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Graphical viewer for displaying locations and logs of selected wells and test holes in Putnam County, New York

Aquifers (water bearing geologic units) are the primary source of drinking water in most of Putnam County, N.Y. The principal sources of data used to define the geometry and hydraulic characteristics of aquifers are the logs of wells and test holes within the county. This report explains how to use a graphical viewer, available on the World Wide Web (http://ny.water.usgs.gov/pubs/of/of051198), to locate selected wells and test holes in Putnam County and display their logs.

Open-File Report↗

Characteristics of Fault Zones in Volcanic Rocks Near Yucca Flat, Nevada Test Site, Nevada

During 2005 and 2006, the USGS conducted geological studies of fault zones at surface outcrops at the Nevada Test Site. The objectives of these studies were to characterize fault geometry, identify the presence of fault splays, and understand the width and internal architecture of fault zones. Geologic investigations were conducted at surface exposures in upland areas adjacent to Yucca Flat, a basin in the northeastern part of the Nevada Test Site; these data serve as control points for the interpretation of the subsurface data collected at Yucca Flat by other USGS scientists. Fault zones in volcanic rocks near Yucca Flat differ in character and width as a result of differences in the degree of welding and alteration of the protolith, and amount of fault offset. Fault-related damage zones tend to scale with fault offset; damage zones associated with large-offset faults (>100 m) are many tens of meters wide, whereas damage zones associated with smaller-offset faults are generally a only a meter or two wide. Zeolitically-altered tuff develops moderate-sized damage zones whereas vitric nonwelded, bedded and airfall tuff have very minor damage zones, often consisting of the fault zone itself as a deformation band, with minor fault effect to the surrounding rock mass. These differences in fault geometry and fault zone architecture in surface analog sites can serve as a guide toward interpretation of high-resolution subsurface geophysical results from Yucca Flat.

Open-File Report↗

A Brief Test of the Tokyo Sokushin VSE-355G3 Strong Motion Velocity Seismometer

The VSE-355G3 seismometer is a broadband seismometer (called a 'servo velocity meter' by Tokyo Sokushin) with a specified clip level of 2 m/s and a flat response to earth velocity from 0.008 Hertz (Hz) to 70 Hz. Mr. Yokoi and Mr. Kurahashi of Tokyo Sokushin shipped one instrument to the U. S. Geological Survey's Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory (ASL) for testing in early September 2007. They gave a presentation on this instrument and some of their other products to the authors and others on September 6, 2007. Testing of the VSE-355G3, Serial Number 70520, commenced on Friday, September 7, 2007.

Open-File Report↗

Drilling and testing the DOI-04-1A coalbed methane well, Fort Yukon, Alaska

The need for affordable energy sources is acute in rural communities of Alaska where costly diesel fuel must be delivered by barge or plane for power generation. Additionally, the transport, transfer, and storage of fuel pose great difficulty in these regions. Although small-scale energy development in remote Arctic locations presents unique challenges, identifying and developing economic, local sources of energy remains a high priority for state and local government. Many areas in rural Alaska contain widespread coal resources that may contain significant amounts of coalbed methane (CBM) that, when extracted, could be used for power generation. However, in many of these areas, little is known concerning the properties that control CBM occurrence and production, including coal bed geometry, coalbed gas content and saturation, reservoir permeability and pressure, and water chemistry. Therefore, drilling and testing to collect these data are required to accurately assess the viability of CBM as a potential energy source in most locations. In 2004, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Alaska Department of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS), the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), the Doyon Native Corporation, and the village of Fort Yukon, organized and funded the drilling of a well at Fort Yukon, Alaska to test coal beds for CBM developmental potential. Fort Yukon is a town of about 600 people and is composed mostly of Gwich'in Athabascan Native Americans. It is located near the center of the Yukon Flats Basin, approximately 145 mi northeast of Fairbanks.

