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At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
USGS2006

Geographic Information Systems Methods for Determining Drainage-Basin Areas, Stream-Buffered Areas, Stream Length, and Land Uses for the Neosho and Spring Rivers in Northeastern Oklahoma

Geographic Information Systems have many uses, one of which includes the reproducible computation of environmental characteristics that can be used to categorize hydrologic features. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality are investigating Geographic Information Systems techniques to determine partial drainage-basin areas, stream-buffer areas, stream length, and land uses (drainage basin and stream characteristics) in northeastern Oklahoma. The U.S Geological Survey, in cooperation with Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, documented the methods used to determine drainage-basin and stream characteristics for the Neosho and Spring Rivers above Grand Lake Of the Cherokees in northeastern Oklahoma and calculated the characteristics. The drainage basin and stream characteristics can be used by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality to aid in natural-resource assessments.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2006

Geologic Map of the Edwards Aquifer In Northern Medina and Northeastern Uvalde Counties, South-central Texas

The southern segment of the Edwards aquifer in south-central Texas is one of the most productive subsurface reservoirs of potable water in the world, providing water of excellent quality to more than a million people in the San Antonio region, where the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared it to be a sole-source aquifer (van der Leeden and others, 1990). Depending on the depositional province within which the associated carbonate rocks originated (Maclay and Small, 1984), the Edwards aquifer is composed of several geologic formations (primarily limestone and dolostone) of Early Cretaceous age. Most water pumped from the Edwards aquifer comes form the Person and Kainer Formations, which were deposited over the San Marcos Platform. The principal source of ground water in study area is the Devils River Formation, which was deposited in the Devils River trend. The Devils River Formation provides large quantities of irrigation water to fertile bottomland areas of Medina and Uvalde Counties, where the success of farming and ranching activities has long depended upon water from the Edwards aquifer. The study area includes all of the Edwards aquifer recharge zone between the Sabinal River (on the west) and the Medina River (on the east) plus an updip fringe of the confined zone in east-central Uvalde and central Medina Counties. Over about ninety percent of the study area--within the Devils River trend--the Edwards aquifer is composed of the Georgetown Formation plus the underlying Devils River Formation. Over the remaining area--over the southwestern margin of the San Marcos platform--the Edwards aquifer consists of the Georgetown Formation plus the underlying Edwards Group (Rose, 1972), which comprises the Kainer and Person Formations.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2006

Ground-water/surface-water interaction in nearshore areas of Three Lakes on the Grand Portage Reservation, northeastern Minnesota, 2003-04

