WA TER-RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS REPORT 85-4252 

PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF THE 

-IE HIGHLAND RIM AQUIFER SYSTEM 

IN TENNESSEE 

FOR RECEIVING INJECTED WASTES 

Prepared by 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

in cooperation with the 

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 
PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF THE HIGHLAND RIM AQUIFER SYSTEM 

IN TENNESSEE FOR RECEIVING INJECTED WASTES 

By Michael W. Bradley 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Water-Resources Investigations Report 85-4252 

Prepared in cooperation with the 

U. S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

Nashville, Tennessee 

1986 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

DONALD PAUL HODEL, Secretary 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Dallas L. Peck, Director 

For additional information Copies of this report can be 

write to: purchased from: 

District Chief 

U.S. Geological Survey 

A-41 3 Federal Building 

U.S. Courthouse 

Nashville, Tennessee 37203 

Open-File Services Section 

Western Distribution Branch 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Box 25425, Federal Center 

Lakewood, Colorado 80225 
CONTENTS 

Abstract 1 

Introduction 1 

Purpose and scope 2 

Geohydrology 2 

Application of criteria to the Highland Rim aquifer system 3 

Drinking-water use 3 

Hydrocarbon resources 3 

Water quality 3 

Contamination 4 

Aquifers potentially suitable for waste injection 4 

Selected references 25 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

Figure 1. Map showing the area1 extent of the Highland 

Rim aquifer system and physiographic provinces in Tennessee 

2. Generalized geologic section of the Highland Rim aquifer 

system showing water quality and use 8 

3-7. Maps showing: 

6 

3. Areas where the Highland Rim aquifer system 

is used as a source of drinking water 10 

4. Hydrocarbon resources of the Highland Rim aquifer system 16 

5. Dissolved-solids concentrations and water 

type in the Highland Rim aquifer system 18 

6. Contamination sites and karst areas 

in the Highland Rim aquifer system 20 

7. Areas in the Highland Rim aquifer system 

that meet EPA criteria for exemption and 

may be used for receiving injected wastes 22 

TABLES 

Table 1. Geologic formations of the Highland 

Rim aquifer system, and confining units 5 

2. Summary of public-water systems that use the Highland 

Rim aquifer system as a source of drinking water 7 

3. Dissolved-solids concentrations of water from selected 

wells and springs in the Highland Kim aquifer system 12 

4. Contamination sites in the Highland Rim aquifer system 24 

. . . 

111 
Factors for Converting Inch-Pound Units to 

International System of Units (SI) 

For the convenience of readers who may want to use International System of Units (SI), 

the data may be converted by using the following factors: 

Multiply !?Y To obtain 

inch (in.) 25.4 millimeter (mm) 

foot (ft) 0.3048 meter (rn) 

foot per mile (ft/mi) 0.1894 meter per kilometer (m/km) 

mile (mi) 

square mile (mi2) 

0.609 kilometer (km) 

2.590 square kilometer (km21 

gallon per minute (gal/min) 0.00006309 cubic meter per second 

(m3/s) 

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 mean sea level. NGVD of 1929 is referred to as sea level in 

this report. 

iv 
PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF THE HIGHLAND RIM AQUIFER SYSTEM 

IN TENNESSEE FOR RECEIVING INJECTED WASTES 

By Michael W. Bradley 

ABSTRACT 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has authority under the Safe Drinking 

Water Act to protect underground sources of drinking water from contamination by deep 

well injection. An aquifer, however, may be exempted from protection and used for 

injected wastes where the aquifer meets criteria established in the Agency’s Underground 

Injection Control program. 

The Highland Rim aquifer system in Tennessee consists of Mississippian age carbonate rocks and occurs from the Valley and Ridge of East Tennessee to west of the Tennessee River. This aquifer contains potable water and is an important source of drinking 

water for municipal and domestic supplies on the Highland Rim. The Highland Rim aquifer 

system under parts of the Cumberland Plateau is not currently used as a source of drinking 

water and is not expected to be used in the future. These areas meet parts of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Underground Injection Control criteria for exempting aquifers 

to receive injected waste. 

INTRODUCTION 

Part C of the Safe Drinking Water Act (Public Law 93-523) authorized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish regulations to assure that the underground 

injection of waste will not endanger existing or potential sources of drinking water. In 

order to regulate underground injection, EPA needs to identify and protect aquifers that 

are existing or potential drinking-water sources and to identify the aquifers or parts of 

aquifers that are not and will not be used as drinking-water sources. 

