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At least 955 records · Page 53Linked to original sources

Technical Manual for the Geospatial Stream Flow Model (GeoSFM)

The monitoring of wide-area hydrologic events requires the use of geospatial and time series data available in near-real time. These data sets must be manipulated into information products that speak to the location and magnitude of the event. Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (USGS EROS) Center have implemented a hydrologic modeling system which consists of an operational data processing system and the Geospatial Stream Flow Model (GeoSFM). The data processing system generates daily forcing evapotranspiration and precipitation data from various remotely sensed and ground-based data sources. To allow for rapid implementation in data scarce environments, widely available terrain, soil, and land cover data sets are used for model setup and initial parameter estimation. GeoSFM performs geospatial preprocessing and postprocessing tasks as well as hydrologic modeling tasks within an ArcView GIS environment. The integration of GIS routines and time series processing routines is achieved seamlessly through the use of dynamically linked libraries (DLLs) embedded within Avenue scripts. GeoSFM is run operationally to identify and map wide-area streamflow anomalies. Daily model results including daily streamflow and soil water maps are disseminated through Internet map servers, flood hazard bulletins and other media.

Open-File Report↗

Identification and extraction of the seaward edge of terrestrial vegetation using digital aerial photography

This report is created as part of the Aerial Data Collection and Creation of Products for Park Vital Signs Monitoring within the Northeast Region Coastal and Barrier Network project, which is a joint project between the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program (NPS-IM), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Observational Sciences Branch, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies (CCWS). This report is one of a series that discusses methods for extracting topographic features from aerial survey data. It details step-by-step methods used to extract a spatially referenced digital line from aerial photography that represents the seaward edge of terrestrial vegetation along the coast of Assateague Island National Seashore (ASIS). One component of the NPS-IM/USGS/NASA project includes the collection of NASA aerial surveys over various NPS barrier islands and coastal parks throughout the National Park Service's Northeast Region. These aerial surveys consist of collecting optical remote sensing data from a variety of sensors, including the NASA Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM), the NASA Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL), and down-looking digital mapping cameras.

Open-File Report↗

Syn-magmatic subsidence during the early stages of continental rifting in the Mesoproterozoic—A reanalysis of legacy data for the Midcontinent Rift, western Lake Superior

The Midcontinent Rift system (ca. 1.1 Ga) is a 2000-km-long series of elongated volcanic and sedimentary troughs and associated intrusive centers exposed chiefly in the Lake Superior region of North America. The rift system represents a long history of intense magmatism and subsequent sedimentation that was arrested by far-field tectonic events before sea-floor spreading was established. The premature cessation preserved a record of processes related to the beginning of continental rifting. The rift system under Lake Superior has been long studied using seismic-reflection data collected as part of the Great Lakes International Multidisciplinary Program on Crustal Evolution (GLIMPCE). We reexamine GLIMPCE Line C by developing a detailed velocity model for time to depth conversion constrained by other legacy data. We corroborate the model and develop a geologic interpretation using gravity and magnetic modeling and ties to geology mapped onshore. We recognize superposed subsiding sedimentary and volcanic basins for the southern half of the Line C depth section. This interpretation differs from previous paradigms that show major crustal faults that bound half-grabens or full grabens. We conclude that high-velocity (6.9 km/s) intrusive zones rather than major crustal faults border the sides of the basins. We speculate that the volcanic basin represents the initiation of seaward dipping reflectors. The syn-magmatic subsidence can be explained by dike injection and volcanic loading. Discrete lava basins throughout the region likely subsided at different times in a disorganized manner along the rift trend, raising questions about the long-term role of lithospheric thinning and melt generation.

