Leon J Kauffman Kenneth Belitz 20250728 vector digital data Denver, CO U. S. Geological Survey Kauffman, L.J., and Belitz, K., 2025, Hydrogeologic provinces of the conterminous United States: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P13Z6EQR https://doi.org/10.5066/P13Z6EQR This data release contains shapefiles of the hydrogeologic provinces of the conterminous United States. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is developing a National Extent Hydrogeologic Framework (NEHF). In support of that effort, the conterminous United States was subdivided into eight hydrogeologic provinces that are generally based on geologic provinces and subprovinces previously defined in USGS Circular 1300 (Reed and Bush, 2007). Two of the eight hydrogeologic provinces were subdivided into subprovinces. The boundaries of the polygons, representing the hydrogeologic provinces and subprovinces, were largely based on the boundaries of geologic map units and faults of the Geologic Map of North America (GMNA, Garrity and Soller, 2009). In areas where a hydrogeologic province or subprovince boundary was not closely approximately by a GMNA boundary, the extents of principal aquifers (USGS, 2003) were used as a guide. The hydrogeologic provinces identify areas that generally consist of rocks and sediment of similar geologic age, lithology, and degree of deformation; these characteristics are generally related to the hydrologic properties of subsurface aquifers and confining layers. References cited: Garrity, C.P., and Soller, D.R., 2009, Database of the geologic map of North America; adapted from the map by J.C. Reed, Jr. and others (2005): U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 424, accessed June 11, 2025, at https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/424/. Reed, J.C., and Bush, C.A., 2007, About the geologic map in the National Atlas of the United States of America: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1300, 52 p., accessed on June 12, 2025, at https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1300. U.S. Geological Survey, 2003, Principal aquifers of the 48 conterminous United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands: U.S. Geological Survey data release, accessed June 12, 2025, at https://doi.org/10.5066/P9Y2HOUJ. The National Extent Hydrogeologic Framework, a three-dimensional digital representation of groundwater resources at the scale of the conterminous United States (CONUS), is under development. Broad-scale subdivision of CONUS into eight hydrogeologic provinces will allow for the creation of eight hydrogeologic frameworks. The hydrogeologic provinces delineate areas within which a consistent approach can be used to develop a three-dimensional framework. The polygons that represent the hydrogeologic provinces are two-dimensional (areal) in extent. Subsequent work, at the scale of hydrogeologic provinces, can be conducted to characterize the third dimension (vertical). Subdivision of CONUS into eight hydrogeologic provinces may be useful for other purposes, including the development of machine-learning models that characterize various aspects of groundwater resources. Three of the eight hydrogeologic provinces correspond directly to geologic provinces identified in Circular 1300: Central Interior, Coastal Plain, and Appalachian (Reed and Bush, 2007). The Central Interior hydrogeologic province was divided into two subprovinces – Western and Eastern – based on geologic age as indicated on the GMNA, with rocks and sediment younger than Mississippian age to the west, and rocks of Mississippian age and older to the east. The Coastal Plain hydrogeologic province was divided into three subprovinces that approximate geologic subprovinces identified in Circular 1300: Gulf Coastal Plain, Florida Peninsula, and Atlantic Coastal Plain. The Appalachian and Ouachita hydrogeologic province was not subdivided into subprovinces. Five of the hydrogeologic provinces, collectively, correspond to most of the Cordilleran Mountain System geologic province identified in Circular 1300. Each of the five hydrogeologic provinces corresponds to a geologic subprovince, a part of a geologic subprovince, or a group of geologic subprovinces identified in Circular 1300 (Reed and Bush, 2007): (1) The Western Cordilleran Terranes hydrogeologic province corresponds to most of the Accreted and Subduction-Related Terranes of the Western Cordillera geologic subprovince; (2) The Northwest Volcanic hydrogeologic province (NVHP) corresponds to the entirety of the Lava Plains and Plateaus of the Columbia Intermontane Region geologic subprovince and two subareas of the Accreted and Subduction-Related Terranes of the Western Cordillera geologic subprovince. One of the geologic subareas – Blue Mountains – is an inlier within the NVHP. The other geologic subarea – the Cascade Volcanoes – is located along the western margin of the NVHP and consists of rocks, the age and lithology of which, are more similar to NVHP than to rocks of the subareas to the west; (3) The Rocky Mountain Fold and Thrust Belt hydrogeologic province corresponds to the geologic subprovince of the same name; (4) The Basin and Range hydrogeologic province corresponds to two geologic subprovinces, the Basin and Range and Rio Grande; (5) The Colorado Plateau and Laramide Rocky Mountains hydrogeologic province corresponds to two geologic subprovinces of the same names. None of the five hydrogeologic provinces were subdivided into hydrogeologic subprovinces. References cited: Reed, J.C., and Bush, C.A., 2007, About the geologic map in the National Atlas of the United States of America: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1300, 52 p., accessed on June 12, 2025, at https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1300. 