The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Conservation and Survey Division has posted on its Web site a database covering the nearly 5,000 test holes in its repository. One of the largest sets of test-hole records in the nation, once downloaded, the information can be searched by a variety of characteristics.
A catalog of subsurface geological conditions, these records of 4,959 test holes should be of use to state and federal natural-resource or agricultural agencies, natural resources districts, county agencies, consultants, engineers, farmers, well drillers and the public, particularly those drilling private domestic water wells, said Jerry Ayers, groundwater geologist and survey coordinator for the School of Natural Resources, to which the division belongs. The next step is to make the records searchable directly from the Internet, he said.
In a state with few outcrops and ample groundwater, this data is essential to understanding the occurrence and quantity of groundwater. Previously published in county hard-copy records, the data will be available only on the division's Web site once the traditional log books sell out. That Web address is http://csd.unl.edu/general/testholes.asp.
"The value of this database is that you can search for any data you want — by township and range, by latitude-longitude, by topographic quad, by county, by natural resources district or by lithology (rock type) and stratigraphy (rock layer), for example," Ayers said.
The division is required by law to keep the contents of all the test holes drilled by public agencies in Nebraska, to investigate their geological characteristics and to make the investigations available to the public. It also keeps the contents of holes drilled by private organizations that donate them to the university.
In addition to the categories mentioned above, users also can search by total depth, by geophysical logs -- additional means of determining subsurface conditions -- by drilling agency and a number of more technical descriptors.
"This data is the basis for any understanding of the groundwater or the subsurface of the state," Ayers said.
Charles Flowerday
Editor/Communications Coordinator
School of Natural Resources
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