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

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At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
USGS1949

Preliminary results of prospecting of the "leached" zone over phosphate deposits in NW 1/4 of sec. 9, T. 31 S., R. 25 E., Polk County, Florida

The NW 1/4 Sec. 9 T. 31 S., R. 25 E. is underlain by a 4-to-15-foot thick layer of leached zone material in which the uranium content ranges from 0.001-0.018 percent. Several well defined areas of relatively high uranium content are outlined on figure 2. The International Minerals & Chemical Corporation wishes information as to the advisability of making plans for the stockpiling of this material.

Florida↗
USGS2006

Multimodeling: new approaches for linking ecological models

The Everglades region of South Florida presents one of the major natural system management challenges facing the United States. With its assortment of alligators, crocodiles, manatees, panthers, large mixed flocks of wading birds, highly diverse subtropical flora, and sea of sawgrass, the ecosystem is unique in this country (Davis and Ogden 1994). The region is also perhaps the largest human-controlled system on the planet in that the major environmental factor influencing the region is water, and water flows are managed on a daily basis--subject to the vagaries of rainfall--by a massive system of locks, pumps, canals, and levees constructed over the past century. The changes brought about by such control have led to extensive modifications of historical patterns and magnitudes of flow, causing large declines in many native species, extensive changes in nutrient cycling and vegetation across south Florida, and great increases in pollutants such as mercury. Constrained by the conflicting demands of agriculture, urban human populations, and wildlife for control of water resources, and the varying agendas of hosts of government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, there is now an ongoing effort to plan for major changes to the system with expenditure estimates of eight billion dollars or more over the next several decades (USACOE 1999). Carrying out such planning, particularly as it impacts the natural systems of the region, provides one of the major challenges to the new field of computational ecology.

Florida↗
USGS2012

Effects of groundwater pumping in the lower Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin

USGS developed a groundwater-flow model of the Upper Floridan aquifer in lower Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin in southwest Georgia and adjacent parts of Alabama and Florida to determine the effect of agricultural groundwater pumping on aquifer/stream flow within the basin. Aquifer/stream flow is the sum of groundwater outflow to and inflow from streams, and is an important consideration for water managers in the development of water-allocation and operating plans. Specifically, the model was used to evaluate how agricultural pumping relates to 7Q10 low streamflow, a statistical low flow indicative of drought conditions that would occur during seven consecutive days, on average, once every 10 years. Argus ONETM, a software package that combines a geographic information system (GIS) and numerical modeling in an Open Numerical Environment, facilitated the design of a detailed finite-element mesh to represent the complex geometry of the stream system in the lower basin as a groundwater-model boundary. To determine the effects on aquifer/stream flow of pumping at different locations within the model area, a pumping rate equivalent to a typical center-pivot irrigation system (50,000 ft3/d) was applied individually at each of the 18,951 model nodes in repeated steady-state simulations that were compared to a base case representing drought conditions during October 1999. Effects of nodal pumping on aquifer/stream flow and other boundary flows, as compared with the base-case simulation, were computed and stored in a response matrix. Queries to the response matrix were designed to determine the sensitivity of targeted stream reaches to agricultural pumping. Argus ONE enabled creation of contour plots of query results to illustrate the spatial variation across the model area of simulated aquifer/streamflow reductions, expressed as a percentage of the long-term 7Q10 low streamflow at key USGS gaging stations in the basin. These results would enable water managers to assess the relative impact of agricultural pumping and drought conditions on streamflow throughout the basin, and to develop mitigation strategies to conserve water resources and preserve aquatic habitat.