Michigan, Minnesota, Ontario, Wisconsin↗

Resource report for proposed OCS lease sale no. 70, St. George Basin, shelf area, Alaska

St. George basin is a long (300 km), narrow (30-50 km) graben whose long axis strikes northwestward, parallel to the continental margin of the southern Bering Sea. Located near the Pribilof Islands, and beneath the virtually featureless Bering Sea shelf, the basin is filled with more than 10 km of sedimentary deposits. These sedimentary rocks are ruptured by normal faults associated with the sides of the graben; these ruptures commonly correlate with offsets in the basement surface. Offset along these faults increases with depth implying that they are growth-type structures. Basement rocks, that floor and flank St. George basin are part of an assemblage of Mesozoic eugeosynclinal rocks that extends from southern Alaska to eastern Siberia beneath the Bering Sea margin and outer shelf. A parallel belt of igneous rocks of late Mesozoic and earliest Tertiary age may also extend from western Alaska to northeastern Siberia beneath the inner Bering Sea shelf. The Bering Sea margin and adjacent shelf were apparently uplifted by the end of Mesozoic time, resulting in deep subaerial erosion• Following uplift, the outer Bering Sea shelf has undergone extensional rifting and regional subsidence. Differential subsidence has resulted in the formation of a series of basement ridges and basins whose axes parallel the Bering Sea margin. Some of these basins are very large to gigantic in size, e.g., St. George basin, and involve crustal subsidence exceeding 10 km. Such large scale crustal collapse suggests deep crustal or upper mantle processes, such as thermal metamorphism or stress-induced crustal migration. Nine wells drilled along the northern coast of the Alaska Peninsula, as well as several onshore Soviet wells in northeastern Siberia, relate directly to the submerged basins of the Bering Sea shelf. Although all of the wells on the Alaska Peninsula were abandoned as dry holes, shows of oil and gas were found. In addition, Soviet drilling resulted in the discovery of oil and gas shows in Oligocene and Miocene sandstone. Regional geologic and geophysical mapping suggests that there are suitable source beds, reservoir rocks, and traps within St. George basin. However, it is not known if hydrocarbons are present or if the possible reservoirs are of commercial size. A resource appraisal of St. George basin out to 200 meters water depth indicates that, at 5 percent probability, 6.4 billion barrels of oil and 18.6 trillion cubic feet of gas may be in the basin; at 95 percent probability 0.8 billion barrels of oil and 4.5 trillion cubic feet of gas may be in the basin. The statistical mean of the appraisal is 2.7 billion barrels of oil and 10.3 trillion cubic feet of gas. A large number of faults, evidence for recent movement along some of the faults, and high seismicity all indicate that faulting is a major environmental concern for the outer continental shelf region of the southern Bering Sea, especially in St. George basin. Most of the faults are potentially active and their movement is probably influenced by the local geology, including basement structures and sediment loading. Unstable sediment masses pose potential threats to resource development in the vicinity of the Pribilof Canyon. Volcanic activity along the Aleutian arc south of St. George basin may also pose an environmental hazard to petroleum development in the area. Another environmental hazard is the presence of shallow gas pockets, which could pose such problems during drilling as blowouts and liquefaction of bottom sediment.

Alaska↗

Iowa magnetic and gravity maps and data: A web site for distribution of data

Magnetic anomalies are due to variations in the Earth's magnetic field caused by the uneven distribution of magnetic minerals (primarily magnetite) in the rocks that make up the upper part of the Earth's crust. The features and patterns of the magnetic anomalies can be used to delineate details of subsurface geology, including the locations of buried faults and magnetite-bearing rocks and the depth to the base of sedimentary basins. This information is valuable for mineral exploration, geologic mapping, and environmental studies. The Iowa magnetic map is constructed from grids that combine information collected in nine separate magnetic surveys conducted between 1953 and 1972. The data from these surveys are of varying quality. The design and specifications (terrain clearance, sampling rates, line spacing, and reduction procedures) varied from survey to survey depending on the purpose of the project and the technology of that time. Every attempt was made to acquire the data in digital form. All survey grids have been continued to 305 m (1,000 ft) above ground and merged together to form the State compilation.

Iowa↗

Swath Bathymetry Surveys of the Monterey Bay Area from Point Ano Nuevo to Moss Landing, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Counties, California

This report describes swath bathymetry and backscatter data acquired by the U.S. Geological Survey on the continental shelf within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary between Point Año Nuevo and Moss Landing, in San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Counties, Calif. The survey was done for the California Seafloor Mapping Program (CSMP) , in field activities S-7-09-MB and S-10-09-MB , by the Western Coastal and Marine Geology (WCMG) Team of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The data were acquired in two separate surveys: (1) between August 13, 2009 and September 3, 2009, personnel from WCMG completed field activity S-7-09-MB, from Point Año Nuevo south to Table Rock, as well as a block west of Soquel Canyon; (2) between October 12 and December 16, 2009, WCMG conducted field activity S-10-09-MB, surveying between Table Rock and Moss Landing.

