Geology topics

JoAnn Holloway

Publications and source records attributed to JoAnn Holloway.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2013

U.S. Geological Survey science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative: 2011 annual report

This is the fourth report produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) to detail annual work activities. In FY2011, there were 37 ongoing, completed, or new projects conducted under the five major multi-disciplinary science and technical-assistance activities: (1) Baseline Synthesis, (2) Targeted Monitoring and Research, (3) Data and Information Management, (4) Integration and Coordination, and (5) Decisionmaking and Evaluation. The four new work activities were (1) development of the Western Energy Citation Clearinghouse, a Web-based energy-resource database of references for literature and on-line resources focused on energy development and its effects on natural resources; (2) a study to support the Sublette County Conservation District in ascertaining potential water-quality impacts to the New Fork River from energy development in the Pinedale Anticline Project Area; (3) a study to test the efficacy of blending high-frequency temporal data provided by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors and high-resolution Landsat data for providing the fine-resolution data required to evaluate habitat responses to management activities at the landscape level; and (4) a study to examine the seasonal water chemistry of Muddy Creek, including documenting salinity patterns and providing a baseline for assessing potential effects of energy and other development on water quality in the Muddy Creek watershed. Two work activities were completed in FY2011: (1) the assessment of rancher perceptions of energy development in Southwest Wyoming and (2) mapping aspen stands and conifer encroachment using classification and regression tree (CART) analysis for effectiveness monitoring. The USGS continued to compile data, develop geospatial products, and upgrade Web-based products in support of both individual and overall WLCI efforts, including (1) ranking and prioritizing proposed conservation projects, (2) developing the WLCI integrated assessment, (3) developing the WLCI 5-year Conservation Action Plan, and (4) continuing to upgrade the content and improve the functionality of the WLCI Web site. For the WLCI FY2012 annual report, a decision was made to greatly reduce the overall length of the annual report, which will be accomplished by simplifying the report format and focusing on the take-home messages of each work activity for WLCI partners.

Wyoming↗

USGS2011

Shoreline surveys of oil-impacted marsh in southern Louisiana, July to August 2010

This report describes shoreline surveys conducted in the marshes of Louisiana in areas impacted by oil spilled from the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Three field expeditions were conducted on July 7-10, August 12-14, and August 24-26, 2010, in central Barataria Bay and the Bird's Foot area at the terminus of the Mississippi River delta. This preliminary report includes locations of survey points, a photographic record of each site, field observations of vegetation cover and descriptions of oil coverage in the water and on plants, including measurements of the distance of oil penetration from the shoreline. Oiling in Barataria Bay marshes ranged from lightly oiled sections of stems of the predominant species Spartina alterniflora and Juncus roemerianus to wide zones of oil-damaged canopies and broken stems penetrating as far as 19 m into the marsh. For the 34 survey points in Barataria Bay where dimensions of oil damaged zones were measured, the depth of the oil-damaged zone extended, on average, 6.7 m into the marsh, with a standard deviation of 4.5 m. The median depth of penetration was 5.5 m. The extent to which the oil-damaged zone stretched along the shore varied with location but often extended more than 100 m parallel to the shoreline. Oil was observed on the marsh sediment at some sites in Barataria Bay. This oiled sediment was observed both above and a few centimeters below the water surface depending on the level of the tide. Phragmites australis was the dominant vegetation in oil-impacted zones in the Bird's Foot area of the Mississippi River delta. Oiling of the leaves and portions of the thick stems of P. australis was observed during field surveys. In contrast to the marshes of Barataria Bay, fewer areas of oil-damaged canopy were documented in the Bird's Foot area. In both areas, oil was observed to be persistent on the marsh plants from the earliest (July 7) to the latest (August 24) surveys. At sites repeatedly visited in Barataria Bay over this time period, oiled plant stems and leaves, laid over by the weight of the oil, broke and were removed from the vegetation canopy, likely due to tidal action. In these areas, a zone of 2-5 cm high plant stubble remained at the edge of the marsh. Signs of both further degradation and recovery were observed and varied with site. Oil damage to the marsh at some sites resulted in complete reduction of live vegetation cover and erosion of exposed sediments, while other damaged zones had signs of regrowth of vegetation in up to 10 percent of the areal coverage.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2011

