Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to a penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number.

The basal sandstone is a poorly sorted, well indurated sandstone, which lies below the Conasauga Group and above the Precambrian crystalline rocks. It is an unknown resource defined by limited data, with only 14 data points (wells) for the entire State of Tennessee. The basal sandstone is thought to occur throughout most of the State west of the Valley and Ridge province at depths of generally more than 5,500 feet below land surface. The basal sandstone probably does not receive significant vertical recharge because the sandstone is overlain by such a thick sequence of flat-lying, low-porosity lower Paleozoic carbonates and shales. Data from two sites indicate that the rocks of the basal sandstone have relatively low porosity and permeability.The concentrations of dissolved solids in water from the basal sandstone range from less than 40,000 milligrams per liter to more than 200,000 milligrams per liter. The basal sandstone is not being used as a source of drinking water because of its great depth, the presence of shallower sources of drinking water, and possible concentrations of more than 10,000 milligrams per liter dissolved solids throughout its area of occurrence. SUMMARYThe basal sandstone occurs in the subsurface probably throughout most of Tennessee west of the Valley and Ridge province. The basal sandstone is overlain by the Conasauga Group, a thick sequence of flat-lying, low-permeability lower Paleozoic carbonates and shales that acts as an upper confining layer for the basal sandstone. Precambrian granitic rocks underlie the basal sandstone and act as a lower confining layer.

No abstract

The basal sandstone is a poorly sorted, well indurated sandstone, which lies below the Conasauga Group and above the Precambrian crystalline rocks. It is an unknown resource defined by limited data, with only 14 data points (wells) for the entire State of Tennessee. The basal sandstone is thought to occur throughout most of the State west of the Valley and Ridge province at depths of generally more than 5,500 feet below land surface. The basal sandstone probably does not receive significant vertical recharge because the sandstone is overlain by such a thick sequence of flat-lying, low-porosity lower Paleozoic carbonates and shales. Data from two sites indicate that the rocks of the basal sandstone have relatively low porosity and permeability.The concentrations of dissolved solids in water from the basal sandstone range from less than 40,000 milligrams per liter to more than 200,000 milligrams per liter. The basal sandstone is not being used as a source of drinking water because of its great depth, the presence of shallower sources of drinking water, and possible concentrations of more than 10,000 milligrams per liter dissolved solids throughout its area of occurrence.

No abstract