Data Series↗

Southern Salish Sea Habitat Map Series: Admiralty Inlet

In 2010 the Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10 initiated the Puget Sound Scientific Studies and Technical Investigations Assistance Program, designed to support research in support of implementing the Puget Sound Action Agenda. The Action Agenda was created in response to Puget Sound having been designated as one of 28 estuaries of national significance under section 320 of the U.S. Clean Water Act, and its overall goal is to restore the Puget Sound Estuary's environment by 2020. The Southern Salish Sea Mapping Project was funded by the Assistance Program request for proposals process, which also supports a large number of coastal-zone- and ocean-management issues. The issues include the recommendations of the Marine Protected Areas Work Group to the Washington State Legislature (Van Cleve and others, 2009), which endorses a Puget Sound and coast-wide marine conservation needs assessment, gap analysis of existing Marine Protected Areas (MPA) and recommendations for action. This publication is the first of four U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigation Maps that make up the Southern Salish Sea Mapping Project. The remaining three map blocks to be published in the future, located south of Admiralty Inlet, are shown in figure 1. Puget Sound is a deep, fjord-type estuary covering an area of 2,330 km 2 in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States (fig. 1). It is connected to the ocean by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a turbulent passage approximately 160 km in length and 22 km wide at its west end, expanding to over 40 km wide at its east end (Thomson, 1994). During the Pleistocene, the area was occupied several times by lobes of continental ice, resulting in a complex basin-fill of glacial and interglacial deposits that are locally as thick as 1100 m (Johnson and others, 2001). The last glaciation, called the Fraser glaciation, began after 28,800±740 14 C yr B.P. when ice started a slow expansion (Clague, 1981). At peak advance the westward Juan de Fuca lobe reached the edge of the continental shelf through the Juan de Fuca Strait shortly before 14,460±200 14 C yr B.P. (Herzer and Bornhold, 1982). The southward Puget lobe advanced to its terminal position in Puget Sound by around 14,150 14 C yr B.P. (Porter and Swanson, 1998). Ice retreated from its maximum to northern Whidbey Island by 13,650±350 14 C yr B.P. (Dethier and others, 1995). Retreating glaciers resulted in a thick sequence of ice-contact, glacial-marine sediment, and early post-glacial sediments (Linden and Schurrer, 1988). These deposits have experienced the effects of a marine transgression followed by regression, resulting in a sea-level several tens of meters lower than the present day (Linden and Schurrer, 1988). A second transgression brought sea level to about the present level by around 5,470±120 14 C yr B.P. (Clague and others, 1982) establishing the present oceanographic and geologic environment Puget Sound is separated into four interconnected basins; Whidbey, Central (Main), Hood Canal, and South (Thomson, 1994). The Whidbey, Central, and Hood Canal basins are the three main branches of the Puget Sound estuary and are separated from the Strait of Juan de Fuca by a double sill at Admiralty Inlet. The Admiralty Inlet map area includes the Inlet and a portion of the Whidbey Basin (fig. 1). The shallower South Basin is separated by a sill at Tacoma Narrows and is highly branched with numerous finger inlets. Flow within Puget Sound is dominated by tidal currents of as much as 1 m/s at Admiralty Inlet, reducing to approximately 0.5 m/s in the Central Basin (Lavelle and others, 1988). The lack of silt and clay-sized sediments in the Admiralty Inlet map area is likely a result of the strong currents (see Ground-Truth Studies for the Admiralty Inlet Map Area, sheet 3). The subtidal component of flow reaches approximately 0.1 m/s and is driven by density gradients arising from the contrast in salty ocean water at the entrance and freshwater inputs from stream flow (Lavelle and others, 1988). The total freshwater input to Puget Sound is approximately 3.4 x 10 6 m 3 /day, primarily from the Skagit River (Cannon, 1983). The subtidal circulation mostly consists of a