Results for “Coal Investigations Map” — Page 6

USGS1981

Availability and Quality of Water from Underground Coal Mines in Johnson and Martin Counties, Kentucky

This report provides water users with detailed information on the location, quantity, and quality of water available from underground coal mines in the Breathitt Formation of Pennsylvanian age in part of eastern Kentucky. The principal coal seams mined are the Van Lear in Johnson County and the Alma in Martin County. Coal mines that contained water were located by field inventory and coal-mine maps. The principal factors that affect the occurrence of water in coal mines are the size of the recharge area overlying the mine, the intensity and duration of precipitation, and the altitude of the mine relative to that of the nearest perennial stream. Ten above-drainage mines (that is, mines at higher elevations than that of the nearest perennial stream) are considered potential sources of water. Discharge from these mines ranged from 12 to 1,700 gallons per minute. The highest sustained discharge from a mine ranged from 750 to 1,200 gallons per minute. The water in coal mines is part of the hydrologic system and varies seasonally with precipitation. Annual discharge from most above-drainage mines ranged from 3 to 10 percent of annual precipitation on the 1and-surface area above the mine. Eight below-drainage mines are considered potential sources of water. Two were test-pumped at rates of 560 to 620 gallons per minute for as long as 6 hours. After test pumping the Warfield Mining No. 1 mine during September 1977 and March 1978, the recovery (or recharge) rates were significantly different. In September, the recharge rate was about 1,150 gallons per minute, but in March the recharge rate was 103,500 gallons per minute. This difference reflects the seasonal variations in the amount of water available to the ground-water system. Estimates of water stored in below-drainage mines ranged from 22 to 1,462 million gallons. This storage represents a safety factor sufficient to provide water through periods of limited recharge to the mine. Most mine water is of the calcium magnesium sulfate type. In general, water from below-drainage mines had lower concentrations of dissolved constituents and higher pH than water from mines above drainage. The hardness of water ranged from soft to very hard and pH ranged -from 3.1 to 8.0 units. Dissolved iron ranged from 0.01 to 64 milligrams per liter. Phenol concentrations in water from eight coal mines ranged from 0 to 5 micrograms per liter. There seems to be a significant difference in the chemical quality of water from above- and below-drainage mines. The concentration of most constituents was lower in water from below-drainage mines than it was from above-drainage mines. The better quality water from below-drainage mines may reflect (1) lower mineralization resulting from less atmospheric oxygen available to react with pyrite or, (2) the result of sampling only the upper zones of water in below-drainage mines where the water has been diluted by less mineralized surface water or inflow or recharge.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗

USGS2010

Summary of Hydrologic Data for the Tuscarawas River Basin, Ohio, with an Annotated Bibliography

The Tuscarawas River Basin drains approximately 2,600 square miles in eastern Ohio and is home to 600,000 residents that rely on the water resources of the basin. This report summarizes the hydrologic conditions in the basin, describes over 400 publications related to the many factors that affect the groundwater and surface-water resources, and presents new water-quality information and a new water-level map designed to provide decisionmakers with information to assist in future data-collection efforts and land-use decisions. The Tuscarawas River is 130 miles long, and the drainage basin includes four major tributary basins and seven man-made reservoirs designed primarily for flood control. The basin lies within two physiographic provinces-the Glaciated Appalachian Plateaus to the north and the unglaciated Allegheny Plateaus to the south. Topography, soil types, surficial geology, and the overall hydrology of the basin were strongly affected by glaciation, which covered the northern one-third of the basin over 10,000 years ago. Within the glaciated region, unconsolidated glacial deposits, which are predominantly clay-rich till, overlie gently sloping Pennsylvanian-age sandstone, limestone, coal, and shale bedrock. Stream valleys throughout the basin are filled with sands and gravels derived from glacial outwash and alluvial processes. The southern two-thirds of the basin is characterized by similar bedrock units; however, till is absent and topographic relief is greater. The primary aquifers are sand- and gravel-filled valleys and sandstone bedrock. These sands and gravels are part of a complex system of aquifers that may exceed 400 feet in thickness and fill glacially incised valleys. Sand and gravel aquifers in this basin are capable of supporting sustained well yields exceeding 1,000 gallons per minute. Underlying sandstones within 300 feet of the surface also provide substantial quantities of water, with typical well yields of up to 100 gallons per minute. Although hydraulic connection between the sandstone bedrock and the sands and gravels in valleys is likely, it has not been assessed in the Tuscarawas River Basin. In 2001, the major land uses in the basin were approximately 40 percent forested, 39 percent agricultural, and 17 percent urban/residential. Between 1992 and 2001, forested land use decreased by 2 percent with correspondingly small increases in agricultural and urban land uses, but from 1980 to 2005, the 13-county area that encompasses the basin experienced a 7.1-percent increase in population. Higher population density and percentages of urban land use were typical of the northern, headwaters parts of the basin in and around the cities of Akron, Canton, and New Philadelphia; the southern area was rural. The basin receives approximately 38 inches of precipitation per year that exits the basin through evapotranspiration, streamflow, and groundwater withdrawals. Recharge to groundwater is estimated to range from 6 to 10 inches per year across the basin. In 2000, approximately 89 percent of the 116 million gallons per day of water used in the basin came from groundwater sources, whereas 11 percent came from surface-water sources. To examine directions of groundwater flow in the basin, a new dataset of water-level contours was developed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The contours were compiled on a map that shows that groundwater flows from the uplands towards the valleys and that the water-level surface mimics surface topography; however, there are areas where data were too sparse to adequately map the water-level surface. Additionally, little is known about deep groundwater that may be flowing into the basin from outside the basin and groundwater interactions with surface-water bodies. Many previous reports as well as new data collected as part of this study show that water quality in the streams and aquifers in the Tuscarawas River Basin has been degraded by urban, suburban, and rural

