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Permeability of sediments from the US Atlantic margin offshore Massachusetts: constraints from experiments and borehole logging data

Chastain, Maddox
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Dugan, Brandon
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2026-04
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2026 Spring Undergraduate Research Symposium
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Chastain_Maddox_MURFposter2026.pdf
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https://hdl.handle.net/11124/182009
 https://doi.org/10.25676/11124/182009
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Abstract
During the summer of 2025, IODP Expedition 501 set out to explore offshore Massachusetts, gathering samples and borehole logging data. These samples and data were gathered with the express purpose of increasing scientific understanding of offshore freshened groundwater systems, one of which being found within the US Atlantic Margin offshore Massachusetts. Offshore freshened groundwater is groundwater found beneath the seafloor with a lower total dissolved solids concentration than the seawater above it, and it is being examined as a new source of water for household or industrial use. Using core samples collected during IODP Expedition 501, we were able to create grain size distributions of sediments found at varying depths for each well drilled during the expedition. These distributions were created in accordance with the D7928 ASTM protocol for hydrometer testing. Then, this grain size data was integrated with porosity, lithology, and borehole logging data collected during the expedition to develop models of permeability within the US Atlantic Margin. These permeability models are key to understanding the movement and development of offshore freshened groundwater systems over time, as their existence is highly reliant upon the physical properties of the sediments and rocks which encase them.
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