few small areas of till. 

This region is largely part of the Kent and Bucks Hill 

moraines, described as a broad belt of sharp knolls and 

kettleholes arranged in random patterns. The morainal 

deposits consist largely of gravel or sandy gravel with 

subordinate till, deposited on or against stagnant ice in 

an interlobatc area between the Killbuck and Grand 

River lobes (White, 1982, fig. 5). The bulk of the deposits are ascribed to the Titusville ice sheet, but the Kent 

ice sheet readvanced across much of the moraine, leaving a layer of till at or near land surface in many localities and depositing some additional stratified drift. 

The widespread ice-collapse topography, multiple drift 

sheets (White, 1984, fig. 9), localized till cover (Rau, 

1969), and complex stratigraphy preclude geologic classification of these deposits as an outwash plain; but in 

this paper, they can reasonably be classified as an 

outwash-plain hydrophysiographic region because saturated sand and gravel constitutes a continuous aquifer, surficial or nearly surficial, over such a large area. 

Most ground-water appraisals of this part of Ohio 

(Smith, 1953; Winslow and White, 1966; Ohio Drilling 

Company, 1971; Schmidt, 1979; Walker, 1979a, b) 

present map units defined in terms of well or well-field
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B73

SOUTHEAST

FEET 

300-,

250-

200-

150-

100-

50-

SEA _ 

LEVEL

50

Sand, fine to

coarse 

becoming

finer 

at depth Sand, fine; 

silt and clay 

at depth

Sand, coarse to 

very coarse

v I

NORTHWEST

Some silt Sand, medium 

to coarse

* ?

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X20

A. Section across moraine in the town of Plymouth, Mass. (From Hansen and Lapham, 1992, fig. 9)

SOUTH

FEET 

200 -,

100-

SEA _ r --i----:_[--

LEVEL 1 -L -1

100 -j ~~--x

200 -L _____ ___ X>

300 T ' ~ i

HORIZONTAL EXAGGERATION X20

Fine to coarse sand and 

 (or) gravel

V)

ccca

<LU

p£ Land surface o£ , "~

S "1 ^\ V v Water table

NOF

;--i'""- H Tl 1

Sand and gravel

:inetovery "~ 

fine sand _».-"" 0 

and silt ^^ \

5,000 f££T

A

 -" 1 . « ' j .- ' 

Bedrock 0 1,000 METERS

EXPLANATION

Mostly very fine sand, silt,

le 

ble

n\-,^u^j

where inferred 

J_ Well and screened interval

B. Section south of moraine in the towns of Sandwich and Falmouth, Mass. (From LeBlanc and others, 1986, sheet 1)

FIGURE 42. Geologic sections in outwash plains in southeastern Massachusetts.

yield. These appraisals do not discuss the surficial 

kame moraine deposits or their yield separately from 

deeper layers that may be present locally, but emphasize the distribution of "buried" valleys in which drift is 

100 to 500 feet thick and generally yields several tens

to hundreds of gallons per minute to wells. The surficial 

sand and gravel reaches its maximum saturated 

thickness within the buried valleys. It is probably 

thinly saturated where it crosses the intervening bedrock ridges and the upper flanks of the valleys, as
B74 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

documented in some localities (Smith, 1953, p. 36, 

p. 50) and suggested by sections (Rau, 1969, fig. 10) and 

by the apparent predominance of wells that tap bedrock (Smith, 1953; Walker, 1979a, b; Schmidt, 1979). 

Even if the stratified drift in this outwash-plain region 

was not continuously saturated, its abundance at shallow depths would result in greater ground-water 

recharge, storage, and yield than are available in tillmantled areas that border the region.

Immediately northwest of the outwash-plain region 

in Ohio, delineated on plate 1, surficial sand and gravel 

is extensive but largely restricted to valleys separated 

by till-mantled ridges (Winslow and White, 1966; 

White, 1984). White (1984, p. 15-16, p. 22) mentions 

that gravels correlative with those in southern Summit 

County underlie large areas in north-central Summit 

County, overlain by thick till and lacustrine silt; it 

seems unlikely that the buried gravels constitute a continuous aquifer. Both of these areas are included in the 

Western Appalachian Plateau region on plate 1.

New Jersey. A broad outwash plain covers more 

than 25 square miles in and south of Plainfield, N.J., 

immediately south of the terminal moraine (Stanford 

and others, 1990). Drift thickness is generally 40 to 

60 feet (Nemickas, 1974), and a few wells are screened 

in the outwash (Nemickas, 1976).

LIGHTLY DISSECTED UPLANDS WITH 

NEGLIGIBLE STRATIFIED DRIFT

Four large uplands are identified as individual 

hydrophysiographic regions on plate 1. Like many 

smaller uplands that border stratified-drift aquifers 

within other regions, each was affected only by locally 

derived meltwater that deposited little stratified drift. 

Ice dynamics varied from a residual ice cap to high plateaus bordered by lowlands occupied by active ice lobes, 

but the result was similar: a region nearly devoid of 

stratified-drift aquifers. All four regions are assigned 

the same color pattern on plate 1 to reflect their common lack of stratified drift.

TUG HILL PLATEAU

Tug Hill is a high but relatively undissected plateau 

in north-central New York. It rises steeply 1,000 feet 

above the Black River lowland to the north and east but 

slopes more gently southward and westward toward 

the Ontario lowland. Within the plateau, local relief is 

small. Streams drain radially outward from the center 

of the plateau and, thus, are rather small except near 

the plateau margin. Many streams are incised into bedrock for long distances as they approach the plateau 

margin (Wright, 1972; Miller, 1980a; Cadwell and Pair, 

1991).

Little stratified drift is indicated on maps of soils or 

surficial geology of the plateau. Nearly all soils are 

derived from till; most are stony, acid soils with fragipans (Pearson and others, 1960). Large areas, particularly in Oswego and Jefferson Counties, are mapped by 

Cadwell and Pair (1991) as ablation moraine, deposited 

by downwasting; topography in these areas is a maze of 

small knolls and hollows superimposed on low parallel 

ridges. Street (1966) describes many scattered exposures that reveal a complex assortment of materials: 

loose unsorted debris with angular boulders, loose till 

grading down into very compact till, poorly sorted gravel 

and sand with faint stratification, and well-sorted glaciofluvial sediments. These descriptions suggest a variable combination of meltout till, stratified drift, and 

resedimented derivatives thereof; a few small areas 

identified as ice-contact kames by Jordan (1978) or 

Cadwell and Pair (1991) are topographically similar to 

their surroundings. Gravel on the floor of some incised 

channels in the southwestern part of the plateau has 

been mapped as outwash (Miller, 1980; Jordan and 

Miller, 1980; Cadwell and Pair, 1991) but could be considered Pleistocene or modern alluvium and is likely to 

be thin. A narrow, discontinuous band of thinly saturated sand and gravel extends for more than 25 miles 

along a bench on the east side of the plateau at an altitude of about 1,300 feet (Pearson and others, 1960; 

Jordan, 1978); these sediments formed in the same lake 

at the same time as massive deltas on the east side of the 

Black River lowland but are far smaller in volume 

because the watershed area was smaller and meltwater 

runoff was minimal.

In summary, the Tug Hill Plateau is an upland area 

of small local relief and radially outward drainage that 

was apparently deglaciated by downwasting without 

much throughflow of meltwater from an ice sheet to the 

north and without formation of proglacial lakes in 

which stratified sediments could accumulate. Meltwater throughflow was probably concentrated in trunk 

channels along lowlands east and west of the plateau. 

The result is a region devoid of significant stratifieddrift aquifers.

POCONO PLATEAU

Another lightly dissected plateau is the Pocono 

Plateau, which approximately coincides with Pike and 

Monroe Counties of northeastern Pennsylvania (pi. 1). 

Local relief is generally 100 to 300 feet, except along 

the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers, which bound the 

region, and along the Pocono Mountain scarp in central 

Monroe County. As on Tug Hill, small streams drain 

radially outward to the bordering valleys or lowlands, 

and stratified drift is neither abundant nor concentrated in valley fills.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B75

Ice-contact stratified drift is widely distributed 

across Pike County (Davis, 1989, pi. 2) but is found 

mostly as irregular hummocky masses on hillsides, 

north of low saddles, or on one side of shallow valleys, 

in positions that suggest it is largely above stream 

grade and, therefore, unsaturated. Outside the valleys 

of the Delaware River and its major tributary, the 

Lackawaxen River, surficial stratified drift and alluvium underlie only 5 percent of Pike County, and only 

9 of 252 wells inventoried by Davis (1989) are finished 

above bedrock; two of these penetrate surficial icecontact deposits or outwash, and seven presumably 

penetrate morainal or buried stratified drift in areas 

mapped as till. Large areas in northern Monroe County 

and vicinity are mantled by end moraine, described as 

ranging from sandy or very sandy till to ice-contact 

stratified drift with hummocky topography, draped continuously over hills and valleys (Sevon, 1975a). End 

moraine in southwestern Monroe County is described 

as till with minor sand and gravel (Growl and Sevon, 

1980). Hollowell and Koester (1975) mention morainal 

hills of sand and gravel in adjacent southernmost 

Lackawanna County. Northwestern Monroe County is 

a high plateau in which surficial stratified drift is virtually absent (Sevon, 1975a; Carswell and Lloyd, 

1979); bouldery till mantles the hills, and a surficial 

carpet of closely spaced boulders blankets valleys or 

swales. East-central Monroe County is a lower plateau 

where drift thickness is locally appreciable, but only 

5 of 112 wells inventoried by Carswell and Lloyd (1979) 

tap sand and gravel.

As on Tug Hill, small streams on the Pocono Plateau 

are incised into drift or bedrock where they approach 

the plateau margins and descend to major valleys or 

lowlands. These tributary valleys include V-shaped 

gorges but more commonly are floored by flood plains of 

gravelly alluvium a few hundred feet wide, some of 

which are interpreted as underlain by Wisconsinan 

outwash (Sevon, 1975a, b; Davis, 1989). Well records 

compiled by Carswell and Lloyd (1979) indicate that 

the lower slopes and floors of tributary valleys in eastcentral Monroe County are underlain by 50 to 150 feet 

of drift in several localities, but the well records provide 

little information as to lithology.

The Pocono Plateau region, as outlined on plate 1, is 

bounded on the northeast, southeast, and southwest by 

deeply incised valleys. Perhaps, as inferred for Tug 

Hill, meltwater from regions to the north was largely 

captured by these incised valleys during deglaciation. 

Also, the consistently high altitude and lack of large 

valleys in Pike and Monroe Counties hindered the 

development of proglacial lakes in which stratified drift 

could have been deposited. The area to the northwest,

in Wayne County, has somewhat greater relief and is 

drained by south-flowing tributaries whose valleys 

apparently contain appreciable stratified drift; thus, it 

is tentatively assigned to the Eastern Hills and Valley 

Fills region.

NORTHEASTERNMOST ADIRONDACKS

Another upland with small local relief and minimal 

stratified drift is in northern Clinton County, N.Y., at 

the northeasternmost corner of the Adirondack 

uplands (pi. 1). The region is underlain by the Potsdam 

sandstone of Cambrian age and includes several areas 

as large as 12 square miles in which the flat-lying bedrock is totally exposed, having been swept clean of glacial drift by the catastrophic drainage of Lake Iroquois 

(Denny, 1974). Tributaries of the Great Chazy River 

drain the region and are generally incised several feet 

into bedrock. Stratified drift occurs as part of recessional moraines and as small, scattered gravel knolls 

(Denny, 1970, 1974; Cadwell and Pair, 1991) that are 

outside the shallow valleys and above stream grade 

and are presumably unsaturated. As inferred for Tug 

Hill, subglacial meltwater flow during deglaciation was 

probably captured by the adjacent St. Lawrence and 

Champlain lowlands, so did not cross this intervening 

upland spur.

CENTER OF RESIDUAL ICE-CAP AREA IN MAINE

The last stages of deglaciation in New England and 

maritime Canada involved splitting the vast 

Laurentide ice sheet along the St. Lawrence valley, 

reorganization of ice south of the St. Lawrence to form 

an independent ice dome centered in northern Maine 

and Quebec's Gaspe peninsula, followed by radial 

shrinkage of that ice dome and, finally, melting of the 

last stagnant remnants in northern Maine and Gaspe. 

This process is illustrated in figure 43 and has been 

described in several papers, including LaSalle and 

others (1977), David and Lebuis (1985), Hughes and 

others (1985), Chauvin and others (1985), and Lowell 

and Kite (1986b, c). In response to the early phases of 

Wisconsinan deglaciation, sea level rose enough to 

allow ice in the lower St. Lawrence valley to dissipate 

directly into the ocean by calving, a process that is 

many times faster than retreat on land by melting. 

Therefore, the ice margin retreated rapidly up the 

St. Lawrence valley, and ice began to drain out of the 

bordering uplands into the valley and rapidly down the 

valley toward the ocean. Meanwhile, the rising sea 

level abutted the retreating ice margin in southern 

Maine and presumably caused rapid calving there too. 

Lowell and Kite (1986b, p. 81) speculated that rapid 

drawdown of the ice sheet in response to marginal
B76 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

A. 18,000 years BP. Ice flows southeastward over all of 

New England

EXPLANATION

------- Ice divide

 Flow lines

* i i i i i i Ice margin 

D Dome

S Ice-divide saddle 

BP, before present

B. 14,000 years BP. Downdraw into ice stream along C. 12,000 years BP. Small residual ice cap is all that

St. Lawrence lowland has created an independent ice 

dome centered in northern Maine

remains of the ice sheet in New England. Horizontal 

lines show lakes and marine transgressions between 

14,000 and 12,000 years BP

FIGURE 43. The flow regime of the eastern Laurentide ice sheet 18,000 to 12,000 years ago, according to a glaciological model.

(From Hughes and others, 1985.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B77

calving might have quickly flattened its profile enough 

that the ice remaining over most of Maine could barely 

flow and dissipated largely by melting in place.

Once a saddle developed on the ice-sheet surface 

over the St. Lawrence valley (fig. 435), not only ice but 

also meltwater from Canada no longer flowed southward into Maine because meltwater flow within as well 

as atop the ice was controlled by the ice-surface profile. 

Furthermore, areas in Maine north of the crest of the 

ice dome (fig. 435) no longer contributed sediment or 

meltwater to the southern margin of the ice sheet. As 

the ice margin continued to retreat, smaller and 

smaller volumes of meltwater would have been available to entrain, sort, and transport sediment. One 

might expect, therefore, to find the volume of stratified 

drift becoming progressively smaller from southern 

coastal Maine northwestward to the center of the 

residual ice cap. Field observations suggest that 

such is indeed the case, as described in the following 

paragraphs.

An elongated oval region of roughly 4,500 square 

miles in northern Maine that contains few stratifieddrift deposits and even fewer significant stratified-drift 

aquifers is delineated on plate 1. This region, where the 

last remnants of the ice sheet melted in place, is characterized by low hills and by scattered higher peaks 

that rise as much as 1,000 feet above the valleys. 

Drainage within this region is outward in all directions. Valley floors are generally flat, swampy, and 

underlain by organic-rich alluvium deposited in many 

generations of beaver ponds. Several valley reaches are 

inundated by large lakes, some of which were created 

or augmented by dams. The drift is thin in most places 

(Lowell, 1983; Thompson and Borns, 1985). Shallow 

exposures generally consist of loosely compacted till of 

sandy loam to loam texture that includes lenses and 

stringers of sand or silt; compact silty to sandy till is 

exposed instead in some places (Kite, 1983, p. 57). Several areas are mapped as stagnation moraine or undifferentiated drift (Thompson and Borns, 1985; Halter, 

1985), each of which may include some stratified sand 

and gravel, but only a few scattered ice-contact or outwash deposits are shown on published maps. Lowell 

(1983, p. 16) asserted that very few valleys in this 

region contain "appreciable or systematic gravel 

deposits." Lowell and Kite (1986b, p. 76, 79, 80) 

reported that sand and gravel deposits are scarce in 

this region, much less abundant than in the fringe 

areas to the south and northwest, and are generally 

less than 16 feet thick. Kite (1983, p. 66) stated that 

isolated kames are found throughout the St. John 

watershed in northern Maine, but generally have little 

topographic expression and are difficult to discern; 

such deposits would be of little significance as aquifers.

Fine-grained lake-bottom stratified drift is equally 

scarce; Kite (1983, p. 177-181) found no silt or clay 

beneath peat in several upland swamps that might 

have been ponded during deglaciation, and found at 

most 1 to 3 feet of silt along the shores of several modern lakes. Low, sandy deltas have been deposited where 

streams now enter these lakes, however (Kite, 1983, 

p. 181; Halter, 1985), and may constitute aquifers.

The boundaries of the region of negligible stratified 

drift (pi. 1) were placed where they would be approximately equidistant from the axis of the residual ice cap, 

as defined by striations (Lowell and Kite, 1986a), and 

would exclude most of the coarse stratified deposits 

mapped by Lowell (1980), Thompson and Borns (1985), 

and Lowell and Kite (1986b). Some coarse stratified 

drift might be present but as yet unrecognized, however, in this uninhabited area where roads and excavations are few and boreholes nonexistent. Coarse 

stratified drift has been found beneath till in excavations and boreholes in valleys east of this area, as 

described further on.

LOW-RELIEF FRINGES OF MAINE RESIDUAL ICE CAP 

WITH LITTLE COARSE STRATIFIED DRIFT

On the fringes of Maine's residual ice cap, stratified 

drift is apparently more abundant than near the center, 

but less abundant than in most areas of comparable 

relief farther south. Aquifer geometry in three fringe 

areas of low relief is distinctive, as described below

NORTHWESTERN LAKE-DOMINATED FRINGE

Northwesternmost Maine drains southeastward 

toward the St. John River. As the residual ice cap in 

Maine retreated southeastward from the Canadian 

border, a series of proglacial lakes formed that initially 

drained northwestward across saddles in the Notre 

Dame Mountains, but later drained northeastward 

across various lower saddles to the St. Francis River 

(Kite, 1983; Lowell, 1985). Lake-bottom fines underlie 

the few broad, flat valley floors. Maps by Lowell (1980, 

1985) and Thompson and Borns (1985) indicate several 

isolated deltas, eskers, kames, and kame terraces, most 

of them perched above stream grade on valley sides and 

probably thinly saturated. Individual deposits identified by Kite (1983, p. 160-1) do not all correspond to 

deposits shown on these maps, an inconsistency that 

reflects the difficulty of mapping in this undeveloped, 

wooded terrane. Gravel mapped as outwash covers 

more than 8 percent of the land surface in part of this 

subregion (Lowell, 1980), but most of these deposits 

mantle hillsides rather than fill valleys, are less than 

10 feet thick (Lowell, 1980, p. 11), and are probably discontinuous. Areas of hummocky stagnation moraine 

could contain lenses of sand and gravel. In summary,
B78 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

although coarse stratified drift is more abundant in 

this northwestern fringe area than near the center of 

the former ice cap, aquifers are probably thin and 

widely separated.

NORTHEASTERN VALLEY-FILL FRINGE

The distribution of stratified drift in northeasternmost Maine is similar to that in the Eastern Hills and 

Valley Fills region; that is, stratified drift is found 

generally along the larger valleys but seldom on the 

intervening hills. The areal extent and volume of 

stratified-drift aquifers seem, however, to be smaller 

than in southern Maine and in regions to the south or 

west. For example, ice-contact deposits and outwash 

mapped along Munsungan Stream (Thompson and 

Borns, 1985) are perched on the valley sides (Tolman 

and Lanctot, 1981; Lowell, 1983, p. 25). Only discontinuous aquifers are recognized along the upper Aroostook 

River (Tolman and Lanctot, 1980), and several reaches 

of the lower Aroostook River and its tributaries are 

interpreted as bordered by till and bedrock (Prescott, 

1972; Weddle and Neil, 1989). Only organic-rich alluvium is mapped along the flat, swampy floors of most 

valleys.

Aquifer delineation in this region is somewhat hindered by the presence of a diamicton layer within or, 

more commonly, atop the stratified drift, as observed in 

many pits and river-bluff exposures and reported in 

several borehole logs, although at least an equal number of comparable exposures reveal no such layer. Thus, 

the presence of till on the floor of a valley reach does not 

necessarily rule out the possibility of sand and gravel 

at greater depth. Exposures along the Aroostook River 

valley are described and evaluated by Borns and Borns 

(1986). Exposures along the St. John River valley are 

described and evaluated by Genes and Newman (1980), 

Kite (1983), and Lowell and Kite (1986c). Logs of several boreholes are presented by Prescott (1971a, 

1973a), and logs of several exposures and boreholes are 

summarized by Tolman and Lanctot (1980), Weddle 

and Neil (1989), and Weddle and others (1989). Maps 

by Prescott (1972, 1973a) clearly indicate a few localities where productive sand and gravel aquifers are 

inferred to underlie surficial till, and others can be 

identified by comparison of surficial geology with aquifer maps by Weddle and others (1989). In this fringe 

area, near-surface diamicton is apparently a common 

but discontinuous and minor component of narrow 

valley fills composed primarily of coarse-grained 

stratified drift.

The widespread distribution of diamicton at shallow 

depth within or atop stratified drift in northeastern 

Maine is suggestive of a regionwide ice advance. Some

diamicton exposures are described as compact 

lodgement-type till and have fabrics consistent with the 

directions of ice movement inferred from striations 

(Lowell and Kite, 1986c; Borns and Borns, 1986). Multiple drift sheets have been documented to the west in the 

lowlands of southern Quebec (Blais and Shilts, 1989; 

Shilts and Blais, 1989). If the numerous diamicton 

occurrences in northeastern Maine are the result of a 

single ice readvance, however, that readvance caused 

remarkably little erosion or deposition of stratified drift. 

Furthermore, much of the diamicton exposed at land 

surface in this region has been described as sandy or 

gravelly and noncompact (Kite and Borns, 1980, p. 214; 

Kite, 1983; Weddle and others, 1989) and might constitute ablation debris resedimented by debris flows from 

the ice or valley sides. Lowell and Kite (1986c, p. 29) 

interpreted layers of sand, sandy gravel, diamicton, and 

sandy diamicton at a site near Fort Kent as deposits of 

meltwater or debris flow during deglaciation.

EASTERN ESKER-DOMINATED FRINGE

East-central Maine is a region of low relief where 

stratified drift was not deposited in proglacial lakes or 

marine waters as in most of the glaciated Northeast; 

hence, fine-grained stratified drift is virtually absent. 

Coarse-grained stratified deposits do not fill the bedrock valleys and were not built against valley walls. 

Deposition occurred in tunnels or channels within the 

ice sheet and formed narrow esker ridges or, less commonly, more complex constructional landforms along 

the esker alignments. The gentle ridges and valleys in 

this region trend approximately south-southeast, discordant to the bedrock structure but parallel to the 

eskers and to striations that record the direction of ice 

flow (Thompson and Borns, 1985). Many esker segments follow shallow, linear valleys of modern streams, 

generally slightly to one side of the valley axis; some 

segments cross low hills or saddles where they are 

probably thinly saturated, while others bisect large 

swamps.

An example of aquifer geometry, typical except that 

two eskers are unusually close to each other, is illustrated in figure 44. The eastern esker parallels South 

Branch Meduxnekeag River but only locally abuts the 

river. Some borehole records near where Meduxnekeag 

River crosses the esker and is joined by South Branch, 

and farther north near Houlton, indicate that esker 

sand and gravel extends 40 to 60 feet below the altitude 

of land surface adjacent to the esker (Prescott, 1971b; 

Tolman and Lanctot, 1981). This geometry seems to 

require that a meltwater channel was incised into the 

subglacial till before esker deposition, and (or) that the 

esker is bordered by younger sediment such as till
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B79

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

Houlton, Maine 15-minute quadrangle, 1951 1 2 MILES

J

1 2 KILOMETERS 

EXPLANATION

Ice-contact sand and gravel Including eskers 

(Prescott, 1973b)

Aquifer Well yields exceed 10 gallons per minute 

(Tolman and Lanctot, 1981)

M,MM,M,MM,MM,, Aquifer Well yields exceed 10 gallons per minute

(Prescott, 1973b) 

X"X Municipal well Yield exceeds 700 gallons per minute

FIGURE 44. Typical esker-dominated terrane in east-central Maine. 

(Modified from Prescott, 1973b, and Tolman and Lanctot, 1981.)
B80 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

melted out of stagnant ice, or thin outwash of local origin, or postglacial alluvium. A few other esker segments in which sand and gravel apparently extends 

below the altitude of land surface alongside the esker 

are evident from borehole records in other parts of the 

eastern esker-dominated fringe, as shown on a series of 

maps similar to the map by Tolman and Lanctot (1981). 

Worldwide, geological literature is replete with reports 

of tunnel valleys, which are channels incised in drift or 

bedrock beneath ice and commonly associated with 

eskers; generally, however, the eskers link tunnel valleys (Sugden and John, 1977, p. 305) or lie within or 

beside tunnel valleys (Wright and Ruhe, 1965, p. 35; 

Barnett, 1990) rather than entirely filling such valleys. 

If the sand and gravel in some eskers of east-central 

Maine extends deeper than the surface of the adjacent 

till plains or river flood plains, appreciable saturated 

thickness is likely. The distribution of saturated thickness is subject to interpretation, however. For example, 

the entire width of each esker landform in figure 44 was 

inferred to constitute an aquifer by Tolman and 

Lanctot (1981), whereas the west side of each esker was 

generally excluded from the aquifer by Prescott 

(1973b), presumably because he inferred the west side 

of the esker to be banked against the side of the bedrock 

valley and, therefore, barely below the water table. 

Both interpretations consider the aquifer to extend 

beneath some areas of flood plain, swamp, or till on the 

east side of the esker.

In this region, almost no stratified drift has been 

mapped other than eskers and related ice-contact 

deposits aligned with eskers. Most small stream valleys have flat, swampy floors, presumably underlain by 

organic-rich alluvium deposited partly in beaver ponds. 

Large swamps and lakes occupy natural depressions in 

many places. Borehole records do not indicate the presence of sand and gravel beneath any of these valleys or 

depressions, except alongside the esker alignments. In 

figure 44, the east-west reach of the Meduxnekeag 

River winds across a low plain that was mapped as till 

or swamp by Prescott (1973b) and Thompson and 

Borns (1985) and mapped as lacking sand and gravel 

aquifers by Tolman and Lanctot (1981).

South of the region of minimal stratified drift at the 

center of Maine's former ice cap is a generally mountainous area that extends from Mt. Katahdin west to 

the Canadian border. Here, too, coarse stratified drift 

consists chiefly of eskers and underlies only a small 

percentage of watershed area, but because relief is 

much higher (Denny, 1982), esker alignments are confined within valleys, and the combination of eskers 

with other forms of stratified drift and alluvium results 

in aquifers that can be described as valley fills. All

these characteristics are consistent with the Eastern 

Mountains region as defined in this report; therefore, 

the southern fringe of the Maine ice-cap area is classified as part of the Eastern Mountains region on plate 1.

REGIONS WITH HIGH LOCAL RELIEF

Four of the hydrophysiographic regions delineated 

on plate 1 are deeply dissected mountains or plateaus 

in which the major valleys sloped away from the ice 

sheet. Stratified-drift-filled valleys are more widely 

spaced than in the regions described previously and are 

generally bordered by steep valley walls. Upland runoff 

is the principal source of natural recharge to surficial 

aquifers (Morrissey and others, 1988).

EASTERN MOUNTAINS

Relief in this region is variable but consistently 

greater than 1,000 feet, as measured by Denny (1982). 

The extent of this region in New England (pi. 1) is based 

partly on the relief map by Denny (1982, fig. 10) and 

partly on geologic and topographic maps. Excluded 

from this region are the Vermont valley from Rutland 

to Bennington and several valleys in western 

Massachusetts, all cut in carbonate bedrock, because 

they are wider and contain more stratified drift than 

other valleys in the region.

The distribution of stratified drift in the valleys of 

the Eastern Mountains region can be characterized as 

follows:

1. The percentage of the land surface mantled by 

surficial sand and gravel is commonly small only 

about 9 percent of the land surface in high-relief 

watersheds in New England is mantled by 

surficial sand and gravel, much less than the 20 to 

26 percent in watersheds of lower relief to the 

south (table 4). The difference probably results 

from the major valleys being narrower and more 

widely spaced in the Eastern Mountains region 

than in adjacent regions of lower relief. Large 

streams in this region typically have valley floors 

less than 2,500 feet wide.

2. A substantial part of the surficial sand and gravel in 

this region consists of alluvium flood plains and 

alluvial fans (table 4). Although these alluvial 

deposits are highly permeable in most places, they 

do not necessarily overlie substantial thicknesses 

of coarse stratified drift.

3. Stratified drift commonly extends to depths of 50 to 

150 feet below the valley floors (for example, see 

Cotton and Olimpio, 1996; Willey and Butterfield, 

1983). Bedrock crops out in many places in stream 

channels and as rounded knobs on flood plains,
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B81

TABLE 4. Areal extent of surficial sand and gravel in watersheds representative of several hydrophysiographic regions

[Each data set was originally compiled for analysis of the effect of watershed characteristics on low flow of streams. Area of surficial sand

and gravel includes area of any swamps or lakes inferred to overlie sand and gravel. All watersheds from which this table was compiled

are between 10 and 200 square miles. Percentages were computed by summing areas for all watersheds, then dividing one sum

by the other as indicated in column heads. Dash indicates area of alluvium not compiled; >, greater than; <, less than]

Locality and 

report reference

Most of Vermont, New Hampshire,western

Massachusetts (Wandle and Randall,

1994)

Rhode Island, eastern Massachusetts,

southern New Hampshire, and Maine

(Wandle and Randall, 1994)

Connecticut (Cervione and others, 1982)

Delaware River basin, NY (Coates, 197 1)2

Susquehanna River basin, NY and Pa.

(Coates, 197 1)2

Susquehanna River basin, NY (Ku and

others, 1975)

Hudson River basin, south of Troy, NY

(Barnes, 1986)

Hydrophysiographic 

region(s) as shown 

on plate 1

Eastern Mountains;

Mountains bordering

Champlain lowland

Eastern Hills and

Valley Fills

do.

Catskill Mountains

Eastern Appalachian

Plateau

do.

Eastern Hills and

Valley Fills

Relief

High

Low

Low1

High

High

High

Low1

Number 

of 

watersheds

15

13

14

12

10

25

32

drainage 

area 

(square

miles)

60.5

56.2

53.8

62.5

96.2

79.3

36.4

Area of

surficial

sand and 

gravel divided 

by drainage

area

(percent)

8.6

26

20.5

6.3

14.2

14.3

>13.7

<15.3

Area of 

alluvium

divided by 

area of 

surficial 

sand and

gravel

(percent)

35

10

1A few watersheds in adjacent areas of high relief were deleted from data set. 

Coates measured "valley fill area," which is equivalent to area of sand and gravel in valleys.

however, and short reaches of many streams are 

incised in bedrock gorges. These outcrops, along 

with drillhole records, indicate that deep 

stratified-drift aquifers generally underlie only 

parts of the narrow valley floors.

4. A substantial part of the stratified drift in this 

region is draped over upland ridges or banked 

high on valley walls entirely above stream grade 

and, hence, is very thinly saturated. Close 

examination of some such deposits has revealed 

exposures of till or bedrock and (or) springs at 

their downhill margin where postglacial streams 

have incised entirely through them (fig. 45). More 

commonly, the base of the stratified deposit is not 

obviously exposed, but projection of adjacent tillmantled slopes suggests that the base is above 

stream grade.

5. Large-scale ground-water development would be 

sustained chiefly by recharge from upland runoff 

(Morrissey and others, 1988) and induced 

recharge from the master stream. Precipitation on 

the aquifer and storage within it would be of less 

importance because stratified-drift aquifers are so 

narrow.

CATSKILL MOUNTAINS

The Catskill Mountains region is one of high relief, 

steep valley sides, and relatively narrow, flat valley 

floors underlain by stratified drift. Relief in gaged 

watersheds generally exceeds 1,300 feet and averages 

1,930 feet (Coates, 1971, table 3). Valley floors along the 

largest streams (Delaware River and its East and West 

Branches) are typically 800 to 2,000 feet wide and 

rarely more than 2,500 feet wide. On the average, stratified drift underlies only about 6 percent of the watershed area (table 4). All or most of the valley floor 

generally consists of flood plain, tributary fans, and low 

terraces that could be outwash or early postglacial 

river alluvium; the small extent of ice-contact 

stratified-drift landforms and the inundation of several 

valley reaches by reservoirs may hinder use of the morphosequence concept as a guide in interpreting aquifer 

geometry and grain size. Kirkland (1973) divided stratified drift in the valley of West Branch into 17 morphosequences, most of which he described as grading 

downvalley from kame terraces to kame moraine to 

outwash; however, he presented little evidence of downvalley decrease in grain size within individual morphosequences, or correspondence of terrace elevations 

to his theoretical profiles.
B82 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

0 100 METERS

A. Cold River, southwestern New Hampshire. 

(From Caldwell, 1986)

71°52'

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X2.5

71°5V

EXPLANATION FOR MAPS

Alluvium Chiefly gravel

Till, with small bedrock outcrops

Stratified drift Sand and gravel (sk, graded to 

early small lakes; sh, chiefly sand, graded to 

large lake in main valley)

Postglacial stream-terrace gravel Generally 

overlying sand (unit sh)

Bedrock outcrop

Spring 

 Geologic contact 

A1 Line of geologic section

Base from U.S. Geological Survey

Warren and Mt. Kineo 7.5-minute quadrangles

B. Baker River, west-central New Hampshire.

72°4T 42°34'

Base from U.S. Geological Survey Shelburne Falls 7.5-minute quadrangle

C. Deerfield River, northwestern Massachusetts. (From Segerstrom, 1959)

FIGURE 45. Examples of stratified drift perched on valley sides in three areas of high relief. Springs, till exposures, and bedrock outcrops at 

the base of the valley sides and (in A) a test-well log all indicate that stratified drift upslope rests on till and bedrock well above stream 

grade.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B83

The Catskill Mountains region differs from the 

Appalachian Plateau to the west in that valley fills are 

nou as wide or deep and include less fine-grained 

sediment. It differs from the Eastern Mountains region 

in that ice-contact deposits perched above stream grade 

on the valley sides are much less common or so narrow 

as to lack topographic expression, and bedrock seldom 

crops out in flood plains or stream channels except 

where the stream abuts the valley wall.

Saturated thickness of valley fills seldom exceeds 

150 feet. Soren (1961, 1963) tabulated records of many 

wells in this region, including 105 drilled wells along 

the valleys of the largest streams Delaware River and 

its East and West Branches and the lower reaches of 

Beaver Kill. Depth to bedrock below river grade, which 

presumably nearly equals saturated thickness of the 

drift, was reported to exceed 100 feet and 150 feet at 

only 13 and 4 well sites, respectively. The areal extent 

of valley fill that exceeds 100 or 150 feet in saturated 

thickness is undoubtedly somewhat greater than indicated by this set of well records, however, inasmuch as 

a majority of the wells are along roads near the base of 

the steep valley walls, and 28 of them were completed 

above bedrock.

