U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

A near Tully, N.Y. was 

formed by the same glacial processes 

that formed the Finger Lake valleys 

to the west. Glacial ice eroded a 

preglacial bedrock divide along the 

northern rim of the Allegheny Plateau and deepened a 

preglacial valley to form a trough valley. Subsequent 

meltwater issuing from the ice transported and 

deposited large amounts of sediment which partly filled 

the trough. The Tully trough contains three distinct 

segments—the West Branch valley of the southwardflowing Tioughnioga River in the south, the Valley 

Heads Moraine near Tully, and the Tully valley of the 

northward-flowing Onondaga Creek in the north. 

The West Branch valley segment south of the 

moraine contains a two-aquifer system—a surficial 

unconfined sand and gravel aquifer and a confined basal 

sand and gravel aquifer that rests on bedrock, separated 

by a thick, fine-grained glaciolacustrine fine sand, silt, 

and clay unit. Water quality in the surficial aquifer is 

generally good, although it is typically hard. Water in 

the basal, confined aquifer is more mineralized and 

yields less water to wells than the surficial aquifer.

The Valley Heads Moraine near Tully consists 

of layers of sand and gravel, fine sand, silt, clay, 

and till. The land surface contains many kettle-hole 

lakes, ponds, wetlands, and dry depressions. The 

moraine contains several aquifers, some of which are 

discontinuous. Water quality in the shallow aquifers is 

generally good, although hard. Water quality in the deep 

aquifer is generally good, although slightly mineralized 

by water discharging upward from shale. 

The Tully valley segment north of the moraine 

has a confined basal sand-and-gravel aquifer that is 

overlain by a thick layer of lacustrine silt and clay in 

the southern part of the valley and becomes interlayered 

with sand and some fine gravel in the northern part. 

Most homeowners obtain their water supply from 

streams or springs along the valley walls or from wells. 

Water from wells completed in coarse-grained sediment 

on the north side of the moraine and from the basal 

aquifer is generally fresh, but water from deep wells 

finished in the basal aquifer north of Solvay Road 

contains high concentrations of sodium chloride and 

calcium sulfate that presumably leached from halite and 

gypsum minerals within the bedrock.

 Hydrogeology of the

Southern Onondaga County and Northern Cortland County, New York

Tully Trough

trough valley

Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4112

September 2003

by William Kappel and Todd Miller

In Cooperation with Onondaga Lake Cleanup Corporation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
2

INTRODUCTION

The multiple advances and retreats of glaciers that began 

about 1.6 million years ago and ended about 10,800 years 

ago in North America (Rogers, 1991) profoundly altered the 

landscape of central New York. The glaciers widened and 

deepened river valleys leaving bedrock troughs and blanketed 

large areas with gravel, sand, silt, and clay. The Tully trough 

(figs. 1 and 2) lies within a transition zone between severely 

eroded uplands with low to moderate relief in the Finger Lakes 

region to the west and the moderately eroded Appalachian 

Plateau with moderate to high relief in the Susquehanna 

River basin to the south and east. The purpose of this report 

is to characterize the hydrogeology of the Tully trough, 

including information on glacial history, glacial erosional and 

depositional processes, glacial stratigraphy, and hydrology 

of the aquifer systems in the trough segments. The study was 

performed in cooperation with the Onondaga Lake Cleanup 

Corporation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

- Region 2.
3

Figure 1. Shaded relief map showing 

the physiographic features surrounding 

the study area including the Appalachian 

Plateau, Lake Ontario Plain, and the 

Skaneateles, Otisco, and Tully troughs.

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4

GLACIAL HISTORY

The last major period of glaciation in upstate New York (Wisconsian) began about 117,000 years 

ago (Muller and Calkin, 1993) and ended about 10,800 years ago (Hammer and others, 1986). About 

20,000 years ago, the ice front began to melt back from its maximum southern extent in northern 

Pennsylvania (Muller and Calkin, 1993), and, over the next 5,000 years, the ice front gradually 

retreated to as far north as the Lake Ontario Plain (fig. 1). At about 14,000 years ago, however, the 

ice front readvanced southward (Valley Heads Readvance) into the central part of upstate New York, 

then oscillated back and forth in roughly the same standstill position for a few hundred years in each 

of the valleys. The continuous deposition of sediment at the ice front during this period resulted in the 

formation of several types of glacial features including (1) an end moraine (Valley Heads Moraine) 

at the ice front, (2) lateral moraines at the edges of the ice along the valley walls, and (3) an outwash 

plain downgradient (south) of the ice front. 

