Geology Reports⌕ Search

SEARCH · Geology Reports

Results for “Regional Assessment Report”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,207 records · Page 67Linked to original sources
USGS1968

Land evaluation studies with remote sensors in the infrared and radar regions

This paper reviews the literature, especially of the last two years, dealing with remote sensor evaluation of surface and shallow sub-surface characteristics, employing remote sensors in the infrared (1.5p. - 14p.) and radar (0.5 cm - 100 cm) regions. Imaging and non-imaging sensors are examined to assess their current status and possible value in 1) assisting in the mapping of natural plant communities , 2) deriving hydrologic parameters, 3) discriminating among broad land use, crop type, and to a lesser degree, crop state,4) delineating soil and geomorphic units, and 5) estimating soil moisture. Possible applications of these remote sensors in reconnaissance-scale evaluation of natural resources are considered. The paper leans heavily on unpublished and limited-circulation studies sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S.A.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2006

Central Texas coastal classification maps - Aransas Pass to Mansfield Channel

The primary purpose of the USGS National Assessment of Coastal Change Project is to provide accurate representations of pre-storm ground conditions for areas that are designated high priority because they have dense populations or valuable resources that are at risk from storm waves. A secondary purpose of the project is to develop a geomorphic (land feature) coastal classification that, with only minor modification, can be applied to most coastal regions in the United States. A Coastal Classification Map describing local geomorphic features is the first step toward determining the hazard vulnerability of an area. The Coastal Classification Maps of the National Assessment of Coastal Change Project present ground conditions such as beach width, dune elevations, overwash potential, and density of development. In order to complete a hazard-vulnerability assessment, that information must be integrated with other information, such as prior storm impacts and beach stability. The Coastal Classification Maps provide much of the basic information for such an assessment and represent a critical component of a storm-impact forecasting capability.

Texas↗
USGS2004

Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge: A survey of visitor experiences: Report to respondents

In the fall of 2000, researchers from the Policy Analysis and Science Assistance Program (PASA) of the Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) met with the staff of the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge (CPNWR) to discuss the issues related to social, economic, and human dimensions of natural resource management as it related to the Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) planning process. As a result of the meeting a research study was designed to better understand how visitors are affected by environmental management decisions and provide information to assist the refuge managers in making decisions regarding public use and recreational management related to the goals of the proposed CCP. More specifically, information was collected to document the type and frequency of visitor use; assess the importance of recreational activities; and to determine visitor attitudes about recreation management decisions within the refuge. To this end, we designed a study to assess the effects of the no-action and alternative management plans for the Refuge visitors’ perceptions and likely visitation patterns. In fall of 2002 a questionnaire was developed in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the CCP planning team and mailed to 1090 people who visited the refuge between June 2001 and June 2002. We used standard research methods in designing and administering the questionnaire. Six hundred and eightyfive (685) completed questionnaires (74%) were considered usable. We developed the questionnaire (OMB Control Number 1040-00) to answer the following questions: What are the important differences in visitors’ attitudes and perception regarding recreation and visitor use at CPNWR? What are the factors that explain the differences in visitor attitudes and perception regarding recreation and visitor use at CPNWR? What are the regional economic impacts of visitor spending? In general the respondents indicated support for current management practices of CPNWR. We found that people came to the Refuge to experience a connection with the resource and the environment. More than half of the respondents said that viewing the desert scenery, seeking wilderness solitude and viewing wildlife were the most important reasons for making the visit to the refuge.

Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge↗
USGS2015

Assessment of bauxite, clay, and laterite deposits in Afghanistan

Bauxite-bearing rocks are present in several regions of Afghanistan; specifically, the southeast segment of the North Afghanistan Platform, the eastern parts of South Afghanistan, and within the Afghanistan-North and -South Pamir Fold Regions. Bauxite-bearing rocks occur at various stratigraphic levels, in lithologically different sequences of sedimentary rocks. The bauxites are paleosols and represent previous, rather than recent, weathering events. Bauxites and bauxite-type horizons are most common at the base of carbonate rock units, where they form the basal horizons of sedimentary rock sequences separated by erosion and stratigraphic unconformity surfaces. Less common are zones in redeposited weathering developed on igneous rocks. At present there are five known stratigraphic intervals with significant bauxite and bauxite-type deposits and occurrences: the lower Permian, the upper Permian, the Upper Triassic, the Lower Jurassic, and the base of the Upper Jurassic. This report summarizes a compilation and review of geological data for regions in Afghanistan that contain bauxite deposits and occurrences based on work conducted during 2009 to 2011 by the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations, and the Afghanistan Geological Survey. Permian strata contain bauxites and bauxite-like rocks that are recognizable at various stratigraphic intervals within several areas of southern Afghanistan and in the Central Afghan Massif in central Afghanistan. The main zones of known bauxite occurrences are the Haftqala bauxite zone (late Permian and Late Triassic), Shewa bauxite zone (early Permian), Qarghanaw bauxite zone (late Permian and Late Triassic), Arghandab block in Zabul Province (middle through late Permian), Arghandab block in Ghazni Province (early Permian), Surkhob bauxite zone (Early Jurassic), and Tirin block in Uruzgan, Zabul, and Kandahar Provinces (Late Jurassic). Although some bauxite occurrences were sampled in the course of reconnaissance exploration by Soviet workers in the 1960s and 1970s, the bauxite areas in Afghanistan generally are underexplored. The Obatu Sheila area is a known field of bauxite deposits of Late Jurassic age that had been studied in more detail than other known bauxite deposits and occurrences in Afghanistan. Obatu Sheila has an estimated reserve of 7.2 million tons.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2006

Volatile organic compounds in the nation's ground water and drinking-water supply wells

This national assessment of 55 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ground water gives emphasis to the occurrence of VOCs in aquifers that are used as an important supply of drinking water. In contrast to the monitoring of VOC contamination of ground water at point-source release sites, such as landfills and leaking underground storage tanks (LUSTs), our investigations of aquifers are designed as large-scale resource assessments that provide a general characterization of water-quality conditions. Nearly all of the aquifers included in this assessment have been identified as regionally extensive aquifers or aquifer systems. The assessment of ground water (Chapter 3) included analyses of about 3,500 water samples collected during 1985-2001 from various types of wells, representing almost 100 different aquifer studies. This is the first national assessment of the occurrence of a large number of VOCs with different uses, and the assessment addresses key questions about VOCs in aquifers. The assessment also provides a foundation for subsequent decadal assessments of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program to ascertain long-term trends of VOC occurrence in these aquifers.

Circular↗
USGS2003

Map showing geology, oil and gas fields, and geologic provinces of Europe including Turkey

Introduction This digitally compiled map includes geology, geologic provinces, and oil and gas fields of Europe including Turkey. The maps are part of a worldwide series of maps on CD-ROM released by the U.S. Geological Survey's World Energy Project. The goal of the project is to assess the undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources of the world. For data management purposes the world was divided into eight energy regions corresponding approximately to the economic regions of of the world as defined by the U.S. Department of State. Europe (Region 4) includes Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Vatican. The depicted portion of Region 2 includes Turkey.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2023

Alaska terrestrial and marine climate trends, 1957–2021

Some of the largest climatic changes in the Arctic have been observed in Alaska and the surrounding marginal seas. Near-surface air temperature (T2m), precipitation ( P ), snowfall, and sea ice changes have been previously documented, often in disparate studies. Here, we provide an updated, long-term trend analysis (1957–2021; n = 65 years) of such parameters in ERA5, NOAA U.S. Climate Gridded Dataset (NClimGrid), NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Alaska climate division, and composite sea ice products preceding the upcoming Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) and other near-future climate reports. In the past half century, annual T2m has broadly increased across Alaska, and during winter, spring, and autumn on the North Slope and North Panhandle (T2m > 0.50°C decade −1 ). Precipitation has also increased across climate divisions and appears strongly interrelated with temperature–sea ice feedbacks on the North Slope, specifically with increased (decreased) open water (sea ice extent). Snowfall equivalent (SFE) has decreased in autumn and spring, perhaps aligned with a regime transition of snow to rain, while winter SFE has broadly increased across the state. Sea ice decline and melt-season lengthening also have a pronounced signal around Alaska, with the largest trends in these parameters found in the Beaufort Sea. Alaska’s climatic changes are also placed in context against regional and contiguous U.S. air temperature trends and show ∼50% greater warming in Alaska relative to the lower-48 states. Alaska T2m increases also exceed those of any contiguous U.S. subregion, positioning Alaska at the forefront of U.S. climate warming.

Alaska↗
USGS2011

Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Cook Inlet region, south-central Alaska, 2011

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed a new assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in the Cook Inlet region of south-central Alaska. Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the USGS estimates that mean undiscovered volumes of nearly 600 million barrels of oil, about 19 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 46 million barrels of natural gas liquids remain to be found in this area.

