Fact Sheet 4 Summer 2013

Mapping Bedrock:
Investigating and testing field techniques for
verifying depth to bedrock models
Eric Cooley, Fred Madison, Dennis Frame, and Aaron Wunderlin – UW Discovery Farms

Existing information on depth to bedrock

In Wisconsin, soil surveys were/ the soil profile, refusal of the auger to
are conducted to provide information dig further can result from large rocks
on materials from the land surface to a imbedded in the soil profile or from
depth of 5 - 8 feet. Surveys began in the densely packed glacial till. In some
early 1900's, and from that time until the instances, refusal of the bucket auger
present, soils data has been collected was annotated as coming in contact
and continually updated based on more with bedrock; when instead the auger
recent surveys. Today, 100% of the land encountered a large rock or glacial
in Wisconsin has been surveyed and till. If an erroneous judgment was
has soils information. However, the age made on bedrock contact, the depth
of the most recent soil survey can vary of unconsolidated materials above
significantly between counties (some the bedrock could be significantly
from 1961). Soil survey information for underestimated.
each county can be found at: http://soils. In Northeastern Wisconsin, glacial
usda.gov/survey/printed_surveys/state. Figure 1. Bucket auger (foreground)
geologists have extensively mapped the
asp?state=Wisconsin&abbr=WI and other tools used to identify soil
glacial materials that cover the landscape,
for soil surveys.
From soil surveys, information can usually at scales of 1:100,000, as a part
be obtained on where bedrock is likely to exist if it is within of their effort to understand the region’s glacial history. These
5 - 8 feet of the soil surface. Much of the soils information, maps provide insights into the textures and thickness of the
especially relating to older soil surveys, was obtained using unconsolidated materials covering the carbonate bedrock
a combination of topographic maps (to read land features), in that part of the state. Although extremely valuable, this
and bucket augers to take soil samples (Figure 1). Although information is not detailed enough for field-specific use by
the bucket auger method provides a good representation of agricultural producers.

Geophysical expos to explore other methods of depth to bedrock determination

To investigate the many options available for determining the depth to
bedrock, Discovery Farms staff convened a group of soil scientists and
geophysicists for two separate field days at the Gold Star Farm, located
northeast of Chilton in Calumet County. Both expositions focused on
a part of the Gold Star Farm where a layer of very dense, loamy sand
glacial till of unknown thickness covered the carbonate bedrock. The soil
survey states that many of the soils on and around Gold Star Farm have
lithic soils (< 20 inches to bedrock). The areas tested had soils identified
as Channahon loam, 6 to 12 percent slopes, with bedrock at 10-20 inches
and Whalan silt loam, 2 to 6 percent slopes, with bedrock at 20-40 inches.
The first Geophysical Expo held on April 28-29, 2009, Natural
Resources Conservation Service soil scientists from three area offices
and the regional office in Indianapolis participated in the meeting, as
well as geophysical experts from NRCS, the Wisconsin Geological and
Natural History Survey and Discovery Farms staff. Ground penetrating
radar (Figure 2) and electromagnetic pulsing equipment (Figure 3) were
tested and were able to achieve penetration depths of about 6 to 8 feet.
Although radar generally works well in sandy materials, the high content Figure 2. Ground penetrating radar.
 seismic refraction and excavated pit; whereas in pit one, the
measure depth was 17 feet by seismometer and 12 feet from
the excavated pit. Samples of the various layers in the soil
and glacial till were obtained. The till was so tightly packed
that it made sampling difficult. The till often resembled rock
until it was wetted and the particles fell apart easily. If these
soils were analyzed during a dry period for the soil survey, it is
obvious to see how the till was identified as rock. Bucket auger
sampling that was attempted during this expo had definite
refusal at the glacial till layer because of the dry conditions.
Figure 3. Electromagnetic pulsing equipment. The “geophysical expo” was very successful in helping to
of carbonates in these soils (calcareous soils) and glacial till identify the tools necessary for establishing more accurate
interfered with radar signal and limited penetration. depths to bedrock in settings where groundwater systems
are extremely vulnerable to land use activities. Furthermore,
A seismometer was also tested to determine the
it identified causal reasons for some discrepancies in the soil
effectiveness of determining depth to bedrock as previously
survey at this site.
described. This technique was quite successful, and along
two 500-foot transects; the depth to bedrock was established
as being 20 - 30 feet. The Geoprobe® confirmed the results
obtained by the seismometer by drilling several holes to
bedrock that were around 25 feet deep. Both techniques
appear to be effective, but are time-consuming, a factor which
clearly limits their use over wide areas.
A second Geophysical Expo was held April 27 - 28, 2010,
to more accurately determine the composition of the material
over the bedrock. Data collected from the seismometer at the
first Expo indicated four different layers when it was assumed
that there were only three: soil, glacial till and bedrock. The
seismometer was set to determine the depth of materials
over bedrock going down a ridge in the field. At two points,
a test pit was dug by a backhoe to verify the results (Figure Figure 4. Backhoe dug pit to verify seismic refraction
4). At pit two, the measured depths were 15 feet by both data and to sample material above the bedrock.

Conclusions
The Discovery Farms Program has developed a number of
initiatives to more accurately assess the materials overlying
shallow carbonate bedrock areas in Wisconsin. The developed
methodology of defining karst prone areas based on well
construction information can establish areas on a county
basis to focus efforts of more accurate determination of depth
to bedrock and for identification of karst feature development.
Techniques of more accurate determination of bedrock
depth using Geoprobe® and seismic refraction proved to be
effective, while ground penetrating radar and electromagnetic
pulsing equipment were limited because of the calcareous
nature of the unconsolidated materials.

More in-depth procedures on how to perform this type of mapping program can be found in the reports developed
through this project: Mapping Bedrock - Models and field tools to identify loss potential in vulnerable landscapes;
Mapping Bedrock - Identifying the Depth of Bedrock at a Large Scale using Well Construction Reports; Mapping
Bedrock - Verifying Depth to Bedrock in Calumet County using Seismic Refraction.

This fact sheet can be found on the web at:

www.uwdiscoveryfarms.org or by calling the UW-Discovery
Farms Office at 715-983-5668. (June 2013)

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