Under part 146.04 of the Federal Underground Injection Control program (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 19811, an underground source of drinking water is protected 

from receiving injected wastes. However, EPA may exempt an aquifer or part of an aquif er and allow the injection of wastes into an aquifer if: 

(A) It does not currently serve as a source of drinking water; and 

(B) It cannot now and will not in the future serve as a source of drinking water 

because: 

(1) It is mineral, hydrocarbon, or geothermal energy producing; 

(2) It is situated at a depth or location which makes recovery of water for 

drinking-water purposes economically or technologically impractical; 

1 
(3) It is so contaminated that it would be economically or technologically 

impractical to render that water fit for human consumption; or 

(4) It is located over a class III well mining area subject to subsidence or 

catastrophic collapse; or 

(C) The total dissolved solids content of the ground water is more than 3,000 

mg/L and less than 10,000 mg/L and it is not reasonably expected to supply 

a public water system.” 

In addition to meeting these criteria, an aquifer will be exempted only after public 

notice, a public hearing, and final approval by the Administrator of EPA. 

Under current technology and present economic conditions, it will be considered 

economically or technologically impractical to recover drinking water from an aquifer 

with the following characteristics. 

(a) The aquifer contains water of inferior quality to existing, alternate sources 

of drinking water, and treatment to make it potable would be uneconomica 

(b) The aquifer lies below a source of drinking water that is adequate to supply 

present and future needs; 

(c) Interflow is imperceptible between the aquifer and existing drinking-water 

sources. 

A dissolved-solids concentration of 10,000 milligrams per liter (mg/L) will be considered to be the limit above which demineralization would be uneconomical. The EPA 

does not consider an aquifer with water containing more than 10,000 mg/L dissolved solids 

to be an underground source of drinking water. 

PurposeandScope 

The purpose of this study is to evaluate areas in the Highland Rim aquifer system 

that meet the exemption criteria and can be used to receive injected wastes as defined by 

State and Federal (EPA) Underground Injection Control programs. The area1 extent of the 

parts of this aquifer system that may be used for waste injection are delineated in this 

report. Areas where data are insufficient to evaluate the aquifer are also identified. Generalizations on hydrology and water quality have been made because of limited data. 

GEOHYDROLOGY 

The Highland Rim aquifer system occurs west of the Valley and Ridge physiographic 

province (fig. 1). This aquifer system is composed of Mississippian carbonate rocks including, in descending order, the Bangor Limestone, Hartselle Formation, Monteagle and Ste. 

Genevieve Limestones, St. Louis Limestone, Warsaw Limestone, and the Fort Payne Formation (table 1). These formations crop out in the Highand Rim physiographic province 

and occur in the subsurface of the Cumberland Plateau and part of the Coastal Plain of 

West Tennessee. This aquifer system has been removed by erosion from the Central Basin 

and most of the Sequatchie Valley (figs. 1 and 2). 

2 
Below the Cumberland Plateau, the Highland Rim aquifer system is overlain by the 

Pennington Formation (fig. 2). This formation acts as an upper confining layer that separates the Highland Rim aquifer system from the overlying Cumberland Plateau aquifer 

system. The Highland Rim aquifer system is at or near land surface in the rest of the area 

of occurrence and does not have an upper confining layer. The Highland Rim aquifer system is confined from below by the Maury Shale and the Chattanooga Shale (table 1; fig. 2). 

Ground water in the Highland Rim aquifer system occurs in the regolith above bedrock and in solution-enlarged bedding-plane openings and fractures in the rock (Burchett 

and Hollyday, 1974; Bradley, 1984). The rocks comprising the Highland Rim aquifer 

system generally have low primary porosity and permeability. Solution and fracture 

openings provide zones of secondary permeability for movement and storage of ground 

water. In parts of the southeastern Highland Rim, the Fort Payne Formation weathers to 

a regolith with permeable zones of gravel-sized chert fragments above the bedrock 

(Burchett and Hollyday, 1974). 

Most of the ground-water flow in the Highland Rim aquifer system is within 300 feet 

of land surface. The ground-water reservoir is recharged from precipitation occurring 

over the outcrop area. Ground water then moves through solution openings and regolith to 

local discharge points at springs and along streams. 