Alaska↗

The Partition Intervalometer: A Programmable Underwater Timer for Marking Accumulated Sediment Profiles Collected in Anderson Sediment Traps: Development, Operation, Testing Procedures, and Field Results

This manual illustrates the development of a programmable instrument designed to deploy a series of wafer-shaped discs (partitions) into the collection tube of a sediment trap in various aquatic environments. These hydrodynamically shaped discs are deployed at discrete time intervals from the Intervalometer and provide markers that delineate time intervals within the sediments that accumulate in the collection tube. The timer and mechanical system are lodged in an air-filled, water-tight pressure housing that is vertically hung within the confines of a cone-shaped sediment trap. The instrumentation has been operationally pressure tested to an equivalent water depth of approximately 1 km. Flaws discovered during extensive laboratory and pressure testing resulted in the implementation of several mechanical modifications (such as a redesign of the rotor and the discs) that improved the operation of the rotor assembly as well as the release of discs through the end cap. These results also identified a preferred azimuth placement of the rotor disc relative to the drop hole of the end cap. In the initial field trial, five sediment traps and coupled Intervalometers were attached to moored arrays and deployed at two sites off the coast of Southern California for approximately 8 months. Each of the instruments released 18 discs at the programmed 10 day intervals, except one unit, which experienced a malfunction after approximately 4 months. Most of the discs oriented in a near-horizontal position upon the surface of the sediment in the collection tubes. Sampling of the sediments for geochemical analyses was improved by these clearly defined markers, which indicated the changes in the flux and nature of sediments accumulated during the deployment period of each sediment trap.

Open-File Report↗

Sediment pore-water toxicity test results and preliminary toxicity identification of post-landfall pore-water samples collected following the Deepwater Horizon oil release, Gulf of Mexico, 2010

Pore water from coastal beach and marsh sediments from the northern Gulf of Mexico, pre- and post-landfall of the Deepwater Horizon oil release, were collected and evaluated for toxicity with the sea urchin fertilization and embryological development assays. There were 17 pre-landfall samples and 49 post-landfall samples tested using both assays. Toxicity was determined in four pre-landfall sites and in seven post-landfall sites in one or both assays as compared to a known reference sediment pore-water sample collected in Aransas Bay, Texas. Further analysis and testing of five of the post-landfall toxic samples utilizing Toxicity Identification Evaluation techniques indicated that ammonia, and to a lesser extent metals, contributed to most, if not all, of the observed toxicity in four of the five samples. Results of one sample (MS-39) indicated evidence that ammonia, metals, and non-ionic organics were contributing to the observed toxicity.

Gulf of Mexico↗

Cone penetration tests and soil borings at the Mason Road site in Green Valley, Solano County, California

In support of a study to investigate the history of the Green Valley Fault, 13 cone penetration test soundings and 3 auger borings were made at the Mason Road site in Green Valley, Solano County, California. Three borings were made at or near two of the cone penetration test soundings. The soils are mostly clayey with a few sandy layers or lenses. Fine-grained soils range from low plasticity sandy lean clay to very plastic fat clay. Lack of stratigraphic correlation in the subsurface prevented us from determining whether any channels had been offset at this site. Because the soils are generally very clayey and few sand layers or lenses are loose, the liquefaction potential at the site is very low.

Open-File Report↗

A brief test of the Hewlett-Packard MEMS seismic accelerometer

Testing was performed on a prototype of Hewlett-Packard (HP) Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) seismic accelerometer at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory. This prototype was built using discrete electronic components. The self-noise level was measured during low seismic background conditions and found to be 9.8 ng/√Hz at periods below 0.2 s (frequencies above 5 Hz). The six-second microseism noise was also discernible. The HP MEMS accelerometer was compared to a Geotech Model GS-13 reference seismometer during seismic noise and signal levels well above the self-noise of the accelerometer. Matching power spectral densities (corrected for accelerometer and seismometer responses to represent true ground motion) indicated that the HP MEMS accelerometer has a flat (constant) response to acceleration from 0.0125 Hz to at least 62.5 Hz. Tilt calibrations of the HP MEMS accelerometer verified that the flat response to acceleration extends to 0 Hz. Future development of the HP MEMS accelerometer includes replacing the discreet electronic boards with a low power application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and increasing the dynamic range of the sensor to detect strong motion signals above one gravitational acceleration, while maintaining the self-noise observed during these tests.

