Compare And Contrast Sparta And Alluvial Aquifer

Located to the east of the fall line that runs from Northeastern Arkansas to Southwestern Arkansas, the Sparta and Alluvial aquifers provides much of the agricultural use for many people in this area. An aquifer is a sedimentary layer that is permeable to water, and can be surrounded be impermeable layers. Many aquifers are recharged or refilled by run offs from rivers or precipitation from rain (“Geological Terms Beginning with ‘A’”). In the case of the Sparta and Alluvial aquifers, both are recharged by surrounding rivers that help agricultural, domestic, and industrial areas. These areas are being affected by depletion of these aquifers from usage and the inability to recharge as efficiently as these aquifers once did. The geology of the

The Sparta Aquifer goes up into Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana and even in the eastern portion of Texas but the main focus is in Arkansas (Young, J. 21) “The Sparta/Memphis aquifer of Tertiary Age” (Young, J. 21) indicates the age of this aquifer. The Sparta Aquifer is older than the Alluvial Aquifer, as one can tell by the fact that the Sparta is under the Alluvial Aquifer. However, in some places, this is not the case. The aquifer ranges anywhere from two hundred feet in the outcrop area all the way to nine hundred feet in further South. In several areas, the aquifer in confined by formations like the Cane River and Cook Mountain (Young, J. 21). The Sparta Aquifer consists of several different types of material. It contains medium to fine sand. Silt, clay, shale, and lignite are other materials found throughout in lenses. Variations in the Sparta Aquifer occur vertically and laterally. (Young, J. 22) “Glauconite, a green hydrous potassium iron silicate mineral, is sometimes found in the sand lenses in the upper levels of the aquifer” (Young, J. 22). This gives the upper levels of the aquifer a green color to the sand. Areas covered by the Sparta Aquifer include Dallas, Hot Springs, Saline, Grant, Nevada, Columbia and Ouachita counties throughout the state. Figure 2 shows these areas in relation to each other. The Sparta is separated by the upper Greensand aquifer and the lower El Dorado aquifer. To the north of eastern Arkansas, the Sparta becomes a thick sand sequence known as the Memphis sand aquifer. This area begins in the Claiborne are. In this area, the Sparta Aquifer/Memphis aquifer is the main source of drinking water. (Young, J. 22). “The Sparta Sand is the principal source of water for public and industrial supplies in much of southern and southeastern Arkansas” (Young 144). In Arkansas County, more and more of the