two-layered flow in the basins with fresher water exiting at the surface and saltier water entering at depth (Ebbesmeyer and Cannon, 2001). In general, surface waters flow north and deeper waters flow south; variations arise from wind effects that can drive a surface current in the same direction as the wind, and a baroclinic response in the lower layer to about 100-m depth (Matsuura and Cannon, 1997). Oceanographic properties are influenced by temporal forcing parameters such as reduced stream flow during the 2000-01 drought that increased surface salinity and decreased differences between surface and bottom waters (Newton and others, 2003). On offshore seismic-reflection profiles, Pleistocene strata (excluding latest Pleistocene glacial and post-glacial deposits) form a distinct seismic unit, bounded below by pre-Tertiary or Tertiary basement and above by typically flat-lying latest Pleistocene to Holocene deposits that fill in erosional or depositional relief (Johnson and others, 2001). Cores from central Puget Sound have accumulation rates that range from 85 to 1200 mg/cm 2 /yr, or 0.12 to 2.4 cm/yr; the highest accumulation rates are near the southern end of central Puget Sound (Carpenter and others, 1985). Carpenter and others (1985) un-weighted arithmetic mean of accumulation rates for central Puget Sound deeper stations is 480±340 (± one standard deviation) mg/cm 2 /yr. Lavelle and others (1985) also found rates as high as 1200 mg/cm 2 /yr over the past approximately 70 years in cores in the Central Basin off of and north and south of Elliott Bay. Puget Sound basin rates are comparable to rates in midshelf silt deposits on the Washington coast north of the Columbia River (Nittrouer and others, 1979). The deep subtidal (in other words, below SCUBA depths) habitats of Puget Sound are relatively poorly known. A few subtidal surveys exist for several habitat types from the 1960s and 1970s (reviewed in Dethier, 1990), using grab and box core data. The Dethier (1990) review divides habitat up into Coast and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) substrate, water column energy, and depth zones but does not attempt to map these habitats, rather it is an inventory of habitats found in the area and the flora and fauna associated with each habitat. The approach of the Southern Salish Sea Mapping project is to create highly detailed seafloor maps through collection, integration, interpretation, and visualization of swath sonar data (the undersea equivalent of satellite remote-sensing data in terrestrial mapping), acoustic backscatter, seafloor video, seafloor photography, and bottom-sediment sampling data. This approach is based in part on methods presented and data collection and product needs identified at the Washington State Seafloor Mapping Workshop (Washington State Seafloor Mapping Workshop Steering Committee, 2008), attended by coastal and marine managers and scientists. The map products display seafloor geomorphology and substrate, and identify potential marine benthic habitats. It is emphasized that the more interpretive habitat and geology maps rely on the integration of multiple, new high-resolution datasets and that mapping at small scales would not be possible without such data. Oceanographic current and wave data is not included in this analysis, however, the accompanying geographic information system (GIS) data set is designed and intended to be combined with oceanographic and biologic data sets assembled by others in the future and some of the GIS data has already been incorporated in the unpublished Nature Conservancy Benthic Habitats of Puget Sound database. This publication includes four map sheets, explanatory text, and a descriptive pamphlet. Each map sheet is published as a portable document format (PDF) file. ESRI ArcGIS compatible geotiffs (for example, bathymetry) and shapefiles (for example video observation points) will be available for download in the data catalog associated with this publication (Cochrane, 2015). An ArcGIS Project File with the symbology used to generate the map sheets is also provided. For those who do not own the full suite of ESRI GIS and mapping software, the data can be read using ESRI ArcReader, a free viewer that is available at http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcreader/index.html .