U.S. Geological Survey Science for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative-2010 Annual Report

This is the third report produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) to detail annual work activities. The first report described activities for 2007 and 2008, and the second report covered work activities for FY09. This third report covers work activities conducted in FY2010, and it continues the 2009 approach of reporting on all the individual activities to help give WLCI partners and other readers the full scope of what has been accomplished. New in this year's report is an additional section for each work activity that outlines the work planned for the following fiscal year. In FY2010, there were 35 ongoing/expanded, completed, or new projects conducted under the five major multi-disciplinary science and technical-assistance activities: (1) Baseline Synthesis; (2) Targeted Monitoring and Research; (3) Data and Information Management; (4) Integration and Coordination; and (5) Decisionmaking and Evaluation. The three new work activities were to (1) compile existing water data for the entire WLCI region and (2) develop regional curves (statistical models) for relating bankfull-channel geometry and discharge to drainages in the WLCI region, both of which will help guide long-term monitoring of water resources; and (3) initiate a groundwater-monitoring network to evaluate potential effects of energy-development activities on groundwater quality where groundwater is an important source of public/private water supplies. Results of the FY2009 work to develop methods for assessing soil organic matter and mercury indicated that selenium and arsenic levels may be elevated in the Muddy Creek Basin; thus, the focus of that activity was shifted in FY2010 to evaluate biogeochemical cycling of elements in the basin. In FY2010, two ongoing activities were expanded with the addition of more sampling plots: (a) the study of how greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) use vegetation-treatment areas (sites added to the Moxa Arch Natural Gas Development area) and (2) the study of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) occurrence in burn treatments of the Little Mountain Ecosystem. The activity that entails evaluating relationships between ungulate herbivory and fire on aspen (Populus tremuloides) recruitment also was expanded to include relationships between stand characteristics of and herbivory on aspen in various ecohydrological settings. The USGS continued compiling data and developing geospatial products from all of its WLCI activities to support (1) ranking and prioritizing of proposed conservation projects, (2) developing the WLCI Integrated Assessment, and (3) developing the WLCI 5-year Conservation Action Plan. Two activities were completed in FY2010: (1) the conceptual modeling and indicator selection for monitoring resource conditions across the WLCI region, and (2) the literature review on effects of oil and gas development in western regions of the United States, both of which are in the last stages of publication.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2005

Questa baseline and pre-mining ground-water quality investigation. 10. Geologic influences on ground and surface waters in the lower Red River watershed, New Mexico

This report is one in a series that presents results of an interdisciplinary U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study of ground-water quality in the lower Red River watershed prior to open-pit and underground molybdenite mining at Molycorp’s Questa mine. The stretch of the Red River watershed that extends from just upstream of the town of Red River, N. Mex., to just above the town of Questa includes several mineralized areas in addition to the one mined by Molycorp. Natural erosion and weathering of pyrite-rich rocks in the mineralized areas has created a series of erosional scars along this stretch of the Red River that contribute acidic waters, as well as mineralized alluvial material and sediments, to the river. The overall goal of the USGS study is to infer the premining ground-water quality at the Molycorp mine site. An integrated geologic, hydrologic, and geochemical model for ground water in the mineralized—but unmined—Straight Creek drainage (a tributary of the Red River) is being used as an analog for the geologic, geochemical, and hydrologic conditions that influenced ground-water quality and quantity in the Red River drainage prior to mining. This report provides an overall geologic framework for the Red River watershed between Red River and Questa, in northern New Mexico, and summarizes key geologic, mineralogic, structural and other characteristics of various mineralized areas (and their associated erosional scars and debris fans) that likely influence ground- and surface-water quality and hydrology. The premining nature of the Sulphur Gulch and Goat Hill Gulch scars on the Molycorp mine site can be inferred through geologic comparisons with other unmined scars in the Red River drainage.

New Mexico↗