Statistical classification of hydrogeologic regions in the fractured rock area of Maryland and parts of the District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware
Scientific Investigations Report
2013-5043
Prepared in cooperation with the Maryland Department of the Environment
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Abstract
Hydrogeologic regions in the fractured rock area of Maryland were classified using geographic information system tools with principal components and cluster analyses. A study area consisting of the 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) watersheds with rivers that flow through the fractured rock area of Maryland and bounded by the Fall Line was further subdivided into 21,431 catchments from the National Hydrography Dataset Plus. The catchments were then used as a common hydrologic unit to compile relevant climatic, topographic, and geologic variables. A principal components analysis was performed on 10 input variables, and 4 principal components that accounted for 83 percent of the variability in the original data were identified. A subsequent cluster analysis grouped the catchments based on four principal component scores into six hydrogeologic regions. Two crystalline rock hydrogeologic regions, including large parts of the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore metropolitan regions that represent over 50 percent of the fractured rock area of Maryland, are distinguished by differences in recharge, Precipitation minus Potential Evapotranspiration, sand content in soils, and groundwater contributions to streams. This classification system will provide a georeferenced digital hydrogeologic framework for future investigations of groundwater availability in the fractured rock area of Maryland.
Study Area
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Statistical classification of hydrogeologic regions in the fractured rock area of Maryland and parts of the District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware |
| Series title | Scientific Investigations Report |
| Series number | 2013-5043 |
| DOI | 10.3133/sir20135043 |
| Year Published | 2013 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Publisher location | Reston, VA |
| Contributing office(s) | Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Water Science Center |
| Description | Report: vi, 16 p.; Additional Information |
| Country | United States |
| State | Delaware;District of Columbia;Maryl;Pennsylvania;Virginia;West Virginia |
| Datum | North American Datum 1983 |
| Scale | 100000 |
| Online Only (Y/N) | Y |
| Additional Online Files (Y/N) | Y |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |