Kentucky River 205 060 Watershed EarthCache
Kentucky River 205 060 Watershed
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Kentucky River 205 060 Watershed
WHAT IS A WATERSHED?
A watershed is a drainage basin.* It’s an
extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill
into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary,
wetland, sea or ocean. The drainage basin includes both the
streams and rivers that convey the water as well as the land
surfaces from which water drains into those channels, and is
separated from adjacent basins by a drainage divide. The
drainage basin acts like a funnel, collecting all the water within
the area covered by the basin and channeling it into a
waterway. Each drainage basin is separated topographically
from adjacent basins by a geographical barrier such as a ridge,
hill or mountain, which is known as a water divide.
In the technical sense, a watershed refers to a divide that
separates one drainage area from another drainage area.
However, in the United States and Canada, the term is often used to
mean a drainage basin or catchment area itself. Watersheds
drain into other watersheds in a hierarchical form, larger ones
breaking into smaller ones or sub-watersheds with the topography
determining where the water flows.
* Other terms that are used to describe a drainage
basin are catchment, catchment area, catchment basin, drainage
area, river basin, water basin and watershed.
GEOMORPHOLOGY
Understanding geomorphology is essential in understanding how
watersheds interconnect. In hydrology, the drainage basin is
a logical unit of focus for studying the movement of water within
the hydrological cycle, because the majority of water that
discharges from the basin outlet originated as precipitation
falling on the basin. A portion of the water that enters the
groundwater system beneath the drainage basin may flow towards the
outlet of another drainage basin because groundwater flow
directions do not always match those of their overlying drainage
network. Measurement of the discharge of water from a basin
may be made by a stream gauge located at the basin's outlet.
Rain gauge data is used to measure total precipitation over a
drainage basin, and there are different ways to interpret that
data. If the gauges are many and evenly distributed over an
area of uniform precipitation, using the arithmetic mean method
will give good results. In the Thiessen polygon method, the
watershed is divided into polygons with the rain gauge in the
middle of each polygon assumed to be representative for the
rainfall on the area of land included in its polygon. These
polygons are made by drawing lines between gauges, then making
perpendicular bisectors of those lines form the polygons. The
isohyetal method involves contours of equal precipitation are drawn
over the gauges on a map. Calculating the area between these
curves and adding up the volume of water is time consuming.
Drainage basins are important elements to consider also in
ecology. As water flows over the ground and along rivers it
can pick up nutrients, sediment, and pollutants. Like the
water, they get transported towards the outlet of the basin, and
can affect the ecological processes along the way as well as in the
receiving water source. Modern usage of artificial
fertilizers, containing nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, has
affected the mouths of watersheds. The minerals will be
carried by the watershed to the mouth and accumulate there,
disturbing the natural mineral balance.
The catchment is the most significant factor determining the amount
or likelihood of flooding. Catchment factors are:
- topography,
- shape,
- size,
- soil type, and
- land use (paved or roofed areas).
Catchment topography and shape determine the time
taken for rain to reach the river.
Catchment size, soil type and development
determine the amount of water to reach the river.
Watershed Topography
Topography
Topography determines the speed with which the runoff will reach a
river. Clearly, rain that falls in steep mountainous areas
will reach the river faster than flat or gently sloping
areas.
Shape
Shape will contribute to the speed with which the runoff reaches a
river. A long thin catchment will take longer to drain than a
circular catchment.
Size
Size will help determine the amount of water reaching the river, as
the larger the catchment the greater the potential for
flooding.
Soil Type
Soil type will help determine how much water reaches the
river. Certain soil types such as sandy soils are very free
draining and rainfall on sandy soil is likely to be absorbed by the
ground. However, soils containing clay can be almost
impermeable and therefore rainfall on clay soils will run off and
contribute to flood volumes. After prolonged rainfall even
free draining soils can become saturated, meaning that any further
rainfall will reach the river rather than being absorbed by the
ground.
Land Use
Land use will contribute to the volume of water reaching the river,
in a similar way to clay soils, only faster. Rainfall on
roofs, pavements and roads will be collected by rivers with almost
no absorption into the groundwater.