Alaska↗
USGS2019

Study design and methods for a wetland condition assessment on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fee-title lands in the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, USA

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) manages wetlands and grasslands for wildlife habitat throughout the central North American Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). PPR wetlands, or potholes, are widely recognized as critical habitats for North American migratory waterfowl, waterbirds, and other wildlife. Potholes also provide other ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, flood mitigation, filtration of pollutants, groundwater recharge, nutrient retention, and recreational opportunities. Wetland condition assessments have been completed nationally at coarse scales, but focused, regionwide assessments of the biological condition of potholes managed by the FWS are lacking. Therefore, FWS personnel require information pertaining to the biological condition and status of wetlands on FWS fee-title lands in the PPR to support management, restoration, and acquisition efforts. The biological condition of wetlands typically is reflected by their plant communities, and these communities correspond to past and current management and anthropogenic disturbances; thus, plant communities are a suitable surrogate of wetland condition. This report describes the study design, selection of sample sites, and field survey methods for a wetland condition assessment for FWS fee-title lands in the PPR of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. Various spatial databases were gathered (for example, National Wetlands Inventory) to identify and assess potholes on FWS fee-title lands and to facilitate the selection of study sites. A spatially balanced, site-selection process resulted in the inclusion of 125 temporarily and 125 seasonally ponded potholes distributed across the area of interest; the first 100 for each classification were considered the primary study sites, whereas the remaining 25 were considered an oversample to replace those deemed not appropriate for sampling by field crews. Study sites were within native prairie and reseeded grasslands on FWS National Wildlife Refuges and Waterfowl Production Areas and are distributed among the primary physiographic subregions of the PPR: the Glaciated Plains, Missouri Coteau, and Prairie Coteau; a small number of sites also are within the Lake Agassiz Plain and Turtle Mountains. Site assessment protocols, vegetation survey methods, data analyses, and condition categories (for example, poor, good, very good) for the wetland assessment are based on the North Dakota Rapid Assessment Method and an Index of Plant Community Integrity developed for potholes. Results of the wetland condition assessment will aid FWS staff in assessing past and current management and help to identify priority areas for future management and acquisition.

North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana↗
USGS2003

Framework for a ground-water quality monitoring and assessment program for California

The State of California uses more ground water than any other State in the Nation. With a population of over 30 million people, an agricultural economy based on intensive irrigation, large urban industrial areas, and naturally elevated concentrations of some trace elements, there is a wide range of contaminant sources that have the potential to contaminate ground water and limit its beneficial uses. In response to the many-and different-potential sources of ground-water contamination, the State of California has evolved an extensive set of rules and programs to protect ground-water quality, and agencies to implement the rules and programs. These programs have in common a focus on compliance with regulations governing chemical use and (or) ground-water quality. Although appropriate for, and successful at, their specific missions, these programs do not at present provide a comprehensive view of ground-water quality in the State of California. In October 2001, The California Assembly passed a bill, AB 599, establishing the Ground-Water- Quality Monitoring Act of 2001.' The goal of AB 599 is to improve Statewide comprehensive ground-water monitoring and increase availability of information about ground-water quality to the public. AB 599 requires the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), in collaboration with an interagency task force (ITF) and a public advisory committee (PAC), to develop a plan for a comprehensive ground-water monitoring program. AB 599 specifies that the comprehensive program should be capable of assessing each ground-water basin in the State through direct and other statistically reliable sampling approaches, and that the program should integrate existing monitoring programs and design new program elements, as necessary. AB 599 also stresses the importance of prioritizing ground-water basins that provide drinking water. The United States Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the SWRCB, and in coordination with the ITF and PAC, has developed a framework for a comprehensive ground-water-quality monitoring and assessment program for California. The proposed framework relies extensively on previous work conducted by the USGS through its National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program. In particular, the NAWQA program defines three types of ground-water assessment: (1) status, the assessment of the current quality of the ground-water resource; (2) trends, the detection of changes in water quality, and (3) understanding, assessing the human and natural factors that affect ground-water quality. A Statewide, comprehensive ground-water quality-monitoring and assessment program is most efficiently accomplished by applying uniform and consistent study-design and data-collection protocols to the entire State. At the same time, a comprehensive program should be relevant at a variety of scales, and therefore needs to retain flexibility to address regional and local issues. Consequently, many of the program components include a predominant element that will be consistently applied in all basins, and a secondary element that may be applied in specific basins where local conditions warrant attention.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS2021

Identification of Global Priorities for New Mountain Protected and Conserved Areas

