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The IAEG Commission on Landslides and other Mass Movements on Slopes has proposed English and French names for 19 identifiable features of slope movements and for 7 dimensions of those features. The Commission intends to publish this list in other languages and to supplement and revise it from time to time.
Large-scale gravitational spreading and movement along fractures of steep-sided ridges in the mountainous areas of the western United States are characterized by linear fissures, trenches, and uphill-facing scarps on tops and sides of ridges. Spreading appears to take place by movement along disconnected planes and/or by slow plastic deformation of a rock mass. In some places, valleyward squeezing out of weak shales overlain by rigid rocks causes extensional fracturing and outward movement of the rigid layers, as illustrated by extension of two laccoliths overlying Mancos Shale, one at Dolores Peak and another at Crested Butte in western Colorado. Gravitational forces acting on a ridge of more homogeneous material causes tensional spreading of the ridge parallel to its long axis, for example in fractured granitic rock north of Mt. Massive in central Colorado, where a survey course has been established to monitor the movement. Recognition and understanding of these large-scale gravitational features and the mechanism that causes them are pertinent to site selection and design of engineering structures in high mountains. If fractures extend to considerable depth and if movement is continuing, engineering structures in valleys or tunnels through the spreading ridges could be damaged.
Disposal of solid low-level wastes containing radionuclides by burial in shallow trenches was initiated during World War II at several sites as a method of protecting personnel from radiation and isolating the radionuclides from the hydrosphere and biosphere. Today, there are 11 principal shallow-land burial sites in the United States that contain a total of more than 1.4 million cubic meters of solid wastes contaminated with a wide variety of radionuclides. Criteria for burial sites have been few and generalized and have contained only minimal hydrogeologic considerations. Waste-management practices have included the burial of small quantities of long-lived radionuclides with large volumes of wastes contaminated with shorter-lived nuclides at the same site, thereby requiring an assurance of extremely long-time containment for the entire disposal site. Studies at 4 of the 11 sites have documented the migration of radionuclides. Other sites are being studied for evidence of containment failure. Conditions at the 4 sites are summarized. In each documented instance of containment failure, ground water has probably been the medium of transport. Migrating radionuclides that have been identified include 90 Sr, 137 Cs, 106 Ru, 239 Pu, 125 Sb, 60 Co, and 3 H. Shallow land burial of solid wastes containing radionuclides can be a viable practice only if a specific site satisfies adequate hydrogeologic criteria. Suggested hydrogeologic criteria and the types of hydrogeologic data necessary for an adequate evaluation of proposed burial sites are given. It is mandatory that a concomitant inventory and classification be made of the longevity, and the physical and chemical form of the waste nuclides to be buried, in order that the anticipated waste types can be matched to the containment capability of the proposed sites. Ongoing field investigations at existing sites will provide data needed to improve containment at these sites and help develop hydrogeologic criteria for new sites. These studies have necessitated the development of special drilling, sampling, well construction, and testing techniques. A recent development in borehole geophysical techniques is downhole spectral gammaray analysis which not only locates but identifies specific radionuclides in the subsurface. Field investigations are being supplemented by laboratory studies of the hydrochemistry of the transuranic elements, the kinetics of solid-liquid phase interactions, and the potential complexing of radionuclides with organic compounds and solvents which mobilize normally highly sorbable nuclides. Theoretical studies of digital predictive solute transport models are being implemented to assure their availability for application to problems and processes identified in the field and laboratory.
A model was developed for predicting the water and salt budget for various diking options in Great Salt Lake.
Great Salt Lake is a shallow, closed-basin lake in northern Utah. Its surface area and concentration of dissolved solids vary in response to both annual and long-term climatic changes. The lake gains water mainly as streamflow from mountains to the east and loses water through evaporation. In 1965, at a lake-surface altitude of 4,194 feet, the surface area was about 1,000 square miles, and the maximum measured depth was 27 feet. Studies to define the variations in chemical and physical characteristics of the brine began in 1963, and detailed sampling of the lake at 29 sites was made in October 1965 and May 1966. Data resulting from concurrent sampling of the 29 sites indicated that four types of brine coexist in the lake.
