Geology topics
Publications and source records attributed to Edmund A. Prych.
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A chloride mass-balance method and a chlorine-36 isotope bomb-pulse method were used to estimate long-term average rates of deep percolation at at the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site. Because the bomb-pulse method typically gives an upper limit and the mass-balance method may underestimate, estimates from both methods probably bracket actual rates.
Long-term average deep-percolation rates of water from precipitation on the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site in semiarid south-central Washington, as estimated by a chloride mass-balance method, range from 0.008 to 0.30 mm/yr (millimeters per year) at nine locations covered by a variety of fine-grain soils and vegetated with sagebrush and other deep-rooted plants plus sparse shallow-rooted grasses. Deep-percolation rates estimated using a chlorine-36 bomb-pulse method at three of the nine locations range from 2.1 to 3.4 mm/yr. Because the mass-balance method may underestimate percolation rates and the bomb-pulse method probably overestimates percolation rates, estimates by the two methods probably bracket actual rates. These estimates, as well as estimates by previous investigators who used different methods, are a small fraction of mean annual precipitation, which ranges from about 160 to 210 mm/yr at the different test locations. Estimates by the mass-balance method at four locations in an area that is vegetated only with sparse shallow-rooted grasses range from 0.39 to 2.0 mm/yr. Chlorine-36 data at one location in this area were sufficient only to determine that the upper limit of deep percolation is more than 5.1 mm/yr. Although estimates for locations in this area are larger than the estimates for locations with deep-rooted plants, they are at the lower end of the range of estimates for this area made by previous investigators.
Data on the quantity and quality of ground water that drains into dry docks at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard can be useful for planning environmental remediation work at the shipyard. Ground-water discharges into and total drain-water discharges from individual dry docks were computed from a single set of discharges of individual inflowing drains' and outflowing drain-water collection culverts that were measured in June, July and August 1994. Ground-water inflows to dry docks no. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 equalled 0.07, 0.30, 0.29, 0.61, 1.18, and 6.2 cubic feet per second, respectively, and total drain-water discharges from the dry docks equalled 0.07, 0.30, 0.33, 0.61, 1.36, and 11.7 cubic feet per second, respectively. The differences between total outflows and ground-water inflows were mostly cofferdam and floodgate leakage and cooling water from a ship in dry dock no. 6. Observed salinities indicate that 18, 92, 28, 44, 55, and 69 percent of the ground-water inflows to dry docks no. 1 through 6 and 18, 92, 37, 44, 63, and 82 percent of the total outflows from the dry docks was saline water from Sinclair Inlet. Concentrations of total copper in samples from 36 sites varied from less than 1 to 71 micrograms per liter, and concentrations of total lead varied from less than 1 to 44 micrograms per liter. None of 43 semi-volatile organic compounds that were analyzed for in samples from 19 sites were detected at concentrations greater than the laboratory minimum reporting level (5 or 10 micrograms per liter). A total of 13 volatile organic compounds were found at concentrations greater than laboratory minimum reporting levels (mostly 0.2 microgram per liter) in 8 samples that were analyzed for 63 volatile organic compounds. Trichloroethene and at least three other chlorinated hydrocarbons were found in each sample.
Total- and fecal-coliform bacteria, plus pH, alkalinity, and dissolved inorganic carbon are water-quality parameters that have been added to an existing numerical model of water quality in the salt-wedge reach of the Duwamish River estuary. The coliform bacteria are modeled using a first-order decay (death) rate, which is a function of the local salinity, temperature, and daily solar radiation. The pH is computed by solving a set of chemical-equilibrium equations for carbonate-bicarbonate buffered aqueous solutions. Concentrations of total- and fecal-coliform bacteria computed by the model for the Duwamish River estuary during June-September 1971 generally agreed with observed concentrations within about 40 and 60 percent, respectively. The computed pH generally agreed with observed pH within about a 0.2 pH unit; however, for one 3-week period the computed pH was about a 0.4 unit lower than the observed pH.
A numerical model of a salt-wedge estuary developed by Fischer (1974) has been expanded and used to calculate the distributions of salinity, temperature, chlorophyll a concentration, biochemical oxygen demand, and dissolved-oxygen concentration in the Duwamish River estuary, King County, Wash. The model was used to predict the dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the Duwamish River estuary when the Renton Treatment Plant sewage-effluent discharge is increased to its proposed maximum of 223 cubic feet per second. The computed monthly average dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the estuary decreased by a maximum of 2 milligrams per liter when compared with computations for the summer of 1971, when the effluent discharge averaged 37 cubic feet per second. The increase in effluent discharge is not expected to cause large changes in phytoplankton concentrations in the estuary. (Woodard-USGS)
A numerical model of a salt-wedge estuary developed by Fischer has been expanded and used to calculate the distributions of salinity, temperature, chlorophyll a concentrations, biochemical oxygen demand, and dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the Duwamish River estuary, King County, Wash. With this model, which was calibrated and verified with observed data, computed temperatures usually agreed within 2° Celsius of observed temperatures. During a phytoplankton bloom in the summer of 1968 the computed chlorophyll a concentrations increased and decreased with the observed concentrations; however, during two blooms in 1967 the computed high concentrations persisted farther downstream and lasted a few days longer than the observed concentrations. The computed and observed dissolved-oxygen concentrations usually agreed within 2 milligrams per litre, except during phytoplankton blooms. During the blooms, the differences were often larger, especially when the computed chlorophyll a concentrations were larger than the observed concentrations. The model was used to predict the dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the Duwamish River estuary when the Renton Treatment Plant sewage-effluent discharge is increased to its proposed maximum of 223 cubic feet per second (6.31 cubic metres per second). The computed monthly average dissolved-oxygen concentrations in the estuary decreased by a maximum of 2 milligrams per litre when compared with computations for the summer of 1971, when the effluent discharge averaged 37 cubic feet per second (1.05 cubic metres per second). The increase in effluent discharge is not expected to cause large changes in phytoplankton concentrations in the estuary.
A portable sampler developed to core submerged unconsolidated sediments collects cores that are 180 cm long and 4.75cm in diameter. The sampler is used from a 12-m boat in water depths up to 20 m and in flow velocities up to 1.5m per second to sample river and estuarine deposits ranging from silty clay to medium sand. Even in sand that cannot be penetrated with conventional corers, the sampler achieves easy penetration through the combined application of vibration, suction, and axial force. A piston in the core barrel creates suction, and the suspension system is arranged so that tension on the support cable produces both a downward force on the core barrel and a lateral support against overturning. Samples are usually retained because of slight compaction in the driving head; as a precaution, however, the bottom of the core barrel is covered by a plate that closes after the barrel is withdrawn from the bed. Tests show that sample-retainers placed within the driving head restrict penetration and limit core lengths. Stratification within cores is disrupted little as a result of the sampling process.