The Valley Heads Moraine in each north-south trending valley forms the largest end-moraine 

complex in central New York and today is the surface-water divide between drainage that flows north 

to St. Lawrence River and drainage that flows south to Susquehanna River. The ice in the Tully trough 

came to its standstill position just west of Tully, where it formed the segment of the Valley Heads 

Moraine shown in figure 2. The surface-water divide within the trough roughly follows the alignment 

of New York State Route 80 where it crosses the moraine; the ground-water divide is farther to the 

south, and its position changes seasonally according to local ground-water conditions (Kappel and 

others, 2001).

The melting of the ice front and the glacial retreat northward from the Valley Heads Moraine 

resulted in the formation of a proglacial lake between the retreating ice front and the Valley Heads 

Moraine. Initially, this lake drained to the south through an outlet channel(s) across the Valley Heads 

Moraine, but as the ice front retreated northward, toward present-day Syracuse, successive outlet 

channels with progressively lower elevations were exposed along the east side of the valley about 10 

miles to the north (Hand, 1978), and sequentially lowered the lake levels. As the ice retreated from the 

Tully valley segment, large amounts of coarse-grained sediment (sand and gravel) were transported 

southward through subglacial tunnels; some was probably deposited within ice tunnels as sinuous 

esker ridges, and the remainder was disgorged into the proglacial lake as subaquatic fans. The finergrained sediment (fine sand, silt, and clay) was carried out into the lake where it settled to form lakebottom deposits that buried the older, coarser-grained subglacial sediment. When the Valley Heads ice 

retreated past Syracuse (about 15 miles north of Tully), the lake drained entirely and glacial deposition 

in the trough ceased. 

Many of the other trough valleys on the north flank of the Appalachian Plateau have a similar 

deglacial history. The bedrock surface in many of these troughs was eroded so deeply that the glacial 

material failed to fill them, and the water did not drain completely; the Finger Lakes are remnants of 

the former proglacial lakes that occupied the northern segments of these troughs.
5

Figure 2. Locations of the three major segments 

of the Tully trough, Onondaga and Cortland 

Counties, N.Y. White-blue arrows show direction 

of surface-water flow. 

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6

EROSIONAL PROCESSES

The most notable evidence of glacial erosion in central New York is the large bedrock valleys (troughs) that were carved by ice 

flowing through pre- and interglacial river valleys. The recession of the melting ice resulted in the transportation and deposition of 

large amounts of sediment that were generated during the advance of the ice. The end result of these processes is the topography seen 

in the Finger Lakes region today.

TROUGHS

The flow of ice in valleys oriented parallel to the direction 

of ice movement scoured the walls and floor of these valleys, 

widening and deepening them while truncating bedrock 

hillsides (spurs) that extended into these valleys. The result 

was the creation of nearly straight, U-shaped bedrock troughs 

(fig. 3). Bedrock erosion occurred mainly through quarrying 

and abrasion by the ice mass, but the material carried by 

torrents of sediment-laden meltwater under the ice probably 

eroded bedrock in some areas also (Kor and others, 1991). 

The most notable bedrock troughs in New York are the many 

other north-south trending valleys within the northern rim 

of the Appalachian Plateau, many of which now contain the 

Finger Lakes (fig. 1). Clayton (1965) referred to the Finger 

Lake valleys as “intrusive troughs” that were carved when ice 

that flowed south from the Lake Ontario Plain encountered a 

landmass of higher elevation (the Appalachian Plateau) and 

flowed uphill, against the regional slope.

The formation process, size, and shape of a trough are 

controlled by several variables, such as ice thickness, direction 

of ice movement, former topography, bedrock structure 

(fractures and folds), and bedrock lithology (shale, limestone, 

dolostone). Bedrock troughs are often referred to as U-shaped 

although many are asymmetrical, with one side steeper than 

the other. 

Many east-west trending valleys that are tributary to deep 

troughs were not parallel to the direction of ice movement, and, 

thus, were less deeply eroded. These tributary valleys end at the 

main valley wall, high above the floor of the trough valley, and 

are known as “hanging valleys” (fig. 3).

THROUGH VALLEYS

Some segments of the Finger Lakes and other north-southtrending troughs, such as the Tully trough, contain a “through 

valley,” which is described by Tarr (1905) as follows:

“Along a number of valleys it is possible to pass from 

one drainage system to the other through open valleys in 

which the present divides are determined not by rock, but by 

drift deposits”. 

