thumbnail

Potentiometric surfaces of the Arnold Engineering Development Complex Area, Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee, May and September 2011

Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5165
Prepared in cooperation with the United States Air Force, Arnold Air Force Base
By:  and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20155165

Links

Abstract

Arnold Air Force Base occupies about 40,000 acres in Coffee and Franklin Counties, Tennessee. The primary mission of Arnold Air Force Base is to provide risk-reduction information in the development of aerospace products through test and evaluation. This mission is achieved in part through test facilities at Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC), which occupies about 4,000 acres in the center of Arnold Air Force Base. Arnold Air Force Base is underlain by gravel and limestone aquifers, the most productive of which is the Manchester aquifer. Several volatile organic compounds, primarily chlorinated solvents, have been identified in the groundwater at Arnold Air Force Base. In 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force, Arnold Air Force Base, completed a study of groundwater flow focused on the Arnold Engineering Development Complex area. The Arnold Engineering Development Complex area is of particular concern because within this area (1) chlorinated solvents have been identified in the groundwater, (2) the aquifers are dewatered around below-grade test facilities, and (3) there is a regional groundwater divide.

During May 2011, when water levels were near seasonal highs, water-level data were collected from 374 monitoring wells; and during September 2011, when water levels were near seasonal lows, water-level data were collected from 376 monitoring wells. Potentiometric surfaces were mapped by contouring altitudes of water levels measured in wells completed in the shallow aquifer, the upper and lower parts of the Manchester aquifer, and the Fort Payne aquifer. Water levels are generally 2 to 14 feet lower in September compared to May. The potentiometric-surface maps for all aquifers indicate a groundwater depression at the J4 test cell. Similar groundwater depressions in the shallow and upper parts of the Manchester aquifer are within the main testing area at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex at dewatering facilities.

Suggested Citation

Haugh, C.J., and Robinson, J.A., 2016, Potentiometric surfaces of the Arnold Engineering Development Complex area, Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee, May and September 2011: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2015–5165, 23 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20155165.

ISSN: 2328-0328 (online)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Potentiometric Surface
  • Summary
  • Selected References
  • Appendix
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Potentiometric surfaces of the Arnold Engineering Development Complex Area, Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee, May and September 2011
Series title Scientific Investigations Report
Series number 2015-5165
DOI 10.3133/sir20155165
Year Published 2016
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Tennessee Water Science Center
Description v, 28 p.
Country United States
State Tennessee
County Coffee County, Franklin County
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details