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DGS Projects

2012 Delaware Geological Survey Data Preservation Proposal

Project Contact(s):

The mission of the DGS is to provide objective earth science information, advice, and service to its stakeholders–the citizens, policy makers, industries, and educational institutions of Delaware. Geology is a physical science that is built upon the description and analysis of earth materials including rocks, sediment, and water. Data generated by the description and analysis of these earth materials is the basis of the geologic and hydrologic research of the DGS. In order to ensure that the research is objective, the data must be preserved and retrievable for both DGS researchers and for stakeholders that wish to review or use the data. The data consist of physical samples (rock and sediment and their processed subsamples) and analog (non-digital) data (well and drill-hole data (location, owner, depth, etc.), water levels and other physical observations, maps, rock and sample descriptions, thin section modal data and images, outcrop and well site photographs, and other data and interpretations) that document the physical samples or are the results of research.
The secondary aspect of this project is to relate the relevant outcrop and well site photographs that were preserved digitally during the last NGGDPP (2009) funded project to the records that will be digitized in this project. These digital records will then be offered to the public through the UD Library DSpace Digital Records System and linked to the associated digital images through the UD Library’s ARTStor Shared Shelf Image System along with metadata being uploaded to the NGGDPP National Digital Catalog. ARTStor is an image database that the UD Library subscribes to. Vast amounts of space are available for image storage, archiving, and retrieval. The DSpace serves the UD Community as a place to archive data files and make them available to the public and other research institutions. If funded, this NGGDPP grant will allow DGS to make the original outcrop and well/boring data records along with any imagery for these sites.

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Mapping Tsunami Inundation for the U.S. East Coast

National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program
Project Contact(s):

This project will assess tsunami hazard from the above mentioned and other relevant tsunami sources recently studied in the literature and model the corresponding tsunami inundation in affected US East coast communities. We will combine ocean scale simulations of transoceanic tsunami sources, such as Lisbon 1755 like or Puerto Rico Trench co-seismic events, and CVV collapse, with regional scale simulations of these events, along with the regional scale SMF events, in order to establish the relative degree of hazards for East Coast communities. Detailed inundation studies will be conducted for highest-risk East Coast communities, and results of these studies will be used to construct a first-generation of tsunami inundation maps for the chosen communities.

Delaware Groundwater Monitoring Network

The Delaware Geological Survey (DGS) currently monitors groundwater levels in a network of 68 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.

Delaware Geologic Mapping Program (STATEMAP)

STATEMAP Status Map

The Delaware Geological Survey has a continuing program to map the geology of the entire state at the detailed scale of 1:24,000. The STATEMAP component of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program has contributed significantly to our surficial geologic mapping program. This work has entailed not only new geologic mapping, but also the digital compilation of previous mapping. Products resulting from this program include file formats that can be downloaded and printed from the web as geologic map products and imported into GIS software as georeferenced layers.

Temporal Imaging of the Intertidal Critical Zone

Time series of thermal images showing increasing temperature (yellow, orange, and red) as warm tidal water flows over a saltmarsh near Bowers Beach, Delaware during a summer evening (June 2009).
Project Contact(s):

We are developing an innovative ground-based imaging system to collect multi-spectral imagery (visible, near and thermal infrared bands) at time-scales (minutes/hours) below those of the dominant processes in intertidal environments (semi-diurnal tides, day/night). A modular system based on mature imaging technology is being assembled for science missions by foot, boat, truck, tower, and lift. This project consists of some critical laboratory studies to test our conceptual framework.

Web-Delivered Application for Hydrogeologic Data

Project Contact(s):

This project is designed to deliver, by web-based technologies, the most commonly available and requested geologic and hydrologic information used in hydrologic studies required by regulation and ordinance and used by state agencies to support resource-management decisions. Available information can be associated with points or areas. Information associated with points includes descriptive logs, geophysical logs, raw and interpreted groundwater levels, aquifer and geologic unit identification, and hydraulic characteristics of wells. Information associated with areas is either in the form of raster-based (grid) data or polygons. Examples of raster-based data include water-table depths and elevations, tops and thicknesses of geologic and aquifer units, and aquifer transmissivity. Examples of polygons include surficial geology and groundwater recharge potential.

The intent of developing a web-technology enabled system is to provide a more intuitive and comprehensive toolset for locating, quickly viewing, and downloading the desired information in an efficient, extensible, and familiar manner.

A Coastal Flood Monitoring System for Delaware

Flooding at Kitts Hummock after the Mother's Day Storm 2008
Project Contact(s):

During the last two decades, storms such as Hurricanes Katrina and Ike along the Gulf of Mexico and Floyd and Hugo along the Atlantic Coast of the United States have resulted in significant loss of life, injuries, and property damages exceeding well over 100 billion dollars. Much of the damage associated with these and other tropical and extra-tropical weather systems is associated with severe coastal flooding. The purpose of this project is to develop a real-time coastal flood monitoring and warning system for the coastal communities in Kent County, Delaware. This system will serve as a prototype for similar early-warning systems, which may then be applied along the entire Delaware coast.

Wastewater Reuse: Benefits and Risk Assessment in Inland Bays Indian River Basin

Study domain
Project Contact(s):

The goal of this project is to develop a three-dimensional (3D) numerical groundwater flow model to evaluate the potential impacts to surface- and groundwater resulting from the disposal of treated wastewater in a portion of the Inland Bays drainage basin.

By developing a sub-regional, fresh, groundwater flow model and analyzing results, several issues will be addressed that are related to state policy, regulation revision, and proposed projects associated with land-based wastewater disposal (LBWD) in Sussex County.

Quantifying Geologic and Temporal Controls on Water and Chemical Exchange between Groundwater and Surface Water in Coastal Estuarine Systems

Conceptual models for submarine groundwater discharge
Project Contact(s):

Eutrophication is one of the most common and most severe problems facing coastal bays in
populated and agricultural areas. Unnaturally high quantities of nutrients enter fresh groundwater and surface water as a result of human activities. These nutrients contribute to the overpopulation of phytoplankton and macroalgae in coastal surface waters, which results in deterioration of water quality and animal habitat. This is a particular problem in the Delmarva region, where poultry farms, agricultural activity, and growing human populations have contributed to rapidly declining populations of blue crabs, striped bass, and many other species which live and breed in estuarine waters. The economic value of these species has, in part, prompted political action and efforts to manage nutrient inputs to groundwater and surface water, the primary pathways for nutrient loading to coastal waters. Despite significant reductions, coastal water quality has largely remained poor. A better understanding of the processes that moderate nutrient loading to coastal waters, particularly via groundwater, which is much more difficult to monitor than surface water inputs, is essential for improved management methods that will result in healthy coastal ecosystems. This project will improve understanding of where nutrients are coming from and how loading may be reduced, and may aid in identification of activities that exacerbate negative impacts.

Outer Continental Shelf Core and Sample Repository

Project Contact(s):

The Delaware Geological Survey's Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Core and Sample Repository is a large collection of cores and samples from oil and gas wells drilled offshore the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s. This collection was assembled from the contributions of federal agencies, other state agencies, and private institutions that have recognized the value of having a centralized repository for this material.