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS2011

Hydrogeology and simulation of groundwater flow in the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, south-central Oklahoma

The Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer in south-central Oklahoma provides water for public supply, farms, mining, wildlife conservation, recreation, and the scenic beauty of springs, streams, and waterfalls. Proposed development of water supplies from the aquifer led to concerns that large-scale withdrawals of water would cause decreased flow in rivers and springs, which in turn could result in the loss of water supplies, recreational opportunities, and aquatic habitat. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board, in collaboration with the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Geological Survey, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Oklahoma, studied the aquifer to provide the Oklahoma Water Resources Board the scientific information needed to determine the volume of water that could be withdrawn while protecting springs and streams. The U.S. Geological Survey, in coopertion with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, did a study to describe the hydrogeology and simulation of groundwater flow of the aquifer. The outcrop of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer covers an area of about 520 square miles in Carter, Coal, Johnston, Murray, and Pontotoc Counties. Three subdivisions of the aquifer outcrop were designated for this study: the eastern, central, and western Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer. This study emphasized the eastern Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer because it is the largest part of the aquifer by area and volume; most groundwater withdrawals are from the eastern Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer; and the largest (by flow) streams and springs sourced from the aquifer are on the eastern Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer. The aquifer lies in an uplifted area commonly referred to as the Arbuckle Mountains, which is characterized by great thicknesses of mostly carbonate rocks, uplifts, folded structures, and large fault displacements. The Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer is contained in three major rock units of Late Cambrian to Middle Ordovician age: the Timbered Hills, Arbuckle, and Simpson Groups. The aquifer is underlain by low-permeability Cambrian and Proterozoic igneous and metamorphic rocks, and is confined above by younger sedimentary rocks of various ages in areas where the top of the aquifer dips below the surface. The major part of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer is the Arbuckle Group, which consists of as much as 6,700 feet of limestone in the western Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, but which thins to an estimated 3,000 feet of predominantly dolostone in the eastern Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer. Water is obtained from cavities, solution channels, fractures, and intercrystalline porosity in the limestone and dolostone. The overlying Simpson Group, consisting of sandstones, shales, and limestones, is as much as 2,300 feet thick in the western Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, but generally is less than 1,000 feet thick in the eastern aquifer. Water in the Simpson Group is stored primarily in pore spaces between the sand grains in the sandstones. A digital, three-dimensional geologic framework model was constructed to define the geometric relations of fault blocks and subsurface rock units across complex fault zones of the eastern Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer. Geologic data for the model were obtained from 126 drill holes; stratigraphic contacts and faults defined from a digitized version of the surface geologic map; and fault geometry, stratigraphic thickness, and information compiled from geologic and hydrogeologic reports and maps. Groundwater in the aquifer moves from areas of high head (altitude) to areas of low head along streams and springs. The potentiometric surface in the eastern Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer generally slopes from a topographic high from northwest to the southeast, indicating that regional groundwater flow is predominantly toward the southeast. Freshwater is known to extend beyond the aquifer outcrop near the City of Sulphur, Oklahoma, and Chickasaw National Recreation Area, where groundwater flows west from the outcrop of the eastern Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer and becomes confin

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS1994

Principal reference section for part of the Eocene Ghazij Formation, Moghal Mine area, Mach coal field, Balochistan, Pakistan

