Introduction 

A digital dataset was developed from selected reports published by the USGS as part of the
RASA (Regional Aquifer-System Analysis) studies of the Floridan aquifer system in the 1980s.
These reports contain maps and data depicting the extent and elevation of both time-stratigraphic
and hydrogeologic units. The three primary reports used for this dataset compilation are
Professional Paper 1403-B (Miller, 1986), Professional Paper 1403-C (Bush and Johnston, 1988),
and Open-File Report 88-86 (Miller, 1988). Inquiries about this publication should be addressed to: 

Jason C. Bellino  
U.S. Geological Survey, Florida Water Science Center
10500 University Center Dr. Suite 215
Tampa, FL 33612 
Telephone: 813-975-8620 
Email: jbellino@usgs.gov


Getting Started 
     
The digital datasets are downloadable as individual zip files contained within three main
folder types:

digital_surfaces
scanned_images
shapefiles

Files in the "digital_surfaces" folder contain the raster surfaces for selected
structural surfaces in folder "pp1403b" (Miller, 1986). Georeferenced tif images of the original
plates used to digitize the datasets are located in the "scanned_images" folder. The 
shapefiles folder contains all of the point, line, and polygon vector datasets that 
accompany the structural surfaces.


Abbreviations

An abbreviated naming convention was used for the digital surfaces. The general format is
a four-letter abbreviation describing the time-stratigraphic or hydrogeologic unit, 
separated by an underscore, followed by "surf" indicating it is a structural surface.
Filenames and the time-stratigraphic unit or hydrostratigraphic units they represent are:

fdpz_surf - top of Fernandina permeable zone
bldz_surf - top of boulder zone
eeoc_surf - top of early Eocene
fasb_surf - base of Floridan aquifer system
fast_surf - top of Floridan aquifer system
leoc_surf - top of late Eocene
lfat_surf - top of Lower Floridan aquifer
meoc_surf - top of middle Eocene
mioc_surf - top of Miocene
olig_surf - top of Oligocene
pleo_surf - top of Paleocene
ufab_surf - base of Upper Floridan aquifer

Files with names beginning with "mcu" represent the structural surfaces of middle 
confining units I through VIII:

mcu_i    
mcu_ii   
mcu_iii  
mcu_iv   
mcu_v    
mcu_vi   
mcu_vii  
mcu_viii 

Special note about the MCUs: Some of the raster surfaces for the middle confining units were
derived from Plate 29, which represents the base of the Upper Floridan aquifer (and top of
several of the middle confining units). This provides more consistency between the raster
datasets than if these were generated from the original 8 1/2 inch figures in the body of
the report.

The same naming conventions were used when naming vector datasets in the shapefiles
folder. Additional character strings were used to identify the plate (pltxx) or figure
(figxx) from which each dataset was derived and the geometry of the shapefile (line or polygon).
Some shapefiles were common among all of the plates and figures (for example, county boundaries, and so on)
and do not have a "pltxx" or "figxx" prefix.


Digital surfaces from pp 1403-C (Bush and Johnston, 1988) were named using a different 
convention, as these were not structural surfaces. Descriptions of these filenames are
listed below:

ufa_m1980 - potentiometric surface of the Upper Floridan aquifer, May 1980
ufa_predv - potentiometric surface of the Upper Floridan aquifer, predevelopment era
ufa_dif   - difference in the potentiometric surface of the Upper Floridan aquifer between
		the predevelopment era and May 1980

Notes

All datasets are projected in an Albers Conical Equal Area projection (NAD83) except the scanned
images. The original paper maps were drawn using a Lambert Conic Conformal projection
(NAD27) and so this is the native projection system that was used to georeference the scanned
images. Reprojection of these datasets resulted in unwanted noise around the edges, so they
were not converted to the Albers projection system.


To install:

1.	Download desired zip file(s) to local hard drive
2.	Open with Winzip or other zip utility and click the "Extract" button (highlighting 
	of the individual files is not necessary)
3.	Extract contents to a destination folder on the local hard drive


Metadata 

Each feature class has associated metadata viewable and exportable through 
ArcCatalog. To view the metadata file, simply click on the feature class in ArcCatalog 
and then click the Metadata tab.


Suggested Citation

Bellino, J.C., 2011, Digital surfaces and hydrogeologic data for the Floridan aquifer
system in Florida and in parts of Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina: 
U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 584, available online only at http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/584/.


References

Bush, P.W., and Johnston, R.H., 1988, Ground-water hydraulics, regional flow, and ground-water
development of the Floridan aquifer system in Florida and in Parts of Georgia, South Carolina,
and Alabama: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1403-C, 80 p., 17 plates.
(Not currently available online.)

Miller, J.A., 1986, Hydrogeologic framework of the Floridan aquifer system in Florida and in
parts of Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina: U.S. Geological Survey  Professional Paper 1403-B,
91 p., 33 plates, accessed at http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/papers/pp1403b/index.html

Miller, J.A., 1988, Geohydrologic data from the Floridan aquifer system in Florida and in parts
of Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 88-86, 680 p.,
accessed at http://onlinepubs.er.usgs.gov/djvu/OFR/1988/ofr_88_86.djvu.