| Director: |
Denver Harper |
| Other Researchers: |
Tracy Branam,
Greg Olyphant,
|
| Funding: |
Indiana University - Indiana Geological & Water Survey
|
| Issue: |
More than 190,000 acres of Indiana are underlain by abandoned underground coal mines. Many of these mines are flooded, representing a high-yield aquifer that may contain as much as 170 billion gallons of water. Although this aquifer is potentially of significant value for a variety of purposes, little is known about the quality of water within it, the mechanisms of its recharge, the hydrodynamics of individual mine pools, and the mechanisms of its discharge. |
| Objective: |
Increase public awareness and interest in the potential use of underground mine waters as a geothermal resource, a groundwater resource, and a mine-reclamation resource. |
| Approach: |
This investigation involves a literature search, data mining and organization, development of a water-chemistry database, development of GIS layers and associated metadata, and development and dissemination of articles and presentations. |
| Products: |
Products will include an IGS publication in the Occasional Paper or Special Report series, an IGS Web page, an article for GeoNews, and possibly a paper in a conference proceedings. |
| Benefits: |
The information that is compiled should be useful in efforts to manage and remediate the coal-mine aquifer of Indiana. |