APPLICATION OF CRITERIA TO THE HIGHLAND RIM AQUIFER SYSTEM 

Drinking-Water Use 

The Highland Rim aquifer system is used as a source of drinking water for 35 municipal water systems in central Tennessee (table 2; fig. 3). This aquifer system also supplies 

drinking water for most of the rural domestic and non-community use in the Highland Rim. 

The aquifer system is not currently used as a source of drinking water in the Cumberland Plateau. The Cumberland Plateau aquifer system overlies the Highland Rim aquifer 

system (fig. 2) and can supply adequate amounts of ground water for drinking-water use 

throughout the Plateau. 

Hydrocarbon Resources 

The formations of the Highland Rim aquifer system are producing hydrocarbon 

resources (oil and gas) in the northern Cumberland Plateau (fig. 4). Exploration is taking 

place in other areas in the Cumberland Plateau. There are no current mineral uses, other 

than construction material, and no geothermal resource uses of the formations of this 

aquifer system. 

Water Quality 

Most of the ground water in the outcrop area of the Highland Rim aquifer system is 

a calcium bicarbonate type. Dissolved-solids concentrations are generally less than 1,000 

3 
mg/L (table 3; fig. 5). In the northwestern Highland Rim, the presence of evaporite minerals in the Fort Payne Formation or Warsaw Limestone probably causes higher mineralization of the ground water, with dissolved-solids concentrations being more than 1,000 

mg/L in some areas. In this part of the Highland Rim aquifer system, ground water is 

primarily a calcium sulfate type. 

Water type has been illustrated by Stiff diagrams (fig. 5) which show chemically 

equivalent concentrations (milliequivalents per liter) of calcium, magnesium, sodium, 

potassium, bicarbonate, carbonate, sulfate, and chloride. The diagrams form a distinct 

pattern for different water types (Hem, 1970). The degree of mineralization is indicated 

by the width of the pattern. For example, water in a well in Dickson County is a mineralized calcium sulfate water type with about 3,200 mg/L dissolved solids. The corresponding Stiff diagram is wide with large peaks for calcium and sulfate (fig. 5). Water from 

another well in the same county is a calcium bicarbonate type with 195 mg/L dissolved 

solids. The Stiff diagram is narrower, has a different shape, and has small peaks for 

calcium and bicarbonate (fig. 5). 

In the Cumberland Plateau, very little quantitative water-quality information for the 

Highland Rim aquifer system is available. Driller’s reports generally describe the water 

qualitatively as “fresh, ” “sulfur water,” or “salty.” Dissolved-solids concentrations in water 

from the Mississippian formations in the northern Cumberland Plateau probably are more 

than 1,000 mg/L. One oil well in Morgan County produced water having dissolved-solids 

concentrations greater than 100,000 mg/L (fig. 5). 

Water-quality data in the southern Cumberland ‘Plateau are limited to two points 

near the Sequatchie Valley. Ground water at both sites had less than 1,000 mg/L dissolved 

solids. Additional data are needed to define the quality of the water and the hydrology of 

the Highland Rim aquifer system in the Cumberland Plateau. 

Contamination 

Contamination of the Highland Rim aquifer system is documented in several localized areas (table 4; fig. 6). At two sites, landfill leachate has contaminated nearby wells 

and springs, and at three sites contamination involved dumping of wastes into sinkholes 

(table 4). 

The Highland Rim aquifer system is vulnerable to contamination through sinkholes in 

areas of karst terrain (fig. 6). In these areas, sinkholes channel surface runoff and any contaminants that may be present directly into the subsurface (Miller and Sitterly, 1977). The 

relatively rapid movement of waste through sinkholes and solution openings can contaminate surface water as well as ground water. 

AQUIFERS POTENTIALLY SUITABLE FOR WASTE INJECTION 

The Highland Rim aquifer system is not currently used as a source of drinking water 

in the Cumberland Plateau; and in the northern Plateau, the aquifer system is not expected 

to serve as a source of drinking water because of the presence of hydrocarbon resources 

(fig. 7). Alth ough this area meets some of the EPA criteria for exemption, the Tennessee 

Department of Public Health has proposed regulations that would prevent the subsurface 

injection of wastes into aquifers that contain extractable energy related resources. 