Lithology of valley fills at several locations has been 

thoroughly described by geologic sections or borehole 

logs for dams, bridges, and tunnels constructed or proposed by the New York City Board of Water Supply, as 

presented by Fluhr (1953), Fluhr and Terenzio (1973, 

1984), Soren (1963), and (or) in memorandum reports 

by T.W. Fluhr on file at the New York State Geological 

Survey. Maximum thickness of drift below river grade 

at seven sites along East Branch and West Branch 

ranged from 35 to 120 feet and averaged 90 feet. The 

sediments penetrated were mostly sand and gravel, 

generally coarse and variably silty, but also included 

much till. Differing terminology and detail in the original borehole logs complicate interpretation, but clearly 

fine-grained lake-bottom sediments are only a minor 

component of the stratified drift. An open trench 50 feet 

deep and about 1,300 feet long was dug across the East 

Branch valley at Downsville during construction of a 

dam, and pumpage of 4,000 gallons per minute was 

required to keep the water table below the trench 

(Fluhr, 1953; Fluhr and Terenzio, 1984), indicating that 

the valley fill is quite permeable at that site. By contrast, logs of boreholes at a bridge over Trout Creek 

(Fluhr and Terenzio, 1973, p. 300) and a dam site on 

Neversink River (Fluhr and Terenzio, 1984, p. Ill) 

reveal all three depositional facies: alluvial sand and 

gravel (facies 3) over lacustrine fine sand and silt 

(facies 2) over heterogeneous ice-contact deposits 

(facies 1).

At one proposed dam site (fig. 46) and seven other 

locations in the Catskill Mountains region (Soren, 

1961, 1963), water wells or test borings are reported to 

have penetrated water-yielding coarse sand and gravel 

beneath 80 to 200 feet of mostly till. All these sites are 

on, or at the base of, moderately gentle hillsides that 

slope southward or southwestward into major valleys, 

except for one hillside that slopes southwestward along 

the valley from a bedrock spur on the valley side. During 

the last glaciation, the ice must have selectively deposited large volumes of till on the south-facing or lee sides 

of some hills or valley walls; as the till accumulated, it 

encroached upon the valley floors and buried some sand 

and gravel that had been deposited ahead of the advancing ice or during the previous deglaciation. The valleys 

of Beaver Kill, Callicoon Creek, and the headwaters of 

East Branch and Neversink River, all in the eastern part 

of the Catskill Mountains region, include many narrow 

reaches that seem to have resulted from thick, localized 

accumulations of till that extend into or across the valley. Rich (1935, p. 29, pi. 1) described and mapped thick 

drift, composed predominantly of till, as universal in 

tributary valleys in the Catskills and common along the 

larger valleys; he noted that drift can be so thick in the 

lee of spurs on valley walls that the mouths of 

tributaries have been blocked and shifted downvalley. 

Drift as thick as 360 feet was penetrated by boreholes at 

three proposed dam sites in narrow reaches of Beaver 

Kill and Willowemoc Creek valleys; the drift extended 

160 to 190 feet below stream grade and was interpreted 

by Fluhr (unpublished memorandum reports from 

1948-49, on file at the New York State Geological 

Survey) and by Fluhr and Terenzio (1973) as predominantly till, with only a few scattered lenses of sand, 

gravel, or lake beds. Boreholes in intervening wider 

reaches of these valleys reached bedrock 210 to 240 feet 

below the valley floors; much of the drift penetrated was 

apparently stratified. Coates (1966b) showed that "till 

shadows" (accumulations) on the southerly or lee sides 

of hills are common in uplands in the Appalachian 

Plateau to the west, and later illustrated (Coates and 

King, 1973; Coates, 1981) how till accumulation on the 

south side of hills has shifted the axes of some small 

upland valleys (fig. 47). Similar relations probably prevail in the uplands of the Catskill Mountains region. The 

thick till shadows that locally protrude into valleys in 

the Catskill Mountains region and confine buried aquifers can be thought of as products of upland depositional 

processes, related not to deglaciation of the valleys but to 

glaciation of the adjacent uplands. Aquifers buried 

beneath the till shadows are presumably of small extent 

and may or may not intersect the principal sand and 

gravel aquifers deposited during retreat of the last ice. 

Major valleys within the Appalachian Plateau to the
B84 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

A'

FEET 

1.300 

1,200 

1,100 

1,000

900 I

700-

Mainly Stratified Sand and Gravel 

and Glacial Lake Beds

Bedrock

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X2

0 500 1,000 1,500 FEET

75°15'

.^//.^V//.''|^^^^^ x -^^^>

.£M».

^^ -X? ! « < -5 KILOMETER

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

Fishs Eddy 7.5-minute quadrangle, 1982

FIGURE 46. Geologic section across East Branch Delaware River at 

Peas Eddy, N.Y (From Soren, 1963, fig. 2, modified from Fluhr, 

1953.) The upper layer, described by Fluhr (1953) as "mainly 

impermeable till," was interpreted by Kirkland (1973) as a mixture of till and colluvium (resedimented till).

west are wider than those in the Catskill Mountains 

region and are not locally narrowed by till shadows; 

probably they were more generally followed by ice 

streams during glaciation.

Two distinctive aspects of the hydrology of the 

Catskill Mountains region are not related to the geometry of stratified-drift aquifers, but result in large rates of 

recharge to those aquifers. The first is large precipitation, averaging 42 to 60 inches per year (Knox and Nordenson, 1955; Hely and Nordenson, 1961; Dethier, 1966; 

Randall, 1996), which causes abundant upland runoff. 

The second is bedrock lithology; the competent, wellindurated but unmetamorphosed nonmarine siltstone 

and sandstone that predominate in this region (Soren, 

1961, p. 15) allow more open fractures and, hence, 

greater lateral ground-water flux into the valley fill than 

is likely from the finer grained marine shale and siltstone that predominate in the Appalachian Plateau to 

the west and in much of the Hudson lowland to the east.

EASTERN APPALACHIAN PLATEAU

The Eastern Appalachian Plateau is an extensive 

upland with summit elevations of 1,500 to 2,200 feet, 

whose major valleys have been widened and deepened 

by glacial erosion; relief in gaged watersheds generally 

exceeds 900 feet and averages 1,075 feet (Coates, 1971, 

table 3). On the average, 14 percent of the region is 

mantled by surficial sand and gravel, nearly all of it in 

the major valleys (table 4). The intervening uplands 

generally lack surficial sand and gravel; they are 

drained by tributary valleys up to 8 miles long whose 

floors are only a few hundred feet wide and underlain 

by several feet of alluvium over till. Most major valleys 

are between 2,000 and 8,000 feet wide, although a few 

are as narrow as 1,000 feet. No bedrock outcrops are 

found on the valley floors; stratified drift generally 

extends 70 to 200 feet below stream grade west of 

Binghamton, and 250 to 500 feet below stream grade 

northeast of Binghamton. Many major valleys near the 

northern perimeter of the Appalachian Plateau cross 

modern drainage divides, where former saddles were 

enlarged and deepened by glacial erosion into valleys 

that conveyed large volumes of meltwater and sediment southward. These valleys, which are termed 

"through valleys" (von Engeln, 1961; Coates, 1966a; 

Randall and others, 1988), contain thick stratified drift 

beneath the modern divide. Other major valleys head 

in an array of steep upland tributaries and are commonly narrower than the through valleys, particularly 

in northern Pennsylvania, where surficial gravel in val 

leys tributary to the Susquehanna River seldom 

exceeds 2,000 feet in width.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B85

SOUTHEAST, 

SOUTH, OR 

SOUTHWEST

NORTHWEST, 

NORTH, OR 

NORTHEAST

NOT TO SCALE

Bedrock 

(sandstone, 

siltstone, 

shale)

FIGURE 47. Idealized upland valley displaced by till accumulation in the shadow of an adjacent hill. (From Coates and 

King, 1973, fig. 7.)

Till, commonly several tens of feet thick, mantles 

bedrock along the sides of the major valleys, but is a 

rare and minor component of the drift in those valleys, 

except immediately atop bedrock. Examination of 

undisturbed samples from many drillholes along the 

major valleys (Randall, 1972; Martin, 1981; 

U.S. Geological Survey, unpublished records) disclosed 

many layers of poorly permeable silt-bound sand or 

gravel, but very few layers with the texture and lack of 

sorting typical of till. Locally, however, till or resedimented diamicton mantle stratified drift. The lower 

side slopes of many valleys are gentler than the upper 

slopes and display smoothly rounded lobes or 

noses all characteristics that suggest thick drift. The 

drift is generally till, as indicated by exposures and 

soils maps. In some localities, however, soils maps 

depict lower side slopes as hybrid soils (such as 

Bath-Howard) in which the parent material of one soil 

is till and that of the other is gravel, and excavations 

reveal stratified sand and gravel mantled by diamicton. 

Perhaps the surficial diamicton and the rounded topography result from ice readvance across kames or kame 

terraces. Diamicton layers that are present at or near 

land surface on the valley floor in several localities 

along the Valley Heads moraine (Randall, 1986b; 

Randall and others, 1988) and at the Wisconsinan drift 

border (Zarriello and Reynolds, 1987) have been attributed to a readvance. Alternatively, perhaps the surficial diamicton results from solifluction. Denny and 

Lyford (1963, p. 15, p. 40) described several sites where 

colluvium derived from bedrock or till had migrated 

down upland hillsides onto stratified drift; Denny 

(1956a, p. 83) reported the phenomenon to be widespread in this region. King and Coates (1973) pointed 

out that hillside profiles in some upland localities

change from concave to convex with decreasing elevation and attributed this configuration to downslope 

movement of large volumes of till as solifluction lobes.

The universal three depositional facies are widely 

distributed along the major valleys of the Eastern 

Appalachian Plateau region, as stated in general terms 

by Fleisher (1986b, p. 132) and illustrated in many 

reports, including several examples presented on the 

next few pages. Valley fills in this region are generally 

broader and thicker than those in other regions that 

drained away from the ice, so they might be expected to 

offer large well and aquifer yields. The thickness of 

coarse-grained stratified drift does not generally 

increase in proportion to drift thickness, however 

(MacNish and Randall, 1982, p. 7). Instead, greater 

depth to bedrock is generally associated with greater 

thickness of fine-grained (facies-2) sediments. Coarsegrained stratified drift seems to be fairly widespread 

below as well as above the fine sediment, as discussed 

in an earlier section and evidenced by examples farther 

on, but because few boreholes reach bedrock where 

drift thickness is great, the distribution and thickness 

of deep stratified-drift aquifers are not well established 

in much of the region. The large drawdown available to 

deep aquifers favors large well yields, but data 

compiled by Hollyday (1969) indicate that specific 

capacities are greatest in surficial aquifers, are half as 

great in aquifers 50 to 200 feet below the water table, 

and are less than one-third as great in aquifers deeper 

than 200 feet below the water table.

The extent to which buried ice-contact deposits are 

concentrated along former meltwater channels within 

the valleys is likewise not well established. Abundant 

borehole data along the Chenango River, Susquehanna 

River, and Nanticoke Creek valleys in southwestern 

Broome County N.Y., indicate that ice-contact deposits 

several tens of feet thick form narrow bands that 

approximately follow the thalweg of the bedrock valley 

and are bordered by areas in which ice-contact deposits 

are thin or absent beneath thick fines. This distribution 

is reflected in maps by Holecek and others (1982), 

MacNish and Randall (1982), and Randall (1986a) and 

suggests preferential deposition within or at the mouth 

of a persistent channel in the decaying ice. Eskers a 

mile or more in length are known from tributary 

valleys near Brisben (Cadwell, 1972) and Lisle, N.Y., 

and from east-west reaches of major valleys near 

Oakland, Pa. (Harrison, 1966), and Chemung, N.Y.; 

bedrock is probably less than 100 feet below stream 

grade at all four localities. As explained earlier in the 

section on meltwater-drainage systems, Fleisher 

(1991a, b) argued that the bulk of the fine-grained sediment in the major valleys of this region must have
B86 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

been contributed by subglacial meltwater conduits 

along those valleys, having been eroded from basal ice 

or subglacial sediment. If so, significant amounts of 

sand and gravel also would have been eroded and must 

have been deposited within, or at the mouths of, the 

subglacial conduits, especially in through valleys.

Aquifer geometry in the Eastern Appalachian 

Plateau can, to some extent, be inferred from landforms, which reflect depositional conditions. Several 

investigators have identified prominent ice-margin 

positions within the major valleys of this region where 

massive, hummocky deposits of coarse-grained, heterogeneous facies-1 stratified drift fill the valley from side 

to side. These deposits constitute single or multipleabutting morphosequences, range in length from about 

1,000 feet to about 2 miles, and have been termed 

valley-choker moraines (MacClintock and Apfel, 1944; 

Frimpter, 1974), valley plugs (Cadwell, 1972), ablation 

moraines (Fleisher, 1977; Morrow, 1989), recessional 

moraines (MacNish and Randall, 1982), and kame 

moraines (Fleisher, 1986b). Coarse-grained ice-contact 

deposits extend to substantial depth, at least at the 

heads of these features, and coarse-grained outwash 

(facies 3) generally progrades downvalley across finegrained lake sediments (MacNish and Randall, 1982; 

Fleisher, 1986b). Although deposition was predominantly deltaic, sediment aggraded somewhat above 

lake level; thus, these moraines served as dams (actually, large riffles) that collectively and incrementally 

impounded proglacial lakes in front of the retreating 

ice. Some large deltas, perhaps in part supported by 

buried large ice blocks, also might have functioned as 

temporary incremental dams in other valley reaches. 

For example, a feature identified by Fleisher (1977, 

p. 39) as a delta terrace or kame delta, not a moraine, 

occupied the entire width of Otego Creek valley 2 miles 

south of the hamlet of Mt. Vision, prior to incision by 

Otego Creek.

Many valley reaches between ice-marginal positions 

are discontinuously bordered by terraces that stand 

several tens of feet above the valley floor and could be 

kame terraces (built between stagnant ice and the valley wall), delta terraces (built at the end of a retreating 

ice tongue by a stream that flowed alongside the ice 

tongue; MacNish and Randall, 1982, fig. 7; Fleisher, 

1986b, fig. 4), or tributary deltas (inwash at the mouths 

of tributaries). These features, which are predominantly coarse grained and are commonly found where 

bedrock is relatively shallow, have been interpreted as 

successive deposits at the terminus of an ice tongue 

that was retreating too rapidly for proximal coarse 

deposits to build across the valley to form a moraine. 

Broad, poorly drained flood plains and low river

terraces that occupy much of the valley floor between 

some prominent ice-margin positions have been interpreted by Fleisher (1977, 1986a, b) as lake plains 

(underlain chiefly by thick silt, capped by thin sand and 

gravel) and dead-ice sinks (large ice-block depressions, 

underlain by a heterogeneous array of collapsed outwash, lake-bottom deposits, and postglacial alluvium).

Many valley reaches in the Eastern Appalachian 

Plateau contrast sharply with those described above in 

that all or most of the valley floor consists of low planar 

surfaces, commonly less than 20 feet above stream 

grade. These reaches are especially common near the 

Valley Heads moraine but also are found elsewhere; 

long reaches of the Canisteo, Cohocton, Tioga, and 

Tioughnioga Rivers, and Tuscarora, Catatonk, and 

Cayuta Creeks can be thus described. A surficial sand 

and gravel aquifer is present throughout these reaches 

and probably originated as outwash, locally reworked 

by postglacial streams and locally augmented by tributary fans. Commonly, the surficial outwash overlies 

lacustrine fines, but truncated deltas, ice-contact 

deposits, and ice-block depressions can complicate the 

stratigraphy, and the uniform surfaces offer few clues 

as to subsurface conditions. One possible clue is river 

slope, which tends to be steeper where the channel 

overlies gravel or till than where it overlies sandy 

outwash or lake sediment (Randall, 1986, p. 16).

Geologic maps and sections from five localities were 

selected to illustrate aquifer geometry of the Eastern 

Appalachian Plateau.

1. Typical South-Draining Valley. The reach of Otego 

Creek valley depicted in figure 48 contains two 

ice-marginal positions identified by Fleisher 

(1977) and Morrow (1989) a partial "delta 

moraine" at West Oneonta and an "ablation 

moraine" 1 mile to the north, near the LaurensOneonta town line. The moraines, like the terraces elsewhere along the valley walls, are composed largely of coarse to fine sand and gravel and 

were deposited in water ponded at about 

1,140 feet altitude behind stratified drift farther 

down the Susquehanna valley. Borehole records 

and resistivity soundings (Morrow, 1989) in two 

localities indicate that the valley floor is underlain 

by fine-grained lake deposits, which, in turn, are 

underlain by (basal?) sand and gravel, presumably deposited by subaquatic fans. The deep aquifer was mapped only where data were available; it 

might be more extensive.

2. Interlaced Valleys. Near Smyrna, N.Y. (fig. 49), 

surficial ice-contact deposits (kames and kame 

deltas) are concentrated where bedrock is relatively shallow, along the side of the Chenango
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B87

75°07' 75°06'

EXPLANATION

Outwash and kame delta ~

Ablation or kame moraine 

(valley-choker moraine) _

Alluvial fan Inferred to 

overlie coarse-grained 

stratified drift. 

Facies 3/1

Largely coarsegrained stratified 

drift, a surficial 

aquifer except 

where it overlaps 

till and is unsaturated 

along the side of the 

valley. Facies 1

Lake plain or dead-ice sink (iceblock depression) Silt, clay, and(or) 

very fine sand, generally capped by 

a few feet of sand or gravel 

deposited as distal outwash, streamterrace deposits, distal alluvial fan, 

or channel alluvium of Otego Creek. 

Facies 3/2

Lake plain or dead-ice sink Inferred from 

well records and resistivity soundings to 

overlie deep sand-and-gravel aquifer(s) 

that were deposited as subaquatic fans 

or collapsed. Facies 3/2/1

Upland Bedrock mantled by till

 Geologic contact Dashed where approximate

907 en? taps sand and gravel Number is 

elevation of bottom in feet above 

sea level

A A Resistivity sounding Solid where deep 

resistive layer was detected below 

low-resistivity material

1/2 MILE

I

.5 KILOMETER

FIGURE 48. Surficial geology and depositional 

facies in Otego Creek valley where it joins the 

Susquehanna River valley near Oneonta, N.Y. 

(Developed from information in Morrow, 1989.)

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

Oneonta, N.Y. quadrangle, 1982.1:24,000
B88 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

A'

FEET

1,250 -, Smyrna

750 

700 - 

650 -

- ttifc.

Qv Valley train

EXPLANATION FOR SECTIONS

Kame terrace

_t___ Lacustrine sediments 

Alluvium 

Till

Cut and fill; 

Railroad grade

Swamp deposits

600

Qkt

Ql

Bedrock Shale of Devonian age

Geologic contact Dashed where approximate 

Approximate water table. May 1980

Location of well or test hole

\

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X20 1/2

_L

1MILE

I

1 KILOMETER

75°35' 75°33' 75°3V 75°29'

EXPLANATION FOR MAP

Older kame terrace Drained through 

active ice in Chenango valley or across 

saddles on ridge to the west. Faciesl

Younger kame terraces and kame 

deltas Deposited in a lake ponded 

at 1,100 feet altitude behind drift in 

Chenango valley 10 miles south. 

Facies 1

Older valley train Graded to 1,100- 

foot lake and mantled by postglacial 

alluvial fans. Facies 3 or 3/1

Younger valley train Overlies fines. 

Facies 3/2

Youngest valley train or stream 

terrace About 20 feet of sand 

overlies more than 200 feet of fines. 

Facies 3/2

Alluvium or alluvial fans Sandy gravel, 

mantled by silt on flood plains; locally 

muck: generally overlies fines. 

Facies 3/2, locally facies 2

Alluvium Silt, sand, gravel: locally muck 

in ice-block depression; overlies kame terrace 

or valley train deposits. Facies 3/1, locally 

facies 2/1

Uplands Bedrock mantled by till

' Line of geologic section

B

FEET

1,200

1,150

1,100-

1,050

1,000 -

.5 1 KILOMETER

FIGURE 49. Surficial geology and depositional fades in valleys near Smyrna, N.Y 

(Modified from Reynolds and Brown, 1984.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B89

River valley and in subparallel tributary valleys, 

perhaps because meltwater flow initially became 

concentrated in these areas where the ice ceased 

flowing and melted earlier than in the deep 

Chenango valley. Eventually, widespread finegrained lake-bottom deposits overlapped the icecontact deposits in the tributary valleys (fig. 49) 

and accumulated to thicknesses greater than 

200 feet near North Norwich and Sherburne 

(Randall, 1972; Reynolds and Brown, 1984). If 

meltwater flow was indeed concentrated in the 

tributary valleys early in deglaciation, basal icecontact deposits are likely to be sparse or absent 

beneath the lake beds in the Chenango valley.

3. North-Draining Valleys. The Tioga River and its 

tributaries in glaciated north-central Pennsylvania 

flow north or northeast (fig. 50), but their valley 

fills are generally similar in stratigraphy and 

thickness to those found in south-draining valleys 

of the Eastern Appalachian Plateau. Geologic sections (fig. 50) show that coarse-grained outwash or 

alluvium (facies 3) caps lacustrine silt, clay, and 

very fine sand (facies 2), which, in turn, overlaps or 

buries discontinuous coarse-grained ice-contact 

deposits (facies 1). The surficial aquifers in these 

valleys parallel the valley floor, commonly extend 

only a few feet below stream grade, and consist predominantly of modern alluvium. The fine-grained 

lacustrine deposits typically constitute the bulk of 

the valley fill, locally exceed 100 feet in thickness, 

and seem to be continuous for several miles 

(J.H. Williams, Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 

unpub. data, 1993).

4. Extensive Outwash near Valley Heads Moraine. 

Cortland, N.Y., is at the junction of several valleys 

whose broad, level floors are underlain by outwash, in part capped by alluvium (fig. 51). The 

outwash thins gradually southward and eastward 

from the Valley Heads moraine in each valley. 

Geologic sections along two valleys show that lake 

beds underlie the outwash consistently, and 

nearly all of the few boreholes that extend 

through the lake beds have penetrated a deep 

gravel aquifer.

5. Extensive Outwash near the Wisconsinan Glacial 

Border. The Allegheny River and its northside 

tributaries in Cattaraugus County, N.Y., contain 

extensive, thick, permeable surficial outwash that 

generally overlies fines. The Allegheny River, like 

other major rivers in western New York, flowed 

northward prior to glaciation (Calkin and others, 

1974; Calkin and Muller, 1980). When advancing

ice sheets blocked the former Allegheny valley, the 

ponded water escaped southward across a saddle 

near Kinzua, Pa., incising the gorge that is still 

occupied by the Allegheny River. Fine-grained 

sediments that were deposited in these proglacial 

lakes are found at depth along the valleys of the 

Allegheny River and its tributaries (Frimpter, 

1974). The Wisconsinan ice sheet closely 

approached or barely reached the Allegheny 

valley all along the length of that river in New 

York (Frimpter, 1974; Muller, 1977), and as it did 

so, it released a flood of sand and gravel that was 

deposited as outwash atop the fine sediment in the 

Allegheny valley and the lower reaches of northside tributaries (Frimpter, 1974), as illustrated in 

figure 52. The outwash is as much as 100 feet 

thick at Olean (Bergeron, 1987) and Vandalia 

(Frimpter, 1974). In several tributary valleys, the 

outwash is exceptionally thick and permeable and 

transmits so much underflow that the lower 

reaches of the tributaries are frequently dry 

(Frimpter, 1974). Several gravel deposits high on 

the sides of the Allegheny valley west of Olean 

have been interpreted as Illinoian (MacClintock 

and Apfel, 1944; Muller, 1977); apparently that ice 

sheet also terminated near the Allegheny River. 

The stratigraphic relation of these gravel deposits 

to the widespread lake-bottom sediments and outwash is not well documented. The general distribution of high kame terraces, lake-bottom 

sediments, and surficial outwash seems very similar to the rest of the Eastern Appalachian 

Plateau, as does the depth to bedrock of 150 to 

300 feet cited by Frimpter (1974, p. 4). North of 

the Wisconsinan glacial border, the usual succession of facies 1 to 3 was deposited during deglaciation of south-draining tributaries to the 

Allegheny River. Ice-contact deposits are apparently thickest at ice-margin positions identified by 

Frimpter (1974, 1986), and deltas occur where 

smaller streams enter these valleys. Frimpter 

(1974, p. 42) noted that the valley of Oil Creek, a 

branch of Olean Creek, has few tributaries large 

enough to build deltas and, therefore, is filled 

largely with silt and clay.

WESTERN APPALACHIAN PLATEAU

Upland summits in the glaciated Appalachian 

Plateau west of Salamanca, N.Y., are a few hundred 

feet lower than those farther east, local relief is correspondingly less, and the effects of glaciation somewhat 

more profound. The drift in upland areas has been 

shown to consist of a series of sheets deposited by
B90 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

FEET 

1,150 -

1,100 -

1,050 -

1,000 -

950 

900-

A'

850-

_Longitudinal section along 

"lower Cowanesque valley

Section across 

Tioga valley

0 2,000 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X20

4.000 6.000 

DISTANCE IN FEET

8.000

1,350

2,000 4,000 

DISTANCE IN FEET

6,000

Qoic

10,000

Qaoo

Qol

Qoic

Qot

Dlh

EXPLANATION

Outwash and (or) alluvium; Facies 3

Lacustrine silt, clay, and very fine

sand; Facies 2 

Ice-contact deposits, Facies 1

Till

Bedrock, of Devonian age

Borehole, log available

- - - - Geologic contact Dashed 

where approximate

2,000 4,000 

DISTANCE IN FEET

6,000

2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 

DISTANCE IN FEET

10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000

FIGURE 50. Depositional facies in the Tioga River basin, Pennsylvania. 

(From J.H. Williams, Pennsylvania Geologic Survey, unpub. data, 1993.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B91

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

Pennsylvania Base map

FIGURE 50. Depositional facies in the Tioga River basin, Pennsylvania. 

(From J.H. Williams, Pennsylvania Geological Survey, unpub. data, 1993) Continued.

successive ice readvances, as described below. A complex history of drainage diversion and glacial erosion 

has resulted in a network of intersecting bedrock valleys that also contain multiple stratigraphic units, as 

described in succeeding paragraphs.

Multiple Till Sheets. The drift in most upland 

localities in the Western Appalachian Plateau includes 

several till sheets that can be distinguished by texture, 

weathering, or mineralogy. Each sheet varies widely in 

thickness from place to place; thicknesses of 2 to 20 feet 

are typical. A hard, compact, relatively sandy and 

stony till constitutes the bulk of the drift; it is termed 

Titusville Till in Pennsylvania and easternmost Ohio, 

Mogadore Till and Millbrook Till farther west (White, 

1982). At least two earlier till sheets are exposed locally 

beneath the Titusville Till and its equivalents, and 

extend slightly beyond it in Pennsylvania (Shepps and 

others, 1959; White and others, 1969). The Titusville 

Till actually consists of at least three separate sheets, 

each of which covers a lesser area than its predecessor. 

The Titusville, in turn, is largely mantled by Kent Till 

and three younger till sheets, each of which also covers 

less area than its predecessor.

Layers of sand, gravel, or silt separate some till 

sheets in many upland localities. These layers are ordinarily only a foot or so thick but locally thicken to form 

buried knolls or, less commonly, channel fills, as shown 

in many exposures and measured sections (Winslow 

and White, 1966; White and others, 1969; White, 1982). 

Some examples are presented in figure 53. Such thin 

but laterally extensive aquifers commonly supply 

enough water for domestic wells drilled or dug in

upland areas. A water-yielding sand and gravel layer is 

so common between the two uppermost Titusville Till 

sheets in Mercer and Lawrence Counties, Pa., that 

strip mines are ordinarily excavated in two lifts, removing the material above this layer before excavating 

below it, thereby avoiding the slumping this layer 

would cause in a vertical face (White and others, 1969, 

p. 29). In many places, however, multiple till sheets are 

stacked without stratified interbeds.

Multiple Bedrock Valleys. Throughout the 

Appalachian Plateau, glaciation broadened and deepened river valleys into U-shaped troughs, some of 

which intersect or cross to form networks that imply 

profound glacial modification of the preglacial stream 

pattern (Coates, 1966a). In the Eastern Plateau and 

Catskill Mountains, virtually all of these glacially 

sculpted troughs served as avenues of southward meltwater flow during deglaciation. In the Western Plateau, 

many valleys functioned similarly but some were 

blocked by drift. Consequently, several large streams 

were diverted into narrow valley segments across 

former saddles, and the blocked troughs are now 

drained by small "underfit" streams. In this region, 

troughs are commonly referred to as "buried" valleys 

because they contain thick valley fill, and their delineation has been a major component of geohydrologic 

studies (Cummins, 1959; Rau, 1969; Ohio Drilling 

Company, 1971; Schiner and Kimmel, 1976; Richards 

and others, 1987). Only a very few valley segments are 

actually filled completely with drift (Poth, 1963, provides an example); nearly all are still recognizable as 

topographic valleys that contain modern streams.
B92 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

FEET 

1,300

1,100

900 

700

Ice-margin 

position?

Kettle lake and swamp

.. I >^ L Fin

76°15' 76°14' 76°13'

4 MILES

5,000 10,000 FEET

B

Crest of

Valley Heads

moraine

0 1,000 2,000 METERS

EXPLANATION FOR SECTIONS

Early facies Proximal sands, gravel 

Middle facies Distal fine sand, silt, clay 

Late facies Outwash or alluvial sand, gravel 

Till

- - - Geologic contact Dashed where approximately 

located or inferred

Borehole log Dashed line indicates log projected 

to line of section (generally less than 700 feet)

EXPLANATION FOR MAP

Kame terrace deposits, facies 1 Sand and gravel, 

partly above stream grade on valley sides

Outwash, facies 3 Sand and gravel, locally capped 

by alluvial gravel beneath flood plains and fans of modern 

streams; generally overlies fines {facies 2)

3a'v.;J Alluvium Commonly underlain by outwash, facies 3, and 

^^^ further underlain by fines in broad valleys

^^^1 Morainal deposits Till, generally overlying or interbedded 

^^^* with stratified drift, generally deformed or collapsed

Uplands Bedrock mantled by till 

. -L -L -L -L Valley Heads moraine 

 A1 Line of geologic section

024 KILOMETERS

FIGURE 51. Surficial geology and depositional facies in valleys near Cortland, N.Y. 

(Sections modified from Miller and Randall, 1991, fig. 2; map adapted from Muller and Cadwell, 1986, and other sources.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B93

1,300

1,200 

B

FEET

1,600- /

1,500-

1,400-

1,300 -] 

1,200 -

1,100-

K

\ alsc

Y^T^:

\ -^ - \ \

\ Isc \ 

: \

i ^^n 

i i

s;

« / \\ /j

ALLEGHENY RIVER VALLEY / \ / I 

Water table ,- t / \ / 

^f^^^y/ \y |

Isc /

 s

usg /

; i I'll

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000 10,000 11,000 12,000

DISTANCE, IN FEET

78°30' 78°25' 78°20' EXPLANATION

42°

osg | Outwash sand and gravel

Lacustrine silt and clay 

 Till

ucg Clayey gravel, origin 

 uncertain

usg Sand and gravel

01234 5 MILES

Alluvium

Alluvial silt 

and clay

Bedrock

Borehole

01234 5 KILOMETERS

00 Base from U.S. Army Map Service 1:250,000

FIGURE 52. Geologic sections in the Allegheny River valley near Olean, N.Y. 

(From Bergeron, 1987, fig. 2; and Zarriello and Reynolds, 1987, pi. 3.)
B94 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

NORTH SOUTH SOUTH NORTH

60

SOUTHEAST

FEET

O-i

NORTHWEST

SOUTHWEST NORTHEAST

EXPLANATION

Peat and muck 

Gravel and sand 

Sand 

Silt

Till (5-HiramTill; 6-Lavery Till; 7-Kent Till; 

8-Trtusville Till; 9-Titusville Till II; 

10-Titusville Till III; 11-Mogadore Till)

Till (13-Mapledale Till; 14-Mapledale Till II; 

15-Mapledale Till III)

EAST

FIGURE 53. Multiple till sheets interbedded with gravel and (or) sand, as exposed in excavations in upland localities in the Western 

Appalachian Plateau. Datum is land surface. (A-C modified from White and others, 1969, figs. 19, 26, 28; D modified from White, 1982, 

fig. 21; E modified from Winslow and White, 1966, fig. 10.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B95

Complex Valley-Fill Stratigraphy. The multiple ice 

advances across the Western Appalachian Plateau left 

a relatively complex stratigraphic record in at least 

some valleys as well as in the uplands. Thick preWisconsinan sand and gravel have been identified in a

few valleys (fig. 54; Winslow and White, 1966; White, 

1968). Many or most kames and kame terraces in 

northeastern Ohio are the product of early 

Wisconsinan (Titusville-Mogadore-Millbrook) glaciation but are mantled by till and some stratified drift

Ravenna Sand and Gravel 

Company pit (see inset)

PRE-ILLINOIAN DRIFT

EXPLANATION

Wisconsinan tills 1, Hiram Till; 

2, Kent Till; 3, Mogadore Till

Wisconsinan gravel and sand

Illinoian Till

Illinoian gravel and sand

1

Bedrock surface 

Borehole, log available

Figure 54. Geologic section across a buried valley beneath West Branch Mahoning River near Ravenna, Ohio. (Modified from Rau, 

1969, fig. 1.) Inset section shows details of till stratigraphy exposed in Ravenna Sand and Gravel Company pit. (Modified from 

Winslow and White, 1966, fig. 8.)
B96 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

deposited during late Wisconsinan (Kent or younger) 

glaciation (White, 1982, p. 18, p. 39-41). Similarly, icecontact stratified drift is extensive in valleys within the 

area of Kent drift in western Pennsylvania (Shepps and 

others, 1959) but is partly older than, and mantled by, 

Kent Till (White and others, 1969). Because the Kent 

Till is discontinuous, commonly a few feet thick at 

most, and (or) somewhat sandy, it is probably not a serious impediment to recharge in most places.

Some bedrock valleys in the Western Appalachian 

Plateau, especially those aligned east-west or 

northeast-southwest at a high angle to the direction of 

ice flow, have a thick and continuous till cover. For 

example, sections along a northeast-trending valley in 

Mercer County, Pa. (fig. 55A), and across the east-west 

valley of West Branch Mahoning River near Ravenna, 

Ohio (fig. 54), include thick, continuous till layers that 

are probably effective confining layers. Walker (1979a) 

recognized the buried aquifer in West Branch valley 

near Ravenna (fig. 54) but reported the same valley to 

be filled largely with fine-grained non-water-yielding 

sediment east of Ravenna. Other complexities, such as 

the presence of two till layers interbedded with stratified drift (fig. 55C), also have been reported in various 

localities but are poorly understood.

Despite the unmistakable evidence for glacial readvance throughout the Western Appalachian Plateau, 

the distribution of ice-contact deposits and outwash 

described in several reports (Shepps and others, 1959; 

Frimpter, 1974; White, 1982) is similar to that in 

regions to the east. Although few geohydrologic reports 

have described valley-fill stratigraphy in detail, several 

have reported logs of boreholes that suggest the three 

depositional fades that form during a single deglaciation: thin coarse-grained sediment over thick fines over 

coarse sediment (fig. 55B, D; Poth, 1963, p. 45; 

Richards and others, 1987, wells Er-808, 1423, 1648). 

This stratigraphy is most common in valleys aligned 

parallel to ice flow. Broad, flat valley floors between or 

bordered by ice-contact landforms mark sites of latedeglacial lakes. Wedge-shaped surficial outwash 

aquifers that thin downvalley and overlie lacustrine 

fines are documented by borehole records in several 

localities (Frimpter, 1974; Schiner and Gallahcr, 1979, 

p. 9-10 and table 6).

