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At least 361 records · Page 20Linked to original sources

Map showing the distribution of zinc in stream-sediment samples, Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah

This map of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, shows the regional distribution of zinc in the less-than-0.180-mm (minus-80-mesh) fraction of stream-sediments. It is part of a folio of maps of the Richfield 1° x 2° quadrangle, Utah, prepared under the Conterminuous United States Mineral Assessment Program. Other published geochemical maps in this folio are listed in the references (this publication). The Richfield quadrangle is located in west-central Utah and includes the eastern part of the Pioche-Marysvale igneous and mineral belt, which extends from the vicinity of Pioche in southeastern Nevada, east-northeastward for 155 miles into central Utah. The western two-thirds of the Richfield quadrangle is part of the Basin and Range province, whereas the eastern third is part of the High Plateaus of Utah, a subprovince of the Colorado Plateau. Bedrock in the northern part of the Richfield quadrangle consists predominantly of Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary strata that were thrust eastward during the Sevier orogeny in Cretaceous time onto an autochthon of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks located in the eastern part of the quadrangle. The southern part of the quadrangle is largely underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic rocks and related intrusions. Extensional tectonism in late Cenozoic time broke the bedrock terrain into a series of north-trending fault blocks; the uplifted mountain areas were eroded to various degrees and the resulting debris was deposited in adjacent basins. Most of the mineral deposits in the Pioche-Marysvale mineral belt were formed as a result of igneous activity in the middle and late Cenozoic time. A more complete description of the geology and a mineral-resource appraisal of the Richfield quadrangle appears in Steven and Morris (1984 and 1987). The regional sampling program was designed to define broad geochemical patterns and trends that can be utilized along with geological and geophysical data to assess the mineral-resource potential for this quadrangle. Reconnaissance geochemical surveys are valuable tools in mineral exploration, especially when used in conjunction with data obtained from other earth science disciplines. Identifying specific exploration targets generally involves additional, more detailed investigations.

Utah

Land use and land cover, 1972, Kentucky River area development district (KRADD)

This map is a demonstration product of experiments in land use and land cover mapping using remote sensor data. The map is a joint effort of the U.S. Geological Survey's Land Use Data and Analysis (LUDA) program and the Appalachian Regional Commission. It is part of a continuing USGS Land Information and Analysis Office demonstration of multi-discipline earth science contributions to the furthering of planning objectives.

Kentucky

Contaminants and drinking-water sources in 2001; recent findings of the U. S. Geological Survey

As the Nation's principal earth-science agency, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) studies numerous issues related to contamination of drinking-water sources. The work includes monitoring to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of contaminants; research to determine sources, transport, transformations, and fate of contaminants, and assessments of vulnerability. Much of the work is conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other Federal, State, Tribal, and local governments, to help provide a scientific basis for resource management and regulation. Examples of recent results are presented for two broad categories of drinking-water projects: occurrence studies, and source-water assessments.

Open-File Report

Preliminary metallogenic belt and mineral deposit maps for northeast Asia

The metallogenic belts and locations of major mineral deposits of Northeast Asia are portrayed on Sheets 1-4. Sheet 1 portrays the location of significant lode deposits and placer districts at a scale of 1:7,500,000. Sheets 2-4 portray the metallogenic belts of the region in a series of 12 time-slices from the Archean through the Quaternary at a scale of 1:15,000,000. For all four map sheets, a generalized geodynamics base map, derived from a more detailed map by Parfenov and others (2003), is used as an underlay for the metallogenic belt maps. This geodynamics map underlay permits depicts the major host geologic units and structures that host metallogenic belts. Four tables are included in this report. A hierarchial ranking of mineral deposit models is listed in Table 1. And summary features of lode deposits, placer districts, and metallogenic belts are described in Tables 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The metallogenic belts for Northeast Asia are synthesized, compiled, described, and interpreted with the use of modern concepts of plate tectonics, analysis of terranes and overlap assemblages, and synthesis of mineral deposit models. The data supporting the compilation are: (1) comprehensive descriptions of mineral deposits; (2) compilation and synthesis of a regional geodynamics map the region at 5 million scale with detailed explanations and cited references; and (3) compilation and synthesis of metallogenic belt maps at 15 million scale with detailed explanations and cited references. These studies are part of a major international collaborative study of the Mineral Resources, Metallogenesis, and Tectonics of Northeast Asia that is being conducted from 1997 through 2002 by geologists from earth science agencies and universities in Russia, Mongolia, Northeastern China, South Korea, Japan, and the USA. Companion studies and previous publications are: (1) a detailed geodynamics map of Northeast Asia (Parfenov and 2003); (2) a compilation of major mineral deposit models (Rodionov and Nokleberg, 2000; Rodionov and others, 2000; Obolenskiy and others, 2003); and (3) a database on significant metalliferous and selected nonmetalliferous lode deposits, and selected placer districts (Ariunbileg and others, 2003).