Basin Management Map
Kentucky River Basin
Kentucky River Subbasins
Kentucky River 205 060 Watershed: A Member of the
Lower Subbasin of the Kentucky River Basin
The Kentucky River 205 060 watershed is part of the Lower Subbasin
of the Kentucky River Basin. The Lower subbasin of the
Kentucky River stretches from Madison County north to Carroll and
Gallatin Counties. The Kentucky River 205 060 watershed
includes parts of the following counties: Clark, Madison, Fayette,
Jessamine, and Garrard. The land is in the hills of the
bluegrass subregion of the Bluegrass physiographic region,
characterized by hilly terrain, very rapid surface runoff, and slow
groundwater drainage. The northern side of the watershed lies
above thick layers of easily dissolved limestone that form
carbonate aquifers. Groundwater flows through channels in the
limestone, so caves and springs are common in regions with this
geology. The southern side includes areas of interbedded
shales and limestones (these are 20% limestone; water conduction is
poor because of the clay content of the shale) and areas of
interbedded limestones and shales (>20% limestone, allowing
groundwater flow where the clay content is low enough).
Kentucky River 205 060 Watershed
Waterways
This watershed includes the Kentucky River from Lower Howard Creek
(Lisletown) to just below Lock and Dam Number 8. Among the
creeks that feed it are Jouett Creek, Calloway Creek, Elk Lick
Creek, Raven Run, Marble Creek, Stony Fork, and Davis Creek.
Water from the Kentucky River 205 005, Lower Howard Creek, Otter
Creek, Boone Creek, Tate Creek, Silver Creek, Paint Lick Creek, and
Sugar Creek watersheds also flows into this watershed.
Land and water use
Land in the watershed is about two-thirds agricultural and nearly
one-third rural and wooded. The surface waters of the
watershed supply the drinking water for municipal systems in
Lexington, Nicholasville, and Lancaster. Eight businesses and
organizations hold permits for discharges into the creeks.
Kentucky River 205 060 Watershed Detail
Watershed Highlights
- The Kentucky River 205 060 watershed covers 82 square
miles.
- The watershed provides drinking water for Lexington
(Kentucky-American Water Co.), Nicholasville, and Lancaster.
- Water supply is a critical issue.
- Groundwater substantially more sensitive than the basin
average.
- Livestock density is substantially higher than the basin
average.
GEOLOGY
The bedrock in the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky is composed of
limestones and shales from the Ordovician Period (510 to 440
million years ago). Much of the Ordovician strata lies buried
beneath the surface. The oldest rocks at the surface in
Kentucky are limestones from the Late Ordovician Period
(approximately 450 million years ago), which are exposed along the
Palisades of the Kentucky River. The Palisades can be seen
from this road. They are the vertical rock walls you see
towering on the other side of the river and approximately 0.7 miles
south of this location. The Kentucky River has cut down
through multiple layers of the following types of ancient
Ordovician limestone.
Tanglewood Limestone Member No. 1 (Lower
Tongue)
Primary Lithology: Limestone (calcarenite)
Limestone (calcarenite), medium-light-gray to brownish-gray, fine-
to coarse-grained fossil-fragmental, sparry calcite-cemented,
partly phosphatic; in very thin to thin, even to slightly irregular
beds, crossbedded in part; irregularly bedded fossiliferous
limestone similar to Grier Limestone Member below common in upper
few feet; thick-shelled brachiopods common in calcarenite; to north
and south unit passes laterally into Grier Limestone Member by
intertonguing. Unit thins and is not shown south of Kentucky
River.
Lower part of Lexington Limestone
(Lower Ordovician - Middle Ordovician)
Cane Run Bed:
Primary Lithology: Limestone and chert
Limestone and chert: Limestone, medium-light-gray, micrograined,
commonly with included lenticles of dense, dark-gray to medium-gray
chert. Unit is present only in west-central part; pinches out
to east, north, and south.