4 
At some sites, dissolved-solids concentrations in water from the Highland Kim aquifer system exceeds 3,000 mg/L. There are also some sites of local contamination in the 

Highland Rim aquifer system. The pockets of mineralized ground water and the contamination sites, however, are small, isolated occurrences in the outcrop area, with the aquifer 

system being used as a source of drinking water in the area surrounding these sites. Consequently, injection of wastes at these shallow sites could cause contamination of nearby 

drinking-water supplies. 

Table I.--Geologic formations of the Highland Rim aquifer 

system, and confining units 

Mississippian 

System 

Pennington Formation (confining unit) 

Bangor Limestone 

Hartselle Formation 

Upper Monteagle and Ste. Genevieve 

Mississippian - Limestones 

St. Louis Limestone 

-Warsaw Limestone 

Lower Fort Payne Formation 

_ Mississippian Maury Shale (confining unit) 

Devonian System - Upper Devonian - Chattanooga Shale (confining unit) 

Modif ied from Miller, 19 74. 
6 
Table 2.--Summary of public-water systems that use the Highland Rim 

aquifer system as a source of drinking water 

[Data sources: 1, Tennessee Division of Water Resources - Unpublished data; 2, Tennessee 

Division of Water Quality Control - Unpublished data; 3, Reported from other unpubhshed 

sources] 

System County 

L)ata 

source 

Ardmore Ciles 

Belvidere Utility District Franklin 

Big Sandy Benton 

Bon Aqua - Lyles Utility District Hickman 

Collinwood Wayne 

Cowan Franklin 

Cum berland City Stewart 

Cunningham ‘tiontgomery 

Dechard Franklin 

Dickson Dickson 

Et-in Houston 

Estill Springs Franklin 

Fairview W iliiamson 

Fayetteville Lincoln 

Franklin \w illiamson 

Harpeth Utility District Dickson 

Hohenwald Lewis 

Huntland Franklin 

Lafayette Macon 

Lawrenceburg Lawrence 

Leom a Lawrence 

Loretto Lawrence 

Manchester Coffee 

McEwen Humphreys 

Orlinda Robertson 

Red Boiling Springs Macon 

Sherwood Franklin 

St. Joseph Lawrence 

Summertown Lawrence 

Taft Lincoln 

Tennessee Ridge Houston 

Tullahoma Coffee 

Vanleer dickson 

W averly Humphreys 

West Point Utility District Lawrence 

192 

192 

192 

192 

1 

1,2,3 

2 

2 

192 

3 

192 

192 

192 

192 

192 

I 

192 

192 

192 

172 

192 

192 

192 

192 

192 

12 

1,2 

I^ 

1:; 

3 

192 

192 

1,; 

192 
3000’ 

2000’ 

1000’ 

SEA LEVEL 

1000’ 

2000 

3000 

0 50 MILES 

‘p1 

0 10 PO 30 40 50 KILOMETERS 

NATIONAL GEODETIC VERTICAL 

DATUM OF 1929 

Figure P.--Generalized geologic sectlon of the 

8 
Areas of hydrocarbon resources 

Cumberland Plateau 

aqutfer system 

Pennington \ \, 

Knox Group 

Htghland Rtm 

Valley and Fudge 

structurally complex 

2000’ 

1000’ 

SEA 1 

1000’ 

2000’ 

Vertmal scale greatly exaggerated 3000’ 

Drssolved-sokds concentrahons are less than 1 000 

mtlkgrams per Iner. Isolated pockets wtth more than 

1 000 milligrams per lner may occur in some areas 

Represents the area where the aqutfer system IS used 

as a source of drmktng water 

Few data Estrmated dtssolved-soltds concentrattons 

more than 1 000 milltgrams per Itter, may be more 

than 10,000 mtlltgrams per Itter. Represents areas 

where the aquifer system IS not used as a source 

of drinking water 

.EVF 

Htghland Rtm aqutfer system showtng water quality and use, 

9 
Figure 3.--Areas where the Highland Rim aquifer system is used 

10 
,..;’ .’ ’ C*:‘rf :’ 

EXPLANATION 

Area where the aquifer is not used 

as a source of drinking water 

rgtt Public water system which uses 

water from the Highland Rim 

aquifer system (see table 2) 

9 Outcrop of the Chattanooga Shale 

/ :nJ;,9’,:1 Highland Rim 

aquifer, system Dashed where 

; , I;, ;,O , 30 4; “,O MILES 

0 III 20 30 40 50 KILOMETERS 

NATIONAL GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM OF 1929 

as a source of drmkmg water. 

