Foreword

Introduction

Acknowledgments

Overview

Water Use

Topography of the County

Geology of the County

Groundwater Availability

Exploration for Groundwater

Karst

Water Quality

Maps and Data

Additional Reading

References Cited

Definitions of Geologic Terms

Rock Descriptions

Discussion from McGrain and Currens (1978)

Calloway County is located in the Mississippi Embayment area of western Kentucky. Kentucky Lake marks the eastern boundary of the county, and the southern boundary is the Kentucky-Tennessee state line.

The area is a gently rolling plain. Highest elevations are found on the flat-topped, gravel-capped ridges between the principal drainage systems and range from more than 600 feet in the southwestern part of the county to 520 feet in the northern part. The highest elevation is apparently on the Tennessee Valley divide at the Kentucky-Tennessee state line, where an elevation of more than 640 feet is recorded.

The surface of Kentucky Lake, the lowest point in the county, is 359 feet. Local differences in elevation rarely exceed 50 feet, except adjacent to drainage lines, where differences in elevation between valley bottoms, including Kentucky Lake, and the upland surface may be 100 to more than 150 feet. Some high points along Kentucky Lake in the southern part of the county have a maximum local relief as great as 160 feet. Stream gradients are low and some valley flats are subject to flooding. Some swamps are present along Clarks River.

Elevations of communities are Alamo, 428 feet; Coldwater, 545 feet; Dexter, 412 feet; Hazel, 561 feet; Kirksey, 555 feet; Lynn Grove, 575 feet; Murray, at the courthouse, 515 feet; and New Concord, 420 feet.

The 7.5-minute topographic quadrangle maps that cover Calloway County are shown, by name and by index code (Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet) on the index map.

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