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa Indians, applied three techniques to assess ground-water/surface-water interaction in nearshore areas of three lakes (North, Teal, and Taylor) on the Grand Portage Reservation in northeastern Minnesota. At each lake, analyses of existing aerial photographs, in-situ temperature measurements of shoreline lake sediment, and chemical analyses of surface water and pore water were conducted. Surface-water and pore-water samples were analyzed for major constituents, nutrients, and stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen. Bulk precipitation samples were collected and analyzed (1) for nutrient concentrations to determine nutrient input to the lakes through atmospheric deposition and (2) for stable isotope ratios of oxygen and hydrogen to determine a meteoric waterline that was needed for the stable isotope analyses of surface-water and pore-water samples. Total nitrogen concentrations in the precipitation samples ranged from 0.51 to 8.4 mg/L (milligrams per liter) as nitrogen at the North Lake precipitation station and from 0.42 to 2.3 mg/L as nitrogen at the Grand Portage precipitation station. Oxygen-18/oxygen-16 and deuterium/protium isotope ratios for the bulk precipitation samples lie relatively close to a meteoric waterline for northern Wisconsin, except for the ratios for samples collected on May 20, 2004. Analyses of existing aerial photographs, nearshore lake-sediment temperatures, and seasonal isotope ratios of surface-water and pore-water samples were the most valuable data for identifying locations of ground-water inflow and surface-water outseepage. Analyses of existing aerial photographs of the three lakes indicated the location of potential inflow channels and lineaments identifying potential ground-water inflow locations for pore-water sampling. Lake-sediment temperatures at potential ground-water inflow locations ranged from 4 to 16 ºC, varying between lakes, seasons, and climatic conditions. Major constituent chemistry was valuable at Taylor Lake, and to a limited extent at North and Teal Lakes, in confirming results from the isotope and lake-sediment temperature data. Ground-water inflow to North Lake likely occurs along the southwest and south shores, and along portions of the west, southeast, north, and northeast shores. Relatively cool lake-sediment temperatures along the southwest, south, west, and southeast shores, and in isolated beaver channels along the north and northeast shores of North Lake indicate potential ground-water inflow at these locations. Both localized ground-water inflow and surface-water outseepage occurs along portions of the north, northeast, southeast, and south shores, varying seasonally. Conflicting evidence for ground-water flow conditions exist for the northwest and north-northwest pore-water samples. Only minor differences in the major constituent concentrations were seen between the surface-water and pore-water samples from the North Lake area with the exception of iron and manganese concentrations. Ground-water inflow likely takes place along the south-southwest and north shores of Teal Lake, with a mixture of ground-water inflow and surface-water outseepage occurring in other areas of the lake. Cooler lake-sediment temperatures occurred along the south-southwest, west, and northwest shores, portions of the north shore, and in channels identified in aerial photographs throughout the lake, indicating potential ground-water inflow at those locations. Warmer lake-sediment temperatures along the northeast and portions of the southwest and northwest shores of Teal Lake indicate potential locations where surface-water outseepage or little ground- and surface-water interaction occurs. The major constituent concentrations were higher in the pore-water samples collected from the south-southwest and northeast shores of Teal Lake, indicating ground-water inflow. Cation adsorption, cation exchanges with hydrogen ions, and chelation with organic materials occurring in the fen surrounding the lake likely resulted in the low dissolved calcium, magnesium, and sodium concentrations in north, northwest, and west pore-water samples from the Teal Lake area. Pore-water samples from the south-southwest, north, and southwest shores of Teal Lake had isotopic compositions that plotted closest to the meteoric waterline, indicating that little evaporation or transpiration occurred in these samples and that ground-water inflow may be occurring at these locations. Surface-water outseepage from Teal Lake likely occurs along the northeast shore even though major constituent concentrations were high. Major constituent concentrations may be high because of a nearby beaver dam. Ground-water inflow to Taylor Lake likely occurs at the north and south pore-water sampling sites. Higher major constituent concentrations and the least evaporative isotope ratios were found in pore-water samples along the south, north, and west shores of Taylor Lake, indicating potential locations of ground-water inflow. However, a combination of warmer and cooler lake-sediment temperatures along the west lowland indicated that ground-water inflow and surface-water outseepage may occur at that location. Surface-water outseepage likely occurs from Taylor Lake along the south shore through a surface-water drainage channel to a downgradient bog. Warmer lake-sediment temperatures along portions of the south and southeast shores indicate that surface-water outseepage may occur at those locations. Both ground-water inflow and surface-water outseepage may occur along the west, southeast, and east shores of Taylor Lake, varying seasonally and with local precipitation. Knowledge of general water-flow directions in lake watersheds and how they may change seasonally can help water-quality specialists and lake managers address a variety of water-quality and aquatic habitat protection issues for lakes. Results from this study indicate that ground-water and surface-water interactions at the study lakes are complex, and the ability of the applied techniques to identify ground-water inflow and surface-water outseepage locations varied among the lakes. Measurement of lake-sediment temperatures proved to be a reliable and relatively inexpensive reconnaissance technique that lake managers may apply in complex settings to identify general areas of ground-water inflow and surface-water outseepage.

Minnesota↗
USGS2013

Baseline assessment of physical characteristics, aquatic biota, and selected water-quality properties at the reach and mesohabitat scale for three stream reaches in the Big Cypress Basin, northeastern Texas, 2010-11

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, did a baseline assessment in 2010-11 of physical characteristics and selected aquatic biota (fish and mussels) collected at the mesohabitat scale for three stream reaches in the Big Cypress Basin in northeastern Texas for which environmental flows have been prescribed. Mesohabitats are visually distinct units of habitat within the stream with unique depth, velocity, slope, substrate, and cover. Mesohabitats in reaches of Big Cypress, Black Cypress, and Little Cypress Bayous were evaluated to gain an understanding of how fish communities and mussel populations varied by habitat. Selected water-quality properties were also measured in isolated pools in Black Cypress and Little Cypress. All of the data were collected in the context of the prescribed environmental flows. The information acquired during the study will support the long-term monitoring of biota in relation to the prescribed environmental flows.