The information presented on this sheet was collected as part of a joint U.S. Geological Survey-Geological Survey of Pakistan program sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development. As a project within this program, the coal-bearing Ghazij Formation (Eocene) was investigated in the northeastern part of Balochistan cast and south of the provincial capital of Quetta. Strata exposed in this area range in age from Permian to Holocene and crop out as a belt of folded and thrusted rocks that form a southeast-facing orocline. In this region of Pakistan, the Ghazij can usually be divided into three parts. The lower part is the thickest (probably more than 1,000 m) and consists of gray-weathering calcareous mudrock (shale, mudstone, and impure claystone) and a few tabular bodies of fine-to medium-grained calcareous sandstone. The middle part (27-300 m) consists of gray-weathering calcareous mudrock and tabular to lenticular bodies of fine-to medium-grained calcareous sandstone; beds of carbonaceous shale and coal are common. The upper part (as thick as 533 m) contains reddish-weathering calcareous mudrock that contains scattered lenticular bodies of fine- to medium-grained calcareous sandstone. Fossil plant debris is common in mudrock of the lower and middle parts of the Ghazij, and bivalves and gastropods are common in the middle part; the upper part of the Ghazij is usually unfossiliferous. This three-fold division of the Ghazij is less distinct in the Johan area. Here, the upper part of the formation is clearly identifiable, but rocks below it are poorly exposed and assigning a stratigraphic level that separates the middle and lower parts of the formation is problematic. Below the upper part of the formation is a thick sequence of greenish-gray calcareous mudrock that contains locally abundant plant debris and isolated bodies of brown-weathering sandstone. Rare carbonaceous shale and even rarer coal are present in the upper part of this sequence, and this interval of the formation might correspond to the middle part of the Ghazji exposed in areas to the north. We propose that, in the Johan area, those rocks below the upper part of the formation be referred to as the main body of the Ghazij (for example, main-body Ghazij). Underlying the Ghazij are the carbonate rocks of the Paleocene Dungan Formation (or its equivalent), and overlying the Ghazij are the mostly carbonate rocks of the Eocene Kirthar Formation (or its equivalent). Both contacts can be conformable or unconformable. All of the pre-Neogene rocks in Balochistan are greatly deformed by the collision of India and Asia. The Ghazij is especially susceptible to regional compressional tectonics because it contains a large amount of shale and is sandwiched between two thick carbonate units. As a result, bedding-plane faults and isoclinal folds are common. As part of our study of the Ghazij Formation, five stratigraphic sections were measured: one near Pir Ismail Ziarat, one in the Sor Range, two in the vicinity of Mach, and one near Johan. Each area's section is published separately.

Balochistan↗

USGS1994

Principal reference section for part of the Eocene Ghazij Formation, Sarawan River area, Johan coal field, Balochistan, Pakistan

The information presented on this sheet was collected as part of a joint U.S. Geological Survey-Geological Survey of Pakistan program sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development. As a project within this program, the coal-bearing Ghazij Formation (Eocene) was investigated in the northeastern part of Balochistan cast and south of the provincial capital of Quetta. Strata exposed in this area range in age from Permian to Holocene and crop out as a belt of folded and thrusted rocks that form a southeast-facing orocline. In this region of Pakistan, the Ghazij can usually be divided into three parts. The lower part is the thickest (probably more than 1,000 m) and consists of gray-weathering calcareous mudrock (shale, mudstone, and impure claystone) and a few tabular bodies of fine-to medium-grained calcareous sandstone. The middle part (27-300 m) consists of gray-weathering calcareous mudrock and tabular to lenticular bodies of fine-to medium-grained calcareous sandstone; beds of carbonaceous shale and coal are common. The upper part (as thick as 533 m) contains reddish-weathering calcareous mudrock that contains scattered lenticular bodies of fine- to medium-grained calcareous sandstone. Fossil plant debris is common in mudrock of the lower and middle parts of the Ghazij, and bivalves and gastropods are common in the middle part; the upper part of the Ghazij is usually unfossiliferous. This three-fold division of the Ghazij is less distinct in the Johan area. Here, the upper part of the formation is clearly identifiable, but rocks below it are poorly exposed and assigning a stratigraphic level that separates the middle and lower parts of the formation is problematic. Below the upper part of the formation is a thick sequence of greenish-gray calcareous mudrock that contains locally abundant plant debris and isolated bodies of brown-weathering sandstone. Rare carbonaceous shale and even rarer coal are present in the upper part of this sequence, and this interval of the formation might correspond to the middle part of the Ghazji exposed in areas to the north. We propose that, in the Johan area, those rocks below the upper part of the formation be referred to as the main body of the Ghazij (for example, main-body Ghazij). Underlying the Ghazij are the carbonate rocks of the Paleocene Dungan Formation (or its equivalent), and overlying the Ghazij are the mostly carbonate rocks of the Eocene Kirthar Formation (or its equivalent). Both contacts can be conformable or unconformable. All of the pre-Neogene rocks in Balochistan are greatly deformed by the collision of India and Asia. The Ghazij is especially susceptible to regional compressional tectonics because it contains a large amount of shale and is sandwiched between two thick carbonate units. As a result, bedding-plane faults and isoclinal folds are common. As part of our study of the Ghazij Formation, five stratigraphic sections were measured: one near Pir Ismail Ziarat, one in the Sor Range, two in the vicinity of Mach, and one near Johan. Each area's section is published separately.