Mountain ecosystems are extremely diverse and fragile. They include astonishing biodiversity in terms of number of taxa and endemicity, and globally provide the most diverse range of ecosystem services. The world’s system of protected and conserved areas includes many outstanding areas within the earth’s mountainous landscape: about 19% of mountain areas are protected or conserved, globally. Furthermore, approximately 90% of the most-strongly-protected conservation estate occurs in mountains. Nevertheless, significant mountain areas are not adequately protected, and many mountain ranges are completely unprotected. Of over 6000 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in mountains worldwide, 40.4% are entirely unprotected. As the world conservation movement advocates to expand the global coverage of terrestrial protected areas over the next decade toward 30%, identifying priorities for new mountain protected and conserved areas will be most efficacious if it takes a strategic approach to ensure areas of highest value and most in need of protection are identified. This paper introduces an iterative six-step decision support tool for identifying and prioritizing candidate areas for conserving inadequately protected mountain ecosystems, species, and habitats. The tool begins with quantitative analyses of the adequacy of protection of mountain KBAs, world terrestrial ecosystems, biodiversity hotspots, and red-listed species. It then guides regional teams through qualitative assessments of other values to develop lists of priority areas to give heightened consideration for protection or conservation. The tool is framed on the notion that any of the more than 6000 mountain KBAs can be allocated into one of nine categories: four that identify inadequately protected areas prioritised for heightened consideration, two for which no further action is required unless circumstances change, and three not requiring further action due to being deemed adequately protected.

Final Report↗
USGS2007

Preliminary Assessment of Volcanic and Hydrothermal Hazards in Yellowstone National Park and Vicinity

Possible future violent events in the active hydrothermal, magmatic, and tectonic system of Yellowstone National Park pose potential hazards to park visitors and infrastructure. Most of the national park and vicinity are sparsely populated, but significant numbers of people as well as park resources could nevertheless be at risk from these hazards. Depending on the nature and magnitude of a particular hazardous event and the particular time and season when it might occur, 70,000 to more than 100,000 persons could be affected; the most violent events could affect a broader region or even continent-wide areas. This assessment of such hazards is presented both as a guide for future activities of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) and to aid appropriate response planning by the National Park Service and surrounding agencies and communities. Although the assessment is presented here in some technical detail, this summary is intended to be understandable to non-scientists. The principal conclusions also will be made available in other forms, more accessible to general readers.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2010

Digital tabulation of geologic and hydrologic data from wells in the northern San Francisco Bay region, northern California

Downhole lithologic information and aquifer pumping test data are reported from 464 wells from a broad area of the northern part of the Coast Ranges in California. These data were originally published in paper form as numerous tables within three USGS Water-Supply Papers describing geology and groundwater conditions in Napa and Sonoma Valleys, the Santa Rosa and Petaluma Valley areas, and in the Russian River Valley and areas in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties, Calif. The well data are compiled in this report in digital form suitable for use in a digital mapping environment. These data, although mostly from relatively shallow water wells, provide important subsurface information that displays the disposition and facies transition of lithologic units throughout this broad area. Well lithologic data themselves and simple three-dimensional interpolation of those data show distinct spatial patterns that are linked to subsurface stratigraphy and structure and can be used to aid in the assessment of the groundwater resources.

California↗
USGS2011

Limnological and water-quality data from Wonder Lake, Chilchukabena Lake, and Lake Minchumina, Denali National Park and Preserve and surrounding area, Alaska, June 2006-August 2008

Growing visitor traffic and resource use, as well as natural and anthropogenic land and climatic changes, can place increasing stress on lake ecosystems in Denali National Park and Preserve. Baseline data required to substantiate impact assessment in this sub-arctic region is sparse to non-existent. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service, conducted a water-quality assessment of several large lakes in and around the Park from June 2006 to August 2008. Discrete water-quality samples, lake profiles of pH, specific conductivity, dissolved-oxygen concentration, water temperature, turbidity, and continuous-record temperature profile data were collected from Wonder Lake, Chilchukabena Lake, and Lake Minchumina. In addition, zooplankton, snow chemistry data, fecal coliform, and inflow/outflow water-quality samples also were collected from Wonder Lake.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1982

Assessment of hydrologic conditions in potential coal-lease tracts in the Warrior coal field, Alabama