Alabama, Georgia, Florida↗
USGS2014

Magnetic studies by the Geophysical Section of the United States Geological Survey

Continued progress has been made in magnetic surveys over large sectional areas by G. R. MacCarthy. Beginning in Florida south of the Okeefenokee Swamp, magnetic traverses were measured and continued through the southern part of Georgia. The most northerly traverses crossed regions where they contacted the crystallines near the surface of the ground. All traverses were run in an east‐west direction. It is planned to continue the magnetic relief‐map described in the Transactions of 1939 of the American Geophysical Union by adding to it this portion of the State of Georgia.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS1982

Physical, Hydrological, and Biological Characteristics of the Loxahatchee River Estuary, Florida

The Loxahatchee River estuary empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Jupiter Inlet in southeastern Florida. Although relatively small, the estuary is important for its esthetic value and for its sport fishing, boating, recreation, tourism, and prime residential development. In recent years, the condition of the estuary has become of concern to many citizens and agencies of the State. In response to this concern, the U.S. Geological Survey planned and carried out an in-depth environmental investigation. The events that led to the investigation and the objectives of the investigation are outlined in a recent U.S. Geological Survey report by McPherson and Sabanskas (WRI 80-1109).

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS2019

Back to the future: Rebuilding the Everglades

Society values landscapes that are engrained in cultural tradition and have a rich connection with human history. As such, there has been a concerted effort to look at the pristine past and develop plans to move the past into the future. However, bringing the past back is constrained by hysteretic changes, irrevocable damages, and anthropogenic trends that do not reflect past conditions. The scale of the Everglades and its importance to water supply and flood control is such that a full recovery, to past, pre-drainage conditions, is not possible. What is possible? The answer is the federally authorized Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) and the first, most significant implementation of the $12 Billion CERP is the $2 Billion Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP). CEPP is our “flux-capacitor” in the DeLorean sports car that generates the ability to go back and forth in time, in the movie series “Back to the Future.” The primary hydrological modeling outputs of CEPP came from a version of the Regional Simulation Model (RSM), developed by the South Florida Water Management District. The RSM is the DeLorean vehicle, designed to carry the bags of ecological restoration. Unfortunately, the capacity of this vehicle (i.e., CEPP) is limited, but is it large enough? Will CEPP make a difference? The 20-year RSM simulations (1965 – 1985) without restoration showed nine dry periods when there was no water in the sloughs of Everglades National Park (ENP). When the model was run with CEPP conditions, all of these extreme dry conditions were eliminated. The impact of this was most apparent for fish, especially the size classes that wading birds eat. With our DeLorean (i.e. the RSM) we saw a 60-90% increase in fish density. As one might expect, the birds in our alternative future responded to the fish. The increased volume, flow, and connectivity in the CEPP simulations significantly improved the foraging response of all wading bird species, especially in Water Conservation Area 3 (WCA-3) and ENP. Foraging conditions for an average CEPP year improved by 25-100%. Further downstream, the CEPP simulations showed increased delivery of low nutrient fresh water to the Coastal Everglades and Florida Bay that displaced the relatively P-rich marine water, increased water transparency, and thus decreased algal blooms. However, in a future with accelerating sea levels and estuarine lakes with legacy phosphorus (P), how much more fresh water will be needed to maintain submerged aquatic vegetated habitats? The quest for Everglades Restoration will reach a resource management milestone with the implementation of CEPP. CEPP successfully used a broad suite of hydrological, ecological and societal models to build an acceptable and feasible adaptive management vision of the future. It has been a long and difficult journey, but what we have learned in the process will guide future travelers back in time.

Florida↗
USGS2017

A synthesis of living shoreline perspectives

The main goal of this summary chapter is to synthesize author perspectives across the contributed chapters, make recommendations on the correct usage of the term living shorelines, and offer guidance for planning in the future. Nature-based approaches are being applied globally, as signified by the breadth of geographic coverage in this book. The author’s institutions and locations of study span the East, Gulf, and West Coasts of the United States, including the states of Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, California, Washington, and several national perspectives, including Hawaii; British Columbia in Canada; the Netherlands, as well as perspectives across Europe also including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom; Sydney Harbor in Australia; and Belize. Living shoreline techniques are very diverse and practices can vary by region, salinity and tidal regime, and degrees of natural and artificial components. Techniques covered in this book include restoring oyster reefs, eelgrass, and mangroves, planting marshes with and without supportive sills (e.g., stone, oyster shell bags, coir logs), incorporating structures such as logs and reef balls, nourishing beaches and dunes with sediment, engineering habitat features into seawalls, and managed realignment. All of these can have a variety of components, such as permitting, land acquisition, design, and monitoring. However, given the diverse representation, there are some shared commonalities that can help inform and direct shoreline management moving forward.