Although Tarr (1905) provided the definition, the term 

“through valley” is attributed to W.M. Davis, who coined 

the phrase during the discussion of Tarr’s paper at the 1904 

Geological Society meeting (Tarr, 1905, p. 233). In the Tully 

trough, the Valley Heads Moraine forms a major surfacewater divide between the southward-flowing West Branch 

Tioughnioga River headwaters (henceforth called the West 

Branch valley in this report) and the northward-flowing 

Onondaga Creek headwaters (called the Tully valley in this 

report, fig. 3), and is the through valley part of the Tully trough.

SADDLES

The present bedrock floor steadily rises southward 

throughout the study area (fig. 4), however, prior to glaciation, 

the Tully trough may have contained a bedrock “saddle” or 

divide several miles north of its present location south of Tully 

(fig. 1). Several highly erosive ice advances wore the saddle 

down and shifted it southward (headward erosion) where it 

is now buried by glacial sediments deposited during the last 

glacial recession. 
7

DEPOSITIONAL PROCESSES

Glaciers transported and deposited such large 

amounts of sediment that, in glaciated areas, nearly 

all surficial unconsolidated deposits are of glacial 

origin, and can be hundreds of feet thick. Supraglacial 

debris (sediment on top of the ice), originated from 

two processes—(a) mass movement of debris from 

adjacent hillsides on to the ice and (b) transport of 

debris by upland streams on to the ice. Englacial 

debris (sediment within the ice) becomes entrained 

in the ice where bedrock crops out along edges of the 

glacier. Supraglacial and englacial debris is carried by 

the glacier with little or no modification of the particle 

size or shape. Subglacial (below the ice) meltwater 

can transport sediment through systems of channels 

and(or) linked-cavity systems at the base of the ice 

(Benn and Evans, 1998) and alter the particle size and 

shape through erosion. 

The two most important processes in the 

reworking of glacial sediment in the Tully trough 

and elsewhere are gravitational mass movement 

and transport by water. Flow of debris from steep 

hillsides onto the ice surface were particularly 

common because the abundant meltwater saturated 

the material, allowing it to easily flow to lower 

elevations. Further reworking of the sediments by 

meltwater is an effective grain-size sorting process. 

The coarse-grained sediments were deposited at and 

near the ice front where meltwater stream gradients 

were steep and flow was fast upon emerging from the 

confines of subglacial ice tunnels flowing from the ice 

front. Subglacial stream ‘energy’ (fast-moving water) 

was lost as these ice-tunnel streams emerged from 

the ice and flowed onto or around disintegrating ice 

blocks adjacent to the ice front and onto the outwash 

plain in front of the ice. The finer-grained sediments 

were carried away southward by meltwater streams 

and deposited in the West Branch valley. Figure 3. Features in the Tully Valley before, during, and after glaciation; and generalized changes in 

the shape of the bedrock valley.

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8

HYDROGEOLOGY OF TULLY 

TROUGH SEGMENTS

The end result of the glacial process 

described above created three trough segments 

in the Tully trough; the West Branch valley, the 

Valley Heads Moraine near Tully (though-valley 

section), and the Tully valley. The sediments that 

were eroded during the Valley Heads readvance, 

and deposited during the extended period of 

recession, and the older deposits beneath, 

collectively form a complex depositional 

sequence within and near the Tully trough. 

Deep-subsurface data, however, are insufficient 

to provide more than a generalized depiction of 

the glacial stratigraphy and the aquifers found 

within those deposits.

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Figure 4. Bedrock-surface altitude, locations of wells, and lines of geologic sections 

(shown in figs. 5 and 6) in the Tully trough, Onondaga and Cortland Counties, N.Y. 

WEST BRANCH VALLEY 

(SOUTH OF THE VALLEY HEADS MORAINE)

The bedrock floor of the Tully trough rises 

southward throughout the study area (figs. 4 and 

5) and, according to recent geohydrologic work 

by USGS in the West Branch valley, it continues 

to rise southward for several more miles. In most 

places, the bedrock is overlain by a basal sand and 

gravel unit that was deposited as pre-Valley Heads 

ice while it was retreating northward in the West 

Branch valley. This basal unit is typically overlain 

by more than 100 feet of lake-bottom sediment 

(fine sand, silt, and clay) and, in some places, by 

coarser grained subaquatic fan deposits (sand and 

pebbly sand). 