Assessing the hydrology of potential Federal coal-lease tracts, because of their dissemination and limited data, requires some predictive capability. Four tracts assessed were located in the outcrop of three coal groups and of other relatively impermeable rocks in the Pottsville Formation. Physical settings of the tracts and most other areas in the Warrior coal field are similar. This results in similar ground-water and surface-water characteristics, in similar impacts resulting from surface coal mining, and in maximizing the transfer-ability of data. Assessments of the tracts reflected the small storage of water in underlying rocks and corresponding low yields to wells and to the base flow of streams. Ground water and surface water in undisturbed areas are generally of good quality. Some subbasins in the tracts have already been impacted by mining. Estimates of streamflow characteristics and the availability and quality of ground water in the tracts were made using available methodology , or assessments based on local and regional data. Estimates of the degree mineralization of surface-water were made using methodology developed from other coal hydrology work. Climatic, physiographic, hydrologic, and land-use data were analyzed by regressions to derive relations for assessing water quality in streams draining mined and unmined areas. In this approach, an equation was derived to estimate specific conductance. Additional equations, based on relations between specific conductance and other constituents, allow estimates of mine drainage indicators such as hardness, dissolved solids, and sulfate. Hydrologic assessments of the tracts, based on limited verification data, proved to be reasonably accurate. (USGS)

Open-File Report↗
USGS2009

Changes in Water Levels and Storage in the High Plains Aquifer, Predevelopment to 2007

The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.6 million acres (174,000 square miles) in parts of eight States - Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. The area overlying the High Plains aquifer is one of the primary agricultural regions in the Nation. Water-level declines began in parts of the High Plains aquifer soon after the beginning of substantial irrigation with ground water in the aquifer area. By 1980, water levels in the High Plains aquifer in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and southwestern Kansas had declined more than 100 feet (Luckey and others, 1981). In response to these water-level declines, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with numerous Federal, State, and local water-resources agencies, began monitoring more than 7,000 wells in 1988 to assess annual water-level changes in the aquifer. This fact sheet summarizes changes in water levels and drainable water in storage in the High Plains aquifer from predevelopment (before about 1950) to 2007 and serves as a companion product to a USGS report that presents more detailed and technical information about water-level and storage changes in the High Plains aquifer during this period (McGuire, 2009).

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2022

California Deepwater Investigations and Groundtruthing (Cal DIG) I, volume 3 — Benthic habitat characterization offshore Morro Bay, California

Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) geoform, substrate, and biotic component geographic information system (GIS) products were developed for the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (U.S. EEZ) of south-central California in the region of Santa Lucia Bank motivated by interest in development of offshore wind-energy capacity and infrastructure. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), in coordination with the State of California and many other members of the California Task Force, issued calls for information in 2018 for the study area offshore of Morro Bay, California. The study area is in depths of 500 to 1,200 meters (m) and adjacent to a decommissioned nuclear power plant with a developed electric grid connection, and in an area of high wind resource. BOEM is the lead agency responsible for planning and leasing in the U.S. EEZ and funded this project to assess baseline conditions of, and the potential effects on, the seafloor environment. This project, carried out by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), resulted in three reports: one on biological analysis of seafloor video data, one on analysis of the geologic framework and hazards, and this report on seafloor habitat. The study area consists of 8,424 square kilometers (km 2 ) of multibeam echo sounder (MBES) data acquired during five surveys from 2016 to 2019. Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) video was acquired in 2019 to supervise the classification of the MBES data into habitats. Derivatives of the MBES data were classified into 16 unique biotopes, 6 substrate types, 28 modifier groups, and 22 geoforms. The study area substrate is predominantly soft sediment (mud and fine sand) covering 7,804 km 2 (92.7 percent) of the area. Mixed substrate areas on rocky banks, channel scarps, and the shelf break comprise 404 km 2 (4.8 percent) of the study area. Hard substrate areas are found predominantly on the tops and flanks of banks and on bank ridges that separate canyons incising the banks. Hard substrates comprise 211 km 2 of the study area (2.5 percent). After the bathymetry and backscatter raster images (rasters) were classified, manual editing was also done to remove noise artifacts. This effort was not completely successful and there are numerous erroneous small areas in the rasters that have been passed on to the CMECS polygon product. Nearly 120,000 annotations of organisms and their habitat were made from 25 video transects selected from 185 hours of ROV video. In total, 2,714 km 2 of seafloor were successfully assigned to biotopes. Some biotopes were assigned to separate areas spatially distant from the transects that define the biotope. Expected relations between physical habitat and biota such as the number of species and the substrate induration and rugosity were verified. Slope is typically a predictive variable and was used in the classification of habitat, but the ground truth used for biotic component analysis included very little steeply sloping area. Ground-truth ROV operations were reduced by the sea state; additional ground truth could improve the biotic results and increase confidence in the spatial distribution of classifications reported here.

California↗