North of the Western Appalachian Plateau is a 

region that generally slopes toward Lake Erie and is 

referred to in this paper as the Northern Rim of the 

Appalachian Plateau. Some valleys that now drain 

southward probably drained northward before glaciation and (or) during interstadial intervals. The boundary between the two regions (pi. 1) generally 

approximates the modern drainage divide, except that

a few low-gradient valleys that currently drain southward but have little surficial outwash and probably 

contain till layers have been included in the north rim 

region. Valley-fill stratigraphy changes only gradationally across the boundary. Depth to bedrock (valley-fill 

thickness) and percentage of fines seem to increase 

northward. White (1982) reported that the thickness of 

surficial till atop kames in Summit County, Ohio, 

increases northward. Till interlayered with finegrained lake deposits, which is typical of the north rim 

region, is reported in the large valleys on both sides of 

the present divide in western Crawford County, Pa. 

(Schiner and Gallaher, 1979, p. 8).

BROAD LOWLANDS INUNDATED BY 

LARGE WATER BODIES

The glaciated Northeast includes several broad lowlands that were inundated during deglaciation by 

unusually large lakes or marine embayments. Scattered hills within these lowlands protruded as islands 

above the proglacial water surfaces. Large, stable lakes 

formed in a few south-draining lowlands when drift 

plugged the preglacial outlets for runoff and thereby 

diverted meltwater across nearby bedrock saddles; 

these lakes expanded northward as the ice retreated, 

but remained approximately constant in depth because 

isostatic depression had temporarily eliminated or canceled the pre-glacial southward land-surface slope. 

These lakes were less than 200 feet deep, except where 

they spread across or into bedrock valleys. Large lakes 

also formed in lowlands along the northern border of 

Ohio, New York, and Vermont, where isostatic depression augmented the natural northward slope, resulting 

in lakes much deeper than 200 feet over large areas. 

Isostatic depression alone was sufficient to allow 

marine water to inundate coastal Maine and New 

Hampshire as sea level rose during deglaciation.

All these lowlands are characterized by widely distributed clay, silt, and very fine sand (fades 2). In some 

places, fine-grained sediments mantle the entire landscape, but more commonly they are restricted to the 

lower parts of the landscape and are thin, discontinuous, or absent on hills, even hills that were entirely 

inundated. This distribution could reflect deposition 

from underflows or interflows of sediment-laden water 

(Smith and Ashley, 1985), nondeposition in turbulent 

water above wave base, and (or) erosion as lake or 

marine levels eventually declined.

Coarse-grained ice-contact deposits (fades 1) underlie only a small fraction of the total lowland area. Commonl" they occur as linear, somewhat ridgelike 

features of variable width, the products of meltwater 

flow in subglacial channels. The channels were spaced
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B97

FEET

950 -,

900 -

850

800

B I

B1

v Poorly ^-~^

Ps^orted sand-L^^ f\ xand graver""--- 

Bedrock X I /

0 500 1,000 FEET

I 

0 250 METERS 

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL

0 500 1,000 FEET

I II

I I

0 250 METERS

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION XI0

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL

D

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X10 

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL

1,100 -

1,050

Silt and clay

 _____ Sand and gravel ^-.__

Till or very poorly J°2?

100 METERS

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X4 

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL

BLfSO1

80°15' 8000'

41°25'

41"20' -'

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

Cleveland NK17-81:250,000,1972

FIGURE 55. Geologic sections in valleys in the Western Appalachian Plateau, Mercer County, Pa. 

(Modified from Schiner and Kimmel, 1976, fig. 8.)
B98 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

a few miles apart, generally followed valleys or depressions, and were oriented subparallel to the direction of 

ice flow. Less common are linear accumulations of 

coarse stratified drift oriented perpendicular to the 

direction of ice flow along ice-margin positions, and 

semicontinuous sheets of sand a few feet thick beneath 

the facies-2 fines. Facies-1 deposits seem to be especially sparse in lowlands near the northern border of 

the glaciated Northeast that is, on the lake plain 

adjacent to lakes Erie and Ontario, and in the 

St. Lawrence and Champlain lowlands where largescale calving in lakes that ranged in depth from 200 to 

at least 400 feet could have led to rapid deglaciation. 

The sparse distribution of subsurface records in these 

lowlands might also partly explain the lack of evidence 

for buried coarse sand and gravel. Lowland localities 

where ice-contact deposits are sparse are not separately identified on plate 1, but are noted in the locality 

descriptions that follow.

Coarse-grained facies-3 surficial aquifers also are 

much less abundant than fine-grained sediment in the 

broad lowlands. On plate 1, the broad lowlands are 

divided into three map units that reflect the distribution of surficial aquifers, as follows:

1. Mountain-Front Perched Deltas. Areas where extensive inwash deltas were built by large upland 

streams into proglacial lakes that stood several hundred feet above the floor of the lowland; the deltas 

were subsequently incised by those streams and are 

now largely above stream grade.

2. Lowlands Characterized by Surficial Sand Plains. 

Lowlands in which facies-2 fines are commonly 

(but not universally) mantled by facies-3 surficial 

sand-plain aquifers that consist of extensive 

inwash deltas, outwash plains, and (or) reworked 

sand deposited by postglacial streams or nearshore currents. These lowlands were occupied by 

long-lived water bodies and are bordered by extensive uplands.

3. Lowlands Characterized by Surficial Fines. Lowlands in which the predominant surficial sediment, at least in the lower parts of the landscape, 

is lake-bottom or marine silt and clay, or 

postglacial swamp deposits or alluvium that grade 

down into silt or clay. Surficial facies-3 sand is 

absent, is of minor extent in former beaches or 

small deltas, or is thin and silty. These lowlands 

are bordered by narrow tributary uplands or are 

unusually broad, so only their margins received 

much coarse inwash from the tributary uplands.

Surficial sand-plain aquifers, although widespread 

in many parts of this region, are not highly productive. 

Commonly the sand is medium to very fine grained and 

becomes finer with depth. Most streams are incised 

through the sand into the underlying fines, and commonly near these streams less than 10 feet of the sand 

is saturated. Nevertheless, the sand-plain aquifers are 

widely tapped for domestic water supplies, and discharge from these aquifers is a persistent and important contribution to streamflow during periods of low 

flow.

Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of the groundwater hydrology of the broad lowlands is the slight 

potential for natural or induced recharge from streams. 

Within these broad lowlands, most streams flow across 

fine-grained facies-2 sediments, either on the floors of 

former lakes and marine embayments or incised 

through sand plains into the underlying fines. Icecontact fades-1 deposits are limited in area; many form 

or mantle positive topographic features that constitute 

local topographic divides, and others are buried 

beneath the fines. Therefore, they are rarely in hydraulic contact with major streams that could provide 

induced recharge. Many tributary streams from adjacent uplands cross kame terraces, deltas, or alluvial 

fans along the edges of the lowlands, just as in large 

valleys elsewhere in the glaciated Northeast. Such 

coarse-grained deposits along the sides of valleys or 

lowlands constitute windows or conduits through 

which infiltrating precipitation and seepage from the 

tributaries can migrate downward and thereby 

recharge any adjacent coarse fades-1 sediments that 

are buried beneath fine sediment (see figs. 29-38). This 

mechanism could supply recharge to buried aquifers 

only near the margins of the lowlands, however. The 

many scattered hills within the lowlands that stood 

above the proglacial water surface were too small to 

have contributed appreciable inwash during deglaciation, so few of the small modern streams that descend 

from these hills cross windows of coarse sediment that 

could be sites of seepage loss and recharge to buried 

aquifers.

Brief accounts of the deglacial history and distribution of depositional facies in individual broad lowlands 

follow. Some lowlands are entirely assigned to one of 

the three map units depicted on plate 1, whereas others 

contain two or three map units.

CONNECTICUT RIVER LOWLAND AND 

GLACIAL LAKE HITCHCOCK

Lake Hitchcock is geologically noteworthy as the 

longest and the longest lived proglacial lake in New 

England. It extended from Rocky Hill, the geographical 

center of Connecticut, to Burke, Vt., only 16 miles from
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B99

the Canadian border, and existed for nearly 4,000 years 

(Ridge and Larsen, 1990). A lowland characterized by 

surficial sand plains and bordering the Connecticut 

River (pi. 1) coincides with the former extent of Lake 

Hitchcock. The lake formed when deltas south of Rocky 

Hill (fig. 15) coalesced to block the Connecticut River 

valley. The deltas were not incised by subsequent runoff because a low saddle at New Britain, Conn., captured all overflow from the lake. The history of Lake 

Hitchcock is described by Stone and others (1982) and 

Koteff and others (1987). The presence of a stable lake 

level over a north-south distance of more than 

200 miles during deglaciation has provided a basis for 

calculating postglacial isostatic rebound, most recently 

by Koteff and Larsen (1989); see also Koteff and others 

(1987). Lake Hitchcock was bordered by large areas of 

tributary upland; therefore, inwash from tributary 

watersheds during and after deglaciation was a major 

source of sand and gravel, and postglacial tributary 

deltas eventually prograded across the lake in some 

localities. Water depth was generally less than 250 feet 

but exceeded 300 feet locally in southern New England 

(Cushman, 1964; Walker and Caswell, 1977; Hansen, 

1986; Koteff and others, 1987, fig. 4) and reached 

650 feet in the deepest parts of the much narrower valley in southern New Hampshire (compare base of drift 

computed from Moore and others, 1994, with lake level 

from Koteff and Larsen, 1989).

The deposits of Lake Hitchcock in Connecticut and 

Massachusetts have yielded evidence for an active, 

occasionally readvancing ice tongue during deglaciation, a condition perhaps facilitated by the width of the 

lake and by the low relief of the Mesozoic sedimentary 

bedrock that underlies central Connecticut and 

Massachusetts. Oscillations of the ice margin do not 

seem to have complicated aquifer geometry, however. 

Most exposures cited as evidence for readvance displayed an unconformity within deltaic or lake-bottom 

sediments. The unconformity is commonly marked by 

stones and by till lenses that contain lacustrine fragments, and beds below the unconformity are deformed 

and thrust-faulted, but grain size and depositional 

structure above and below the unconformity are generally similar (Larsen, 1982; Ashley and others, 1982, 

stops 3-4; Larsen and Hartshorn, 1982). Larsen and 

Hartshorn (1982, p. 123) attribute a large deltaoutwash plain in a tributary lake just west of Lake 

Hitchcock to deposition beyond the ice front following 

readvance, but they do not make any claim that a sediment package of different lithology resulted from the 

initial retreat through the same valley reach. Apparently, conditions controlling sediment delivery to the 

lake were largely independent of oscillations of the ice 

margin.

FACIES DISTRIBUTION IN CONNECTICUT 

AND MASSACHUSETTS

Lake Hitchcock averaged about 9 miles in width in 

central Connecticut and Massachusetts (Stone and 

others, 1979). The distribution of proximal ice-contact 

deposits, fine-grained lake-bottom deposits, and surficial 

sand deposits in this area is discussed below. The latter 

two facies are far more abundant in the broad lowland 

inundated by Lake Hitchcock than in the narrow valleys 

of the adjacent Eastern Hills and Valley Fills region.

Ice-Contact Deposits. Ice-contact stratified drift is 

abundant near the margins of the lowland underlain by 

Mesozoic bedrock in central Connecticut and 

Massachusetts, most of which is drained by the 

Connecticut River. Regional maps by Meade (1978) and 

Stone and others (1979) show this pattern consistently, 

as do numerous local studies (for example, Campbell, 

1975). Coarse-grained stratified drift was concentrated 

near the sides of the lowland because ice stagnated earlier there than in the middle of the lowland, as a result 

of higher bedrock altitudes and higher relief, and 

because much inwash followed tributary valleys toward 

the lowland. Some of the coarse stratified drift along the 

sides of the lowland was actually deposited in earlier, 

higher lakes and in tributary valleys beyond Lake 

Hitchcock. In particular, coarse sediment from the west 

was trapped in a valley parallel to the Connecticut River 

lowland but west of Talcott Mountain; therefore, only 

small areas of ice-contact deposits are found on the east 

side of Talcott Mountain within Lake Hitchcock.

Ice-contact deltas or kames have been identified in a 

few midvalley localities and seem to be associated with 

buried aquifers. For example:

1. Along the Connecticut River in the towns of Hadley 

and South Hadley, Mass., subsurface data suggest 

that buried sand and gravel deposits as much as 

120 feet thick link two prominent kame deltas 

7 miles apart (fig. 27).

2. Immediately south of the Farmington River in 

Windsor, Conn, (southwest corner of fig. 56), two 

ice-marginal deltas were built successively (Koteff 

and others, 1987) on shallow bedrock (Cushman, 

1964). Coarse-grained stratified drift is exposed, 

or penetrated by wells beneath fines (fig. 56), at 

several points 0 to 3 miles north of the younger ice 

margin (Ryder and others, 1981).

3. East of the Connecticut River near the ConnecticutMassachusetts border, gravel deltas that stand 

above the surrounding terrain were deposited in a 

northeast-trending arc (fig. 56) along the margin 

of an active ice tongue (Larsen and Hartshorn,
B100 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

EXPLANATION

t Till 

9, c Sand and gravel, or pebbly sand

s Sand 

f, I Fines (very fine sand, silt and clay)

Ice-marginal deltas or kame terraces

Younger deltas deposited by upland 

tributaries

Sand and gravel buried beneath fines 

Only surficial and (or) basal sand, no fines

Location of borehole that penetrated 

through fines into a basal sand and gravel 

aquifer (5 to 25 feet thick in Massachusetts)

FIGURE 56. Surficial geology and inferred distribution of buried facies-l sand and gravel in part of the Connecticut River lowland. 

(Modified from Stone and others, 1979, according to interpretations by Ryder and others, 1981; Koteff and others, 1987; and Stone and 

others, 1992.)
HYDRO-GEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B101

1982, fig. 6, p. 124). An apron of buried sand and 

gravel was inferred by Ryder and others (1981, 

pi. B) to surround the westernmost knoll, in 

northernmost Connecticut (fig. 56), and might 

extend north into Massachusetts where several 

nearby boreholes penetrated sand and gravel 

beneath fines (Walker and Caswell, 1977).

4. In some places east of the Connecticut River in 

northern Connecticut, clay deposited in Lake 

Hitchcock is underlain by water-yielding gravel 

whose presence has long been known (Cushman, 

1964) but poorly understood. Ryder and others 

(1981) and Stone and others (1992) depicted a 

nearly continuous north-south band of buried 

sand and gravel extending as much as 1 mile 

westward from the west edge of multiple deltas 

that border the lowland in Enfield and East 

Windsor (southeast one-third of fig. 56). According to Koteff and others (1987, p. 17), the earliest, 

easternmost deltas were ice marginal, but most of 

the deltaic complex consists of younger deltas

(fig. 56) built westward into Lake Hitchcock by 

tributaries before and after ice disappeared from 

their watersheds. If so, any buried sand and 

gravel along the western margin of the younger 

deltas cannot be the collapsed head of the 

younger deltas; instead, it might have beisn 

deposited along several channels that fed the earlier deltas or might constitute a continuous band 

(as inferred by Ryder, 1981) deposited at the 

mouth of a single, persistent north-south channel 

as the ice margin retreated.

Although basal fades-1 aquifers underlie the clays of 

Lake Hitchcock in some places, as shown by the 

foregoing examples, more commonly they are absent or 

thin and discontinuous, as demonstrated by test borings (Cushman, 1964, pi. 3; Deane, 1967; Campbell, 

1975, p. 74; Hansen, 1986) and illustrated by geologic 

sections (figs. 57, 58). Cederstrom and Hodges (1967), 

Meade (1978), and Ryder and others (1981) recognized 

only small areas within Lake Hitchcock where coarsegrained stratified drift is predominant or constitutes a

I 

!g

on on

WEST

500 ~ 

400 - 

300 - 

200 

100

SEA LEVEL -| 

100

<j

hu

1

0

0

X

<

Dashed line represents $

elevation of Lake Hitchcock <

378 FEET

D.

S

X

gz

EAST

Qkt

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 FEET

Qs

Qal

Qst

Qrt

I I I 

0 300 600 900 METERS

EXPLANATION

Windblown sand

Swamp deposits

Alluvium

Terrace alluvium of tributary

Terrace alluvium of Connecticut River

Delta Deposited into Lake Hitchcock by tributary 

when ice was still present along valley axis

Lake-bottom fine sand, silt, and clay

Kame-terrace deposits

Till

Surficial aquifers, Facies 3

} Facies 2 

r Facies 1

FIGURE 57. Generalized section across the Connecticut River valley. Line of section nearly coincides with northern border 

of Massachusetts. (Modified from Campbell and Hartshorn, 1980.)
B102 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

basal aquifer beneath fine-grained sediment. Walker 

and Caswell (1977), on the other hand, stated that 

"a basal layer of sand and gravel occurs widely but not 

everywhere" beneath Lake Hitchcock sediments in 

Massachusetts; their maps show 114 sites where boreholes penetrated a buried aquifer but indicate thickness to be generally less than 16 feet and do not show 

sites where no buried aquifer was penetrated.

Lake-Bottom Deposits. The extensive bottom 

deposits of Lake Hitchcock have been studied in detail 

by Antevs (1922), Ashley (1972), and Ridge and Larsen 

(1990). They range in grain size from silty fine sand to 

rhythmic silt and clay. In most places, grain size 

decreases upward because the upper sediment layers 

were deposited farther from the northward-retreating 

ice margin where most sediment entered the lake

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X20

EXPLANATION 

Alluvium 

Terrace alluvium 

Lacustrine sand 

Varved clay

gray

red

72°37'30"

Till, upper Silty, clayey

Till, lower Sandy, stoney

 *?

Bedrock

 - Geologic contact Dashed 

where assumed

EAST 

HARTFORD

HARTFORD

Base from U.S. Geological Survey, 

1965 revised 1975

 Transitional zone between 

gray and red varved clays

 A' Line of geologic section

Drillhole, log from Connecticut 

State Highway Department

FIGURE 58. Geologic section across the Connecticut River valley along State Highway 3 in Wethersfield and Glastonbury, Conn.

(From Deane, 1967.)

] 2 4

1

1 

] 2

1 

4 KILOMETERS

4 MILES
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS BIOS

(Hansen, 1986), but in the extensive tributary deltas, 

grain size increases upward. In Connecticut and 

Massachusetts, the deep deposits are red because they 

were derived from subglacial meltwater that contained 

abundant fragments of Mesozoic red sandstone and 

shale that underlie the Connecticut River lowland; the 

younger layers are gray because sediment from 

tributaries that drain highlands of crystalline bedrock 

to the east and west came to predominate as the ice 

margin retreated (fig. 58).

Surficial Aquifers. Throughout the existence of 

Lake Hitchcock, tributaries built deltas into the lake. 

Sediment volumes were greatest at first, when decaying ice in the tributary watersheds and areas to the 

north that temporarily drained into those watersheds 

generated abundant meltwater, and streams were rapidly regrading their till-choked upland valleys. At the 

distal margins of these deltas, fine-sand foresets flatten 

and grade into the coarse "summer" layers of lake-bottom varves, as shown in many exposures (Webb, 1957, 

mile 54.6; Ashley and others, 1982, stops 3 and 5; 

Koteff and others, 1987, stop 9; McElroy, 1987). When 

Lake Hitchcock drained, redistribution of sediment 

was again rapid as the deltas, as well as the upland valleys, were incised; streams built fans and flood plains 

across the former lake floor and built deltas into small, 

shallow lakes that remained in depressions on the lake 

floor. Continued incision has lowered present channels 

to well below the initial post-lake flood plain.

One result of all this sediment redistribution and 

incision is widespread surficial sand-plain aquifers. 

They consist chiefly of very fine to medium sand and 

generally are perched above stream grade; that is, most 

streams are incised below the level at which sand rests 

upon or grades into the underlying clay-silt rhythmites, 

as clearly shown on maps of surficial sediments in central Connecticut (Stone and others, 1979) and in South 

Hadley, Mass. (Saines, 1973). Although the surficial 

sand is only thinly saturated near the incised streams, 

elsewhere it is capable of supplying 5 to 50 gallons per 

minute to individual springs, dug wells, or driven well 

points. Cushman (1964) and Ryder and others (1981) 

indicated that yields of 100 to 400 gallons per minute are 

possible at a few locations. Ryder and others (1981, pi. B) 

mapped most of the former lake area as a surficial sand 

aquifer overlying clay to very fine sand. They recognized 

two categories of saturated thickness of the surficial 

sand: 0 to 15 feet, and 15 to 80 feet. An excavation within 

the thinner category (Ashley and others, 1982, stop 2) 

cut through 5 to 10 feet of tabular cross-bedded layers of 

fine to very fine sand into varved clay; springs issued 

from the lower part of the sand. Other studies have 

reported surficial sand thicknesses of 0 to 50 feet 

(Antevs, 1922) and 30 feet (Hansen, 1986) atop clay.

FACIES DISTRIBUTION IN VERMONT 

AND NEW HAMPSHIRE

In Vermont and New Hampshire, Lake Hitchcock was 

much narrower than in southern New England (Ridge 

and Larsen, 1990, fig. 11), relief bordering the lake was 

greater (Denny, 1982), the rate of ice retreat was probably 

more rapid (Schafer, 1979), and the ice margin was apparently characterized by extensive stagnation rather than 

by active ice (Stewart and MacClintock, 1969; Larsen, 

1982; Larsen and Koteff, 1988). Large volumes of water 

flowed south through subglacial tunnels near the valley 

axis, depositing esker segments of varying lengths that 

commonly constitute productive aquifers, although they 

underlie only part of the valley width and are locally discontinuous or perched on bedrock above the water table. 

Eskers are well documented in the following localities:

1. At least 10 successive ice-contact, apparently eskerfed deltas lie near the Connecticut River between 

the Massachusetts State line and Putney, Vt. 

(Larsen and Koteff, 1988, p. 110). Several exposures revealed a ridgelike gravel core mantled by 

deltaic and (or) collapsed sand and, near the top, 

lake-bottom very fine sand or silt.

2. Many esker segments, some continuous for several 

miles, are present along the Connecticut River valley over at least 18 miles from Lyme, N.H., to 

Hartland or Windsor, Vt. (Lougee, 1939; Stewart 

and MacClintock, 1969, p. 91; Larsen, 1987a). 

Hodges and others (1976b) demonstrated that these 

features constitute highly productive aquifers.

3. An esker follows the lower reaches of the White 

River valley, a tributary to the Connecticut River 

valley that also was occupied by Lake Hitchcock 

(Larsen, 1987a). Where best exposed between 

Sharon and South Royalton, Vt. (Larsen, 1987a, 

stop 5), the esker is largely above the water table, 

as indicated by bedrock exposures in the river 

channel, but Hodges (1968c) depicted a continuous productive aquifer along the White River valley for several miles downstream from this point.

4. The Passumpsic River valley, another tributary that 

was inundated by Lake Hitchcock, contains an 

esker that extends for 24 miles from East 

Haven, Vt., nearly to the Connecticut River. 

Stewart and MacClintock (1969, p. 93) note that 

near St. Johnsbury, Vt., the esker is massive but 

nearly buried by lake sediment.

All along the Connecticut River valley and tributaries 

formerly occupied by Lake Hitchcock, eskers and related 

ice-contact deposits are continuously overlapped or 

buried by lake-bottom varved silt and clay (Antevs, 

1922; Lougee, 1939, p. 137; Larsen, 1987a, stop 5 and
B104 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

mile 66.6; Larsen and Koteff, 1988, stop 5A) and by fine 

sand to silt that could represent both tributary deltas 

and fining-upward sequences deposited by retreating 

subglacial drainage. The proximal coarse ice-contact 

deposits underlie only a fraction of the valley floor; elsewhere fine-grained lake deposits rest directly on till or 

bedrock (Antevs, 1922; Stewart and MacClintock, 1969, 

p. 102; Hodges and others, 1976b). Stewart and 

MacClintock (1970) mapped extensive lake-bottom silt 

and clay. Exposures along the White River valley 

(F.D. Larsen, Norwich University, written commun., 

1985) indicate that the entire valley was filled with fine 

to very fine sand rhythmically alternating with thin 

layers of silt or clay. Sand was deposited widely as deltas 

into Lake Hitchcock and as river terraces after the lake 

was drained (Larsen and Koteff, 1988, p. 114), especially 

south of White River Junction (Stewart and 

MacClintock, 1970), but many of these surficial sand 

deposits are narrow, deeply incised, and overlie very fine 

sand or silt that transmits water downward; therefore, 

they drain readily and are not dependable aquifers.

WALLKILL LOWLAND

A broad lowland underlain chiefly by shale, siltstone, 

and carbonate bedrock lies west of the Hudson River in 

Ulster and Orange Counties, N.Y., and Sussex County, 

N.J. It is drained primarily by the northeastwardflowing Wallkill River and was extensively inundated by 

lakes ponded in front of the retreating Wisconsinan ice 

sheet, as represented by the "L" symbol on plate 1. Early 

in deglaciation, the ponded water drained southward to 

the Delaware River across saddles 520 to 500 feet in altitude near Augusta, N.J. (Connally and others, 1989; 

Stanford and others, 1998). Later, lake level dropped as 

meltwater escaped eastward to the Hudson River across 

a succession of progressively lower saddles. The stratified deposits in this lowland have been variously interpreted as deposited amid stagnant ice or in front of 

active ice (Dineen, 1986a). Diamicton layers capping or 

interbedded with coarse-grained stratified drift provide 

evidence of locally active ice at Augusta, N.J. 

(R.W Witte, New Jersey Geological Survey, oral commun., 1989), Pellets Island, N.Y. (Connally and others, 

1989, stop 3) and nearby areas (Bugliosi and others, 

1998), and Rosendale, N.Y. (Waines, 1979). Modern 

streams generally flow along wide drift-filled valleys 

that parallel the north-northeast strike of the bedrock, 

but locally cut across ridges in narrow valley reaches.

Ice-Contact Deposits (Fades 1). Early-deglacial icecontact deposits, whose hummocky topography suggests 

collapse, are scattered across the Wallkill lowland. Some 

lie within bedrock valleys, bordered and overlapped by 

younger lake-bottom sediments (figs. 59, 60), but 

because lake levels were higher than many bedrock

ridges, some ice-contact deposits are draped over or 

banked against ridges above modern stream grade and 

are largely above the water table (Frimpter, 1972, pi. 2). 

Frimpter (1972) and Stanford and others (1998) inferred 

that the ice-contact deposits exposed discontinuously 

along several valleys are linked by continuous basal 

gravel aquifers buried beneath fines. For example, as 

explained earlier in the section titled "Meltwater 

Channels in Lowlands," exposed and buried ice-contact 

sand and gravel are apparently continuous for at least 

19 miles along the west side of the Wallkill valley from 

New Hampton, N.Y. (fig. 60S), south to Hamburg, N.J.; 

this suggests a persistent subglacial meltwater channel. 

Buried ice-contact deposits seem less abundant in the 

part of the Wallkill lowland north of New Hampton 

(Frimpter, 1972, pi. 2). The Wallkill lowland is bordered 

on the northeast by the Hudson River trench, on the 

southeast by the Hudson highlands, which drain largely 

east or south, and on the west by a narrow ridge, 

Shawangunk Mountain; therefore, inwash was slight 

and no concentration of ice-contact deposits is found 

along the lowland margins.

Surficial Aquifers (Fades 3). Silt and clay are widespread in the valleys of the Wallkill lowland, at land surface or mantled by Holocene peat and muck (Frimpter, 

1972; Cadwell, 1989). In only a few localities are they 

overlain by significant thicknesses of coarse-grained sediment. Three deltas or delta segments are recognized in 

the lowest reach of Rondout Creek valley, near and north 

of Rosendale (Frimpter, 1972; Waines, 1979; Cadwell, 

1989). The largest of these, at Tillson, blocked the ancestral Wallkill valley and diverted the Wallkill River 

through a postglacial gorge; it constitutes a significant 

sand-plain aquifer (Frimpter, 1972). Exposures and well 

records indicate that the surficial sand that caps all three 

deltas is everywhere underlain by silt and clay; little evidence has been reported of a morphosequence head or ice 

margin where coarse sediment extends from land surface 

to bedrock. For this reason, and because surficial diamicton has been observed locally, these deltas have been 

interpreted as the product of glacial readvance into an 

established (or reestablished) proglacial lake (Waines, 

1979; Dineen, 1986a). Surficial deltaic or lake-bottom 

sand also caps lacustrine silt and clay in the middle 

Rondout Creek valley between Wawarsing and High 

Falls; it is the product of abundant meltwater from ice 

near Ashokan Reservoir pouring south through a variety 

of channels into a lake in Rondout Creek valley (Dineen, 

1986a). The surficial sand is thin and fine grained, however, and was not mapped or mentioned by Frimpter 

(1972); it is, at best, a minor sand-plain aquifer. The only 

other extensive surficial aquifers in the Wallkill lowland 

are the several feet of alluvial gravel that underlie the 

flood plains of the large streams.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B105

WEST EAST

NOT TO SCALE

A. Schematic geologic section across Rutgers Creek Valley near Westtown, N.Y.

SOUTH

_Sand and gravel

-^ ,.

Shale and siltstone

NOT TO SCALE

B. Schematic geologic section at Baird's Crossroad near Chester, N.Y.

NORTH

WEST

Recharge

EAST

NOT TO SCALE 

C. Idealized view of hydrogeologic conditions in the Wallkill lowland

.

EXPLANATION

Fine-grained lake deposits Fades 2

Sand and gravel Fades 1

Organic soil or peat

Till

Bedrock

FIGURE 59. Typical relations of facies-1 aquifers and facies-2 fines in the Wallkill 

lowland, New York. (From Frimpter, 1972, figs. 18, 22, 23.)
B106 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

A

FEET

1,100 -, 

1,000 -

900-

800-

700-

600

500-

400-T

300

200

100

SEA " ------ -- --.-----

LEVEL VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X5

S83°EA. Near Sussex, N.J. (From Stanford and others, 1998)

LEVEL VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X10 2 MILES

2 KILOMETERS

B. Along the west side of the Wallkill valley near New Hampton and Pellets 

Island, N.Y. (Modified from Bugliosi and others, 1998)

EXPLANATION

Till

Sand, gravel as deltas 

or subaquatic 

fans (facies 1)

Clay, silt, and fine sand

Bedrock

Borehole

- - Geologic contact Dashed 

where uncertain

 A' Line of geologic section

FIGURE 60. Geologic sections near the Wallkill River in New Jersey and New York.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B107

Distribution of Coarse Fades Relative to 

Streams. The Wallkill lowland offers few opportunities 

to obtain large ground-water withdrawals sustained by 

induced infiltration. The major streams (Wallkill River, 

lower Rondout Creek, lower Esopus Creek) and some tributaries flow chiefly across fine-grained lake deposits; in 

only a few places do they intersect ice-contact deposits 

(Frimpter, 1972; Cadwell, 1989). The alluvial deposits 

beneath flood plains and tributary fans include permeable gravel but are ordinarily so thin that large yields are 

obtainable only from wells of uncommonly large effective 

diameter or infiltration galleries. Some tributary valleys 

(including Wawayanda and Rutgers Creeks and upper 

Shawangunk Kill, also Tin Brook east of Walden) contain 

abundant kames or outwash deposits, but contact 

between these tributaries and the streams is likely only 

in headwater reaches where streamflow is too small to 

provide much induced infiltration.

The ice-contact deposits that are exposed locally 

along the sides of several reaches of major valleys are 

inferred to constitute productive aquifers and sources of 

recharge to adjacent buried sand and gravel (figs. 59, 

60). The description of partly buried aquifer systems 

along some margins of the upper Wallkill and Black 

Meadows valleys by Frimpter (1972, p. 39-43) suggests 

that large seasonal water supplies could be obtained 

during periods of low flow without significantly depleting streamflow (fig. 59).

HUDSON RIVER LOWLAND AND 

GLACIAL LAKE ALBANY

Bedrock beneath the Hudson River is at least 200 feet 

below sea level everywhere south of Ulster County, N.Y., 

and more than 700 feet below sea level in some places 

(Berkey and Rice, 1921; Perlmutter, 1959; Worzel and 

Drake, 1959; Newman and others, 1969; Soren, 1988). 

Nevertheless, the Hudson valley was apparently filled at 

New York City by the Wisconsinan terminal moraine. 

The lake ponded behind this drift dam has been called 

Lake Hudson south of Orange and Putnam Counties 

and Lake Albany farther north (Connally and Sirkin, 

1986; Stanford and Harper, 1991). This lake expanded 

northward during deglaciation and eventually extended 

nearly to the Canadian border (Stewart and 

MacClintock, 1969; Denny, 1974; DeSimone and 

LaFleur, 1986), although its existence within the 

Champlain lowland north of Washington County, N.Y. 

(pi. 1) was brief and limited to narrow ice-marginal lakes 

along the edges of the Adirondack and Green 

Mountains. The level of Lake Albany seems to have 

remained stable for several thousand years, which is 

most easily explained if the lake spilled across bedrock 

rather than across the drift dam; spillways at Sparkill,

N.Y (Dineen, 1986b), and at Hell Gate in New York City 

(Stanford and Harper, 1991) have been proposed. After 

the ice margin had retreated north of Albany, N.Y, however, lake level apparently began to decline gradually 

and also declined in several abrupt steps that have been 

attributed to erosion of the drift dam by catastrophic discharges when the proglacial Great Lakes were diverted 

into the Hudson River valley (Hanson, 1977; LaFleur, 

1979a; DeSimone and LaFleur, 1985, 1986).

South of Kingston, N.Y. (in Ulster County, pi. 1), Lake 

Albany was narrow, barely wider than the modern 

Hudson River estuary. Coarse-sandy ice-contact deltas 

can be seen in a few places along the sides of the estuary 

(Connally and Sirkin, 1986). Several of these are 

perched on bedrock well above river level (Secor and 

others, 1955). Subglacial meltwater was probably concentrated along the bedrock trench; basal gravel deposits are reported in geologic sections at every bridge and 

aqueduct crossing north of New York City (Newman and 

others, 1969), although their water-yielding properties 

have not been tested. Once the moraine that dammed 

Lake Albany was breached, the Hudson River incised its 

valley to the prevailing subnormal sea level. Subsequently, as sea level rose, more than 100 feet of organicrich silt was deposited all along the estuary south of 

Kingston (Newman and others, 1969).

North of Kingston, low relief and isostatic depression 

allowed Lake Albany to inundate an area far wider than 

the modern estuary. All subsequent discussion of the 

Hudson lowland refers only to the reach north of 

Kingston where deposits in Lake Albany are areally 

extensive. In this reach, the ice retreated mainly 

through progressive stagnation (Dineen, 1986a), and 

detached ice blocks were preserved for long periods 

(Dineen and Rogers, 1979; LaFleur, 1979; Dineen, 

1986a, p. 107; DeSimone and LaFleur, 1986). Maximum 

lake depth was as great as 300 feet in bedrock valleys 

but much less elsewhere. Several local ice readvances or 

surges have been inferred (Connally and Sirkin, 1971; 

Dineen and Hanson, 1983; DeSimone, 1985; Dineen, 

1986a), but stratigraphic evidence is sparse, and some 

readvances have been disputed (DeSimone and LaFleur, 

1986). The stratigraphy north of Kingston has been 

summarized by DeSimone and LaFleur (1986, p. 219) as 

follows: "A basal facies of interbedded gravel and sand 

with turbidites and minor silty diamicton (flowtill) 

grades and fines upward to clay and silt rhythmites of 

the middle facies. These rhythmites in turn grade and 

coarsen up to the upper facies of silt or, more commonly, 

sand deposited in a shoaling lake." The upper and lower 

facies contain aquifers and are described in greater 

detail below. Examples of stratigraphic relationships are 

presented in figure 61.
BIOS REGIONAL AQUIFEE-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NOETHEASTEEN UNITED STATES

WEST 

A

EAST 

A1

r State Highway 32

UPPER TERRACE

LOWER TERRACE

Water table"

FEET

325

300

275

250

225

200

175

150

125

0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 5,000 5,500 6,000 6,500 7,000 7,500 8,000 8,500

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X10 DISTANCE IN FEET

A. Saratoga National Historical Park, Stillwater, N.Y. (From Heath and others, 1963, fig. HI-6) 

SOUTH

7 __?__ 

Subaquatic fan?_ 7, «. 

