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At least 505 records · Page 28Linked to original sources
USGS2007

Holocene oceanographic and climatic variability of the Vega Drift deduced through foraminiferal interpretation

A sediment sequence recovered from the Vega Drift, Antarctica was analyzed for benthic foraminifera to determine Holocene oceanographic and climatic variability of the northern Antarctic Peninsula margin. Core NBP0003-JPC38, collected during cruise 00-03 of the R.V. Nathaniel B. Palmer recovered 20.53 meters of Holocene glacio-marine sediments. Samples were collected every 4 cm for foraminiferal analyses. The data were analyzed using principal component and cluster analyses. Results of these analyses show significant stratigraphic changes in the benthic foraminiferal record of the Vega Drift. Three assemblages characterize the core, including the Miliammina arenacea, Textulariawiesneri, and Stainforthia fusiformis assemblages. Most agglutinated forms tend to decrease downcore, and comparisons to modern analogues imply post-depositional disintegration, while calcareous taxa indicate non-corrosive bottom waters. The lower to middle Holocene Vega Drift sediments are characterized by the calcareous S. fusiformis assemblage and glacial plume sediments. This assemblage is characterized by calcareous forms including Globocassidulina biora, G. subglobosa, and Nonionella iridea. The planktic species Neogloboquadrina pachyderma is associated with the S. fusiformis assemblage. The S. fusiformis assemblage is faunally similar to assemblages described in fjords of the western Antarctic Peninsula and indicates non-corrosive bottom water. Sediments of the mid to upper Holocene interval are characterized by the T. wiesneri and M. arenacea assemblages and indicate the presence of Hyper Saline Shelf Water. These assemblages are similar to modern assemblages directly to the south in the Prince Gustav Channel. The upper Holocene is marked by several small intervals with taxonomic characteristics similar to the S. fusiformis assemblage, indicating periodic introduction of non-corrosive bottom water to the Vega Drift

Open-File Report↗
USGS2007

Solar forcing and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences on productivity cycles interpreted from a late-Holocene high-resolution marine sediment record, Adélie Drift, East Antarctic Margin

Core JPC17B was collected from the Adélie-Drift, a nearly 300-m thick drift deposit at 140ºE along the Indian Ocean sector of the Antarctic continental shelf. Sediments consist of nearly continuously laminated diatom mud and diatom ooze, with accumulation rates on the order of 20-21 m kyr -1 based on 10 AMS radiocarbon dates. Spectral analysis was performed on time series of opal content, d 13 C org , Ti content, and Ba content. Strong decadal to century- scale variability is present in all proxies. Opal and Ti-time series show strong variance at periods of 11, 22 and 110- years, which are suggestive of solar forcing. Ba-time series exhibits strong variance at a period of 3-3.6-yr, consistent with possible El Niño-Southern-Oscillation (ENSO) forcing.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2008

Interpretation of Borehole Geophysical Logs at Area C, Former Naval Air Warfare Center, Warminster Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 2007

This study was done by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Navy at Area C of the former Naval Air Warfare Center in Warminster Township, Bucks County, Pa., in support of hydrogeological investigations conducted by the Navy to address ground-water contamination in the Stockton Formation. Borehole geophysical logs were collected, heatpulse-flowmeter measurements were made, and borehole television surveys were run in seven boreholes ranging from 31 to 75 feet deep. Caliper logs and borehole television surveys were used to identify fractures and the location of possible water-bearing zones. Heatpulse-flowmeter measurements were used to identify fractures that were water-bearing zones. Natural-gamma and single-point-resistance logs were used to correlate lithology across the area. Elevated concentrations of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) were measured in water samples from wells with water-bearing zones in the interval of the aquifer where monitor well HN-23A is screened. Water samples from wells with water-bearing zones above or below this interval had substantially lower concentrations of PCE. Wells screened in this interval yielded less than 0.5 gallon per minute, indicating that the interval has low permeability; this may account for the small areal extent and slow migration of PCE.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2010

Geological Interpretation of the Sea Floor Offshore of Edgartown, Massachusetts

Gridded bathymetry and sidescan-sonar imagery together cover approximately 37.3 square kilometers of sea floor in the vicinity of Edgartown Harbor, Massachusetts. Although originally collected for charting purposes during National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hydrographic survey H11346, these acoustic data, and the sea-floor stations and seismic-reflection lines subsequently occupied to verify them, 1) show the composition and terrain of the seabed, 2) provide information on sediment transport and benthic habitat, and 3) are part of an expanding series of studies that provide a fundamental framework for research and management (for example, windfarms, pipelines, and dredging) activities along the Massachusetts inner continental shelf.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2011

Review and interpretation of previous work and new data on the hydrogeology of the Schwartzwalder Uranium Mine and vicinity, Jefferson County, Colorado

