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Crest-stage gaging stations in Oregon: a compilation of peak data collected from October 1952 to September 1974

A crest-stage gaging station provides an excellent means for determining peak water-surface elevations at a selected location on a stream channel. When related to streamflow, these data provide hydrologists with a knowledge of the flood experience of a drainage basin. If an adequate flood history is known, it is possible to estimate the probable magnitude and frequency of floods likely to occur in that basin, and this information is a valuable asset to anyone who must estimate design floods at proposed drainage structures. However, most design problems involve estimating peak flows on ungaged streams. This is difficult because the rate of storm runoff is not the same in all basins due to the influence of various basin characteristics which can either assist or retard the runoff. The crest-stage gaging program in Oregon is designed to provide a representative sampliing of peak flows at basins having a wide range in characteristics. Then, after sufficient data are collected, a statistical analysis can be made which will provide a means for estimating design floods at ungaged sites on the basis of known basin characteristics. This report is one of a series presenting a compilation of peak data collected at 232 crest-stage gaging stations in Oregon. The collection and publication of these data are made possible through mutual funding by State and Federal agencies. The Geological Survey, the Oregon State Highway Commission, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Bureau of Land Management are currently supporting 160 active crest-stage stations in Oregon.

Oregon↗

Acoustic-reflection profiles, eastern Greater Antilles: Leg 3, 1971 cruise, UNITEDGEO I

Introduction As part of a cooperative marine research program designated the Internataional Decade of Ocean Exploration (IDOE), the United states Geological Survey is participating in an investigation of the geologic framework and resource potential of continental margins and small ocean basins in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and west African continental shelf areas. These studies are funded through the National Science Foundation. Legs 1 and 2, completed June 22 and July 8, respectively, were concerned with subbottom features of the Bay of Campeche and with the tectonic framework of the continental margin east of the Yucatan Peninsula. Leg 3, described in this report was conducted in the Antilles region of the northeastern Caribbean between July 17 and August 4, 1971. This report presents the unedited records of the approximately 5840 km of acoustic reflection profiling made during Leg 3. Magnetic and gravity data were collected also but are being reported elsewhere in conjunction with the results of the study.

Report↗

Spawning Cisco investigations in Canada waters of Lake Superior during 2007

Cisco Coregonus artedi form pre-spawning aggregations in Lake Superior during November with the bulk of spawning occurring during late November through early December (Dryer and Beil 1964). Eggs are broadcast into open water (Smith 1956) with fertilized eggs settling to the lakebed (Dryer and Beil 1964). Peak hatching occurs the following May (United States Geological Survey &ndash; Great Lakes Science Center, GLSC, unpublished data). Interannual variability in year class strength is high, but tends to be synchronous across different regions of Lake Superior (Bronte et al. 2003). November 2005 sampling of Thunder Bay showed 14 year-classes were present with the oldest fish being from the 1984 year-class (Yule et al. 2008). The ciscoes sampled were predominantly from five year classes that hatched during 1988, 1989, 1990, 1998, and 2003. These same strong year-classes were found in the western arm of Lake Superior during November 2006 (GLSC, unpublished data). Growth is rapid in the first few years of life with minimal growth after age-8 (Yule et al. 2008). Ciscoes exceeding 250 mm total length (TL) are typically sexually mature (Yule et al. 2006b, 2008). Thunder Bay ciscoes have high annual survival with rates for females and males averaging 0.80 and 0.75, respectively; females have higher rates of fishing-induced mortality compared to males but lower rates of natural mortality (Yule et al. 2008). Some Lake Superior stocks are currently commercially fished with the bulk of harvest occurring during November when fishers target females for their roe. The bulk of fish are harvested from Thunder Bay using suspended gillnets with mesh sizes ranging from 79-89 mm stretch measure. Ciscoes younger then age-5 make up a very small proportion (<0.1%) of the harvest (Yule, et al. 2008).

Thunder Bay; Lake Superior↗

Eastern Siberia terrain intelligence

The following folio of terrain intelligence maps, charts and explanatory tables represent an attempt to bring together available data on natural physical conditions such as will affect military operations in Eastern Siberia. The area covered is the easternmost section of the U.S.S.R.; that is the area east of the Yenisei River. Each map and accompanying table is devoted&middot; to a specialized set of problems; together they cover such subjects as geology, construction materials, mineral fuels, terrain, water supply, rivers and climate. The data is somewhat generalized due to the scale of treatment as well as to the scarcity of basic data. Each of the maps are rated as to reliability according to the reliability scale on the following page. Considerable of the data shown is of an interpretative nature, although precise data from literature was used wherever possible. The maps and tables were compiled by a special group from the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the Intelligence Branch of the Office, Chief of Engineers, War Department.

