GROUND WATER IN NORTH-CENTRAL TENNESSEE
GROUND WATER IN NORTH-CENTRAL TENNESSEE
GROUND WATER IN NORTH-CENTRAL TENNESSEE
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GEOGRAPHY O<br />
exist at several localities in the western part of the Highland Rim<br />
plateau, although none produce commercially at present. A full<br />
discussion of these mineral resources is not pertinent in this paper.<br />
Hydroelectric power is developed at several points along the High<br />
land Rim ;and Cumberland Plateau escarpments immediately east of<br />
the area under consideration and is transmitted to the central basin.<br />
Potential power sites both within and near the region constitute an<br />
ample reserve for future development and for any likely industrial<br />
expansion,<br />
CLIMATE ;<br />
GENERAL FEATURES »<br />
Climatic data are first recorded in Tennessee in 1834, although a<br />
well-coordinated system of observations did not exist for nearly half<br />
a century thereafter. In 1883 a State weather service was established<br />
under the direction of the United States Signal Service. In July,<br />
1891, this work was transferred to the United States Weather Bureau<br />
and has since been continued in a more comprehensive manner under<br />
the uniform procedure of that organization.<br />
North-central Tennessee, having a mean latitude of 36°, has a<br />
relatively mild climate, although its inland position and diverse<br />
physiography lend some rigor to its winters. However, it is not<br />
traversed by any of the principal transcontinental storm tracks, so<br />
that the climatic changes are neither highly frequent nor sudden.<br />
In general, the climate ranges from mild to temperate. The rainfall<br />
is abundant for the needs of agriculture but not excessive. Tfye<br />
humidity is moderate, and the distribution of sunshine and cloudi<br />
ness is desirable. The ground is rarely covered with snow for more<br />
than a few days at a time, and the period that is free from killing<br />
frosts is relatively long.<br />
TEMPERATURE<br />
The average mean annual temperature is fairly uniform throughout<br />
the region i covered by this investigation and ranges from 58° F. at<br />
Clarksville to 59.7° F. at Johnsonville. In the valley of the Tennes<br />
see River, :to the south and west, however, the mean annual tempera<br />
ture is higher, being 60.6° F. at Savannah, in Hardin County. To<br />
the east of the region, on the Cumberland Plateau, it is markedly<br />
lower, as at Crossville, Cumberland County, which has an average<br />
mean annual temperature of 55.4° F. The approximate geographic<br />
variation in average mean annual temperature is also shown by the<br />
isothermal map forming Figure 1.<br />
" Adapted from Nnnn, Bcscoe, The climate of Tennessee: Resources of Tennessee, vol. 8, No. 1, pp.<br />
7-45, Tennessee Geol. Survey, 1918.