DEVELOPING A PUBLIC STRATIGRAPHIC DATABASE FOR THE SEDIMENTARY CORES FROM THE HARTFORD BASIN, CONNECTICUT

The Hartford Basin (CT and MA) contains Late Triassic / Early Jurassic strata deposited in a rift basin associated with the break-up of Pangea. Outcrops of these strata are widely dispersed and often of limited quality. However, over the years, a number of large construction projects have resulted in the collection of stratigraphic cores that have proven invaluable in creating a continuous record of environmental change within the basin. These include the Park River Auxiliary Conduit beneath Hartford (drilled in the 1970’s; 67 cores; c. 1300m total, including 500+ meters of continuous section), the Adriaen’s Landing construction project in downtown Hartford (drilled 1999-2000; 71 shallow, closely spaced cores; 196m total), the Connecticut River Crossing project (drilled 2014-2015; 6 cores; 204m total), and a core from Dinosaur State Park (drilled late 1960’s; 13m). These cores reside in the DEEP Connecticut Geological Survey, Randolph P. Steinen Core Repository (Portland, Connecticut). In addition, the active South Hartford Conveyance and Storage Tunnel project generated at least 71 cores totaling 650+ meters of continuous section, currently archived by the Hartford MDC. All of these cores contain strata from the Lower Jurassic East Berlin and Portland Formations.

Students and faculty at Eastern Connecticut State University, in cooperation with the CT State Geological Survey, are currently enhancing a publicly accessible core database hosted by the Connecticut DEEP (https://www.ct.gov/deep/bedrockcorerepository). The database will include: (1) a spreadsheet with location, depth, and stratigraphic information for all cores, and (2) ArcGIS shape files with the core locations, and if available, (3) drilling reports for construction projects as they become publically available, (4) drafted measured sections, (5) core images, and (6) thin section data and images. Anticipated links between different data types will make searching the database useful and simple. These data will provide educators with materials that can be used to generate stratigraphy-based classroom exercises and researchers with an archive of materials available for investigation. They are already the basis of undergraduate research projects at Eastern Connecticut State University.