"""'

0 500 1,000 1.500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 5,000 5500 6,000 6,500 7,000 7,500 8,000 8,500 9,000 9,500 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X10 DISTANCE, IN FEET

B. Saratoga National Historical Park, Stillwater, N.Y. (From Heath and others, 1963, fig. HI-6)

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X10

DISTANCE, IN FEET

C. Across west end of kame delta in Halfmoon, N.Y.

FIGURE 61. Geologic sections representative of glacial-lake deposits in the Hudson River lowland near and north of Albany, N.Y.

Locations of sections C-E shown in figure 62.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B109

WEST

D

FEET

400

300

200

2,000 4,000 6,000 

DISTANCE, IN FEET

8,000 Former meltwater channel

EAST 

D1

10,000 12,000 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X10

14,000 16,000 20,000 22,000 24,000

DISTANCE, IN FEET

D. Colonie, N.Y., just north of Albany. (Modified from Dineen and Hanson, 1983, pi. 4) 

WEST

26,000 28,000

EAST 

E'

0 2,000 4,000 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X20

6,000 8,000

0

10,000 

1/2

12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000

I MILE

0 .5 1 KILOMETER

E. Pine Bush area in western part of Albany, N.Y. (From Dineen, 1982, fig. 4)

EXPLANATION

Windblown sand 

Lake sand 

' - , Beach gravel

Gravelly lake sand

- -?=1 Lake silt and sand

 j^^^j

j^^f Lake clay and silt

l" Deltaic fine sand

Ice-contact sand and gravel

Till

Bedrock 

| Drillhole 

 A1 Line of geologic section

FIGURE 61. Geologic sections representative of glacial-lake deposits in the Hudson River lowland near and north of Albany, N.Y.

Locations of sections C E shown in figure 62 Continued.
B110 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

BASAL OR PROXIMAL ICE-CONTACT DEPOSITS 

(FACIES 1)

Ice-contact deposits vary widely in thickness from 

place to place. The thicker deposits include kame deltas, kame terraces, and ice-channel fillings that generally stand slightly higher than surrounding deposits 

(fig. 61C, D} and subaquatic fans that are buried by 

fines (fig. 6LB; Dineen, 1986a, p. 98, p. 102; DeSimone 

and LaFleur, 1986). More commonly, lake fines are 

underlain by only a thin blanket of coarse stratified 

drift draped over preexisting topography (Dineen and 

Rogers, 1979, p. 93), and in many localities, this facies 

is absent (fig. 61A-E) or too thin and silty to yield 

water. The thickest ice contact deposits tend to be preferentially located along ice margins, meltwater channels, or (less likely) bedrock valleys, as discussed below.

Bedrock Valleys. The bedrock surface in the 

Hudson lowland in Albany and Saratoga Counties is 

incised by several valleys whose configurations have 

been revealed by borehole and seismic records 

(Simpson, 1949; Stearns and Wheler, 1968; Dineen and 

Hanson, 1983). Such valleys are often surmised to be 

promising sites for exploration for large water supplies 

(Simpson, 1949, p. 719; Giese and Hobba, 1970, p. 44), 

and any thick and permeable ice-contact deposits that 

are found within bedrock valleys do have potential for 

large yields because available drawdown is greater 

than elsewhere. Nevertheless, test drilling and compilation of subsurface records by Stearns and Wheler 

(1968) and Dineen and Hanson (1983) have shown that 

the distribution of ice-contact deposits within the 

Hudson lowland does not necessarily coincide with bedrock valleys; many valley reaches contain fines but no 

coarse basal aquifer.

Ice Margins. Several successive positions of the 

margin of the retreating ice sheet during deglaciation 

of the Hudson lowland have been outlined by LaFleur 

(1979a), DeSimone and LaFleur (1985, 1986), and 

Dineen (1986a). These ice-margin outlines were drawn 

so as to link the proximal ends of recognized ice-contact 

deposits or morphosequences and were inferred to represent positions at which the retreat of the ice front 

slowed or halted temporarily. The proximal ends of the 

individual deposits are known or assumed to be coarse 

grained and permeable. None of the papers cited, however, claimed or presented evidence that subaquatic 

fans, deltas, or other coarse-grained sediments were 

deposited contiguously in significant thickness all 

along the inferred ice margin.

Meltwater Channels. LaFleur (1979a) depicted the 

locations of meltwater drainage lines as well as ice 

margins and ice-contact deposits in part of the Hudson 

lowland near Albany. Dineen and Hanson (1983)

recompiled and extended LaFleur's interpretations; a 

simplified version of their map is presented as 

figure 62. Although a few ice-contact deposits seem 

randomly distributed, most fall in one of three spatially 

distinct groups:

1. Many ice-contact deposits are near the southwest 

margin of the lowland in Albany County (fig. 62). 

They were deposited chiefly by water draining 

southeastward from the Mohawk River valley 

(LaFleur, 1979a, fig. 2; Dineen and Hanson, 1983, 

p. 18).

2. A set of three kame deltas, aligned northwesterly 

from the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson 

Rivers (fig. 62), spans a distance of 11 miles. The 

alignment suggests deposition along a single subglacial meltwater channel near successive positions of the ice margin.

3. A much longer set of aligned ice-contact deposits 

extends from the Rensselaer-Columbia County 

line, 5 miles east of the Hudson River, northwestward some 33 miles (fig. 62). North of the Mohawk 

River, these deposits follow a prominent bedrock 

valley; south of the Mohawk, they cross a low 

ridge and another bedrock valley, and farther 

south form a kame terrace along the east side of 

Lake Albany. Dineen and Hanson (1983, pi. 2) contoured the total thickness of ice-contact deposits 

in southern Saratoga and northern Albany 

Counties; the contours depict a zone 6,000 to 

12,000 feet wide in which the aligned ice-contact 

deposits are generally 25 to 150 feet thick but 

locally absent; west of this zone, basal coarse 

deposits are absent or less than 25 feet thick. 

Reynolds (1985, pi. 4) contoured saturated thickness of the same deposits in the same area of 

Saratoga County; the two maps differ in detail 

partly because different sets of subsurface records 

were used. Both maps suggest, however, that the 

bulk of the buried ice-contact deposits is in the 

form of knolls spaced several thousand feet apart, 

connected at least by a thin sheet of silty sand or 

gravel and perhaps also by nearly continuous buried ridges no more than a few thousand feet wide.

DeSimone and LaFleur (1986) mention two subaquatic fans (exposed but mantled by lake clay) and an 

esker-fed delta in Argyle valley east of the Hudson 

River several miles north of the area shown in 

figure 62. These features are only 1 or 2 miles apart 

and suggest the presence of persistent subglacial meltwater flow along that valley.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS Bill

43°00'

74°00' 73°45' 73°30'

42°45' - __

42°30' -

/ ^/Washington Co 

Rensselaer Co

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

Albany 1°X2° quadrangle, 1974,1:250,000

Kame delta

Thin basal gravel layer 

j Bedrock valley

EXPLANATION

A' Line of geologic section A Inferred ice margin (A is oldest)

Esker 500 Modern land surface 500

feet above sea level

FIGURE 62. Distribution of ice-contact sand and gravel (facies 1) in relation to bedrock valleys and ice margins 

in the Hudson River lowland near Albany, N.Y. (Modified from Dineen and Hanson, 1983, fig. 6.)
B112 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

SURFICIAL SAND-PLAIN AQUIFERS 

(FACIES 3)

The silt and clay laid down in glacial Lake Albany 

are capped in many places by surficial sand that generally constitutes a shallow aquifer. Most of the sand was 

originally deposited in extensive inwash deltas fed by 

major tributaries. Lake currents, generated by 

meltwater flux, transported sand away from some deltas across the lake floor (DeSimone and LaFleur, 1986, 

p. 220). As the stage of Lake Albany declined in 

response to spillway erosion and perhaps isostatic 

rebound, streams and waves incised the earlier deltas 

and redistributed the sand widely across the shoaling 

lake. The surface of deltas exposed by declining lake 

level was reworked into dunes by prevailing winds, and 

some of the windblown sand was redeposited in the 

remaining lake as areas of especially well-sorted sand 

(Dineen and Rogers, 1979; Dineen and Hanson, 1983). 

This surficial lake-deposited sand layer of varied origin 

extends to depths as great as 100 feet in Schenectady 

and northwest of Glens Falls (Simpson, 1952, p. 32; 

Stearns and Wheler, 1968; Giese and Hobba, 1970) but 

is commonly about 60 feet thick near Albany, where it 

contains scattered clay lenses (Dineen, 1982), and averages about 25 feet thick in southern Saratoga County 

(Giese and Hobba, 1970). Where the tributaries entering Lake Albany were small or northward-draining, 

surficial sand deposits are localized or absent; this condition is typical of areas south of Catskill and northeast 

of Glens Falls (pi. 1).

Modern streams are generally incised through the 

surficial sand into the underlying clay or silt, except for 

headwater reaches of small streams (Heath and others, 

1963; Snavely, 1983). The sand is typically very fine to 

medium grained and becomes finer with depth. Depth 

to water is commonly 10 to 15 feet (Heath and others, 

1963; Snavely, 1983), and saturated thickness can be 

substantial. Large-yield wells are uncommon, but a 

great many domestic wells tap these sand-plain 

aquifers.

SCHENECTADY AQUIFER

Highly permeable sand and gravel deposits along 

the Mohawk River immediately west of Schenectady, 

N.Y., constitute one of the most productive aquifers in 

the glaciated Northeast. Transmissivity locally exceeds 

1 million feet squared per day near the Schenectady 

well field (Winslow and others, 1965, p. 56). The 

Mohawk valley is slightly less than 1 mile wide in 

western Schenectady County and generally contains 

50 to 100 feet of gravel, sandy gravel, or coarse sand 

beneath the valley floor; some of the gravel is in

sand-free openwork layers. Where the Mohawk valley 

joins the Hudson lowland at Schenectady, the flood 

plain widens and is incised more than 100 feet below a 

broad sand plain typical of Lake Albany. Coarse sand 

and gravel beneath the flood plain grades downward 

and laterally into sand (Winslow and others, 1965, 

pi. 3) and grades southeastward rather abruptly into 

very fine sand and silt (fig. 63) that continues beneath 

the surrounding sand plain. The location and stratigraphy led Winslow and others (1965, p. 24, p. 36) to interpret the coarse sand and gravel as the headward part 

of a delta built into Lake Albany.

LaFleur (1979a) and Wall (1995) describe a more 

complex depositional history. Some coarse-grained 

inwash was deposited amid the last decaying ice in the 

Mohawk valley west of Schenectady. Runoff from the 

deglaciated Mohawk watershed later filled the 

Mohawk valley west of Schenectady and the Hudson 

lowland east of Schenectady with fine-grained 

sediment and deltaic sand graded to Lake Albany. 

Thereafter, channel incision in response to declining 

lake levels was intensified when runoff from the entire 

Great Lakes watershed was diverted down the 

Mohawk valley for several hundred years. Annual 

maximum discharges probably exceeded 1.5 million 

cubic feet per second (Wall, 1995); more than 40 feet of 

cobble gravel was deposited in western Schenectady 

County (LaFleur, 1979a), some of which is preserved 

beneath terraces that border the flood plain (Cadwell 

and Dineen, 1987); a huge expansion bar or delta of 

gravel and coarse sand occupies much of the valley at 

Scotia (Wall, 1995).

The distribution of the coarse sand and gravel that 

constitutes the Schenectady aquifer suggests that most 

of the aquifer is not a product of the late-deglacial torrents, but rather was deposited during ice-contact and 

deltaic phases that are typical of the margins of lakefilled lowlands near large tributaries. That is, the aquifer extends to depths of 50 to 100 feet below the modern 

Mohawk River, much deeper than the late-deglacial 

torrents could erode at a site upstream (Wall, 1995, 

p. 76). The flood plain and fluvial terraces that postdate 

Lake Albany overlie aquifer materials near the edge of 

the Hudson lowland, but overlie lacustrine fines in 

Schenectady (fig. 63) and apparently downstream 

(Winslow and others, 1965, pi. 1), which also suggests 

that when the late-deglacial torrents incised the Lake 

Albany sand plain, they did not erode and rework older 

sediments to depths appreciably below the modern 

river channel.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B113

A

A'

Mohawk River valley

1

s

1(0 

JH

1 £

1(0

s

1

1(0

1

£

1

(0

k.

£

>v"

Hudson lowland

Level of proglacial 

Lake Albany

FIGURE 63. Geologic section along the Mohawk River in Schenectady County west of Schenectady, N.Y. 

(Modified from Winslow and others, 1965, fig. 8, and Brown and others, 1981, sheet 3.)

ERIE AND ONTARIO LOWLANDS

Directly south of Lakes Erie and Ontario is an area 

of generally low relief that is underlain chiefly by shale 

and carbonate bedrock. Nearly all of this area was

inundated at one time or another during deglaciation 

by broad proglacial lakes ponded between the 

Appalachian Plateau and the retreating ice sheet, as 

indicated by map symbol "L" on plate 1.
B114 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

LAKE HISTORY AND EXTENT

A complex succession of proglacial lakes bordered 

the ice sheet in the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario basins; 

the level of ponding changed often as lake outlets to 

the east and west were blocked or unblocked by the 

fluctuating ice margin, or as isostatic rebound changed 

the relative altitude of alternative outlets. Many studies have contributed to the syntheses of lake history 

presented by Calkin (1970), Fullerton (1980), Muller 

and Prest (1985), Calkin and Feenstra (1985), and 

Muller and others (1988). A succession of westwarddraining lakes (Lakes Whittlesey and Warren, among 

others) inundated the area west of Batavia, N.Y., below 

altitudes of at least 850 feet in New York and 765 feet 

in Ohio; the successive shorelines are now generally 

marked by sandy beach ridges (see fig. 67). Several 

short-lived local lakes drained east and west across 

spurs between the major valleys along the margin of 

the Appalachian Plateau from Batavia east to 

Syracuse, N.Y., carving or reoccupying spectacular 

channels in many places (Wilson, 1981; Muller and 

others, 1988). The final stage was Lake Iroquois, which 

drained east to the Mohawk River valley and inundated much of the lowland south of Lake Ontario; its 

former shoreline now rises in altitude from 360 feet 

near Niagara Falls to 435 feet near Rochester, 490 feet 

near Oneida Lake, 550 feet near Oswego, and more 

than 700 feet near Watertown (Calkin, Muller, and 

Drexhage, 1982; Miller, 1982; Kappel and Young, 

1989).

Till and lake-bottom fine sand, silt, and clay are the 

predominant surficial sediments in the Erie and 

Ontario lowlands. The extensive proglacial lakes that 

inundated these lowlands left correspondingly 

extensive mappable deposits of lake-bottom fines. 

Other areas are mapped as till, however, including 

some areas that lie below former lake levels (LaSala, 

1968; Muller, 1977; Muller and Cadwell, 1986; 

Kammerer and Hobba, 1986; Miller, 1988a, b); this 

fact, and the considerable disparity among some of 

these maps, suggest that the surficial lake-bottom 

fines are thin in many places. The surficial till is not 

necessarily older than all of the lake-bottom fines, 

however. Two episodes of substantial ice retreat and 

readvance have been inferred, one about 13,300 radiocarbon years ago that predated Lake Whittlesey 

(Muller, 1977; Fullerton, 1980; Calkin and Feenstra, 

1985), and another about 12,000 years ago that 

drained and later reinstated Lake Warren (Fullerton, 

1980; Muller and Prest, 1985, p. 218-9; Calkin and 

Feenstra, 1985; Muller and others, 1988; Muller, 

1988b); subsequent minor readvances just south of

Lake Ontario also have been inferred (Muller and others, 1988, p. 127; Young, 1988, p. 75). Such events could 

be expected to result in till layers interbedded with 

lake-bottom fines. Drift exposed in bluffs along Lakes 

Erie and Ontario as far east as Rochester generally 

consists of 10 to 30 feet of silt that is locally interbedded with clay or fine sand, overlying a comparable 

thickness of till (Calkin, Muller, and Drexhage, 1982; 

Calkin and Muller, 1992). Along Lake Ontario, however, the till layer is made up of two lodgment tills, the 

upper of which grades up into subaquatic resedimented diamicton that contains many lenses and 

wisps of sand, silt, and clay, and a few feet of silt or clay 

are preserved locally below each till. Along Lake Erie, 

till is exposed over varved clay for 20 miles (Calkin, 

1982, p. 130). Near Lake Ontario and the Niagara 

River, many feet of stratified water-laid diamicton and 

(or) compact basal till interrupt the silt, clay, and 

minor fine sand that constitute the bulk of the drift 

(Smith and Calkin, 1990).

DISTRIBUTION OF SAND AND GRAVEL

The Erie and Ontario lowlands consist of two terranes that differ with respect to distribution of sand 

and gravel. One is a lake plain of very low relief that 

rises gently from Lake Erie to the foot of the 

Appalachian Plateau and from Lake Ontario to the 

broad crest of the Niagara cuesta, which parallels the 

lake shore. The other lowland terrane lies between the 

Niagara cuesta and thi Appalachian Plateau and is 

underlain by ^hale and dolostone of the Salina Group 

and Akron Formation. On the lake plain, which is 1 to 

6 miles wide along Lake Erie and about 10 miles wide 

along Lake Ontario, coarse-grained stratified drift is 

largely confined to beach ridges deposited by waves 

and longshore currents along the former shores of proglacial lakes; proximal facies-1 sand and gravel deposits are few, small, and widely scattered. In the lowland 

south of the Niagara cuesta, coarse-grained stratified 

drift occurs chiefly as meltwater channel deposits that 

are aligned subparallel to the direction of ice flow. A 

few head within the lake plain. Some coarse stratified 

drift is associated with ice margins and aligned nearly 

perpendicular to the direction of ice flow, and a few 

upland tributaries or spillwa> channels built large 

deltas where they entered proglacial lakes. The 

several landform types that contain sand and 

gravel including meltwater channel deposits, kame 

moraines, interdrumlin outwash, perched deltas, 

beach ridges, and wave-built terraces differ in aquifer potential and are considered in turn in the next 

several sections.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B115

MELTWATER CHANNEL DEPOSITS

Many surficial and buried sand and gravel deposits 

in the Erie and Ontario lowlands have distributions, 

dimensions, or landforms that suggest deposition in or 

from subglacial meltwater channels. Although they 

tend to follow bedrock valleys, in this area of low relief 

they commonly form prominent topographic features. 

Examples in several localities are described in this 

section.

Oswego County, N.Y. Multiple elongated kames 

and ice-channel fillings aligned in narrow bands constitute the principal stratified-drift aquifers in central 

and southern Oswego County (Miller, 1982). Their linear distribution (fig. 64) suggests that meltwater flow 

was largely concentrated in channels, which were 

spaced 4 to 8 miles apart near the southern border of 

the county. Several of these aligned deposits follow 

bedrock valleys at least in part (Miller, 1982; 

T.S. Miller, U.S. Geological Survey, oral commun. 1986), 

although bedrock valleys are shallow and not easily 

recognized in this region of low relief. Some small kame 

deposits shown on surficial geology maps (for example, 

Miller, 1980b; Muller and Miller, 1980) are not obviously linked to those in figure 64, but might nevertheless have been part of a northward-branching network. 

Several of the aligned channel deposits head within the 

lake plain and climb the gentle slope southward to or 

beyond the divide, but few are found in the northern 

part of the lake plain (fig. 64). This pattern might 

reflect greater buoyancy and more rapid retreat of the 

ice margin in deeper water. Lake Iroquois, which 

spread northward across Oswego County as the ice 

retreated, must have been less than 150 feet deep in 

most places, but its depth increased northward on 

the lake plain and exceeded 250 feet near the present 

lakeshore.

Sand Ridge Aquifer. The Sand Ridge aquifer is the 

largest of the meltwater channel deposits in Oswego 

County, N.Y. (fig. 64). It extends 13 miles from the 

southern part of the Lake Ontario plain across a low 

divide (the Niagara cuesta is imperceptible in Oswego 

County) and down a gentle slope to the Oneida River 

(Miller and Sherwood, 1993). Its south-southeasterly 

alignment is nearly parallel to the direction of ice flow, 

as recorded by numerous drumlins. The southern part 

of the aquifer is generally a broad-crested ridge, composed predominantly of coarse sand with some gravel 

but mantled or overlapped by fine sand and by silt and 

clay (fig. 65), all of which constitutes a fining-upward 

sequence deposited in Lake Iroquois. The highly variable thickness of the sand and gravel (fig. 65) and the 

many kettleholes that partly interrupt the ridgelike

landform (Miller and Sherwood, 1993, pi. 1) reflect deposition against and over stagnant ice. The northern 

part of the aquifer is a network of multiple narrow constructional landforms (kame terraces or kame plains 

banked against or around drumlins, also ice-channel 

fillings and aligned kames). These landforms consist of 

gravel and sand and are separated by large ice-block 

depressions underlain by peat and lake fines. The 

aquifer approximately follows a shallow bedrock valley 

and interdrumlin lowlands but is thick enough over 

most of its length to constitute a prominent topographic ridge that is exceeded in height by only a few 

drumlin crests. The ridge continues another 2 miles 

south into Onondaga County (fig. 64) where it may connect to buried aquifers identified by Kantrowitz (1970, 

pi. 1) and Miller (1988b) that extend south at least to 

Onondaga Lake and perhaps farther down the 

Onondaga Creek trough within the Appalachian 

Plateau. The aquifer is recharged solely by precipitation on its surface under natural (nonpumping) conditions; induced recharge would be possible only where 

the aquifer is crossed by the Oneida River (fig. 64). This 

aquifer seems to constitute a textbook example of deposition from a subglacial channel system that continued to contribute sediment as the ice margin retreated. 

Some of the coarse sediment was deposited in deep 

water in subaquatic fans that fined upward as the ice 

margin retreated, and the remainder in shallow water 

in tunnels or crevasses within the ice.

Irondequoit Bay, Eastern Monroe County, 

N.Y. Stratified drift is more abundant from 

Irondequoit Bay southward to western Ontario County 

than elsewhere in the Ontario lowland. The surficial 

stratified drift is largely fine sand, silt, and clay and 

locally includes ablation till (Grain, 1974, p. 65; Waller 

and others, 1982, sheet 1; Muller and Cadwell, 1986), 

but coarse sand and gravel commonly underlie these 

fine sediments, are present locally at land surface, and 

have been inferred to constitute a continuous productive aquifer oriented generally southward from 

Irondequoit Bay (Grain, 1974; Waller and others, 1982; 

Miller, 1988a; Kappel and Young, 1989). The large volume of stratified drift here, in contrast to that in 

adjacent lowland areas, and the fining-upward stratigraphy suggest subaquatic-fan deposition throughout 

the deglaciation of the lowland from a subglacial channel system that followed the lowest available route 

across the lake plain, namely the preglacial valley of 

the Genesee River (Leggette and others, 1935; Young, 

1980; Waller and others, 1982). Large amounts of sediment were delivered to this locality over the timespan 

represented by several successive proglacial lakes, as
76°15' 76°00'

* EXPLANATION

Aquifer generally exposed 

at surface

Line of section (fig. 65)

H^JSqucrA^U

Q i i

O

I

> 

,Qdi i ^

H

Base from U.S. Army Map Service 1:250,000

FIGURE 64. Locations of potential facies-1 sand and gravel aquifers in the Ontario lowland in Oswego County, N.Y. (Modified from Miller, 1982, 1987, 1988a; 

Miller and Sherwood, 1993; and reconnaissance maps of surficial geology such as Muller and Miller, 1980. Some small, isolated kames are not shown.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B117

0 250 500 METERS 

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL

A. Section across the entire aquifer

B1 C

C1

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X12

0 200

I

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X12 

400 FEET

I I I 

0 50 100 METERS 

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL

B. C. Two sections along the aquifer 1 mile south of section A. Section C-C is parallel to B-B' and only 200 

feet distant. These sections show that the thickness of the buried sand and gravel can be highly variable over 

short distances

EXPLANATION

Fine sand

Lacustrine silt and clay

Sand

Sand, clay, and silt

Sand and gravel

Till

Bedrock (shale)

- - Geologic contact Dashed 

where approximate

Well; log available

FIGURE 65. Geologic sections near the south end of the Sand Ridge aquifer in southern Oswego County, N.Y. 

(From Miller and Sherwood, 1993.) Locations of sections A-A1 and B-B1 are indicated in figure 64.
B118 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

demonstrated by several large constructional land 

forms with depositional surfaces that range from 1.040 

to 575 feet in altitude. For example, an 870-foot outwash deposit southwest of Victor hamlet was ascribed 

to Lake Warren (Kappel and Young, 1989, p. 4), and 

lower surfaces nearby were deposited in later lakes 

that drained eastward through successively lower spillways near Victor. Abundant sediment delivery to the 

preglacial Genesee valley persisted through ice-margin 

oscillations, as demonstrated by the presence within 

the valley of a basal aquifer mantled by till south of a 

buried till moraine, as well as a younger basal aquifer 

unmantled by till north of the moraine, and by an esker 

segment that apparently overlies lacustrine fines 

(Young, 1988; Kappel and Young, 1989).

Other Localities. Cayuga and Seneca Lakes (pi. 1) 

occupy two of the longest and deepest valleys on the 

north rim of the Appalachian Plateau. Grain (1974) and 

Miller (1988a) inferred that sand and gravel aquifers 

extend from the north ends of these lakes northward to 

the Niagara cuesta, generally buried beneath finegrained sediments of Lake Iroquois but locally exposed 

at land surface. The continuity, northward branching, 

and generally basal position inferred for these aquifers 

are consistent with a subglacial meltwater channel system that tended to follow bedrock valleys.

Near Albion, N.Y., is the Burma Woods esker, a narrow gravel ridge that extends for at least 4 miles in a 

southwesterly direction between the Albion and Barre 

moraines. Its southern end is within a complex of constructional landforms, probably kame deltas, where it 

is bordered by fine sand and silt (Calkin, Muller, and 

Drexhage, 1982, p. 321). Muller (1977) mapped several 

elongated ice-contact deposits, some identified as 

eskers, all descending the gentle south slope of the 

Niagara cuesta and all standing well above the surrounding till or lake fines. Most of these features were 

not identified as aquifers by Miller (1988b) because 

their saturated thickness was thought to be small.

Small, thin deposits of fades-1 sand or gravel that 

seem not to be associated with persistent major meltwater channels are exposed in several localities in the 

Erie and Ontario lowlands. Coarse sediments that 

range from sandy gravel to gravelly silt and flow till are 

exposed at intervals of 2 to 3 miles along the Lake 

Ontario bluffs west of Rochester. They lack topographic 

expression, are commonly separated from the underlying till by fine-grained sediments and lor) an erosional unconformity, and are exposed about a mile 

north of a minor moraine; hence, they are inferred to be 

localized deposits of ephemeral meltwater channels 

along an oscillating ice margin (Calkin, Muller, and

Drexhage, 1982, p. 291, p. 295). Coarse sediments that 

grade upward to medium-fine sand and might be the 

product of discharge from a subglacial channel were 

exposed in 1982 at Brighton Cliff (fig. 66); nearby deformation suggests the presence of active ice (Calkin, 

Muller, and Drexhage, 1982, stop 7). No such deposits 

have been identified as significant aquifers or shown to 

extend as buried linear features over thousands of feet 

or more. In one 4-mile reach along the Lake Erie bluffs, 

however, surficial lake silts are underlain persistently 

by fades-1 sandy gravel, which is as much as 10 feet 

thick (Calkin and Muller, 1992). Surficial silt and clay 

also grade down to thin basal sand in places near 

Tonawanda Creek northeast of Buffalo (Smith, 1990), 

and buried aquifers have been recognized in a few 

localities (Miller, 1988b), but the dimensions of these 

scattered aquifers are poorly known.

KAME MORAINES

Several end moraines record ice-marginal positions 

within the Erie and Ontario lowlands in New York, 

mainly west of Rochester (Calkin, 1970, 1982; Muller, 

1977; Muller and Prest, 1985). Most consist chiefly of 

till, but two have been described as kame 

moraines chiefly sand and gravel, in part capped by 

till or interlayered with till. The Pinnacle Hills kame 

moraine at Rochester was described in detail by 

Fairchild (1923) and depicted on a map by Muller and 

Cadwell (1986); it seems to be largely unsaturated 

(Miller, 1988a). Fairchild (1923, p. 167) wrote "most or 

all of the glacial drainage . . . issued from tunnels 

beneath the ice sheet," although no gravel deposits in 

tunnels have been identified on the north side of the 

Pinnacle Hills moraine. The Buffalo kame moraine, 

which extends from Buffalo to Batavia, was described 

by Calkin (1970, p. 86) as largely ice-contact stratified 

drift; several constructional landforms associated with 

it were mapped as ice-contact deposits or outwash by 

LaSala (1968) and Muller (1977). One of the largest of 

these occupies and borders a shallow bedrock valley 

south of a notch in the Onondaga escarpment at 

Clarence (Miller and Staubitz, 1985) where considerable meltwater probably flowed southward through the 

lowest avenue locally available.

INTERDRUMLIN OUTWASH

A drumlin field about 60 square miles in area along 

the Wayne-Ontario County line west of Newark, N.Y, 

lies within the Ontario lowland but above the level of 

Lake Iroquois and also above its immediate predecessors, which drained through channels incised across
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B119

EAST

DATUM IS LAND SURFACE 

NO VERTICAL EXAGGERATION

WEST

Top of bluff

Granule to 

fine pebble 

gravel.'.-'

FIGURE 66. Exposure in Lake Ontario bluff between 

Point Breeze and Brighton Cliff, N.Y.

the drumlin field. Apparently the area was still covered 

by ice during the life of Lake Warren, which was much 

higher than the later lakes (Muller and Prest, 1985, 

p. 220). During deglaciation, meltwater streams flowed 

southward and ultimately eastward between and 

around the closely spaced drumlins, depositing sand 

and gravel around each drumlin or cluster of drumlins. 

The resulting meshlike network of coarse stratified 

drift covers the entire width of the interdrumlin valleys, mantles any fine-grained sediment that might 

have been deposited, and includes several successive, 

topographically distinct morphosequences. These characteristics are unlike the rest of the Ontario lowland 

but are typical of parts of the Eastern Hills and Valley 

Fills region, to which this drumlin-field area is 

assigned on plate 1. The coarse stratified drift has been 

interpreted as commonly having less than 10 feet of 

saturated thickness (Grain, 1974, pi. 2; Miller, 1988a). 

Nevertheless, it represents a substantial volume of 

coarse sediment. Comparable volumes of coarse sediment could presumably be expected in adjacent areas 

of the Ontario lowland, in channels beneath the widespread surficial fines, as inferred by Grain (1974) and 

Miller (1988a).

EROSIONAL CHANNELS AND PERCHED DELTAS

On several occasions, while the ice sheet was retreating from the Appalachian Plateau, proglacial lakes 

drained catastrophically from one valley or lowland to 

the next across bedrock spurs that slope northward

from the plateau. These jokulhlaups created local scablands of bedrock scoured free of drift, incised several 

striking east-west channels, and deposited prominent 

deltas where the channels debouched into lakes. The 

earlier, higher channels are purely erosional features 

carved in bedrock or till, such as those west of the 

Genesee River valley near Caledonia (Muller, 1977; 

Wilson, 1981), near Pearl Creek (Muller, 1977; Muller 

and others, 1988), and east of Syracuse (Hand and 

Muller, 1972). Large deltas at the downstream ends of 

these channels seem to be generally perched on high 

bedrock above modern streams and have been interpreted as thinly or questionably saturated (Miller, 

1988a, b). Later, lower channels extend eastward from 

Rush and Fairport, N.Y. These channels were interpreted by Grain (1974, p. 55, pi. 2) as predominantly 

erosional features that only locally contain stratifieddrift aquifers more productive than the underlying bedrock. More recent maps vMuller and Cadwell, 1986; 

Miller, 1988a) indicate that these channels generally 

contain productive outwash aquifers.

A few moderately large streams that flow north or 

west out of the Appalachian Plateau built large deltas 

into Lakes Whittlesey and (or) Warren in southwestern 

New York (Symecko, 1967; LaSala, 1968, pi. 2; Calkin, 

1970, p. 83). These deltas also are largely perched 

above stream grade but could be significant as aquifers 

locally.
B120 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

BEACH RIDGES AND WAVE-BUILT TERRACES

The bulk of the surficial sand and gravel within the 

lake plain occurs as beach ridges, which are linear 

deposits built by waves and longshore currents along 

the margins of large proglacial lakes. Most are many 

miles long. They are commonly best developed near 

large tributaries whose bedload was an important 

source of sand and gravel (Miller, 1982, p. 12; Totten, 

1985) and whose earlier deltas were easily reworked by 

waves (Calkin, 1970, p. 83, p. 90; Calkin, 1982, p. 132). 

A series of beach ridges parallel the shore of Lake Erie; 

some of those identified in Ohio (fig. 67) have not been 

found in New York (Calkin, 1970), presumably because

areas north of Ohio were covered by ice at the time. A 

single beach ridge that marks the shore of glacial Lake 

Iroquois parallels the modern shore of Lake Ontario, 

except in Oswego and Cayuga Counties, N.Y., where 

Lake Iroquois extended southward far beyond the lake 

plain.

Beach ridges are only minor aquifers. They range in 

grain size from fine sand to pebble gravel. Most are 

500 to 1,500 feet wide; some occur as multiple adjacent 

ridges or spits that total as much as a mile in width. 

Most are 10 to 15 feet thick, although a few are as much 

as 30 feet thick (Calkin, 1970; Chute, 1979; Totten, 

1985). Their saturated thickness is small, generally

NORTH

FEET 

850 ,

SOUTH

650 

550

VERTICAL SCALE GREATLY EXAGGERATED

0 1 2 KILOMETERS

EXPLANATION

Beach ridge Sand and gravel

Late Wisconsinan till

Middle Wisconsinan or older till

Bedrock

FIGURE 67. Composite geologic section of strandlines south of Lake Erie in Lake and Ashtabula Counties, Ohio. Late 

Wisconsinan till mantles cliffs and terraces carved after the previous deglaciation and is capped by several beach ridges that 

formed along the shores of successive proglacial lakes during the late Wisconsinan deglaciation. (From Totten, 1985, fig. 2.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B121

only a few feet (fig. 68). Many beach ridges provide 

small water supplies from shallow wells and springs, 

however, and a few large ridges near the east end of 

Lake Ontario are capable of yielding a few hundred gallons per minute (Griswold, 1951, p. 16; Johnston, 1964, 

p. 45; Miller and others, 1988, p. 30; Zarriello, 1993).

Wave-cut platforms bevel many drumlins that were 

encircled or inundated by Lake Iroquois in Oswego and 

Cayuga Counties, N.Y. (Chute, 1979). Wave-built terraces underlain by angular gravel commonly rim the 

platforms and locally cap drumlins (fig. 68D). Saturated thickness of these terrace gravels is probably 

negligible.

BLACK RIVER, ST. LAWRENCE, AND 

CHAMPLAIN LOWLANDS

The Adirondack upland of New York is bordered on 

the north and east by broad lowlands along the 

St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain, respectively, 

and on the west by a narrow lowland or valley along the 

Black River. As the ice sheet retreated, these lowlands 

were occupied by large lakes and later, in part, by 

marine embayments, whose collective extent is indicated by map symbols L, S, and D on plate 1. The lake 

history is reviewed below to introduce the subsequent 

descriptions of the distribution of sand and gravel in 

these lowlands.