II 
Table 3.--Dissolved-solids concentrations of water from selected wells 

and springs in the Highland Rim aquifer system 

[Data sources: 1, Piper (1932); 2, Smith (1962); 3, Theis (1936); 4, Rima and Goddard 

(1979); 5, Wells (1933); 6, Unpublished USGS files; 7, Newcome and Smith (1958); 

8, Marcher, Bingham, and Lounsbury (196411 

County Location Well 

depth, 

in feet 

Dissolved 

solids 

Water-bearing concentra- Data 

formation tions, in source 

milligrams 

per liter 

Benton 

Bledsoe 

Cannon 

Cheatham 

Clay 

Coffee 

Cumberland 

Davidson 

Decatur 

Dekalb 

Dickson 

Franklin 

Faxon 5 

Brayton 7 mi W 

Woodbury 6 mi SE 

Ashland City 1.75 mi S 

Ashland City 6 mi NE 

Kingston Springs 0.5 mi S 

Neptune 1.75 mi NE 

18 Fort Payne 57 

57 St. Louis 62 

105 Warsaw 395 

120 Fort Payne 10,688 

105 Fort Pavne Warsaw 1,130 

7 

2 

Spring 

165 

Fort Payne 401 

St. Louis 274 

Moss 1 mi SE 135 Warsaw 231 2 

Manchester 4 mi N 85 Warsaw 210 2 

Manchester 3 mi NW 97 Fort Payne 57 2 

Crab Orchard 160 St. Louis 333 7 

Joelton 2 mi S 230 Fort Payne 488 2 

Whites Creek 2.75 mi W Spring Chattanooga 844 1 

Joelton 238 Fort Payne 282 4 

Sugartree 20 Fort Payne 42 5 

Smithville 3 mi NW 61 Warsaw 86 2 

Cumberland Fur. 2.5 mi N 140 Fort Payne 742 2 

Dickson 427 St. Louis Warsaw 256 1 

Vanleer 5 mi W 65 Fort Payne 3,195 1 

Burns 8 mi SW 215 Fort Payne 1,620 6 

Dickson 2.75 mi SW 200 Warsaw 135 498 

White Bluff 2 mi W 102 Fort Payne 196 498 

Belvidere 1.5 mi N 

Belvidere 

Cowan 

Decherd 

Sherwood 

Winchester 

118 

65 

Spring 

112 

Spring 

Spring 

Warsaw 1,212 3 

Fort Payne 182 3 

Warsaw 296 3 

Fort Payne . 239 3 

Warsaw 214 3 

Fort Payne 156 3 

12 
Table 3.--Dissolved-solids concentrations of water from selected wells 

and springs in the Highland Rim aquifer system--Continued 

County Location Well 

depth, 

in feet 

Dissolved 

solids 

Water-bearing concentra- Data 

formation tions, in source 

milligrams 

per liter 

Giles 

Hardin 

Hickman 

Houston 

Humphreys 

Lawrence 

Lewis 

Lincoln 

Macon 

Maury 

Ardmore 1.5 mi NE Spring Fort Payne 43 

Olive Hill 30 Fort Payne 74 

Aetna 6 mi W Spring Fort Payne 198 

Bon Aqua 0.5 mi SE Spring Fort Payne 841 

Nunnelly 2 mi W Spring Fort Payne 156 

Wrigley 2.5 mi S 212 Fort Payne 144 

Wrigley 7 mi NE 130 Warsaw 184 

Erin 9.25 mi SE 64 Fort Payne 226 

Erin 6.5 mi SW 160 Fort Payne 172 

Erin 0.6 mi W Spring St. Louis 186 

Stewart 1 mi W Spring St. Louis Warsaw 97 

Bold Spring Spring St. Louis 156 

Denver 4.75 mi E Spring Fort Payne 160 

McEwen 0.5 mi NE 217 St. Louis 166 

Waverly 6.25 mi N Spring St. Louis 140 

Ethridge 6 mi NE Spring St. Louis 57 

Iron City Spring Fort Payne 75 

Iron City 200 Fort Payne 3857 

Lawrenceburg 1 mi W Spring Fort Payne 70 

Lawrenceburg 7 mi N 120 Fort Payne 60 

Hohenwald 2 mi N Spring St. Louis 55 

Hohenwald 5 mi NW Spring Fort Payne 81 

Hohenwald 0.5 mi E 97 Fort Payne 34 

Hohenwald 2 mi SW 167 Warsaw 35 

Elora 0.5 mi S Spring St. Louis 189 

Flintville 80 Fort Payne 42 

Layfayette 6 mi NW 87 Fort Payne 62 