Open-File Report↗

Methow River Studies, Washington: abundance estimates from Beaver Creek and the Chewuch River screw trap, methodology testing in the Whitefish Island side channel, and survival and detection estimates from hatchery fish releases, 2013

Salmon and steelhead populations have been severely depleted in the Columbia River from factors such as the presence of tributary dams, unscreened irrigation diversions, and habitat degradation from logging, mining, grazing, and others (Raymond, 1988). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been funded by the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to provide evaluation of on-going Reclamation funded efforts to recover Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed anadromous salmonid populations in the Methow River watershed, a watershed of the Columbia River in the Upper Columbia River Basin, in north-central Washington State (fig. 1). This monitoring and evaluation program was funded to document Reclamation’s effort to partially fulfill the 2008 Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion (BiOp) (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Fisheries Division 2003). This Biological Opinion includes Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives (RPA) to protect listed salmon and steelhead across their life cycle. Species of concern in the Methow River include Upper Columbia River (UCR) spring Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ), UCR summer steelhead ( O. mykiss ), and bull trout ( Salvelinus confluentus ), which are all listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA. The work done by the USGS since 2004 has encompassed three phases of work. The first phase started in 2004 and continued through 2012. This first phase involved the evaluation of stream colonization and fish production in Beaver Creek following the modification of several water diversions (2000–2006) that were acting as barriers to upstream fish movement. Products to date from this work include: Ruttenburg (2007), Connolly and others (2008), Martens and Connolly (2008), Connolly (2010), Connolly and others (2010), Martens and Connolly (2010), Benjamin and others (2012), Romine and others (2013a), Weigel and others (2013a, 2013b, 2013c), and Martens and others (2014). The second phase, initiated in 2008, focuses on the evaluation of the M2 reach (rkm 66– 80) of the mainstem Methow River prior to restoration actions planned by Reclamation and Yakama Nation. The M2 study was designed to help understand the inter-relationships between stream habitat and the life history of various fish species to explain potential success or limitations in response to restoration actions. To help document changes derived by restoration, two reference reaches (Upper Methow between rkm 85 and 90, and Chewuch River between rkm 4 and 11) were identified based on relative lack of disturbance, proximity to the restoration reach, and relative unconfined geomorphology. A control reach (Lower Methow between rkm 57 and 64, also referred to as “Silver Reach”) was 2 identified based on its similar disturbance as the reference reach, proximity to the restoration reach, and relatively unconfined geomorphology. Products to date include Barber and others (2011), Bellmore (2011), Tibbits and others (2012), Bellmore and others (2013), Benjamin and others (2013), Romine and others (2013b), Bellmore and other (2014), Martens and others (2014), and Martens and Connolly (2014). The third phase of work has been to help with the development and to provide data for modeling efforts. Most of the planned M2 reach restoration is focused on the creation or improvement of offchannel habitat, especially side channels. The pre-restoration portion of this study has been documented by Martens and Connolly (2014). Side channel restoration actions were initiated in 2012 (Whitefish Island side channel, also referred to as SC3; rkm 76) and are planned to continue over the next several years. The Whitefish Island side channel was modified to maintain hydrological connection with the mainstem throughout the year. In addition, several log structures were installed and pools were deepened to create fish habitat. Prior to restoration, this side channel would lose hydrological connection with the mainstem Methow River, leaving one large pool near the bottom of the side channel and several shallow isolated pools that may or may not go dry. In seasonally connected side channels, juvenile salmonid survival in pools less than 100 cm average depth was lower than in pools greater than 100 cm average depth (Martens and Connolly, 2014). In this report, we document our field work and analysis completed in 2013. During 2013, USGS sampling efforts were focused on resampling of three reaches in Beaver Creek, testing methodology in the Whitefish Island side channel, conducting hatchery survival estimates, and operating a screw trap on the Chewuch River (funded by Yakama Nation; fig. 1). The Beaver Creek sampling effort was a revisit of three index sites sampled continuously from 2004 to 2007 to look at the fish response to barrier removal. Methodology testing in Whitefish Island side channel was done to determine the best method for evaluating fish populations after restoration efforts in side channels (previous sampling methods were determined to be ineffective after pools were deepened). Hatchery survival estimates were completed to monitor fish survival in the Methow and Columbia Rivers, while the screw trap was operated to estimate migrating fish populations in the Chewuch River and track passive integrated transponder (PIT)-tagged fish. In addition, we maintained a network of PIT-tag interrogation systems (PTIS), assisted Reclamation with fish removal events associated with stream restoration (two people for 9 days; 14 percent of summer field season), and conducted a stream metabolism study designed to help parameterize and calibrate the stream productivity model (Bellmore and others, 2014) with model validation.

