Geohydrology of the valley-fill aquifer in the Norwich-Oxford-Brisben area, 
Chenango County, New York

by Kari K. Hetcher, Todd S. Miller, James D. Garry, and Richard J. Reynolds

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Open-File Report 03-242


ABSTRACT

This set of maps and geohydrologic sections depicts the geology and hydrology of
aquifers in the 21.9-square-mile reach of the Chenango River valley between Brisben and
North Norwich, N.Y.  This report depicts the principal geographic features of the study
area; locations of domestic, commercial, and municipal wells from which data were 
obtained to construct water-table and saturated-thickness maps and five geohydrologic 
sections; surficial geology; water-table altitude; generalized saturated thickness of the 
unconfined (water-table) aquifer; generalized thickness of the discontinuous series of 
confined aquifers; and five geohydrologic sections, all of which are in the northern part 
of the study area.

The unconsolidated material in the Chenango River valley consists primarily of three types 
of deposits: (1) glaciofluvial material consisting of stratified coarse-grained sediment 
(sand and gravel) that was deposited by meltwater streams flowing above, below, or next to 
a glacier; (2) glaciolacustrine material consisting of stratified fine-grained sediment 
(very fine sand, silt, and clay) that was deposited in lakes that formed at the front of 
a glacier; and (3) recent alluvial material consisting of stratified fine-to-medium 
grained sediment (fine-to-medium sand and silt) that was deposited on flood plains.

The water-table map was compiled from water-level data obtained from wells completed in 
the unconfined aquifer, and from altitudes of stream and river surfaces indicated on 
1:24,000-scale topographic maps.  Depth to the water table ranged from less than 5 feet 
below land surface near major streams to more than 75 feet on some of the kame terraces 
along the valley walls.  Saturated thickness of the unconfined aquifer ranged from less 
than 1 foot near Norwich to more than 200 feet at a kame delta north of Oxford.

A discontinuous series of confined aquifers is present throughout much of the Chenango 
River valley north of Oxford.  These aquifers consist of kame deposits, eskers, and 
subglacial outwash sand and gravel deposits that are overlain and confined by lacustrine 
fine sand, silt, and clay.  The saturated thickness of these aquifers is as much as 
150 feet near North Norwich.

The seven 20 x 30 inch map plates are saved as Adobe PDF version 5.0 format files. Data 
can be viewed (including zoom and pan), copied (including cut & paste), or printed from 
within the Adobe Acrobat Reader program (not included). This CD was produced in 
accordance with the ISO 9660 and Joliet file system standards. The minimum system 
requirements to use the data on this CD are (1) Adobe Acrobat Reader version 5.0 or 
higher (available as a free download at http://www.adobe.com), and (2) a CD-ROM drive 
with ISO 9660 software driver.


Citation: Hetcher, K.K., Miller, T.S., Garry, J.D., and Reynolds, R.J., 2003, 
Geohydrology of the valley-fill aquifer in the Norwich-Oxford-Brisben area, 
Chenango County, New York: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 03-242, 7 plates, 
1:24,000 scale (CD-ROM).