Book chapter↗
USGS2011

Science supporting Gulf of Mexico oil-spill response, mitigation, and restoration activities-Assessment, monitoring, mapping, and coordination

The St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) investigates physical processes related to coastal and marine environments and societal implications related to natural hazards, resource sustainability, and environmental change. Immediately after the Deepwater Horizon event, the USGS began responding to data requests, directing response personnel, and providing coastal and shelf geophysical data to coastal-resource managers. The USGS provided oil-spill responders with up-to-date coastal bathymetry, geologic data, and maps characterizing vulnerability and levels of risk from potential spill impacts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Baseline conditions prior to any spill impacts were documented through programs that included shoreline sampling and sediment coring from east Texas to the east coast of Florida and aerial photography of many environmentally sensitive Gulf coastal areas. The USGS responded to numerous verbal and written data requests from Federal, State, and local partners and academic institutions with USGS scientific staff participating in the Coast Guard Unified Commands (UC) and Operational Science Advisory Teams (OSAT). The USGS conducted technical review of reports and plans for many response activities. Oil-spill responders, managers, and personnel on the ground, including partners such as the National Park Service, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Chandeleur Islands Refuge, and State agencies, continue to rely on USGS products.

General Information Product↗
USGS2021

Evaluating the use of marine protected areas by endangered species: A habitat selection approach

1. Optimizing the design of marine protected area (MPA) networks for the conservation of migratory marine species and their habitats involves a suite of important considerations, such as appropriate scale requirements and the distribution of anthropogenic impacts. Often, a fundamental component of the conservation planning process is delineating areas of high use or high biodiversity within a region of interest. 2. However, basing conservation strategies off merely the number of individuals in an ecosystem is outdated and potentially subject to arbitrary thresholds. To be effective at protecting marine megafauna, MPAs would ideally encompass habitats used by focal species. Through satellite-tracking studies, evidence of whether species actually use protected areas is emerging. 3. Here, we present a multispecies perspective on habitat selection within existing MPAs throughout the Floridian ecoregion, which encompasses coastal Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. Using an 11-year satellite-tracking dataset on 235 marine turtles, we used integrated step selection analysis to quantify the effects of sea turtle behavioural state (identified by a switching state-space model), protected area status, chlorophyll and bathymetry on habitat selection. 4. Our results show that sea turtles do select for existing protected areas, specifically multi-use zones, while controlling for the effects of depth and primary productivity. However, our analysis revealed that turtles showed no selection for the no-take zones within MPAs, during either transiting or foraging. 5. These findings contribute to the existing literature base of MPA use for highly mobile, imperilled species and could inform management of existing MPAs or changes to zoning, specifically multi-use to no-take. Our use of a robust spatial modelling framework to evaluate habitat selection relative to MPAs could be incorporated into conservation planning to build MPA networks designed to accommodate migratory species.

Florida↗
USGS2024

The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting Florida's economy

Introduction Florida has the longest coastline of any State in the contiguous United States, and its coastal resources are one of the main drivers of its economic growth. High-quality elevation data are beneficial for use in emergency management, especially for hurricane response, recovery, and mitigation, as well as for coastal zone management, flood risk management, infrastructure planning, agriculture, forestry, and natural resources management. Having regional or statewide elevation data coverage that was collected at about the same time allows for improved results from in-depth modeling and more meaningful analysis to support the State’s Chief Science Officer, Geographic Information Officer, State agencies, water management districts, and local governments that will use these data for decision making. Critical applications that meet the State’s management needs depend on light detection and ranging (lidar) data that provide a highly detailed three-dimensional (3D) model of the Earth’s surface and aboveground features.