LAKE HISTORY AND EXTENT

Several successive lakes in the Black River valley 

drained southward to the Mohawk River through different outlets (Ridge and others, 1984). Meanwhile, the 

Ontario lowland farther west was occupied by Lake 

Iroquois, which also drained down the Mohawk valley 

and expanded northward as the ice margin retreated. 

When the retreating ice margin reached Watertown, 

N.Y., lake level in the Black River valley dropped to 

that of Lake Iroquois, which continued to expand 

northward along the southern margin of the 

St. Lawrence lowland (Clark, 1984; Clark and Karrow, 

1984; Pair and Rodrigues, 1993). Shoreline elevations 

that imply lake depths of 300 to 400 feet, and abundant 

dropstones and drop pellets in the lowest 3 feet of Lake 

Iroquois rhythmites, together suggest a floating ice 

margin that retreated rapidly by calving (Pair and 

Rodrigues, 1993).

The Champlain lowland is a northward continuation 

of the Hudson River lowland in New York. Both lowlands are carved in carbonate bedrock and shale of 

Cambrian and Ordovician age, but the Champlain lowland is somewhat wider. As the ice melted away from 

the Adirondack and Green Mountains, which flank the 

Champlain lowland on the west and east, respectively,

local proglacial lakes in mountain valleys drained, and 

a regional lake expanded northward from the Hudson 

lowland between the mountains and the shrinking ice 

tongue. Lake level in the Hudson lowland eventually 

declined below the level of a broad saddle near Fort 

Ann, N.Y, which is the lowest point on the modern 

divide. Thereafter, channels that were cut into the saddle by the southward-flowing meltwater (DeSimone 

and LaFleur, 1986, p. 226) controlled the level of a lake, 

known as Lake Fort Ann, in the Champlain lowland. 

Lake Fort Ann or its predecessors inundated most of 

the Champlain lowland to depths of 200 to 400 feet, and 

perhaps 600 feet near the Canadian border, as suggested by comparison of modern topography with the 

proglacial lake profiles inferred by Stewart and 

MacClintock (1969), Denny (1970), Wagner (1972), and 

DeSimone and LaFleur (1986). Several types of evidence indicate that the ice margin in the Champlain 

lowland generally remained active and retreated by 

calving. For example, extensive deposits of lacustrine 

silty clay containing dropstones of pebble to boulder 

size were mapped by Stewart and MacClintock (1969, 

1970), who also reported many exposures where clay 

rests directly on bedrock without intervening till. Exposures of till interbedded with lacustrine fines were 

reported by Wagner (1972), Connally and Calkin 

(1972), and Parrott and Stone (1972) from the northern 

part of the lowland in Vermont. Recessional moraines 

along the northwestern margin of the lowland in New 

York were identified by Denny (1974), who ascribed 

them to active ice. Till overlies sand and gravel in small 

areas near West Beekmantown, N.Y. (Giese and Hobba, 

1970), and along the Ingraham esker (Denny, 1972, 

fig. 4).

The northern tip of the Adirondack Mountains is 

known as Covey Hill and lies on the international border. As the ice sheet retreated northward past this 

point, all water from the St. Lawrence and Ontario lowlands began to drain eastward into the Champlain lowland through a succession of spillways or channels on 

Covey Hill (MacClintock and Stewart, 1965; Denny, 

1974; Clark and Karrow, 1984; Muller and Prest, 1985). 

Soon, water levels in the St. Lawrence lowland dropped 

to that of Lake Fort Ann, which extended westward as 

far as modern Lake Ontario (Clark and Karrow, 1984; 

Muller and Prest, 1985).

Further ice retreat within Quebec eventually 

allowed water in northern New York and Vermont to 

drain northeastward, down the St. Lawrence valley. 

The Fort Ann spillway was abandoned and the level of 

ponding dropped to the then-current sea level, which 

was higher than the isostatically depressed land surface in the Champlain and St. Lawrence lowlands. The 

resulting incursion of marine water formed what is
0 50 100 150 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X5

250 300 350 400 450 500 550 

DATUM IS LAND SURFACE 

AT CREST OF RIDGE

HORIZONTAL DISTANCE, IN FEET

A. Beach ridge south of Lake Ontario near Lockport, N.Y. 

(From Johnston, 1964, fig. 12)

B B'

Springs that supply water

to village of Adam

600

550500

450

Sand dune.

Bedrock

1,000 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X20

2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL

HORIZONTAL DISTANCE, IN FEET

C. Beach ridge east of Lake Ontario near Sandy Creek, N.Y. (From Zarriello, 

1993, fig. 11)

D D'

1,000 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X20

2,000 3,000

HORIZONTAL DISTANCE, IN FEET 

EXPLANATION

Well Log available and(or) 

water level available

Seismic survey

B. Beach ridge east of Lake Ontario near Adams, N.Y. (From Miller and others, 1988, pi. 4B)

4,000 5,000 

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL

400

3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X20 DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL 

HORIZONTAL DISTANCE, IN FEET

D. Wave-built terrace on drumlin near Volney, N.Y. (From Miller, 1982, fig. 7)

aCO

CO

FIGURE 68. Geologic sections across Lake Iroquois beach deposits.
78°45' 78°30' 43° 76°45 

30'

76°43' 76°15'

0123 4 MILES

I___I I I I 

0123 4 KILOMETERS 43° 15'

EXPLANATION

Lake Iroquois beach deposit Well sorted 

sand and gravel (From Muller and Cadwell, 1986: Cadwell, 1988; Cadwell and Pair, 1991) 

A' Line of geologic section

§O 

H O I-1 OO i i

O

1

FIGURE 68. Geologic sections across Lake Iroquois beach deposits Continued.
B124 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

known as the Champlain Sea, which initially inundated all areas below a present altitude of about 

500 feet near the Canadian border (Stewart and 

MacClintock, 1969; Wagner, 1972; Denny, 1974). Gradually, the land rose, and after about 1,500 years (Denny, 

1974; Muller and Calkin, 1993), the modern drainage 

pattern was established.

DISTRIBUTION OF SAND AND GRAVEL

Coarse sand and gravel deposits are few and widely 

scattered in the Black River, St. Lawrence, and 

Champlain lowlands, except along the proglacial lake 

shores that bordered the Adirondack upland, and many 

of these deposits are thin or thinly saturated. Several 

subregions are identified and described below.

MOUNTAIN-FRONT PERCHED DELTAS 

AND KAME TERRACES

The proglacial lakes that occupied the lowlands bordering the Adirondack Mountains during deglaciation 

were far too large to be filled by stratified drift, but several large and (or) multiple coalesced deltas and (or) 

kame terraces were built into those lakes by streams 

from the Adirondacks. Although these mountain-front 

deposits are not especially productive as aquifers, their 

large volume dominates the areas where they occur 

and results in a distinctive terrane that is delineated 

on plate 1 as map unit "D."

The mountain-front deposits have several common 

characteristics:

1. They were built into proglacial water bodies whose 

surfaces stood hundreds of fe« 't above the present 

floor of the broad lowlands. Later, after the lake or 

marine water had drained, they were incised by 

the streams that built them and now are largely 

perched above modern stream grade.

2. Most of them are deltas composed of sand, largely 

fine sand, that in general progrades outward over 

silt or clay (fig. 69; also Waller and Ayer, 1975, p. 9, 

p. 99).

3. Deposition began when the lake was only a narrow 

pond between the ice sheet and the upland. The 

earliest deposits, which underlie the highest deltas close to the upland, are commonly coarsegrained, collapsed ice-contact deposits (facies 1). 

MacClintock and Stewart (1965) depict several 

streams as incised through deltaic sand into 

kamic sand and gravel. Waller and Ayer (1975, 

p. 9) also report that deltas cover or fill in around 

kames. Later, lower deltas farther from the 

upland are less likely to overlie ice-contact deposits, although one of the later deltas (fig. 69A) is 

known to overlie thin basal sand and gravel.

4. The concentration of mountain-front deposits near 

major tributaries suggests an origin predominantly as inwash. Nevertheless, some sediment 

was derived from the ice. For example, tributary 

deltas built into the Black River valley were fed by 

meltwater from ice retreating across the 

Adirondacks. Some of the kamic sands and gravels 

that underlie inwash deltas of Salmon River, 

St. Regis River, and other rivers that drain north 

from the Adirondacks were probably deposited in 

headwater segments of earlier subglacial 

meltwater channel systems that drained southward into and through the Adirondacks. An eskerfed delta at St. Regis Falls (fig. 12) and a large 

southward-sloping delta at 1,560 feet at Owls Head 

along upper Salmon River are evidence that large 

meltwater streams drained into the Adirondacks 

shortly before glacial Lake Iroquois expanded into 

the St. Lawrence lowland and the direction of flow 

in northern Adirondack valleys reversed.

5. Saturated thickness of permeable coarse sand or 

gravel is likely to be too small to allow large well 

yields. Geohydrology of these mountain-front 

deposits has not been studied in any detail, but any 

permeable sand and gravel in deposits that are 

banked against bedrock hillsides well above the 

grade of nearby streams or lowlands can be 

expected to drain readily. Some deltas are so large 

and are composed of such fine-grained sand that a 

large saturated mound is present (fig. 69A), but the 

hydraulic conductivity of the saturated materials is 

likely to be too low to support large-capacity wells.

BLACK RIVER VALLEY

The Black River flows generally along the western 

margin of the extensive mountain-front d< 'Has shown 

on plate 1 and, for much of its length, occupies a narrow 

valley. Between Glenfield and Carthage, N.Y., however, 

the valley floor is 3 to 4 miles wide and is underlain by 

as much as 198 feet of fine-grained lake-bottom sediment (Waller and Ayer, 1975, p. 100). This reach is indicated by the "S" symbol on plate 1. The fines are 

generally capped by a surficial facies-3 aquifer composed of sand derived from incision of the deltas and 

thinly saturated (Waller, 1976; Waller, 1986, sheet 3). A 

buried sand and gravel aquifer is inferred to underlie 

the fines along part of the valley, although data are 

sparse (Waller, 1986) and the dimensions and origin of 

the inferred basal aquifer are poorly known; presumably it is the product of subglacial meltwater that 

followed the axis of the Black River valley southward 

before the expansion of Lake Iroquois reversed the 

direction of flow.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS Bl.

Fort Drum Military Reservation 

Ls

EXPLANATION

Black River delta Silty sand, mostly fine to Geologic contact 

Approximately located, 44° 

dashed where inferred 05' 

Water table

very fine, more silty and clayey with depth

Silty gravel, yields water

k Kame or esker gravel 

Till, sandy Well Log available

A. Section across delta of Black River near Watertown, N.Y. 

(Modified from Reynolds, 1986, pis. 2, 3.)

0 1 KILOMETER 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X26

Constable delta in Champlain Sea

EXPLANATION

Varves

Marine fossil horizon

Till

Gravel

Pebbly sand

Sand

Silt

300 -

200 -LB. Generalized section across two successive deltas of Trout and 

Salmon Rivers near Malone, N.Y. (Modified from MacClintock and 

Stewart, 1965, fig. 22b, pi. 1)

Base maps from U.S. Army Map 

Service, Ogdensburg, 1:250,000 

0 5 MILES

I,,,,!

0 5 KILOMETERS

FIGURE 69. Geologic sections across deltas along the mountain front south of the St. Lawrence lowland, New York.
B126 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

ST. LAWRENCE LOWLAND SOUTH OF CANTON

MacClintock and Stewart (1965, p. 26-37) divided 

the St. Lawrence lowland into different physiographic 

regions along an east-west line at latitude 44°35', 

which passes through Canton (pi. 1) and Morristown, 

N.Y. South of this latitude, till and coarse stratified 

drift are scarce and bedrock is generally exposed at 

land surface or mantled by a few feet of silty clay. 

Where the bedrock is crystalline and Precambrian in 

age, rounded bedrock knobs rise 30 to 50 feet above flat 

clay-filled swales. Where bedrock is flat-lying sandstone or carbonates of Cambrian or Ordovician age, 

broad tablelands are incised by steep-sided valleys. 

Scattered kame^, subaquatic fans, and elongated 

masses of ice-contact stratified drift were formed during the last deglaciation (MacClintock and Stewart, 

1965; Cadwell and Pair, 1991). Most are elongated and 

(or) aligned northeast-southwest, subparallel to (a) the 

grain of the bedrock topography, (b) the direction of ice 

flow (Clark and Karrow, 1983, fig. 12), (c) a prominent 

esker near Natural Bridge, N.Y. (MacClintock and 

Stewart, 1965, pi. 1A), and (d) the margin of the ice lobe 

along the side of the St. Lawrence valley (Clark, 1984,

fig. 7; Pair and Rodrigues, 1993). They seem to be associated with bedrock highs, which may have acted as 

pinning points that briefly stabilized the retreat of the 

grounding line (Pair and Rodrigues, 1993), and their 

orientation suggests preferential southwestward meltwater flow controlled by bedrock topography and by a 

hydraulic gradient toward the end of the ice lobe. Perhaps buried sand and gravel aquifers underlie the clay 

in a few swales or valley reaches, but no evidence of 

such has been reported (Dunn Associates, 1968).

ST. LAWRENCE LOWLAND NORTH OF CANTON

North of Canton and Morristown, N.Y., the 

St. Lawrence lowland is characterized by low ridges 

composed largely of till, elongated northeastsouthwest, and separated by swales or valley flats 

underlain by silty fine sand and clay. Bedrock exposures are much less common here than south of 

Canton. Study of excavations for the St. Lawrence seaway project and records of wells (MacClintock, 1958; 

Trainer and Salvas, 1962; MacClintock and Stewart, 

1965) established the stratigraphy summarized in 

table 5 and illustrated in figure 70.

TABLE 5. Quaternary stratigraphic units in St. Lawrence lowland north of Canton, N.Y.

Geologic unit Relative age 

(1 = oldest) Lithology and origin Distribution

Beach deposits

Mountain front 5-6 

inwash deltas

Marine sand 7

Marine clay 6

Lacustrine clay 5

Subaquatic outwash 4

Upper till 3

Middle unit 2

Lower till 1

Coarse, poorly sorted gravel; overlies till; microtopography of ridges a few feet high, parallel 

to contours of hill; generally unsaturated.

Chiefly sand, deposited by streams from 

Adirondack watersheds into proglacial 

lakes and Champlain Sea, also forms 

aprons spread along shorelines by longshore currents; generally perched above 

stream grade.

Silty, fine sand deposited discontinuously 

atop marine clay during recession of the 

Champlain Sea; commonly 1 to 10 feet 

thick; tapped by dug wells.

Massive silty clay, nearly impermeable, 

locally contains sand lenses, deposited 

in Champlain Sea.

Varved clay and silt, nearly impermeable, 

locally contains lenses of resedimented 

(slumped) diamicton and of sand.

Chiefly sand; tapped by some test wells 

and domestic wells.

Fort Covington till as defined by Clark and 

Karrow (1983); compact and impermeable 

except for scattered lenses of sand and 

gravel no more than a few feet thick.

Diamicton layers interbedded with stratified 

sediments ranging from clay to sandy gravel.

Till, more compact than upper till, nearly 

impermeable except for scattered thin 

lenses of sand and gravel.

Tops or (less commonly) sides of hills.

Along south margin of lowland at altitudes 

above 500 feet.

Common in swales or lowlands between hills

Universally present in swales and lowlands 

between hills.

Do.

Locally present beneath clay in swales and 

lowlands.

All three units underlie most of the ridges 

that constitute the highest topographic 

features in the lowland. One or more units 

continue beneath some underlying swales.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B127

Boulder-strewn ridge 

(wave-washed)

1.000 2,000 FEET

;j 0 300 600 METERS 

« VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X10

A. Idealized sequence of unconsolidated deposits in the Massena-Waddington area 

(From Trainer and Salvas, 1962, fig. 7) 

NW SE

FEET

250 F

Top of dike

B. Section beneath part of Richards Landing dike (From Trainer and Salvas, 

1962, fig. 5)

100 200 FEET

0 30 60 METERS 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X2

NW 

FEET

300 rGravel bar

200

100

SE

W

NO VERTICAL EXAGGERATION 0 250 500 750 1.000 FEET

I I I I I

I I I I I I

0 50 100 150 200 250 METERS

C. Measured section through Eisenhower lock (From MacClintock and Stewart, 1965, fig. 14)

Marine sand

NOT TO SCALE 

-Striae S70°W 

Facies 1, deposited 

before clay

EXPLANATION

Lacustrine clay (varved)

Facies 3, deposited during or 

after deposition of clay

Marine clay 

Upper till

B

Middle unit (diamicton with stratified 

clay, silt, sand and/or gravel)

Lower till

Bedrock

Borehole, log available

D. North face of excavation for Grass River lock (Modified from MacClintock and Stewart, 1965, fig. 25)

FIGURE 70. Typical stratigraphy in the St. Lawrence lowland north of Canton, N.Y.
B128 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Coarse-grained stratified drift is generally thin and 

capable of yielding only small amounts of water. 

Trainer and Salvas (1962, p. 32) report sand beneath 

the lacustrine clays in several swales near Massena, 

N.Y., atop till (fig. 7QA, B). Perhaps subaquatic fans at 

the mouths of numerous small subglacial channels 

merged to form a thin but extensive sand sheet in this 

region. Facies-3 surficial sand was widely deposited 

atop clay in swales or valleys as the Champlain Sea 

retreated, but it is fine grained, silty, generally only a 

few feet thick and, hence, a very minor aquifer.

Sand and gravel lenses in the middle unit, between 

the principal till sheets, presumably were deposited 

during a previous deglaciation. They underlie some 

swales but are found chiefly within hills (fig. 70A). 

Some are easily drained, the overlying till limits 

recharge, and interlayered diamicton and fines limit 

hydraulic conductivity. Thus, these older stratified 

deposits are not important aquifers.

CHAMPLAIN LOWLAND

Deposition in proglacial lakes along the margins of 

the Champlain lowland began as ice-contact deposits 

that were overlapped or succeeded by deltas (Stewart 

and MacClintock, 1969, p. 127). Where such deposits 

are confined to valleys within the Adirondack and 

Green Mountains that border the Champlain lowland, 

they are considered part of other hydrophysiographic 

regions, even though some lower depositional surfaces 

may have been graded to regional lakes. Extensive deltas banked along the west side of the Champlain lowland near Plattsburgh and Keesville, N.Y., are mapped 

on plate 1 as part of the mountain-front perched delta 

terrane.

The abundance of inwash contrasts with the lack of 

evidence of facies-1 proximal deposits from the ice 

itself. The Ingraham esker (Denny, 1972; Franzi and 

Cronin, 1988), which extends for 10 miles in the towns 

of Chazy and Beekmantown in eastern Clinton County, 

N.Y., is the only known product of meltwater in a subglacial channel. A core of coarse, heterogeneous icecontact stratified drift is overlain by well-bedded sand 

and gravel in a typical fining-upward subaquatic-fan 

sequence and is capped or bordered by fossiliferous 

gravel reworked from the esker materials during the 

declining phase of the Champlain Sea. Sand or gravel 

occurs elsewhere beneath clay, mostly at depths of 110 

to 260 feet, as shown by several scattered wells from 

Plattsburgh south to Lake George, but these wells are 

too few to demonstrate continuity of the sand and 

gravel. Buried aquifers were delineated by Giese and 

Hobba (1970) in only two localities in New York, one of

these being immediately south of the Ingraham esker. 

A buried aquifer along the edge of the lowland in 

Swanton, Vt., is documented by borehole logs (Hodges, 

1967b). Connally and Calkin (1972) describe one exposure where sand underlies varved clay and till; Stewart 

and MacClintock (1969) report several exposures 

where lake deposits lie directly on bedrock. Thus, the 

extent of buried facies-1 deposits in the Champlain 

lowland is not yet accurately known.

The Winooski, Lamoille, and Mississquoi Rivers 

enter the Champlain lowland in Vermont near and 

north of Burlington. Extensive sand plains were deposited by these rivers in the Champlain Sea, regraded 

and extended as sea level declined, then incised by 

postglacial streams. In general, 10 feet or more of pebbly fine to medium sand overlies very fine sand, silt, 

and clay and constitutes a surficial aquifer perched 

above stream grade. A similar condition obtains in a 

small area south of Plattsburgh, N.Y (Giese and 

Hobba, 1970; Denny, 1974). Both areas are depicted by 

map unit "S" on plate 1. Elsewhere in the Champlain 

lowland, facies-3 surficial aquifers are absent, or very 

thin and localized.

COASTAL MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE

The late Wisconsinan ice sheet advanced about 

200 miles beyond the present Maine coastline 

(Tucholke and Hollister, 1973) when sea level was 

abnormally low because so much water was incorporated in the ice sheet. Sea level rose rapidly during 

deglaciation, however, and abutted the ice sheet as it 

retreated inland from the present coastline of Maine 

and New Hampshire. At that time, land surface was 

depressed by the weight of the ice, and several hundred 

years passed before enough rebound took place to cause 

the sea to recede to approximately its present position 

(Borns and Stuiver, 1975). Although large hills stood 

above the ocean, marine water inundated much of the 

landscape within 10 to 60 miles from the present coastline, as indicated by map units "L" and "S" on plate 1. 

The stratified drift includes the same three depositional facies found elsewhere in the glaciated 

Northeast early, coarse-grained ice-contact deposits 

that locally constitute the entire stratigraphic section; 

fine-grained deep-water deposits; and late, coarsegrained surficial deposits. The geometry, distribution, 

and lithology of these three facies are described in turn 

below.

EARLY ICE-CONTACT DEPOSITS

The geometry and distribution of ice-contact deposits (facies 1) in the area of marine inundation differ 

from that in most southward-draining regions in two
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B129

respects: (1) Spacing is not strictly a function of spacing 

of preexisting bedrock valleys but rather reflects the 

spacing of meltwater channels within the ice sheet and 

the position of the ice margin during oscillations or 

pauses in retreat; and (2) the zone of stagnant ice that 

typically bordered the retreating ice margin and was 

the principal locus of ice-contact deposition elsewhere 

seems to have been generally absent here, especially 

near the present coast; instead, the forward edge of the 

ice probably stood as a cliff or floating shelf of active ice 

that calved into the ocean (Smith, 1981, 1982, 1984; 

Thompson, 1982; Moore, 1982). Ice-contact deposits 

formed in three or perhaps four types of settings, 

described in turn below.

Eskers and Related Deposits. Much of the coarse 

sand and gravel in coastal Maine and New Hampshire 

is found in or associated with eskers, many of which 

extend, with only short gaps, for several miles in generally north-south orientations (Stone, 1899; Leavitt 

and Perkins, 1935). Eskers are described in a previous 

section of this paper entitled "Esker Systems in 

Maine." In this coastal region, generally, an esker will 

have a core of relatively coarse gravel, overlain or 

surrounded by finer gravel and sand and commonly 

overlapped by marine clay in a typical fining-upward 

subaquatic-fan sequence (Thompson and Smith, 1983, 

p. 5-6, 34).

Ice-Marginal Deposits. Linear ridges parallel to 

the former ice front have been recognized in many 

places in coastal Maine (Prescott, 1974a, b; Borns, 

1974; Thompson, 1980, 1982; Smith, 1982; Smith and 

others, 1982). These ridges consist of gravel and coarse 

sand, sand and silt, till, or any combination thereof. 

The stratified components are thickest near eskers but 

are widely distributed elsewhere. Some of these ridges 

are thought to have formed by ice push during oscillatory retreat of an active ice front, as evidenced by 

numerous thrust faults and recumbent folds, by intercalated till slices, and commonly by a till carapace atop 

the proximal slope (Smith, 1982; Smith and others, 

1982; Thompson and Smith, 1983, p. 27, 32). Other low 

ice-marginal ridges seem to be incipient deltas that 

were deposited under or in front of a floating ice terminus but did not build up to sea level (Thompson, 1982; 

Smith, 1982).

Glaciomarine Deltas. Deltas were built into the sea 

along the retreating margin of the ice sheet in at least 

50 localities in Maine (Thompson, 1982, p. 221) and at 

least 26 in New Hampshire (Moore, 1982; Larson and 

Goldsmith, 1989; Koteff and others, 1989, 1993). They 

are characterized by:

1. A broad, level surface, graded to the maximum level 

of marine submergence (Thompson, 1982, p. 222).

2. Thin surficial gravel (originally fluvial topsets, commonly reworked by waves) overlying foresets of 

sand and fine gravel (Koteff and others, 1993).

3. Interfingering distally and downward with marine 

clay (fig. 71G-7).

4. Kettles and collapsed deposits on the proximal margin (fig. 71H). Less frequently, the proximal margin is a bedrock ridge, cut by one or more saddles 

through which meltwater carried sediment.

Glaciomarine deltas formed only where major meltwater drainage systems emptied into the sea. Many 

occur at or near the inland limit of marine submergence, commonly at the southern end of esker 

systems (fig. 71H). Some are laid out in series along an 

esker, having formed successively as the ice margin 

retreated (Leavitt and Perkins, 1935, p. 52; Thompson, 

1982, p. 221). Others represent successive northwardretreating positions of the mouths of persistent meltwater streams not associated with eskers (Larson and 

Goldsmith, 1989).

Possible Widespread Sheets of Sand or 

Gravel. Some scattered kames or kame fields or 

hummocky stratified drift are not on esker or icemarginal trends nor associated with known glaciomarine deltas (Prescott 1974b, 1977; Thompson, 1982). 

Thompson (1982) interprets some of these deposits as 

originating because bedrock or till hills "temporarily 

anchored the ice margin and localized deposition of 

sand and gravel that washed out from beneath the 

ice," implying that a thinner layer of sand and gravel 

might have been widely deposited elsewhere. If meltwater emerged from the base of the ice as small 

streams or as sheet flow, in most of this region it would 

have entered marine water in which its sediment load 

could readily be deposited as stratified drift, perhaps 

in the form of small subaquatic fans. Furthermore, a 

floating ice shelf rises and falls with the tide and, 

thus, allows cyclical landward and seaward flow of 

seawater in the thin space beneath the ice, a process 

that might winnow the upper part of the underlying 

till and any sediment dropped from the melting ice 

shelf. These mechanisms had the potential to create a 

discontinuous but widespread layer of sand or gravel 

between the till and the marine clay that was deposited later after the ice front had retreated farther. 

Bingham (1981), Smith (1982), and Smith and others 

(1982) report that such a thin sand or gravel deposit 

mantles large areas on low hills in the coastal region 

and is thickest near eskers; Smith ascribed it to the
B130 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

mechanisms mentioned above. He did not collect 

subsurface data to show whether the same deposit 

extended beneath adjacent valleys, however. Subsurface data were obtained by Tepper (1980) from 

25 domestic wells drilled through marine clay in valleys in the town of Arundel, Maine, 13 of which penetrated sand or gravel beneath the clay; although one 

well reportedly penetrated 100 feet of gravel, generally the basal sand or gravel was thin and had no obvious distribution pattern. Some wells in other localities 

studied by Tepper (1980) also penetrated gravel 

between clay and bedrock. Most reports on the 

ground-water hydrology of coastal Maine and New 

Hampshire do not mention any widespread thin basal 

aquifer beneath marine sediments, however.

FINE-GRAINED MARINE DEPOSITS

Fine-grained marine sediment, the Presumpscot 

Formation of Bloom (1960), is widespread in coastal 

Maine and New Hampshire. Maps by Prescott (1963, 

1974a, 1977) and Bradley (1964) suggest that finegrained marine sediment may underlie as much as 

65 percent of some towns near the coast. In areas of 

higher relief, the marine deposits are limited to the 

deeper valleys, which once constituted estuaries 

between till-covered uplands.

Fine-grained marine sediments reach thicknesses of 

100 to 200 feet in many lowlands (Prescott, 1967; 

Borns, 1974; Tepper, 1980; Smith, 1981; Thompson, 

1982, p. 24) but are only a few feet thick on many hillsides within the inundated region. Generally, the maximum altitude of marine silty clay is 50 feet or more 

below the maximum sea level during deglaciation in 

any particular locality (Thompson, 1978).

The typical marine sediment is a blue-gray massive, 

silty clay (Thompson, 1982). Thin clayey silt layers separated by sand and silt laminae were deposited in the 

inland estuaries (Borns and Hagar, 1965a, p. 1236) and 

near the top of the marine section (Bradley, 1964).

The marine deposits overlap and locally bury icecontact deposits such as kames and eskers. Locally, 

near the landward limit of their deposition, marine 

deposits are found only in depressions such as kettleholes and the bottoms of modern lakes. A few exposures 

indicate that the marine silty clay was deposited before 

the last remaining ice melted (Goldthwait and others, 

1951, p. 43; Borns and Hagar, 1965a, p. 1237). The 

marine silty clay interfingers with the distal parts of 

glaciomarine deltas and deltaic ice-frontal deposits 

(Smith and others, 1982, fig. 4; Moore, 1982, fig. 3; 

Moore, 1990, fig. 10).

LATE COARSE-GRAINED SURFICIAL SEDIMENT

Although the Presumpscot Formation occupies lowlands throughout coastal Maine and New Hampshire, 

commonly it is mantled by younger sand and gravel of 

various origins. Outwash, chiefly well-sorted fine to 

coarse sand, is found near the marine limit in many 

localities, deposited as valley trains by aggrading meltwater streams and as deltas prograding across marine 

fines. Outwash can be several tens of feet thick but 

commonly becomes finer with depth and thins southward; many test borings (Tolman and others, 1983) in 

the large area of deltaic outwash between Kennebunk 

and Sanford, Maine, reveal 35 to 90 feet of sand, the 

lower part fine to very fine, overlying marine clay 

(fig. 7IF). As postglacial isostatic rebound raised land 

surface relative to the sea, streams incised the outwash 

and redeposited the sand farther out into the receding 

sea; most of this redeposited marine sand is less than 

15 feet thick, thinner than the outwash as well as lower 

in altitude. The stream terraces incised into the outwash are capped by alluvial deposits; those along the 

Kennebec River are chiefly coarse gravel and were 

interpreted by Borns and Hagar (1965b) as a valley 

train from a late-glacial ice cap, but later were reinterpreted as postglacial (H.W. Borns, University of Maine, 

written commun., 1995). Beach deposits, chiefly silty 

fine sand but locally gravel, occur as fringes around 

hills and were derived by wave erosion of the hillsides 

as the sea receded.

AQUIFER GEOMETRY IN THIS REGION

Several examples of typical aquifer geometry in the 

area of marine incursion in Maine, New Hampshire, 

and extreme northeast Massachusetts are illustrated 

in figure 71. Fades-1 aquifers include eskers, related 

constructional ice-contact deposits, widespread thin 

sheets, and glaciomarine deltas; facies-3 aquifers 

include outwash and alluvium. Two generalized sections across the Kennebec River valley (fig. 71A, B) 

show an esker overlapped by marine silt and clay. In 

the upstream reaches of this valley (fig. 7LB), the 

marine fines grade up into sandy outwash (Embden 

Formation of Borns and Hagar, 1965a, b) that is largely 

above stream grade and, thus, could supply only small 

well yields. Both sections show alluvium, inset into the 

marine fines and extending below stream grade, that is 

mostly gravel and could perhaps be tapped by shallow 

wells. Near Pittsfield, Maine (fig. 71C), an esker that 

follows the Sebasticook River valley for a few miles is 

bordered by swampy lowlands that are capped by 15 to 

20 feet of outwash or alluvium, beneath which are 

marine fines. A section along the Maine Turnpike 

north of Portland (fig. 7ID) crosses an ice-contact 

deposit whose cross profile is eskerlike, but no esker
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B131

is identified here on maps by Prescott (1976) or 

Thompson and Borns (1985). This section also crosses 

buried ice-contact deposits near the Presumpscot River 

that border a kame terrace (Prescott, 1976) and probably represent a collapsed or subglacially deposited 

extension of that kame terrace. The outwash deposits 

in this section are thin, discontinuous, and substantially below the maximum level of marine inundation 

in this region; probably they represent outwash 

redeposited during retreat of the ocean. A broad valley 

drained by the Picassic River at Epping, N.H. (fig. 7IE), 

lies near the inland limit of marine inundation; test 

borings indicate that a thin sheet of proximal sand and 

gravel underlies at least the north half of the valley, 

beneath fine sediment that largely fills the valley and 

is capped by a thin surficial outwash aquifer (Cotton, 

1988). Outwash in the town of Kennebunk, Maine 

(fig. 7IF), becomes finer with depth and grades to 

marine clay; presence of a localized basal aquifer is 

inferred on the basis of seismic data and a domestic 

well a mile away. A section typical of glaciomarine deltas in southeastern New Hampshire (fig. 71G) shows 

how deltaic fine sand overlies and interfingers with 

concurrently deposited marine clay. Many deltas 

ceased receiving coarse sediment long before marine 

waters receded from this region, resulting in deposition 

of marine clay atop the distal foreset sands (fig. 71H). 

Pineo Ridge, an unusually large glaciomarine delta 

(fig. 717) owes much of its apparent bulk to being built 

over a bedrock ridge; the relation of this delta to marine 

fines is speculative. At the proximal end of each of these 

glaciomarine deltas (fig. 71G-7) is saturated sand and 

gravel, a potentially productive aquifer.

The principal aquifers in coastal Maine and New 

Hampshire are the facies-1 ice-contact deposits, but 

many such deposits are thinly saturated because they 

were deposited around bedrock knolls or on the sides of 

valleys above stream grade. Test wells at the following 

types of sites are likely to penetrate relatively thick, 

saturated sections of permeable ice-contact deposits:

1. Anywhere within exposures of an esker or other icecontact deposit that is near the axis of a bedrock 

valley (as in fig. 7LA or fig. 7IB) or in some other 

setting where the bedrock surface is several tens 

of feet below stream grade.

2. Near the valleyward margin the margin closest to 

the valley axis of an esker or other ice-contact 

deposit that is exposed along the side of a bedrock 

valley, because saturated thickness of the exposed 

deposit is likely to be greatest on the valleyward 

side, and furthermore, the collapsed flanks may 

extend valleyward a few hundred feet beneath the 

overlapping marine silty clay.

3. In gaps between exposed segments of an esker or a 

linear ice-marginal deposit, because deposition of 

sand and gravel along the esker or morainal trend 

may well have been continuous; some apparent 

gaps may be places where the sand and gravel 

deposits are buried beneath younger sediments 

within a bedrock valley or planed off by subsequent fluvial erosion.

4. Near the head or apex of glaciomarine deltas where 

the sediment is most likely to be coarse-grained 

from top to bottom.

Although most large-capacity wells in coastal Maine 

and New Hampshire are located where facies-l icecontact deposits are exposed at land surface, a few tap 

ice-contact deposits overlapped by marine silty clay. 

For example, three municipal wells within 300 feet of 

an esker ridge south of South Lincoln, Maine, obtain 

2,000 gallons per minute from gravel below the clay 

that mantles most of the valley, and several nearby 

wells drilled on, beside, or between segments of the 

esker penetrate and (or) tap sand and gravel (Tolman 

and Lanctot, 1981b). The municipal well at Oxford, 

Maine (see fig. 19), is another example. Several test 

boreholes and a municipal well 1 mile southwest of 

Machias, Maine, penetrate through marine clay into 

gravel or silty sandy gravel (Weddle and others, 1988); 

the surrounding knolls are mapped as end moraine 

(Prescott, 1974b; Thompson and Borns, 1985). A 

municipal well at Sabattus, Maine, penetrated gravel 

below marine clay on the flood plain of Maxwell Brook, 

alongside a ridge of ice-contact deposits (Prescott and 

Attig, 1977). North of Sabattus Pond, gravel was 

inferred by Prescott (1968) and Tepper and Lanctot 

(1985) to underlie marine clay along a swath aligned 

with an esker to the north and ice-contact deposits to 

the south; the gravel was penetrated by a test hole 

(Prescott, 1967).

