Geology topics
Publications and source records attributed to J. F. Rinella.
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Fine-grained streambed sediment from the Yakima River Basin was sampled from 448 locations and analyzed for 45 elements. Anomalous major- and minor-element concentrations were based on baseline values established from element concentrations in streambed sediment in the basin. The largest number of anomalies occurred for antimony, arsenic, cerium, copper, and zinc; at least 10 percent of these element concentrations exceeded the threshold values of 0.7 mg/g (micrograms per gram), 8.5 mg/g, 57 mg/g, 40 mg/g, and 120 mg/g, respectively. Concentrations of arsenic as large as 31 and 61 mg/g occurred in streambed sediment formed from the pre-Tertiary metamorphic and intrusive rocks geologic unit and from the nonmarine sedimentary rocks geologic unit, respectively. These geologic units were probable sources of arsenic to smaller headwater streams; however, arsenic concentrations from these geologic sources rapidly attenuated downstream in the Yakima River. Geologic sources of arsenic were generally small in agricultural land-use areas; however, concentrations as large as 140 mg/g were found in samples of soils that were historically treated with the lead-arsenate pesticide. In addition, concentrations of lead, as large as 890 mg/g, occurred in these pesticide- treated soils. Streambed sediment formed from the pre-Tertiary metamorphic and intrusive rocks geologic unit also contained concentrations as large as 1,700 mg/g for chromium, 140 mg/g for cobalt, and 1,900 mg/g for nickel. Like arsenic, concentrations of chromium (in addition to mercury and nickel) were attenuated in the Yakima River. The application of zinc sulphate to orchards was probably responsible for concentrations of zinc as large as 150 mg/g in soils of and 180 mg/g in streambed sediment from the agricultural land-use area.
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Analysis of atmospheric precipitation samples, collected during the 1983 calendar year from 109 National Trends Network sites in the United States, are presented in this report. The sites were grouped into six geographical regions based on the chemical composition of the samples. Precipitation chemistry in these regions was influenced by proximity to (1) oceans, (2) major industrial and fossil-fuel consuming areas, and (3) major agricultural and livestock areas. Frequency distributions of ionic composition, determined on 10 chemical constituents and on precipitation quantities for each site, showed wide variations in chemical concentrations and precipitation quantities from site to site. Of the 109 sites, 55 had data coverage for the year sufficient to characterize precipitation quality patterns on a nationwide basis. Except for ammonium and calcium, both of which showed largest concentrations in the agricultural midwest and plains states, the largest concentrations and loads generally were in areas that include the heavily industrialized population center of the eastern United States. Except for hydrogen, all chemical ions are inversely related to the quantity of precipitation depth. Precipitation quantities generally account for less than 30% of chemical variation in precipitation samples. However, precipitation quantities account for 30 to 65% of the variations of calcium concentrations in precipitation. In regions where precipitation has a large ionic proportion of hydrogen-ion equivalents, much of the hydrogen-ion concentration could be balanced by sulfate equivalents and partly balanced by nitrite-plus-nitrate equivalents. In the regions where hydrogen-ion equivalents in precipitation were smaller, ammonion-and calcium-ion equivalents were necessary, along with the hydrogen-ion equivalents, to balance the sulfate plus nitrite-plus-nitrate equivalent. (USGS)
In April 1986, the U.S. Geological Survey began the National Water Quality Assessment program to: (1) provide a nationally consistent description of the current status of water quality, (2) define water quality trends that have occurred over recent decades, and (3) relate past and present water quality conditions to relevant natural features, the history of land and water use, and land management and waste management practices. At present (1987), The National Water Quality Assessment program is in a pilot studies phase, in which assessment concepts and approaches are being tested and modified to prepare for possible full implementation of the program. Seven pilot projects (four surface water projects and three groundwater projects) have been started. The Yakima River basin in Washington is one of the pilot surface water project areas. The Yakima River basin drains in area of 6,155 sq mi and contains about 1,900 river mi of perennial streams. Major land use activities include growing and harvesting timber, dryland pasture grazing, intense farming and irrigated agriculture, and urbanization. Water quality issues that result from these land uses include potentially large concentrations of suspended sediment, bacteria, nutrients, pesticides, and trace elements that may affect water used for human consumption, fish propagation and passage, contact recreation, livestock watering, and irrigation. Data will be collected in a nine year cycle. The first three years of the cycle will be a period of concentrated data acquisition and interpretation. For the next six years, sample collection will be done at a much lower level of intensity to document the occurrence of any gross changes in water quality. This nine year cycle would then be repeated. Three types of sampling activities will be used for data acquisition: fixed location station sampling, synoptic sampling, and intensive reach studies. (Lantz-PTT)
An appraisal of surface water quality in the Umpqua River basin was made using existing monthly data collected by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Douglas County Water Resources Survey. This appraisal was limited to interpretation of instantaneous monthly water quality data collected in the Umpqua River basin from water years 1974 to 1983. These data were used to compare water quality conditions throughout the basin and to determine if data collected from the NASQAN (National Stream Quality Accounting network) station are representative of upstream basin conditions. In general, data collected at the NASQAN station represent a composite of water quality from the North and South Umpqua Rivers. These river basins account for 82 % of the NASQAN station drainage. Water quality concentrations, loads, yields, and trends were statistically described and related to point source effluent loads and basin characteristics including geohydrology, hydrology, population, land use, and water use. Available point-and nonpoint-source data provided minimal information for determining cause-effect relations and for explaining observed trends in water quality; however, the data did indicate that the largest effluent discharges are located in the South Umpqua River basin in the Roseburg-Winston area. Instantaneous and annual flow weighted levels of specific conductance, phosphorus, organic plus ammonia nitrogen, nitrite plus nitrate, and fecal coliform bacteria are generally highest in the South Umpqua River near Roseburg. These high levels generally occur during the summer months when river flow is extremely low relative to flow in the North Umpqua River. The North Umpqua River has among the lowest constituent concentrations observed in the basin. (Lantz-PTT)