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At least 289 records · Page 16Linked to original sources
USGS2021

Optimization of the Idaho National Laboratory water-quality aquifer monitoring network, southeastern Idaho

Long-term monitoring of water-quality data collected from wells at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has provided essential information for delineating the movement of radiochemical and chemical wastes in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer, southeastern Idaho. Since 1949, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, has maintained as many as 200 wells in the INL water-quality monitoring network. A network design tool, distributed as an R package, was developed to evaluate and optimize groundwater monitoring in the existing network based on water-quality data collected at 153 sampling sites since January 1, 1989. The objective of the optimization design tool is to reduce well monitoring redundancy while retaining sufficient data to reliably characterize water-quality conditions in the aquifer. A spatial optimization was used to identify a set of wells whose removal leads to the smallest increase in the deviation between interpolated concentration maps using the existing and reduced monitoring networks while preserving significant long-term trends and seasonal components in the data. Additionally, a temporal optimization was used to identify reductions in sampling frequencies by minimizing the redundancy in sampling events. Spatial optimization uses an islands genetic algorithm to identify near-optimal network designs removing 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 wells from the existing monitoring network. With this method, choosing a greater number of wells to remove results in greater cost savings and decreased accuracy of the average relative difference between interpolated maps of the reduced-dataset and the full-dataset. The genetic search algorithm identified reduced networks that best capture the spatial patterns of the average concentration plume while preserving long-term temporal trends at individual wells. Concentration data for 10 analyte types are integrated in a single optimization so that all datasets may be evaluated simultaneously. A constituent was selected for inclusion in the spatial optimization problem when the observations were sufficient to (1) establish a two-range variability model, (2) classify at least one concentration time series as a continuous record block, and (3) make a prediction using the quantile-kriging interpolation method. The selected constituents include sodium, chloride, sulfate, nitrate, carbon tetrachloride, 1,1-dichloroethylene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene, tritium, strontium-90, and plutonium-238. In temporal optimization, an iterative-thinning method was used to find an optimal sampling frequency for each analyte-well pair. Optimal frequencies indicate that for many of the wells, samples may be collected less frequently and still be able to characterize the concentration over time. The optimization results indicated that the sample-collection interval may be increased by an of average of 273 days owing to temporal redundancy.

Idaho↗
USGS2011

Notes on the geology and meteorology of sites infected with white-nose syndrome before July 2010 in Southeastern United States

Since 2006, numerous bat colonies in North America have experienced unusually high incidences of mortality. In these colonies, bats are infected by a white fungus named Geomyces destructans, which has been observed on bat muzzles, noses, ears, and (or) wings. Although it is not exactly certain how and why these bats are dying, this condition has been named white-nose syndrome (WNS). WNS appears to have spread from an initial infection site at a cave in New York, and was first identified south of Pennsylvania during January 2009. By the end of June 2010, 41 infected sites had identified in the states of West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and Tennessee. Most of these sites are natural caves in limestone of either Cambrian-Ordovician age or Silurian-Devonian age. Published air temperature values in these WNS-infected caves range from -3.3 to 15.6 °C, and humidity measurements range from 68 to 100 %.

Indiana;Kentucky;Maryl;North Carolina;Ohio;Pennsyl↗
USGS1983

Geologic and well-construction data for the H-10 borehole complex near the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site, southeastern New Mexico

The H-10 borehole complex, a group of three closely spaced boreholes, is located 3 1/2 miles southeast of the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site in west-central Lea County, New Mexico. The geological data presented in this report are part of a site-characterization study for the possible storage of defense-associated radioactive wastes within salt beds of the Salado Formation of Permian age. Each borehole was designated to penetrate a distinct water-bearing zone: H-10a (total depth 1 ,318 feet) was completed just below the Magenta Dolomite Member of the Rustler Formation of Permian age; H-10b (total depth 1 ,398 feet) was completed just below the Culebra Dolomite Member of the Rustler Formation; and H-10c (total depth 1,538 feet) was completed below the Rustler Formation-Salado Formation contact. The geologic units penetrated in borehole H-10c are surficial alluvium and eolian sand of Holocene age (0-5 feet); the Mescalero caliche (5-9 feet) and the Gatuna Formation (9-90 feet) of Pleistocene age; formation in the Dockum Group (Chinle Formation, 90-482 feet and Santa Rosa Sandstone, 482-658 feet) of Late Triassic age; and the Dewey Lake Red Beds (658-1,204 feet), the Rustler Formation (1,204-1,501 feet), and part of the Salado Formation (1,501-1,538 feet), all of Permian age. The sections of the Rustler and Salado Formations penetrated by borehole H-10c are complete and contain little or no evidence of dissolution of halite and associated rocks, indicating that the eastward-moving dissolution on top of the Salado, found just to the west of the WIPP site, has not reached the H-10 site. (USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS2021