Florida↗
USGS2003

Ecosystem history of southern and central Biscayne Bay: Summary report on sediment core analyses

During the last century, the environs of Biscayne Bay have been greatly affected by anthropogenic alteration through urbanization of the Miami/Dade County area. The sources, timing, delivery, and quality of freshwater flow into the Bay have been changed by construction of a complex canal system that controls movement of water throughout south Florida. Changes in shoreline and sub-aquatic vegetation and marine organisms have been observed and changes in water delivery are believed to be the cause. Current restoration goals are attempting to restore natural flow of fresh water into Biscayne and Florida Bays and to restore the natural fauna and flora, but first we need to determine pre-alteration baseline conditions in order to establish targets and performance measures for restoration. This research is part of an ongoing study designed to address the needs of the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands Project (BBCW) of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). By establishing the natural patterns of temporal change in salinity, water quality, vegetation, and benthic fauna in Biscayne Bay and the nearby wetlands over the last 100- 500 years the USGS, in collaboration with our partners, will provide the data necessary to set realistic targets to achieve the BBCW Project goals. Six cores from three sites in Biscayne Bay were collected in April 2002 for multidisciplinary multi-proxy analyses. This report details the results of these analyses and compares the 2002 cores to cores collected in 1997. The following are our significant findings to date: The salinity of central Biscayne Bay has become increasingly marine and increasingly stable over the last 100 years. At No Name Bank, prior to approximately 1915, the inter-decadal and decadal salinity fluctuations appear to have been greater than after 1915 when salinities stabilized at that site. Continental shelf/open marine influence on the sites has increased during the 20th century. There is no indication of inter-decadal salinity extremes or periods of hypersalinity. Freshwater and mesohaline salinities have had a minor influence on No Name bank throughout the time of deposition. At Featherbed Bank, the influence is reduced to mesohaline salinities. Card Bank has experienced relatively large swings in salinity over multi-decadal and centennial timescales, compared to central Biscayne Bay, but marine influence at the site has increased over the last century. Indications of regional scale patterns have been found, especially in the shell chemistry data and the pollen assemblages. These regional patterns indicate that the changes are not site specific and may not be limited to Biscayne Bay. Sub-aquatic vegetation has undergone bay-wide patterns of change over the last 200-500 years, which includes expansion prior to 1900 and declines during the last century in central Biscayne Bay. Thalassia appears to have increased at all three core sites sometime between 1550 and 1750 AD. A decline in Thalassia appears to have occurred after 1950 at No Name Bank and slightly earlier in the 20th century at Featherbed Bank. Card Bank does not appear to have experienced any declines in vegetation on an inter-decadal scale during the 20th century. Molluscan faunal abundance and diversity have undergone significant changes in central Biscayne Bay. Indicators of increased organic-rich sediments at No Name occur between 1869 to 1888 and between the 1930’s to 1975. These changes may correlate to human activities (settlement, population growth). These findings represent a first step towards the project’s goal to reconstruct the history of Biscayne Bay and they provide us with a working model to be tested at other sites. It is clear from our findings that Biscayne Bay has been a dynamic environment over the last 500 years, with natural changes occurring in salinity and benthic habitats. However, several significant changes have occurred in the 20th century: 1) increased stabilization of marine salinities; 2) declines in seagrass in central Biscayne Bay; 3) dramatic changes in molluscan abundance and diversity in central Biscayne Bay. The question remains - how do we better differentiate natural cycles of change from anthropogenic change within these observed trends? The preliminary implications from our research are that changes in salinity and benthic habitats have occurred naturally in Biscayne Bay on inter-decadal to centennial scales, perhaps due to climatic changes, changes in sea level, bank migrations, or a combination of factors. However, further work needs to be done to determine which components of change in the 20th century are human-induced and which are natural. By examining the historical records preserved in the sediments of Biscayne Bay, we can provide restoration trust agencies with the information necessary to set realistic targets and performance measures for Biscayne Bay.

