The results are reported in a special issue of the Ohio Journal of Science, co-edited by Christy and Julie Weatherington-Rice, a doctoral candidate in the School of Natural Resources at Ohio State.
While comprehensive studies of this type have not been done outside Ohio, the researchers believe that other states which experienced the same type of ancient glaciation may well be affected in the same way.
Fractures are particularly important to the movement of water. They recharge the underground water table, which supplies 800,000 private wells and more than 40 percent of the public water supplies in Ohio. But water that passes through fractures isn't purified in the same way as it would be if it traveled through tightly compacted glacial till, according to Christy.
In another study reported in the special issue, researchers examined soil profile descriptions that have been published in Ohio county soil survey reports since 1900. The researchers were looking in these reports for descriptions that suggest the presence of underground fractures. They found evidence of such fractures in more than half of Ohio counties (55 in total), a figure the researchers believe underestimates the occurrence of fractures.
"We've assumed that the soil will dilute and purify contaminated
water," Weatherington-Rice said. "But in reality, water will travel
through fractures and cracks in the ground, essentially bypassing
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Contact: Julie Weatherington-Rice
Weathringtn-Rice.1@osu.edu
614-292-3171
Ohio State University
2-Jan-2001