Surficial sand-plain aquifers are extensive and continuous atop marine fines in a few parts of coastal 

Maine and New Hampshire (pi. 1). Elsewhere in this 

region, sand-plain aquifers are locally significant, 

chiefly along large streams near the inland limit of 

marine inundation; but in most places, little or no sand 

caps the marine clay. All sand plains in the region, 

whether localized or extensive, have been incised by 

large streams, and springs are common along the contact between sand and the underlying clay. Sand-plain 

aquifers are tapped by many shallow dug and driven 

wells, but few large-capacity wells are known to be finished in these aquifers, probably because the saturated 

section is thin or composed chiefly of fine sand (Tolman 

and others, 1983).
B132 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

WEST EAST WEST

Recent Stream Esker Outwash

EAST

Dunes^

A. Generalized section across Kennebec River valley near Augusta, Maine 

(Modified from Thompson, 1978, fig. 20) Bedrock is about 60 feet below 

river level within this valley (Tolman and Lanctot, 1975)

B. Generalized section across Kennebec River valley between Norridgewock 

and Solon, Maine (Modified from Borns and Hagar, 1965b, fig. 1) 

Bedrock is 60-100 feet below river level along this valley reach (Adamik and 

others, 1987; Tolman and Lanctot, 1981c)

FEET

180^ WEST Esker Water table Outwash EAST _

100 200 300 400 500 600 700

c.

FEET 

125 -

100 -

75 -

50 -

25 -

SEA 

LEVEL

25

50

75

100

800 900 1,000 1,100 1,200 1,300 1.400 

DISTANCE, IN FEET 

Section in Pittsfield, Maine (From Adamik and others, 1987, fig. 4)

SOUTH

1,500 1,600 1,700

NORTH

Outwash

Ice-contact 

deposits

0 0.5 1 KILOMETER 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X32 

DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL

D. Section along Maine Turnpike in Portland, Maine (Extended from Prescott, 1976, section A)

FEET NORTH

LEVEL

E. Section across Lamprey and Picassic River valleys in Epping, New Hampshire 

(Modified from Cotton, 1988, fig. 6)

FIGURE 71. Geologic sections representative of the area inundated by marine water during deglaciation

in coastal Maine and New Hampshire.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B133

WEST EAST

FEET Water table

F. Idealized section in The Plains area, Kennebunk, Maine (From Tolman and others, 1983, fig. 4)

Presumpscot Formation _____ 

(on estuary floor)

FEET 

400 -

300 -

200 -

100 -

G. Schematic drawing of the relation between glaciomarine deltas and the Presumpscot Formation in southeastern 

New Hampshire (From Koteff, 1991)

Delta topset beds

Marine 

silt and clay

Delta foreset beds

0 0.5 1 1.5

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION XI3 MILES

H. Section through esker-fed glacial-marine delta near North Augusta,

Maine (From Thompson, 1978, fig. 9)

25

SOUTH NORTH

EXPLANATION

Presumpscot Formation Chiefly marine 

clay and silt: includes very fine sand 

in sections D, E, F, G

Sand

Pebbly sand or gravel

Till

Fine sand, silt (section F)

Fine sand (section F)

Fine-medium sand (section F)

Medium sand (section F)

Facies 1

Facies 3

Bedrock

Borehole, log available 

Seismic survey

0 3,000 6,000 9,000 12,000 15,000

VERBAL EXAGGEKA D|STANCEJN FEET

/. Section across Pineo Ridge delta, Columbia, Maine (Modified 

from Weddle and others, 1988, fig. 3)

FIGURE 71. Geologic sections representative of the area inundated by marine water during deglaciation 

in coastal Maine and New Hampshire Continued.
B134 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

SMALLER LOWLANDS

Four of the lowlands classified as "broad lowlands 

inundated by large water bodies" (map units "S," "L," 

and "D" on pi. 1) are smaller than the rest. They are 

described below. Although they could be more accurately termed "narrow lowlands" or even "broad valleys," they resemble the broader lowlands in that 

facies-2 fines greatly predominate and continue uninterrupted for miles; surficial facies-3 aquifers are generally absent or thinly saturated, and facies-1 icecontact deposits are sparsely distributed. Some valleys 

of comparable size elsewhere also contained proglacial 

lakes several miles long but are not included in the 

same category because the fines were thought to be 

interspersed with coarse facies in many places; however, such distinctions are gradational and commonly 

poorly documented.

ST. JOHN RIVER VALLEY IN MAINE 

AND NEW BRUNSWICK

Glacial Lake Madawaska extended more than 

80 miles up the St. John River watershed from Grand 

Falls, New Brunswick, where the river had been 

diverted over a bedrock sill by a moraine that crossed 

and filled the preglacial valley (Rampton, 1986). The 

northern headwaters were isostatically depressed at 

that time, perhaps to the extent that runoff could 

overflow northward into the St. Lawrence River watershed (Kite and Stuckenrath, 1986). These factors were 

apparently responsible for the unusual length of Lake 

Madawaska and its persistence for about 1,200 years 

(Kite and Stuckenrath, 1986).

The St. John valley is filled largely with silt and clay 

rhythmites along the international border from 

Madawaska, Maine, and Edmundston, New 

Brunswick, downstream to Grand Falls (pi. 1). Icecontact deposits are discontinuously present along the 

south side of the valley, and boreholes near Van Buren, 

Maine, penetrated coarse, basal, stratified drift 

beneath the fines; but in general, the extent and continuity of any basal aquifer in this valley reach are 

poorly documented. Lake Madawaska extended farther 

up the St. John valley to Fort Kent, Maine, but because 

this upper reach is relatively narrow and seems to have 

been filled with ice-contact deposits, it is excluded from 

the lake-dominated lowland that is represented by map 

unit "S" on plate 1.

The fine-grained sediment in the St. John valley 

from Madawaska to Grand Falls was apparently never 

capped by outwash or large tributary deltas (Kite, 

1983; Kite and Borns, 1980). In Holocene time, however, after the lake was filled with sediment or drained, 

major episodes of fluvial aggradation and incision took

place (Kite, 1983; Kite and Stuckenrath, 1986). The 

coarse channel-bar and channel-lag gravels that are 

generally found at the base of the alluvial deposits may 

constitute a thin surficial aquifer beneath the modern 

flood plain, in hydraulic contact with the river, but similar gravels beneath stream terraces are probably dry 

or only thinly saturated.

LAKE HACKENSACK, NEW JERSEY

The lowland in northeastern New Jersey that is 

drained by the Hackensack and lower Passaic Rivers 

was deepened by glacial erosion and blocked by the 

Harbor Hill (terminal) moraine to the south, resulting 

in proglacial ponding during deglaciation. The broad 

lowland represented by map unit "L" on plate 1 is 

underlain chiefly by deposits of Lake Hackensack, 

whose stable level was controlled by bedrock spillways, 

but also by deposits of earlier, higher, less stable lakes 

(Stanford and Harper, 1991); varve counts indicate that 

the lakes persisted for at least 3,350 years (Reeds, 

1926; Averill and others, 1980). This lowland is distinguished by:

1. Sparse volume of proximal ice-contact sand and 

gravel, insofar as reported in publications.

2. Extensive laminated clay and silt that varies widely 

in thickness over an irregular topography of low 

ridges and valleys.

3. No postlacustrine facies-3 aquifer that is of any 

consequence.

4. Surficial organic-rich, fine-grained sediment several 

feet thick.

A few reports present subsurface information from 

boreholes in this urban area. For example, Agron 

(1980) shows geologic sections along the Pulaski 

Skyway and at Meadowlands Arena that indicate only 

clay and till above bedrock. Nichols (1968, p. 20) 

reports that the buried valley in the Newark area is 

filled with clay. Carswell (1976) presents a section from 

Rutherford to Union City that indicates unconsolidated 

sediment to be mostly clay over till, except for basal 

gravel at the east end, which is immediately north of a 

small delta subsequently mapped by Stanford and 

others (1990).

The apparent lack of ice-contact sand and gravel in 

Lake Hackensack can perhaps be explained by the configuration of the watershed. The eastern margin of the 

lowland is a narrow basalt ridge, beyond which is the 

deep Hudson River trench that also truncates the headwaters of the watershed and, therefore, could have captured all subglacial meltwater from the north and east. 

The only substantial tributary on the west is the
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B135

Passaic River, which could not contribute much coarse 

sediment because the lower part of its northwarddraining watershed was mantled by silt and clay from 

an earlier proglacial lake. The only evidence of in wash 

is several small deltas along the margins of the lowland, mentioned by Carswell (1976) and mapped by 

Stanford and others (1990). Thus, any ice-contact sediment that underlies the fine-grained lake-bottom 

deposits was probably derived entirely from local 

sources.

At its northern end, Lake Hackensack was limited to 

narrow arms along several valleys. These narrow valleys contain ice-contact deposits, deltas, and lakebottom fines mantled by fluvial sand and gravel 

(Stanford and others, 1990; Stanford and Harper, 

1991). They resemble other southward-draining valleys in New Jersey and, therefore, are not included in 

the broad lowland region delineated on plate 1.

Lake Hackensack drained when ice retreat uncovered a gap at Sparkill, N.Y. (Stanford and Harper, 

1991). Post-lake streams flowed north across the 

former lake floor at first but were gradually diverted 

southward by isostatic rebound. They deposited an 

alluvial layer 10 to 20 feet thick (Averill and others, 

1980) that is of little importance as an aquifer because 

it is mostly fine to very fine sand and silt (Carswell, 

1976, p. 12). Eventually, rising sea level inundated the 

former lake floor, resulting in a vast salt marsh in 

which organic-rich sediments accumulated prior to 

urban development.

LAKE HOOKSETT, NEW HAMPSHIRE

The smallest lacustrine area identified on plate 1 is 

a broad reach of the Merrimack River valley near 

Concord, N.H. A narrow reach south of Concord was 

largely filled by profuse deposition of coarse ice-contact 

sediment, culminating in deltas that choked the valley 

to the point that meltwater was diverted across a 

nearby bedrock spillway, thereby creating glacial Lake 

Hooksett (Koteff and others, 1984). The lake expanded 

northward from Bow Junction at least to Franklin, a 

distance of 19 miles; this broad reach is characterized 

by widespread facies-2 fines, which grade up to deltaic 

sand plains that are now deeply incised. Rhythmic sediments, including varved fine sands or silts near deltas 

but silty clay at most localities, are exposed near river 

level all along this reach (Antevs, 1922). Borehole 

records in U.S. Geological Survey files also document 

the predominance of facies-2 fines. Coarse facies-1 sediments are known to underlie or border the fines in a 

few places along the valley sides, however, so a more 

extensive buried aquifer cannot be ruled out.

LAKES SOUTH OF THE TERMINAL MORAINE 

IN NEW JERSEY

When the margin of the ice sheet stood at the 

terminal moraine in New Jersey, it blocked several 

northward-draining lowlands or valleys, thus creating 

proglacial lakes that spilled southward through various 

saddles. As meltwater poured into these lakes, finegrained sediments were deposited all across the lake 

floor, while sand and gravel prograded south atop the 

fines as deltaic outwash. The outwash generally pinches 

out about 1 mile south of the moraine (Stanford and 

others, 1990) or, in one valley, becomes quite thin at that 

distance (fig. 72); fine-grained sediment predominates at 

land surface over most of the lake area.

If the terminal moraine represented the southern 

limit of glaciation, then the extensive fine-grained lake 

deposits would necessarily rest on weathered bedrock 

or, locally along valley axes, on thin pre-glacial alluvium. Such is not the case, however. Several geologic 

studies have shown that the ice that deposited the terminal moraine briefly advanced well beyond that 

moraine, as did earlier ice sheets. For example, Ridge 

(1983) recognized a fringe of till and erratic boulders 

that extends as much as 3 miles beyond (south of) the 

terminal moraine in the Delaware River valley. Cotter 

and others (1985, p. 9) cite other studies that recognized drift south of the moraine. Geohydrologic studies 

of a few localities beyond the terminal moraine have 

reported fine-grained lake deposits to overlie sand and 

gravel that might be ascribed to subaquatic fans as the 

ice melted back from its maximum advance. For example, Great Swamp, which now occupies the basin of the 

largest of these proglacial lakes, is underlain by 5 to as 

much as 128 feet of silt, clay, and muck, beneath which 

is a basal sand and gravel layer probably less than 

25 feet thick in most places (Vecchioli and others, 1962; 

Minard, 1967). Long Valley, southwest of Kenvil, contains as much as 100 feet of clay underlain by basal 

gravel that Harper (1978, 1979) ascribed to glacial 

advance beyond the terminal moraine. The northern 

part of the Lamington River valley, near Kenvil, also 

contains a basal aquifer (fig. 72), and unpublished well 

records 1 to 2 miles farther south reveal a complex 

stratigraphy of probable ice-contact origin. In summary, the proglacial lakes immediately south of the terminal moraine in New Jersey were not beyond the 

outer limit of ice advance, and, therefore, aquifer geometry in the area inundated by those lakes is not fundamentally different from that in areas inundated by 

large proglacial lakes farther north.
B136 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

74°39' 74°36'

40°54'

40°51'

VERTICAL SCALE GREATLY EXAGGERATED

0 4,000 FEET

0 1,200 METERS

EXPLANATION FOR MAP

Deltaic or fluvial sand 

 on valley floor south 

of moraine

NEW 

JERSEY

Southern margin of 

terminal moraine

Line of geologic section

2 MILES

2 KILOMETERS

FIGURE 72. Geologic section from the terminal moraine south through Kenvil, N.J., into the headwaters of the Lamington River valley. 

(Section from Hill and Finder, 1981, fig. 25; map modified from Stanford and others, 1990.)

REGIONS OF HIGH RELIEF THAT 

SLOPED TOWARD THE ICE

As Pleistocene ice sheets advanced into what is now 

the United States from Canada, they first crossed lowlands bordering the St. Lawrence River and Great 

Lakes, then faced much steeper terrain that sloped 

north from the regional divide that separates the 

St. Lawrence watershed from other North Atlantic 

Ocean watersheds. Two sections of this north-sloping 

terrain are noteworthy for their high relief, steep 

slopes, and deep north-draining valleys; each is treated 

as a hydrophysiographic region in this paper. The 

northern rim of the Appalachian Plateau (map unit 

"N," pi. 1) extends from northern Ohio and 

Pennsylvania eastward across central New York; for 

most of this distance it abruptly borders the Erie and 

Ontario lowlands and constitutes the first major barrier faced by the ice sheet. Mountains in northeastern 

New York and northwestern Vermont (map unit "H,"

pi. 1) border the Champlain lowland just as abruptly, 

and the major valleys amid these mountains drain in a 

northerly direction. In both regions, the major valleys 

contained long, deep proglacial lakes in which abundant fine-grained sediments were deposited. In both 

regions, the fines are seldom capped by surficial outwash, although thin, unsaturated terrace alluvium 

deposited by northward-draining postglacial streams is 

fairly common. The two regions differ, however, in complexity of their valley fills. In general, drift in valleys 

draining to the Champlain lowland conforms to the 

universal single-deglaciation model of three depositional facies. Proximal coarse sand and gravel locally 

underlie the fine-grained sediments, especially in 

north-south tributary valleys that were the principal 

avenues of meltwater flow during deglaciation. Till layers are found amid the stratified drift in a few areas, 

reflecting minor readvances of an active ice margin, 

and bedrock crops out locally along stream channels.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B137

Valleys draining northward from the Appalachian 

Plateau, by contrast, generally contain multiple drift 

sheets that consist primarily of interlayered diamicton 

and lacustrine fines, but also include discontinuous 

lenses of coarse sand and gravel at multiple depths; the 

drift is several hundred feet thick and bedrock never 

crops out on the valley floors. These stratigraphic differences between two regions of comparable relief and 

orientation might be a function of the hard metamorphic bedrock in the mountains bordering the 

Champlain lowland. Also, the flow of ice and meltwater 

into those mountains might have been weak during 

deglaciation because so much ice was being diverted 

down the St. Lawrence valley then (fig. 43) and (or) 

because within the United States, flow was primarily 

southward along the Champlain lowland rather than 

up tributary valleys. By contrast, valleys in the 

Appalachian Plateau were the principal avenues of 

southward flow of both ice and meltwater. These two 

regions are described in more detail in the following 

sections.

Another similar section of steep north-sloping terrain that bounds the St. Lawrence watershed is not 

treated in this paper because it lies in Canada. From 

New Hampshire to northernmost Maine, the regional 

divide approximately follows the international border. 

As a matter of interest, however, stratigraphy exposed 

in river bluffs along the St. Francis River in Quebec is 

similar to that along northward-draining Appalachian 

Plateau valleys. McDonald (1969) described 

125 measured sections that collectively consisted 

chiefly of silt and clay, capped and locally interbedded 

with diamicton layers and lenses, but also including 

30 percent sand with southward-oriented current 

structures; this stratigraphy is interpreted as reflecting multiple ice advance and retreat in proglacial 

lakes. The bluffs along the St. Francis River lie about 

800 feet below saddles on the watershed divide, comparable to relief along the Appalachian Plateau.

MOUNTAINS BORDERING THE CHAMPLAIN LOWLAND

Active ice in the Champlain lowland blocked the 

lower reaches of the northwest-draining Winooski, 

Lamoille, and Mississquoi Rivers of Vermont and the 

northeast-draining Ausable, Salmon, and Saranac 

Rivers of New York as deglaciation progressed downstream. As a result, water was ponded far above the 

valley floors in these watersheds and spilled across a 

succession of saddles into valleys tributary to the 

Connecticut and Hudson Rivers. The flow of meltwater 

was generally southward at a high angle to the orientation of the principal valleys, but parallel to the ice margin and the grain of the bedrock topography.

The stratified drift in most watersheds in the northeastern Adirondacks and northwestern Green 

Mountains conforms to the universal model of three 

depositional facies deposited during a single deglaciation. Lake-bottom clay, silt, and very fine sand (facies 2) 

are widely distributed along the principal valleys and 

along many tributaries, mantling the lower slopes and 

generally underlying deltas and the valley floor 

(Stewart, 1961; Stewart and MacClintock, 1970; 

Larsen, 1972, 1987b; Hodges and others, 1976a; Craft, 

1979; Diemer and Franzi, 1988; Gurrieri and Musiker, 

1990, fig. 4). Facies-3 deposits include several prominent deltas built into ice-free proglacial lakes by 

southward-flowing streams that temporarily carried 

large volumes of meltwater (Stewart and MacClintock, 

1970; Cadwell and Pair, 1991), and many small deltas 

built by lesser tributaries (Larsen, 1987b, p. 220; 

Ackerly and Larsen, 1987, p. 380; Diemer and Franzi, 

1988, fig. 6). Because lake levels were high above the 

valley floors, many deltas are perched on the valley 

sides entirely above stream grade. The deltas generally 

grade down to fine sand that could be partly saturated, 

but the coarse sand and gravel are above the modern 

water table. Streams have incised the deltas and lakebottom deposits, leaving thin facies-3 terrace gravels at 

various elevations (fig. 73).

The distribution of facies-1 ice-contact deposits is 

poorly documented in the northeastern Adirondack 

Mountains. Gurrieri and Musiker (1990, p. 194) mention subaquatic outwash complexes in what they term 

the north-central Adirondacks, but do not identify any 

within the Ausable River watershed. Cadwell and Pair 

(1991) mapped isolated kame deposits in some northeastward-draining valleys, but none that border and 

might, in part, underlie younger deltas or lake-bottom 

fines. Few borehole logs are available; Giese and Hobba 

(1970) list three wells that tap sand and gravel beneath 

the toe of a large delta near Clintondale, NY.

In the northwestern Green Mountains of Vermont, 

by contrast, facies-1 ice-contact deposits are widely documented in many north-south tributary valleys that 

were principal avenues of meltwater flow. Kame terraces choke some reaches of these valleys, especially 

near saddles, and basal coarse deposits underlie finegrained facies-2 sediments in other reaches. Basal 

coarse deposits also are found where subglacial 

streams flowed southeastward up the principal valleys, 

away from the Champlain ice lobe, as inferred by 

Larsen (1987b, p. 220) for a reach of the Winooski valley and as suggested by scattered well records (Hodges, 

1967c; Hodges and others, 1976a). The basal coarse 

deposits are commonly thin and discontinuous, but are 

as much as 100 feet thick in some north-south tributary
B138 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

72°39'30" 72°39' 72°38'30"

Base from U.S. Geological Survey 

Northfield, Vt., 1980,1:24,000

0

Surficial geology by 

F.D. Larsen

2,000 FEET

i r

0 300 600 METERS 

CONTOUR INTERVAL 20 FEET

FEET

700 

500

0 1,000 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X5

2,000

DISTANCE, IN FEET

3,000 4,000 

DATUM IS SEA LEVEL

Section

EXPLANATION VERMONT

Alluvium Gravel - Geologic contact Dashed 

where estimated

 A' Line of geologic section

1

Scarp separating stream terraces 

Ticks point to older terrace

Borehole, log available 

(section only)

Stream terrace Gravel, thin 

(facies 3)

Delta Gravel, sand (facies 3)

Lake deposits Fine sand to silt 

(facies 2)

Ice-contact deposits Gravel, sand 

(facies 1)

Till 

Bedrock

FIGURE 73. Geologic section across Dog River valley, Northfield, Vt.

valleys. Among the north-south valley reaches in 

northwestern Vermont that contain proximal facies-1 

aquifers are the following:

1. Dog River Valley. The Dog River flows northward 

to join the Winooski River near Montpelier, Vt. 

(pi. 1). Exposures and subsurface data near the 

valley axis (Larsen, 1972, 1987b; Hodges and 

others, 1976a) indicate that basal sand and gravel

is apparently continuous for at least 9 miles, generally buried b> fines (fig. 73j, and at least partly 

saturated. The lower part of the basal sand and 

gravel consists of poorly sorted pebble-cobble 

gravel interbedded with pebbly coarse to fine sand 

and silt, and occurs in narrow elongate esker segments; the beds dip south and are collapsed on the 

margins. The upper part consists of medium to 

very coarse sand and pebble gravel arranged in
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B139

trough-crossbed sets of variable orientation, 

locally truncated by channels filled with structureless sand that contains sand clasts; it was 

deposited as subaquatic outwash by density currents near the mouth of a subglacial channel 

(Larsen, 1987b, p. 224).

2. Kingsbury Branch and Connecting Valleys. Maps 

by Hodges and others (1976a) suggest that the 

valley of southward-flowing Kingsbury Branch 

contains a larger volume of more continuous icecontact deposits than the parallel valleys of North 

Branch and upper Winooski River to the west and 

east. A well-documented esker extends from the 

valley of Kingsbury Branch southward into the 

Winooski valley in the town of East Montpelier. 

The esker has a saturated thickness of 60 feet, a 

transmissivity of 40,000 feet squared per day, and 

is bordered and partly buried by fine sand, silt, 

and clay. Hodges and others (1976a) suggested 

that the esker may continue on a southward trajectory toward Barre and toward the valley of 

north-flowing Stevens Branch, which heads at 

Williamstown Gulf (fig. 21). Near the head of 

Kingsbury Branch, at Lake Woodbury, kame 

terraces (Stewart and MacClintock, 1970; Hodges 

and others, 1976a) commonly crest at 1,000 to 

1,040 feet, which is at or slightly above the 

projected level of the proglacial lake (Lake 

Winooski) that was controlled by Williamstown 

Gulf, allowing for postglacial rebound (Larsen, 

1987a, p. 37). The ice-contact deposits in this set 

of valleys are inferred to reflect a persistent 

subglacial channel system early in deglaciation of 

this region, as described earlier in the section 

"Regional Meltwater Drainage Systems."

3. Mississquoi Valley, Upstream from North Troy. 

This reach of the Mississquoi valley drains north 

into Canada. Early in deglaciation, melt-water 

drained south through Eden Notch, a saddle 

1,360 feet in altitude at the head of the valley 

(fig. 24, east of Mt. Norris). Sand and gravel 

deposits immediately north of the notch were 

probably deposited by meltwater from a subglacial channel that followed the Miesissquoi 

valley, as discussed earlier in the section "Other 

Temporary Meltwater Channels in Uplands." Farther north, fine-grained lake deposits are widespread below an altitude of 840 feet, and small 

deltas or fans occur at this altitude near tributaries. Stewart and MacClintock (1969, p. 171) report

that the lake deposits mantle kame gravels, which 

seem to be products of the earlier subglacial channel system.

4. Mississquoi Watershed Downstream From East 

Richford. Surficial stratified drift downstream 

from East Richford, Vt., where the Mississquoi 

River returns to the United States, consists 

largely of fine-sandy deltas and lake-bottom fines 

deposited in valleys ponded at successive levels of 

Lake Fort Ann, a large water body that occupied 

the Champlain lowland late in deglaciation. The 

only extensive coarse ice-contact deposits reflect 

meltwater flow across local divides early in 

deglaciation or perhaps following a local readvance (Parrott and Stone, 1972). Ice-contact 

deposits between West Berkshire and Enosburg 

Falls, Vt., are tapped by a municipal well (Hodges, 

1967b) and head in a segmented esker about 

3 miles long. South of Enosburg Falls, kame terraces and eskers extend across a divide near 

Bakersfield, Vt. (Stewart and MacClintock, 1970; 

Parrott and Stone, 1972). These two masses of icecontact deposits are aligned with each other and 

could reflect successive depositional events along 

a single meltwater-drainage system, although 

they are not known to be continuous, and intervening surficial gravel deposits are interpreted as 

younger (Parrott and Stone, 1972).

Valleys in the north-draining mountain region that 

borders the Champlain lowland are typically narrow 

and steepsided. Bedrock outcrops seem to be less common along the stream channels and valley floor than in 

the adjacent Eastern Mountain region (pi. 1), but in 

several places, streams have cut short gorges through 

bedrock spurs on which they were superposed when 

proglacial lakes drained. Hence, any basal ice-contact 

sand and gravel aquifers are likely to be bounded by 

bedrock walls only several hundred feet apart.

Ice retreated from this region by stagnation in segments that were at least a few miles in length; indeed, 

much of the region may have stagnated at the same 

time (Schafer, 1967). Evidence of active ice is reported 

from several localities, however. Numerous exposures 

of till and deformed strata within lake deposits have 

been attributed to one or more readvances of the 

Champlain lobe in the Memphremagog and 

Mississquoi basins near the Canadian border, where 

altitude and relief are the lowest in this region and 

decline northward (Wagner, 1972; Parrott and Stone, 

1972). Denny (1974, p. 7-8) described exposures of till 

overlying deformed deltaic sands along the Saranac 

and Great Chazy Rivers in New York, also at relatively 

low altitudes near the Champlain lowland. Till
B140 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

overlying inwash terraces in the headwaters of West 

Branch Ausable River near Lake Placid was attributed 

to a minor readvance by Cubbison (1989) and Gurrieri 

and Musiker (1990, p. 191-2). Several exposures of till 

overlying deformed lake-bottom fines farther downstream along the Ausable River valley were illustrated 

and interpreted by Craft (1979) as deposits of local 

mountain glaciers late in deglaciation. Remnants of the 

continental ice sheet also may have functioned briefly 

as local glaciers in a few mountain valleys in Vermont 

(Wagner, 1970; Connally, 1971). Thus, till layers are 

abundant amid the stratified drift in parts of this 

region, and some exposures (for example, Craft, 1979, 

figs. 11, 29) suggest a complex stratigraphy with more 

than one drift sheet. More generally, however, the tills 

seem to be incidental interruptions in a typical 3-facies 

stratigraphy.

NORTHERN RIM OF THE APPALACHIAN PLATEAU

Nearly all of the Appalachian Plateau in Ohio, 

Pennsylvania, and New York drains southward to the 

Ohio, Susquehanna, or Delaware Rivers, but the northern 10 to 30 miles of the plateau drains northward to 

Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, or the Mohawk River. In this 

northern rim, valley fills are unusually thick and commonly include multiple drift sheets rather than the single drift sheet with three depositional facies that is 

typical of valley fills nearly everywhere else in the glaciated Northeast. Because the valley fills are so thick 

and complex, this region is treated at greater length 

than most other regions. A review of aquifer geometry 

in the region as a whole is followed by brief descriptions 

of several valleys that have been studied in some detail.

All major valleys that drain the north rim of the 

plateau were deeply scoured by glacial erosion. The 

Finger Lakes of New York are spectacular examples; 

the bedrock surface is at least 800 feet below sea level 

beneath parts of Seneca and Cayuga Lakes (Muller, 

1965b; Mullins and Hinchey, 1989). In many through 

valleys, bedrock a few miles north of the modern drainage divide is 1,000 to 1,500 feet lower than the bedrock 

saddle, which is at most a few miles south of the modern divide. Such large differences in altitude must have 

resulted in unusually deep proglacial lakes during both 

advance and retreat of the ice. These lakes were longer 

as well as deeper than most lakes in southwarddraining valleys and, thus, probably trapped a higher 

percentage of the fine-grained sediment carried by 

meltwater. During both advance and retreat, ice 

tongues must have been partially buoyant but stalled 

for long periods within the steep north-sloping reach at 

the head of each valley, which was a barrier to ice 

tongues just as escarpments farther north on the ridges

between these valleys were barriers to the ice sheet as 

a whole. All these factors favored deposition of sediment, particularly fine-grained sediment. At present, 

all northward-draining valleys along the northern rim 

of the Appalachian Plateau contain several hundred 

feet of drift; some reaches contain as much as 

1,000 feet. In general, the bulk of the valley fill consists 

of interlayered diamictons and fine-grained lake deposits, but in some valley reaches, the latter seem to 

greatly predominate. Multiple diamicton layers are evident not only within the Valley Heads and Lake 

Escarpment moraines, but also in reaches to the north 

and south.

Sand and gravel is much less abundant than diamicton and lake-bottom fines, at least in the upper part 

of the section, and is apparently absent in some localities. Sand and gravel occurs chiefly as discontinuous 

lenses of variable thickness that could have been 

deposited as subaquatic fans by subglacial meltwater 

and as alluvium in fans or channels of north-flowing 

streams during interstadial intervals. Tributary deltas 

are small, perhaps because upland ridges between valleys are too narrow to allow large tributary watersheds 

and because the steep valley walls below lake level may 

have favored slumping and subaquatic fans. Surficial 

sand and gravel is generally limited to the alluvial fans 

and channel deposits of postglacial streams; saturated 

thickness seldom exceeds 20 feet and is locally negligible due to Holocene incision. In a few valleys, these thin 

alluvial deposits have been considered potentially 

important aquifers in that shallow wells or infiltration 

galleries might obtain significant yields sustained by 

seepage induced from streams (Frimpter, 1972; 

Randall, 1979). At the southern ends of the Finger 

Lakes, about 50 feet of Holocene aggradation has 

occurred as a result of isostatic rebound that tilted the 

lakes southward; this alluvium is mostly organic-rich 

mud, but gravel aquifers are present where large tributaries reach the valley floor (Kantrowitz, 1970; Grain, 

1974). In the northern half of Cattaraugus Creek 

watershed in Wyoming and Erie Counties, N.Y., and 

rarely elsewhere, southward-draining tributary valleys 

contain surficial valley trains of sand and gravel.

Some information suggests that a basal aquifer is 

commonly present in the deep northward-draining valleys of the Appalachian Plateau. Productive basal aquifers have been penetrated by boreholes in Dale Valley 

(Randall, 1979) and in Cayuga Inlet, Tully, northern 

Schoharie, and Cobleskill Creek valleys (fig. 74), as 

described farther on. Seismic-reflection profiles across 

each of the Finger Lakes (Mullins and Hinchey, 1989; 

Mullins and others, 1991) reveal a basal unconsolidated facies that is seismically chaotic (typical of stony,
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B141

heterogeneous sediments), has a hummocky upper surface, and approaches 300 feet in thickness near the 

south end of some lakes but thins and becomes younger 

northward. It is overlain by a layer that is reflectionfree (interpreted as massive muds), and then by a set of 

parallel high-amplitude reflectors (typical of rhythmites) that are interrupted in some valleys by 

southward-thinning reflection-free wedges (interpreted as massive sandy silt or diamicton deposited 

rapidly during individual inflow events). At the top of 

the section are northward-thinning postglacial sediments. All this information seems consistent with the 

hypothesis that valley fills in this region are largely the 

product of the last major deglaciation, as is generally 

true elsewhere. According to this hypothesis, when the 

Wisconsinan ice reached its maximum thickness and 

extended into Pennsylvania, it further scoured these 

valleys, which were already overdeepened by earlier 

glaciations. A long pause in retreat when the ice sheet 

fronted on the north margin of the plateau allowed 

time for deposition of an unusually thick basal facies 

that included subglacial channel gravels, subaquatic 

fans, and diamictons of various origins. Any later 

readvances may have been surges controlled by glacier 

dynamics in proglacial lakes rather than by climate. 

Surges would have involved thin ice tongues that 

advanced and retreated quickly (Teller, 1987), and, 

therefore, left little coarse stratified sediment. Valleyfill stratigraphy that contains the typical three depositional facies associated with a single deglaciation 

seems to become increasingly prevalent with distance 

north of the modern drainage divide. A fourth facies 

composed of fine-grained, organic-rich Holocene alluvium was deposited locally atop facies 2 or 3 when isostatic rebound reduced northward stream gradients 

and caused the Finger Lakes to prograde southward 

(Lawson, 1977; Mullins and others, 1991).

Other information, however, indicates that a large 

part of the drift in many valleys is older than late 

Wisconsinan and, thus, contradicts the foregoing 

hypothesis that the valley fills are essentially a single 

late Wisconsinan drift sheet. At Millport, N.Y., within 

the Valley Heads moraine along a deep trough that 

extends south from Seneca Lake, wood recovered from 

fine sand beneath till at a depth of about 175 feet was 

more than 40,270 radiocarbon years in age 

(RE. Calkin, State University of New York, written 

commun., 1989). Just north of the Valley Heads 

moraine in a trough that extends southeast from 

Cayuga Lake, wood from the upper part of a thick 

varved sequence overlain and underlain by till was 

dated as 41,900 years in age (Bloom, 1972, citing 

Schmidt, 1947). Preliminary analysis of pollen grains

I I li

FIGURE 74. Locations of described or cited valleys in the northern rim of the Appalachian Plateau of New York. Limit of 

Wisconsinan glaciation modified from Growl and Sevon (1980), 

Muller (1977), and Shepps and others (1959).
B142 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

in borehole samples from Conewango valley suggest 

mid-Wisconsinan interstadial deposits at a depth of 

about 130 feet and Sangamon interglacial deposits at 

about 500 feet (Pefley and Calkin, 1990). Peat at Otto, 

N.Y., and wood at Collins, N.Y., have been dated as 

63,900 and 52,000 radiocarbon years in age, respectively (Muller, 1964; Calkin and others, 1982; Muller 

and Calkin, 1993); the Otto site lies in a narrow 

northeast-southwest valley segment that might not 

have been effectively scoured by ice, but the Collins site 

lies on the deep Conewango (ancestral Allegheny) 

trough that is aligned generally parallel to flow of ice 

out of the Erie basin. Drift 100 to 300 feet thick below 

the grade of the Genesee River south of Portageville 

was inferred to predate the late Wisconsinan ice 

advance to the glacial border (Braun, 1988). The bulk 

of the till and stratified drift in northeastern Ohio was 

deposited by the Titusville ice advance in midWisconsinan time and was subsequently mantled by 

late Wisconsinan drift (White and others, 1969; White, 

1982). All of this evidence, taken together, indicates 

that if ice advanced to the Wisconsinan drift border in 

late Wisconsinan time, as concluded by Growl and 

Sevon (1980) and Muller and others (1988), then that 

ice did not generally remove preexisting drift from 

northward-draining valleys along the north rim of the 

Appalachian Plateau. If the drift in those valleys was 

deposited incrementally during multiple cycles of ice 

advance and retreat, coarse proximal stratified drift 

would not be expected to occur exclusively or predominantly at the base of the section. Borehole records from 

most of the valleys that are described in more detail 

below provide no clear evidence that coarse-grained 

stratified drift is any more abundant at the base of the 

valley fill than at shallower depths. The upper part of 

the section in these valleys consists of multiple drift 

sheets, predominantly diamicton interbedded with 

lacustrine fines, with subordinate lenses of coarse sand 

and gravel of variable thickness. A reasonable hypothesis, therefore, is that the deep part of the section was 

deposited under much the same conditions as the shallow part, except for deeper water that might have 

favored a higher proportion of fine-grained sediment.