Layfayette 7 mi SW 137 Fort Payne 108 

Santa Fe 3 mi N 

Theta 

80 Fort Payne 95 

Spring St. Louis 74 

3 

5 

3 

3 

3 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

3 

3 

2 

3 

2 

3 

3 

2 

2 

3 

2 

2 

2 

3 

3 

13 
Table 3.--Dissolved-solids concentrations of water from selected wells 

and springs in the Highland Rim aquifer system--Continued 

County Location Well 

depth, 

in feet 

Dissolved 

solids 

Water-bearing concentra- Data 

formation tions, in source 

milligrams 

per liter 

Montgomery Clarksville 10 mi NE 

Clarksville 4.25 mi E 

Clarksville 9 mi SE 

Louise 5 mi SE 

Woodlawn 5 mi NW 

Oakwood 0.5 mi E 

Southside 1.75 mi E 

Overton 

Perry 

Pickett 

Putnam 

Robertson 

Stewart 

Sumner 

Warren 

195 Warsaw 326 

162 St. Louis Warsaw 1948 

140 Fort Payne 2288 

65 Fort Payne 1238 

136 St. Louis 262 

126 St. Louis 235 

80 Warsaw 215 

Livingston 2 mi N 210 Fort Payne Warsaw 115 

Rickman 65 Fort Payne 182 

Flatwoods 6 mi NE Spring Fort Payne 58 

Linden 4 mi S 90 Warsaw 53 

Byrdstown 2 mi SW 100 Fort Payne 208 

Cookville 4 mi NW 105 Fort Payne 595 

Goffton 1 mi S 150 Fort Payne 125 

Adams 7 mi S 202 Warsaw 185 

Cedar Hill 9.25 mi S 119 St. Louis Warsaw 1158 

Orlinda 4.75 mi SW 54 St. Louis 362 

Springfield 3 mi W Spring St. Louis 146 

Springfield 10 mi N 71 St. Louis Warsaw 2101 

Springfield 2 mi S 96 Fort Payne 180 

Dover 5.75 mi NW 75 Gravel 198 

Dover 6 mi SE 111 Warsaw 198 

Indian Mound 55 St. Louis 220 

Model 5.5 mi W Spring Fort Payne 50 

Mulberry Hill 3 mi NE 182 Fort Payne 202 

Portland 2 mi NE Spring 

Westmoreland 0.5 mi E 65 

Westmoreland 5 mi W 100 

White House 56 

St. Louis Warsaw 

Fort Payne 

Fort Payne/ 

Chattanooga 

Warsaw 

162 

214 

4502 

204 

McMinnville 1 mi SE 105 Fort Payne 386 

McMinnville 3 mi NW 133 Fort Payne 125 

2 

1 

2 

1 

1 

4 

4 

2 

2 

3 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

2 

14 
Table 3.--Dissolved-solids concentrations of water from selected wells 

and springs in the Highland Rim aquifer system--Continued 

County Location Well 

depth, 

in feet 

Dissolved 

solids 

Water-bearing concentr a- Data 

formation tions, in source 

milligrams 

per liter 

Wayne Waynesboro Spring Fort Payne 43 

Waynesboro 10 mi N 82 Fort Payne 38 

Waynesboro 10 mi NE 122 Warsaw 24 

Westpoint 7 mi NW Spring Fort Payne 104 

White Cassville 3 mi W 

Spring Hill 3 mi SW 

Williamson Boston 6.25 mi N Spring Fort Payne 168 1 

Boston 2.25 mi W 54 St. Louis 77 1 

Fairview 206 Fort Payne 946 6 

82 Fort Payne 215 2 

140 Warsaw 185 2 

15 
c ! 

$ <A- dfi’ 

^. ,*’ 

‘l,,: i’ 

-r------...,-.- 

Figure 4.--Hydrocarbon resources of the Highland 

16 
Y’,” “4 

K 

EXPLANATION 

iIn 

Areas of hydrocarbon resources 

and production 

3 Outcrop of the Chattanooga Shale 

Llmlt of the Highland Rim aquifer ,/ system. Dashed where approximate 

0 ,I ‘0, f,O , “19 4; 5,O MILES 

0 10 20 30 40 50 KILOMETERS 

NATIONAL GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM OF 1929 

Rim aquifer system. 