Texas↗
USGS1978

Subsurface geology and porosity distribution, Madison Limestone and underlying formations, Powder River basin, northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana and adjacent areas

To evaluate the Madison Limestone and associated rocks as potential sources for water supplies in the Powder River Basin and adjacent areas, an understanding of the geologic framework of these units, their lithologic facies patterns, the distribution of porosity zones, and the relation between porosity development and stratigraphic facies is necessary. Regionally the Madison is mainly a fossiliferous limestone. However, in broad areas of the eastern Rocky Mountains and western Great Plains, dolomite is a dominant constituent and in places the Madison is almost entirely dolomite. Within these areas maximum porosity development is found and it seems to be related to the coarser crystalline dolomite facies. The porosity development is associated with tabular and fairly continuous crystalline dolomite beds separated by non-porous limestones. The maximum porosity development in the Bighorn Dolomite, as in the Madison, is directly associated with the occurrence of a more coarsely crystalline sucrosic dolomite facies. Well data indicate, however, that where the Bighorn is present in the deeper parts of the Powder River Basin, it may be dominated by a finer crystalline dolomite facies of low porosity. The 'Winnipeg Sandstone' is a clean, generally well-sorted, medium-grained sandstone. It shows good porosity development in parts of the northern Powder River Basin and northwestern South Dakota. Because the sandstone is silica-cemented and quartzitic in areas of deep burial, good porosity is expected only where it is no deeper than a few thousand feet. The Flathead Sandstone is a predominantly quartzose, slightly feldspathic sandstone, commonly cemented with iron oxide. Like the 'Winnipeg Sandstone,' it too is silica-cemented and quartzitic in many places so that its porosity is poor in areas of deep burial. Illustrations in this report show the thickness, percent dolomite, and porosity-feet for the Bighorn Dolomite and the Madison Limestone and its subdivisions. The porosity-feet for the 'Winnipeg' and Flathead Sandstones and four regional geologic sections are also shown.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1993

Geology, geochemistry, and geochronology of the central Giants Range batholith, northeastern Minnesota

The Giants Range batholith is a large composite granitoid body that intrudes deformed supracrustal rocks in the western part of the Wawa Subprovince of the Archean Superior Province. Peak fabric development in the supracrustal rocks coincides with D 2 deformation, the product of regional transpression across the southern Superior Province. U–Pb zircon ages on two phases of the Giants Range batholith bracket D 2 deformation to an interval between 2685 and 2669 Ma. Two well-exposed components of the central part of the Giants Range batholith are the pre- to syn-D 2 Britt granodiorite, which contains a linear D 2 metamorphic fabric, and the syn- to post-D 2 Shannon Lake granite, which cuts deformation fabrics in the Britt granodiorite and the supracrustal rocks. Geochemical discrimination plots imply emplacement of the Britt granodiorite in an arc environment and the Shannon Lake granite in a collision setting. Zircons yield U–Pb ages of 2681 ± 4 and 2685 ± 4 Ma for the Britt granodiorite and 2674 ± 5 and 2674 ± 27 Ma for the Shannon Lake granite. Timing of D 2 deformation near the Giants Range batholith corresponds well with similar rocks exposed along strike 170 km to the east near Shebandowan Lake, Ontario, where the end of D 2 deformation has been bracketed between 2692 and 2681 Ma. The slightly younger ages for D 2 deformation in Minnesota reflect later volcanic-arc development and associated plutonism than at Shebandowan Lake, possibly due to oblique convergence along a westward-migrating tectonic front.

