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Geochemical data, water-level data, and slug test analysis results from till confining units and confined aquifers in glacial deposits near Akeley, Cromwell, Litchfield, and Olivia, Minnesota, 2015-2018

Metadata Updated: December 11, 2025

Confined (or buried) aquifers overlain by till confining units are used to supply drinking water to millions of people. Till confining units are typically conceptualized as having very low potential for transmitting water. Thus, buried aquifers are thought to be less susceptible to surface contamination, but may recharge very slowly and may be prone to unsustainable groundwater withdrawals. Quantification of the recharge (leakage) rate through till is essential to understanding the long-term sustainability of groundwater withdrawals from buried aquifers and yet few data exist on the hydraulic properties of till and groundwater flux through till. The information contained in this data release is generated from field sample and data collection at four representative sites in Minnesota with high-capacity pumping wells in confined aquifers underlying glacial till. The field sites were near the cities of Akeley, Cromwell, Litchfield, and Olivia, Minnesota. Two general categories of data are available with this data release: (1) geochemical data from groundwater, pore water, and glacial sediments and (2) water-level data and analytical results for slug tests. Samples for geochemical analyses were collected from wells (or piezometers) and geologic cores. Slug tests were done in 1.25-inch or 2-inch wells (or piezometers) screened in aquifer sediments or till confining units. This data release contains data that could not be published in the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) database; additional water-quality and water-level data are available for this study through NWIS. An R script is included in this data release that downloads the NWIS data for the sites in this study, and the primary publication has a list of sites that can be used for retrieving data from NWIS.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 13, 2025
Metadata Updated Date December 11, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 13, 2025
Metadata Updated Date December 11, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-5bfd51dde4b0815414ca3957
Data Last Modified 2020-12-17T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id a2d25a05-2014-48b8-8257-af1a540918a5
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 6f22d16efaf6360dc88d96b376fda8b418a684b6b07a1ac01516d5d165328db2
Source Schema Version 1.1

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