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Reconnaissance engineering geology of the Petersburg area, southeastern Alaska, with emphasis on geologic hazards

A program to study the engineering geology of most larger Alaska coastal communities and to evaluate their earthquake and other geologic hazards was started following the 1964 Alaska earthquake; this report about the Petersburg area is a product of that program. Field-study methods were of a reconnaissance nature, and thus, interpretations in the report are tentative. Landscape of the northern end of Mitkof Island on which Petersburg is situated is characterized by a gently sloping, muskeg-covered terrain, with altitudes mostly less than 30 m. In contrast, much of the rest of the island is composed of mountainous terrain with many steep valleys. During the Pleistocene Epoch, the Petersburg area presumably was covered by ice several times; glaciers deeply eroded many valleys on Mitkof Island and adjacent areas. The last major deglaciation probably was largely completed by 12,000 years ago. Delayed rebound of the earth's crust, after the melting of large amounts of ice, permitted extensive inundation of land in the Petersburg area. Subsequently, emergence has elevated marine deposits to a present-day altitude of at least 65 m and probably to 75 m. Bedrock in the Petersburg map area is composed of relatively hard metamorphic rocks, chiefly phyllite and probably some graywacke. Rocks are of Middle(?) Jurassic to Early Cretaceous age. Five types of surficial geologic material of Quaternary age were recognized: (1) mixed deposits consisting of diamicton, silt-clay, and sand or sandy pebble gravel, (2) alluvial deposits, (3) shore and delta deposits, (4) organic deposits, and (5) artificial fill. Geologic structure in southeastern Alaska is complex because several cycles of tectonic deformation since at least early Paelozoic time have affected different parts of the region. The latest of the major tectonic events in southeastern Alaska occurred in Tertiary time, with some minor activity continuing into the Quaternary Period. Along the outer coast of southeastern Alaska, active strike-slip movement is occurring along the Chichagof-Baranof and Queen Charlotte faults. A segment of the prominent Coast-Range lineament, part of which may be a fault, lies 18 km northeast of Petersburg. Many earthquakes occur along the outer coast of southeastern Alaska. Most of these shocks are associated with movements along the Chichagof-Baranof, Queen Charlotte, and Transition faults. A few small earthquakes occur in the region between the outer coast and the southern part of the Coast Mountains. 0nly a few earthquakes have been recorded as felt at Petersburg; these shocks and others possibly felt in the Petersburg region are tabulated. Among the recorded earthquakes the highest intensity (about V-VI) as the magnitude 7.1 earthquake of October 24, 1927, that occurred probably along the Chichagof-Baranof fault, and about 225 km northwest of Petersburg; damage was reported as minor. Other large earthquakes along the Chichagof-Baranof fault that affected or probably affected the Petersburg area in a minor way occurred on August 22, 1949 (magnitude 8.1) and on July 30, 1972 (magnitude 7.25). From a consideration of the tectonics and earthquake history of the region, earthquakes similar to the 1927, 1949, and 1972 shocks are expected to recur on segments of the Chichagof-Baranof or Queen Charlotte faults. The closest of these fault segments is about 170 km southwest from Petersburg. The likelihood of destructive earthquakes being generated along faults closer to Petersburg is unknown. A very generalized discussion of possible geologic effects that could occur in the area during a postulated, theoretically reasonable worst case earthquake of magnitude 8 occurring along the outer coast about 170 km southwest from Petersburg notes that ground shaking probably would be strongest on organic deposits and least on bedrock and on firm, compact diamicton. Among other effects that could happen are: (1) liquefaction of some of the few delta and alluvial

Open-File Report

Geology of the Williston basin, North Dakota, Montana, and South Dakota, with reference to subsurface disposal of radioactive wastes

The southern Williston basin, which underlies about 110,000 square miles #n North Dakota, South Dakota, and eastern Montana, is part of a large structural and sedimentary basin. Its surface is a flat to gently rolling plain, standing about 1,500 to 3,500 feet above sea level and locally studded by a few high buttes. The sedimentary sequence that fills the basin has a maximum thickness of about 16,700 feet and rests on Precambrian metamorphic rocks at depths of 500 to 13,900 feet below sea level. It contains rocks of every geologic system, from Cambrian to Quaternary. Rocks of Middle Cambrian through Middle Ordovician age are largely shale and sandstone, as much as 1,200 feet thick; rocks of Late Ordovician through Pennsylvanian age are largely limestone and dolomite, as much as 7,500 feet thick; and rocks of Permian through Tertiary age are predominantly shale and siltstone, as much as 8,000 feet thick. Pleistocene glacial drift mantles the northern and eastern parts of the area. Rocks of the Williston basin are gently folded and regional dips are 1? or less from the margins to the basin center. Dips on the flanks of the major anticlinal folds, the Nesson and cedar Creek anticlines and the Poplar and Bowdoin domes, generally are about 1? to 3? except on the steep west limb of the Cedar Creek anticline. The basin was shaped by Laramide orogeny during latest Cretaceous and early Tertiary time. Most of the present structural features, however, were initiated during the Precambrian and reactivated by several subsequent orogenies, of which the latest was the Laramide. The most important mineral resource of the area is oil, which is produced predominantly from the Paleozoic carbonate sequence and largely on three of the major anticlinal folds, and lignite, which is present near the surface in Paleocene rocks. The subsurface disposal of radioactive wastes at some places in the Williston basin appears to be geographically and geologically feasible. Many sites, at which large quantities of wastes might be injected with minimal danger of contamination of fresh-water aquifers and-oil-producing strata, are available.. The strata and types of reservoirs that deserve primary consideration for waste disposal are the Winnipeg Formation of Middle Ordovician age as a deep salaquifer, the Permian to Jurassic salt beds as moderately deep-units in which solution cavities might be created for storage, the thick Upper Cretaceous shale beds as shallow hydraulically fractured shale reservoirs, and the Newcastle Sandstone of Early Cretaceous age as a shallow shale-enclosed sandstone reservoir.