20250310 ground condition Complete None planned Conterminous United States -124.7558 -66.9397 49.3845 24.5183 ISO 19115 Topic Category geoscientificInformation USGS Thesaurus groundwater hydrogeology USGS Metadata Identifier USGS:6807cab6d4be020d8168d576 Common geographic areas United States None. Please see 'Distribution Info' for details. None. Users are advised to read the dataset's metadata to understand appropriate use and data limitations. U.S. Geological Survey Leon Kauffman Hydrologist mailing

3450 Princeton Pike, Suite 110

Lawrenceville NJ 08648 609-771-3900 lkauff@usgs.gov No formal attribute accuracy tests were conducted. No formal logical accuracy tests were conducted. Data set is considered complete for the information presented, as described in the abstract. Users are advised to read the rest of the metadata record carefully for additional details. No formal accuracy assessment of the horizontal positional information in the data set has been conducted. This map product was generated from the geology dataset of North America (Garrity and Soller, 2009). A formal accuracy assessment of the vertical positional information in the data set is not applicable. Esri Inc. 2024 3.4.0 application/service Redlands, CA Esri https://www.esri.com/en-us/home Digital 2024 publication date ESRI, 2024 Software used for data management. Christopher P. Garrity David R. Soller 2009 publication Data Series 424 Reston, VA U.S. Geological Survey Garrity, C.P., and Soller, D.R., 2009, Database of the geologic map of North America; adapted from the map by J.C. Reed, Jr. and others (2005): U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 424, accessed June 11, 2025, at https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/424/. https://doi.org/10.3133/ds424 Digital and/or Hardcopy 2009 publication date Garrity and Soller, 2009 GMNA geologic polygons and faults U.S. Geological Survey 2003 Digital data Denver, CO U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey, 2003, Principal aquifers of the 48 conterminous United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands: U.S. Geological Survey data release, accessed June 12, 2025, at https://doi.org/10.5066/P9Y2HOUJ. (This data release was originally published (2003) on the USGS NSDI Node but later released on ScienceBase (2023)). https://doi.org/10.5066/P9Y2HOUJ Digital and/or Hardcopy 20030915 publication date USGS, 2003 Principal aquifer boundaries Kenneth Belitz Elise Watson Tyler D. Johnson Jennifer Sharpe 2018 publication Groundwater vol. 57, issue 3 Hoboken, NJ Wiley Belitz, K., Watson, E., Johnson, T.D., and Sharpe, J., 2018, Secondary hydrogeologic regions of the conterminous United States: Groundwater, v. 57, no. 3, p. 367-377, accessed June 12, 2025, at https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.12806. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.12806 Digital and/or Hardcopy 20180703 publication date Belitz and others, 2018 Secondary hydrogeologic region boundaries Richard L. Marella Marian P. Berndt 2005 publication Circular 1278 Reston, VA U.S. Geological Survey Marella, R.L., and Berndt, M.P., 2005, Water withdrawals and trends from the Floridan aquifer system in the southeastern United States, 1950-2000: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1278, 20 p., accessed June 12, 2005, at https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1278. https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1278 Digital and/or Hardcopy 2005 publication date Marella and Berndt, 2005 Extent of Floridan aquifer John C. Reed Charles A. Bush 2007 publication Circular 1300 Reston, VA U.S. Geological Survey Reed, J.C., and Bush, C.A., 2007, About the geologic map in the National Atlas of the United States of America: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1300, 52 p., accessed on June 12, 2025, at https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1300 https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1300 Digital and/or Hardcopy 2007 publication date Reed and Bush, 2007 Geologic provinces and subprovinces that provide the basis of the hydrogeologic provinces presented in this data release. The polygons from the Geologic Map of North America (GMNA) were assigned a hydrogeologic province (HP) based on their geographic location in comparison with the geologic provinces defined in Circular 1300 (Reed and Bush, 2007) as follows: 1) Appalachian and Ouachita HP - Central Interior HP boundary – Along the general boundary defined by Reed and Bush (2007), younger (generally to the west) rocks are assigned to the Central Interior HP with the exception of Precambrian rocks which are in the Adirondack region. 