Balochistan↗

USGS2005

Analysis and mapping of post-fire hydrologic hazards for the 2002 Hayman, Coal Seam, and Missionary Ridge wildfires, Colorado

Wildfires caused extreme changes in the hydrologic, hydraulic, and geomorphologic characteristics of many Colorado drainage basins in the summer of 2002. Detailed assessments were made of the short-term effects of three wildfires on burned and adjacent unburned parts of drainage basins. These were the Hayman, Coal Seam, and Missionary Ridge wildfires. Longer term runoff characteristics that reflect post-fire drainage basin recovery expected to develop over a period of several years also were analyzed for two affected stream reaches: the South Platte River between Deckers and Trumbull, and Mitchell Creek in Glenwood Springs. The 10-, 50-, 100-, and 500-year flood-plain boundaries and water-surface profiles were computed in a detailed hydraulic study of the Deckers-to-Trumbull reach. The Hayman wildfire burned approximately 138,000 acres (216 square miles) in granitic terrain near Denver, and the predominant potential hazard in this area is flooding by sediment-laden water along the large tributaries to and the main stem of the South Platte River. The Coal Seam wildfire burned approximately 12,200 acres (19.1 square miles) near Glenwood Springs, and the Missionary Ridge wildfire burned approximately 70,500 acres (110 square miles) near Durango, both in areas underlain by marine shales where the predominant potential hazard is debris-flow inundation of low-lying areas. Hydrographs and peak discharges for pre-burn and post-burn scenarios were computed for each drainage basin and tributary subbasin by using rainfall-runoff models because streamflow data for most tributary subbasins were not available. An objective rainfall-runoff model calibration method based on nonlinear regression and referred to as the ?objective calibration method? was developed and applied to rainfall-runoff models for three burned areas. The HEC-1 rainfall-runoff model was used to simulate the pre-burn rainfall-runoff processes in response to the 100-year storm, and HEC-HMS was used for runoff hydrograph generation. Post-burn rainfall-runoff parameters were determined by adjusting the runoff-curve numbers on the basis of a weighting procedure derived from the U.S. Soil Conservation Service (now the National Resources Conservation Service) equation for precipitation excess and the effect of burn severity. This weighting procedure was determined to be more appropriate than simple area weighting because of the potentially marked effect of even small burned areas on the runoff hydrograph in individual drainage basins. Computed water-peak discharges from HEC-HMS models were increased volumetrically to account for increased sediment concentrations that are expected as a result of accelerated erosion after burning. Peak discharge estimates for potential floods in the South Platte River were increased by a factor that assumed a volumetric sediment concentration (Cv) of 20 percent. Flood hydrographs for the South Platte River and Mitchell Creek were routed down main-stem channels using watershed-routing algorithms included in the HEC-HMS rainfall-runoff model. In areas subject to debris flows in the Coal Seam and Missionary Ridge burned areas, debris-flow discharges were simulated by 100-year rainfall events, and the inflow hydrographs at tributary mouths were simulated by using the objective calibration method. Sediment concentrations (Cv) used in debris-flow simulations were varied through the event, and were initial Cv 20 percent, mean Cv approximately 31 percent, maximum Cv 48 percent, Cv 43 percent at the time of the water hydrograph peak, and Cv 20 percent for the duration of the event. The FLO-2D flood- and debris-flow routing model was used to delineate the area of unconfined debris-flow inundation on selected alluvial fan and valley floor areas. A method was developed to objectively determine the post-fire recovery period for the Hayman and Coal Seam burned areas using runoff-curve numbers (RCN) for all drainage basins for a 50-year period. A