Geologic assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Cherokee Platform area of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri

In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey completed a geology-based assessment to estimate the volumes of undiscovered, technically recoverable petroleum resources in the Cherokee Platform Province area of southeastern Kansas, northeastern Oklahoma, and southwestern Missouri. The U.S. Geological Survey identified four stratigraphic intervals that contain petroleum source rocks: (1) thin shales in the Middle to Upper Ordovician Simpson Group, (2) shales within the Upper Devonian to Lower Mississippian Woodford Shale and stratigraphically equivalent Chattanooga Shale, (3) coals and coal-associated shales and mudstones in the Middle Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian) Cherokee and Marmaton Groups, and (4) thin marine shales within the Marmaton Group and the Upper Pennsylvanian (Missourian) Kansas City and Lansing Groups. Based on the nature of the petroleum accumulations, the characterization of the compositions and thermal maturity of the organic matter in the rocks, and the compositions of the produced petroleum, the U.S. Geological Survey identified three total petroleum systems (TPS) containing four assessment units (AU): the Paleozoic Composite TPS with the Paleozoic Conventional Assessment Unit (AU), the Woodford/Chattanooga TPS with the Woodford Shale Oil AU and the Woodford Biogenic Gas AU, and the Desmoinesian Coal TPS with the Desmoinesian Coalbed Gas AU. Assessment unit summaries follow 1. Three source rock intervals have contributed geochemically distinct oils to reservoirs within the Paleozoic Conventional AU. These intervals are the Simpson Group; the Woodford and Chattanooga Shales; and the Marmaton, Kansas City, and Lansing Groups. The major petroleum source rocks are the Woodford and Chattanooga Shales. The Paleozoic Conventional AU includes reservoirs that range in age from the Upper Cambrian Arbuckle Group to the lower Permian Chase Group. Most oil production in the province has been from Pennsylvanian sandstone reservoirs. Estimated undiscovered petroleum resources for this AU are a mean of 3 million barrels of oil (MMBO), 140 billion cubic feet of gas (BCFG), and 4 million barrels of natural gas liquids (MMBNGL). 2. The Woodford Shale Oil AU contains undiscovered continuous petroleum resources within the Woodford Shale and Chattanooga Shale. The geologic model for the AU assumes that petroleum resources remain trapped within the shale following petroleum migration. For most of the AU, organic matter within the Woodford Shale and Chattanooga Shale is thermally mature with respect to petroleum generation as shown by vitrinite reflectance values between 0.6 and 1 percent. Petroleum has been produced from the Woodford Shale and Chattanooga Shale. Estimated undiscovered petroleum resources for this AU are means of 460 MMBO, 640 BCFG, and 7 MMBNGL. 3. The Woodford Shale Biogenic Gas AU contains undiscovered continuous petroleum resources in the east-central portion of the Cherokee Platform Province near the Ozark uplift where the Woodford Shale and Chattanooga Shale are at depths of 1,250 ft or shallower. At those depths, methanogenesis and(or) biodegradation of thermogenic natural gases can be found where the shale may be more fractured and more susceptible to groundwater penetrations. The mean assessed volume of undiscovered gas for this assessment unit is 416 BCFG and 1 MMBNGL. 4. The Desmoinesian Coalbed Gas AU contains undiscovered continuous petroleum resources within the Middle Pennsylvanian coals and coal-associated shales and mudstones. The boundaries for the Desmoinesian Coalbed Gas AU are, in part, defined by the extent, depth, and thickness of the coals. Within the Desmoinesian Coalbed Gas AU, a sweet spot area was delineated based on a 10 foot or greater net coal thickness. Gas analytical data show that natural gas produced from the coals has a mixed biogenic and thermogenic origin and that there is significant migration of natural gas into the coals from adjacent conventional sandstone reservoirs. The estimated mean volume of undiscovered gas is 10.0 trillion cubic ft of gas (TCFG), and 23 MMBNGL. For the three continuous (unconventional) assessment units and one conventional assessment unit in the Cherokee Platform Province, total mean volumes of undiscovered petroleum resources are estimated to be 463 MMBO, 11.2 TCFG and 35 MMBNGL.

Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma↗
USGS2019

Anthropogenic and geologic causes of anomalously high uranium concentrations in groundwater used for drinking water supply in the southeastern San Joaquin Valley, CA

Concentrations of uranium (U) >30 µg/L in groundwater are relatively uncommon in drinking water in the United States but can be of concern in those areas where complex interactions of aquifer materials and anthropogenic alterations of the natural flow regime mobilize uranium. High concentrations (>30 µg/L) of U in the southeastern San Joaquin Valley, California, USA, have been detected in 24 percent of 257 domestic, irrigation, and public-supply wells sampled across an approximately 110,000 km2 area. The location of high concentrations depends on the interactions of U sources from fluvial fans that originate in the Sierra Nevada to the east and seepage of irrigation water that contains high concentrations of HCO3 that leaches U from the sediments. In addition, interactions with phosphate (PO4) from fertilized irrigated fields may sequester U in the aquifer. Principal component analysis of the data demonstrates that HCO3 and ions associated with high total dissolved solids in the aquifer and the percentage of agriculture near the well sampled are associated with high U concentrations. Nitrate concentrations do not appear to control release of U to the aquifer. Age dating of the groundwater and generally increasing U concentrations of the past 25 years in resampled wells where irrigation is prevalent suggests that high U concentrations are associated with younger water, indicating that irrigation of fields over the past 100 years has significantly contributed to increasing concentrations and mobilizing U. In some places, the groundwater is supersaturated with uranyl-containing minerals, as would be expected in roll front deposits. In general, the interaction of natural geological sources high in U, the anthropogenically driven addition of HCO3 and possibly phosphate fertilizer, control the location and concentration of U in each individual fluvial fan, but the addition of nitrate in fertilizer does not appear control the location of high U. These geochemical interactions can be used to determine controls on anomalously high U in alluvial aquifers

California↗
USGS2015

Streamflow gains and losses in the Colorado River in northwestern Burnet and southeastern San Saba Counties, Texas

In October 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District, began an assessment to better understand if and where groundwater from the Ellenburger-San Saba aquifer is discharging to the Colorado River, and if and where Colorado River streamflow is recharging the Ellenburger-San Saba aquifer in the study area. Discharge measurements were made to determine if different reaches of the Colorado River in northwestern Burnet and southeastern San Saba Counties are gaining or losing streamflow, the locations and quantities of gains and losses, and whether the gains and losses can be attributed to interaction between the river and the Ellenbuger-San Saba aquifer. To assess streamflow gains and losses, two sets of synoptic gain-loss discharge measurements representing different streamflow conditions were completed. In the first gain-loss streamflow survey during December 3–6, 2012 (hereinafter the fall 2012 gain-loss survey), discharge measurements were made at low-flow conditions ranging from about 30 to 60 cubic feet per second (ft 3 /s) at seven locations along the Colorado River. In the second gain-loss streamflow survey during May 31–June 1, 2014 (hereinafter the spring 2014 gain-loss survey), discharge measurements were made at high-flow conditions ranging from about 660 to 900 ft 3 /s at 12 locations along the Colorado River. During the fall 2012 gain-loss survey, verifiable gains or losses of streamflow were identified in 4 of 6 reaches (the difference in measured discharge between the upstream and downstream boundaries of the reach was larger than the sum of potential errors associated with the two discharge measurements). The two reaches with a verifiable gain in streamflow cross areas where the Ellenburger-San Saba aquifer crops out. The more upstream of the two reaches with verifiable losses crosses a small part of the Ellenburger-San Saba aquifer outcrop and confining units (Point Peak Member and Morgan Creek Limestone); it is possible streamflow losses in this reach are in the form of recharge to the Ellenburger-San Saba aquifer; little streamflow is likely lost to the underlying formations in the downstream part of the reach, which consists of relatively impermeable aquifer confining units exposed at land surface. The more downstream of the two reaches where a verifiable loss of streamflow was measured also flows across relatively impermeable confining units before crossing the Mid-Cambrian aquifer outcrop in the lower part of the reach; most of the streamflow losses in this reach were likely a result of water infiltrating into the subsurface from the streambed and providing recharge to the relatively permeable Mid-Cambrian aquifer. During the spring 2014 gain-loss survey, 11 reaches were combined into 3 in an attempt to consolidate gains and losses as well as group reaches within the same hydrogeologic units. An unverifiable loss was measured in the reach farthest upstream, which crosses a combination of alluvium and Ellenburger-San Saba aquifer outcrop, whereas an unverifiable gain was measured in the middle reach, which crosses each of the different hydrogeologic units represented in the study area. The reach farthest downstream crosses an area where only the Ellenburger-San Saba aquifer crops out; a streamflow gain of 123 ft 3 /s was measured in this reach, exceeding the potential error of 93.9 ft 3 /s. The verifiable streamflow gain in this downstream reach implies the Ellenburger-San Saba aquifer was discharging groundwater to the Colorado River in this part of the study area under the hydrologic conditions of the spring 2014 gain-loss survey.