Open-File Report

California State Waters Map Series — Drakes Bay and vicinity, California

In 2007, the California Ocean Protection Council initiated the California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP), designed to create a comprehensive seafloor map of high-resolution bathymetry, marine benthic habitats, and geology within the 3-nautical-mile limit of California’s State Waters. The CSMP approach is to create highly detailed seafloor maps through collection, integration, interpretation, and visualization of swath sonar data, acoustic backscatter, seafloor video, seafloor photography, high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles, and bottom-sediment sampling data. The map products display seafloor morphology and character, identify potential marine benthic habitats, and illustrate both the surficial seafloor geology and shallow (to about 100 m) subsurface geology. The Drakes Bay and Vicinity map area is located in northern California, about 30 km north of San Francisco and about 65 km south of Fort Ross. The map area is in the northern part of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, and it includes all or parts of four California Marine Protected Areas. The largely undeveloped onshore part of the map area, which occupies much of the southern and southeastern parts of the Point Reyes peninsula, is used primarily for grazing, as well as recreation, as it is home to the Point Reyes National Seashore. The triangular Point Reyes peninsula, which lies completely west of the San Andreas Fault Zone, is bounded by the steep terrain of Inverness Ridge along its northeastern margin, Tomales Point at its northernmost tip, Point Reyes at its southwesternmost point, and Bolinas at its southern end. The landscape in between includes (from southeast to northwest) the sandy beaches along Drakes Bay, the estuaries of Drakes Estero and Estero de Limantour, and the long, windswept Point Reyes Beach, which is backed by an extensive dune field. The seafloor in the map area generally extends from the shoreline to water depths of about 40 to 50 m, except for the area south of the Point Reyes headland where water depths reach 60 to 70 m. This bathymetric gradient south and west of the Point Reyes headland is related to north-side-up motion along the Point Reyes Fault Zone. Except for the bathymetric gradient across the Point Reyes Fault Zone, the bedrock platform in the nearshore and inner shelf areas (50 to 60 m depth) is relatively flat (less than 1.0°) and is overlain by sand-sized to coarser grained sediment. Finer grained sediments are found in water depths greater than 60 m south of the Point Reyes headland, but they also extend into shallower (less than 40 m) water within Drakes Bay. Surficial and shallow sediments were deposited in the last about 21,000 years during the approximately 125-m sea-level rise that followed the last major lowstand associated with the Last Glacial Maximum, at which time the entire Drakes Bay and Vicinity map area was emergent and the shoreline was about 30 km south and west of the present-day shoreline. Tectonic influences that impact the shelf morphology and geology in the map area are related to local faulting, folding, uplift, and subsidence. Offshore of the Point Reyes headland, granitic basement rocks are offset vertically about 1.4 km along the Point Reyes Fault Zone; this uplift, combined with west-side-up offset on the San Andreas Fault Zone, has resulted in uplift of the Point Reyes peninsula and the adjacent shelf. Late Pleistocene uplift of marine terraces on the southern Point Reyes peninsula suggests active deformation of offshore structures west of the San Andreas Fault Zone. Pervasive stratal thinning within inferred uppermost Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits above the west strand of the Point Reyes Fault Zone suggests Quaternary active shortening of the curvilinear, northeast- to north-dipping Point Reyes Fault Zone. Lack of clear deformation in the uppermost Pleistocene and Holocene deposits suggests that activity along the Point Reyes Fault Zone has ceased or slowed since about 21,000 years ago. Seafloor habitats in the Drakes Bay and Vicinity map area range from unconsolidated continental-shelf sediment to hard substrate. Rocky-shelf outcrops and rubble are considered to be promising potential habitats for rockfish and lingcod, both of which are recreationally and commercially important species. Circulation over the continental shelf in the map area is dominated by the southward-flowing California Current, the eastern limb of the North Pacific Gyre. Associated upwelling brings cool, nutrient-rich waters to the surface, resulting in high biological productivity. The current flow generally is southeastward during the spring and summer; however, during the fall and winter, the otherwise persistent northwest winds are sometimes weak or absent, causing the California Current to move farther offshore and the Davidson Current, a weaker, northward-flowing countercurrent, to become active. Sediment transport in the map area largely is controlled by surface waves and tidal currents in the nearshore and, at depths greater than 20 to 30 m, by tidal and subtidal currents. In the map area, nearshore littoral drift of sand and coarse sediment is to the south, owing to the dominant west-northwest swell direction, and scour from large waves and tidal currents removes and redistributes sediment over large areas of the inner shelf. Tidal currents are particularly strong over the shelf in the map area, and they dominate the current regime in the nearshore. Further offshore, bottom currents generally flow to the northwest, distributing finer grained sediment accordingly.