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences↗
USGS1959

Geology of the southern part of the Turtle Lake quadrangle, northeastern Washington

The Turle Lake quadrangle is in northeastern Washington about twenty-five miles west of Spokane. The present study includes slightly more than the southern half of the quadrangle. This study is the first detailed study of the rocks in this vicinity; earlier work in the area consists of reconnaissance mapping north of the quadrangle and reports on individual mines.

Washington↗
USGS2012

Geologic map of the Cochetopa Park and North Pass Calderas, northeastern San Juan Mountains, Colorado

The San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado have long been known as a site of exceptionally voluminous mid-Tertiary volcanism, including at least 22 major ignimbrite sheets (each 150-5,000 km 3 ) and associated caldera structures active at 33-23 Ma. Recent volcanologic and petrologic studies in the San Juan region have focused mainly on several ignimbrite-caldera systems: the southeastern area (Platoro complex), western calderas (Uncompahgre-Silverton-Lake City), and the central cluster (La Garita-Creede calderas). Far less studied has been the northeastern San Juan region, which occupies a transition between earlier volcanism in central Colorado and large-volume younger ignimbrite-caldera foci farther south and west. The present map is based on new field coverage of volcanic rocks in seventeen 7.5' quadrangles in northeastern parts of the volcanic field, high-resolution age determinations for 120 new sites, and petrologic studies involving several hundred new chemical analyses. This mapping and the accompanying lab results (1) document volcanic evolution of the previously unrecognized North Pass caldera and the morphologically beautifully preserved but enigmatic Cochetopa basin, including unique features not previously described from ignimbrite calderas elsewhere; (2) provide evidence for a more rapid recurrence of large ignimbrite eruptions than previously known elsewhere; (3) quantify the regional time-space-volume progression from the earlier Sawatch magmatic trend southward into the San Juan region; and (4) permit more rigorous comparison between the broad mid-Tertiary magmatic belt in the western U.S. Cordillera and the type continental-margin arc volcanism in the central Andes.

Colorado↗
USGS2021

Hydraulic characterization of carbonate-rock and basin-fill aquifers near Long Canyon, Goshute Valley, northeastern Nevada

