Foos, A. and Sasowsky I., 2000, Hydrology and Geochemistry of Natural Springs in the Pennsylvanian Sharon Sandstone, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. SEPM/IAS Research Conference, Environmental Sedimentology: Hydrogeology of Sedimentary Aquifers, September 24-27, 2000, Santa Fe, New Mexico

ABSTRACT

The Pennsylvanian Sharon Sandstone is an important aquifer in northeast Ohio. It is a porous, medium to coarse grained quartzarenite with lenses and thin beds of conglomerate. Where it is exposed at the surface, seeps and natural springs emerge from fractures, thin conglomeratic beds and at the contact with the underlying Meadville Shale. 28 springs were investigated along a 1.5 km outcrop on the walls of the Cuyahoga River Valley in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Water samples were analyzed for temperature, conductivity, oxidation-reduction potential, dissolved oxygen, pH alkalinity, and major cations and anions. Spring discharge ranged from <.01 to 500 mL/sec, and conductivity ranged from 781 to 3,700 mmhos. The springs have been contaminated with road salt in varying amounts. The standard deviation between springs was high for most of the variables measured, indicating extreme spatial variation in the geochemistry of this relatively small system. Two springs, both flowing from thin conglomeratic beds, that were separated by 25 meters horizontally and 2 meters stratigraphicaly differed by over 1100 mg/L TDS. Biweekly measurements of select springs demonstrated that there was no seasonal variation in temperature, conductivity or discharge. As an example one spring only had a 2% variation in conductivity and temperature and 8% variation in discharge over a 9 month period of time. The system can be characterized as having high spatial variability and low temporal variability which suggests that the springs are draining laterally extensive reservoirs that are hydrologically isolated from each other.