Surface water supply of the United States, 1927 : Part 12, North Pacific drainage basins ; A. Pacific drainage basins in Washington and upper Columbia River basin
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Water Supply Paper↗
SEARCH · Geology Reports
Results for “Washington Geology”
Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Surface water supply of the United States, 1928 : Part 12, North Pacific drainage basins ; A. Pacific drainage basins in Washington and upper Columbia River basin
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Water Supply Paper↗
Surface water supply of the United States, 1929 : Part 12, North Pacific drainage basins ; A. Pacific drainage basins in Washington and upper Columbia River basin
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Water Supply Paper↗
Surface water supply of the United States, 1931 : Part 12. North Pacific slope drainage basins : A. Pacific slope basins in Washington and upper Columbia River basin
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Water Supply Paper↗
Surface water supply of the United States, 1934 : Part 12. North Pacific slope basins : A. Pacific slope basins in Washington and upper Columbia River basin
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Water Supply Paper↗
Sediment toxicity test results for the Urban Waters Study 2010, Bellingham Bay, Washington
The Washington Department of Ecology annually determines the quality of recently deposited sediments in Puget Sound as a part of Ecology's Urban Waters Initiative. The annual sediment quality studies use the Sediment Quality Triad (SQT) approach, thus relying on measures of chemical contamination, toxicity, and benthic in-faunal effects (Chapman, 1990). Since 2002, the studies followed a rotating sampling scheme, each year sampling a different region of the greater Puget Sound Basin. During the annual studies, samples are collected in locations selected with a stratified-random design, patterned after the designs previously used in baseline surveys completed during 1997-1999 (Long and others, 2003; Wilson and Partridge, 2007). Sediment samples were collected by personnel from the Washington Department of Ecology, in June of 2010 and shipped to the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) laboratory in Corpus Christi, Texas (not shown), where the tests were performed. Sediment pore water was extracted with a pneumatic apparatus and was stored frozen. Just before testing, water-quality measurements were made and salinity adjusted, if necessary. Tests were performed on a dilution series of each sample consisting of 100-, 50-, and 25-percent pore-water concentrations. The specific objectives of this study were to: * Extract sediment pore water from a total of 30 sediment samples from the Bellingham Bay, Washington area within a day of receipt of the samples. * Measure water-quality parameters (salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, sulfide, and ammonia) of thawed pore-water samples before testing and adjust salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen, if necessary, to obtain optimal ranges for the test species. * Conduct the fertilization toxicity test with pore water using sea urchin (Stronylocentrotus purpuratus) (S. purpuratus) gametes. * Perform quality control assays with reference pore water, dilution blanks and a positive control dilution series with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in conjunction with each test. * Determine which samples caused a significant decrease in percent fertilization success relative to the negative control.
Washington↗
Appendix B—The work of the Geological Survey and cooperating state agencies on ground water for war purposes
The very large service which the geologists and engineers trained in ground‐water hydrology are rendering in this country in the prosecution of the war is due largely to the effective organization for this purpose. The Federal agency in which this service centers is the Water Resources Branch of the United States Geological Survey. The Ground Water Division of this branch has a technical personnel of nearly 100 geologists, engineers, and physicists, and its work is supported by the chemists of the Quality of Water Division and the engineers of the other Divisions of the Branch. It functions through a central office in Washington and 25 widely distributed field‐offices. Moreover, this service is effectively supported by the State Geological surveys, State Engineer offices, and other State agencies concerned with water‐resources, not only in the 34 States in which there is formal cooperation with the Federal Geological Survey in ground‐water investigations but also in those States in which there are no formal cooperative agreements. The magnitude of the civilian service rendered is indicated by the fact that to date about 1,600 reports on water‐supplies from wells have been made to the War and Navy Departments and other war agencies by the Geological Survey and cooperating State organizations.