Understanding groundwater flow and pumping effects near pending mining operations requires accurate subsurface hydraulic characterization. To improve conceptual models of groundwater flow and development in the complex hydrogeologic system near Long Canyon Mine, in northwestern Goshute Valley, northeastern Nevada, the U.S. Geological Survey characterized the hydraulic properties of carbonate rocks and basin-fill aquifers using an integrated analysis of steady-state and stressed aquifer conditions informed by water chemistry and aquifer-test data. Hydraulic gradients and groundwater-age data in northern Goshute Valley indicate carbonate rocks in the Pequop Mountains just west and south of the Long Canyon Mine project area constitute a more permeable and active flow system than saturated rocks in the northern Pequop Mountains, western Toano Range, and basin fill. Permeable carbonate rocks in the northern Pequop Mountains, in part, discharge to the Johnson Springs wetland complex (JSWC), where mean groundwater ages range from 500 to 2,400 years and samples all contain a small fraction of modern waters, relative to mean ages of 8,600 to more than 22,000 years for most groundwater sampled to the north and east. Recharge to the JSWC occurs from a roughly 27-square-mile area in the upgradient Pequop Mountains to the west, composed mostly of permeable carbonate rock and fractured quartzite, and bounded by low-permeability shales and marbleized and siliclastic rocks. Single-well aquifer-test analyses provided transmissivity estimates at pumped wells. Transmissivity estimates ranged from 7,000 to 400,000 feet squared per day (ft 2 /d) in carbonate rocks and from 2,000 to 80,000 ft 2 /d in basin fill near the Long Canyon Mine. Water-level drawdown from multiple-well aquifer testing and rise from unintentional leakage into the overlying basin-fill aquifer were estimated and distinguished from natural fluctuations in 93 pumping and monitoring sites using analytical water-level models. Leakage of disposed aquifer-test pumpage occurred south of the aquifer test area through an unlined irrigation ditch. Drawdown was detected at distances of as much as 3 miles (mi) from pumping wells at all but one carbonate-rock site, at basin-fill sites on the alluvial fan immediately downgradient from pumping wells, and in Big Spring and spring NS-05. Similar drawdowns in carbonate rocks within the drawdown detection area suggest all wells penetrate a highly transmissive zone (HTZ) that is bounded by low-permeability rocks. Drawdown was not detected in carbonate rocks to the west of Canyon fault, in any basin-fill sites on the valley floor east of the Hardy fault, or at volcanic sites to the north, indicating that these major fault structures and (or) permeability contrasts between hydrogeologic units impeded groundwater flow or obscured pumping signals. Alternatively, unintentional leakage might have obscured drawdown at basin-fill sites on the valley floor, where water-level rise was detected at nine sites over 3 mi. Consistent hydraulic properties were estimated by simultaneously interpreting steady-state flow during predevelopment conditions and changes in groundwater levels and springflows from the 2016 carbonate-rock aquifer test with an integrated groundwater-flow model. Hydraulic properties were distributed across carbonate rocks, basin fill, volcanic rocks, and siliciclastic rocks with a hydrogeologic framework developed from geologic mapping and hydraulic testing. Estimated transmissivity distributions spanned at least three orders of magnitude in each rock unit. In the HTZ, simulated transmissivities ranged from 10,000 to 23,000,000 ft 2 /d, with the most transmissive areas occurring around Big Spring. Comparatively low carbonate-rock transmissivities of less than 10,000 ft 2 /d were estimated in the northern Pequop Mountains and poorly defined values of less than 1,000 ft 2 /d were estimated in the western Toano Range. Transmissivities in basin fill ranged from less than 10 to 80,000 ft 2 /d and were minimally constrained by the 2016 carbonate-rock aquifer test because poorly quantified leakage affected water levels more so than pumping. The most transmissive areas were informed by single-well aquifer tests along the eastern edge of the Pequop Mountains near Long Canyon Mine and could be indicative of a hydraulic connection between basin fill and more transmissive underlying carbonate rocks. Simulated transmissivities of volcanic and low-permeability rocks mostly are less than 1,000 ft 2 /d. The estimated hydraulic-property distributions and informed interpretation of hydraulic connections among hydrogeologic units improved the characterization and representation of groundwater flow near the Long Canyon Mine.

Nevada↗
USGS2002

Geologic map of the Yucca Mountain region, Nye County, Nevada

Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nev., has been identified as a potential site for underground storage of high-level radioactive waste. This geologic map compilation, including all of Yucca Mountain and Crater Flat, most of the Calico Hills, western Jackass Flats, Little Skull Mountain, the Striped Hills, the Skeleton Hills, and the northeastern Amargosa Desert, portrays the geologic framework for a saturated-zone hydrologic flow model of the Yucca Mountain site. Key geologic features shown on the geologic map and accompanying cross sections include: (1) exposures of Proterozoic through Devonian strata inferred to have been deformed by regional thrust faulting and folding, in the Skeleton Hills, Striped Hills, and Amargosa Desert near Big Dune; (2) folded and thrust-faulted Devonian and Mississippian strata, unconformably overlain by Miocene tuffs and lavas and cut by complex Neogene fault patterns, in the Calico Hills; (3) the Claim Canyon caldera, a segment of which is exposed north of Yucca Mountain and Crater Flat; (4) thick densely welded to nonwelded ash-flow sheets of the Miocene southwest Nevada volcanic field exposed in normal-fault-bounded blocks at Yucca Mountain; (5) upper Tertiary and Quaternary basaltic cinder cones and lava flows in Crater Flat and at southernmost Yucca Mountain; and (6) broad basins covered by Quaternary and upper Tertiary surficial deposits in Jackass Flats, Crater Flat, and the northeastern Amargosa Desert, beneath which Neogene normal and strike-slip faults are inferred to be present on the basis of geophysical data and geologic map patterns. A regional thrust belt of late Paleozoic or Mesozoic age affected all pre-Tertiary rocks in the region; main thrust faults, not exposed in the map area, are interpreted to underlie the map area in an arcuate pattern, striking north, northeast, and east. The predominant vergence of thrust faults exposed elsewhere in the region, including the Belted Range and Specter Range thrusts, was to the east, southeast, and south. The vertical to overturned strata of the Striped Hills are hypothesized to result from successive stacking of three south-vergent thrust ramps, the lowest of which is the Specter Range thrust. The CP thrust is interpreted as a north-vergent backthrust that may have been roughly contemporaneous with the Belted Range and Specter Range thrusts. The southwest Nevada volcanic field consists predominantly of a series of silicic tuffs and lava flows ranging in age from 15 to 8 Ma. The map area is in the southwestern quadrant of the southwest Nevada volcanic field, just south of the Timber Mountain caldera complex. The Claim Canyon caldera, exposed in the northern part of the map area, contains thick deposits of the 12.7-Ma Tiva Canyon Tuff, along with widespread megabreccia deposits of similar age, and subordinate thick exposures of other 12.8- to 12.7-Ma Paintbrush Group rocks. An irregular, blocky fault array, which affects parts of the caldera and much of the nearby area, includes several large-displacement, steeply dipping faults that strike radially to the caldera and bound south-dipping blocks of volcanic rock. South and southeast of the Claim Canyon caldera, in the area that includes Yucca Mountain, the Neogene fault pattern is dominated by closely spaced, north-northwest- to north-northeast-striking normal faults that lie within a north-trending graben. This 20- to 25-km-wide graben includes Crater Flat, Yucca Mountain, and Fortymile Wash, and is bounded on the east by the 'gravity fault' and on the west by the Bare Mountain fault. Both of these faults separate Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in their footwalls from Miocene volcanic rocks in their hanging walls. Stratigraphic and structural relations at Yucca Mountain demonstrate that block-bounding faults were active before and during eruption of the 12.8- to 12.7-Ma Paintbrush Group, and significant motion on these faults continued unt