Brief descriptions of stratigraphy in several individual valleys along the northern rim of the Appalachian 

Plateau follow, arranged from east to west. All but the 

last of these valleys are labeled in figure 74, as are 

several places mentioned in the text.

SCHOHARIE CREEK WATERSHED

The watershed of northward-draining Schoharie 

Creek includes three contrasting terranes, the first two 

of which resemble the north rim of the plateau farther

west:

1. Upper Schoharie Watershed, South of Breakabeen. 

Valley floors and, in most places, lower valley-side 

slopes are underlain by till interbedded with lakebottom fines and scattered lenses of water-yielding 

sand and gravel. Rich (1935), who studied the 

southern part of the watershed, mapped the relatively gentle slopes that characterize the lower valley sides as "thick drift" composed mostly of 

"hardpan-type till," and presented sections and 

borehole logs that reveal 225 to 280 feet of interlayered till, clay, and fine sand with few possible 

aquifers. Cadwell and Dineen (1987) mapped some 

lower valley slopes as kame deposits, despite the 

general lack of flat-topped morphosequence remnants, and mapped some broad hummocky areas at 

higher elevation as kame moraine. Soils maps indicate that most areas mapped as kame moraine in 

Schoharie County are underlain by till, at least at 

shallow depth (Flora and others, 1969). Wells on 

the valley floors and lower slopes of Schoharie 

Creek and most tributaries are reported to penetrate chiefly hardpan (till) with lesser amounts of 

clay, quicksand (silt or very fine sand), sand, or 

gravel to depths of 100 to 250 feet (U.S. Geological 

Survey, unpublished records). North of Prattsville, 

the lower sides of valleys are generally mantled by 

fine sand, silt, and clay deposited in proglacial 

lakes that overflowed at Grand Gorge (altitude 

about 1,600 feet) and later at Franklinton 

(1,180 feet); lake fines are not found southeast of 

Prattsville, perhaps because stagnant ice choked 

these valley reaches (Cadwell, 1985).

2. Lower Schoharie Valley (Breakabeen North to 

Esperance) and Cobleskill Valley. Thick, predominantly fine-grained drift also characterizes 

this region, but lake-bottom sediments predominate over till, and a basal aquifer is commonly 

present. Lake-bottom sediments, 100 to 300 feet 

thick and apparently continuous, underlie the valley floors (U.S. Geological Survey, unpublished 

records) and many segments of the valley sides. 

These sediments are commonly capped and perhaps interbedded with till reworked from lakebottom sediments during ice readvance (Darien 

soils of Flora and others, 1969) and are underlain 

in many places by deep gravel. The deep gravel 

might be alluvium that predates the last glaciation, but its upper surface seems to have a steplike 

downvalley profile that suggests discrete subaquatic fans deposited at successive positions as 

ice retreated downvalley. In a few localities, gravel 

layers also occur higher in the valley fill.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS 6143

3. Eastern Margin of Schoharie Watershed. Several 

east-side valleys or headwater segments thereof 

contain much more coarse stratified drift than is 

evident elsewhere in the Schoharie watershed. 

Kame moraines, kame terraces, and deltas are 

banked high on valley sides and across a few low 

divides (Cadwell, 1985; Cadwell and Dineen, 

1987) and were deposited by meltwater that 

flowed amid stagnant ice eastward out of the 

Schoharie watershed through upper Schoharie 

valley, or westward into the watershed through 

Keyser Kill, Platter Kill, Manor Kill, and perhaps 

Batavia Kill valleys. Accordingly, these marginal 

areas are classified as part of the Eastern 

Mountains Region on plate 1, although they generally lack the bedrock outcrops on the valley 

floors that characterize this region in New 

England and south of Greene County in New York.

MOHAWK RIVER AND WEST CANADA CREEK

The Mohawk River drains a rather narrow lowland, 

carved chiefly in Ordovician shale, that separates the 

Appalachian Plateau from the Adirondack Mountains. 

A major tributary, West Canada Creek, drains an 

extension of that lowland that lies between the 

Adirondacks and the south end of Tug Hill. During 

deglaciation, ice lobes repeatedly readvanced into these 

lowlands from the west, north, and southeast (Ridge 

and others, 1984). The ice lobes ponded deep proglacial 

lakes that inundated the lowland and drained southward across the Appalachian Plateau, as did lakes in 

valleys all along the northern rim of the plateau. The 

uppermost 100 to 250 feet of drift is exceptionally well 

exposed in bluffs along West Canada Creek and its tributaries from Hinckley Reservoir to the Mohawk River 

at Herkimer. These exposures have been thoroughly 

studied by Ridge (1985). Detailed geologic sections 

(Ridge and others, 1984, figs. 3, 5) indicate that about 

20 percent of the drift is silt-clay rhythmites and 

55 percent is till or resedimented proglacial mudflows. 

In places, thick sections of till are interrupted by thin 

layers of fine sand or silt that presumably resulted 

from localized meltwater flow under occasionally buoyant ice. The remaining 25 percent of the drift is 

described as gravel or as sand in flat beds, dunes, or ripples. Presumably part of the sand is fine to very fine 

grained, and only 10 to 15 percent of the total volume 

of drift is coarse and permeable enough to constitute an 

aquifer. Some sections contain only a few thin gravel 

units, interlayered with deformed silty sand or diamicton in a manner that suggests final emplacement by 

mass movements. A few thicker deposits are

interpreted as subaquatic fans, the largest of which is 

described previously in the section "Distribution of 

Buried Facies 1 Beneath Fine-Grained Sediments," or 

as deltas (Ridge and others, 1984; Ridge, 1985). Sand 

and gravel lenses exposed in the bluffs along West 

Canada Creek drain readily and are essentially unsaturated. A few well records indicate saturated wateryielding gravel below the grade of West Canada Creek, 

but recharge is likely to be small if these aquifers are 

surrounded by till and (or) lake clay, as the exposed 

sand and gravel lenses are.

Surficial deltaic and kamic sand and gravel is widespread north and east of the incised gorge of West 

Canada Creek (Cadwell and Dineen, 1987) in a marginal part of the Mohawk lowland that was ponded but 

generally not invaded by the successive ice readvances 

(Ridge and others, 1984; Ridge, 1985). The bulk of the 

sand and gravel is inwash from the Adirondacks. 

Sparse data (Fullerton, 1971, p. 60; Ridge and others, 

1984, p. 248, p. 256-257; U.S. Geological Survey, 

unpublished records) suggest that lake-bottom fines 

commonly underlie the surficial deltaic sand plains. 

This marginal locality is classified on plate 1 as part of 

the mountain-front delta terrane that also borders the 

Adirondacks farther north.

The Mohawk River valley was ponded and invaded 

by successive ice lobes, as was West Canada Creek. 

During at least two periods of ice retreat, however, 

meltwater from the entire watershed of the proglacial 

Great Lakes drained eastward toward Rome, N.Y., and 

down the Mohawk valley (Fullerton, 1980; Ridge and 

others, 1984). Such extremely large overflows of 

sediment-free lake water could be expected to incise 

earlier drift and leave a distinctively coarse channel or 

lag gravel along the Mohawk valley. Well-rounded 

cobble-pebble gravel more than 30 feet thick, exposed 

beneath till and stratified drift in the walls of the 

Mohawk valley 1.5-5 miles east of Little Falls, has 

been interpreted as a subaerial fluvial deposit of overflow during the Erie Interstade, 15,000 to 16,000 years 

ago (Lykens, 1983, p. 27; Ridge and others, 1984; Ridge, 

1991, p. DID. Surficial terraces composed of similar 

gravel as much as 60 feet thick occur at a few wide 

places in the Mohawk valley farther east and have been 

ascribed to transport and redeposition by Great Lakes 

overflow during the latest deglaciation, about 

12,500 years ago (LaFleur, 1979a, p. 339; Wall, 1995). 

None of these gravels have been shown to extend far 

below modern river grade. The floor of the Mohawk valley west of bedrock outcrops near Little Falls is a wide 

fluvial terrace that projects to or above the aforementioned gravels, but well records between Utica and
B144 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Little Falls (U.S. Geological Survey, unpublished 

records) do not suggest an unusually productive 

surficial aquifer. Thus, the episodes of Great Lakes discharge seem to have affected stratigraphy in the 

Mohawk valley only at elevations above the modern 

river.

From Little Falls west to Rome, the stratigraphy 

exposed along the sides of the Mohawk valley includes 

much more sand and gravel than found farther east or 

in the bluffs along West Canada Creek. The sand and 

gravel was deposited in deep proglacial lakes before, 

and especially after, three readvances of the ice, all subsequent to the Erie Interstade (Ridge, 1991, fig. El), 

and was interpreted as esker-subaquatic fan deposits 

by Ridge (1991, p. El, E23), who noted that such deposits seem limited to the deepest part of the Mohawk 

valley implying that late in deglaciation, subglacial 

meltwater flow was concentrated along the axis of the 

deepest valley in the region. When proglacial ponding 

declined to a low level within the Mohawk valley (only 

100-200 feet above the modern river), inwash deltas 

formed at the mouths of tributaries all along the valley 

(Ridge, 1991, p. E20), later to be incised by the Great 

Lakes overflow and modern streams.

Stratigraphy and aquifer geometry in the lowlands 

along West Canada Creek and along the Mohawk River 

from Utica to St. Johnsville are idealized in figure 75. 

Most wells for which records are available (Brigham, 

1898; U.S. Geological Survey, unpublished records) 

between Utica and St. Johnsville are completed in 

water-yielding sand and gravel beneath 70 to 250 feet 

of fine-grained sediment that is commonly described as 

quicksand (very fine sand or silt) or as clay west of 

Herkimer, and as hardpaii (till?) north and east of 

Herkimer. This stratigraphy is suggestive of the first 

two facies deposited in so many valleys during retreat 

of the last ice. Lykens (1983), Foresti (1984), and Ridge 

(1991, fig. El) ascribed the drift exposed above river 

grade along the sides of the Mohawk valley to ice 

readvances following the Erie Interstade, however, and 

inferred that those readvances did not generally erode 

to bedrock. If so, most of the drift below river grade 

must predate the Erie Interstade and, as illustrated in 

figure 75, seems comparable to that exposed in tributary valleys largely till layers and lake beds that 

reflect multiple ice advances, with localized thick 

lenses of coarse sand and gravel that originated as 

eskers or subaquatic fans during episodes of retreat, 

although their separate identity and limited extent 

have not yet been defined. Some subglacial meltwater 

may have followed this deep valley despite its east-west 

orientation; subglacial flow southward across this 

valley and up tributary valleys to saddles on the

Appalachian Plateau also is plausible (Ridge and 

others, 1991). Sand and gravel constitutes a large fraction of the drift in the Mohawk valley only near tributaries where it was deposited as deltas late in 

deglaciation.

TULLY VALLEY

Onondaga Creek flows northward through Tully 

Valley, a broad trough in the towns of Lafayette and 

Tully, N.Y. Beneath the flat floor of Tully Valley are a 

few feet of surficial gravel or sand overlying red clay 

that overlies and, near tributary streams, interfingers 

laterally with silty fine sand. The fine sand, in turn, 

overlies a sand and gravel aquifer, as demonstrated by 

several borehole records, seismic investigations, and by 

the history of mudboils near Otisco Road (Getchell, 

1982; Mullins and others, 1991; R.M. Waller, 

U.S. Geological Survey, oral commun., 1978-88; Kappel 

and others, 1996). The mudboils occur along a short 

reach of Onondaga Creek and a minor tributary, where 

hydraulic head in the sand and gravel aquifer is above 

land surface. Water carries the fine sand upward 

through the capping clay along fractures that result 

from collapse after removal of fine sand through earlier 

mudboils (fig. 76). The high head at depth in the freshwater flow system that feeds most of the mudboils 

implies hydraulic continuity from sources of recharge 

on alluvial fans along the valley sides, or possibly on the 

Valley Heads moraine, 3 miles to the south, whereas 

the brackish water that is discharged from some mudboils and from the few wells that tap the basal gravel 

aquifer to the south indicates that saline water enters

Large 

tributary

NOT TO SCALE 

EXPLANATION 

Till and interbedded lake clays

^ Buried sand and gravel Kames, 

- subaquatic fans, interstadial 

alluvium

Late-deglacial kames or deltas 

Deposited in successive lake levels

Outwash and postglacial alluvium 

Geologic contact

FIGURE 75. Idealized geologic section across the Mohawk 

River lowland west of St. Johnsville, N.Y.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B145

FIGURE 76. Inactive mudboil in Tully Valley, Onondaga County, 

N.Y. The broad apron of fine sand in the foreground was carried up 

the vent marked by a pool about 3 feet in diameter at the center of 

the photograph. Fine sand deposited around this and nearby vents 

choked and ponded the flood plain of a tributary to Onondaga 

Creek. Removal of the sand at depth resulted in collapse of land 

surface along normal faults, two of which are visible as dark horizontal bands at the top and middle of the bank at the right rear. 

Photograph by FA. Getchell in March 1981.

the basal aquifer from a regional flow system through 

the bedrock. A test hole near the mudboils revealed that 

the basal aquifer consists of 170 feet of sand that ranges 

from very fine to medium coarse and contains scattered 

clay laminations, interbedded with 105 feet of sandy, 

coarse gravel in three layers and, near the top, 12 feet 

of clayey till (W.M. Kappel, U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 1994). This stratigraphy suggests a 

facies-1 subaquatic fan deposited at the end of a 

retreating ice tongue that readvanced at least once, but 

conceivably could be the product of multiple ice 

advances.

DRYDEN LAKE VALLEY

Miller and Randall (1991) and Miller (1993) 

described the stratigraphy of a northward-draining 

valley in the towns of Harford and Dryden, N.Y., immediately north of the crest of the Valley Heads moraine. 

The drift is predominantly till and lake deposits interlayered with less abundant sand and gravel (fig. 77). 

From land surface to a depth of 100 feet, till constitutes 

about 50 percent of the drift, lake-bottom fines 

20 percent, and sand and gravel 30 percent. The sand 

and gravel occurs as discontinuous layers that seldom 

exceed 15 feet in thickness. Between depths of 100 and 

300 feet, lake deposits are slightly more abundant than 

till, and only small amounts of sand and gravel are

present. Some sand and gravel layers might be valley 

trains that were deposited by southward-flowing meltwater streams, partly atop ice whose subsequent melting resulted in collapse. Some might be subaquatic fans 

deposited in proglacial lakes that were ponded north of 

the divide, although the upward-fining stratigraphy 

that normally characterizes retreating subaquatic fans 

is not prominent. The last glacial event was a 

readvance that extended more than 1 mile south of the 

divide, deposited a till layer (Dl in fig. 77) atop valleytrain gravel, then dissipated, leaving no lacustrine 

fines and only thin sand and gravel that is continuous 

atop the till near the valley axis (fig. 77) but not elsewhere. The absence of surficial fines implies that the 

ice of the last readvance was thin and stagnated 

quickly over a long enough distance that meltwater 

could drain northward through crevasses in the ice to 

some lower saddle, rather than forming a proglacial 

lake. Such circumstances would result in a discontinuous layer of ablation till, interlayered or interspersed 

with fluvial sand and gravel that was derived from 

melting of the stagnant ice and also from upland runoff, 

which eventually became predominant. Lithology and 

stratigraphy of the drift in boreholes and exposures led 

Miller (1993) to infer that some earlier, deeper gravel 

layers originated in a similar manner. Other individual 

stratigraphic units that are interpreted as continuous 

between boreholes in figure 77 may, in fact, be locally 

discontinuous.

CAYUGA INLET VALLEY

The broad valley occupied by Cayuga Lake continues 

southwestward beneath Cayuga Inlet, a principal tributary. Lawson (1977) identified four stratigraphic units 

beneath the valley floor over a distance of about 5 miles 

from the lake. The four units are illustrated in figure 78 

and described below from oldest to youngest.

1. Basal Valley Fill. Laterally discontinuous layers 

ranging from diamicton to loose sand to gravel, 

water yielding in part; may consist of proximal 

ice-contact sediment; rises or thickens southward 

enough to suggest correlation with constructional 

landforms on the valley floor 5 miles south of 

Cayuga Lake and beyond. Such continuity could 

explain hydraulic head more than 30 feet above 

land surface at Ithaca (Grain, 1974).

2. Proglacial Lake Deposits. Clay, 150 to 200 feet 

thick, with occasional ice-rafted pebbles, deposited in a deep southward-draining lake.
Q

7J 3 sl

o !=i 

3 CD 

m ~* 

nf f 

era 

"

ivNoioaa wajLSAS-aaambv NaaisvmiHON SISAIVNV aaiim 
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B147

WEST 

A

FEET

500

450

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

SEA 

LEVEL 

50

100

EAST A1

Peat Sand

Bedrock

42°30'

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X4

76°33' 76°30'

0 500 FEET 

I

0 100 METERS 

EXPLANATION

Fill

Holocene lake deposits

Deltaic gravel and sand

Alluvial gravel and sand

Proglacial lake deposits

Basal valley fill

Till, or precompressed silt

Bedrock

Borehole Dashed where projected; 

log in Lawson (1977)

 ...... Geologic contact-Dashed where

approximate, dotted where speculative

FIGURE 78. Geologic section across Cayuga Inlet valley in Ithaca, N.Y. (From Lawson, 1977, fig. 23.)

3. Deltaic and Alluvial Gravel and Sand. Coarsening 

upward, deposited by tributaries after drainage 

shifted to the north and lake level in Cayuga Inlet 

valley dropped to that of Lake Iroquois; as much 

as 100 feet thick near major tributaries, thinner 

elsewhere.

4. Holocene Lake Deposits. Highly organic silt and 

clay, about 50 feet thick, deposited after isostatic 

rebound to the north raised lake level near Ithaca 

and thereby inundated the alluvial gravel and 

sand that was graded to Lake Iroquois.

Drillhole logs and geologic sections by Grain (1974, 

fig. 24D) and H&A of New York (1983) are consistent 

with the stratigraphy described above. Grain (1974,

p. 71) inferred that yields as large as 14 million gallons per day were potentially available from the basal 

valley fill and the deltaic/alluvial unit.

GENESEE RIVER VALLEY

The Genesee River heads in northernmost 

Pennsylvania and flows north to Lake Ontario (fig. 74). 

From Portageville north to Mount Morris, N.Y., the 

river has carved a postglacial gorge, but south of 

Portageville and north of Mount Morris, it occupies 

broad drift-filled valleys. Deglaciation involved a complex chronology of retreat and readvance in which successive proglacial lakes were drained and later 

reestablished, as described by Muller (1988a) and in 

more detail by Muller and others (1988).
B148 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

For at least 30 miles south of Portageville, the 

Genesee River is incised 100 to 200 feet into interlayered till and lacustrine deposits (fig. 79) whose extent 

has been traced by Braun (1988). Where the lacustrine 

units are best exposed, they range from rhythmic silt 

and clay to fine and very fine sand (Braun, 1988, 

stops 5 and 6). Sand and gravel is a major component 

of the stratigraphic section only at the Valley Heads 

moraine (fig. 79) where it is interbedded with diamicton 

and locally forms large surficial kame deltas or kames 

(Braun, 1988, stop 5 and mile 66.1), but some coarse 

sand and gravel has been reported elsewhere. For 

example, the river bluff near Caneadea (fig. 74) 

revealed surficial till and 30 feet of varved clay over till 

and proglacial gravel (Muller and others, 1988, p. 120), 

and 12 feet of pebbly fine to coarse sand were exposed 

near Fillmore in a streambank more than 65 feet high 

that otherwise consisted of till, silt, and clay (Muller,

1965b). D.D. Braun (Bloomsburg University, oral commun., 1988) recalled that the lake deposits in figure 79 

include in a few places sandy units that grade northward to gravel, then abruptly pinch out, suggesting 

deposition in a short-lived subaquatic fan. Braun 

(1988) concluded that the lowest diamicton layer 

exposed along the Genesee valley south of Portageville 

(DL1 in figure 79) probably represents the recession 

from the limit of Wisconsinan glaciation (fig. 74), 

although he had not traced this layer south of 

Wellsville and could not rule out the possibility that it 

was the product of a readvance during deglaciation 

(D.D. Braun, oral commun., 1988). Fine-grained lacustrine deposits interlayered with till continue to depths 

of 125 to 200 feet below the modern valley floor, as 

shown by test borings for highway bridges at three 

sites between Caneadea and Wellsville (U.S. Geological 

Survey, unpublished records). Bedrock lies 100 to

SOUTH NORTH

NOT TO SCALE

EXPLANATION

Sand and gravel

Lake-bottom deposits Silt-clay rhythmites, sand-silt 

rhythmites, and some massive fine to very fine sand

Diamicton (Angelica-Belmont drift, Port Bruce stade) 

Diamicton (Kent drift, Nissouri stade) Numbers indicate 

relative age within each drift

Measured stratigraphic section described 

by Braun (1988, stops 5 and 6)

- - - - G- - - Genesee River surface

FIGURE 79. Schematic geologic section along the Genesee River valley from Portageville to 

Belmont, N.Y. (see fig. 74), a distance of about 41 miles. (Modified from Braun, 1988, fig. 5.)
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B149

300 feet beneath the valley floor between Wellsville 

and Portageville (Kammerer and Hobba, 1967, p. 142). 

If the lowest exposed till was deposited when ice was at 

the Wisconsinan glacial border, the drift below the valley floor must represent the period of ice advance or 

earlier glaciations.

A broad valley extending northward from Dansville 

is occupied by Canaseraga Creek and, north of 

Mount Morris, by the Genesee River (fig. 74). 

Stratigraphy in this \ all*->, as described by Muller and 

others (1988, p. 124) and illustrated in figure 80, is similar to that south of Portageville, but because depth to 

bedrock is greater in the Canaseraga-Genesee valley, 

lacustrine clay to fine sand is more abundant than 

south of Portageville. Deep boreholes, mostly near 

where a salt mine beneath the Genesee valley collapsed 

in 1994 but a few elsewhere (Yager and others, in press; 

W. Brennan, State University of New York, written 

commun., 1988), generally penetrate 10 feet or more of 

water-yielding gravel atop bedrock. The water-level 

response to the salt-mine collapse showed that this 

lower confined aquifer is continuous and permeable for 

more than 15 miles along the valley (Tepper and 

others, 1995; Yager and others, in press). Stratigraphy 

in the lower part of the valley fill, above the basal 

gravel, is complex and poorly documented, but the heterogeneous sediments are largely fine grained and can 

be interpreted as the product of deposition in a proglacial lake beneath an intermittently floating and (or) 

calving ice tongue during oscillatory readvance and 

retreat. The upper part of the valley fill is largely distal 

silt and clay, intercalated with till from two readvances. 

Figure 80 is oversimplified in that the upper confined 

aquifer is probably discontinuous and is hydraulically 

connected with the lower confined aquifer about 8 miles 

south of the collapse site.

Kammerer and Hobba (1986) inferred that an artesian aquifer underlies the fine-grained sediment all 

along both broad reaches of the Genesee valley and 

along most tributaries. In an earlier report (Kammerer 

and Hobba, 1967, p. 22), they described this aquifer 

south of Portageville as a basal layer 5 to 30 feet thick 

that varies from sand and gravel to fine sand. By contrast, Miller (1988b) inferred a buried aquifer only 

where several wells are known to tap water-yielding 

sand and gravel beneath fine-grained sediment. Nearly 

all the scattered deep wells south of Portageville for 

which records are available penetrate either clayey 

gravel or water-bearing gravel, but some of these 

coarse deposits do not directly overlie bedrock. Finingupward stratigraphy suggestive of subaquatic fans was 

recorded by logs of 12 wells (Kammerer and Hobba, 

1967) that penetrated thick clay, then silt and very fine 

sand, then sand and gravel or till. Also, Braun (1988,

stop 6) described an exposure in which clay-silt rhythmites overlie sand-silt rhythmites that, in turn, overlie 

planar-bedded to ripple-marked fine sand.

Inwash deltas or subaquatic fans formed where 

major tributaries enter the Genesee valley (Kammerer 

and Hobba, 1967, p. 23). Fluvial channel gravels and 

small deltas might have been deposited by northwardflowing streams on former lake floors when lake levels 

dropped during ice retreat, later to be buried beneath 

more fine sediment when readvance temporarily 

reestablished former lakes. However, the successive 

lake elevations enumerated by Muller and others 

(1988) are such that any sand and gravel deposited on 

exposed valley floors would crop out in the valley walls 

above the modern Genesee River rather than being 

potential aquifers beneath the valley floor.

Two parts of the Genesee watershed are excluded 

from the northern rim of the Appalachian Plateau on 

plate 1: (1) the area north of Geneseo (fig. 74) that lies 

within the Lake Ontario lowland, and (2) the area 

south of Wellsville and on the east side of the watershed somewhat farther north, all of which is treated as 

a part of the Eastern Appalachian Plateau because valleys in this area were not deeply inundated by proglacial lakes, generally received meltwater overflow from 

adjacent watersheds, and contain considerable sand 

and gravel deposited amid stagnant ice as kame terraces or deltas.

BUTTERMILK CREEK VALLEY

The geology and hydrology of the Western New York 

Nuclear Service Center, which lies within the valley of 

Buttermilk Creek in the town of Ashford, N.Y., have 

been studied in considerable detail. Reports by LaFleur 

(1980), Boothroyd and others (1982), Albanese and 

others (1984), Fakundiny (1985), Prudic (1986), 

Bergeron and others (1987), and Matuszek (1988) summarize several major investigations and cite earlier 

papers. The site is about 5 miles north of the divide 

between southward and northward drainage from the 

Appalachian Plateau. Oscillatory ice-sheet retreat 

(Muller, 1977, fig. la) is reflected in a succession of 

ice-marginal positions (LaFleur, 1979b, fig. 2).

The drift in Buttermilk Creek valley consists chiefly 

of till and glaciolacustrine silt or clay, as illustrated in 

figure 81. The uppermost layer (unit 4 in fig. 81) is a 

discontinuous blanket of alluvial sand and gravel that 

was spread across parts of the gently sloping valley 

floor by Buttermilk Creek and its tributaries soon after 

ice retreat. The uppermost till (unit 5) thins to the 

south and overlies a few feet of proglacial rhythmites; 

successively lower units include interstadial deltaic or 

fluvial gravel and sand, lake-bottom deposits that 

become increasingly fine with depth, another till, older
td

NORTH

FEET

Fowlerville

Avon moraine

Salt mine

collapse

site

SOUTH

Dansville

DATUM IS SEA LEVEL 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X40

10 KILOMETERS

EXPLANATION

Postglacial alluvium Gravel near Dansville and in alluvial fans near valley sides; elsewhere silt, silty clay, fine sand, peat, underlain in part by sand or gravel

Lacustrine deposits

near tributaries

-Mostly silt and clay, grading to sand along the valley sides

Fowlerville moraine till Clayey matrix with embedded pebbles

Till Silt and clay with embedded pebbles: locally underlain by a few feet of sand 

or gravel

Upper confined aquifer Silty sand and gravel, probably discontinuous, perhaps the product of subaquatic fansA complex, heterogeneous unit, predominantly fine-grained May include till, 

proglacial sediment flows, lacustrine fines containing coarse englacial sediment rainout from floating ice, and subaquatic fans

Lower confined aquifer Sand and gravel, deposited by meltwater in subglacial channels and (or) proximal subaquatic fans

Well, log available

FIGURE 80. Geologic section along the Genesee River and Canaseraga Creek valleys from Avon to Dansville, N.Y. (see fig. 74).

(Modified from Yager and others, in press.)

H O

I I IO

§
Section B

1.150-

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X5

A. Section across Buttermilk Creek valley

EXPLANATION

Modern alluvium Organic silt over gravel

Gravel and sand Alluvial fans and flood 

plains before incision by postglacial streams

Till Predominantly clay and silt, 

incorporating discontinuous deformed fragments of stratified sediments

Silt and clay in rhythmic layers 

Grades into overlying till

Gravel Deltaic and flood-plain deposits Fine sand Deltaic and flood-plain deposits

Silt and clay in rhythmic layers 

Scattered pebbles and unsorted sediments dropped from floating ice

Till Similar to unit 5Layered, locally disturbed silt and

clay Similar to unit 9

Sand, fine to very fine, and silt 

Till More stony than units 5 and 10Numbers correspond to stratigraphic tables 

in Prudic (1986) and Randall (1980)

I A' Line of geologic section 

G,S,Y,T Lens of gravel, sand, clay, or till

x Disturbed lacustrine sediment Pebbles, 

sand grains, silt blebs, till lenses, deformed 

bedding

] Control Borehole with numerous cores (A) 

i or multiple overlapping hand-auger holes 1 and exposures in bluff (B); dashed where 

projected (A) or nonsampled interval (B)

78°40' 78°37'

1,300

1.250-

42°30'

42°27

1,200-

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X20

B. Section along bluff west of Buttermilk Creek 3 KILOMETERS

FIGURE 81. Geologic sections in Buttermilk Creek valley, Ashford, N.Y. (Modified from Randall, 1980.) Locations and records of test borings and measured

exposures are given in Bergeron (1985), Bergeron and others (1987), or Randall (1980).

ffi

g

o
B152 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

lake deposits, and finally, a basal stony till atop bedrock. The uppermost till typically consists of about 

50 percent clay, 25 percent silt, and 25 percent sand 

and stones. It interfingers randomly with a secondary 

facies that is similar in grain size but contains many 

tiny pellets of coarse silt and torn, wispy fragments of 

silt layers. Both facies contain randomly oriented, 

deformed, discontinuous pods or lenses of sand, gravel, 

and rhythmic silt and clay that appear to be transported from their place of origin. The rhythmites 

(unit 6) beneath the uppermost till were deposited in a 

proglacial lake ponded by the readvancing ice. The 

underlying sand and gravel (units 7 and 8) would constitute an aquifer if they were saturated, but postglacial incision by Buttermilk Creek (fig. 81) allows 

them to drain, and replenishment through the overlying till is very small (Prudic, 1986). The stratigraphy, 

and a few sedimentary structures that indicate northwestward flow (Randall, 1980), suggest that units 7 

and 8 could have been deposited by interstadial 

Buttermilk Creek along its channel and as deltas into 

persistent late-deglacial lakes. A deep well not shown 

in figure 81 penetrated an additional 250 feet of clayey 

silt below the level of Buttermilk Creek, then several 

feet of gravel atop bedrock that might constitute a 

basal aquifer along the thalweg of the bedrock valley; 

the gravel yielded only 20 gallons per minute, however, 

and has not been recognized elsewhere.

CONEWANGO CREEK AND TRIBUTARY VALLEYS

The broad valley north of Randolph, N.Y., now 

occupied by upper Conewango Creek, was once occupied by the Allegheny River, which originally flowed 

northward to Lake Erie but was blocked and diverted 

to its present course by some early ice advance (Muller, 

1963). Illinoian and Wisconsinan ice sheets later 

advanced to or nearly to the present Allegheny valley 

(Muller, 1977). As the ice sheets advanced and 

retreated, water was ponded in the long, deep valley of 

Conewango Creek and the parallel valleys of two 

principal tributaries, Chadakoin River (Chautauqua 

Lake) and Cassadaga Creek. These lakes served as sediment traps in which great thicknesses of mostly finegrained sediment accumulated. Drift thicknesses of 

500 to more than 1,000 feet have been documented by 

scattered well records in Cassadaga and Conewango 

valleys (Muller, 1963; Grain, 1966; Frimpter, 1974; 

Pefley and Calkin, 1990). Although most of the drift 

seems to be lake-bottom clay and silt, some evidence of 

intercalated till layers has been reported. Grain (1966) 

presented graphic logs of many wells in the Conewango 

Creek watershed, most of which record till only atop 

bedrock, but four wells in Cassadaga Creek valley

penetrated 20 feet or more of till overlain by clay and 

underlain by more clay or by gravel. Pefley and Calkin 

(1990) interpreted gamma-ray logs and washed samples from boreholes in Conewango valley as recording 

silt-clay layers alternating with fine-grained diamicton. Wood at a depth of 583 feet (Muller, 1963, p. 49) 

and abundant deciduous pollen at a depth of 500 feet 

(Pefley and Calkin, 1990) imply interglacial conditions 

and, thus, multiple drift sheets. Two miles north of the 

divide at the head of Conewango Creek valley, along the 

ancestral Allegheny River valley, four till layers were 

exposed in a 125-foot-high exposure (Muller, 1960, p. 7), 

interbedded with silt and with sand and gravel.

Ice-contact stratified drift, commonly interbedded 

with till, borders the three major valleys in some 

places, generally as terraces 100 to 150 feet above the 

valley floor. Grain (1966, p. 86, p. 97, p. 102) noted that 

many of these ice-contact deposits are perched above 

stream grade, are thinly saturated, and discharge by 

springs at the base of the deposit. More productive 

aquifers occur beneath the valley floor as fan-shaped 

wedges of sand and gravel that immediately underlie 

the channels of major tributaries where they enter 

broad valleys. The wedges become thinner and lower in 

elevation toward the center or far side of the valley (see 

fig. 30). Many are overlapped by surficial clay that, 

under natural conditions, confines water under artesian heads many feet above the valley floor. Grain 

(1966) referred to these wedge-shaped gravel deposits 

as deltas. In Cassadaga valley and part of Conewango 

valley, these deltas merge into the Jamestown aquifer, 

a tabular body of sand and gravel 10 to 40 feet thick 

that slopes northward along the valley axis for at least 

11 miles (fig. 82), overlain by 80 to 140 feet of silt and 

clay and underlain by more of the same. Grain (1966) 

and Frimpter (1974) inferred that these deltas (or fans) 

and the Jamestown aquifer were largely deposited at a 

time when ice retreated far enough to allow proglacial 

lakes to drain and streams to flow northward along the 

valleys; much of the sand and gravel were presumably 

derived from incision of the ice-contact deposits that 

lined the valley wall and choked some tributary valleys. Later, ice readvanced and reestablished the lakes; 

silt and clay accumulated across the valley floor and 

buried the fluvial gravels, except where tributaries 

entered the lakes and continued to deposit coarse bedload. The stacked layers of coarse sediment thus deposited near tributaries now allow water to infiltrate from 

tributary stream channels to the buried aquifer system 

(see fig. 30). Alternatively, the Jamestown aquifer 

might have been deposited as subaquatic fans from a 

retreating ice tongue, but the scant evidence for till 

below the aquifer or upward-fining sediment within it 

and the increased thickness near tributaries argue
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B153

against this hypothesis. The only suggestion of a basal 

aquifer is in Cassadaga valley, where logs of 10 deep 

wells (Grain, 1966, fig. 43) indicate that the silt and 

clay beneath and beyond the Jamestown aquifer and 

associated deltas overlie heterogeneous interlayered 

silty sand, gravel, and diamicton.