Article↗
Hydrogeologic framework, groundwater movement, and water budget in the Puyallup River Watershed and vicinity, Pierce and King Counties, Washington
This report presents information used to characterize the groundwater-flow system in the Puyallup River Watershed and vicinity, and includes descriptions of the geology and hydrogeologic framework; groundwater recharge and discharge; groundwater levels and flow directions; seasonal groundwater level fluctuations; interactions between aquifers and the surface-water system; and a water budget. The study area covers about 1,220 square miles in northern Pierce and southern King Counties, Washington; extends north to the Green River and Auburn Valley and southwest to the Puyallup River and adjacent uplands; and is bounded on the south and east by foothills of the Cascade Range and on the west by Puget Sound. The area is underlain by a northwest-thickening sequence of unconsolidated glacial and interglacial deposits, which overlie sedimentary and volcanic bedrock units that crop out in the foothills along the southern and eastern margin of the study area. Geologic units were grouped into 13 hydrogeologic units consisting of aquifers, confining units, and an underlying bedrock unit. A surficial hydrogeologic unit map was developed and used with well information from 1,012 drillers’ logs to construct 8 hydrogeologic sections, and unit extent and thickness maps. Groundwater in unconsolidated glacial and interglacial aquifers generally flows to the northwest towards Puget Sound, and to the north and northeast towards the Puyallup River, White River, and Green River valleys. These generalized flow patterns are complicated by the presence of low permeability confining units and bedrock that separate discontinuous bodies of aquifer material and act as local groundwater-flow barriers. Water levels in wells completed in the unconsolidated hydrogeologic units show seasonal variations ranging from less than 1 to about 32 feet during the monitoring period (March 2011–March 2013). Synoptic streamflow measurements made in October 2011 and October 2012 indicated a total groundwater discharge to streams in the water-budget area (520 square miles located within the larger study area) of at least 349,000 and 280,000 acre-feet per year, respectively. Annual groundwater discharge to streams likely exceeds these values because streamflow measurements were made during the dry, late-summer and early-autumn period when groundwater levels typically are at annual lows. Most stream reaches in the study area either gain flow from groundwater discharge or exhibit near-neutral conditions with no substantial gain or loss of flow. Groundwater discharge occurs at numerous springs in the area; the total reported discharge of springs in the area is approximately 80,300 acre-feet per year. The water-budget area received about 1,428,000 acre-feet or about 52 inches of precipitation per year (January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2012). About 41 percent of precipitation enters the groundwater system as recharge. Seven percent of this recharge is withdrawn from wells and the remainder leaves the groundwater system as discharge to rivers, discharge to springs, or submarine discharge to Puget Sound, or exits the study area through subsurface flow in the Green River valley.
Washington↗
Selected ground-water information for the Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer System, Washington and Oregon, 1982-1985; Volume III, Ground-water quality data
The data report presents ground-water information collected and analyzed as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's Columbia Plateau Regional Aquifer-System Analysis Program. The information was gathered from July 1982 through September 1985 in the part of the aquifer system located in central and eastern Washington and north-central and northeastern Oregon. The report consists of three volumes: volume I, geohydrology; volume II, water levels; and volume III, ground-water quality. This volume, III, presents ground-water quality data gathered from about 570 wells during the study.
Open-File Report↗
Water temperature in the Lower Quinault River, Olympic Peninsula, Washington, June 2016 - August 2017
The availability of cold-water refugia during summertime river-water temperature maximums is important for cold-water fish species including Endangered Species Act listed salmonids since water temperature influences metabolism, growth, and phenology. The U.S. Geological Survey monitored water temperature at 10 sites approximately evenly-spaced along the lower Quinault River on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, from June 2016 to August 2017 to assess thermal conditions in the lower river. During this 15-month period, there was a near-continuous, 15-minute record at 7 of the sites; complications with thermistors at 3 of the 10 sites limited the temperature dataset to include only summer 2016. In addition, near-streambed and water-surface temperatures were measured along the lower river during a longitudinal survey from August 9 to 12, 2016, during summer baseflow conditions to potentially identify cold or cooler water regions. Measured August water temperatures were warmer than model-predicted August temperatures for the period, 1993–2011. Summertime (July–September) daily minimum temperatures exceeded established salmon habitat threshold temperatures of 16 °C (core summer season) and 17.5 °C (spawning, rearing, and migration periods) for 122 and 65 days, respectively, on average at all monitoring sites with a complete 15-month record that included two summer baseflow periods. Summertime water temperatures at those sites were generally cooler in the downstream direction along the lower Quinault River but became warmer in the downstream direction during the rest of the year, suggesting the river was influenced by diffuse discharge of groundwater with a relatively constant annual temperature. The August longitudinal temperature survey did not detect cold-water refugia (features more than 3 °C cooler than ambient stream water), although it did identify 11 cooler water features (CWF) approximately 100–800 m in length that were 0.1 °C cooler than adjacent upstream or downstream water. The CWFs appeared to correspond to local geomorphic conditions. In August 2017, 10 of the 11 CWFs were field surveyed, and 5 appeared to be influenced by shading from solar radiation by riparian vegetation or steep cliff banks. In addition, field observations suggest that finer scale (that is, less than 10 m) CWFs, specifically individual side pools associated with large, in-channel wood, increased in frequency in the downstream direction along the lower Quinault River. However, this study did not quantify the density or water temperatures associated with these fine-scale features that may serve as cool- or cold-water pockets or patches.