Washington↗

Stratigraphic sections of the Phosphoria formation in Idaho, 1947-48, Part I

The Permian Phosphoria formation of the western states contains one of the world's largest reserves of phosphate. Although previous investigations (see especially Mansfield, 1927), including reconnaissance geologic mapping and sampling, established the location of most of the important deposits and their quality of scattered localities, they were not sufficiently detailed to permit a comparison of the merits of individual deposits or an appraisal of the reserves of phosphate rock that might be available under present economic conditions. Because the growing importance of the western phosphate deposits requires a better, more detailed understanding of their distribution and quality, the Geological Survey began in 1947 a comprehensive investigation, including (1) reconnaissance geologic mapping, mostly in Montana, of areas in which the Phosphoria formation could occur but where it had not previously been looked for or found; (2) geologic mapping, mostly in Montana, at a scale no smaller than 1:62,500, of several areas known to contain the Phosphoria formation but not previously mapped except in reconnaissance fashion; (3) geologic and topographic mapping, at a scale of 1:12,000, of some of the richest, thickest, and most accessible deposits; (4) measuring, describing, and sampling all beds of the phosphatic and shaly parts, and in some places the full thickness, of the Phosphoria formation and its stratigraphic equivalents at one or two localities per township over the entire field; (5) chemical and spectrographic analysis of the samples for phosphate, fluorine, minor metals, oil, and rock-forming constituents; and (6) petrologic and geochemical studies of the rocks and minerals of the formation. These studies are designed to define the regional and local geologic structures in which the phosphate bed lie, to provide a basis for the estimation of reserves of the inferred class over the entire region, and to determine the origin of the rocks and the elements contained in them. The data collected are not of the detail required to plan actual mining operations, but it is hoped they will guide industry in the selection of individual deposits worthy of further exploration. Most of the field work contemplated as a part of this investigation is now completed. Although the data will not be compiled or published in final form for some years to come, segments of the data, accompanied by little or no interpretation, will be published as preliminary maps or reports as they are assembled. The present report is the first of a series presenting in abbreviated form the description and analyses of the beds measured and sampled at various localities in southeastern Idaho (pl. 1). Companion reports presenting segments of the data from Montana, Wyoming, and Utah (Swanson and others, 1952, and McKelvey and others, 1952a and 1952b) are being released at the same time as this report, and others are in preparation.

Idaho↗

Water-level changes in the high plains regional aquifer, northwestern Oklahoma, predevelopment to 1980

During 1978, the U.S. Geological Survey began a 5-year study of the High Plains regional aquifer system to provide hydrologic information for evaluation of the effects of long-term development of the aquifer and to develop computer models for prediction of aquifer response to alternative changes in ground-water management (Weeks, 1978). This report is one of a series presenting hydrologic information of the High Plains aquifer in Oklahoma. The predevelopment to 1980 water-level changes in the High Plains regional aquifer in Oklahoma are shown for Harper, Ellis, Woodward, Dewey, and Roger Mills Counties, on the east, and for the Oklahoma Panhandle, consist- ing of Cimarron, Texas, and Beaver Counties, on the west. About 1,470 water-level measurements in the Panhandle were used in compiling the predevelopment water-table map (Havens, 1982c). In the remaining area to the east about 150 water-level measurements from the 1950's to the 1970's are representative of predevelopment water levels. For the 1980 water-table map, about 330 measurements were made in the Panhandle and about 350 measurements in the eastern area by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (Havens, 1982b).

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗

Arctic fold-and-thrust belts

The modern Arctic has been formed through a series of continent–continent collisions, accretion of terranes and phases of crustal extension. The Neoproterozoic Timanian, Paleozoic Caledonian and Uralian, and late Mesozoic Verkhoyansk–Kolyma, Chukotkan and Brookian orogenies formed several large fold-and-thrust belts (FTBs). The FTBs are exposed across vast areas of continents and continue offshore to form a complex tectonic basement for thick sedimentary basins, playing an important role in the history of accumulation and deformation of younger unmetamorphosed sedimentary successions that are the subject of this volume. Recognition of the importance of FTBs in the Arctic geological history and their role as a controlling factor of development of Arctic sedimentary basins resulted in this chapter, in which we review the current state of knowledge about Arctic FTBs and highlight questions that remain to be addressed. Enclosure D , a map showing boundaries of the FTB and their internal first-order structural fabric, is a part of the overview.

