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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
USGS1973

Microbiological aspects of ground-water recharge injection of purified unchlorinated sewage effluent at Bay Park, Long Island, N. Y.

Unchlorinated, tertiary-treated sewage effluent was injected through a well at Bay Park, Long Island, N.Y., into a sand aquifer at a rate of 340 gpm for 10 days. Massive, biologically produced slime deposits formed in the filter pack immediately adjacent to the well screen. Observed head buildup in the recharge well was correlated with the formation of these deposits. Comparison of results from this test with results of earlier tests suggests that formation of these deposits may be avoided by addition of chlorine to the injectant.

New York↗
USGS1973

Photoimages for map bases

Maps with aerial photograph image bases have gained wide popularity. The orthophotomap presents an abundance of ground detail and information that cannot be shown on a line map with standard cartographic symbols. In preparing a map base covering areas of little relief, the imagery is fitted to map control with a conventional rectifier, but for areas of significant relief, the photographs are reproduced in an orthophotoscope to remove the effects of both camera tilt and terrain relief.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1973

Can satellite photography contribute to topographic mapping?

Photographs taken on early space missions, in the Gemini-Apollo series, demonstrated the usefulness of the long view for cartography despite acknowledged shortcomings. Later developments, such as ERTS and Skylab, will provide far more data about Earth, but mostly in planimetric form. The third dimension, height, which makes the map representation topographic, is not easy to measure at orbital altitudes. The capability of current and near-future systems is not likely to do much for topographic mapping at scales larger than 1:250,000, but the benefits in planimetric mapping may be better than even the optimists hoped for.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1973

Two diamictons in a landslide scarp on Admiralty Island, Alaska, and the tectonic insignificance of an intervening peat bed

Two till-like diamictons, 700 feet above present sea level on Admiralty Island, Alaska, are separated by peat near the top of a landslide scarp. The lower diamicton is glaciomarine; the upper diamicton is probably a mudflow. The lower diamicton contains the foraminifer Elphidium clavatum Cushman, a species typical of fiords. Similar diamicton crops out along Gastineau Channel near Juneau, 15 miles eastward. Diamicton in both areas reflects deposition in glacier-free fiords during land depression and sea transgression. Consequently, till-like deposits less than 700 feet above sea level elsewhere in southeastern Alaska should be considered as possibly glaciomarine. Sliding occurred after late 1962, but before July 1964; the March 27, 1964, Alaska earthquake might have caused sliding of diamicton saturated by melting snow and spring rains. The peat in the landslide scarp has a published radiocarbon date of 3,400±250 years B.P. (W-1955). The peat was expected to be older, and to relate to Holocene tectonic movement of Admiralty Island. The unexpectedly young date led to additional field study that showed the material over the peat to be a probable mudflow derived from glaciomarine diamicton upvalley; the date has no tectonic significance.

Alaska↗
USGS1973

Radioelement and radiogenic heat distribution in Drill Hole UCe-1, Belmont Stock, Central Nevada

Uranium, thorium, and potassium concentrations were measured in 60 samples collected from an exploratory hole drilled in the Belmont stock about 40 miles north-northeast of Tonopah, Nev. The results indicate that, at least within 2,000 feet of the surface, the granitic pluton contains radioelement concentrations similar to those in average granodiorites and that local variations in concentrations may reflect the effects of argillic alteration.

Nevada↗
USGS1973

Petrography and structural relations of granitic basement rocks in the Monterey Bay area, California

In the past, the granitic basement of the Coast Ranges has been thought to be dominantly quartz diorite and low in K-feldspar. However, a study of outcrops around Monterey Bay, basement well samples, and dredge samples from Monterey Bay shows that the granitic basement averages about 15 to 20 percent K-feldspar. Therefore, as a sedimentary provenance, the basement around Monterey Bay could have contributed abundant K-feldspar to the Cenozoic sedimentary deposits of the region; that is, in the Monterey Bay area the local basement is an adequate source for the abundant K-feldspar in the sedimentary units. The distribution of basement rocks and mapped faults, coupled with gravity-geophysical data, suggests that the area between the San Andreas and Sur-Nacimiento fault zones (the Salinian block) near Monterey Bay is broken into several discrete structural blocks. Some of these blocks juxtapose not only different basement rocks, but also different contour patterns on the buried basement surface. These features suggest large strike-slip movements along some faults within the Salinian block in the Monterey Bay area.