Grier Limestone Member:
Primary Lithology: Limestone
Limestone, medium-light-gray to medium-gray, cryptograined to
coarse-grained, fossiliferous throughout; lower half of unit
consists of zones of nodular fossiliferous limestone with some gray
shale partings interbedded with thin resistant beds of medium- to
coarse-grained fossiliferous limestone; resistant beds are thicker
and somewhat more closely spaced in upper part of unit. Upper
third commonly contains zones of thin-bedded cryptograined to
micrograined, gastropod-bearing limestone. Upper 20 to 25
feet of unit intertongues with calcarenite of the lower tongue of
the Tanglewood Limestone Member. Locally contains
stromatoporoids near top. Contact with underlying Curdsville
Limestone Member is gradational with thick bedding sets of
calcarenite (similar to those common in the Curdsville) occurring
as much as 50 feet above Tyrone-Lexington contact.
Fossils:
Fossil collection AA of silicified float from upper
Grier Limestone Member 40 to 55 feet below base of Brannon Member,
on west side of U.S. Highway 227, 0.4 mile south of Ford-Hampton
road intersection yielded the following: Brachiopods, Hebertella
frankfortensis Foerste, Heterorthina macfarlani Neuman,
Rafinesquina trentonensis Conrad, Sowerbyella sp., Zygospira sp.;
gastropods, Cyrtolites retrorsus (Ulrich in Ulrich and Scofield),
Sphenosphaera cf. S. clausus (Ulrich in Ulrich and Scofield),
bellerophontacean indet. cf. Sphenosphaera, Carinaropsis cymbula
Hall, Liospira sp. indet., Clathrospira subconica (Hall),
Loxoplocus (Lophospira) burginensis (Ulrich in Ulrich and
Scofield), Murchisonia (Hormotoma) salteri? salteri (Ulrich in
Ulrich and Scofield), pelecypods, Ambonychia sp. indet., Ctenodonta
socialis Ulrich, Deceptrix sp.? pteroid pelecypod, modiomorphid
fragments,? cyrtodontid pelecypod.
Curdsville Limestone Member:
Primary Lithology: Limestone (calcarenite)
Limestone (calcarenite), medium-light-gray to brownish-gray, fine-
to very coarse grained fossil-fragmental, sparry-calcite-cemented,
partly phosphatic; in thin, even beds, partly crossbedded; very
thin tabular beds of micrograined limestone, common with included
lenticules of dense, medium- to dark-gray chert, widely spaced
throughout unit; abundant whole fossils or large fossil fragments
in some beds. Sharp basal contact is placed at top of
underlying cryptograined limestone except at one locality north of
Clays Ferry where 4-inch-thick bentonite bed at contact is included
with Tyrone Limestone.
Tyrone Limestone and Oregon Formation
(Lower Ordovician - Middle Ordovician)
Tyrone Limestone:
Primary Lithology: Limestone
Limestone, light-brownish-gray to light-yellowish-gray, dominantly
cryptograined (lithographic, micritic), with conchoidal fracture;
in thin to thick even beds. Some beds are composed of
cryptograined limestone with included tubules and blebs of sparry
calcite, commonly oval or circular in cross section (birdseye
limestone). Other beds are cryptograined limestone mottled
with dark patches or bands that contain diffuse microscopic specks
of opaque material. Upper half of unit includes thin zones of
argillaceous limestone and several beds of cryptograined limestone
interlaced with finger-like bodies of brownish-yellow dolomite
lithologically similar to interlaced limestone and dolomite
commonly found in the Camp Nelson Limestone. A 4-inch-thick
bentonite bed directly underlying the Lexington Limestone was seen
in a culvert west of Interstate 75 just north of its crossing of
the Kentucky River. Another bentonite bed, roughly 20 feet
below the upper contact, is nearly one foot thick and may persist
throughout the area. Lower third of unit intertongues
northeastward with upper part of Oregon Formation.
