Aquifers layer

The Aquifers layer shows the extent of the shallowest principal aquifers.

Aquifers of Washington and Oregon Aquifers of central Arizona

Details

Name

The name of the aquifer

Rock type

The rock type dominant in the aquifer

Options

Transparency

Determines how much the underlying layer(s) will show through this layer.

Fill color

  • None will only draw the lines dividing the aquifers
  • Random will use random colors to fill each aquifer

Border color

Defines the color used to draw the dividing lines.

Origin

U.S. Geological Survey
Principal Aquifers of the 48 Conterminous United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands

This data is available directly from the National Atlas.

Description of data source

Abstract

This map layer contains the shallowest principal aquifers of the conterminous United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, portrayed as polygons. The map layer was developed as part of the effort to produce the maps published at 1:2,500,000 in the printed series "Ground Water Atlas of the United States". The published maps contain base and cultural features not included in these data. This is a replacement for the July 1998 map layer called Principal Aquifers of the 48 Conterminous United States.

Purpose

These data are intended for use in publications, at a scale of 1:2,500,000 or smaller. Due to the small scale, the primary intended use is for regional and national data display and analysis, rather than specific local data analysis.

Supplemental Information

The Ground Water Atlas of the United States (GWA) chapters include additional information that may be relevant to the use of this map layer, such as maps of alluvial and glacial aquifers that overlie the aquifers in this map layer, as well as other information described below.

The areal extent of the aquifers, as shown in this map layer, represents the area in which a named aquifer is the shallowest of the principal aquifers. These aquifer areas are not necessarily the only areas in which ground water can be withdrawn, for two reasons: 1) The aquifers shown may have a larger areal extent than is represented here. The boundaries in this map layer generally represent an interpretation of the surface location (outcrop), or near-surface location (shallow subcrop) of the uppermost principal aquifer for the area. An aquifer may extend beyond the area shown, but be overlain by one or more other aquifers, and (or) low-permeability material. 2) There may be areas of water-bearing surficial material not shown in this map layer. Major alluvial aquifers that occur along main watercourses are not shown. Significant unconsolidated sand and gravel aquifers, that are not indicated in this map layer but are important sources of water, may occur locally in glaciated regions. The user of this map layer is advised that to get complete information regarding areas that serve as sources of water, more information about surficial aquifers needs to be obtained, particularly in glaciated areas.

This map layer was constructed by combining data created for or from the regional GWA chapters. Minor aquifers that are important local sources of water were mapped in some regions, so the regional maps in the GWA may show more detail than this map layer. The data were reviewed, adjusted, and published based on new information provided by national, State, and local scientists. The juxtaposition of regionally mapped aquifers has led to some instances where an aquifer outcrop or shallow subcrop is bounded by a State line. This is a result of the regional mapping and national categorization methods used and is not meant to imply a hydrogeologic change coincident with a State boundary.

The aquifer outcrop and shallow subcrop boundaries represent broad, regional categories and should not be interpreted as site-specific. Comments regarding the names of aquifers or the hydrogeologic interpretation of the aquifers can be directed to the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, Office of Ground Water, ogw_webmaster@usgs.gov.

This map layer was used as part of the effort to publish a 1:5,000,000- scale 'Principal Aquifers' map in the National Atlas of the United States of America series of printed maps. The printed map can be considered a representation of this map layer with the exceptions of: the smaller scale, slight differences in the coastline due to generalization, base and cultural information, and delineation of the glacial-deposit area.