Book chapter↗

Status of water-level altitudes and long-term water-level changes in the Chicot and Evangeline (undifferentiated) and Jasper aquifers, greater Houston area, Texas, 2021

Since the early 1900s, groundwater withdrawn from the primary aquifers that compose the Gulf Coast aquifer system—the Chicot and Evangeline (undifferentiated) and Jasper aquifers—has been the primary source of water in the greater Houston area, Texas. This report, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District, City of Houston, Fort Bend Subsidence District, Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District, and Brazoria County Groundwater Conservation District, is one in an annual series of reports depicting the status of water-level altitudes and water-level changes in aquifers in the greater Houston area. In contrast to previous reports, the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers are treated as a single hydrogeologic unit in this report. In 2021, shaded depictions of water-level altitudes for the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers (undifferentiated) ranged from 300 feet (ft) below the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) to 300 ft above NAVD 88. The largest decline in water-level altitudes indicated by the 1977–2021 long-term water-level-change map for the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers (undifferentiated) was in the north-central part of The Woodlands, Tex., whereas the 1990–2021 long-term water-level-change map for the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers (undifferentiated) depicts a large area of decline in water-level altitudes in northwestern Harris County, northwest of Jersey Village, Tex. The largest rise in water-level altitudes in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers (undifferentiated) was observed in a relatively large area in southeastern Harris County for 1977–2021, whereas the largest rise in water-level altitudes for 1990–2021 was in a relatively large area in central Harris County. In 2021, shaded depictions of water-level altitudes for the Jasper aquifer ranged from 250 ft below NAVD 88 to 300 ft above NAVD 88. The 2000–21 long-term water-level-change map for the Jasper aquifer depicts water-level declines throughout most of the study area where water-level-altitude data from the Jasper aquifer were collected, with the largest decline in northern Harris County southwest of The Woodlands.

Texas↗

Great Basin geoscience data base

This CD-ROM serves as the archive for 73 digital GIS data set for the Great Basin. The data sets cover Nevada, eastern California, southeastern Oregon, southern Idaho, and western Utah. Some of the data sets are incomplete for the total area. On the CD-ROM, the data are provided in three formats, a prototype Federal Data Exchange standard format, the ESRI PC ARCVIEW1 format for viewing the data, and the ESRI ARC/INFO export format. Extensive documentation is provided to describe the data, the sources, and data enhancements. The following data are provided. One group of coverages comes primarily from 1:2,000,000-scale National Atlas data and can be assembled for use as base maps. These various forms of topographic information. In addition, public land system data sets are provided from the 1:2,500,000-scale Geologic Map of the United States and 1:500,000-scale geologic maps of Nevada, Oregon, and Utah. Geochemical data from the National Uranium Resource Evaluation (NURE) program are provided for most of the Great Basin. Geophysical data are provided for most of the Great Basin, typically gridded data with a spacing of 1 km. The geophysical data sets include aeromagnetics, gravity, radiometric data, and several derivative products. The thematic data sets include geochronology, calderas, pluvial lakes, tectonic extension domains, distribution of pre-Cenozoic terranes, limonite anomalies, Landsat linear features, mineral sites, and Bureau of Land Management exploration and mining permits.

Data Series↗

An interpretation of the aeromagnetic and gravity data and derivative maps of the Craig and Dixon Entrance 1°x 3° quadrangles and the western edges of the Ketchikan and Prince Rupert quadrangles, southeastern Alaska

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is required by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA, Public Law 96-487) to survey certain Federal lands to determine their mineral resource potential. As part of continuing studies designed to fulfill this responsibility, geochemical, geological and geophysical surveys of the Craig and Dixon Entrance (CDE) 1°x3° quadrangles in southeastern Alaska were undertaken by the USGS during the summers of 1983-85, 1989, and 1991. The geochemical data have been reported by Cathrall and others (1993) and Cathrall (1994). A simplified geologic map has been compiled especially for this report based largely on the work of Eberlein and others (1983) and Gehrels (1991, 1992). Brew (1996) also produced a compilation. This report presents available magnetic and gravity data and an interpretation thereof. In this report (released on CD-ROM in 1999) we are releasing USGS-acquired geophysical data for CDE 1:250,000-scale quadrangles of southeastern Alaska. Much of the data have never appeared before in the public domain, including a simplified geologic map, the raw gravity and magnetic data, and derivative products including depth-to-source images, various grids of the data, imaging representations, rock densities, and overlays of the data. In addition, we have added a limited interpretation of what the gravity and magnetic data indicate about the underlying geology, structures, and their relationship to known and potential hidden mineral resources. This interpretation is necessarily limited in the case of the gravity data by the general sparsity of stations. For convenience, we have also included here various representations of the digital topography.