Water production from individual oil wells in the Uinta Basin ranges from 0 to 2,920,000 barrels (about 380 acre-feet) per year. The total dissolved solids in the water ranges from 500 to 26,000 ppm (parts per million); thus some of the water is classified as fresh and can be used, whereas the highly mineralized water, a minor percentage of the total water produced in the Uinta Basin, must be disposed of to prevent pollution of local fresh-water supplies.
The East Shore area is in north-central Utah between the Wasatch Range and Great Salt Lake, and it has been divided into the Bountiful, Weber Delta, and Brigham ground-water districts, from south to north. The area described in this report includes the Bountiful and Weber Delta districts and the southernmost part of the Brigham district. Long-term mean annual precipitation at Ogden is 17.07 inches, and the average annual temperature over the area is about 50°F. The population of the project area increased by 54 per cent from 1950 to 1960 and should increase rapidly in the future.
The area investigated comprises 33 square miles in the Price River drainage basin ad is in the High Plateaus section of Utah. Precipitation on most of the area ranges from about 20 to 23 inches per year, and the average annual precipitation for the entire area was assumed to be 22 inches, of which approximately 65 percent is lost by evapotranspiration. The geologic formations underlying the area are the Blackhawk and Price River Formations of Cretaceous age, the North Horn Formation of Cretaceous and Tertiary age, the Flagstaff Limestone and Colton Formation of tertiary age, and unconsolidated deposits of probable Quaternary age. Some ground water issues from springs and seeps and is used by stock and the cities of Price and Helper. The annual discharge from the springs and seeps in the area averages about 3,000 acre-feet. Two deep wells supply about 400 acre-feet per year for use at a steam-generating plant. The aquifers penetrated by the wells are in the Flagstaff Limestone and the North Horn formation, the deepest aquifer being about 1,500 feet below the land surface. Most of the ground water in the area is suitable for municipal and industrial use. The surface discharge from the area is approximately 6,000 acre-feet per year. By means of a water budget, it is calculated that approximately 4,000 acre-feet per year leaves the area by subsurface flow. Further development of ground water on a large scale can be accomplished only by the use of wells. It is possible, however, that part of any newly developed supply from wells may be drawn from existing spring discharge or streamflow.
The Jordan Valley occupies about 400 square miles in the central part of Salt Lake County in north-central Utah. Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah, is in the northeastern part of the valley. The valley is at the eastern margin of the Basin and range physiographic province, and it is bounded on the northeast, east, south, and west by mountain ranges. The valley is drained by the Jordan River which enters through a water gap in the mountains to the south, flows north, and empties into the Great Salt Lake, which forms the northwestern border of the valley.
This report presents data collected during the first part of an investigation that was started in 1963 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Utah Geological and Mineralogical Survey. The investigation has the purpose of providing information about the chemical quality of water in western Utah that will help interested parties to evaluate the suitability of the water for various uses in a broad area of Utah where little information of this type previously has been available. The area studied includes the Sink Valley area, the drainage basins of Skull, Rush, and Government Creek Valleys, and the Dugway Valley-Old River Bed area (fig. 1). Osamu Hattori and G. L. Hewitt started the investigation, and the author completed it and prepared the report.
The investigation of dissolved-mineral inflow to Great Salt Lake during the water years 1960, 1961, and 1964 was conducted during conditions of streamflow that were representative of the lowest and the average recorded during the water years 1934-64. The study conducted during the 1960 and 1961 water years was limited to defining surface-water inflow at sites close to the lakeshore, as well as at sites used in the 1960-6 study. From these comparative data, estimates of inflow at the lakeshore were made for the 1960 and 1961 water years. During the 1964 water year, when inflow to the lake was probably representative of the 31-year period, about 800,000 acre-feet of water containing 2,200,000 tons of dissolved solids entered the lake. During the years of average streamflow, about 500,000 acre-feet of water which might be developed for culinary use, passes the lowest sampling sites on the Bear and Weber Rivers. Also, more than 90 percent of the flow near the mouths of the Bear, Weber, and Jordan Rivers would be suitable for irrigation. Sources of inflow could be selected to provide a water supply for a fresh-water lake east of Antelope Island. The supply would range from 300,000 acre-feet of water containing 800 ppm (parts per million) of dissolved solids during periods of low streamflow to 1 million acre-feet containing 500 ppm during periods of average streamflow.
