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G.T. Higgins

Publications and source records attributed to G.T. Higgins.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Water resources of the Chehalis Indian Reservation, Washington

Ground water beneath the 6.6-square-mile Chehalis Indian Reservation, Wash., most of which lies on a flood plain, occurs in the alluvial and terrace sand and gravel deposits. Supplies available within the depth zone of water-level fluctuations are estimated to be between 20 and 60 times that being pumped at the time of the 1975 study. Seasonal water-level changes in wells obtained during the study ranged between about 3 and 10 feet and averaged 7 feet, and the average fluctuation of water levels in three oxbow lakes was about 6 feet. Chemical analysis of ground water shows it is suitable for most uses and that to date there are no serious problems of ground-water pollution. Surface-water quality also is considered generally good. Flooding of reservation land by the Chehalis and Black Rivers occurs annually, generally during periods of heavy rainfall in winter. The largest known flood of the Chehalis River, recorded on January 22, 1972, had an estimated discharge of 53,000 cubic feet per second. Flood-frequency analysis indicates that about 70 percent of the reservation would be flooded during a 50-year flood. Low flows generally occur in August and September. The lowest flow of Willamette Creek (the only stream entirely on the reservation) during 1975 was about 0.45 cubic foot per second, recorded in August. (Woodard-USGS).

Washington

The hydrology of four streams in western Washington as related to several Pacific salmon species

Enhancement-or possibly even preservation-of the Pacific salmon hinges on the careful planning and proper management of the streamflow upon which they depend for spawning. Most spawning activity occurs on reaches of streams where specific hydraulic conditions exist and where stream-channel characteristics and water-quality criteria are met. The present report is the first of a series and is used to present the method of determining preferred spawning conditions and results of the investigation of 129 measurements on 14 study reaches of the Dewatto, Cedar, Kalama, and North 'Fork Nooksack Rivers. Subsequent reports, using the same method will present analyses and preferred spawning and rearing discharges for other streams used by salmon. The method consists of measuring water depth and velocities to designate, from area-(spawnable) discharge curves, peak, preferred spawning discharges for fall chinook, spring chinook, sockeye, and coho salmon at each reach on each river. Also, streambed gravels, water temperature, suspended sediment, dissolved oxygen, and specific conductance are used to help evaluate river conditions during spawning. In examining the repeatability of the method, tested by analyzing independently each of selected pairs of adjacent reaches on the Cedar River, it was found that the preferred peak discharges from the comparisons varied 4.6 percent for the average of four species and two pairs of reaches. Peak spawning discharges ranged, for the four salmon species on each of the three study reaches of each river, from 50 to 140 cfs (cubic feet per second) on Dewatto River, from 230 to 510 cfs on Cedar River, from 245 to 800 cfs on Kalama River, and from 195 to 710 cfs on North Fork Nooksack River. The results indicate that the methods used and the probable discharge values determined are reasonable and, if economically justified, may be used to select discharges, for salmon spawning and rearing.

Water Supply Paper

Cliftonite in meteorites: A proposed origin

Cliftonite, a polycrystalline aggregate of graphite with cubic morphology, is known in ten meteorites. Some workers have considered it to be a pseudomorph after diamond, and have used the proposed diamond ancestry as evidence of a meteoritic parent body of at least lunar dimensions. We have synthesized cliftonite in Fe-Ni-C alloys in vacuum, as a product of decomposition of cohenite [(Fe,Ni) 3 C]. We therefore suggest that a high pressure origin is unnecessary for meteorites which contain cliftonite, and that these meteorites were formed at low pressures. This conclusion is in agreement with other recent evidence.

Science