Eastern Siberia↗

2008 Spawning Cisco Investigations in the Canadian Waters of Lake Superior

The Great Lakes Science Center of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) is working cooperatively with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) on a threeyear study to develop standard procedures for acoustic and midwater trawl (AC-MT) assessments of spawning cisco Coregonus artedi that the OMNR can carry forward as a management activity. In year two (2008), we conducted an AC-MT survey of the northern shore from Nipigon Bay to Thunder Bay. Spawning-cisco (> 250 mm total length) densities were lowest near Nipigon Bay (<10/ha), moderate in and around Black Bay (15- 30/ha), and highest in Thunder Bay (118/ha). Rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax densities were highest in Nipigon (2,179/ha) and Black (3,219/ha) bays, and lowest in Thunder Bay (961/ha). We combined our AC-MT survey results with commercial catch records to estimate exploitation fractions of female cisco in Thunder Bay during the 2008 fishery at 4% for ages 1-5, 8.7% for ages 6-12, and 4.4% for ages &ge; 13. Lake Superior fishery managers recently recommended that annual exploitation of adult female lake cisco be kept below 10-15%. Recruitment of cisco since 2003 has been low and there is a strong probability the Thunder Bay stock will decline into the future. Using a simple population dynamics approach we estimated that if the current total allowable catch (TAC) quota is held constant, exploitation fractions could exceed 10% by 2010 and 15% by 2011. Our 2008 collections suggested the survey of Black Bay was likely conducted before all spawners had returned there to spawn. Our data also suggested that cisco collected in Black Bay and east of this site in mid-November may be from the same stock. During November 2009 we will attempt to get better definition of the area occupied by cisco around Black Bay and also determine when surveys should be conducted at this location.

Report↗

The next big earthquake in the Bay Area may come sooner than you think—Are you prepared?

Many of us breathed a little easier after October 17, 1989. The Lorna Prieta earthquake, 7.1 on the Richter scale, meant that the big one, talked about for decades, had finally happened. And, bad as it was, we had survived. There are two things wrong with that. First, Lorna Prieta was not the big one. It was a moderately big one, certainly destructive to some parts of the Bay Area, but nowhere near the size of the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Second, having an earthquake like Lorna Prieta has little to do with the likelihood of having another one on a different fault, somewhere else in the area. The inevitability of a damaging earthquake still confronts everybody in the Bay Area, and we still risk substantial damage. A new study, released in July 1990 by the United States Geological Survey, says that there is a 67 percent chance of another earthquake the size of Lorna Prieta during the next 30 years and that the quake could strike at any time, including today. In other words, scientists think that a magnitude 7 or larger earthquake is now twice as likely to happen as not to happen. This is a substantial increase, since in 1988, scientists thought the chance for such an earthquake was 50 percent Gust as likely to occur as not to occur) within 30 years. The new report also says that the next one will most likely strike farther north than Lorna Prieta, somewhere between San Jose and Santa Rosa on either side of the Bay. The epicenter of the October 1989 quake was in a sparsely populated area. The next one, according to the study, will likely be centered in a more populated area. During the Lorna Prieta earthquake, shaking was so severe in the Santa Cruz Mountains that a van overturned, treetops snapped off, and many people were thrown to the ground. Because the next one is expected to strike closer to an urban area, it will cause much more damage. Fortunately, there is something we can do about it. By taking actions, such as those described in this booklet, we can drastically reduce the losses and we can make the Bay Area a safer place to live. Earthquake damage is particularly great in certain locations and in certain buildings. Most locations and most modem buildings are relatively safe. By identifying the greatest hazards, we can set priorities for using our limited resources most effectively to reduce them. The choice is ours.

General Interest Publication↗

Ostracoda from well, shot hole, and outcrop samples in Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4

The ostracodes described in this report are from material collected in Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4, northern Alaska. The samples were obtained from well and seismograph shot holes drilled by Arctic Contractors and United States Geophysical Company and from field samples collected by the United States Geological Survey in the period from 1945 to 1948/ The earliest samples were processed for microfossils in Washington, but most of the material was prepared in the Fairbanks Laboratory of the Geological Survey.

Alaska↗

Stratigraphy and structure of the area of Maybe Creek

During the summer of 1946 the United States Geological Survey continued its program of stratigraphic and structural investigations in Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4, northern Alaska. This report summarizes the results of work in the area of Maybe Creek (see inset, fig. 1). The area studied is southwest of Umiat and includes about 500 square miles lying generally between the headwaters and mouth of Maybe Creek. Structural data covering approximately 250 square miles of this area has been compiled from aerial photographic studies. The area is bordered generally on the north by the lake country and on the west by the Ikpikpuk River. Most of the area is north of Maybe Creek except for that part extending for 6 miles south of Maybe Creek between longitudes 153° 30' W. and 154° 20' W. The latitude of Maybe Creek is about 69° 15' N. The stream flows generally westward and at longitude 154° 40' W. unites with the eastward-flowing Kigalik River to form the Ikpikpuk River, which has a northerly course across the Arctic Slope to the ocean.