Alaska↗

Pre-Cambrian geology of the Norway Lake area, Dickinson County, Michigan

The Norway Lake area straddles the south margin of the Sagola basin, an embayment of Ruronian sedimentary rocks into the west side of a complex of crystalline and sedimentary rocks of pre-Ruronian age. The north part of the Norway Lake area is underlain by the Randville dolomite, an unnamed succession of slates, Vulcan iron-formation, and interbedded slates and graywackes of the Sagola basin. The Sturgeon quartzite has not been definitely recognized in the Norway Lake area. The Handville dolomite is more than 800 feet thick and can be subdivided into upper and lower dolomite members separated by a slate member. The Vulcan iron-formation and the footwall slates are exposed only in the Deerhunt exploration. A thick section of red and gray slates with interbedded graywacke, of probable Upper Huronian age, underlies the northwest part of the mapped area. The south part of the Norway Lake area is underlain by granite gneiss, an arkose series, and schists, all of pre-Huronian age. The principal structural elements of the Norway Lake area are high angle faults, and such faults form most of the boundary between Huronian and pre-Huronian rocks in the area. The structure of the Huronian rocks. particularly in the vicinity of the Deerhunt exploration, cannot be determined with certainty on the basis of information now available. Magnetic anomalies were found to be associated with the slate member of the Randville dolomite, basalt interbedded with the arkose series, and a magnetite-bearing member in hornblende schist. It is possible that economic deposits of iron ore occur within the mapped area. However, exploration will be tedious and costly because of the structural complexity of the area and the paucity of exposures. Furthermore, the absence of strong magnetic anomalies, such as typically are present in areas known to be underlain by Vulcan iron-formation, suggests that the iron-formation is not present in abundance; in fact, it may be limited to the immediate vicinity of the Deerhunt exploration. Field mapping and petrographic examination do not provide data to determine whether the granite gneiss formed from a magma. Chemical analysis of one sample suggests that it was formed from rocks of the earth's crust rather than by fractional crystallization of a basaltic magma. The original feldspars of the granite gneiss were probably anorthoclase and analbite. During uplift and denudation these were changed to microcline microperthite and albite. These feldspars were contributed to the arkose series. During regional metamorphism of the granite gneiss and arkose replacement type microperthite and secondary perthite were formed, probably by redistribution of feldspars already present tither than by metasomatism.

Michigan↗

Map showing seismicity and sandblows in the vicinity of New Madrid, Missouri

This is one of a series of five seismotectic maps of the seismically active New Madrid, Missouri, area (table 1; Wheeler and others, 1992). The map area centers near the sites of three great earthquakes that struck during the winter of 1811-12 (Fuller, 1912; Nuttli, 1973). These earthquakes and continuing subsequent seismicity rank the New Madrid area with Cherlevoix, Quebec, as the two most seismically active areas in North America east of the Rocky Mountains. The threat posed by New Madrid seismicity to the central United States makes the area the focus of many investigations (for examples, Heyl and McKeown, 1978; McKeown and Pakiser, 1982; Algemissen and Hopper, 1984; Hamilton and Johnston, 1990; Applied Technology Council, 1991; Johnston and others, 1992). The map area includes the most intense seismic activity in the New Madrid region. A seismotectic map shows some of the geologic and geophysical information needed to assess seismic hazard (Hadley and Devine, 1974; Pavoni, 1985). A previous seismotectonic map of the central Mississippi River valley (Heyl and McKeown, 1978) has had wide use for planning field surveys, as a base map for plotting data collected during single investigations, and for compiling a range of information. Since 1978 numcrous researchers have greatly advanced our knowledge of the geology and geophysics of the central Mississippi Valley. The New Madrid seismotectonic map folio updates approximately the south-central sixth of the central Mississippi Valley seismotectonic map of Heyl and McKeown (1978).