Texas↗
USGS1997

Geology of the Pennsylvanian and Permian Cutler Group and Permian Kaibab Limestone in the Paradox Basin, southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado

The Cutler Formation is composed of thick, arkosic, alluvial sandstones shed southwestward from the Uncompahgre highlands into the Paradox Basin. Salt tectonism played an important role in deposition of the Cutler in some areas. In the northeast part of the basin, more than 8,000 ft, and as much as 15,000 ft, of arkose was trapped between rising salt anticlines - this arkose is thin to absent over the crests of some anticlines. In the western and southern parts of the basin, the Cutler is recognized as a Group consisting of, in ascending order: the lower Cutler beds, Cedar Mesa Sandstone, Organ Rock Formation, White Rim Sandstone, and De Chelly Sandstone. The aggregate thickness of these formations is less than 2,000 ft. The formations of the Cutler Group were deposited in a complex system of alluvial, eolian, and marine environments characterized by abrupt vertical and lateral lithologic changes. The basal Cutler is Pennsylvanian in age, but the bulk of the Group was deposited during the Permian. The Cutler is conformably underlain by the Pennsylvanian Hermosa Group across most of the basin. It is overlain unconformably by the Permian Kaibab Limestone in the western part of the Paradox Basin. The Cutler or Kaibab are overlain unconformably by the Triassic Moenkopi or Chinle Formations.

Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah↗
USGS2022

Systematic mapping of the ocean-continent transform plate boundary of the Queen Charlotte fault system, southeastern Alaska and western British Columbia—A preliminary bathymetric terrain model

In 2015, U.S. Geological Survey scientists in collaboration with scientists from other institutions began a study of the Queen Charlotte fault—the first systematic study of the fault in more than three decades. The primary goal of the study was to gain a better understanding of the earthquake, tsunami, and underwater-landslide hazards throughout southeastern Alaska, as well as gather data to develop geologic models that can be applied to similar plate boundaries around the globe, such as the San Andreas fault system in southern California, the Alpine fault in New Zealand, and the North Anatolian fault in Turkey. A bathymetric terrain model was compiled from six different multibeam surveys of the previously unmapped Queen Charlotte fault offshore of southeastern Alaska and Haida Gwaii archipelago.

Alaska, British Columbia↗
USGS1998

Southeastern Pennsylvania ground water protected area

Geographical Information System data sets were developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC). These data are related to groundwater resources for the DRBC's Southeastern Pennsylvania Groundwater Protected Area.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2006

Geologic map of the west half of the Blythe 30' by 60' quadrangle, Riverside County, California and La Paz County, Arizona