Open-File Report

Preliminary northeast Asia geodynamics map

This map portrays the geodynamics of Northeast Asia at a scale of 1:5,000,000 using the concepts of plate tectonics and analysis of terranes and overlap assemblages. The map is the result of a detailed compilation and synthesis at 5 million scale and is part of a major international collaborative study of the Mineral Resources, Metallogenesis, and Tectonics of Northeast Asia conducted from 1997 through 2002 by geologists from earth science agencies and universities in Russia, Mongolia, Northeastern China, South Korea, Japan, and the USA. This map is the result of extensive geologic mapping and associated tectonic studies in Northeast Asia in the last few decades and is the first collaborative compilation of the geology of the region at a scale of 1:5,000,000 by geologists from Russia, Mongolia, Northeastern China, South Korea, Japan, and the USA. The map was compiled by a large group of international geologists using the below concepts and definitions during collaborative workshops over a six-year period. The map is a major new compilation and re-interpretation of pre-existing geologic maps of the region. The map is designed to be used for several purposes, including regional tectonic analyses, mineral resource and metallogenic analysis, petroleum resource analysis, neotectonic analysis, and analysis of seismic hazards and volcanic hazards. The map consists of two sheets. Sheet 1 displays the map at a scale of 1:5,000,000, explanation. Sheet 2 displays the introduction, list of map units, and source references. Detailed descriptions of map units and stratigraphic columns are being published separately. This map is one of a series of publications on the mineral resources, metallogenesis, and geodynamics,of Northeast Asia. Companion studies and other articles and maps , and various detailed reports are: (1) a compilation of major mineral deposit models (Rodionov and Nokleberg, 2000; Rodionov and others, 2000; Obolenskiy and others, in press a); (2) a series of metallogenic belt maps (Obolenskiy and others, 2001; in press b); (3) a lode mineral deposits and placer districts location map for Northeast Asia (Ariunbileg and others, in press b); (4) descriptions of metallogenic belts (Rodionov and others, in press); and (5) a database on significant metalliferous and selected nonmetalliferous lode deposits, and selected placer districts (Ariunbileg and others, in press a).

Open-File Report

Preliminary preview for a geographic and monitoring program project; a review of point source-nonpoint source effluent trading/offset systems in watersheds

Watershed-based trading and offset systems are being developed to improve policy-maker?s and regulator?s ability to assess nonpoint source impacts in watersheds and to evaluate the efficacy of using market-incentive programs for preserving environmental quality. An overview of the history of successful and failed trading programs throughout the United States suggests that certain political, economic, and scientific conditions within a temporal and spatial setting help meet water quality standards. The current lack of spontaneous trading among dischargers does not mean that a marketable permit trading system is an inherently inefficient regulatory approach. Rather, its infrequent use is the result of institutional and informational barriers. Improving and refining the earth science information and technologies may help determine whether trading is a suitable policy for improving water quality. However, it is debatable whether or not environmental information is the limiting factor. This paper reviews additional factors affecting the potential for instituting a trading policy. The motivation for investigating and reviewing the history of offsets and trading was inspired by a project in the preliminary stages being developed by U.S. Geological Survey Western Geographic Science Center and the Environmental Protection Agency Region IX. An offset feasibility study will be an integrated, map-based approach that incorporates environmental, economic, and statistical information to investigate the potential for using offsets to meet mercury Total Maximum Daily Loads in the Sacramento River watershed. A regional water-quality offset program is being studied that may help known point sources reduce mercury loading more cost effectively by the remediation of abandoned mines or other diffuse sources as opposed to more costly treatment at their own sites. An efficient offset program requires both a scientific basis and methods to translate that science into a regulatory decision framework.

