ISGS - May 2004 Activity Highlights

Results of Groundwater Sustainability Survey Sent to White House

At the request of the president of the American Institute of Professional Geologists, a PowerPoint presentation and a white paper prepared by an ISGS scientist for the National Ground Water Association (NGWA) were forwarded to Mr. Gene Whitney, a staffer for the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy. The slide show and paper presented the results of an NGWA survey of state geologists, other state water officials, and geology consultants to gauge knowledge and opinions about the need for, adequacy, and availability of information used to plan for sustainable production of groundwater. (Contact: B. Herzog)

IDOT Asks ISGS to Scout for Environmental Problems Along Rail Routes

The $1.5 billion Chicago Regional Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) project to streamline railroad traffic flow through the greater Chicago area includes construction of 50 new miles of railroad track, restoration of some abandoned track, construction of six passenger/freight rail flyovers, improvement of several existing viaducts, and construction of 25 new road/railroad grade separations. At the request of IDOT, the ISGS will handle the preliminary environmental screening for this major effort. ISGS scientists recently participated in a two-day field meeting in which approximately 20 to 25% of the CREATE project sites were visited. (Contacts: A. Erdmann, M. Collier)

Illinois Coals Permeable Enough for Coalbed Methane

Production Pressure-transient tests of the center production well and one of the four dewatering wells at the pilot coalbed methane production site in White County were completed in early May. The test results showed that the coals in the wells have permeabilities of 3 to 20 millidarcies, values that are considered adequate for coalbed methane production. The quantity of methane in the 7 coals sampled in the production well ranged from 70 to 120 standard cubic feet of methane per ton of coal, considered typical of Illinois Basin coals.

Representative splits of some of the coal samples collected from the wells were sent to the Indiana Geological Survey where a specialist will determine their maceral composition and vitrinite reflectance values. Vitrinite reflectance is a measure of the degree of "coalification" the sample has undergone. (Contacts: D. Morse, I. Demir)

Kane County Officials Receive ISGS "Outstanding Cooperator" Award

At the meeting of the Kane County Board on May 11, Beverly Herzog, director of the ISGS Environmental Geoscience Center, represented ISGS Chief William W. Shilts to present the Survey's 2003 Outstanding Cooperator Award to Phil Bus, Mike McCoy and Paul Schuch. The three officials had been instrumental in developing the research agreement with the Illinois State Water Survey and ISGS to undertake the assessment of the county's groundwater resources "to provide a scientific basis for water resources planning." (Contacts: B. Herzog)

Pekin-Area Field Trips Teach Geology to More Than 250

During field trips held April 17 and May 8 in the Pekin-to-Manito area, participants learned about the impacts on the area of shifts in the path of the Mackinaw River, changes in the path of the Mississippi River caused by continental glaciers, the unique ecology of sand dunes, the source of the huge quantities of groundwater consumed by irrigation wells, and the Jake Wolf Memorial fish hatchery, and the processes that laid down the abundant deposits of sand and gravel mined as an aggregate resource in the region. The geologists from ISGS and Illinois State University who developed the field trip also ran the field trip for 16 geologists from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. A photographer/producer from Decatur ABC affiliate WAND followed the April field trip and plans to broadcast a program about the field trips in June. (Contacts: W. Frankie and R. Jacobson)

High-Resolution Seismic Surveys Map Groundwater Resources, Reveal Shallow Faults

To provide data needed for regional assessments of groundwater resources, ISGS geophysicists conducted a high-resolution seismic profile over the buried Mahomet-Taeys Bedrock Valley in eastern Indiana (New Castle area). The work was funded by the Indiana Geological Survey, a partner in the Central Great Lakes Geological Mapping Coalition. The work in Indiana should increase understanding of how this valley developed and may lead to better models of the geology of groundwater sources in the valley.

ISGS scientists also worked with students and a professor from Brigham Young University to collect seismic profiles near Olmsted in Pulaski County, Illinois, that revealed zones of faults that cut relatively young near-surface deposits. This work indicated that the faults were active, with possible seismic activity, in the recent past. The work was done as a follow-on to a study of the New Madrid Seismic Zone under the National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program. (Contacts: A. Pugin, T. Larson)

Updated 08/08/2012 SLD