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.