As part of a study of the springs of Utah, reconnaissance data were obtained on the thermal, chemical, and geologic characteristics of the major thermal springs or Utah. Only three of the springs have temperatures near the boiling point of water; the maximum recorded temperatures of these springs range from 185° to 189° F. All three springs are in or near areas of late Tertiary or Quaternary volcanism. Temperatures of the thermal springs studied ranged from 68° to 189° F. Nearly all thermal springs in Utah are in or near fault zones. Very few of these springs issue from volcanic rocks, but several springs are close to areas of late Tertiary or Quaternary volcanic rocks.
During 1958-59, the Southern Pacific Co. constructed a permeable rockfill causeway to carry its railroad tracks across Great Salt Lake. The causeway divides the lake into two parts and interrupts the formerly free movement of brine about the lake. The causeway has caused significant changes in the chemistry of the lake, including a dilution of the brine in the south part of the lake and a concentration of the brine in the north part.
Data are presented for about 4,500 nonthermal springs that discharge in the State of Utah. Most major springs having discharge of several cubic feet per second or more are in or near mountain ranges or plateaus where precipitation is much greater than in other parts of the State. The largest instantaneous discharge observed at any spring was 314 cfs at Mammoth Spring in southwestern Utah. Discharges exceeding 200 cfs have been observed at Swan Creek Spring in extreme northern Utah, and discharges of 200 cfs have been reported for Big Brush Creek Spring in northeastern Utah. Maximum discharges generally are during or within a few weeks after the main period of snowmelt, which is usually from late April to the middle of June. The largest springs generally discharge form or very near carbonate rocks in which solution channels and fractures are numerous or from areas of porous or fractured volcanic rocks. Most nonthermal springs in Utah probably are variable springs – that is, their variability of discharge exceeds 100 percent. Most of the major springs discharge water that contains less than 500 ppm (parts per million) of dissolved solids, and most of the water is of the calcium bicarbonate type. Water from springs is used for domestic, municipal, irrigation, livestock, mining, and industrial purposes.
During the 1970-1972 water years a net load of dissolved solids of 0.26 billion tons moved from the south to north part of Great Salt Lake, Utah, through the causeway of the Southern Pacific Transportation Co. The load loss from the south part during the 1972 water year was only 0.01 billion tons, thus indicating that the salt balance between the two parts of the lake was near equilibrium for inflow conditions such as those of 1972.
Determinations of peak discharge for floods of May to June 1983 were made for 11 streams along the northern Wasatch Front from Salt Lake City to North Ogden. At nine of the streams, the floods during the spring of 1983 equaled or exceeded the 100-year flood. The peak discharge at Stone Creek was 40 times the maximum previously known flood, and the peak discharges at the other sites ranged from slightly greater to about five times that previously known. In addition to the outstanding peak discharges, streamflow at the 11 sites commonly remains high for days, weeks, or even a month. The floods resulted from retention of an abnormally large snowpack until rain combined with above normal temperature caused rapid melting. The peak discharges and continued high flows damaged homes, highways, and drainage canals.
This report presents the data collected for a study of the dissolved-mineral load contributed by surficial sources to Great Salt Lake, Utah. The study was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the University of Utah during the period from July 1959 through June 1962, and is part of an overall investigation of the Great Salt Lake basin by the University. Financial support for the study was provided by the U.S. Geological Survey and by the University of Utah Research Fund and Uniform School Fund. Some of the data presented in this report were obtained as part of cooperative programs between the Geological Survey and other agencies.
During the 1960 and 1961 water years an annual load of about 2 million tons of dissolved minerals was contributed to the Great Salt Lake area by surficial sources. Almost 60 percent of this load was sodium and chloride. Of the six units contributing to the lake area, three - the Bear River, the Jordan River, and the unit comprising drains and sewage canals – contributed about three-fourths of the runoff and of the load. The water type of these tributaries ranged from bicarbonate in the headwaters to sulfate and chloride near the mouths; the dissolved-solids concentrations were higher in the downstream reaches than in the headwaters.