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Geology topics

Dale L. Simmons

Publications and source records attributed to Dale L. Simmons.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2016

Resetting the bar: Establishing baselines for persistent contaminants after Hurricane Sandy in the coastal environments of New Jersey and New York, USA

In the immediate aftermath of natural disasters, public health officials and other first responders engage in many activities to protect the public and ecosystems in the affected area. These activities include critical tasks designed to minimize adverse consequences resulting from chemical and microbial contaminant exposures, such as acute disease incidence and transmission. However, once these urgent priorities have been met and situations requiring immediate attention have been stabilized, questions regarding the potential longer term threats to humans and ecosystems associated with persistent contaminant exposures remain. Research conducted to address these questions is frequently challenged by the lack of available baseline contaminant information collected before the event for comparison and perspective. In addition, deployments of field crews and collection of environmental samples typically occur days, weeks, or months after the event. Consequently, during and in the aftermath of disasters, public health agencies commonly advise the public to disinfect water, avoid contact with disturbed infrastructure (such as sewer lines), and (or) refrain from use of recreational waters, with the general focus on acute health threats; however, the persisting effects of such releases on local recreational waters, fisheries, and other estuarine habitats are often undetermined.

New Jersey, New York↗
USGS2014

Using science to strengthen our Nation's resilience to tomorrow's challenges: understanding and preparing for coastal impacts

Hurricane Sandy caused unprecedented damage across some of the most densely populated coastal areas of the northeastern United States. The costly, landscape-altering destruction left in the wake of this storm is a stark reminder of our Nation’s need to become more resilient as we inevitably face future coastal hazards. As our Nation recovers from this devastating natural disaster, it is clear that accurate scientific information is essential as we seek to identify and develop strategies to address trends in coastal landscape change and reduce our future vulnerability to major storm events. To address this need, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) received $43.2 million in supplemental appropriations from the Department of the Interior (DOI) to conduct the scientific research needed to guide response, recovery, and rebuilding activities and to develop effective strategies for protecting coastal communities and resources in the future. This fact sheet describes how the USGS is combining interdisciplinary science with state-of-the-art technologies to achieve a comprehensive understanding of coastal change caused by Hurricane Sandy. By assessing coastal change impacts through research and by developing tools that enhance our science capabilities, support coastal stakeholders, and facilitate effective decision making, we continue to build a greater understanding of the processes at work across our Nation’s complex coastal environment—from wetlands, estuaries, barrier islands, and nearshore marine areas to infrastructure and human communities. This improved understanding will increase our resilience as we prepare for future short-term, extreme events as well as long-term coastal change.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS1987

Thickness and hydrogeology of aquifers and confining units below the upper glacial aquifer on Long Island, New York

Three extensive unconsolidated sand and gravel aquifers on Long Island lie between the island 's upper glacial aquifer and its southward-dipping crystalline bedrock surface. The island 's aquifers have been heavily pumped, mainly for public-water supply, but most of this pumpage since the 1960 's has come from below the upper glacial aquifer because the upper aquifer has been increasingly contaminated by substances introduced through the land surface. In 1984, an average of 370 million gal/day (gpd) was pumped from the groundwater reservoir, 80% (298 million gpd) of which was from aquifers below the upper glacial aquifer. The artesian Lloyd aquifer, confined between bedrock and the overlying Raritan clay, is the basal unit in Long Island 's groundwater reservoir. The Lloyd underlies nearly all of the island and has a maximum thickness of about 550 ft. It is a minor aquifer; public-supply pumpage from the Lloyd in 1984 averaged 18 million gpd. The Magothy aquifer overlies the Raritan clay beneath most of the island and attains a maximum thickness of 1,050 ft. The Magothy has been the principal source of public water supply since 1960's, and public-supply pumpage in 1984 averaged 278 million gpd. The Jameco aquifer occurs only in buried valleys that were cut into the Magothy deposits in the extreme western part of Long Island; thus, the aquifer has good lateral and vertical hydraulic continuity with the Magothy. The Jameco attains a maximum thickness of 200 ft. Jameco deposits have greater average hydraulic conductivity than the Magothy and are considered to form a broad, highly conductive local stringer in the upper part of the Magothy. The Jameco is a minor aquifer; in 1984, average public-supply pumpage was 2 million gpd. In the southern part of the island, the Magothy-Jameco system is artesian, overlain by the Gardiners Clay in the western part of the island, and by the Gardiners Clay and the Monmouth greensand in the eastern two thirds. North of the Gardiners-Monmouth limits, the Magothy is ' leaky ' vertically because the clay beds within it are discontinuous; there, its response to pumping stresses is similar to that of the unconfined overlying upper glacial aquifer, with which it is in hydraulic continuity to various degrees. (Author 's abstract)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1981

Base flow of streams in Nassau County sewer districts 2 and 3, Long Island, New York, 1978-79

South-shore streams on Long Island, N.Y., are small, widely spaced and have few or no tributaries. Their gradients are gentle, averaging 10 feet per mile. All streams in the area studied have a mean annual discharge of less than 20 cubic feet per second, and most are from 3 to 10 miles long. Under natural conditions, about 95 percent of total streamflow originates as ground-water seepage from the upper glacial aquifer; the remaining 5 percent consists of direct runoff. Thus, the streams of Long Island function as ground-water drains, the flow of which in dry weather is controlled directly by ground-water levels adjacent to the stream channels. Monthly low-flow discharge measurements of 18 south-shore streams in Nassau County from 1978-79 are tabulated in this report. Measurement sites were established at 1,000-foot intervals between the southern tide-affected reach and the northern headwaters of each stream. The measurements provide a data base for the 'Flow Augmentation Needs Study,' supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which will evaluate the need to replace streamflow lost through lowering of the water table as a result of sewage in Nassau County Sewer Districts 2 and 3.

New York↗