California

Hydrology of the low-level radioactive solid waste burial site and vicinity near Barnwell, South Carolina

Geologic and hydrologic conditions at a burial site for low-level radioactive waste were studied, and migration of leachates from the buried waste into surrounding unconsolidated sediments were evaluated. The burial site and vicinity are underlain by a sequence of unconsolidated sediments of Late Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Quaternary age. These sediments are deposited over a graben which has been filled with sedimentary rocks of Triassic age. Hydraulic properties of the sediments beneath the burial site were determined by laboratory and field tests. Laboratory hydraulic conductivity values ranged from about 10^-7 to 10^-1 feet per day for the clayey sediments to nearly 22 feet per day for aquifer sands. Field aquifer tests indicate a transmissivity of about 22,000 feet squared per day for Cretaceous sediments and about 6,000 feet squared per day for Tertiary sediments. Aquifer tests indicate heterogeneity in the upper 200 feet of the Tertiary sediments. Water samples were analyzed from 51 wells, 5 streams, a Carolina bay, and rainfall at the burial site. The total dissolved solids of the ground water ranged from about 7 to 40 milligrams per liter in the upper clayey sediments to about 150 milligrams per liter in the water in the deeper calcareous sediments. The pH of the ground water ranges from 4.8 to 6.5. This slightly acidic water is corrosive to buried metal. Tritium activity greater than background was detected in sediment cores taken from drill holes adjacent to the burial trenches. High tritium activity occurred at depths above the trench floor. This indicates upward movement of water or vapor to the land surface. Tritium and organic constituents greater than background concentrations were observed in a monitoring well about 10 feet from a trench, indicating lateral migration of radionuclides from the buried waste. Traces of cobalt-60 and tritium greater than background activity were observed in sediment cores collected 5.8 feet beneath the trench floor at one site. A hydrologic model was used to simulate ground-water flow in the study area. Based on the model results the minimum time of travel for ground water to move from the burial site to the nearest stream, Marys Branch Creek, is about 50 years. Radionuclides will move more slowly than the water, and will diminish in activity, because of dispersion and radioactive decay.

South Carolina

Core logs from five holes near Kramer, in the Mojave Desert, California

In 1957, five test holes were drilled near Kramer, California, in =he western Mojave Desert. The drill sites are in topographic basins where gravimetric and geologic surveys indicated the presence, beneath alluvium, of a thick section of Quaternary and Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Two holes which were deeper tests at sites drilled in 1954 cored only silts, sands and gravels: Four Corners test hole No. 1 was drilled in sec. 20, T. I0 N., R. 6 W., to a depth of 3,500 feet. Four Corners No. 2, in sec. 5, T. I0 N., R. 8 W., was drilled to 2,328 feet. Three holes which were drilled at new sites north of the intersection of U. S. Highways 395 and 466, locally known as Four Corners, encountered colemanite-bearing sediments. The locations and total depths of these holes are as follows: Four Corners No. 3, sec. T. 11 N., R. 6 W., depth 2,568 feet; Four Corners No. 4, near northern edge of sec. 30, T. ll N., R. 6 W., depth 3,500 feet; Four Corners No. 5, near southern edge of sec. 30, depth 1,604 feet. The sections of rocks encountered in these three holes are similar. In each, the colemanite is in fine-grained sediments that lie below sands and gravels, which are about 600 to 800 feet thick, and are underlain by sandstones and conglomerates. Colemanite is most abundant in the cores from Four Corners to hole No. 5, particularly in the 76 feet of core recovered between depths of 1,051 and 1,131 feet. Chemical analysis shows that in this section of core the average content of B203 is above 14 percent. In addition to colemanite, the cores contain sulfides of arsenic, an unusual iron sulfide, and zeolites. This mineralogy of the colemanite-bearing sediments north of Four Corners, together with the general lake bed lithology and the occurrence as a tilted section of beds below sands and gravels, supports correlation with the upper or marginal parts of the borate-bearin8 sediments at the Kramer borate mining district, which have similar features. There is, however, no evidence that any beds are exactly equivalent in age.

Open-File Report

Geologic map and digital database of the Porcupine Wash 7.5 minute Quadrangle, Riverside County, southern California

This data set maps and describes the geology of the Porcupine Wash 7.5 minute quadrangle, Riverside County, southern California. The quadrangle, situated in Joshua Tree National Park in the eastern Transverse Ranges physiographic and structural province, encompasses parts of the Hexie Mountains, Cottonwood Mountains, northern Eagle Mountains, and south flank of Pinto Basin. It is underlain by a basement terrane comprising Proterozoic metamorphic rocks, Mesozoic plutonic rocks, and Mesozoic and Mesozoic or Cenozoic hypabyssal dikes. The basement terrane is capped by a widespread Tertiary erosion surface preserved in remnants in the Eagle and Cottonwood Mountains and buried beneath Cenozoic deposits in Pinto Basin. Locally, Miocene basalt overlies the erosion surface. A sequence of at least three Quaternary pediments is planed into the north piedmont of the Eagle and Hexie Mountains, each in turn overlain by successively younger residual and alluvial deposits. The Tertiary erosion surface is deformed and broken by north-northwest-trending, high-angle, dip-slip faults and an east-west trending system of high-angle dip- and left-slip faults. East-west trending faults are younger than and perhaps in part coeval with faults of the northwest-trending set. The Porcupine Wash database was created using ARCVIEW and ARC/INFO, which are geographical information system (GIS) software products of Envronmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). The database consists of the following items: (1) a map coverage showing faults and geologic contacts and units, (2) a separate coverage showing dikes, (3) a coverage showing structural data, (4) a scanned topographic base at a scale of 1:24,000, and (5) attribute tables for geologic units (polygons and regions), contacts (arcs), and site-specific data (points). The database, accompanied by a pamphlet file and this metadata file, also includes the following graphic and text products: (1) A portable document file (.pdf) containing a navigable graphic of the geologic map on a 1:24,000 topographic base. The map is accompanied by a marginal explanation consisting of a Description of Map and Database Units (DMU), a Correlation of Map and Database Units (CMU), and a key to point-and line-symbols. (2) Separate .pdf files of the DMU and CMU, individually. (3) A PostScript graphic-file containing the geologic map on a 1:24,000 topographic base accompanied by the marginal explanation. (4) A pamphlet that describes the database and how to access it. Within the database, geologic contacts , faults, and dikes are represented as lines (arcs), geologic units as polygons and regions, and site-specific data as points. Polygon, arc, and point attribute tables (.pat, .aat, and .pat, respectively) uniquely identify each geologic datum and link it to other tables (.rel) that provide more detailed geologic information.