During the Valley Heads standstill, large 

amounts of sediment were carried by meltwater 

streams southward of the Valley Heads ice front 

in the Tully, Otisco Lake, and Skaneateles Lake 

troughs (fig. 1) and deposited much of the sediment 

in a proglacial lake in the West Branch valley. The 

lake eventually became filled with fine-grained 

lake sediment and subsequent meltwaters deposited 

a 40- to 70-foot thick layer of outwash sand and 

gravel on top of the lake sediments. 

A 400-foot deep well (C-601, figs. 5 and 6) 

drilled by the USGS on Currie Road indicated 46 

feet of outwash overlying 19 feet of medium- to 

coarse-grained deltaic sand that, in turn, overlies 

335 feet of lacustrine fine sand, silt, and clay. 

Bedrock (shale) was penetrated at 400 feet and no 

basal sand and gravel unit was found at this site. 

Seismic-refraction surveys completed by the USGS 

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10

along Currie Road east and west of Interstate 81 (fig. 4) indicate that the 

thalweg (deepest part of the valley) is east of well C-601 and is probably 

between Interstate 81 and New York State Route 281 (fig. 4). The basal 

sand and gravel unit, if present, may be in the thalweg because subglacial 

meltwater channels commonly follow the deepest part of a trough valley. 

Glacial-drift sediments in the West Branch valley form a two-aquifer 

system—a surficial (unconfined) sand and gravel aquifer, underlain by a 

lacustrine confining unit of fine sand, silt, and clay, and a confined basal 

sand and gravel aquifer on top of bedrock (figs. 5 and 6). The surficial 

(unconfined) aquifer is capable of supplying ample amounts of water to 

residents and businesses in the West Branch valley. The water table is 

typically 10 to 30 feet below land surface and may be as deep as 50 feet in 

some places. Typical reported yields to open-ended domestic wells range 

from 20 to 50 gallons per minute. Yields of several hundred gallons per 

minute or more could be expected from large-diameter screened wells. For 

example, a 12-inch-diameter screened well near the north end of Song Lake 

was pumped at a rate of 1,100 to 1,200 gallons per minute during a 48-

hour aquifer test (Haley & Aldrich of New York, 1999). The water quality 

generally is good, but hard. The water-table altitude, direction of groundwater flow, and interaction between the shallow aquifer and the Tully Lakes 

are described in Kappel and others (2001).

The basal (confined) aquifer is probably continuous along the bedrock 

floor in the deepest part of the valley (thalweg) and discontinuous along the 

sides of the valley. The confined aquifer is commonly less permeable than 

the unconfined aquifer, as indicated by well yields, which are highly variable 

and generally lower than those in the unconfined aquifer. Water levels in the 

few wells that have been drilled into the confined aquifer are above those in 

the surficial aquifer. Water quality in the confined aquifer is similar to that in 

the underlying shale (highly mineralized with variable amounts of hydrogen 

sulfide gas). The deep confined aquifer is little used because it is more 

economical to tap the shallow unconfined aquifer which has better water 

quality than the confined aquifer.

VALLEY HEADS MORAINE 

Large amounts of sediment accumulated at the ice front as a result of 

the meltout of englacial material that had been eroded and transported 

from the bedrock valley floor and walls. In addition, subglacial meltwater 

discharging from conduits at the base of the ice disgorged sediment as 

subaqueous fans at the ice front. Meltwater that flowed on top of the ice 

transported supraglacial material to the ice front in channels on or within the 

disintegrating ice front. An uneven landscape developed at the ice margin as 

large amounts of sediment were deposited on the disintegrating ice to form 

kame, kettle, and glacial karst features. Kame mounds and ridges of glacial 

drift (mixed glacial sediments) formed across the Valley Heads Moraine; the 

drift generally consists mostly of coarse-grained sediment (sand and gravel) 

that settled to the land surface as the ice melted. Kettle hollows sometimes 

formed between kame mounds as a result of the melting of buried ice masses 

that became separated from the retreating ice front. Glacial karst formed in 

areas of relatively thick glacial debris that covered and insulated residual ice 

masses. Internal drainage networks may then have developed beneath these 

masses and these drainage conduits slowly enlarged to the point that the 

overlying ice collapsed to form depressions and sinuous chains of craterlike 

depressions. Green and Tully Lakes (fig. 4) together have a sinuous form 

that may reflect a former collapsed meltwater conduit(s) (fig. 4). 