IMAP↗
USGS1964

Hydrogeology of northwestern Nassau and northeastern Queens Counties, Long Island, New York

A detailed investigation of the geology and ground-water occurrence in northwestern Nassau and northeastern Queens Counties, N.Y., has been completed by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Nassau County Department of Public Works and the New York State Water Resources Commission. The area, about 63 square miles, includes the peninsulas of Great Neck and Manhasset Neck and the western part of Nassau County as far south as Garden City. Unconsolidated sediments of Pleistocene and Cretaceous aged 200 to 800 feet thick, constitute the ground-water reservoir of the area. The reservoir includes three discrete aquifers, not all found in the same locality, which transect geologic boundaries. The shallow unconfined aquifer consists of those permeable Pleistocene and Cretaceous deposits that lie within the upper part of the zone of saturation, which extends from slightly below sea level to more than 110 feet above sea level. It is an abundant source of water in much of the area, particularly in the southern part, where the aquifer consists of coarse sand and gravel in a glacial-outwash plain. The intermediate or principal aquifer consists largely of that part of the Magothy(?) formation that occurs from about 50 feet below sea level downward to the top of the clay member of the Raritan formation. Locally, however, the aquifer includes Pleistocene deposits which blanket the Magothy(?) formation or lie in channels cut into it. Although the principal aquifer has limited extent to the north, it is the chief source of water in most of the area, except the peninsulas. The lower or deep confined aquifer is found beneath the entire project area, and consists of the Lloyd sand member of the Raritan formation and the hydraulically contiguous Jameco gravel. The lower limit of the aquifer is the bedrock surface; its upper limit is defined by the overlying clay member of the Raritan formation and the Gardiners clay, the latter abutting against the clay member on the north or, in some valleys and embankments, lying directly upon the clay member. Thus, hydraulic continuity exists between the Lloyd sand member of the Raritan formation (Cretaceous) and the Jameco gravel (Pleistocene) in the northern part of Manhasset and Great Necks. The two contiguous clay bodies overlying the aquifer, the clay member of the Raritan formation and the Gardiners clay, form an effective confining bed which probably extends beyond the shore lines of the project area. The deep confined aquifer is particularly important on Manhasset and Great Necks where locally it is the only source of water available for large public-supply or industrial needs. In general, ground-water supplies in sufficient quantity and of excellent quality can be obtained from the three aquifers underlying northwestern Nassau and northeastern Queens Counties, N.Y. Ground-water withdrawals for public supply have increased with population growth and expanded use from an average of about 10 millions of gallons per day in 1940 to 30 mgd in 1957. In addition, about 10 mgd are pumped for various industrial, institutional and private uses. Much of the water pumped by industry is returned to the ground by diffusion wells and recharge basins. However, an increasing amount of water is lost from the ground-water reservoir due to the expanding network of server systems discharging directly to the sea. In the Manhasset Neck and Great Neck areas, ground-water resources are approaching full development in terms of the total available supply, if such development has not been reached already (1959). The chief limiting factor to further expansion lies in the geometry of the aquifers and the reduced thickness of permeable saturated sediments. In the northern part of both peninsulas, the ground-water reservoir is only about 200 to 400 feet thick, and, locally, as much as 75 percent of the strata in the reservoir consists of rather impermeable silt and clay of the Raritan formation or the Gardiners clay. I