California↗
USGS1973

Zeolites in the Miocene Briones Sandstone and related formations of the central Coast Ranges, California

Authigenic zeolites present in the generally tuffaceous Miocene Briones Sandstone and related formations of the central Coast Ranges of California indicate three stages of diagenetic history: (1) Initial alteration of pyroclastic materials to clinoptilolite (and montmorillonite) that is widely distributed in small amounts throughout the region. (2) Subsequent crystallization of heulandite followed by stilbite in fractures at a few places. (3) Widespread development of laumontite in only the southern part of the region, where the sandstone appears to have been downfolded and faulted to greater depths than elsewhere. Laumontite occurs both as pervasive cement of sandstone and as filling of fractures, and was produced through the reaction of interstitial solutions with other zeolites and with such major constituents of the sandstone as plagioclase, montmorillonite, and calcite at temperatures of 100° C or higher. Mordenite was found at only one locality, closely associated with clinoptilolite and opal. Analcite occurs in diverse settings, and its relation to the other zeolites is obscure. Sparry calcite and coexisting stilbite, laumontite, or analcite in veins seem to make up nonequilibrium assemblages.

California↗
USGS1973

Are the granitic rocks of the Salinian block trondhjemitic?

Trondhjemitic rocks are relatively abundant in the granitic terranes of the western Sierra Nevada and the Klamath Mountains but have not been found in the granitic plutons of the Salinian block, which lies westward, across the San Andreas fault. A ternary plot of modal quartz : K-feldspar : plagioclase from more than 200 granitic samples from the Salinian block has an elongate, nearly horizontal, quartz-rich trend that appears trondhjemitic to some observers. However, petrographic and chemical comparison of these rocks with trondhjemite from the type area in Norway and with rocks called trondhjemite in the Western United States shows that the granitic rocks of the Salinian block are not trondhjemitic. The absence of trondhjemite in the Salinian block further supports the contention that this terrane is not merely a westward continuation of Sierran basement but is a displaced basement block.

California↗
USGS1973

Application of the source-area concept of storm runoff to a small Arizona watershed

An attempt to demonstrate the source-area concept of storm runoff by analysis of the rainfall-runoff relation for the watershed of Queen Creek tributary in south-central Arizona was moderately successful. The demonstration was somewhat marred by the necessity to make several simplifying assumptions to eliminate some of the many basin variables of unknown magnitude. The percentage of watershed contributing storm runoff was related to total rainfall received that is, antecedent and storm rainfall on the assumption that the availability of rainfall excess from any subarea was dependent on the saturation, or near saturation, of a permeable upper layer of soil. An average unit hydrograph was used for all computed sizes of the runoff-contributing area.

Arizona↗
USGS1973

Hydrologic changes after clear-cut logging in a small Oregon coastal watershed

Preliminary graphical analysis indicates that clear-cut logging of a small Oregon watershed has significantly altered certain hydrologic characteristics. After logging, moderate increases were noted in annual runoff, but no significant changes were detected in either peak or minimum flow rates. Both the annual sediment yields and the maximum monthly water temperatures increased greatly after logging; sediment yields and temperatures in the unlogged control watershed actually decreased during the postlogging period.

Oregon↗
USGS1973

Solubility of cryolite at 25° C and 1 atmosphere pressure

For natural cryolite from Greenland the activity product for the reaction (in water), Na 3 Al F 6 c --> 3Na + + Al 3+ + 6F - , was found to be 10 -34.3 +/- 0.1 . This is in good agreement with earlier work in which equilibrium was approached from supersaturation.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1973

Potential shale-oil resources of a stratigraphic sequence above the Mahogany Zone, Green River Formation, Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado

In the southern part of the Piceance Creek basin the upper part of the Green River Formation above the Mahogany zone contains beds of rich oil shale which may be economically recoverable by a surface-mining operation. Four units within this sequence were evaluated for thickness, distribution, oil yield, and potential shale-oil resources. In the area appraised, total estimated resources of 128.5 billion bbl of oil are contained within the sequence. It is thickest in T. 3 S., R. 96 W., where 354 feet of oil shale yields an average of 14 gal of oil per ton, with a total resource of 9.0 billion bbl. It is richest in T. 5 S., R. 96 W., where 250 feet of oil shale yields an average of 19 gal of oil per ton, with a total resource of 6.5 billion bbl. Resources are tabulated for four units of the sequence.