2) Appalachian and Ouachita HP - Coastal Plain HP boundary - Cretaceous and younger rocks assigned to the Coastal Plain HP, Jurassic and older rocks are assigned to the Appalachian and Ouachita HP. 3) Basin and Range HP - Colorado Plateau and Laramide Rocky Mountains HP boundary - The first guiding principal for this boundary is that extensive Quaternary sedimentary basins that extend to the west will be assigned to the Basin and Range HP. For the volcanic units that occur along the boundary, the units are assigned based on where similar units away from the boundary occur. Precambrian rocks are assigned to the Basin and Range HP along the boundary. 4) Basin and Range HP - Northwest Volcanic HP boundary - Volcanic rocks where the minimum age is Miocene or younger are assigned to the Northwest Volcanic HP with a few exceptions where Miocene felsic rocks extend down a valley well into other rocks assigned to the Basin and Range HP. In the case where Quaternary sedimentary rocks are against Mesozoic and Paleozoic aged rocks the younger sediments are assigned to the Northwest Volcanic HP. 5) Central Interior HP - Basin and Range HP boundary - The Precambrian rocks are assigned to the Basin and Range HP along this boundary with one exception where there is a short boundary between two Precambrian units with one extending well to the east into other Central Interior HP polygons. When the older rocks are not Precambrian or plutonic, the older rocks along this boundary are assigned to the Central Interior HP. 6) Central Interior HP - Colorado Plateau and Laramide Rocky Mountains HP boundary - The boundary is usually defined by Precambrian rocks and other metamorphic or plutonic rocks that were uplifted as part of the Laramide orogeny. Generally, the older, uplifted rocks are assigned to the Colorado Plateau and Laramide Rocky Mountains HP while the younger rocks are assigned to the Central Interior HP. 7) Central Interior HP - Rocky Mountain Fold and Thrust Belt HP Boundary - The younger rocks along the boundary are assigned to the Central Interior HP. 8) Coastal Plain HP - Central Interior HP boundary - The rocks being assigned to the Coastal Plain HP are always younger. Where the Central Interior HP is to the east, Cretaceous and younger rocks are assigned to the Coastal Plain HP with older rocks assigned to the Central Interior HP. Where the Central Interior HP is to the west, Cretaceous and older rocks are assigned to the Central Interior HP, except for the youngest Cretaceous rocks (map unit = 2uK-Navarro and Taylor Groups Garrity and Soller, 2009) which are assigned to the Coastal Plain HP. All other younger rocks along the boundary are assigned to the Coastal Plain HP. 9) Northwest Volcanic HP - Colorado Plateau and Laramide Rocky Mountains HP boundary - Volcanic rocks where the minimum age is Miocene or younger are assigned to the Northwest Volcanic HP along this boundary. Quaternary sedimentary rocks that are against Paleogene and older rocks are also assigned to the Northwest Volcanic HP. 10) Northwest Volcanic HP - Rocky Mountain Fold and Thrust Belt HP boundary - The majority of this boundary is characterized by volcanic rocks with a minimum age of Miocene or younger and Quaternary rocks along older rocks being assigned to the Northwest Volcanic HP. The exception to this is a few polygons where the older rocks of the Blue Mountains are assigned to the Northwest Volcanic HP. 11) Rocky Mountain Fold and Thrust Belt HP - Basin and Range HP boundary - Generally along this boundary Quaternary sedimentary rocks are assigned to the Basin and Range HP. 12) Western Cordilleran Terranes HP - Basin and Range HP boundary - The younger rocks are generally assigned to the Basin and Range HP along this boundary. The exceptions are where faults are running along the boundary and a case where the plutonic rocks that characterize the Sierra Nevada Mountains are up against some mixed Triassic and Jurassic sedimentary and volcanic rocks. 13) Western Cordilleran Terranes HP - Northwest Volcanic HP boundary - The majority of this boundary is characterized by volcanic rocks with a minimum age of Miocene or younger and Quaternary rocks along older rocks being assigned to the Northwest Volcanic HP. 14) Western Cordilleran Terranes HP - Rocky Mountain Fold and Thrust Belt HP boundary - This is a short boundary that runs along a fault along which Precambrian rocks were assigned to the Rocky Mountain Fold and Thrust Belt HP. Polygon were selected and the attribute table updated using ArcGIS Pro (ESRI, 2024). Garrity and Soller, 2009 ESRI, 2024 Reed and Bush, 2007 20250310 In places where faults identified in the GMNA faults dataset are the defining feature of the HP and run through the middle of a single GMNA polygon, these polygons were split using the Cut Polygon tool in ArcGIS Pro (ESRI, 2024) along the fault and the pieces assigned to the HP on either side of the fault. Garrity and Soller, 2009 ESRI, 2024 20250310 In cases where rocks of younger age (most commonly Quaternary