Mapping Brackish Water

Only geologists and oil well workers would likely know this, but when drilling wells a log is kept of the materials drawn up. Those logs are kept and archived. This site describes the process of keeping well logs. A current use of such an archive has come up in Texas and was noted in an archival email list. It involves using old drilling logs to map out brackish water tables that, while not fit for drinking initially, could be rendered drinkable by modern filtration methods. In the current drought in Texas this could pinpoint a useful source of water.

Our article databases Academic Search, GeoRef, and ScienceDirect would be good sources for articles on oil well drilling, water tables and well logs.