Alaska↗

Preliminary report on stratigraphy and structure of the Umiat anticline

During the summer of 1946 the United States Geological Survey, as part of its program of stratigraphic and structural investigations in the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4, had one field party investigating the Umiat area. The stratigraphy of the area was already fairly well known from earlier investigations. The main object of this investigation was to delineate, in as much detail as possible, the Umiat anticline in the are of Umiat Test No. 1. Outcrops in the Umiat area are few. Direct compass readings for strikes and dips of bedding cannot be trusted since cross-bedding. slumping, and frost-heaving are the rule rather than the exception. `structural data was obtained by use of a plane table and alidade by the three-point method. On the accompanying geologic map many of the strikes and dips shown were obtained by solving three-point problems. Additional structural data was obtained by mapping structural traces.*

Alaska↗

Preliminary report on the general geology and engineering geology of Noonan quadrangle, North Dakota

The Noonan quadrangle is in northwestern North Dakota adjacent to the Dominion of Canada and approximately 35 miles east of Montana. The small coal-mining, farm, and railroad town of Noonan is located near the eastern edge of this sparsely populated area. The east-west State Highway 5 bisects the quadrangle. Cultural development in this area depends largely on agricultural exploitation of the glacial deposits that mantle the bedrock. For this reason, emphasis in this report is on the description, classification, and analysis of the surficial deposits. The geologic map is the base of the report. The map explanation includes a description of the material found in the various deposits along with the distinctive topographic and lithologic characteristics. Most of the text and the analyses of samples are written in tabular form so that specific information may be easily found. Depth relations may be determined from the cross section attached and the data on the map page. Most of the subsurface data in this report are inferred from drill-hole logs and water-well information provided by the North Dakota State Geological Survey, the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the Ground Water Division of the U. S. Geological Survey.

North Dakota↗

The Glaciation of the Yellowstone Valley North of the Park

The local glaciers of Quaternary times, of which evidences abound throughout the highest portions of the Rocky mountain cordillera, attained an unusually extensive development in that broad elevated region known as the Yellowstone Park. It was indeed the center of a considerable ice sheet whose glaciers spread out and down the valleys leading from this mountain region in all directions. In the northern part of the park two streams of ice found an outlet for their united flow northward down the valley of the Yellowstone, and they have left impressive memorials of the power and size of this stream that at once attract the attention of the observant traveler on the way to the famous geyser basins of the park. The number and size of the erratic bowlders scattered so abundantly over the valley floor and perched high up on the mountain slopes, can not fail to impress the beholder, while the second canyon of the Yellowstone, known as Yankee Jim canyon, through which the river has cut its way to the broad mountain encircled lower valley, is a grand and perfect piece of ice sculpture that affords striking proof of the power and magnitude of the glacier which once filled the valley. While studying and mapping the geology of a portion of the country north of the Yellowstone Park, under the direction of Mr. Arnold Hague, and for the United States Geological Survey, I found a long desired opportunity to study the glaciation of this interesting region.

Bulletin↗

Chapter G: Tentative Correlation Between CIPW Normin pl (Total Plagioclase) and Los Angeles Wear in Precambrian Midcontinental Granites-Examples from Missouri and Oklahoma, with Applications and Limitations for Use

The normative chemical classification of Cross, Iddings, Pirsson, and Washington (CIPW) is commonly used in igneous petrology to distinguish igneous rocks by comparing their magmatic chemistries for similar and dissimilar components. A potential use for this classification other than in petrologic studies is in the rapid assessment of aggregate sources, possibly leading to an economic advantage for an aggregate producer or user, by providing the opportunity to determine whether further physical testing of an aggregate is warranted before its use in asphalt or concrete pavement. However, the CIPW classification currently should not be substituted for the physical testing required in specifications by State departments of transportation. Demands for physical testing of aggregates have increased nationally as users seek to maximize the quality of the aggregate they purchase for their pavements. Concrete pavements are being laid with increased thicknesses to withstand increasing highway loads. New pavement mixes, most notably Superior Performance Asphalt Pavement ('Superpave'), are designed for additional service life. For both concrete and asphalt, the intent is to generate a durable pavement with a longer service life that should decrease overall life-cycle costs. Numerous aggregate producers possess chemical-composition data available for examination to answer questions from the potential user. State geological surveys also possess chemical-composition data for stone sources. Paired with the results of physical testing, chemical- composition data provide indicative information about stone durability and aggregate strength. The Missouri Department of Transportation has noted a possible relation among coarse-grained Precambrian granites of the midcontinental region, correlating the results of abrasion testing with the contents of normative minerals, also known as normins, calculated from chemical composition data. Thus, normin pl ( total plagioclase) can predict, by way of simple regression, the Los Angeles wear for granite samples collected in Missouri. The results of this abrasion testing were extended to another granite in Oklahoma where normin pl predicted Los Angeles wear to within 0.6 percent. This relation may also exist for granitic rocks outside the Oklahoma-Missouri region, as well as for other igneous-rock types.

