Date of Award

1980

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Geology

First Advisor

G.W. Putman

Abstract

Carbonated, alkaline, saline waters occur over a wide area in the upper Hudson River Valley approaching 1,000 square miles. Through the sampling (spring and fall) of 39 locations, half of which were hitherto unsampled, the waters are shown to be a complexly mixed system with at least five major components.
They are:
1) a gaseous phase consisting primarily of CO2;
2) a fluid (containing the dissolved CO2) possibly analogous to a metamorphic brine whose major chemistry is HCO3>Na>Cl;
3) formational waters of variably low salinities which may be the end products of progressive dilution of Paleozoic connate brines by meteoric waters; major chemistry Cl>Na>HCO3;
4) constituents added by reactions of the carbonated waters with the wall rocks of the Proterozoic basement and the Paleozoic aquifer;
5) normal surface ground waters of meteoric origin which seasonably dilute the deeper carbonated waters while also capping and "damping" the system.
Several segregated water types comprised largely of components #2, 3, and 5 above can also be recognized.
Through the use of stable isotopes of C, O, and H, the CO2 is conclusively demonstrated to be of thermal origin. C13/12 values of -2 to -8 per mil distinguish the carbon to be of juvenile or, more probably, of mantle origin. This in turn raises new tectonic questions when conjoined with the structural evidence presented showing the upper Hudson Valley lowlands to be fault controlled. The combination of the two imply that the lowlands represent a proto or embryonic rift system.

Comments

Young, J.R., 1980. Saratoga: the bubbles of reputation and their implications for an embryonic rift system in the upper Hudson River Valley. Unpublished MSc. thesis, State University of New York at Albany. 198pp., +xii; +ii appendix; 3 folded plates (maps)
University at Albany Science Library call number: SCIENCE Oversize (*) QE 146 S27X Y47

Additional Files
youngmspl1.pdf (844 kB)
Plate 1 - Analytical Data - Spring 1978 sampling
youngmspl2.pdf (666 kB)
Plate 2 - Analytical Data - Fall 1978 sampling
youngmspl3.pdf (1294 kB)
Plate 3 - Sampled wells and partial geology of the Saratoga Quadrangle (uncoloured geologic map; scale 1:24,000)
youngmspl4.pdf (14180 kB)
Plate 4 - Thermal springs and CO2 wells of the Mid-Hudson Valley (uncoloured geologic map; scale 1:250,000)
youngmspl5.pdf (1777 kB)
Plate 5 - Global seismicity and CO2 discharges (uncoloured map; mean scale 1:40,000,000)
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