Two deep test wells (well OD-685, 560 feet deep; well OD-683, 830 

feet deep, fig. 5) were drilled by the USGS on the Valley Heads Moraine 

and over the deepest part of the valley. Neither well reached bedrock, 

although the deeper well (OD-683) probably ends close to bedrock. The 

other well (OD-685) penetrated 135 feet of kame-moraine deposits (sand 

and gravel) overlying 30 feet of deltaic sand, which is underlain by 240 

feet of glaciolacustrine sediments (fine sand, silt, and clay) interbedded 

with till, and then by 160 feet of silty sand and gravel. This silty sand and 

gravel unit may be part of a buried moraine of pre-Valley Heads origin, 

or it may represent an early-Valley Heads standstill position. The thick 
11

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Figure 5. North-south geohydrologic section C-C‘ showing locations of selected wells and the glacial stratigraphy in the Tully trough near Tully, NY. 

Line of section is along the thalweg (deepest part) of the bedrock valley and is shown in fig. 4.
12

lacustrine unit between the Valley Heads Moraine and the underlying and 

presumably older moraine indicates the presence of a lake in the Tully 

trough before the Valley Heads readvance. The lake apparently continued 

to exist or redeveloped, as indicated by fine-grained sediment that buries 

this early moraine as well as the older coarse deposits north and south of the 

moraine. Whether the 160-foot thick silty sand and gravel sequence extends 

to bedrock and continues with the subglacial deposits of sand and gravel (as 

shown in figure 5) is uncertain.

Well OD 683 (fig. 5) was drilled to depth of 830 ft and did not reach 

bedrock. The well penetrated, in descending order, 7 feet of till, 118 feet of 

kame moraine (mostly sand and gravel), 600 feet of fine-grained lacustrine 

sediment (fine sand, silt, and clay), 40 feet of sand and gravel, another 60 feet 

of fine-grained lacustrine sediment, and 3 ft of very coarse gravel which may 

be part of a subaquatic fan or buried moraine. Testhole data are insufficient 

to reveal the extent of the hypothesized buried fan or moraine, and do not 

indicate whether these deposits extend to bedrock, as implied by figure 5.

The complex stratigraphy of the moraine results in a multiaquifer system. 

The surficial kame-moraine deposits (ice-contact and collapsed outwash) 

forms an extensive unconfined sand and gravel aquifer (70 to 120 feet thick) 

that is underlain by a thick sequence of fine-grained glaciolacustrine deposits 

that, in turn, confine one or more deep sand and gravel aquifers (presumably 

subglacial conduit deposits and subaquatic fans) of highly variable thickness 

(15 to 150 feet thick), that may be discontinuous. The moraine also contains 

large kettle lakes, such as Song, Crooked, Green, and Tully Lakes (fig. 4). 

The water levels in some of the kettle lakes represent the local water table, 

whereas, others appear to be perched (Kappel and others, 2001). The bottoms 

of these perched lakes and ponds are probably lined with poorly permeable 

sediment and decayed organic material (muck) and(or) till that impedes the 

downward movement of lake water. 

The kame sand and gravel aquifer at the moraine is connected to the 

surficial outwash sand-and-gravel aquifer in the West Branch valley. Both 

aquifers typically yield 10 to 50 gallons per minute to open-ended domestic 

wells. The water quality is generally good, although hard, as would be 

expected from the high limestone content of the gravel (Ku, and others, 1975, 

fig. 22; Denny and Lyford, 1963, pl. 3). 

Ground water in the northern part of the kame sand and gravel aquifer 

flows northward and discharges from springs along the north side of the 

moraine. Some of the springs are perennial, including the springs along Route 

11A which are used for a small public-water-supply system for residents in 

Tully valley, whereas others flow only during the wet season. 

Some domestic wells at the crest of the moraine are completed in a sand 

and gravel layer, about 15 feet thick, that apparently is a thin lens within 

the upper part of the glaciolacustrine unit (fig. 5). Ground water in this unit 

probably also discharges to the springs along the northwestern side of the 

moraine (fig. 4). 

