SPRINGS OF THE CACAPON MOUNTAIN ANTICLINE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SOURCE OF WATER AT BERKELEY SPRINGS, WEST VIRGINIA

Berkeley Springs, located in the town of Bath, West Virginia, is an historic warm spring that is used for recreation purposes and as a town water supply. The spring complex flows from the Devonian Oriskany sandstone along the eastern flank of the Cacapon Mountain anticline. Water chemistry data were obtained at Berkeley Springs and eight other nearby springs as part of a regional aquifer study. Two high-elevation sandstone/clastic source springs had low pH and dissolved solids. Several springs located in Cold Run Valley, which overlies or is near the Helderberg and Tonoloway formations, had water chemistries indicative of carbonate dissolution. The water chemistry at Berkeley Spring was more similar to the carbonate springs than to the clastic or sandstone springs, suggesting that the water at the spring has traveled along the carbonate beds in the anticlinal structure. The topographic high at Cacapon Mountain, approximately 500 meters above Berkeley Springs to the west, may provide a driving force for this movement.