Even though Conewango, Cassadaga, and 

Chautauqua Lake valleys drain south at present, they 

are classified as part of the northern rim of the 

Appalachian Plateau on plate 1 because of the great

drift thickness, the likelihood of multiple drift sheets, 

the presence of moraines to the south and north, and 

the lack of surficial outwash. Lacustrine silt and clay 

seem to be more abundant relative to till here than in 

other valleys on the northern rim. Surficial outwash, 

such as commonly found in southward-draining valleys 

in the Appalachian Plateau, is found atop the fines only 

near the north ends of Cassadaga and Conewango valleys, where it is the product of late ice readvances 

(Muller, 1963, p. 45; 1977; Grain, 1966; Frimpter, 1986).

79°20' 79°10'

42°10' 

EXPLANATION

Jamestown aquifer

Well location Figure denotes depth, 

in feet, to top of aquifer below 

land surface

Towerville , 

Corners '

 7 i4Q Contour Showing altitude of top of 

Jamestown aquifer, in feet, above 

mean sea level. Contour interval 

10 feet

 Approximate contact between tillbedrock areas (uplands) and valleyfill deposits

Altitudes of tributary deltas rise toward upland 

margin from contoured area

Jamestown 

well field

Chautauqua 

Lake

2 MILES

2 KILOMETERS

FIGURE 82. Areal extent of the Jamestown aquifer and altitude of its upper surface. 

(From Grain, 1966, fig. 16.)
B154 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

CUYAHOGA RIVER VALLEY

The Cuyahoga River flows north from Akron to 

Cleveland, Ohio (pi. 1), in a postglacial gorge incised 

some 300 feet below the surface of the drift that fills a 

broad bedrock valley. The walls of the gorge are intricately gullied and composed chiefly of fine-grained 

lake-bottom sediments interbedded with till sheets, 

whose extent is described in several theses cited and 

summarized by Szabo and Miller (1986). Also exposed 

along the valley walls are resedimented diamictons, 

loess, and several masses of sand interpreted by White 

(1984, p. 21) and Szabo and Miller (1986) as deltas built 

by upland tributaries, although the low altitude and 

upward fining in one such deposit (Szabo and Miller, 

1986, stop 4) suggest a subaquatic fan fed by subglacial meltwater. The valley fill has been interpreted 

as generally not water yielding except for scattered 

lenses of sand and gravel (Smith, 1953; Crowell, 1979; 

Schmidt, 1979). A few wells yield from 15 to as much as 

700 gallons per minute from sand or gravel 100 to 

500 feet below the valley floor (Smith, 1953, p. 49; 

Crowell, 1979; Schmidt, 1979), but whether these wells 

tap a continuous basal aquifer or scattered lenses such 

as exposed in the valley walls is not clear.

REGIONS AT OR BEYOND THE 

WISCONSINAN DRIFT BORDER

Two of the hydrophysiographic regions delineated on 

plate 1 are at or beyond the Wisconsinan drift border 

and are distinctive because of that location.

NEW JERSEY TERMINAL MORAINE

The "terminal" moraine that lies just north of the 

farthest extent of the late Wisconsinan ice sheet in New 

Jersey is associated with an aquifer geometry that differs from that in nearby regions in at least two 

characteristics:

1. A network of bedrock valleys contains drift that predated the arrival of the late Wisconsinan ice but 

was not removed by that ice. Widespread sand and 

gravel of Illinoian age are overlain by deltaic outwash and (or) lake-bottom fines that were deposited ahead of the advancing Wisconsinan ice sheet 

and were capped and confined by thick till 

beneath and somewhat north of the terminal 

moraine.

2. The drift is thick enough locally to fill and conceal 

parts of the preglacial bedrock valleys.

Both aspects of aquifer geometry also are typical of 

many valleys in the Western Appalachian Plateau but 

not farther east. Therefore, a small, separate Terminal 

Moraine region is delineated on plate 1.

The buried coarse-grained Illinoian and late 

Wisconsinan stratified drift together constitute a 

highly productive aquifer 30 to 50 feet thick in eastern 

Morris, southwestern Essex, and northern Union 

Counties. These aquifers have been extensively developed and described (Vecchioli and Nichols, 1966; 

Vecchioli, Nichols, and Nemickas, 1967; Meisler, 1976; 

Stone and Hoffman, 1993). Farther west in Morris 

County, Stanford (1989a, b) depicted morainal and nonmorainal till draped over late Wisconsinan deltaic sand 

and lake-bottom fines and pre-late-Wisconsinan sand 

and gravel in several preglacial valleys that were 

locally filled sufficiently to divert the modern Rockaway 

River or its tributaries.

VALLEY TRAINS SOUTH OF THE DRIFT BORDER

Nearly everywhere along the Wisconsinan drift border, streams large and small carried meltwater and sediment beyond the maximum extent of the ice sheet. In 

eastern New Jersey, Long Island, and Martha's 

Vineyard, where relief is low, outwash plains composed 

of sand and fine gravel mantle most of the landscape 

between the drift border and the ocean a few miles away. 

West of central New Jersey, where relief is higher, outwash beyond the drift border is confined to valley trains 

many miles in length along the Delaware, Susquehanna, 

Allegheny, Ohio, and Muskingum Rivers and their 

southward-draining tributaries. Valley trains aggraded 

to thicknesses of 100 to 300 feet immediately south of 

the drift border in all these valleys, but thinned southward and were deeply incised by later meltwater that 

formed lower valley trains and by postglacial streams. 

Many terrace remnants along the valley sides are 

largely unsaturated, but 40 to 50 feet of saturated sand 

and gravel remains below river level in many places 

along valley trains in Pennsylvania; for example, along 

the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers above and below 

Pittsburgh (fig. 83), along the Susquehanna River near 

Williamsport, Berwick, and Sunbury (Lohman, 1937, 

p. 197; Lloyd and Carswell, 1981; Williams and 

Eckhardt, 1987), along tributaries of the Lehigh River 

near the Wisconsinan drift border in Carbon County 

(Epstein and others, 1974), and along the Delaware 

River as far south as central Bucks County (U.S. Geological Survey, unpublished well records). More than 

100 feet of saturated outwash is present everywhere 

along several valley trains tributary to the Muskingum 

River in Ohio (Lamborn, 1954, 1956). These deposits in 

Pennsylvania and Ohio are productive aquifers tapped 

by many large-capacity wells (Leggette, 1936; DeLong
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B155

and White, 1963; Norris, 1969; Lloyd and Carswell, 

1981) and also are important as reservoirs that sustain 

the yield of wells tapping the underlying bedrock 

(Williams and Eckhardt, 1987, p. 28, fig. 17).

In theory, a valley train consists of gravel grading 

southward to uniform sand that gradually becomes 

finer with increased distance from the drift border. The 

sand is not interbedded with much silt and clay

because ponds seldom develop in valleys occupied by 

aggrading, braided streams, although valley reaches 

that nearly parallel the drift border could have been 

locally ponded by ice tongues or by abundant proximal 

outwash descending tributary valleys (for example, 

Sandy Creek south of Canton, Ohio, as mapped by 

White, 1982). Reports of gravel or silt beneath sandy 

outwash in other valley reaches probably reflect ice

FEET EXPLANATION

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X5

A. At Tarentum, Allegheny County

Fill

Sand

Clay

Sand and gravel

Bedrock

Borehole, log 

available Study 

area

PENNSYLVANIA

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X5

B. At Brunot's Island, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County 80°30' 80°00'

FEET 

800 -

750 

700 

650 -

41° 

00'

600

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X5

C. At Ambridge, Beaver County

40° 

00'

20 MILES

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X5

D. At Midland, Beaver County, near Ohio State line

0 1,000 FEET

0 20 KILOMETERS

0 300 METERS

FIGURE 83. Geologic sections across the Allegheny and Ohio River valleys in Pennsylvania. 

(From Adamson and others, 1949, figs. 3-4, and Van Tuyl and Klein, 1951, fig. 4.)
B156 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

advances beyond the Wisconsinan drift border. Late 

Wisconsinan ice advanced briefly beyond the recognized drift border in some localities (for example, 

Ridge, 1983, cited in Evenson and others, 1985, p. 17). 

Pre-Wisconsinan ice sheets also spread somewhat 

beyond the Wisconsinan drift border in several 

localities, as indicated by weathered till and by gravel 

terraces higher than any Wisconsinan valley train 

(Peltier, 1949; Lockwood and Meisler, 1960; Goldthwait 

and others, 1961; White and others, 1969; Epstein and 

others, 1974; Marchand and others, 1978; Evenson and 

others, 1985). Peltier (1949) mentioned several 

localities along the Susquehanna River valley in which 

weathered pre-Wisconsinan gravel was exposed 

beneath a late Wisconsinan terrace surface. Thus, 

some of the stratified drift beneath the Wisconsinan 

valley trains could be outwash or heterogeneous 

ice-contact deposits of Illinoian or older age.

Streams that head south of the Wisconsinan drift 

border could not have carried Wisconsinan outwash; 

nevertheless, where they joined the large valley trains, 

their valleys were aggraded to the same depths with 

sediment of local origin. Silt and clay deposited in open 

lakes ponded by ice (Preston, 1950) or by aggrading 

outwash (Jacobson, 1983) have been reported in tributary valleys in western Pennsylvania. Most tributary 

valleys, however, were apparently filled with alluvial 

sediment at rates that approximately kept pace with 

aggradation of the valley train. The process was 

described by Shaw (1911, cited in Leggette, 1936, p. 30) 

as follows: when aggradation in a principal valley 

began to block the mouths of tributaries, each tributary 

dropped the coarse part of its bedload near its mouth, 

where the gradient was reduced. As aggradation continued, the location of coarse-sediment deposition 

migrated up each tributary to form a basal gravel layer, 

while the fine-grained alluvium accumulated downstream. The alluvial load of streams near the drift border was abnormally large because preglacial conditions 

created abundant rubble on upland hillsides and 

favored downslope movement by solifluction (Denny, 

1956b). This Pleistocene alluvium forms a significant 

and productive aquifer in some tributary valleys 

(Lohman, 1939, p. 96, p. 153-187; Adamson and others, 

1949) but is siltier and generally finer grained than the 

valley trains (Shaw, 1911; Adamson and others, 1949; 

Lamborn, 1954, p. 26), and saturated thickness 

decreases quickly up the tributary valleys (Shaw, 1911; 

Leggette, 1936; Poth, 1973).

A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH

TO APPRAISAL OF THE

HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK

OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS

An understanding of the three-dimensional configuration and boundaries of aquifers is prerequisite to 

development and protection of those aquifers. This section summarizes how the hydrogeologic framework in 

which stratified-drift aquifers occur can be defined in 

any locality of interest, with emphasis on the ideas presented in this and other papers prepared as part of the 

Northeast Glacial Aquifers Regional Aquifer-System 

Analysis project. Once the hydrogeologic framework 

has been reasonably well defined, aquifer recharge and 

yield can be evaluated by measurements, computational procedures, and ground-water flow models, as 

described by Kontis, Randall, and Mazzaferro (in press) 

and by Lyford and Cohen (1988).

AREAL EXTENT OF STRATIFIED DRIFT

The first step in most geohydrologic investigations in 

the glaciated Northeastern United States is to distinguish those areas underlain by stratified drift, which 

may constitute or contain highly productive aquifers, 

from areas where the only significant aquifer is bedrock, mantled by till of variable thickness and generally capable of only small well yields. This distinction, 

qualified in various ways, is depicted on a few maps at 

scales of 1:1,000,000 or smaller that represent all or 

most of the glaciated Northeast. For example, Kontis, 

Randall, and Mazzaferro (in press) delineated areas 

where stratified drift is sufficiently coarse and saturated to constitute aquifers and identified many aquifers capable of sustained withdrawals exceeding 

5 million gallons per day or capable of large seasonal 

withdrawals from storage with minimal concurrent 

depletion of streamflow. Seller (1993) depicted generalized drift thickness and distinguished surficial till from 

coarse-grained stratified drift and fine-grained stratified drift. Olcott (1995) also distinguished coarse stratified drift from other surficial materials. All these 

small-scale regional maps illustrate the discontinuous 

dendritic distribution that characterizes coarse stratified drift in the glaciated Northeast but are unsuitable 

for aquifer definition in individual localities because 

they omit many small deposits, generalize much local 

variability, and can be deceptive in that their interpretations are founded on abundant data in some intensively studied places but on virtually no data in other 

places. Surficial geology of many quadrangles, however,
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B157

has been mapped at scales of 1:62,500 or larger. County 

soils maps at similar scales are readily translated to 

surficial geology and are available for much of the glaciated Northeast, and detailed hydrogeologic maps are 

available for some localities. On the average, stratified 

drift underlies only about 15 percent of the glaciated 

Northeast; thus, its delineation greatly narrows the 

area that merits closer examination to locate productive aquifers capable of yielding large water supplies.

AQUIFER GEOMETRY WITHIN 

THE STRATIFIED DRIFT

Almost all aquifer appraisals must go beyond merely 

delineating the areal extent of stratified drift. In some 

places, stratified drift is too thin, too thinly saturated, 

or too fine grained to yield much water. In other places, 

productive aquifers within the stratified drift are interrupted or confined by till, fine-grained stratified drift, 

or shallow bedrock. Knowledge of aquifer 

geometry that is, the three-dimensional distribution 

and extent of saturated, water-yielding coarse sand 

and gravel relative to non-water-yielding fine-grained 

drift, to bedrock, and to streams that are potential 

recharge sources is essential to understanding the 

ground-water flow system, siting large-capacity wells, 

evaluation of aquifer yield, and prevention or remediation of ground-water contamination. Delineation of 

aquifer geometry requires some information from the 

locality of interest and also a conceptual model(s) to 

organize that information.

INFORMATION THAT IS USEFUL 

IN DELINEATING AQUIFERS

The following types of information are commonly 

used to interpret aquifer geometry to the extent they 

are available within the locality of interest.

Surficial Geology. Surficial geology maps and soils 

maps commonly depict not only the areal extent of 

stratified drift but also the spatial variation in grain 

size and (or) depositional environment.

Well Records and Borehole Logs. The U.S. Geological Survey, State and local government agencies, 

college professors and students, and consultants have 

over the years collected and published or archived 

many records and logs of drillholes, chiefly water wells 

but also test borings intended for engineering 

foundation design of highway structures or large buildings. Some States and counties currently require 

water-well drillers to submit records of wells soon after 

construction, but for many localities, no agencies have 

collected anything approaching a complete set of

records of all wells. Many geohydrologic studies incorporate a review of published or archived records, collection of additional records, and supplemental test 

drilling at key locations.

Geophysical Exploration. Several methods of surface geophysical exploration have proven useful in 

interpreting the geometry of stratified-drift aquifers.

Electrical resistivity or conductivity can, in general, 

be empirically correlated with grain size and, thus, 

with hydraulic conductivity of glacial drift in geographic areas where ground-water quality is uniform. 

Coarse-grained material is generally less conductive 

(more resistive) to electric current than fine-grained 

material, and three methods direct-current resistivity, inductive terrain conductivity, and very low frequency (VLF) terrain resistivity can detect 

conductive material below resistive material (Haeni, 

1995). Thus, these methods can ordinarily distinguish 

areas in which thin surficial aquifers overlie fines from 

areas where all or most of the unconsolidated deposits 

are coarse grained, although such interpretations can 

be complicated by local topographic irregularities that 

result in large differences from place to place in 

thickness of highly resistive unsaturated surficial sand 

and gravel. Inductive terrain conductivity can detect 

lateral changes in thickness and grain size of individual conductive layers in conductive terranes, and VLF 

can detect lateral changes in grain size in resistive 

terranes.

Seismic refraction can reliably determine depth to 

bedrock and commonly also depth to the water table. 

The combined use of seismic, resistivity, and 

electromagnetic methods in conjunction with borehole 

logs and measurements of specific conductivity of 

ground water often can provide a reasonably comprehensive interpretation of aquifer geometry (Haeni, 

1995).

Continuous seismic-reflection surveys taken from 

boats can distinguish coarse-grained sediments from 

fine-grained sediments along and beneath rivers and 

lakes, which is where such information is most needed 

because thick coarse-grained surficial aquifers that 

border and underlie rivers and lakes are especially 

promising as aquifers from which large ground-water 

withdrawals can be sustained by induced infiltration. 

Many valleys in the glaciated Northeast are characterized by reaches of predominantly coarse sediment 

alternating with reaches in which a thin surficial 

aquifer overlies thick lacustrine fines. Continuous 

seismic reflection also can detect significant 

thicknesses of coarser drift beneath the fines, although
B158 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

borehole data are usually required to determine 

whether the basal deposits are ice-contact sand and 

gravel deposits or morainal drift of low hydraulic conductivity (Haeni, 1988; Reynolds, 1988; Mullins and 

Hinchey, 1989).

Water-Level Measurements and Water-Temperature 

Profiles. Measurements in wells of water level and 

change in temperature with depth have been used to 

establish continuity of aquifers, define preferential flow 

paths, and identify barriers to flow. For example, Ferris 

and others (1962) and Walton (1962) explained how 

aquifer boundaries can be located by applying imagewell theory to the analysis of drawdown or recovery of 

water levels in wells. Grain (1966) cited seasonal 

changes in water level in a few wells (fig. 30) as evidence that valley-side alluvial fans are the principal 

source of recharge to a midvalley buried gravel aquifer. 

Randall (1977) used temperature profiles, water levels, 

and lithology of drill cuttings to demonstrate that a 

surficial aquifer had been downwarped, as part of an 

ice-block depression that is no longer recognizable topographically, and constituted the principal flow path 

whereby induced infiltration reached a well field 

(fig. 35). Randall (1986a, p. 14-15) used temperature 

profiles and water levels to demonstrate continuity of a 

gravel aquifer between two municipal wells despite differing stratigraphy, and to demonstrate discontinuity 

of a widespread silty clay confining layer beneath a 

river reach where induced recharge took place readily. 

Winslow (1962) and Winslow and others (1965) used 

temperature observations in many wells to determine 

the location and depth of the principal flow path of 

induced infiltration to a well field.

CONCEPTUAL MODELS THAT ARE USEFUL 

IN ORGANIZING INFORMATION

Seldom is information so abundant and detailed that 

the hydrogeologic framework of stratified-drift aquifers 

is unequivocally obvious. Therefore, those who organize 

and interpret that information commonly rely on some 

idealized mental images of what to expect. The following 

generalizations, or "conceptual models," are explained in 

this paper and are widely applicable in identifying productive aquifers within the stratified drift.

Expect Three Depositional Fades. Throughout the 

glaciated Northeast, most tracts of stratified drift 

larger than 1 square mile contain some combination of 

three successive depositional facies:

Fades 1. Proximal or ice-contact facies, predominantly 

coarse grained, heterogeneous and widely variable 

in sorting, deposited close to active ice and (or) amid 

abundant stagnant ice.

Fades 2. Distal facies, predominantly silt, clay, and 

very fine sand, deposited in somewhat larger bodies 

of water than facies 1.

Fades 3. Surficial facies, coarse grained, commonly 

well sorted, deposited in shallow water; commonly 

overlies facies 2; includes prograding deltas, fluvial 

outwash, and postglacial alluvium, terraces, and 

fans.

At any given moment during deglaciation, facies 2 and 

3 were being deposited farther from the ice margin 

than facies 1; that is, farther downvalley and in 

valleys that no longer received meltwater. At any 

given location, one or two facies may be absent, but 

where all three are present, facies 1 was deposited 

first, followed by facies 2, then facies 3. Therefore, in 

most valleys, the entire stratigraphic section at some 

locations is coarse grained (facies 1, or 3/1), whereas at 

other locations nearby it is coarse over fine (3/2), 

coarse over fine over coarse (3/2/1), or, in broad 

lowlands, fine over coarse (2/1).

Expect Stratigraphy from a Single Deglaciation. The 

Northeastern United States was covered at least twice by 

continental ice sheets, and the retreat of the last ice sheet 

was occasionally interrupted by brief readvances. In a 

few regions, notably the northern rim of the Appalachian 

Plateau, valley fills include multiple layers of till and 

stratified drift (facies 1 or 2) that record this history of 

multiple glaciation. In most regions, however, the last ice 

sheet eroded to bedrock, and any readvances caused only 

minor perturbations in the depositional environments 

wherein facies 1, 2, and 3 were being deposited during 

deglaciation.

Identify Morphosequences. During deglaciation, 

stratified drift often filled all available ponded depressions in a reach of valley, and meltwater streams established a smooth fluvial profile graded to some lake or 

bedrock saddle. All deposits associated with such a profile constitute a morphosequence. Thin surficial sand or 

pebble gravel commonly overlie fine-grained sediments 

near the distal end of a morphosequence, whereas 

coarse sand or pebble gravel predominate near the 

proximal end or head. Some maps of surficial geology 

divide stratified drift into morphosequences. Where no 

such maps are available, the location of coarse-grained 

morphosequence heads can often be inferred from altitudes of terrace remnants shown on topographic maps 

and from grain size in excavations or drillhole logs.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B159

Locate Ice Margins. Coarse-grained stratified drift 

(facies 1) is likely to be concentrated wherever the ice 

margin paused during retreat and to grade distally to 

fine-grained sediments. Many geologic studies have 

been directed to delineating the margin of the former 

ice sheet at one or more times during deglaciation. 

These inferred ice margins commonly link several morphosequence heads, which are interpreted as marking 

pauses during retreat. Projections of former ice margins across uplands to connect morphosequence heads 

in separate valleys have little hydrologic significance; 

but where ice margins crossed broad lowlands, the 

coarse stratified drift may form a semicontinuous 

swath, in part concealed below younger, fine-grained 

sediments.

Follow Subglacial Channels. Much of the stratified 

drift that was deposited at the margin of ice tongues in 

valleys had been entrained by meltwater at the base of 

the ice sheet and transported along subglacial tunnels 

to the ice margin; some sediment entrained by 

meltwater in adjacent uplands also found its way to 

these channels. Coarse, permeable ice-contact deposits 

termed eskers were commonly formed in these straight 

to sinuous conduits and remain today as exposed or 

buried ridges of sand and gravel extending proximally 

from morphosequence heads. In localities where ice 

retreated rapidly by calving, subaquatic fans formed at 

tunnel mouths. Subglacial channels were persistent 

features within the retreating ice and have resulted in 

continuous, narrow basal aquifers as much as a few 

miles long in some places.

Test Near Tributaries. Tributary streams, both 

large and small, were sources of sediment to major valleys during deglaciation, as they are today. The coarse 

fraction was deposited chiefly near the valley margin, 

as ice-contact deposits amid stagnant ice and later as 

subaquatic fans and deltas into persistent large lakes. 

Not only is stratified drift likely to be relatively coarse 

near tributaries, but the modern tributaries are potential sources of recharge that could sustain the yields of 

wells completed in the stratified drift. In many valleys, 

the coarse sediments near tributaries constitute avenues by which recharge can reach deep ice-contact 

deposits that are elsewhere buried beneath fines.

Look for Collapsed Margins. A substantial fraction 

of the total volume of coarse-grained stratified drift in 

the glaciated Northeast lies above modern stream 

grade and, thus, is thinly saturated. Many facies-3 deltaic and outwash deposits were graded to lake levels 

well above the modern valley floors, and subsequent 

stream incision or abandonment of temporary spillways has left these deposits high and dry except 

where they were built over buried ice blocks whose 

eventual melting allowed surficial coarse layers to

collapse below the modern water table. Many facies-1 

ice-contact deposits rest upon shallow bedrock along 

the valley sides or around bedrock knolls in midvalley 

and also are thinly saturated except along their headward or valleyward margins where bedrock is deeper 

and some coarse stratified drift has collapsed to lower 

elevations.

ANTICIPATING AQUIFER DISTRIBUTION

TYPICAL OF PARTICULAR 

HYDROPHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS

The abundance and distribution of stratified-drift 

aquifers were affected by the changing dynamics of the 

continental ice sheet during deglaciation and by many 

aspects of the subglacial landscape, such as relief, 

drainage density, and drainage orientation toward or 

away from the ice sheet. Different regions were affected 

differently; therefore, generalizations as to aquifer 

geometry in a particular region can be more specific 

than generalizations intended to apply to the entire 

glaciated Northeast. Several regions are delineated 

and described in this paper with the expectation that a 

review of aquifer geometry in each region would prove 

useful in guiding appraisal of individual localities. 

These hydrophysiographic regions have been grouped 

into four broad categories, as follows.

Regions that Sloped Generally Away from the Ice. 

This category includes some areas that sloped toward 

the ice but had such low relief that only small lakes 

were ponded behind the low saddles on the watershed 

perimeter. In regions of moderately low relief in southern New England, New Jersey, and southern and 

northwestern New York, the principal valleys contain 

abundant, nearly continuous stratified drift in which 

coarse-grained sediment is a major component. By contrast, regions of moderately low relief in northern and 

central Maine have minimal amounts of stratified drift, 

which occurs partly as valley fills and partly as eskers 

that follow but do not fill valleys. Mountain regions in 

northern New England and northern New York are 

characterized by narrow valley floors that are largely 

capped by coarse alluvium, commonly interrupted by 

bedrock outcrops, and in part underlain by stratifieddrift aquifers; stratified drift also is found on the valley 

sides, perched above stream grade. Relief is equally 

high in the Appalachian Plateau, but no stratified drift 

is perched on the valley sides, no outcrops occur on the 

valley floors, valley fills generally exceed 2,000 feet in 

width and 150 feet in thickness, and facies-2 fines predominate wherever depth to bedrock is relatively great. 

In the adjacent Catskill Mountains, typical valley fills 

contain few fines and are less than 2,000 feet wide, less 

than 150 feet thick, and are locally narrowed by thick
B160 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

till on the lee (down-ice) side of hills. The Tug Hill 

Plateau of New York and Pocono Plateau of 

Pennsylvania have low internal relief except along the 

plateau margins; valleys are small and generally lack 

significant stratified-drift aquifers.

Broad Lowlands Inundated by Large Water 

Bodies. Extensive deposits of silt, clay, and fine sand 

in these lowlands are interrupted by many till hills, by 

a few ice-marginal deltas, and (at intervals of several 

miles) by linear sand and gravel deposits, the products 

of subglacial meltwater channels. Some lowland areas 

are capped by extensive surficial sand-plain aquifers 

deposited by upland runoff from adjacent regions, but 

generally, facies-2 fines are the uppermost sediments. 

Induced infiltration is seldom possible in these lowlands. The margins of adjacent uplands are commonly 

characterized by high-level deltas now deeply incised 

and perched above stream grade.

Regions of High Relief that Sloped Toward the 

Ice. Deep valleys are filled with predominantly finegrained sediments seldom capped by a surficial aquifer. 

Along the north rim of the Appalachian Plateau, valleys contain diamicton layers and scattered lenses of 

sand and gravel interbedded with fines. In northwestern Vermont and northeastern New York, most valleys 

contain a single extensive layer of fines, locally underlain by facies-1 sand and gravel, with bedrock outcrops 

common on valley floors.

Regions At or South of the Wisconsinan Drift 

Border. The Wisconsinan drift border in New Jersey 

approximately coincides with a terminal moraine of 

chiefly till that overlies a network of bedrock valleys 

containing gravel aquifers of Illinoian and Wisconsinan 

ages. From New Jersey to Ohio, valleys draining south 

from the drift border were aggraded with sandy valley 

trains many miles long, now deeply incised but still significant aquifers that extend 40 to 100 feet below 

stream grade in many valleys.

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HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B177

GLOSSARY

Several terms related to glacial geology and used in 

this paper are defined below.

Ablation till: loosely consolidated, generally sandy 

and stony debris that had been contained within 

stagnant ice and remained in place when the ice 

was removed by melting or sublimation.

Alluvial fan: a gently sloping mass of predominantly 

gravelly sediment, shaped like an open fan or a 

segment of a cone, deposited by a stream where it 

issues from its own upland valley and enters a 

larger valley.

Alluvium: unconsolidated sediment deposited by a 

postglacial stream along its flood plain or in an 

alluvial fan; generally consists of gravel or gravelly sand, overlain by organic-rich fine sand to silt 

along the flood plains of larger streams.

BP: before the present; refers to age in years determined by measuring decay of carbon-14 or other 

radioactive isotopes.

Constructional topography: any array of mounds, 

ridges, hummocks, hills with rounded or level 

tops, or similar topographic forms whose height 

results from accumulation of unconsolidated sediment rather than from the form of the surface on 

which the sediment accumulated.

Dead-ice sink: an unusually large ice-block depression, within which progressive melting of stagnant ice provided a progressively expanding space 

or sink for sediment deposition.

Diamicton: any nonsorted unconsolidated sediment 

containing a wide range of grain sizes, regardless 

of genesis; includes till and various products of 

mudflow, debris flow, or slumping.

Distal: remote from the source of sediment; stratified 

drift deposited far from the active ice margin is 

termed distal.

Drift: all rock fragments or particles transported by 

glacier ice and deposited by the ice or by meltwater; includes till, stratified drift, and deposits 

resedimented by mass movement soon after deposition by ice or meltwater.

Drop pellets: nonlithified clasts (of diamicton, clay, or 

silt) dropped from floating ice into sediments accumulating on the bottom of a proglacial lake.

Esker: a narrow, steep-sided, commonly sinuous and 

sharp-crested ridge composed of stratified sand 

and gravel deposited by a meltwater stream in a 

tunnel at the base of an ice sheet.

Foreset: one of the inclined layers of sediment (generally sand) deposited along the advancing, relatively steep frontal slope of a delta; foresets 

individually grade into, and collectively prograde 

across, flat-lying bottomsets.

Fines: fine-grained unconsolidated sediment, including very fine sand, silt, and clay.

Glaciofluvial: pertaining to or deposited by meltwater streams flowing beside or away from a 

glacier.

Glaciolacustrine: pertaining to or deposited in proglacial lakes.

Grounding line: the locus of points beyond which an 

active ice sheet that ends in ponded water loses 

contact with the ground and becomes a floating ice 

shelf.

Gilbert-type delta: a delta that exhibits the components originally described by G.K. Gilbert, namely, 

a nearly level surface underlain by topset, foreset, 

and bottomset beds.

Ice-channel filling: a narrow, steep-sided, linear or 

sinuous ridge composed of stratified sand and 

gravel, deposited by a meltwater stream in a tunnel at the base of the ice sheet or in an ice-walled 

channel open to the sky; includes eskers and 

crevasse fillings.

Ice-contact: refers to deposits or margins of deposits 

that were formed against, among, or atop masses 

of ice, ordinarily stagnant ice, and that exhibit 

deformation resulting from loss of support when 

the ice melted.

Ice stream: a zone within an ice sheet in which the ice 

flows more rapidly than bordering ice; usually 

such rapid flow follows a broad bedrock valley 

directly into a large lake or ocean.

Inwash: unconsolidated sediment delivered to a proglacial lake or to the stagnant marginal zone of 

the ice sheet by tributary streams that are not fed 

by meltwater.

Jokulhlaup: a catastrophic flood resulting from the 

sudden draining of a proglacial lake through an 

outlet formerly blocked by ice.

Meltout till: till deposited by slow release of sediment 

from melting ice that is motionless (stagnant).
B178 REGIONAL AQUIFER-SYSTEM ANALYSIS NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Moraine: a distinct accumulation of drift, composed 

mostly of till (except in valleys, where stratified 

drift may predominate), whose topographic form 

is independent of the bedrock on which it was 

deposited and is commonly, but not necessarily, 

ridgelike; moraines referred to in this paper are, 

strictly speaking, end moraines, deposited along 

the margin of active ice.

Morphosequence: a body of stratified drift that was 

laid down by meltwater when deposition was controlled by a specific base level such as a proglacial 

lake or spillway; the deposits become generally 

finer distally and their upper surface (where not 

collapsed) slopes smoothly in the same distal 

direction.

Moulin: a roughly cylindrical, nearly vertical, welllike hole in an ice sheet, carved by meltwater as it 

descends from the surface to the base of the ice.

Mudboil: a low, cone-shaped mound of sand with a 

central crater from which erupts muddy water 

that has flowed upward along a fracture, driven by 

artesian pressure.

Openwork: describes gravel composed entirely of 

well-sorted granules, pebbles, or cobbles with little or no interstitial sand, such that pore spaces 

between the stones are readily visible and hydraulic conductivity is extraordinarily high.

Outwash: stratified sand and gravel transported and 

deposited by meltwater beyond the region in 

which active or stagnant ice predominantly fill the 

valleys.

Outwash plain: a broad, outspread, gently sloping 

sheet of sand and gravel deposited by meltwater 

streams in front of or beyond an ice margin; comparable to valley train but wider and less constrained by valley walls.

Proximal: close to the source of sediment; stratified 

drift deposited in open water or amid stagnant ice 

immediately beyond the margin of active ice is 

termed proximal.

Radiocarbon years: the age of sediment containing 

organic matter, as calculated from measurements 

of the amount of carbon-14 relative to other carbon isotopes; ages greater than 10,000 radiocarbon years are about 87 percent of ages calculated 

by more precise but less widely applicable methods (Bard and others, 1990).

Resedimented: applied to sediments initially deposited by one depositional mechanism but later 

transported and deposited by another mechanism, 

generally retaining some but not all physical characteristics associated with the initial deposition; 

most commonly applied to glacial drift subsequently transported by solifluction or debris-flow 

processes.

Rhythmites: a succession of sediment layers characterized by alternation among two or more lithologies. In proglacial lakes, alternate layers of clay 

and silt (grading to fine sand and silt near sediment sources) are the most common type of 

rhythmites.

Sand-plain aquifer: an extensive, nearly level 

surficial sand deposit that overlies fines and is 

drained by streams that are commonly incised 

into the fines, such that induced infiltration is 

impossible and discharge occurs by riparian 

springs or seeps.

Sandur: outwash plain.

Stack units: map units that depict not only the 

uppermost earth material but also one or more 

underlying materials; for example, g/s (gravel 

overlying sand) or 20g/30fs (20 feet of gravel overlying 30 feet of fine sand).

Stade: a substage (of a glacial stage) that is marked 

by a glacial advance.

Stratified drift: sorted and layered sediment deposited by or in meltwater; includes gravel, sand, silt, 

and clay.

Thalweg: the line of continuous maximum descent or 

greatest slope that connects the lowest points 

along a valley (or, if so specified, along the bedrock 

surface beneath unconsolidated deposits in the 

valley).

Through valley: a valley that was cut through a bedrock ridge and floored with stratified drift deposited by through-flowing meltwater during 

deglaciation but that now is crossed by a watershed divide and drained only by tiny streams on 

each side of the divide.

Till: a nonsorted, generally nonstratified, poorly permeable unconsolidated sediment, deposited from 

and underneath a glacier without reworking by 

meltwater and consisting generally of particles 

ranging from clay to boulder size, some of which 

have been transported considerable distances.
HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK OF STRATIFIED-DRIFT AQUIFERS B179

Topset: one of the nearly horizontal layers of sediment (generally gravel) deposited slightly above 

lake level by streams as they cross the top of a 

delta and transport sediment toward the frontal 

delta slope; individual topsets locally are continuous with individual foresets, but collectively 

topsets cap and, in places, truncate foresets.

Tunnel valley: a steep-walled trench cut in drift or in 

bedrock by a subglacial stream.

Valley fill: all unconsolidated sediment that overlies 

bedrock within a valley, partly or (in rare 

instances) totally filling the valley.

Valley train: a long, narrow body of outwash deposited by meltwater beyond the margin of the ice 

sheet but confined within the walls of a valley.

Underfit stream: a stream that seems too small to 

have eroded the valley in which it flows; a fairly 

common result of drainage changes caused by glacial erosion or deposition.

Unconformity: a boundary between layers of sediment that represents a substantial period of nondeposition and may reflect loss of some sediment 

by erosion before renewed deposition took place.
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