The Schwartzwalder deposit is the largest known vein type uranium deposit in the United States. Located about eight miles northwest of Golden, Colorado it occurs in Proterozoic metamorphic rocks and was formed by hydrothermal fluid flow, mineralization, and deformation during the Laramide Orogeny. A complex brittle fault zone hosts the deposit comprising locally brecciated carbonate, oxide, and sulfide minerals. Mining of pitchblende, the primary ore mineral, began in 1953 and an extensive network of underground workings was developed. Mine dewatering, treatment of the effluent and its discharge into the adjacent Ralston Creek was done under State permit from about 1990 through about 2008. Mining and dewatering ceased in 2000 and natural groundwater rebound has filled the mine workings to a current elevation that is above Ralston Creek but that is still below the lowest ground level adit. Water in the 'mine pool' has concentrations of dissolved uranium in excess of 1,000 times the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency drinking-water standard of 30 milligrams per liter. Other dissolved constituents such as molybdenum, radium, and sulfate are also present in anomalously high concentrations. Ralston Creek flows in a narrow valley containing Quaternary alluvium predominantly derived from weathering of crystalline bedrock including local mineralized rock. Just upstream of the mine site, two capped and unsaturated waste rock piles with high radioactivity sit on an alluvial terrace. As Ralston Creek flows past the mine site, a host of dissolved metal concentrations increase. Ralston Creek eventually discharges into Ralston Reservoir about 2.5 miles downstream. Because of highly elevated uranium concentrations, the State of Colorado issued an enforcement action against the mine permit holder requiring renewed collection and treatment of alluvial groundwater. As part of planned mine reclamation, abundant data were collected and compiled into a report by Wyman and Effner (2007), which was to be used as a basis for eventual mine site closure. In 2010 the U.S. Geological Survey was asked by the State of Colorado to provide an objective and independent review of the Wyman and Effner (2007) report and to identify gaps in knowledge regarding the hydrogeology of the mine site. Key findings from the U.S. Geological Survey assessment include geological structural analysis indicating that although the primary uranium-hosting fault likely does not cross under Ralston Creek, many complex subsidiary faults do cross under Ralston Creek. It is unknown if any of these faults act as conduits for mine pool water to enter Ralston Creek. Reported bedrock permeabilities are low, but local hydraulic gradients are sufficient to potentially drive groundwater flow from the mine pool to the creek. Estimated average linear velocities for the full range of reported hydraulic conductivities indicate groundwater transit times from the mine pool to the creek on the order of a few months to about 3,800 years or 11 to 65 years using mean reported input values. These estimates do not account for geochemical reactions along any given flow path that may differentially enhance or retard movement of individual dissolved constituents. New reconnaissance data including 34S isotope and 234U/238U isotopic activity ratios show potentially distinctive signatures for the mine pool compared to local groundwater and Ralston Creek water above the mine site. Although the mine pool may be near an equilibrium elevation, evidence for groundwater recharge transients indicates inflow to the workings that are greater than outflow. There is not enough hydraulic head data adjacent to the mine workings to adequately constrain a final equilibrium elevation or to predict how several wet years in succession might affect variations in mine pool elevation. Although ground level adits are sealed with bulkheads, if the mine pool elevation were to rise slightly to the elevation of or abo

Open-File Report↗
USGS2012

Apalachicola Bay interpreted seismic horizons and updated IRIS chirp seismic-reflection data

Apalachicola Bay and St. George Sound contain the largest oyster fishery in Florida, and the growth and distribution of the numerous oyster reefs here are the combined product of modern estuarine conditions and the late Holocene evolution of the bay. A suite of geophysical data and cores were collected during a cooperative study by the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Services Center, and the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve to refine the geology of the bay floor as well as the bay's Holocene stratigraphy. Sidescan-sonar imagery, bathymetry, high-resolution seismic profiles, and cores show that oyster reefs occupy the crests of sandy shoals that range from 1 to 7 kilometers in length, while most of the remainder of the bay floor is covered by mud. The sandy shoals are the surficial expression of broader sand deposits associated with deltas that advanced southward into the bay between 6,400 and 4,400 years before present. The seismic and core data indicate that the extent of oyster reefs was greatest between 2,400 and 1,200 years before present and has decreased since then due to the continued input of mud to the bay by the Apalachicola River. The association of oyster reefs with the middle to late Holocene sandy delta deposits indicates that the present distribution of oyster beds is controlled in part by the geologic evolution of the estuary.

