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Data from core analyses, geophysical logging, and seismic modeling of the Denver Basin bedrock aquifers

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Results of the Denver Basin Project: Data from core analyses, geophysical logging, and seismic modeling of the Denver Basin bedrock aquifers, Kiowa, Elbert County, Colorado

Study Area: Kiowa, CO
Period of Project: March, 1999 – September, 2001
Project Number: CO403
Project Chief: Rick Arnold
Cooperator: Colorado Water Conservation Board; Colorado Geological Survey

BACKGROUND:

The Denver Basin Project is a multidisciplinary, multiorganizational effort to study the geology, geohydrology, and paleobiology of the late Cretaceous and early Tertiary sediments that compose the principal bedrock aquifers of the Denver Basin. To carry out the study, a core-drilling program was conducted at the Elbert County Fairgrounds in the town of Kiowa, Colorado, with the objective of obtaining continuous drill core from land surface to the base of the aquifers. Drilling was terminated at a depth of 2,256 feet below land surface, and the hole was completed as an observation well in the Denver aquifer at a depth of 734 feet. Data from core analyses, geophysical logging, and seismic modeling were collected to help develop an integrated geological and paleobiological framework for the principal bedrock aquifers of the Denver Basin and to obtain detailed information about the hydrologic characteristics of the bedrock aquifers in an area of the Denver Basin where few data are available.

OBJECTIVES:

1. To define the porosity, specific yield, specific retention, and vertical and lateral hydraulic conductivity of the principal bedrock aquifers in the Denver Basin at Kiowa.
2. To better define the thickness and lithology of the aquifers.
3. To determine the ground-water quality of one or more of the aquifers.