sedimentary rocks) not fitting the general principal guiding the assignment of GMNA polygons to the HP extend on either side of the boundary, the polygons were split. If boundary of a principal aquifer or secondary hydrogeologic region was near, that was used to split the polygon using the Cut Polygon tool in ArcGIS Pro (ESRI, 2024). In other cases, polygons were split using the Cut Polygon tool in ArcGIS Pro (ESRI, 2024) based on a line connecting the established boundaries from surrounding polygons on either side. USGS, 2003 Belitz and others, 2018 ESRI, 2024 20250310 Subprovince boundaries were added for the Central Interior HP and are reflected in the HG_Subprov shapefile. This region was split into eastern and western section based on the general boundary between Mississippian and older rocks to the east and Pennsylvanian and younger rocks to the west. Inlying polygons with younger rocks in the east and older rocks in the west are included with the surrounding rocks. The selection of polygons and assignment of subprovinces in the attribute table was done using ArcGIS Pro (ESRI, 2024). Garrity and Soller, 2009 ESRI, 2024 20250310 The Coastal Plain HP was split, using the Cut Polygon tool in ArcGIS Pro (ESRI, 2024), into three subprovinces similar to the geologic subprovinces defined by Reed and Bush (2007): Gulf Coastal Plain, Atlantic Coastal Plain, and Florida Peninsula. The hydrogeologic subprovince boundaries differed from the geologic subprovince boundaries in that the extent of the Floridan aquifer (Marella and Berndt, 2005) were used to define the Florida Peninsula boundary. Marella and Berndt, 2005 ESRI, 2024 Reed and Bush, 2007 20250310 Vector GT-polygon composed of rings Albers Conical Equal Area 29.5 45.5 -96.0 23.0 0.0 0.0 coordinate pair 1000 1000 meters NAD83_National_Spatial_Reference_System_2011 GRS 1980 6378137.0 298.257222101004 HG_Subprov.zip Zip file containing a shapefile of the hydrogeologic subprovinces of the conterminous United States U.S. Geological Survey FID Internal feature number. ESRI Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. Shape Feature geometry. U.S. Geological Survey Polygon object HGProvName Name of the hydrogeologic province/sub province U.S. Geological Survey Appalachian and Ouchita The Appalachian and Ouachita Mountain system is a sinuous upland belt that extends from northern Alabama through Maine. This area is a product of complex plate tectonic interactions between North America and oceanic and continental plates to the southeast and south. The Ouachita Mountain System is exposed in a small area of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Although the system extends from the southern end of the Appalachians to western Texas, only the area where it is not covered with more recent rocks is included in this hydrogeologic region. Reed and Bush, 2007 Basin and Range and Rio Grande Rift A broad region characterized by linear mountain ranges separated by sediment filled basins. The area extends north into Idaho and encompasses a large part of northwestern Utah, most of Nevada, southeastern California and eastward through Arizona and New Mexico. The Rio Grande Rift is in Colorado, New Mexico and western Texas. This area includes the Mogollon-Datil and Sierra-Wasatch volcanic fields. Reed and Bush, 2007 Central Interior - East The eastern part of the Central Interior. This is generally rocks of Mississippian age and older but include inlying polygons of younger rocks. The area includes the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and parts of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. U.S. Geological Survey Central Interior - West The western part of the Central Interior. This is generally rocks of Pennsylvanian age and younger but include inlying polygons of older rocks. This area includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas and parts of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota. U.S. Geological Survey Colorado Plateau and Laramide Rocky Mountains The Laramide Rocky Mountains are a series of mountain ranges cored by Precambrian basement rocks and their cover of Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks that were originally part of the Craton uplifted during the Laramide orogeny. The area consists of basement uplifts and intermontane basins. The Colorado Plateau is a region of relatively flat-lying Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks west of the southern Laramide Rocky Mountains and the Rio Grande Rift. The Colorado Plateau is an isolated piece of the craton separated from the main part in the Central Interior by the Laramide Rocky Mountain uplift. This area includes the Absaroka and San Juan volcanic fields. U.S. Geological Survey Florida Peninsula Defined by the extent of the Floridan aquifer U.S. Geological Survey Gulf Coastal Plain The western part of the Coastal Plain hydrogeologic province Reed and Bush, 2007 Northwest Volcanic This is a simplified name for the areas defined as the Lava Plains and Plateaus of the Columbia Intermontane Region. This area consists of plains and plateaus formed by flows of basalt and layers of volcanic ash. This area