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1997

Characterization of fill deposits in the Calumet region of northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois

In October 1993, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, began a study of the fill deposits in the Calumet region of northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois. Fill in this area is a mixture of steel-industry wastes, other industrial waste, municipal solid waste, dredging spoil, construction debris, ash, cinders, natural materials, and biological sludge. Fill deposits are concentrated along Lake Michigan; from the Lake Calumet area to the east of the Indiana Harbor Canal; along the Calumet, Little Calumet, and Grand Calumet Rivers; and along the Calumet Sag Channel. Industrial wastes and municipal solid wastes are used as fill near Lake Calumet. Steel-industry wastes, primarily slag, are used as fill along Lake Michigan, Wolf Lake, Lake George, parts of Lake Calumet, and parts of the Calumet and Little Calumet Rivers. Dredging spoil is located along the rivers, and in abandoned river channels, landfills, and tailing ponds. Cinders, ash, construction debris, and natural materials are scattered throughout the area. Currently (1996), fill covers about 60.2 square miles of the study area. A total volume of about 2.1 x 1010 cubic feet of fill was calculated to be present in the Calumet region. Most of this fill is steel-industry waste. Fill deposition in the study area has been essentially continuous from about 1870 to the present (1996). Fill deposited before 1964 was used as foundation for streets and railroad tracks, to create land for industrial expansion, and to dispose of waste material. Much of the fill deposited after 1964 was disposed of in landfills designed to minimize environmental effects. Industrial wastes, municipal solid wastes, steel-industry wastes, and, perhaps, dredging spoil can be associated with increased concentrations of volatile and semivolatile organic compounds, pesticides, cyanide, metals, or major ions in ground water in this area. Construction debris, ash, cinders, and natural fill may be associated with increased concentrations of major ions in ground water.

Illinois, Indiana↗
USGS2021

Aeromagnetic map of Burney and the surrounding area, northeastern California

An aeromagnetic survey was conducted to improve understanding of the geology and structure in the area around Burney, northeastern California. The new data are a substantial improvement over existing data and reveal a prominent north northwest-trending magnetic grain that allows extension of mapped faults, delineation of plutons within the Mesozoic basement in the northern Sierra Nevada, and linear anomalies that limit the amount of strike-slip offset along various faults in the area.

California↗
USGS2019

Pleistocene and Holocene landscape development of the South Platte River Corridor, Northeastern Colorado