California

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

Preliminary geologic map of the Mount Hood 30- by 60-minute Quadrangle, Northern Cascade Range, Oregon

This map shows the geology of the central and eastern parts of the Cascade Range in northern Oregon. The Quaternary andesitic stratovolcano of Mount Hood dominates the northwest quarter of the quadrangle, but nearly the entire area is underlain by arc-related volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of the Cascade Range. Most stratigraphic units were emplaced since middle Miocene time, and all are Oligocene or younger. Despite the proximity of the map area to the Portland metropolitan area, large parts remained virtually unstudied or known only from limited reconnaissance until the late 1970s. A notable exception is the area surrounding Mount Hood, where mapping and chemical analyses by Wise (1969) provided a framework for geologic interpretation. Mapping since 1975 was conducted first to understand the stratigraphy and structure of the Columbia River Basalt Group (Anderson, 1978; Vogt, 1981; J.L. Anderson, in Swanson and others, 1981; Vandiver-Powell, 1978; Burck, 1986) and later to examine the geothermal potential of Mount Hood (Priest and others, 1982). Additional mapping was completed in 1985 for a geologic map of the Cascade Range in Oregon (Sherrod and Smith, 1989). From 1987 to 1990, detailed mapping was conducted in three 15-minute quadrangles on a limited basis (D.R. Sherrod, unpublished mapping) (see fig. 1 for index to mapping). An ongoing volcanic hazards study of Mount Hood by the U.S. Geological Survey (Scott and others, 1994) has provided the catalyst for completing the geologic map of the Mount Hood 30-minute by 60-minute quadrangle. As of June 1994, only two broad areas still remain largely unmapped. One of these areas, labeled 'unmapped' on the geologic map, lies in the Salmon River valley south of Zigzag along the west margin of the quadrangle. Although strata of the Columbia River Basalt Group in the Salmon River valley were mapped in detail by Burck (1986), the overlying middle and upper(?) Miocene lava flows, volcaniclastic strata, and intrusions have never been studied. The other poorly known area, the Mutton Mountains in the southeastern part of the map area, consists of Oligocene and lower Miocene volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks. Overlying lava flows of the Columbia River Basalt Group were mapped in some detail by Anderson (in Swanson and others, 1981).

Open-File Report

Geology of the Ugashik-Mount Peulik Volcanic Center, Alaska

The Ugashik-Mount Peulik volcanic center, 550 km southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula, consists of the late Quaternary 5-km-wide Ugashik caldera and the stratovolcano Mount Peulik built on the north flank of Ugashik. The center has been the site of explosive volcanism including a caldera-forming eruption and post-caldera dome-destructive activity. Mount Peulik has been formed entirely in Holocene time and erupted in 1814 and 1845. A large lava dome occupies the summit crater, which is breached to the west. A smaller dome is perched high on the southeast flank of the cone. Pyroclastic-flow deposits form aprons below both domes. One or more sector-collapse events occurred early in the formation of Mount Peulik volcano resulting in a large area of debris-avalanche deposits on the volcano's northwest flank. The Ugashik-Mount Peulik center is a calcalkaline suite of basalt, andesite, dacite, and rhyolite, ranging in SiO2 content from 51 to 72 percent. The Ugashik-Mount Peulik magmas appear to be co-genetic in a broad sense and their compositional variation has probably resulted from a combination of fractional crystallization and magma-mixing. The most likely scenario for a future eruption is that one or more of the summit domes on Mount Peulik are destroyed as new magma rises to the surface. Debris avalanches and pyroclastic flows may then move down the west and, less likely, east flanks of the volcano for distances of 10 km or more. A new lava dome or series of domes would be expected to form either during or within some few years after the explosive disruption of the previous dome. This cycle of dome disruption, pyroclastic flow generation, and new dome formation could be repeated several times in a single eruption. The volcano poses little direct threat to human population as the area is sparsely populated. The most serious hazard is the effect of airborne volcanic ash on aircraft since Mount Peulik sits astride heavily traveled air routes connecting the U.S. and Europe to Asia. Activity of the type described could produce eruption columns to heights of 15 km and result in significant amounts of ash 250-300 km downwind.

Alaska

Ground-water resources of the lower Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin in parts of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia — Subarea 4 of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint and Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River basins