Bulletin↗

Report on progress of investigations of mineral resources of Alaska in 1904

During the last two years the United States Geological Survey has met the demand of the mining public for early publication of economic results by issuing an annual bulletin entitled "Contributions to Economic Geology." Though these volumes have made no attempt to treat exhaustively any of the subject discussed, and while many of the included papers have been but the barest outlines, they have met a cordial reception from those interested in developing the mineral resources of the country. Among the many papers in these bulletins were a number devoted to the mineral deposits of Alaska. In view of the rapid extension of the Alaskan work of the Geological Survey and its segregation in a distinct division, it has seemed desirable to issue a separate publication containing the papers summarizing the previous year's work.

Alaska↗

Record of deep-well drilling for 1904

In this report, which is the first of a proposed series of annual publications, are presented the results of the first six months' work by the United States Geological Survey in the systematic collection of well records and samples. Much time having been occupied in organization and preliminary correspondence, the results of only about three months' actual work are included. The report is issued for the purpose of giving to present or prospective well owners and drillers the results of drilling as reported to the Survey, with the object of furnishing them as good a basis as possible for future drilling in the regions discussed, and to afford geologists and others a more complete knowledge of the rock succession and structure. It is intended that the reports of the series shall present records of contemporaneous drilling rather than the results of past work, a special attempt being made to secure records accompanied by samples. The logs of completed wells, however, will be incorporated when practicable; but as records of such wells are seldom preserved for any length of time, their number will probably decrease in proportion to new wells as the work continues. All well records received during the year 1904 that were accompanied by complete sets of samples are presented in this report, as are also a considerable number furnished by drillers, contractors, well owners, etc., representing other completed wells. The report does not, however, include all records furnished the Survey, a great number being furnished by oil companies and others interested in the development of oil or mineral lands. Many of these are confidential and can not be published, while others will be compiled and embodied in reports on special regions, which will be published later.

Bulletin↗

Report of work done in the division of chemistry and physics mainly during the fiscal year 1884-85

The present bulletin contains some of the more important results obtained in the chemical laboratory of the United States Geological Survey during the fiscal year 1884—'85. It also contains two physical papers representing work which was mainly done during previous fiscal years, but completed during the one for which this bulletin is issued. These papers are practically continuations of or supplements to Bulletin 14.

Bulletin↗

Contributions to economic geology (short papers and preliminary reports), 1915: Part I. - metals and nonmetals except fuels

This volume is the thirteenth of a series that includes Bulletins 213, 225, 260, 285, 315, 340, 380, 430, 470, 530, 540, and 580, "Contributions to economic geology" for 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906 (Pt. I), 1907 (Pt. I), 1908 (Pt. I), 1909 (Pt. I), 1910 (P t. I), 1911 (Pt. I) , 1912 (Pt. I), and 1913 (Pt. I), respectively . These bulletins are prepared primarily to insure prompt publication of the economic results of investigations made by the United States Geological Survey. Beginning with the present volume the year included in the title will be the year of publication 1 instead of the year in which the field work reported was done. This volume is therefore dated 1915, and there will be no volume entitled "Contributions to economic geology, 1914." As the subtitle indicates, the papers included are of two classes -(1) short papers giving comparatively detailed description of occurrences that have economic interest but are not of sufficient importance to warrant a more extended description; (2) preliminary reports on economic investigations the results of which are to be published later in more detailed form. These papers are such only as have a direct economic bearing, all topic of purely scientific interest being excluded. Each paper has been issued as an advance chapter as soon as it was ready. Brief abstracts of the publications of the year are given in the annual report of the Director. The complete list of Survey publications affords, by means of finding list of subjects and of authors, further aid in ascertaining the extent of the Survey's work in economic geology. Since 1905 the annual economic bulletin has been printed in two parts, the second part comprising paper on mineral fuels. These volumes for 1906, 1907, 190 , 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, and 1913 are Bulletins 316, 341, 381, 431, 471, 531, 541, and 581. Bulletin 621 forms Part II of the "Contributions" for 1915. The reports on work in Alaska have been printed in a separate series since 1904, the volume so far issued being Bulletins 259, 284, 314, 345, 379, 442, 480, 520, 542, 592, and 622.

Bulletin↗