In Cooperation     with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Waste Management     Division

Geology and Preliminary Hydrogeologic Characterization     of the Cell-House Site, Berlin, New Hampshire, 2003-04

**AVAILABLE     ONLINE ONLY**

By James R. Degnan, Stewart F. Clark, Jr., Philip T. Harte, and Thomas J. Mack

#### U.S.    Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2004-5282

Complete text    of report is available as a PDF (6,004     KB)

**Plate     1 is available in .gif format (110 KB)**

 Abstract

 At the cell-house site, thin, generally less       than 20-foot thick overburden, consisting of till and demolition materials,       overlies fractured crystalline bedrock. Bedrock at the site consists of       gneiss with thin discontinuous lenses of chlorite schist and discontinuous       tabular pegmatite. Two distinct fracture domains, with principal trends       to the west and northwest, and to the north, overlap near the site. The       cell-house site shows principal trends common to both domains. 

 Gneiss is the most abundant rock at the site.       Steeply dipping fractures within the gneiss terminate on subhorizontal contacts       with pegmatite and on moderately dipping contacts with chlorite schist.       Steeply northwest-dipping en Èchelon fracture zones, parallel joint       zones, and silicified brittle faults show consistent strikes to the northeast.       Gently east-dipping to subhorizontal fractures, sub-parallel to gneissosity,       strike northeast. 

 The impermeable cap, barrier wall, and bedrock       surface topography affect ground-water flow in the overburden. There is       relatively little ground-water flow in the overburden in the capped area       and a poor hydraulic connection between the overburden and the underlying       bedrock over most of the site. The overburden beneath the cap may receive       inflow through or beneath the barrier wall, or by flow through vertical       fractures in the underlying bedrock beneath the barrier wall. 

 The bedrock aquifer near the river is well connected       to the river and head difference in the bedrock across the site are large       (greater than 13 ft). Horizontal hydraulic conductivities of 0.2 to 20 ft/d       were estimated for the bedrock. Individual fractures or fracture zones likely       have hydraulic conductivities greater than the bulk rock. Subhorizontal       fractures occur at pegmatite contacts or along chlorite schist lenses and       may serve as ground-water conduits to the steeply dipping fractures in gneiss.       The effective hydraulic conductivity across the site is likely to be in       the low range of the estimated values (0.2 ft/d). Ground water discharges       to the river from the bedrock aquifer and is greatest during periods of       large river stage fluctuations.

TABLE OF       CONTENTS

 Abstract     Introduction      Site Description and History       Purpose and Scope      Geologic Setting      Methods            GeologicMapping and Analysis            HydrogeologicAnalysis                  Surface Water                   Ground Water                            Hydraulic Analysis                  Geophysical Surveys                        Ground-PenetratingRadar                                                Two-Dimensional Resistivity                        Borehole Geophysical Logs Geologic Characterization        Berlin Area               Ductile Structures                Brittle Structures        Cell-House Site               Ductile Structures              Brittle Structures                    FractureZones                   Faults                    FractureTrends               Geologic Summary Results of Hydrogeologic Analyses        Analysis of Surface and Ground-WaterLevels              Head Surfaces  and Hydraulic Connections              Hydraulic  Properties       Geophysical Surveys              Ground-Penetrating  Radar               Two-Dimensional  Resistivity               Borehole-Geophysical  Logs  Preliminary Hydrogeologic Characterization   Summary   Acknowledgments   References   Appendix 1 - Core Logs from Boreholes  

**Plate**

Plate 1 Geologic map of exposed bedrock at the cell-house       site, Berlin, N.H.

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For more information concerning the research in this       report, contact:

Brian Mrazik,      District Chief      USGS      361 Commerce Way      Pembroke, NH 03275

Web site: http://nh.water.usgs.gov    Phone: (603) 226-7807    Email: dc_nh@usgs.gov 

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