Geology topics

Louis J. Hamilton

Publications and source records attributed to Louis J. Hamilton.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS1973

Water resources of Wisconsin: Menominee-Oconto-Peshtigo River basin

The purpose of this report is to describe the water resources of the Menominee-Oconto - Peshtigo River basin in Wisconsin in order to aid in planning future water management in the basin and in nearby areas. The physical setting, availability, distribution, movement, quality, and use of water are discussed. The report presents general information on the basin that was derived from data obtained from Federal, State, and other agencies. In addition, new data were collected from areas where available information was scarce and where there is important water use. For more detailed information the reader is referred to the section titled “Sources of Additional Information”, (sheet 4).

Wisconsin↗

USGS1972

Water for cranberry culture in the Cranmoor area of central Wisconsin

The Cranmoor area of central Wisconsin is the principal cranberry producing area of the State. Cranberries are grown in only about 2.5 square miles of an 80-square-mile marsh and swamp in the Cranberry Creek basin. Cranberry growers have built reservoirs and ditches throughout 25 square miles of marsh for better management of the area's natural water supply. Additional water is diverted into the basin to supplement the cranberry needs. In the 1966-67 hydrologic budget for Cranberry Creek basin, annual inputs were 27.8 inches of precipitation, 3.8 inches of surface-water diversion into the basin, and 1.1 inches decrease in stored water. Annual outputs were. 20.8 inches of evapotranspiration, 11.7 inches of runoff, and 0.2 inch of groundwater outflow. During the 1966-67 period, precipitation averaged about 3 inches per year below normal. The water used for cranberry culture is almost exclusively surface water. Efficient management of the basin's water supply, plus intermittent diversions of about 100 cubic feet per second from outside the basin, provide cranberry growers with a sufficient quantity of water. Although the quantity of surface water is adequate, the pH (generally 5.7-6.7) is slightly high for optimum use. Dissolved oxygen is slightly low, generally between 4 and 10 milligrams per liter. The water is soft; iron and manganese contents vary seasonally, being high in winter and summer and low in spring. Additional supplies of surface water can be obtained by increasing diversions from outside the basin and by increasing reservoir capacity within the basin. Ground water, although not presently used for cranberries, is available in the central, southern, and eastern parts of the basin, where the thickness of the saturated alluvium exceeds 50 feet. Well yields in these areas might be as much as 1,000 gpm (gallons per minute). Additionally, well yields of as much as 1,000 gpm may be expected from saturated alluvium southeast of Cranberry Creek basin. Where saturated alluvium is less than 50 feet thick, in the northern and western parts of the basin, well yields generally are less than 50 gpm. Ground water is also available from sandstone in the western part of the basin. Where the sandstone is thickest (about 60 ft.), well yields may be as much as 200 gpm. The quality of ground water is similar to that of surface water. The pH of water from the shallow alluvium ranges between 6.0 and 6,6; the pH of water from the deep alluvium is about 7.0. Ground water is soft to moderately hard, 22 to 88 milligrams per liter, and contains excessive amounts of iron and manganese.

Wisconsin↗

USGS1968

Geology and ground-water resources of the lower Bighorn Valley, Montana

The Bighorn River has incised a deep, broad valley in Cretaceous strata along its 65-mile lower reach below the mouth of Bighorn Canyon in south-central Montana. It ceased downcutting at six different levels 100-200 feet apart, widening its flood plain and alluviating each level with about 30 feet of sandy gravel. These deposits are the only economic source of ground water in large areas of the valley where the underlying bedrock consists of relatively impermeable shale to great depths. Ground water in the alluvium is hard and in the irrigated lowlands is highly mineralized at those places where drainage is slow and discharge by evapotranspiration is great. Three bedrock sandstone aquifers are present at moderate depths along three separate reaches of the valley. The sandstones yield soft, moderately to highly mineralized water that contains a high percent sodium. Wells in alluvial gravel of the irrigated lowlands can yield 100 gallons per minute at many places because the alluvium is fairly permeable and is readily recharged by infiltration of applied irrigation water, canal seepage, and ground water moving into the lowlands from the alluvium of tributary coulees. Seepage from the Two Leggins Canal in the central area probably is large. Alluvial gravel deposits have been mantled by thick alluvial and colluvial deposits of silty clay or silt that thin riverward. These fine-grained deposits drain slowly and confine ground water in alluvial gravel under artesian pressure at many places in the irrigated lowlands of the central and southern areas. The piezometric surface is close to the land surface at many places in the central area, and capillary rise and evapotranspiration in waterlogged ground has produced agriculturally harmful alkali deposits. Waterlogging of presently irrigated land in the central area will become more widespread if irrigation is extended to higher terraces to the west unless drainage ditches are installed along the base of high-terrace alluvium to intercept increased seepage and spring discharge. Additional provisions also may be required to intercept water moving through the alluvium of coulees.

Water Supply Paper↗