Open-File Report

Program design for San Francisco Bay Region environment and resources planning study

The "Program Design" for the San Francisco Bay Region Environment and Resources Planning Study represents a refinement, elaboration, and extension of the plans which formed the basis for the cooperative program between the Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Research and Technology, formally recognized in the Letter of Agreement of October 24, 1969, and begun January 1, 1970. From the first, the study was recognized as an experimental pilot study, and new developments in the state-of-the-art in the earth sciences and in urban and regional planning were recognized as necessary. Indeed, the development of a suitable structure for such a program was considered one of the important parts of the experiment. Consequently, one of the stated goals of the Letter of Agreement was to produce a Program Design.

California

A Spatial Overlay Ranking Method for a Geospatial Search of Text Objects

Earth-science researchers need the capability to find relevant information by location and topic. Conventional geographic techniques that simply check whether polygons intersect can efficiently achieve a high recall on location, but can not achieve precision for ranking results in likely order of importance to the reader. A spatial overlay ranking based upon how well an object's footprint matches the search area provides a more effective way to spatially search a collection of reports, and avoids many of the problems associated with an 'in/out' (True/False) boolean search. Moreover, spatial overlay ranking appears to work well even when spatial extent is defined only by a simple bounding box.

Open-File Report

Preliminary Geologic Map of the Lake Mead 30' X 60' Quadrangle, Clark County, Nevada, and Mohave County, Arizona

Introduction The geologic map of the Lake Mead 30' x 60' quadrangle was completed for the U.S. Geological Survey's Las Vegas Urban Corridor Project and the National Parks Project, National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program. Lake Mead, which occupies the northern part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LAME), mostly lies within the Lake Mead quadrangle and provides recreation for about nine million visitors annually. The lake was formed by damming of the Colorado River by Hoover Dam in 1939. The recreation area and surrounding Bureau of Land Management lands face increasing public pressure from rapid urban growth in the Las Vegas area to the west. This report provides baseline earth science information that can be used in future studies of hazards, groundwater resources, mineral and aggregate resources, and of soils and vegetation distribution. The preliminary report presents a geologic map and GIS database of the Lake Mead quadrangle and a description and correlation of map units. The final report will include cross-sections and interpretive text. The geology was compiled from many sources, both published and unpublished, including significant new mapping that was conducted specifically for this compilation. Geochronologic data from published sources, as well as preliminary unpublished 40Ar/39Ar ages that were obtained for this report, have been used to refine the ages of formal Tertiary stratigraphic units and define new informal Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic units.

Open-File Report

Environmental Assessment of the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center near Butlerville, Indiana, October and November 2005

An environmental assessment of the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center near Butlerville in Jennings County, Indiana, was completed during October and November 2005. As part of the Department of Defense Earth Science Program, the U.S. Geological Survey collected information about environmental conditions at the 825-acre former State of Indiana mental health facility prior to its conversion by the Indiana National Guard into an urban training center. The assessment was designed to investigate the type and extent of potential contamination associated with historical activities in selected areas of the facility. Samples of surface water, ground water, surface soil, and buried sediment were collected for the assessment in seven geographic study areas. Surface-water samples were collected from flowing and pooled surface water, as well as seeps and springs where ground water discharged at the land surface. Ground-water samples were collected from temporary wells installed in boreholes drilled to bedrock. Surface-soil samples were collected near sites of possible contamination. Buried-sediment samples were taken from core material collected near the top of bedrock at depths of 6.4 to 26 feet. For the assessment, 59 environmental, 22 quality-assurance, and 46 laboratory-blank samples were analyzed for as many as 65 volatile organic compounds, 62 semivolatile organic compounds, 20 trace elements, 10 inorganic cations and anions, 3 nutrients, and 4 water-quality characteristics. Concentrations of constituents detected in these samples were compared with regulatory standards (the Indiana Surface-Water-Quality Standards and Indiana Ground-Water-Quality Standards) and guidance criteria from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's Risk Integrated System of Closures for contaminated soil and ground water. Standards or criteria were exceeded by 17 constituent concentrations in 11 environmental samples from 5 of the 7 geographic study areas. Standards or criteria were exceeded for 10 constituents: ammonia, arsenic, benzo(a)pyrene, beryllium, chloride, chloroform, copper, lead, sulfate, and zinc.