The study area is underlain by Coastal Plain sediments of pre-Cretaceous to Quaternary age consisting of alternating units of sand, clay, sandstone, dolomite, and limestone that gradually thicken and dip gently to the southeast. The Upper Floridan aquifer is composed of an off lapping sequence of clastic and carbonate sediments consisting of the Clinchfield Sand, the Ocala, Suwannee, and Tampa Limestones, and the Marianna Formation. The Intermediate system consists of the Intracoastal, Chipola, and Jackson Bluff Formations, is limited in areal extent to the southern part of the basin in Florida, and constitutes an aquifer of low yield. The aquifer-stream-reservoir (flow) system is defined by surface water in hydraulic connection with aquifers and semi-confining units. Simulation of the flow system by using the U.S. Geological Survey’s MODular Finite-Element model (MODFE) of two-dimensional ground-water flow indicated that ground-water availability in Alabama is affected most by changes to lateral and vertical boundary conditions to the Upper Floridan aquifer that might occur in that state, and is affected minimally by changes to ground- and surface-water levels in Georgia. Incomplete hydrologic information precludes definitive assessment of ground- water-resource potential, overpumpage, and potential for additional development; however, simulated-increased pumpage at more than 3 times the October 1986 rates caused drying of the Upper Floridan aquifer in parts of Miller and Lee Counties, Ga. Evaluation of ground-water-development potential in the virtually untapped Intermediate system has questionable reliability due to the lack of data. Increased hypothetical pumpage over October 1986 rates for the Upper Floridan aquifer, located almost entirely in Georgia, indicated reduction in ground-water discharge to streams that reduced flow in the Apalachicola River and to the Bay, especially during droughts. Water budgets prepared from simulation results indicate that discharge to streams and recharge by horizontal and vertical flow are principal hydro-logic mechanisms for moving water into, out of, or through aquifers. The Intermediate system contributes less than 2 percent of the total simulated ground-water discharge to streams; thus, it does not represent an important source of water for the Apalachicola River and Bay.

Alabama, Florida, Georgia

Water resources of the Zuni Tribal Lands, McKinley and Cibola counties, New Mexico

An evaluation of the water resources of the Zuni Tribal lands in west-central New Mexico was made to determine the yield, variability, and quality of water available to the Pueblo of Zuni. This study is needed to aid in orderly development of these resources. Rocks of Permian to Quaternary age supply stock, irrigation, and domestic water to the Zuni Indians. The Glorieta Sandstone and San Andres Limestone (Glorieta-San Andres aquifer) of Permian age and sandstones in the Chinle Formation of Triassic age provide most of this water supply. Water in the Glorieta-San Andres aquifer is confined by minimal-permeability shales and is transmitted through the aquifer along interconnected solution channels and fractures. Water-level and water-quality information indicate greater hydraulic conductivities along the southern boundaries of Zuni Tribal lands. Well yields from the Glorieta-San Andres aquifer are as much as 150 gallons per minute and aquifer transmissivity ranges from 30 to 1,400 feet squared per day. Long-term, water-level declines of as much as 29 feet have been measured near pumping centers at Black Rock. Multiple-well aquifer tests are needed to further define aquifer properties (storage, transmissivity, and leakage from confining units) and the effects of well design on well yields. Dissolved-solids concentrations in water from the aquifer ranged from 331 to 1,068 milligrams per liter. Calcium and sulfate are the predominant ions. Water in sandstones of the Chinle Formation is confined by adjacent shales and is transmitted along interconnected fractures. Well yields range from 5 to 125 gallons per minute and aquifer transmissivity ranges from 40 to 1,400 feet squared per day. Water-level declines of as much as 27 feet have been measured near Zuni Village. Dissolved-solids concentrations in water from the aquifer ranged from 215 to 1,980 milligrams per liter. Sodium and bicarbonate are the predominant ions. Other sources of ground water are used primarily for livestock watering by means of windmills, with the exception of buried alluvial channel deposits along the Rio Pescado. These deposits provide domestic and irrigation water through springs and wells to Pescado and Black Rock. The Bidahochi Formation of Miocene and Pliocene age could potentially provide an additional supply of water chemically suitable for most uses. Seismic-reflection techniques are being used to locate buried channels eroded in the rocks underlying the Bidahochi Formation. These buried channels may contain thicker sections of saturated sands and gravels that could be developed for stock and domestic use.

New Mexico

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

Geology, hydrology, and water quality in the Fresno area, California

The Fresno area comprises about 1.400 square miles lying west of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and east of the trough of the San Joaquin Valley. The rainfall averages less than 10 inches per year causing agricultural development to depend mainly on surface-water deliveries and ground-water pumpage. Surface-water deliveries and ground-water pumpage, however, vary considerably from year to year. For example, in agricultural year 1958 (April 1, 1958-March 31, 1959) surface-water deliveries were about 1,340,000 acre-feet and agricultural ground-water pumpage was about 1,740,000 acre-feet, but in agricultural year 1960 deliveries were only about 560,000 acre-feet and pumpage was about 2,520,000 acre-feet. Alluvial fans are the dominant geomorphic features in the area. Small alluvial fans have been formed near the foothills by the deposits from the numerous intermittent streams that lie both north and south of the Kings River. Thicker and much more extensive alluvial fans have been formed under most of the area by deposits from the San Joaquin and Kings Rivers. Geologic units in the area consist of consolidated rocks and unconsolidated deposits. In turn, consolidated rocks consist of basement complex of pre-Tertiary age and marine and continental sedimentary rocks of Cretaceous and Tertiary age. Unconsolidated deposits are of both Tertiary and Quaternary age. Most of the geologic units dip gently southwestward approximately paralleling the back slope of the Sierra Nevada. Although some of these geologic units are faulted, especially in the deep subsurface, faulting has not affected the occurrence and movement of fresh ground water. The basement complex crops out along the eastern border of the area and yields only small amounts of water to wells; the marine and continental sedimentary rocks do not crop out in the area and do not yield any water to wells. The unconsolidated deposits are divided into an older series of Tertiary and Quaternary age, and a younger series of Quaternary age. The continental deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age crop out beneath the extreme southeastern part of the area and yield small amounts of water to wells, and the deposits of Quaternary age crop out over most of the area and yield more than 90 percent of the water pumped from wells. The deposits of Quaternary age in turn are divided into older alluvium, lacustrine and marsh deposits, younger alluvium, flood-basin deposits. and sand dunes. The older alluvium is by far the most important aquifer in the Fresno area. It consists of intercalated lenses of clay, silt, silty and sandy clay, clayey and silty sand, sand, gravel, cobbles, and boulders, and in general it is fine grained near the trough of the valley and beneath the alluvial fans of intermittent streams. In the older alluvium, yields to wells range from less than 20 gpm (gallons per minute) to more than 3,000 gpm. The lacustrine and marsh deposits occur only in the subsurface in the western part of the area. Consisting mostly of silt and clay, they are virtually impermeable and thus restrict the vertical movement of water. These deposits from oldest to youngest are designated the E-clay, the C-clay, and the A-clay. The E-clay is the thickest and most extensive of all the lacustrine and marsh deposits. Because the clays tend to confine ground water in the Fresno area, five water bodies are recognized. These are the unconfined water body, the shallow water body, the confined water body below the A-clay, the confined water body below the C-clay, and the confined water body below the E-clay. The unconfined water body underlies most of the Fresno area. The shallow and confined water bodies underlie parts of the extreme western part of the area. There, heads in successively underlying water bodies are less than those in overlying water bodies, indicating that some ground water moves slowly downward through the clays. From agricultural years 1957 to 1962, outflow in the area exceeded inflow. As a result, for this period, the Fresno area had a net deficit of about 2,890,000 acre-feet. This deficit was made up for mostly by a decline in ground water stored. Water levels in all water bodies have been declining over the years, yet when streamflow and canal deliveries are large they show a general rise. The general movement of ground water in the Fresno area is toward the southwest, although pumping depressions near Fresno and near the western part of the area, cause ground water to move northward, southward, and westward toward them.