Florida↗
USGS2012

Hydrostratigraphic interpretation of test-hole and surface geophysical data, Elkhorn and Loup River Basins, Nebraska, 2008 to 2011

The Elkhorn-Loup Model (ELM) was begun in 2006 to understand the effect of various groundwater-management scenarios on surface-water resources. During phase one of the ELM study, a lack of subsurface geological information was identified as a data gap. Test holes drilled to the base of the aquifer in the ELM study area are spaced as much as 25 miles apart, especially in areas of the western Sand Hills. Given the variable character of the hydrostratigraphic units that compose the High Plains aquifer system, substantial variation in aquifer thickness and characteristics can exist between test holes. To improve the hydrogeologic understanding of the ELM study area, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, multiple Natural Resources Districts participating in the ELM study, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Conservation and Survey Division, described the subsurface lithology at six test holes drilled in 2010 and concurrently collected borehole geophysical data to identify the base of the High Plains aquifer system. A total of 124 time-domain electromagnetic (TDEM) soundings of resistivity were collected at and between selected test-hole locations during 2008-11 as a quick, non-invasive means of identifying the base of the High Plains aquifer system. Test-hole drilling and geophysical logging indicated the base-of-aquifer elevation was less variable in the central ELM area than in previously reported results from the western part of the ELM study area, where deeper paleochannels were eroded into the Brule Formation. In total, more than 435 test holes were examined and compared with the modeled-TDEM soundings. Even where present, individual stratigraphic units could not always be identified in modeled-TDEM sounding results if sufficient resistivity contrast was not evident; however, in general, the base of aquifer [top of the aquifer confining unit (ACU)] is one of the best-resolved results from the TDEM-based models, and estimates of the base-of-aquifer elevation are in good accordance with those from existing test-hole data. Differences between ACU elevations based on modeled-TDEM and test-hole data ranged from 2 to 113 feet (0.6 to 34 meters). The modeled resistivity results reflect the eastward thinning of Miocene-age and older stratigraphic units, and generally allowed confident identification of the accompanying change in the stratigraphic unit forming the ACU. The differences in elevation of the top of the Ogallala, estimated on the basis of the modeled-TDEM resistivity, and the test-hole data ranged from 11 to 251 feet (3.4 to 77 meters), with two-thirds of model results being within 60 feet of the test-hole contact elevation. The modeled-TDEM soundings also provided information regarding the distribution of Plio-Pleistocene gravel deposits, which had an average thickness of 100 feet (30 meters) in the study area; however, in many cases the contact between the Plio-Pleistocene deposits and the overlying Quaternary deposits cannot be reliably distinguished using TDEM soundings alone because of insufficient thickness or resistivity contrast.

Nebraska↗
USGS2014

Gravity survey and interpretation of Fort Irwin and vicinity, Mojave Desert, California

In support of a hydrogeologic study of the groundwater resources on Fort Irwin, we have combined new gravity data with preexisting measurements to produce an isostatic residual gravity map, which we then separated into two components reflecting (1) the density distribution in the pre-Cenozoic basement complex and (2) the distribution of low-density Cenozoic volcanic and sedimentary deposits that lie on top of the basement complex. The second component was inverted to estimate the three-dimensional distribution of Cenozoic deposits by using constraints from geology, drillholes, and time-domain electromagnetic soundings. In most of the base, the Cenozoic deposits are no more than 300 m thick, except in the basins with more than 500 m of fill beneath Coyote Lake, Red Pass Lake, west of Nelson Lake, west of Superior Lake, Bicycle Lake, and in the vicinity of Nelson Lake.

California↗
USGS2014

A ground-based magnetic survey of Frenchman Flat, Nevada National Security Site and Nevada Test and Training Range, Nevada: data release and preliminary interpretation

The Nevada National Security Site (NNSS, formerly the Nevada Test Site) is located in southern Nevada approximately 105 kilometers (km) (65 miles) northwest of Las Vegas. Frenchman Flat is a sedimentary basin located on the eastern edge of NNSS and extending eastward into the adjacent Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR). In late September 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a ground-based magnetic survey of the northeast portion of Frenchman Flat within the NNSS and within the adjacent NTTR. The survey was designed to address two questions of importance to the siting of new monitoring wells near (down-gradient of) or within groundwater-contaminant plumes resulting from the Milk Shake and Pin Stripe underground nuclear tests: Question 1—What is the horizontal extent of the basalt flow (the Basalt lava flow aquifer or BLFA) encountered in three wells (UE5k, UE5i, and ER-5-3) within the alluvial section at depths ranging from 268 to 290 meters (m) (880 to 950 feet [ft]), and having a thickness between 9 and 21 m (30 and 70 ft)? Exploratory Hole UE5k is located near Emplacement Hole U5k, site of the Milk Shake underground nuclear test (U.S. Department of Energy, 2000). Characterization well ER-5-3 is located approximately 670 m (2,200 ft) west-northwest of the Milk Shake test. Question 2—Does basin and range normal faulting observed in the hills north of Frenchman Flat continue southward under alluvium and possibly disrupt the Topopah Spring Tuff of the Paintbrush Group (the Topopah Spring welded tuff aquifer or TSA) east of the Pin Stripe underground nuclear test, which was conducted in Emplacement hole U11b?

Nevada↗