This report provides a synthesis of geologic mapping and geochronologic research along the South Platte River between the town of Masters and the city of Fort Morgan, northeastern Colorado. This work was undertaken to better understand landscape development along this part of the river corridor. The focus is on times of rapid change within the fluvial system that had a marked effect on the landscape. The study area is susceptible to drought, which destabilizes vegetation and makes the landscape vulnerable to eolian activity. This is reflected in a landscape that is largely covered by eolian sand and lesser amounts of loess. Past glaciation of the river’s headwaters had a major influence on river discharge and sediment supply, as have major flood events particularly on unglaciated tributaries heading on the piedmont. In the mapping area, fluvial deposits of the South Platte River system span the Pliocene and early Pleistocene(?) deposits of Nussbaum Alluvium to present-day deposits of the active channel and floodplain. Results of the study indicate that along this stretch of the South Platte River, the early Pleistocene and first half of the middle Pleistocene were times of net incision, periodically interrupted by episodes of aggradation that resulted in deposition of alluvium that has been correlated to Rocky Flats Alluvium, Verdos Alluvium, and Slocum Alluvium. Net incision between depositional events formed a series of poorly preserved terrace deposits along the valley sides that are now largely covered by eolian deposits. Sometime after about 380 thousand years, the river cut a deep paleovalley into Upper Cretaceous Pierre Shale that was then filled with a thick sequence of inferred Louviers Alluvium (coeval with Bull Lake glaciation). Net aggradation continued during the late Pleistocene, resulting in burial of the Louviers paleovalley with a thick sequence of mainstream and sidestream Broadway Alluvium (coeval with Pinedale glaciation). Subsequent incision during the late Pleistocene–Holocene transition formed the Kersey (Broadway) terrace, whose riser forms a prominent bluff on the south side of the river valley. This episode of incision spanned a very short period and was followed by renewed aggradation that deposited the next-lower terrace alluvium (Kuner terrace alluvium). The Kuner terrace level was probably abandoned sometime around the beginning of the middle Holocene. Low terraces on the valley floor indicate that the river has been primarily cutting and backfilling laterally rather than incising during the late Holocene. Synthesis of geologic mapping and chronologic data generated in this study indicate that the South Platte River in northeastern Colorado likely was highly sensitive to rapidly changing environmental conditions or crossed threshold conditions that triggered rapid geomorphic response during major climate changes associated with the late Pleistocene–Holocene transition. Historical times have been another period marked by rapid incision, reflected by gully incision and headward erosion in tributary valleys draining the north side of the South Platte River. This historical erosion could be related at least in part to extensive construction of irrigation ditches and reservoirs in the late 1800s–early 1900s, which altered drainage paths and groundwater flow and could have amplified natural factors such as climate change or intrinsic geomorphic instabilities within the system.

Colorado↗
USGS2010

Seasonal and spatial distribution patterns of finfish and selected invertebrates in coastal lagoons of northeastern Florida, 2002-2004

The U.S. Geological Survey conducted a survey of juvenile fisheries resources, in cooperation with the St. Johns River Water Management District and Volusia County, to establish baseline data on spatial and temporal distribution patterns of estuarine fish. The survey was conducted from November 2001 to March 2005 and the baseline data established for the survey in the Northern Coastal Basins were collected from January 2002 to December 2004. The study area included the bar-built estuaries ranging from just north of St. Augustine, Florida, south to Ponce de Leon Inlet. Sampling protocols developed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute for their statewide Fisheries Independent Monitoring (FIM) program were replicated to allow for comparability with FIM program results. Samples were collected monthly from randomly selected stations based on a geographically stratified design. Finfish and selected invertebrates were collected using a 21.3-meter center-bag seine with a 3-millimeter mesh, and a 6.1-meter otter trawl with a 3-millimeter mesh liner. Total estimated fish and selected invertebrate densities were similar to estimates from FIM projects in adjacent areas and were characterized by similar dominant species. Preliminary analysis indicates that observed species distribution patterns were mainly a function of proximity to the three inlets within the study area. The two regions encompassing the northern Tolomato River and the Tomoka River and Basin are farthest from inlets and appear to function as oligohaline nursery areas. Those two areas had the greatest estimated densities of shellfish and juvenile sciaenid (drum) species associated with oligohaline waters (for example, Micropogonias undulatus, Sciaenops ocellatus and Cynoscion nebulosus). Samples near inlets, and between the two northern inlets, had greater estimated densities of species limited to euhaline waters, including juvenile clupeids collected at relatively high abundance and species of marine strays collected in low abundance. Based on correspondence analysis, seasonal variation dominated the ordination of seine samples and spatial variation dominated the ordination of trawl samples; this was due to differences in the number and timing of taxa found near inlets versus oligohaline regions. The absence of seagrass habitat in the Northern Coastal Basins is reflected by the absence of a seagrass-fish assemblage.

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