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS1905

Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, 1904-1905

Introduction Remarks on the work of the year Branches of work The United States Geological Survey was created in 1879 for the purpose—as its name implies—of examining and reporting on the geologic structure and mineral resources and products of the national domain. To the adequate description of geologic formations and structure cartography is essential, and Congress early recognized this fact by making appropriations for the preparation of a geologic map of the United States. The topographic base map, in order to show with sufficient precision the relations of the geologic formations and the intricacies of the structure, must have a rather large scale and present considerable detail. No such map of this country existed in 1879, and its preparation was immediately begun. The waters of the country are of vast importance, and in a broad sense may be regarded as one of its greatest mineral resources. Hence, in the evolution of the work of the Survey, and especially in view of the great importance of the subject to the irrigation interests, Congress early began making appropriations for ascertaining the amount and quality of the surface and underground waters and when, in 1902, the service for the reclamation of arid lands was organized, that work naturally was placed in the hands of the Secretary of the Interior and by him intrusted to the Director of the Survey. The three great branches of work carried on by the Geological Survey are, therefore, the geologic, the topographic, and the hydrographic, and with these, more especially the latter, is conjoined the Reclamation Service ; publication and administration constitute necessary auxiliary branches. Along these great lines the work of the Survey has progressed without essential variation for many years. The changes made have been due to normal expansion rather than to radical departure in object or plan. State cooperation During the last fiscal year, State cooperation, as explained in previous reports, continued. Arrangements for cooperation in geologic work were made with five States, the total amount contributed by them being about \$8,000, and arrangements for cooperative topographic surveys were made with eleven States, the amount available for such surveys being thus increased by more than \$100,000. Reclamation service The work of the Reclamation Service during the last fiscal year was advanced as rapidly as was thought consistent with thoroughness and accuracy. Actual construction is now in progress on eight projects, as follows : Salt River, Arizona; Truckee-Carson, Nevada; Hondo, New Mexico ; Uncompahgre Valley, Colorado; Minidoka, Idaho; Belle Fourche, South Dakota ; North Platte, Wyoming and Nebraska ; and Shoshone, Wyoming. Proposals were received for work on the Laguna dam, Yuma project, California and Arizona; Huntley project, Montana, and the Fort Buford project, North Dakota and Montana. In several other States operations are at a point where advertisements for bids only await the removal of certain legal obstacles, the settlement of international difficulties, or the termination of delays on the part of local organizations or individuals. The organization of the body of men constituting the personnel of the Reclamation Service, whose field of operations covers so large a territory, though necessarily difficult, has been satisfactorily accomplished, and precedents have been established along approved lines. The general allotment of funds has been made with a view to the greatest benefit to the greatest number, and from the broad standpoint of the welfare of the country as a whole. One of the important features in the evolution of the irrigation work is the development of power, which the numerous dams and, drops in canals make possible. Plans were made to transmit the power being developed in many sections of the arid regions, by means of electricity, to points more or less distant, there to be used for raising underground waters, pumping waters lying above the line of gravity canals, or for various other purposes, and attention was also given to the character of the soils and of the water to be used upon them, the materials used in the construction of the works, and numerous other details incident to reclamation by irrigation. Coal-testing plant Under two special appropriations of \$30,000 each, carried by the urgent deficiency bill approved February 18, 1904, and the general deficiency bill approved April 27, 1904, the Director of the Geological Survey was authorized to construct and operate at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition a plant for testing the coals and lignites of the United States, in order to determine their fuel values and the most economic method of their utilization for different purposes, it being provided that all testing machinery and all coals and lignites to be tested 'should be contributed free of charge to the Government. For carrying out the provisions of these acts the Director appointed a committee, consisting of Edward W. Parker, Joseph A. Holmes, and Marius R. Campbell, to direct the construction and operation of the plant. This committee received the heartiest cooperation from the manufacturers of such equipment as was needed for the installation of the plant, from the railroad companies in freight concessions and transportation for the experts and their assistants, and from the coal operators in the furnishing of coal in carload lots for testing purposes. Although the utmost expedition was used in the construction of the plant, it was not until the first of September that the testing work actually began. Between the first of September and the close of the exposition 65 carload samples of coal for testing purposes were received, and the results of the investigation were published in a preliminary report issued as Geological Survey Bulletin No. 261. The coals tested were received from 17 States and Territories, and much valuable information regarding the best uses to which the different coals may be put was obtained. One of the most important facts developed during this investigation is the possibility of utilizing the vast lignite resources of the West in the manufacture of producer gas, it having been shown that a higher grade of this gas can be obtained from lignite than from ordinary bituminous and anthracite coal. The investigation also showed that the slack or fine coal produced at the dry, noncoking bituminous coal mines of the middle West, large quantities of which are now being wasted, can be profitably utilized by briquetting.

Annual Report↗