also includes the Blue Mountains which are part of the accreted and subduction-related terranes of the Western Cordilleran region defined in Reed and Bush (2007) U.S. Geological Survey Rocky Mountain Fold and Thrust Belt The Rocky Mountain fold and thrust belt is an area in western Wyoming, eastern Idaho, and western Montana. This belt consists primarily of sedimentary rocks that have been folded and thrust eastward as part of the Sevier orogeny. Reed and Bush, 2007 Western Cordilleran Terranes This areas includes accreted and subduction-related terranes in the western Cordilleran Province. Reed and Bush, 2007 Atlantic Coastal Plain The eastern part of the Coastal Plain hydrogeologic province Reed and Bush, 2007 Shape_Area Area of the polygon U.S. Geological Survey 147,037,687,744 2,202,101,961,490 square meters HG_Provinces.zip Zip file containing a shapefile of the hydrogeologic provinces of the conterminous United States U.S. Geological Survey FID Internal feature number. ESRI Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. Shape Feature geometry. U.S. Geological Survey Polygon object HGProvName Name of the hydrogeologic provinces U.S. Geological Survey Appalachian and Ouchita The Appalachian and Ouachita Mountain system is a sinuous upland belt that extends from northern Alabama through Maine. This area is a product of complex plate tectonic interactions between North America and oceanic and continental plates to the southeast and south. The Ouachita Mountain System is exposed in a small area of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Although the system extends from the southern end of the Appalachians to western Texas, only the area where it is not covered with more recent rocks is included in this hydrogeologic region. Reed and Bush, 2007 Basin and Range and Rio Grande Rift A broad region characterized by linear mountain ranges separated by sediment filled basins. The area extends north into Idaho and encompasses a large part of northwestern Utah, most of Nevada, southeastern California and eastward through Arizona and New Mexico. The Rio Grande Rift is in Colorado, New Mexico and western Texas. This area includes the Mogollon-Datil and Sierra-Wasatch volcanic fields. Reed and Bush, 2007 Central Interior Area from the western foothills of the Appalachians to the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains and from the Canadian border south to the northern limit of the Gulf Coastal Plain. Precambrian basement rock generally covered by a mantle of flat-lying sedimentary rocks with a few exceptions where the basement rocks are exposed. This area includes the Davis Mountains volcanic field Reed and Bush, 2007 Coastal Plain The southern and southeastern margins of the conterminous United States. This area is composed of sediments deposited as North America separated from Africa and South America. Reed and Bush, 2007 Colorado Plateau and Laramide Rocky Mountains The Laramide Rocky Mountains are a series of mountain ranges cored by Precambrian basement rocks and their cover of Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks that were originally part of the Craton uplifted during the Laramide orogeny. The area consists of basement uplifts and intermontane basins. The Colorado Plateau is a region of relatively flat-lying Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks west of the southern Laramide Rocky Mountains and the Rio Grande Rift. The Colorado Plateau is an isolated piece of the craton separated from the main part in the Central Interior by the Laramide Rocky Mountain uplift. This area includes the Absaroka and San Juan volcanic fields. U.S. Geological Survey Northwest Volcanic This is a simplified name for the areas defined as the Lava Plains and Plateaus of the Columbia Intermontane Region. This area consists of plains and plateaus formed by flows of basalt and layers of volcanic ash. This area also includes the Blue Mountains which are part of the accreted and subduction-related terranes of the Western Cordilleran region defined in Reed and Bush (2007). U.S. Geological Survey Rocky Mountain Fold and Thrust Belt The Rocky Mountain fold and thrust belt is an area in western Wyoming, eastern Idaho, and western Montana. This belt consists primarily of sedimentary rocks that have been folded and thrust eastward as part of the Sevier orogeny. Reed and Bush, 2007 Western Cordilleran Terranes This areas includes accreted and subduction-related terranes in the western Cordilleran Province. Reed and Bush, 2007 Shape_Area Area of the polygon U.S. Geological Survey 225,924,274,503 3,629,545,819,010 square meters GS ScienceBase U.S. Geological Survey mailing address

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Denver CO 80225 United States 1-888-275-8747 sciencebase@usgs.gov Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. Digital Data https://doi.org/10.5066/P13Z6EQR None 20250728 New Jersey Water Science Center GW-W-NJ DataRelease Data Release Manager mailing and physical

3450 Princeton Pike, Suite 110

Lawrenceville NJ 08648 609-771-3900 609-771-3915 gw-w-nj_datarelease@usgs.gov FGDC Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001.1-1999