Geology topics

Douglas G. Emerson

Publications and source records attributed to Douglas G. Emerson.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

USGS1983

Data from the surface-water hydrologic investigations of the Hay Creek Study Area, Montana, and the West Branch Antelope Creek Study Area, North Dakota, October 1976 through April 1982

Data are provided for the Hay Creek study area near Wibaux, Mont., and the West Branch Antelope Creek study area near Beulah, N. Dak. The report contains data on the following: Air temperature, relative humidity, wind direction, wind run, solar radiation, precipitation, soil temperature, snowpack temperature, snowpack density and water content, streamflow, water quality, soil moisture, land use, and basin characteristics. Detailed descriptions of the location of the data-collection sites, instrumentation, and methods used to collect data are included.

Montana, North Dakota↗

USGS1981

Progress report on the effects of surface mining on the surface-water hydrology of selected basins in the Fort Union coal region, North Dakota and Montana

The purpose of the investigation is to provide a means to assess the impacts on surface-water hydrology due to changes in land use resulting from surface mining of coal in the Fort Union Coal Region, North Dakota and Montana. The objectives of the study are to: (1) Determine premining hydrologic conditions in small representative drainage basins and provide historical data with which to compare the magnitude of changes resulting from mining, and (2) develop the capability of making reasonably accurate projections of hydrologic effects resulting from the various land-use changes caused by surface mining. Data collection has been underway since October 1976 for the West Branch Antelope Creek study area in western North Dakota and since March 1978 for the Hay Creek study area in eastern Montana. Data collected during the premining period are being analyzed using statistical methods for the evaluation of the premining conditions. A digitial model with the capability of making hydrologic projections is being developed. Most of the model components have been tested during 1979 and 1980. (USGS)

Open-File Report↗

USGS1981

Hydrologic characteristics and possible effects of surface mining in the northwestern part of West Branch Antelope Creek basin, Mercer County, North Dakota

Lignite beds and abundant discontinuous sandstone beds of the Paleocene Sentinel Butte Member of the Fort Union Formation and sand and gravel beds in the Quarternary glaciofluvial deposits (Antelope Creek aquifer) are the most important aquifers for domestic and livestock water supplies in the West Branch Antelope Creek basin. In the Beulah-Zap lignite, ground water moves from highland area in the west toward the Antelope Creek aquifer. Water levels in the basal Sentinel Butte sandstone appear to be controlled by the level of Lake Sakakawea. In the glaciofluvial deposits of the Antelope Creek aquifer water moves from a ground-water divide northwestward to Lake Sakakawea and southeastward toward the Knife River. Large water-level declines in wells completed in the lignite and shallower aquifers could be expected with mining. The effects probably would be limited to within 1 to 2 miles of an active mine. Surface-runoff duration could be altered by increased infiltration and retention in the reclaimed are and possible temporal extension of base flow could occur. Shallow ground water beneath mine sites would be expected to increase in dissolved solids and locally to contain large sodium and sulfate concentrations. In some locations movement of poor quality water toward the Antelope Creek aquifer would be expected. (USGS)

North Dakota↗