Subsurface geology of the Dover area, Delaware

Geology map showing the sub-surface geology of the Middletown-Odessa Area, Delaware.

Geology map showing the sub-surface geology of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Area, Delaware.

This dataset contains the geologic polygons used for the creation of DGS Geologic Map 13. This dataset shows the surficial geology of New Castle County, Delaware, at a scale of 1:100,000.

The location of the fresh-salt-water-boundary in the deeper aquifers of Delaware is related mainly to head values. Near coastal areas, dynamic conditions may prevail that affect the interface position within shallow aquifers open to the sea. Holocene and Columbia sands which form Delaware's shallow water-table aquifers contain brackish water in scattered coastal areas while brackish water in the artesian aquifers is found at various depths. Water from Chesapeake Group sediments (Miocene) is fresh in Kent County but is salty in poorly defined areas of Sussex County. The interface in the Piney Point Formation (Eocene) lies just north of Milford and extends in a northeast-southwesterly direction across the State. Brackish water exists in the Magothy and Potomac formations of Cretaceous age a few miles south of Middletown. Heavy pumping near sources of brackish water should be avoided for the present. Proper location of monitoring wells is necessary for detection of future chloride movement.

The quantitative lithofacies analysis of the Potomac Formation in a small area west of Delaware City revealed that the deposition of these sediments was continuous throughout the time of their formation. The uppermost part of the Potomac sequence appears to have been removed, probably by erosion, prior to the deposition of the younger Upper Cretaceous marine sediments. The sand bodies contained in Potomac deposits have a shoestring channel form and were most probably deposited by unidirectional currents. The direction of the flows, however, cannot be determined on the basis of the available subsurface data.