Cockeysville aquifer

Delaware Groundwater Monitoring Network

The Delaware Geological Survey (DGS) currently monitors groundwater levels in a network of wells in Delaware. Long, time-series of water levels in major aquifers serve as critical baseline data for resource management and analyses of aquifer response to pumping, climatic variability, drought hazards, seawater intrusion, and interaction with streams and their ecosystems.

OFR14 Sinkholes, Hockessin Area, Delaware

Sinkholes are depressions in the land surface or holes in the ground caused by subsidence or collapse of surficial material into openings in soluble rock. Sinkholes usually develop in "karst" areas underlain by carbonate rocks. Karst is defined as "terrane with distinctive characteristics of relief and drainage arising primarily from a higher degree of rock solubility in natural waters than is found elsewhere" (Jennings, 1971, p.1). In addition to sinkholes, other features associated with karst are: caves, disappearing streams, and well-developed subsurface drainage systems.