Indiana

Bibliography of literature pertaining to Long Valley Caldera and associated volcanic fields

On May 25-27, 1980, Long Valley caldera was rocked by four M=6 earthquakes that heralded the onset of a wave of seismic activity within the caldera which has continued through the present. Unrest has taken the form of seismic swarms, uplift of the resurgent dome, and areas of vegetation killed by increased CO2 emissions, all interpreted as resulting from magma injection into different levels beneath the caldera, as well as beneath Mammoth Mountain along the southwest rim of the caldera. Continuing economic development in the Mammoth Lakes area has swelled the local population, increasing the risk to people and property if an eruption were to occur. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been monitoring geophysical activity in the Long Valley area since the mid-1970s and continues to track the unrest in real time with a sophisticated network of geophysical sensors. Hazards information obtained by this monitoring is provided to local, State, and Federal officials and to the public through the Long Valley Observatory. The Long Valley area also was scientifically important before the onset of current unrest. Lying at the eastern foot of the Sierra Nevada, the deposits from this active volcanic system have provided fertile ground for research into Neogene tectonics, Quaternary geology and geomorphology, regional stratigraphy, and volcanology. In the early 1970s, intensive studies of the area began through the USGS Geothermal Investigations Program, owing to the presence of a large young silicic volcanic system. The paroxysmal eruption of Long Valley caldera about 760,000 years ago produced the Bishop Tuff and associated Bishop ash. The Bishop Tuff is a well-preserved ignimbrite deposit that has continued to provide new and developing insights into the dynamics of ignimbrite-forming eruptions. Another extremely important aspect of the Bishop Tuff is that it is the oldest known normally magnetized unit of the Brunhes Chron. Thus, the age of the Bishop Tuff is used to define the beginning of the Brunhes Chron and helps constrain the Brunhes-Matuyama boundary. The Bishop ash, which was dispersed as far east as Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas, provides an important tephrostratigraphic marker throughout the Western United States. The obsidian domes of both the Mono and Inyo Craters, which were produced by rhyolitic eruptions in the past 40,000 years, have been well studied, including extensive scientific drilling through the domes. Exploratory drilling to 3-km depth on the resurgent dome and subsequent instrumentation of the Long Valley Exploratory Well (LVEW) have led to a number of important new insights. Scientific drilling also has been done within the Casa Diablo geothermal field, which, aside from drilling, has been commercially developed and is currently feeding 40 MW of power into the Southern California Edison grid. Studies in all the above-mentioned volcanic fields have contributed to the extensive scientific literature published on the Long Valley region. Although most of this scientific literature has been published since 1970, a significant amount of historical literature extends backward to the late 1800s. The purpose of this bibliography is to compile references pertaining to the Long Valley region from all time periods and all Earth science fields into a single listing, thus providing an easily accessible guide to the published literature for current and future researchers.

Open-File Report

Accuracy assessment of the U.S. Geological Survey National Elevation Dataset, and comparison with other large-area elevation datasets: SRTM and ASTER

The National Elevation Dataset (NED) is the primary elevation data product produced and distributed by the U.S. Geological Survey. The NED provides seamless raster elevation data of the conterminous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. island territories, Mexico, and Canada. The NED is derived from diverse source datasets that are processed to a specification with consistent resolutions, coordinate system, elevation units, and horizontal and vertical datums. The NED serves as the elevation layer of The National Map, and it provides basic elevation information for earth science studies and mapping applications in the United States and most of North America. An important part of supporting scientific and operational use of the NED is provision of thorough dataset documentation including data quality and accuracy metrics. The focus of this report is on the vertical accuracy of the NED and on comparison of the NED with other similar large-area elevation datasets, namely data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER).