Florida↗
USGS1987

National and regional trends in water-well drilling in the United States, 1964-84

Information on national and regional water well drilling activity is important for water resource planning and management and for water related equipment marketing. A study was conducted to analyze drilling trends on the basis of data for selected years from 1964 through 1984. The study focused primarily on the years 1964 and 1980-84, but also included data from 1960. Approximately 397,000 water wells were drilled in the United States in 1984. Seven states--Florida, Texas, New York, Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, and Ohio--accounted for 39% of all the wells drilled in the United States in 1984. Florida led the nation in drilling activity with 45,600 new wells. The 1984 national drilling total was 2.6% > the total for 1980 (387,000) and 8.5% < the total for 1964 (434,000). However, these moderate differences do not reflect substantial year-to-year fluctuations that may have occurred during that 20-yr period. Qualitative comparisons suggest that drilling activity for a given year is closely related to the number of housing starts for that year. If so, there may have been peaks in drilling activity in 1972 and 1977-78 (corresponding to peaks in housing starts) that are not identified in this study because of a lack of available well drilling data for those years. Well drilling data for 1964 and the 1980-84 period probably represent a low to moderate level of drilling activity, and, if compared to earlier data, suggest that there has been no substantial growth or decline in the water well industry as a whole since the 1940's. (Author's abstract)

Open-File Report↗
USGS1971

Availability of ground water for public-water supply in the Pensacola area, Florida: interim report, June 1971

Statement of the problem Earlier hydrologic studies show that ample quantities of soft water of low dissolved solids content are obtainable from the sand-and-gravel aquifer in the Pensacola area. Some wells drilled for the city of Pensacola have yielded water with unacceptably high amounts of iron and carbon dioxide, and wells have had disappointingly low yields. The city, therefore, is seeking hydrologic information, including water-quality data, in an effort to avoid the high cost of well abandonment and to plan for future expansion of the water-supply system. Objectives and approach This study is intended to provide information on the quality and quantity of water available from the sand-and-gravel aquifer, the only fresh-water aquifer in the Pensacola area, and to delineate those areas favorable for public-supply well sites. The project area is southern Escambia County, from Pensacola to S.R. (State Road) 196 north of Quintette (fig. 1). During the first year, effort was concentrated in the southern half of the area, generally south of 30&deg;30', which approximately coincides with Interstate Highway 10 in southeastern Escambia County. The investigation included the collection of well data, chemical analyses of water samples, test drilling, radioactivity logging of test holes and other wells, and water-level measurements.

Florida↗
USGS2011

Patch reefs: Lidar morphometric analysis

Alina Reef is one of several thousand patch reefs that lie across the shallow carbonate platform seaward of Hawk Channel off the northern Florida Keys. The site is near the northern latitudinal fringe of the late Holocene western Atlantic coral reef distribution (Figure 1 ). The area is covered by calcareous sand and discontinuous Thalassia testudinum seagrass meadows and is studded with numerous scattered Holocene patch reefs. Most of the patch reefs are found in water depths of 2–9 m, are subcircular, elliptical, or irregular in plan view, and range up to about 8 m in vertical relief and 700 m in width. Coring has demonstrated thicknesses of 4.5–6 m and has revealed frameworks built by large, massive head corals.

Florida↗
USGS2025

Restoring the Florida Everglades: Insights on integrating sea level rise into decision-support tools

Although coastal ecosystems are impacted by climate change and sea-level rise, many ecological and hydrological models do not yet incorporate sea-level rise projections in their modeling outputs. Therefore, this research examined the various challenges that may prevent sea-level rise from being effectively incorporated in modeling and decision-support tools. We conducted semi-structured interviews with twenty-six professionals involved in Florida’s Everglades restoration. We applied the Diffusions of Innovations Theory to better understand factors that can impact practitioners’ adoption of newly designed decision-support tools that examine sea-level rise in the freshwater Everglades. The Diffusions of Innovations Theory provided insights into practitioners’ perceptions of these tools. We found that these practitioners have a strong interest in using dynamic decision-support tools to plan for sea-level rise impacts on Everglades restoration, particularly when they receive information at appropriate geographic and temporal scales and are given hands-on tools and training. However, challenges that prevent developing these tools include outdated data, limited organizational capacity and funding, limited use of long-term indicators, uncertainty about climate change impacts on local ecosystems, and lack of integration between hydrological and ecological models. Our research also highlights that greater availability of different types of tools can help to meet the needs of the scientific and non-scientific audiences involved in Everglades restoration.