California

Surficial Geologic Map of the Worcester North-Oxford- Wrentham-Attleboro Nine-Quadrangle Area in South- Central Massachusetts

The surficial geologic map layer shows the distribution of nonlithified earth materials at land surface in an area of nine 7.5-minute quadrangles (417 mi2 total) in south-central Massachusetts (fig. 1). Across Massachusetts, these materials range from a few feet to more than 500 ft in thickness. They overlie bedrock, which crops out in upland hills and in resistant ledges in valley areas. The geologic map differentiates surficial materials of Quaternary age on the basis of their lithologic characteristics (such as grain size and sedimentary structures), constructional geomorphic features, stratigraphic relationships, and age. Surficial materials also are known in engineering classifications as unconsolidated soils, which include coarse-grained soils, fine-grained soils, or organic fine-grained soils. Surficial materials underlie and are the parent materials of modern pedogenic soils, which have developed in them at the land surface. Surficial earth materials significantly affect human use of the land, and an accurate description of their distribution is particularly important for water resources, construction aggregate resources, earth-surface hazards assessments, and land-use decisions. The mapped distribution of surficial materials that lie between the land surface and the bedrock surface is based on detailed geologic mapping of 7.5-minute topographic quadrangles, produced as part of an earlier (1938-1982) cooperative statewide mapping program between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Massachusetts Department of Public Works (now Massachusetts Highway Department) (Page, 1967; Stone, 1982). Each published geologic map presents a detailed description of local geologic map units, the genesis of the deposits, and age correlations among units. Previously unpublished field compilation maps exist on paper or mylar sheets and these have been digitally rendered for the present map compilation. Regional summaries based on the Massachusetts surficial geologic mapping studies discuss the ages of multiple glaciations, the nature of glaciofluvial, glaciolacustrine, and glaciomarine deposits, and the processes of ice advance and retreat across Massachusetts (Koteff and Pessl, 1981; papers in Larson and Stone, 1982; Oldale and Barlow, 1986; Stone and Borns, 1986; Warren and Stone, 1986). This compilation of surficial geologic materials is an interim product that defines the areas of exposed bedrock and the boundaries between glacial till, glacial stratified deposits, and overlying postglacial deposits. This work is part of a comprehensive study to produce a statewide digital map of the surficial geology at a 1:24,000-scale level of accuracy. This surficial geologic map layer covering nine quadrangles revises previous digital surficial geologic maps (Stone and others, 1993; MassGIS, 1999) that were compiled on base maps at regional scales of 1:125,000 and 1:250,000. The purpose of this study is to provide fundamental geologic data for the evaluation of natural resources, hazards, and land information within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Open-File Report

Geologic map and digital database of the Conejo Well 7.5 minute quadrangle, Riverside County, southern California