Open-File Report

Quality-assurance and data management plan for groundwater activities by the U.S. Geological Survey in Kansas, 2014

As the Nation’s principle earth-science information agency, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is depended on to collect data of the highest quality. This document is a quality-assurance plan for groundwater activities (GWQAP) of the Kansas Water Science Center. The purpose of this GWQAP is to establish a minimum set of guidelines and practices to be used by the Kansas Water Science Center to ensure quality in groundwater activities. Included within these practices are the assignment of responsibilities for implementing quality-assurance activities in the Kansas Water Science Center and establishment of review procedures needed to ensure the technical quality and reliability of the groundwater products. In addition, this GWQAP is intended to complement quality-assurance plans for surface-water and water-quality activities and similar plans for the Kansas Water Science Center and general project activities throughout the USGS. This document provides the framework for collecting, analyzing, and reporting groundwater data that are quality assured and quality controlled. This GWQAP presents policies directing the collection, processing, analysis, storage, review, and publication of groundwater data. In addition, policies related to organizational responsibilities, training, project planning, and safety are presented. These policies and practices pertain to all groundwater activities conducted by the Kansas Water Science Center, including data-collection programs, interpretive and research projects. This report also includes the data management plan that describes the progression of data management from data collection to archiving and publication.

Open-File Report

1964 Great Alaska Earthquake: a photographic tour of Anchorage, Alaska

On March 27, 1964, at 5:36 p.m., a magnitude 9.2 earthquake, the largest recorded earthquake in U.S. history, struck southcentral Alaska (fig. 1). The Great Alaska Earthquake (also known as the Good Friday Earthquake) occurred at a pivotal time in the history of earth science, and helped lead to the acceptance of plate tectonic theory (Cox, 1973; Brocher and others, 2014). All large subduction zone earthquakes are understood through insights learned from the 1964 event, and observations and interpretations of the earthquake have influenced the design of infrastructure and seismic monitoring systems now in place. The earthquake caused extensive damage across the State, and triggered local tsunamis that devastated the Alaskan towns of Whittier, Valdez, and Seward. In Anchorage, the main cause of damage was ground shaking, which lasted approximately 4.5 minutes. Many buildings could not withstand this motion and were damaged or collapsed even though their foundations remained intact. More significantly, ground shaking triggered a number of landslides along coastal and drainage valley bluffs underlain by the Bootlegger Cove Formation, a composite of facies containing variably mixed gravel, sand, silt, and clay which were deposited over much of upper Cook Inlet during the Late Pleistocene (Ulery and others, 1983). Cyclic (or strain) softening of the more sensitive clay facies caused overlying blocks of soil to slide sideways along surfaces dipping by only a few degrees. This guide is the document version of an interactive web map that was created as part of the commemoration events for the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake. It is accessible at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Alaska Science Center website: http://alaska.usgs.gov/announcements/news/1964Earthquake/ . The website features a map display with suggested tour stops in Anchorage, historical photographs taken shortly after the earthquake, repeat photography of selected sites, scanned documents, and small-scale maps, as well as links to slideshows of additional photographs and Google Street View™ scenes. Buildings in Anchorage that were severely damaged, sites of major landslides, and locations of post-earthquake engineering responses are highlighted. The web map can be used online as a virtual tour or in a physical self-guided tour using a web-enabled Global Positioning System (GPS) device. This publication serves the purpose of committing most of the content of the web map to a single distributable document. As such, some of the content differs from the online version.