Washington↗

Monitoring-well installation, slug testing, and groundwater quality for selected sites in South Park, Park County, Colorado, 2013

During May–June, 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Park County, Colorado, drilled and installed four groundwater monitoring wells in areas identified as needing new wells to provide adequate spatial coverage for monitoring water quality in the South Park basin. Lithologic logs and well-construction reports were prepared for each well, and wells were developed after drilling to remove mud and foreign material to provide for good hydraulic connection between the well and aquifer. Slug tests were performed to estimate hydraulic-conductivity values for aquifer materials in the screened interval of each well, and groundwater samples were collected from each well for analysis of major inorganic constituents, trace metals, nutrients, dissolved organic carbon, volatile organic compounds, ethane, methane, and radon. Documentation of lithologic logs, well construction, well development, slug testing, and groundwater sampling are presented in this report.

Colorado↗

Lithofacies and sequence stratigraphic description of the upper part of the Avon Park Formation and the Arcadia Formation in U.S. Geological Survey G–2984 test corehole, Broward County, Florida

Rock core and sediment from U.S. Geological Survey test corehole G–2984 completed in 2011 in Broward County, Florida, provide an opportunity to improve the understanding of the lithostratigraphic, sequence stratigraphic, and hydrogeologic framework of the intermediate confining unit and Floridan aquifer system in southeastern Florida. A multidisciplinary approach including characterization of sequence stratigraphy, lithofacies, ichnology, foraminiferal paleontology, depositional environments, porosity, and permeability was used to describe the geologic samples from this test corehole. This information has produced a detailed characterization of the lithofacies and sequence stratigraphy of the upper part of the middle Eocene Avon Park Formation and Oligocene to middle Miocene Arcadia Formation. This enhancement of the knowledge of the sequence stratigraphic framework is especially important, because subaerial karst unconformities at the upper boundary of depositional cycles at various hierarchical scales are commonly associated with secondary porosity and enhanced permeability in the Floridan aquifer system.

Florida↗

Tests and researches on building stones

In 1941, the "Association Francaise de Normalisation" (French Association of Standardization) decided to create a Commission for the purpose of writing out a standard for building stones. When this Commission met under the chairmanship of Mr. Pol Abraham, Architect, they realized how far behind was our precise technical knowledge of this kind of material, and found the necessity of determining exactly the testing and acceptance methods. They expressed the wish that a careful study of the subject be entrusted to a specialized laboratory. This wish was received by the Ministry of Production, which, after an agreement with the competent organizing committees, entrusted our laboratory with this work. The main object was to establish the difficulty of stone-cutting in order to permit a classification of the stones according to the difficulty met when working them up into shape, to refer the other technical properties of the stones to this property, and finally to see what relation exists between the figures obtained. To this end nine stones were chosen by the Commission, from the hardest to the softest: Hauteville, Comblanchien, spotted Larrys, yellow Massangis rock, Euville rock, fine-grained Lavoux, soft Maximin rock, "banc royal" Mery, and "bane royal" Billy. Each type of stone included three large blocks of 0.75 by 0.75 by 0.5 meters to be dressed by hand by specialized workmen, the difficulty of stone-cutting being determined by the time spent for the dressing and preparation of the surfaces. After this operation, detail of which will be given later, we had an important quantity of material which we were to use to the best advantage. I thought that it would be interesting to determine on each one the maximum of physical, chemical and mechanical tests in order not only to be able to compare them in precise conditions, but also to set up each sample as a standard intended for future studies. In other words, each element in the mentioned list must, in my mind, be able to serve in the future as reference to which we will compare the other kinds of calcareous stones used for building. As all the available material was not used, we were able to keep some as a reserve in case later comparisons would be necessary.