Florida↗
USGS1999

USGS develops a drainage-based system to track ANS introductions

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Program has tracked the distribution of introduced species for more than 20 years. This effort began with foreign fishes in Florida and later expanded to include aquatic nuisance species nationwide. The tracking database contains locational and temporal data for introductions and spread. This data is generally derived from literature, museum collections, state monitoring programs, and reports from professionals at state and federal agencies. Analysis of this data can be helpful in displaying any patterns that may be present in introductions of aquatic nuisance species and developing a management plan to prevent spread. To produce maps and perform analysis, all data are referenced geographically at the finest scale possible (state, county, drainage, waterbody, point). Data reported in the literature range from state or regional lists of introduced species to exact time, date, and location of collections or releases. Often, vague locality reports make it difficult to obtain accurate answers in fine-scale analysis.

Aquatic Nuisance Species Digest↗
USGS2004

Coastal vulnerability assessment of Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS) to sea-level rise

A coastal vulnerability index (CVI) was used to map the relative vulnerability of the coast to future sea-level rise within Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS) in Mississippi and Florida. The CVI ranks the following in terms of their physical contribution to sea-level rise-related coastal change: geomorphology, regional coastal slope, rate of relative sea-level rise, shoreline change rates, mean tidal range and mean wave height. The rankings for each variable were combined and an index value calculated for 1-minute grid cells covering the park. The CVI highlights those regions where the physical effects of sea-level rise might be the greatest. This approach combines the coastal system's susceptibility to change with its natural ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions, yielding a quantitative, although relative, measure of the park's natural vulnerability to the effects of sea-level rise. The Gulf Islands in Mississippi and Florida consist of stable and washover dominated portions of barrier beach backed by wetland and marsh. The areas likely to be most vulnerable to sea-level rise are those with the highest occurrence of overwash, the highest rates of shoreline change, the gentlest regional coastal slope, and the highest rates of relative sea-level rise. The CVI provides an objective technique for evaluation and long-term planning by scientists and park managers.

Florida, Mississippi↗
USGS2019

Modeling strategies and evaluating success during repatriations of elusive and endangered species

Wildlife repatriation is an important tool to decrease extinction risk for imperiled species, but successful repatriations require significant time, resources and planning. Because repatriations can be long and expensive processes, clear release strategies and monitoring programs are essential to efficiently use resources and evaluate success. However, monitoring can be challenging and surrounded by significant uncertainty, particularly for secretive species with extremely low detection probability. Here, we simulated how alternative repatriation strategies influence repatriation success for the eastern indigo snake Drymarchon couperi , a federally-Threatened species that is currently being repatriated in Alabama and Florida. Critically, we demonstrate how observed population growth can differ from true population growth when detection probabilities are low and mark-recapture analyses are not an option. Specifically, we built a stochastic stage-based population model to predict population growth and extinction risk under different release strategies and use information from ongoing repatriations to predict success and guide future releases. Because D. couperi is difficult to monitor, we modeled how detection probability influenced perceptions of abundance and population growth by monitoring programs. Simulated repatriation strategies releasing older, head-started snakes in greater abundance and frequency created wild populations with decreased extinction risk relative to scenarios releasing fewer and younger snakes less frequently. Ongoing repatriations currently have a 0.23 (Alabama) and 0.61 (Florida) probability of quasi-extinction, but extinction risk decreased to 0.07 and 0.10 at sites upon achieving the targeted number of releases. Abundances observed under realistic detection thresholds for D. couperi did not always predict true population growth; specifically, we demonstrate that monitoring programs during repatriations of secretive species may indicate that efforts have been unsuccessful when populations are actually growing. Overall, our modeling framework informs release strategies to maximize repatriation success while demonstrating the need to consider how detection processes influence assessment of success during conservation interventions.

Florida↗