Two domestic wells on the crest of the moraine, each about 400 feet deep 

(OD-675 in the east central part of the moraine and OD-674 on the western 

side), were drilled through the surficial kame moraine and the lacustrine 

deposits (with little or no saturation in these areas) and completed in the thin 

basal aquifer that overlies bedrock (fig. 6A). Water from the confined aquifer 

is turbid, moderately mineralized, and similar to water in the shale—with a 

hydrogen sulfide odor and enough iron to cause staining. The surficial sand and 

gravel aquifer near the crest of the moraine is thinly saturated because springs 

on the north side of the moraine drain much of the water from this aquifer.

USGS test well OD-683, near the intersection of NYS Route 80 and 

Gatehouse Road (fig. 4), penetrated an unconfined sand and gravel aquifer 

between depths of 10 and 85 feet, and a thin sand-and-gravel aquifer (lens?) 

between 107 and 118 feet which was confined within the upper part of the 

glaciolacustrine unit. Both aquifers yield more than 10 gallons per minute to 

domestic wells. Underlying the thick confining unit are two confined sand 

and gravel aquifers between depths of 730 and 770 feet and 827 and 830 ft. 

Refusal was encountered at depth 830 ft, but a well could only be installed in 

the aquifer at 730 feet. The driller estimated the yield from the 730 foot deep 

aquifer at several hundred gallons per minute. It is uncertain whether the well 

finished in this aquifer is connected to the basal confined aquifer in the West 

Branch valley and that found in the Tully valley. 
13

Figure 6. Geohydrologic sections A-A’, along the crest of Valley Heads moraine, and B-B‘ along Currie Road. (Lines of section are shown in fig. 4.)

EXPLANATION

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14

TULLY VALLEY (NORTH OF THE VALLEY HEADS MORAINE) 

The steep northern slope of the moraine (from the crest of the 

moraine to Solvay Road, fig. 5) is mantled by a layer of kame moraine 

deposits which are comprised of sand and gravel interbedded with 

till or till-like debris-flow deposits and some silt and clay beds; 

collectively they are 55 to 80 feet thick, as indicated by test borings 

(Continental Placer Inc., 1992). These sediments may have been 

deposited beneath the ice, perhaps in englacial conduits through 

which sediment was transported to the crest of the moraine, and 

perhaps, in part, atop the disintegrating ice, later to collapse to their 

present position. Farther to the north, these kame moraine deposits 

either pinch out or are overlain by younger drift that was deposited 

during the retreat of the Valley Heads ice (fig. 5). The kame moraine 

deposits on the north side of the moraine overlie a thick sequence of 

glaciolacustrine fine sand, silt, and clay, that, in turn, overlies a basal 

confined sand and gravel unit that overlies bedrock. The basal sand and 

gravel unit may be discontinuous along the sides of the bedrock valley 

walls but it is commonly found in the deepest part of the valley. 

Well OD-412 (fig. 5) and several other deep test wells a few miles 

farther north in Tully Valley penetrated, in descending order, (1) 

discontinuous alluvial fan deposits of sand and gravel where upland 

tributaries flowed onto the main valley, (2) a relatively thick bed of 

lacustrine fine sand, silt and clay, that may contain a thin layer of 

till and sand and gravel that may represent a readvance of ice into 

the proglacial lake, and (3) a confined basal sand and gravel unit 

containing saline water. 

The hydrologic characteristics of aquifers in the Tully valley differ 

markedly from those in the West Branch valley and in the Valley Heads 

Moraine. Aquifers that yield water of sufficient quantity and quality are 

difficult to find. Some homeowners in the southern part of the valley 

once obtained their water supplies from springs and streams along the 

valley walls, but some of these supplies were lost due to brine mining 

operations. Solutioning of salt beds resulted in collapse in overlying 

bedrock units. The collapse caused fractures to open along the valley 

walls and these fractures intercepted drainage off the valley walls and 

routed it into deeper zones in the bedrock. An alternative public watersupply system for homes within the southeastern part of the Tully 

valley was developed that taps a spring on the north side of the Valley 

Heads Moraine. 

Homes along the southern end of the Tully valley, near the foot 

of the moraine, obtain water from sand and gravel layers within the 

surficial kame-moraine deposits, generally at depths less than 100 feet, 

or from the basal confined aquifer (greater than 400 feet). Most deep 

wells along Solvay Road (fig. 4) have adequate yields, are artesian 

(flowing above land surface), and yield potable water. Deep wells 

north of Solvay Road also have adequate yields and are artesian, but 

generally have poor water quality, with high concentrations of mineral 

salts dissolved from halite and gypsum deposits in the bedrock. 