The Blythe 30' by 60' quadrangle is located along the Colorado River between southeastern California and western Arizona. This map depicts the geology of the west half of the Blythe quadrangle, which is mostly in California. The map area is a desert terrain consisting of mountain ranges surrounded by extensive alluvial fans and plains, including the flood plain of the Colorado River which covers the easternmost part of the area. Mountainous parts of the area, including the Big Maria, Little Maria, Riverside, McCoy, and Mule Mountains, consist of structurally complex rocks that range in age from Proterozoic to Miocene. Proterozoic gneiss and granite are overlain by Paleozoic to Early Jurassic metasedimentary rocks (mostly marble, quartzite, and schist) that are lithostratigraphically similar to coeval formations of the Colorado Plateau region to the east. The Paleozoic to Jurassic strata were deposited on the tectonically stable North American craton. These rocks are overlain by metamorphosed Jurassic volcanic rocks and are intruded by Jurassic plutonic rocks that represent part of a regionally extensive, northwest-trending magmatic arc. The overlying McCoy Mountains Formation, a very thick sequence of weakly metamorphosed sandstone and conglomerate of Jurassic(?) and Cretaceous age, accumulated in a rapidly subsiding depositional basin south of an east-trending belt of deformation and east of the north-trending Cretaceous Cordilleran magmatic arc. The McCoy Mountains Formation and older rocks were deformed, metamorphosed, and locally intruded by plutonic rocks in the Late Cretaceous. In Oligocene(?) to Miocene time, sedimentary and minor volcanic deposits accumulated locally, and the area was deformed by faulting. Tertiary rocks and their Proterozoic basement in the Riverside and northeastern Big Maria Mountains are in the upper plate of a low-angle normal (detachment) fault that lies within a region of major Early to Middle Miocene crustal extension. Surficial deposits of the flanking alluvial fans and plains range in age from late Miocene to Holocene. Among the oldest of these deposits are limestone and fine-grained clastic sediments of the late Miocene and (or) Pliocene Bouse Formation, which is commonly interpreted to represent an estuary or marine embayment connected to the proto-Gulf of California. Most of the surficial deposits younger than the Bouse Formation are composed of alluvium either derived from local mountain ranges or transported into the area by the Colorado River. Large parts of the area, particularly near the northern margin, are covered by eolian sand, and small parts are covered by playa sediments.

Scientific Investigations Map↗
USGS2016

Geology and mineral resources of the Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Oregon and Nevada), the Southeastern Oregon and North-Central Nevada, and the Southern Idaho and Northern Nevada (and Utah) Sagebrush Focal Areas: Chapter B in Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming

Summary The U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed to withdraw approximately 10 million acres of Federal lands from mineral entry (subject to valid existing rights) from 12 million acres of lands defined as Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming (for further discussion on the lands involved see Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089–A). The purpose of the proposed action is to protect the greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus ) and its habitat from potential adverse effects of locatable mineral exploration and mining. The U.S. Geological Survey Sagebrush Mineral-Resource Assessment (SaMiRA) project was initiated in November 2015 and supported by the Bureau of Land Management to (1) assess locatable mineral-resource potential and (2) to describe leasable and salable mineral resources for the seven SFAs and Nevada additions. This chapter summarizes the current status of locatable, leasable, and salable mineral commodities and assesses the potential of selected locatable minerals in lands proposed for withdrawal that span the Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah borders. In this report, the four study areas evaluated were (1) the Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex SFA in Washoe County, Nevada, and Harney and Lake Counties, Oregon; (2) the Southeastern Oregon and North-Central Nevada SFA in Humboldt County, Nevada, and Harney and Malheur Counties, Oregon; (3) the Southern Idaho and Northern Nevada SFA in Cassia, Owyhee, and Twin Falls Counties, Idaho, Elko County, Nevada, and Box Elder County, Utah; and (4) the Nevada additions in Humboldt and Elko Counties, Nevada.

Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah↗
USGS2006

Coastal groundwater/surface-water interactions: a Great Lakes case study

Key similarities exist between marine and Great Lakes coastal environments. Water and nutrient fluxes across lakebeds in the Great Lakes are influenced by seiche and wind set-up and set-down, analogous to tidal influence in marine settings. Groundwater/surface-water interactions also commonly involve a saline-fresh water interface, although in the Great-Lakes cases, it is groundwater that is commonly saline and surface water that is fresh. Evapotranspiration also affects nearshore hydrology in both settings. Interactions between groundwater and surface water have recently been identified as an important component of ecological processes in the Great Lakes. Water withdrawals and the reversal of the groundwater/surface water seepage gradient are also common to many coastal areas around the Great Lakes. As compared to surface water, regional groundwater that discharges to western Lake Erie from Michigan is highly mineralized. Studies conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey at Erie State Game Area in southeastern Michigan, describe groundwater flow dynamics and chemistry, shallow lake-water chemistry, and fish and invertebrate communities. Results presented here provide an overview of recent progress of ongoing interdisciplinary studies of Great Lakes nearshore systems and describe a conceptual model that identifies relations among geologic, hydrologic, chemical, and biological processes in the coastal habitats of Lake Erie. This conceptual model is based on analysis of hydraulic head in piezometers at the study site and chemical analysis of deep and shallow coastal groundwater.

Book chapter↗