Open-File Report↗

Results of pumping test, city well four, Pullman, Washington

The Geological Survey, on July 10, 1957, was requested by the Washington State Department of Conservation to participate in a pumping test to be made by the city of Pullman on their city well 4, scheduled to begin July 15, 1957. The area was visited on July 11 by Mr. Holmberg, and on July 14 by Mr. Foxworthy, both of the Geological Sruvey. Measurements of water level on city well 4 and on nearby wells were continued by them onto July 16. Results of the pumping test are described in this report, and tabulation of water-level measurement, hydrographs, and descriptions of pertinent wells are included.

Washington↗

Interim geological investigations in the U12e.04 tunnel, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada

The Ul2e.04 tunnel is a part of the Ul2e tunnel system, which has been driven southwestward beneath Rainier Mesa in the northern part of the Nevada Test Site. The Ul2e.04 tunnel was driven about S. 15? W. in zeolitic tuff of subunits E and F of Tunnel Bed W near the top of the lower member of the Indian Trail Formation (upper Miocene or lower Pliocene). Dolomite of Paleozoic age lies about 915 feet below the end of the tunnel; vertical cover over the end of the tunnel to the surface of Rainier Mesa is about 1,390 feet. The tuffs in the tunnel strike almost north-south and dip to the west. There are several normal northwest-trending faults with vertical to steep dips and small displacements. The predominant joint set strikes northwest and dips mostly vertically or steeply to the northeast. Petrographically and chemically the tuffs in the U12e.04 tunnel are similar to other tuffs of the Indian Trail Formation from the Nevada Test Site, The tuffs in the tunnel have an average porosity of 38.6 percent, dry bulk density of 1.46 g/cc (grams per cubic centimeter), grain density of 2.38 g/cc, water content of 20.7 percent by weight. Shore hardness of 25.1, and unconfined compressive strength of 4,400 psi (pounds per square inch). Separately, the tuffs from the chamber at the end of the tunnel have an average porosity of 36.8 percent, dry bulk density of 1.51 g/cc, grain density of 2.38 g/cc, water content of 20.0 percent by weight, Shore hardness of 27.2 and unconfined compressive strength of 4,500 psi. An NX-size cored hole was drilled from the surface of Rainier Mesa into the Ul2e.04 chamber.

Open-File Report↗

Tests of crest-stage gage intakes

Various types of c rest-stage gages have been used by the Geological Survey. Most installations consist of a vertically mounted metal pipe, a wooden rod, an intake device, and a small amount of granulated cork. These gages are placed where elevations of flood crests are desired. Water rising and then falling in the gage leaves a high-water mark of granulated cork on the wooden rod. The elevation of this mark can be determined at a date subsequent to the date of the crest. It has been found that the high-water mark left on the rod may not represent the true elevation of the flood crest in the stream at the gage site. The difference between the true elevation of the crest at the gage and the recorded elevation will be designated drawdown if the recorded elevation is less than the true elevation, or pileup if the recorded elevation is greater than the true elevation. Tests of drawdown and pileup effects have been made in the past by Survey personnel and others. (See p. 8.) These investigations have sometimes brought forth conflicting results, probably due to the varied conditions under which the gages were tested. The purpose of this investigation was (1) to determine the pileup and drawdown characteristics of the intakes now being used by the Survey and (2) to design a better intake if existing models were found unsuitable. It was further prescribed that any new design that might result should be easily fabricated from standard pipe fittings, and should be unaffected by pileup or drawdown in excess of 0.1 foot for velocities up to about 8 feet per second.