Washington↗
Managers' summary - Ecological studies of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, 1992-1997
Ecological Studies of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, 1992-1997 provides a synthesis of key findings of landscape-scale, interdisciplinary studies of the effects of wild horses and native ungulates on a rugged, mountain ecosystem. This is perhaps the most comprehensive study of a wild horse herd conducted. This was a complex study and one involving a truly interagency approach. Six agencies either provided input to research priority setting, funding, or both. The agencies included the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and U.S. Forest Service. The major research direction and effort came from the U.S. Geological Survey and Natural Resources Ecology Lab, Colorado State University with Montana State University and the University of Kentucky also participating. Ungulate monitoring was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Bureau of Land Management, Billings Field Office and the Montana Fish and Wildlife Parks, with funding by Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. Many other individuals and groups were involved and deserve credit. The report printing was made possible with funds from the Bureau of Land Management, Wild Horse and Burro Program, Washington Office. This report was prepared by the Information Management Project, Midcontinent Ecological Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey.
Montana, Wyoming↗
Hydrogeologic framework, groundwater movement, and water budget in the Chambers-Clover Creek watershed and vicinity, Pierce County, Washington
This report presents information used to characterize the groundwater-flow system in the Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed and vicinity, and includes descriptions of the geology and hydrogeologic framework; groundwater recharge and discharge; groundwater levels and flow directions; seasonal groundwater level fluctuations; interactions between aquifers and the surface-water system; and a water budget. The study area covers about 706 square miles in western Pierce County, Washington, and extends north to the Puyallup River, southwest to the Nisqually River, and is bounded on the south and east by foothills of the Cascade Range and on the west by Puget Sound. The area is underlain by a northwest-thickening sequence of unconsolidated glacial and interglacial deposits which overlie sedimentary and volcanic bedrock units that crop out in the foothills along the southern and southeastern margin of the study area. Geologic units were grouped into 11 hydrogeologic units consisting of aquifers, confining units, and an underlying bedrock unit. A surficial hydrogeologic unit map was developed and used with well information from 450 drillers’ logs to construct 6 hydrogeologic sections, and unit extent and thickness maps. Groundwater in unconsolidated glacial and interglacial aquifers generally flows to the northwest towards Puget Sound, and to the north and northeast towards the Puyallup River. These generalized flow patterns likely are complicated by the presence of low permeability confining units that separate discontinuous bodies of aquifer material and act as local groundwater-flow barriers. Water levels in wells completed in the unconsolidated hydrogeologic units show seasonal variations ranging from less than 1 to about 50 feet. The largest groundwater-level fluctuation (78 feet) observed during the monitoring period (March 2007–September 2008) was in a well completed in the bedrock unit. Synoptic streamflow measurements made in September 2007 and July 2008 indicated a total groundwater discharge to streams in the study area of 87,310 and 92,160 acre-feet per year, respectively. The synoptic streamflow measurements show a complex pattern of gains and losses to streamflows that varies throughout the study area, and appears to be influenced in places by local topography. Groundwater discharge occurs at numerous springs in the area and the total previously reported discharge of springs in the area is approximately 80,000 acre-feet per year. There are, in addition, many unmeasured springs and the total spring discharge in the area is unknown. The water-budget area (432 mi 2 located within the larger study area) received an annual average (September1, 2006, to August 31, 2008) of about 1,025,000 acre-ft or about 45 inches of precipitation a year. About 44 percent of precipitation enters the groundwater system as recharge. Almost one-half of this recharge (49 percent) discharges to the Puyallup and Nisqually Rivers and leaves the groundwater system as submarine groundwater discharge to Puget Sound. The remaining groundwater recharge discharges to streams (20 percent) and springs (18 percent) or is withdrawn from wells (13 percent)
Washington↗
Selected trace-element and synthetic-organic compound data for streambed sediment from the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille and Spokane River basins, Montana, Idaho, and Washington, 1998
Streambed-sediment samples were collected at 22 sites during the summer of 1998 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program. Sampling sites in the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille and Spokane River basins represented a wide range of environmental conditions including pristine mountain streams and large rivers affected by mining-related and urban activities. Samples were analyzed for 45 inorganic major and trace elements, 109 synthetic organic compounds, and carbon. This report presents the selected results of streambed-sediment sampling from the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille and Spokane River basins in Montana, Idaho, and Washington. Trace-element concentrations in streambed sediment determined from this study were compared to median trace-element concentrations for streambed- sediment data collected from streams across the Nation during 1992-96. Generally, concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, and zinc were higher or similar to the national median concentration of these same trace elements. Concentrations of chromium, nickel, and selenium in streambed sediment of the study area generally were lower than the national median concentration. Most of the analytical results for synthetic organic compounds were reported as either estimated or non-detected values. Phthalates and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were the most frequently detected classes of synthetic organic compounds in streambed sediment. Organochlorine pesticide residues were detected at two sites. Polychlorinated biphenyls were detected at one site.
