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Geologists tag potential sources of groundwater
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Posted on Apr 12 2006
Two visiting geologists from Reston, Virginia have identified certain areas on Saipan that could be potential new sources of groundwater on the island.
Bill Burton and David Weary from the U.S. Geological Survey told the Saipan Tribune Tuesday night that they found sandstone rocks at the lookout in Kagman. They explained that sandstones tend to hold a lot of water.
“So wherever these rocks [sandstones] are found on the island, that might be a place where it is holding groundwater. So we want to make sure we understand the rock type,” Burton said, adding that sandstone and limestone hold a lot of water.
The two geologists are on island for a week to revise and update Saipan’s geologic map, the latest one of which was made by the USGS back in 1956.
They are also working with the Water Task Force and the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. to locate possible new sources of groundwater. Burton said they would advice the task force on rock types that may hold water that the task force hasn’t tapped yet.
“They [task force] would make the decisions on where to drill for water but we would be giving them the information that they could use to do that. That’s our job. We are not qualified to say, ‘Drill here’ but we are qualified to say this rock type may be one that holds a lot of water,” he said.
Pointing at the old geologic map, the geologist said the yellow and blue colors represent limestone, which is the most abundant rock type on the island.
“And these are pretty well tapped for water right now. You’ve got a big well field over here on the Kagman Peninsula. You’ve got a big water field down here at the airport, and they have some wells that they are developing at Tapochao,” he said.
Weary said they are going to upgrade the map, which was done by “very good and well known geologists.”
“They did great job on it. But in the 50 years plus since it was made, a lot of the theories have changed,” Weary said, adding that they doing some geology work and looking the island using modern equipment.
Weary said the geologic map would help find water sources.
“The water is in the geology, so if you understand the geology, then you understand where the water is better,” he said.