Oregon Formation:
Primary Lithology: Calcareous dolomite
Calcareous dolomite, brownish-orange to brownish-yellow, fine- to
medium-crystalline dolomite rhombs with calcite cement (rock
effervesces strongly in dilute hydrochloric acid), generally occurs
in thick, even-surfaced beds and bedding sets some of which show
lamination when weathered; certain zones, mottled and banded in
shades of orange and gray, are similar in pattern to mottled zones
in the overlying Tyrone. Where streams cross thick zones of
dolomite waterfalls are common. Here steep cliffs or undercut
faces are carved in the weathered dolomite by exfoliation and
spalling of curved, smooth-surfaced tablets and blocks. In
most areas the Oregon consists of a basal unit of thick, blocky
bedded dolomite, 25 to 35 feet thick, commonly marked at or near
basal contact by a thin layer of poorly resistant, argillaceous
dolomite; an intermediate unit of cryptograined limestone in part
interlaced with finger-like bodies of dolomite, a few very thin
beds of dolomite, and, at least locally, at the top an argillaceous
unit containing at its base a 6-inch-thick bed of pale-green
swelling bentonite (approximately 38 feet above base of Oregon);
and an upper unit of even-bedded, very fine to medium-crystalline
dolomite with a few cryptograined limestone interbeds. In the
north this upper unit is as much as 15 feet thick. In the
southwest it thins and intertongues with the Tyrone, and beyond its
pinchout the top of the Oregon was mapped on top of the thick basal
dolomite unit.
Camp Nelson Limestone
(Lower Ordovician - Middle Ordovician)
Camp Nelson Limestone:
Primary Lithology: Limestone and dolomite
Limestone and dolomite: Limestone, light-brownish-gray,
cryptograined; dolomite, brownish-yellow, very finely crystalline
to medium crystalline, occurring as irregularly shaped finger-like
blebs in limestone. When viewed in the plane of bedding some
dolomite inclusions exhibit dendritic branching though most show no
regular pattern; differential weathering of dolomite and limestone
gives rise to honeycomb weathered surfaces characteristic of this
lithologic type; contains several zones of tabular-bedded
cryptograined limestone and less resistant argillaceous limestone
in upper part. A thin zone of cryptograined limestone was
seen well down in the Camp Nelson near the mouth of Jouett Creek.
Base of unit not exposed.
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In addition, 0.7 miles south of the posted coordinates, a fault
runs on an east-west line that separates the 'Lower part of
Lexington Limestone' surface layer on the north side from the
'Clays Ferry Formation' (interbedded clay shale, limestone, and
siltstone) which overlays the 'Upper part of Lexington Limestone'
layer. This change can be seen as you drive north towards
this earthcache along Athens-Boonesboro Road (Hwy. 418).
Looking west at the far side of the river valley, you will see the
near vertical Palisades give way to steeply sloping terrain as the
Kentucky River makes a turn to the west.
DIRECTIONS
From I-75, take exit 95 and proceed east on Boonesborough Road
(Hwy. 627). Cross the bridge over the Kentucky River and
enter Clark County. Immediately turn right onto
Ford-Boonesboro Road (Hwy. 1924). Immediately turn right onto
Athens-Boonesboro Road (Hwy. 418). Proceed to the EarthCache
which is opposite "Hall's on the River" restaurant.
DO NOT LOG AS A FIND UNTIL YOU HAVE A PICTURE READY TO POST.
To get credit for this EC, post a photo of you (I do not accept
pictures of just a hand) at the posted coordinates with the
Kentucky River in the background (like my photo above) and please
answer the following questions.
- What is the elevation at this location?
- How wide is the Kentucky River at this location?
- While facing the Kentucky River look to your right. What
lies down river from your location, near the shore?
Do not wait for my reply to log your find. I will contact you
if there is a problem. Logs with no photo of the actual
EarthCacher/Geocacher (face must be included) logging the find or
failure to answer questions will result in a log deletion.
Exceptions will be considered if you contact me first (I realize
sometimes we forget our cameras or the batteries die). Logs
with no photos will be deleted without notice. I have used
sources available to me by using google search to get information
for this earth cache. I am by no means a geologist. I
use books, the Internet, and ask questions about geology just like
99.9 percent of the geocachers who create these great Earth
Caches.
Reference: Kentucky Geological Survey, and
Conservation Ontario.
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