Open-File Report↗

Chemistry and movement of ground water, Nevada Test Site

Three chemical types of ground water are distinguished at the Nevada Test Site and vicinity. A sodium-potassium water is related to tuff (in part zeolitized) and to alluvium containing detrital tuff. A calcium-magnesium water is related to limestone and dolomite, or to alluvium containing detritus of these rock types. A mixed chemical type, containing about as much sodium and potassium as calcium and magnesium, may result from the addition of one of the first two types of water to the other; to passage of water first through tuff and then through carbonate rock, or vice versa; and to ion-exchange during water travel. Consideration of the distribution of these water types, together with the distribution of sodium in the water and progressive changes in the dissolved solids, suggests that the ground water in the Nevada Test Site probably moves toward the Amargosa Desert, not into Indian Spring Valley and thence southeastward toward Las Vegas. The low dissolved solids content of ground-water reservoirs in alluvium and tuff of the enclosed basins indicates that recharge is local in origin.

Open-File Report↗

Test-observation well near Odessa, Washington: description and preliminary results

The test-observation well drilled near Odessa, Wash., provides information on the area's aquifer characteristics which is not otherwise available from existing deep irrigation wells. The information is of value to the State of Washington Department of Ecology in its management decisions in this area where heavy ground-water withdrawals have resulted in increasing annual water-level declines. The 10-inch well is 750 feet deep and penetrates six aquifer zones (A through F) in basalt. The upper 60 feet of the well is cased while the remainder of the hole is open in the basalt. The well was test pumped during drilling and showed specific capacities of (1) 0.65 gpm (gallon per minute) per foot of drawdown when at the 258-foot depth and open to aquifers A and B. (2) 0.62 gpm per foot of drawdown when at the 540-foot depth and open to aquifers A through D, and (3) 22 gpm foot of drawdown when at full 750-foot depth and open to all six aquifers. To supplement the driller's log of the well, borehole geophysical logging provided information on natural gamma radiation, water temperature and resistivity, downhole movement (via flowmeter) of the water, and borehole diameter (via caliper log). Upon completion of the well each aquifer zone was isolated from the others by cement seals, and piezometer pipes were installed to each zone to allow definition of the vertical hydraulic gradient and an estimate of the vertical ground-water movement in the area, along with chemical-quality sampling of the various zones and monitoring of any changes in water quality with time. The initial measurements of water levels showed that the levels generally decrease with aquifer depth, with about 200 feet of head difference existing between the uppermost and lowermost aquifer zones. Another pipe, installed for providing thermometer access, permits recording the geothermal gradient with depth in the well, and provides another basis for estimating vertical ground-water movement in the area. Prior to isolation of the various aquifer zones, the composite water level was recovering from the cessation of pumping at the end of the 1970 irrigation season. On April 6, 1971, this composite water level had begun declining, presumably as a result of p[umping of an irrigation well 1 mile to the northwest, By May 6, after the aquifer zones had been isolated and piezometer pieces installed, water levels in aquifers E and F had declined 11 feet in 15 days, in response to pumping for irrigation in the area. Water levels in aquifers B, C, and D declined somewhat, but mostly in response to the draining of these aquifers to deeper aquifers down the many deep-well boreholes in the area.

Washington↗

Thermal data from heat-flow test wells near Long Valley, California

As part of the Geological Survey's study of the Long Valley area, an attempt was made to define the regional thermal setting of the caldera. The first phase of this study involved the drilling of four holes in granitic rocks outside of the caldera and two holes within it (Figure 1). LV was drilled as a hydrologic test well. In Figure 1, the light areas are areas of crystalline rocks and the stippled area, volcanic and sedimentary rocks. (For an explanation of the symbols, see Plate 1 of Bateman and others (1963).) Preliminary temperature measurements and thermal conductivity determinations have been completed and are presented in this report. Also presented herein are data obtained in November 1973 from the shallow holes drilled by Lewis (1974) and some thermal conductivity values from these short holes. These preliminary data are being released now because of intense public interest. The study is continuing, and an interpretive report will be written later this year. The temperature measurements are presented in both graphs and tables. Thermal conductivity data are tabulated as a function of depth for each hole. For locations of the shallow test wells, reference should be made to the quadrangle maps shown in Figures 3 through 13 of Lewis (1974).

California↗