This data set maps and describes the geology of the Conejo Well 7.5 minute quadrangle, Riverside County, southern California. The quadrangle, situated in Joshua Tree National Park in the eastern Transverse Ranges physiographic and structural province, encompasses part of the northern Eagle Mountains and part of the south flank of Pinto Basin. It is underlain by a basement terrane comprising Proterozoic metamorphic rocks, Mesozoic plutonic rocks, and Mesozoic and Mesozoic or Cenozoic hypabyssal dikes. The basement terrane is capped by a widespread Tertiary erosion surface preserved in remnants in the Eagle Mountains and buried beneath Cenozoic deposits in Pinto Basin. Locally, Miocene basalt overlies the erosion surface. A sequence of at least three Quaternary pediments is planed into the north piedmont of the Eagle Mountains, each in turn overlain by successively younger residual and alluvial deposits. The Tertiary erosion surface is deformed and broken by north-northwest-trending, high-angle, dip-slip faults in the Eagle Mountains and an east-west trending system of high-angle dip- and left-slip faults. In and adjacent to the Conejo Well quadrangle, faults of the northwest-trending set displace Miocene sedimentary rocks and basalt deposited on the Tertiary erosion surface and Pliocene and (or) Pleistocene deposits that accumulated on the oldest pediment. Faults of this system appear to be overlain by Pleistocene deposits that accumulated on younger pediments. East-west trending faults are younger than and perhaps in part coeval with faults of the northwest-trending set. The Conejo Well database was created using ARCVIEW and ARC/INFO, which are geographical information system (GIS) software products of Envronmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). The database consists of the following items: (1) a map coverage showing faults and geologic contacts and units, (2) a separate coverage showing dikes, (3) a coverage showing structural data, (4) a point coverage containing line ornamentation, and (5) a scanned topographic base at a scale of 1:24,000. The coverages include attribute tables for geologic units (polygons and regions), contacts (arcs), and site-specific data (points). The database, accompanied by a pamphlet file and this metadata file, also includes the following graphic and text products: (1) A portable document file (.pdf) containing a navigable graphic of the geologic map on a 1:24,000 topographic base. The map is accompanied by a marginal explanation consisting of a Description of Map and Database Units (DMU), a Correlation of Map and Database Units (CMU), and a key to point-and line-symbols. (2) Separate .pdf files of the DMU and CMU, individually. (3) A PostScript graphic-file containing the geologic map on a 1:24,000 topographic base accompanied by the marginal explanation. (4) A pamphlet that describes the database and how to access it. Within the database, geologic contacts , faults, and dikes are represented as lines (arcs), geologic units as polygons and regions, and site-specific data as points. Polygon, arc, and point attribute tables (.pat, .aat, and .pat, respectively) uniquely identify each geologic datum and link it to other tables (.rel) that provide more detailed geologic information.

California

Quaternary stratigraphic sections with radiocarbon dates, Chandler Lake Quadrangle, Alaska

Twenty-eight organic samples from 17 localities in the Anaktuvuk, Tulunga, and Itkillik Valleys and at Shainin Lake range in age from more than 40,000 to about 1000 14C yr B.P. These dates, combined with fossil identifications and measured stratigraphic sections, provide significant insights into the history of glaciation, climatic change, and related events of late Quaternary time in the north-central Brooks Range. Two dates from Tulunga Valley show that peat-forming intervals during the middle Wisconsin and during an earlier period were terminated by episodes of loess accretion that probably correspond to glaciations in the Brooks Range. The Anayaknaurak Bluff exposure in Anaktuvuk Valley contains a weathered till of the Banded Mountain (Itkillik I) glaciation overlain by unweathered outwash gravel of Antler Valley (Itkillik II) age. Radiocarbon dates from finer alluvium above the outwash indicate that a subsequent glacial readvance north of the range front occurred shortly after 13,000 yr B.P. This event was synchronous with a major glacial readvance that culminated between about 12,900 and 12,700 yr B.P. farther east in the Atigun and Sagavanirktok Valleys. Additional dates from Anaktuvuk Valley show that glacier ice had retreated from the Antler Valley end-moraine complex by 10,600 yr B.P. The elongate basin that formed behind the moraine dam was being filled by alluvium at this time, and filling continued as late as 6200 yr B.P. near the range front. A possible climatic reversal during this interval is suggested by dates from Anaktuvuk Valley and from Toolik Valley farther east, which show peat formation between about 9500 and 8200 yr B.P. followed by solifluction and fan-building. Soil test pits and other excavations near Anaktuvuk Pass show that the pass was deglaciated some time prior to 7250 yr B.P., and was suitable for human habitation by at least 6500 yr B.P. Dated buried peat suggests a change to more severe frost climate sometime after about 4750 yr B.P. Other dates from the Chandler Lake quadrangle bear mainly on formation of low (generally 2.5 to 6 m) river terraces during intervals of renewed glaciation at valley heads during the late Holocene. Neoglaciation in the north-central Brooks Range evidently began about 3500 yr B.P., or at least was perceptible by this time as increased loess influx to sites north of the range front. Stream alluviation was in progress 2800-2700 yr B.P. at sites near Anaktuvuk Pass, and continued until sometime after 2000 yr B.P. Final phases of alluviation began about 1200 and 450 yr B.P. Independent dating of cirque-glacier advances by lichenometry supports the alluvial chronology and suggests that alluviation was controlled largely by increased sediment yield to streams during times of cirque-glacier expansion and increased rock-glacier activity.

Alaska

Stratigraphy, structure, and geologic and coastal hazards in the Penuelas to Salinas area, southern Puerto Rico: A compendium of published literature