Idaho, Montana, Washington↗
Interpretation of an aerial radiometric and magnetic survey of the Salmo-Priest study area (RARE E6-981 A1-981), Pend Oreille County, Washington and Boundary County, Idaho
An aerial radiometric and magnetic survey of the Salmo-Priest study area (RARE E6-981) (index map) was made by the U.S. Geological Survey during October, 1978. Geophysical data from the survey will be used in the assessment of the mineral-resource potential of the study area. The Salmo-Priest area is located in northeastern Washington and northern Idaho and the north edge is the United States-Canadian boundary. This report presents the data obtained by the survey and an interpretation of the data.
Idaho, Washington↗
Partnerships for progress at the U.S. Geological Survey
This is about opportunity for the private sector. It is about combining the research capabilities of Government scientists with the commercial development potential of private companies. It is, consequently, about partnerships leading to products and services to enhance the quality of life and strengthen the American economy. The image at the left shows a computer screen image of Washington, DC using RevPG software for map revision.
General Information Product↗
Regional sediment budget of the Columbia River littoral cell, USA: Analysis of bathymetric- and topographic-volume change
In this Open-File Report we present calculations of changes in bathymetric and topographic volumes for the Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, and Columbia River entrances and the adjacent coasts of North Beach, Grayland Plains, Long Beach, and Clatsop Plains for four intervals: pre-jetty - 1920s (Interval 1), 1920s - 1950s (Interval 2), 1950s - 1990s (Interval 3), and 1920s 1990s (Interval 4). This analysis is part of the Southwest Washington Coastal Erosion Study (SWCES), the goals of which are to understand and predict the morphologic behavior of the Columbia River littoral cell on a management scale of tens of kilometers and decades. We obtain topographic Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data from a joint project by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), and the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) and bathymetric data from the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), USGS, and the DOE. Shoreline data are digitized from T-Sheets and aerial photographs from the USC&GS and National Ocean Service (NOS). Instead of uncritically adjusting each survey to NAVD88, a common vertical land-based datum, we adjust some surveys to produce optimal results according to the following criteria. First, we minimize offsets in overlapping surveys within the same era, and second, we minimize bathymetric changes (relative to the 1990s) in deep water, where we assume minimal change has taken place. We grid bathymetric and topographic datasets using kriging and triangulation algorithms, calculate bathymetric-change surfaces for each interval, and calculate volume changes within polygons that are overlaid on the bathymetric-change surfaces. We find similar morphologic changes near the entrances to Grays Harbor and the Columbia River following jetty construction between 1898 and 1916 at the Grays Harbor entrance and between 1885 and 1913 at the Columbia River entrance. The inlets and inner deltas eroded and the outer deltas moved offshore and accreted. The adjacent coasts experienced accretion over alongshore distances of tens of kilometers. North of the Grays Harbor entrance along North Beach and north of the Columbia River entrance along Long Beach the shoreface and the beach-dune complex mainly prograded, whereas south of the Grays Harbor entrance along Grayland Plains and south of the Columbia River entrance along Clatsop Plains the beach-dune complex above -10 m NAVD88 prograded and the shoreface between approximately -30 m and -10 m NAVD88 eroded. In the decades following jetty construction, the rates of erosion and accretion at the entrances decreased and the centers of deposition along the adjacent coasts moved away from the entrances. The rates of change have decreased, suggesting the systems are approaching dynamic equilibrium. Exceptions to this behaviour are the accretion of the beach-dune complex of Long Beach, the erosion of Cape Shoalwater, and the northward migration of the Willapa Bay ebb-tidal delta during all intervals. The net shoreline advance of Long Beach increases from 0.28 m/yr in pre-jetty conditions to 3.78 m/yr during Interval 4. The erosion of Cape Shoalwater and the northward migration of the Willapa Bay ebb-tidal delta are related to the northern migration of