Missouri↗

Sources of geologic and hydrologic information pertinent to ground-water resources in Rhode Island

This report summarizes sources of geologic and hydrologic information useful to water managers and others involved in the investigation, appraisal, development, and protection of ground-water resources in Rhode Island. The geographic scope of the report includes Rhode Island and small adjoining areas of Massachusetts and Connecticut, where drainage basins are shared with these States. The information summarized is found in maps and reports prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey and published by either the U.S. Geological Survey or by the State of Rhode Island. Information sources are presented in maps and tables. Reference maps show drainage divides, town lines, and the 7.5-minute grid of latitude and longitude for the State. Maps show availability of surficial geologic maps, bedrock geologic maps, and ground-water studies by 7.5-minute quadrangle, and show availability of ground-water studies by drainage basin, subbasin, and special study area. Sources of geologic and hydrologic information for the thirty-seven 7.5-minute quadrangles covering Rhode Island have been compiled based on the following information categories: surficial geology, bedrock geology, subsurface materials, altitude of bedrock surface, water-table altitudes, water-table contours, saturated thickness, hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity, drainage divides, recharge areas, ground-water reservoirs, induced infiltration, and ground-water quality. A table for each of the 37 quadrangles lists the major categories of information available for that quadrangle, provides references to the publications in which the information can be found, and indicates the format, scale, and other pertinent attributes of the information. A table organized by report series gives full citations for publications prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey pertaining to the geology and hydrology of Rhode Island. To facilitate location of information for particular municipalities, a table lists cities and towns in the State and the quadrangles that cover each municipality.

Rhode Island↗

Hydrogeologic framework and groundwater/surface-water interactions of the South Fork Nooksack River Basin, northwestern Washington

A hydrogeologic framework of the South Fork (SF) Nooksack River Basin in northwestern Washington was developed and hydrologic data were collected to characterize the groundwater-flow system and its interaction with surface‑water features. In addition to domestic, agricultural, and commercial uses of groundwater within the SF Nooksack River Basin, groundwater has the potential to provide ecological benefits by maintaining late-summer streamflows and buffering stream temperatures. Cold-water refugia, created and maintained in part by groundwater, have been identified by water-resource managers as key elements to restore the health and viability of threatened salmonids in the SF Nooksack River. The SF Nooksack River drains a 183-square mile area of the North Cascades and the Puget Lowland underlain by unconsolidated glacial and alluvial sediments deposited over older sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous bedrock. The primary aquifer that interacts with the SF Nooksack River was mapped within unconsolidated glacial outwash and alluvial sediment. The lower extent of this unit is bounded by bedrock and fine-grained, poorly sorted unconsolidated glaciomarine and glaciolacustrine sediments. In places, these deposits overlie and confine an aquifer within older glacial sediments. The extent and thickness of the hydrogeologic units were assembled from mapped geologic units and lithostratigraphic logs of field-inventoried wells. Generalized groundwater-flow directions within the surficial aquifer were interpreted from groundwater levels measured in August 2012; and groundwater seepage gains and losses to the SF Nooksack River were calculated from synoptic streamflow measurements made in the SF Nooksack River and its tributaries in September 2012. A subset of the field-inventoried wells was measured at a monthly interval to determine seasonal fluctuations in groundwater levels during water year 2013. Taken together, these data provide the foundation for a future groundwater-flow model of the SF Nooksack River Basin that may be used to investigate the potential effects of future climate change, land use, and groundwater pumping on water resources in the study area. Site-specific hydrologic data, including time series of longitudinal temperature profiles measured with a fiber-optic distributed temperature sensor and continuous monitoring of stream stage and water levels measured in wells in adjacent wetlands and aquifers, also were measured to characterize the interaction among the SF Nooksack River, surficial aquifers, and riparian wetlands.

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A GIS library of multibeam data for Massachusetts Bay and the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, offshore of Boston, Massachusetts

Introduction The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has mapped the sea floor of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and western Massachusetts Bay, offshore of Boston, Massachusetts (figure 1a, figure 1b). The mapping was carried out using a Simrad Subsea EM1000 Multibeam Echo Sounder (95 kHz) on the Frederick G. Creed on four cruises between 1994 and 1998. The mapping was conducted in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and with support from the Canadian Hydrographic Service and the University of New Brunswick. This GIS Library contains images and grids of bathymetry, shaded relief bathymetry, and backscatter intensity data from these surveys in an Environmental Systems Research Institute (http://www.esri.com) (ESRI) ArcMap 9.1 Geographic Information System (GIS) project. The shapefiles, images, grids and associated metadata may also be downloaded individually. Descriptions and interpretations of the data are available in a series of published maps.

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