The Puerto Rico Electrical Power Authority has proposed construction of a pipeline to convey natural gas from the municipio of Peñuelas to the Aguirre thermoelectric power plant in the municipio of Salinas in southern Puerto Rico. To ensure that the geologic conditions along the possible routes do not represent a threat to the physical integrity of the natural gas pipeline, and thus comply with State and Federal regulations, the Puerto Rico Electrical Power Authority requested the U.S. Geological Survey to provide a synthesis of published literature of the geology of the coastal plain in the Peñuelas to Salinas area. The study area is located in part of the Southern Coastal Plain of Puerto Rico. In the area that extends from the municipio of Peñuelas eastward to the Laguna de las Salinas at Ponce, a distance of about 5 miles, the study area is underlain by middle Tertiary carbonate units. Eastward from the Laguna de las Salinas to the pipeline terminus at the Aguirre power plant in Salinas, a distance of about 30 miles, the terrain is underlain by fan-delta deposits of Quaternary age. The carbonate units and the fan-delta deposits are underlain by early Tertiary and older-age volcaniclastics with subordinate sedimentary rocks and lavas. The Great Southern Puerto Rico Fault Zone is the principal geologic structural feature in southern Puerto Rico. At present, the Great Southern Puerto Rico Fault Zone is considered largely quiescent, although it apparently is associated with minor earthquakes. There is no evidence of terrestrial, late Quaternary faulting within the Peñuelas to Salinas area. Seismic activity in this area mostly originates from extension zones of more distal shallow sources such as Mona Canyon to the northwest and the Anegada Trough northeast of the island of Puerto Rico. The magnitude of completeness of earthquakes in the study area ranges from 2.0 to 2.5. The seismic density for the southern coast including the study area is about 0.128 earthquakes per square mile, which is close to the average for southwestern Puerto Rico. The estimated maximum peak ground acceleration most likely to occur in the study area, due to shallow depth seismicity with 2 percent probability of exceedance in 50 years, is 9 feet per second squared, as obtained by modeling results. The estimated peak ground acceleration with 2 percent probability of exceedance in 50 years, due to deep seismicity is 7 feet per second squared. In Ponce, the probability of exceedance per year is higher than 0.1 for the peak ground acceleration values less than 1 that result from shallow depth seismicity sources such as the Mona Passage extension zone. The potential for liquefaction due to seismic activity may exist in areas near the coastline that have loosely to poorly consolidated sedimentary deposits and a water table close to or at the land surface. Slope failure susceptibility within the study area, due to rainfall and seismic activity, may be limited to the area that extends westward from Laguna de las Salinas to Peñuelas. In this area, foothills with slopes exceeding 10 degrees are close to the coastline and are underlain by clayey limestone and marls. In the remaining part of the study area, eastward from Laguna de las Salinas to Salinas, the land is either nearly flat or has a slope of less than 10 degrees; consequently, the susceptibility to landsliding (slope failure) caused by seismic activity and rainfall is considered to be minimal or nonexistent. Based on modeling results from a previous study, the estimated maximum inland extent of tsunami-induced flooding is 2,600 feet in the Laguna de las Salinas and Boca Chica, located in Ponce and Juana Díaz, respectively. Flooding about 3,000 and 2,800 feet from the coastline are estimated for areas near Punta Cabullón and Jobos areas, respectively. According to the modeling results, the estimated maximum runup of the tsunami-induced flooding ranges from 9 to 14 feet for the Boca Chica and Punta Cabullón areas, respectively.

Puerto Rico

Ground-water resources of the Alabama River Basin in Alabama; Subarea 8 of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint and Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basins

Drought conditions in the 1980's focused attention on the multiple uses of the surface- and ground-water resources in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) and Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) River basins in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. State and Federal agencies also have proposed projects that would require additional water resources and revise operating practices within the river basins. The existing and proposed water projects create conflicting demands for water by the States and emphasize the problem of water-resource allocation. This study was initiated to describe ground-water availability in the Alabama River basin of Alabama, Subarea 8 of the ACF and ACT River basins, and to estimate the possible effects of increased ground-water use within the basin. Subarea 8 encompasses about 6,750 square miles in the Coastal Plain physiographic province in central and southwestern Alabama. The Alabama River extends from the juncture of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers near the city of Montgomery, to its juncture with the Tombigbee River, near the town of Calvert in Washington County. Subarea 8 includes the Cahaba River basin from the physiographic 'Fall Line' at the city of Centreville in Bibb County, to its mouth in Dallas County; and the Alabama River basin from near Montgomery to the Alabama River cutoff, about 6 miles northeast of its juncture with the Tombigbee River. The study area is underlain by sedimentary deposits of Cretaceous, Tertiary, and Quaternary ages. Major aquifers underlying Subarea 8 are, from shallowest to deepest, the Coastal lowlands aquifer system, the Floridan aquifer system, the Lisbon aquifer, The Nanafalia-Clayton aquifer, the Ripley aquifer, the Eutaw aquifer, and the Tuscaloosa aquifer. The conceptual model described for this study qualitatively subdivides the ground-water flow system into local (shallow), intermediate, and regional (deep) flow regimes. Ground-water discharge to tributaries mainly is from local and intermediate flow regimes and varies seasonally. The regional flow regime probably approximates steady- state conditions and discharges chiefly to major drains such as the Alabama River, and in upstream areas, to the Cahaba River. Ground-water discharge to major drains originates from all flow regimes. Mean-annual ground-water discharge to streams (baseflow) is considered to approximate the long-term, average recharge to ground water. The mean-annual baseflow was estimated using an automated hydrograph- separation method, and represents discharge from the local, intermediate, and regional flow regimes of the ground-water flow system. Mean-annual baseflow discharging from Subarea 8 was estimated to be 20,300 cubic feet per second. Mean-annual baseflow represented about 61 percent of total mean-annual stream discharge for the period of record. Estimated and measured stream discharge for selected sites on the Alabama River and its tributaries were compiled for the years 1941, 1954, and 1986, during which sustained droughts occurred throughout most of the ACF-ACT area. Stream discharges were assumed to be sustained entirely by baseflow during the latter periods of these droughts. Estimated baseflow near the end of the individual drought years was about 17 percent of the estimated mean-annual baseflow at the Alabama River cutoff, the most downstream point of Subarea 8. The potential exists for the development of ground-water resources on a regional scale throughout Subarea 8. Estimated ground-water use in 1990 was less than 1 percent of the estimated mean-annual baseflow, and about 2.4 percent of baseflow during the droughts of 1941, 1954, and 1986. Because ground-water use in Subareas 5 and 6 represents a relatively minor percentage of ground-water recharge, even a large increase in ground-water use in Subareas 5 and 6 in Georgia probably would have little effect on the quantity of ground water and surface water in Alabama. In addition, ground-water use in Subarea 3 in Georgia probably h

Open-File Report