the Willapa Bay North Channel. Volume changes at the Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, and Columbia River entrances and the Columbia River estuary are balanced against losses and gains due to littoral transport and sand supply from the Columbia River. Based on these sediment balances, we infer the following pathways: sand that eroded from the inlets and inner deltas at the Grays Harbor and Columbia River entrances moved offshore and northward to accrete the outer deltas and the beaches to the north; sand from the south flank of the Grays Harbor delta and shelf along Grayland Plains moved onshore to accrete the beach dune complex of Grayland Plains and moved northward to maintain accretion of the outer delta and the beach-dune complex of North Beach; sand that eroded from the south flank of the Columbia River delta and shelf along Clatsop Plains contributed to the accretion of the beach-dune complex of Clatsop Plains and the Columbia River outer delta. The net volume change for Interval 1 and 3 at the Grays Harbor entrance and for Interval 1 at the Columbia River entrance is erosion, whereas the net change for the other intervals is accretion. For the entire CRLC, there is a net loss of 185 Mm 3 for Interval 1, a net gain of 357 Mm 3 for Interval 2, and a net gain of 187 Mm 3 for Interval 3. These imbalances can be the result of incomplete bathymetric coverage of the bays and shoreface, uncertainties in the adjustments of vertical tidal datums, inconsistencies in the bathymetric data, and uncertainties in the sediment supply of the Columbia River.
Oregon, Washington↗
Geologic nozzles
Sonic velocities of geologic fluids, such as volcanic magmas and geothermal fluids, can be as low as 1 m/s. Critical velocities in large rivers can be of the order of 1–10 m/s. Because velocities of fluids moving in these settings can exceed these characteristic velocities, sonic and supersonic gas flow and critical and supercritical shallow-water flow can occur. The importance of the low characteristic velocities of geologic fluids has not been widely recognized, and as a result, the importance of supercritical and supersonic flow in geological processes has generally been underestimated. The lateral blast at Mount St. Helens, Washington, propelled a gas heavily laden with dust into the atmosphere. Because of the low sound speed in this gas (about 100 m/s), the flow was internally supersonic. Old Faithful Geyser, Wyoming, is a converging-diverging nozzle in which liquid water refilling the conduit during the recharge cycle changes during eruption into a two-phase liquid-vapor mixture with a very low sound velocity. The high sound speed of liquid water determines the characteristics of harmonic tremor observed at the gyeser during the recharge interval, whereas the low sound speed of the liquid-vapor mixture influences the fluid flow characteristics of the eruption. At the rapids of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, the channel is constricted into the shape of a converging-diverging nozzle by debris flows that enter from tributary canyons. Both subcritical and supercritical flow occur within the rapids. The transport capacity in the rapids can be so great that the river contours the channel to a characteristic shape. This shape can be used to interpret the flood history of the Colorado River over the past 10³–10 5 years. The unity of fluid mechanics in these three natural phenomena is provided by the well-known analogy between gas flow and shallow-water flow in converging-diverging nozzles.
Arizona, Washington, Wyoming↗
Learning to recognize volcanic non-eruptions
An important goal of volcanology is to answer the questions of when, where, and how a volcano will erupt—in other words, eruption prediction. Generally, eruption predictions are based on insights from monitoring data combined with the history of the volcano. An outstanding example is the A.D. 1980–1986 lava dome growth at Mount St. Helens, Washington (United States). Recognition of a consistent pattern of precursors revealed by geophysical, geological, and geochemical monitoring enabled successful predictions of more than 12 dome-building episodes (Swanson et al., 1983). At volcanic systems that are more complex or poorly understood, probabilistic forecasts can be useful (e.g., Newhall and Hoblitt, 2002; Marzocchi and Woo, 2009). In such cases, the probabilities of different types of volcanic events are quantified, using historical accounts and geological studies of a volcano's past activity, supplemented by information from similar volcanoes elsewhere, combined with contemporary monitoring information.
Geology↗