Additional information on the hydrogeology in the Tully valley is 

given in Kappel and others (1996).
15

SUMMARY

The glacial history of the Tully trough is similar to that of the Finger Lake valleys to 

the west. Glaciers deepened these valleys and eroded away the preglacial bedrock divides 

or saddles between the northward- and southward-draining stream valleys. Scouring by 

glaciers in these preglacial valleys formed bedrock troughs that became partly filled with 

glacial deposits as the ice melted. The Tully trough contains three segments—the West 

Branch valley of the Tioughnioga River in the south, the Valley Heads Moraine, and the 

Tully valley segment drained by Onondaga Creek in the north. 

The West Branch valley south of the moraine contains a two-aquifer system—a surficial 

unconfined aquifer, and a basal confined sand and gravel aquifer that overlies the bedrock. 

Most of the domestic wells tap the unconfined sand and gravel aquifer. Water quality in this 

aquifer generally is good, although hard. Water in the basal, confined aquifer is mineralized 

and well yields are lower than those from the unconfined aquifer.

The Valley Heads Moraine near Tully consists of layers of sand and gravel, fine sand, 

silt, clay, and till. Its surface contains many kettle-hole lakes, ponds, wetlands, and dry 

depressions. The unconfined, surficial kame moraine aquifer is connected to the unconfined 

aquifer in the West Branch valley. The surficial sand and gravel aquifer near the crest of 

the moraine is thinly saturated because springs on the north side of the moraine drain much 

of the water from this aquifer. Water quality in the shallow aquifers is generally good, 

although hard. In some areas, especially in the thalweg of the valley, the basal, confined 

sand and gravel aquifer beneath the moraine is capable of yielding large amounts of water 

to wells, but this aquifer thins toward the edges of the valley and yields only small amounts 

of water to wells there. Water quality in the basal confined aquifer appears to be generally 

good within the moraine but becomes heavily mineralized to the north. 

Homeowners in Tully valley obtain water from streams or springs along the valley 

walls or from shallow dug or drilled wells. A spring-fed, public-water-supply system along 

the back side of the moraine has replaced sources of water along the valley-walls in areas 

adjacent to a former brine-mining operation. Beneath the surficial aquifer on the back 

side of the moraine is a thick layer of lacustrine fine sand, silt, and clay. Further to the 

north (north of Solvay Road), there is a discontinuous alluvial fan sand and gravel aquifer 

deposited where upland tributaries flow onto the main valley and a confined basal sand 

and gravel aquifer separated by a relatively thick bed of lacustrine sediment. Water in the 

surficial unconfined aquifer on the north side of the Valley Heads Moraine and in the basal 

confined aquifer south of Solvay Road is generally fresh (non-saline). However, water in 

the basal confined aquifer north of Solvay Road contains high concentrations of sodium 

chloride and calcium sulfate derived from the dissolution of halite and gypsum deposits 

within the bedrock.
16

SELECTED REFERENCES 

Benn, D.I., and Evans, D.J.A., 1998, Glaciers and glaciation: New York, John Wiley, 732 p.

Clayton, K.M., 1965, Glacial erosion in the Finger Lakes region, New York State, USA: Zeitschrift Fur 

Geomorphologie, v. 9, p. 107-112.

Continental Placer Incorporated, 1992, Draft Environmental Impact Statement - Valley Realty 

Development Co., Inc. - Tully Pit: Albany, N.Y., 117 p., 3 Appendices.

Davis, W.M., citation in Lobeck, A.K., 1939, Geomorphology: New York, McGraw Hill Inc., p. 262.

Denny, C.S., and Lyford, W.H., 1963, Surficial geology and soils of the Elmira-Williamsport region, New 

York-Pennsylvania: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 379, 60 p.

Haley and Aldrich of New York, 1999, Report to accompany groundwater withdrawal and consumptive 

use application, Song Mountain resort, Preble, New York: Rochester, N.Y., Haley and Aldrich of New 

York, File No. 70791-000, 11 p., 4 appendices.

Hammer, C.U., Clausen H.B., and Tauber, Henrik, 1986, Ice-core dating of the Pleistocene/Holocene 

boundary applied to a calibration of the 14C time scale: Radiocarbon, v. 28, p. 284-291.

Hand, B.M., 1978, The Syracuse meltwater channels; Guidebook for fieldtrips, 50th annual meeting of 

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