Alaska

National Earthquake Information Center systems overview and integration

Overview The primary mission of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) is comprehensive global earthquake monitoring (M4.5 or larger) and complete seismic monitoring of the United States for all significant earthquakes (M3.0 or larger or felt). In recent years, the NEIC has assumed a more prominent role in local and regional seismic monitoring, backup capabilities, and special studies. The NEIC uses numerous scientific algorithms to produce information products for local, national, and international disaster responders; infrastructure corporations (for example, utility providers and insurers); U.S. embassies worldwide; news agencies; national and international earth science research communities; and millions of public users. To support this mission, the NEIC operates a constant service to derive numerous information products as rapidly and accurately as possible. Derived information products and data sets provide a wealth of related earthquake information and include products such as location, magnitude, maps of shaking intensity, moment tensors, phase arrivals, and loss and damage reports. These information products are automatically derived in near real-time and refined over time. Earthquake information products vary from well formatted text files, to binary files, to directories full of many files. A team of analysts, who provide constant coverage, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, review the acquired data and automatically derived products (1) in near real-time for rapid release and (2) in the weeks following events to produce historical catalogs of global earthquakes in support of scientific research. Data and products are reviewed both in near real-time for rapid release and in the weeks following events to produce historical catalogs of global earthquakes in support of scientific research. At the present time, the NEIC publishes data for approximately 25,000 earthquakes annually. The NEIC software system that supports this service and mission comprises many subsystems. The internals of each subsystem are often complex, but the integration between all of the subsystems is well defined, standardized, and straightforward. This Open-File Report describes the systems’ integration infrastructure and how all the subsystems fit together. It provides summary views of the system as a whole, along with detailed views of the inputs, outputs, and dependencies for each subsystem. It also outlines the many shared data services that support these subsystems and applications as well as external customers. The NEIC systems-integration effort is ongoing. Additional integration steps, needed to reach our goals, are discussed. It is important to note that this document provides a brief introduction to the work of dozens of software developers and IT specialists, spanning in many cases more than a decade. References to significant amounts of supporting documentation, code, and information are supplied within.

Open-File Report

Devils Hole, Nevada—A photographic story of a restricted subaqueous environment

This report presents selected photographic images taken by the author during U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research into paleoclimatology and geochemistry in Devils Hole cavern during 1984 to 1993 in cooperation with the National Park Service. The unaltered suite of photographs was prepared by the USGS dive team as an aid to assist nondiving scientists with a visual perspective of the environment where earth-science samples were collected and subsequently analyzed for chemical and isotopic composition.

Nevada

P- and S-wave velocity models incorporating the Cascadia subduction zone for 3D earthquake ground motion simulations, Version 1.6—Update for Open-File Report 2007–1348

In support of earthquake hazard studies and ground motion simulations in the Pacific Northwest, three-dimensional P- and S-wave velocity ( V P and V S , respectively) models incorporating the Cascadia subduction zone were previously developed for the region encompassed from about 40.2°N. to 50°N. latitude, and from about 122°W. to 129°W. longitude. This report describes updates to the Cascadia velocity property volumes of model version 1.3 (V1.3), herein called model version 1.6 (V1.6). As in model V1.3, the updated V1.6 model volume includes depths from 0 kilometers (mean sea level) to 60 kilometers, and it is intended to be a reference for researchers who have used, or are planning to use, this model in their Earth science investigations. To this end, it is intended that the V P and V S property volumes of model V1.6 will be considered a template for a community velocity model of the Cascadia region as additional results become available. With the recent and ongoing development of the National Crustal Model, we envision any future versions of this model will be directly integrated with that effort.

Oregon, Vancouver, Washington

Bibliography of reports resulting from U.S. Geological Survey participation in the United States Technical Assistance Program: Supplement for 1968-1969

U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1263, by Jo Ann Heath and Nancy B. Tabacchi lists the reports that resulted from a wide variety of geologic and hydrologic investigations, .and institutional development programs undertaken by the U. S. Geological Survey and counterpart agencies in 51 foreign countries from 1940-67. This supplementary list, for the years 1968 and 1969, includes geologic and earth-science reports of investigations in 17 countries: Reports on hydrology are not included. Only reports written by U. S. Geological Survey personnel or in collaboration with their local counterparts are included.

Open-File Report