17 
Figure B.--Dissolved-solids concentrations and water type 

18 
‘\ 

i i--l 

in the Hfghland Rfm aquifer system 

%. 

1,. \. 

, ..:. 

” J -.-,* 

N ,’ 

‘-7q’ 

’ LIR*DLEY i ,’ POLK 

\ I‘ 

i 

‘\ ’ 

,_. -.A..- -. - _ 

,, 1; c 

. , 

LI ., 

IN MILLIEQUIVALENTS 

\. , PER LITER 

10-o 

calcium 

magneswm 

sodium 

potassfum 

,b $rad,b,o,:a, t e 

sulfate 

chlorfde 

Note: The Stiff diagram for the 

Morgan County well is at 

one-tenth scale. 

t 

-.I ‘EXPLANATION 

OLVED-SOLIDS CONCENTRA 

IN MILLIGRAMS PER LITER 

Less than 1000 

Less than 1000. but may be 

more than 1000 where 

evaporates occur 

More than 10.000 

Outcrop of the Chattanooga 

Well or spring focatfon and 

ai I dfssolved-solids c oncentrahon. 

fn millfgrams per liter 

/ Limft of the Highland Rfm aquifer 

/ system.Dashed where approximate 

y , I?, :? , 30 “II 5,O MILES 

0 10 20 30 40 50 KILOMETERS 

NATIONAL GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM OF 1929 

,TION 

Shale 

19 
,/=- ---- 

: ’ 

; / ,‘/J-‘. ‘; 

. .‘A--- 

Flgure B.--Contamination sites and karst areas in the Highland 

20 
:fvE /’ !, 

( ,,-.I i ‘%,, ! 

‘,, “,lC~, .fl’\ <_*I 

,/’ 

; 1;: ,, I’ 

i\ , .A 

“..J 

EXPLANATION 

Contamination site and identification 

number. (see table 4 for site description) 

Areas of karst features 

Limit of the Highland Rim aquifer 

system. Dashed where approximate 

Outcrop of the Chattanooga Shale 

50 MILES 

:G-aERs 

NATIONAL GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM OF 1929 

Rim aquifer system. 

21 
.- -7 

‘\ 

/...J ,...J .-- 

--. 

.-L ._____ 

---..- j 

,’ .\ 

/’ -...., 

A’ .T\- ChESiER :_. 

‘> ,,’ 

_/-- ---J 

‘, ; 

Figure T.--Areas in the Highland Rim aquifer system that meet EPA Criteria for exemption 

22 
-----.- -- ‘7 -- --. - ‘_A .\ . . . ^_” ,-. ,’ ,r 

i /- 

/’ EXPLANATION 

Areas m the Htghland Rim aquifer q system not used as a source of 

drmklng water and containing 

hydrocarbon resources 

iI2 

Area where the Hlghland Rim aqutfer 

system IS not used as a source of 

drmkmg water Data are InsuffIcIent 

to evaluate In terms of EPA crlterla 

9 Outcrop of the Chattanooga Shale 

/ 

/ Llmlt of the HIghland Rim aquifer 

system. Dashed where approximate 

y , 1’0, rp , 3;, 4: 5; MILES 

0 10 20 30 40 50 KILOMETERS 

NATIONAL GEODETIC VERTICAL DATUM OF ,929 

and may be used for receiving injected waste. 

23 
. . . bi 3; x 

24 
SELECTED REFERENCES 

Bingham, R.H., 1964, Well water for home supplies in Lewis County, Tennessee: Tennessee Division of Water Resources, Tennessee Hydrologic Atlas no. 3, 11 p. 

Bingham, R.H., and Moore, G.K., 1963, Well water for home supplies in Montgomery 

County, Tennessee: Tennessee Division of Water Resources, Tennessee Hydrologic 

Atlas no. 2, 10 p. 

Bradley, M.W., 1984, Ground water in the Dickson area of the western Highland Rim of 

Tennessee: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 82-4088, 

41 p. 

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Milici, R.C., Briggs, Garrett, Knox, L.M., Sitterly, P.D., and Statler, A.T., 1979, The Mississippian and Pennsylvanian (Carboniferous) systems in the United States - Tennessee: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 11 IO-G, 38 p. 

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*U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1986-631-262/40015