Colorado, Utah, Wyoming↗
USGS1973

The Late Cretaceous ammonite Baculites undatus Stephenson in Colorado and New Mexico

Baculites undatus Stephenson, originally described from the Nacatoch Sand of northeastern Texas, has been found in the Pierre Shale at 25 localities in Colorado and two in New Mexico. An early form of the species occurs in the zone of Didymoceras cheyennense (Meek and Hayden), and the typical form occurs in the overlying zones of Baculites compressus Say, B. cuneatus Cobban, and B. reesidei Elias. The species is characterized by its stout cross section, broad venter, conspicuous lateral and ventral ribs, and suture of about average complexity for the genus.

Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico↗
USGS1973

Lower Jurassic ammonite from the south-central Sierra Nevada, California

A Lower Jurassic ammonite has been found in metasiltstone of the Boyden Cave roof pendant, south-central Sierra Nevada, Calif. Although too poorly preserved to permit positive generic and specific identification, its general shape, coiling, and ornamentation are characteristic of Early Jurassic forms. Strata associated with the fossiliferous rocks in the pendant include quartzite, andalusite hornfels, and marble. This assemblage differs strikingly from nearby volcanic rocks to the east, some of which in the Ritter Range pendant also contain Lower Jurassic fossils. The presence of nonvolcanic Lower Jurassic rocks of the Boyden Cave pendant lying west of coeval volcanic rocks of the Ritter Range pendant is anomalous and may be the result of large-scale tectonic dislocations.

California↗
USGS1973

Deep-sea fan paleocurrent patterns of the Eocene Butano Sandstone, Santa Cruz Mountains, California

The Butano Sandstone is an Eocene continental borderland deep-sea fan deposit located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Calif. Paleoslope measurements from contorted strata within it yield a regional northward paleoslope for the fan. Detailed paleocurrent measurements from conglomerate clast orientations, flute casts, groove casts, current-ripple markings, small-scale cross-strata, convolute laminations, and flame structures yield a sediment-dispersal pattern characterized by northward transport of coarser grained sediments downfan along major channels and transport of finer grained sediments outward and away from channels by overspilling. The overall paleocurrent pattern is oriented radially outward from the fan apex and indicates that the growth, development, and dispersal of sediments on this ancient deep-sea fan resembled that on modern deep-sea fans.

California↗
USGS1973

Current slope-stability studies in the San Francisco Bay region

An extensive program of slope-stability studies is presently underway in the San Francisco Bay region, California. Work to date has resulted in the publication of estimates of landslide damage, an estimated-landslide-abundance map of the region, new slope maps prepared by photomechanical processes, photointerpretive maps of landslide, colluvial, and other surficial deposits, and maps of relative slope stability. These studies indicate that landsliding is a major slope-erosion process in the region, that the damage resulting from landsliding is very great, and that additional development in the upland parts of the region should not be undertaken without careful evaluation of slope stability.

California↗
USGS1973

Stream-profile analysis and stream-gradient index

The generally regular three-dimensional geometry of drainage networks is the basis for a simple method of terrain analysis providing clues to bedrock conditions and other factors that determine topographic forms. On a reach of any stream, a gradient-index value can be obtained which allows meaningful comparisons of channel slope on streams of different sizes. The index is believed to reflect stream power or competence and is simply the product of the channel slope at a point and channel length measured along the longest stream above the point where the calculation is made. In an adjusted topography, changes in gradient-index values along a stream generally correspond to differences in bedrock or introduced load. In any landscape the gradient index of a stream is related to total relief and stream regimen. Thus, climate, tectonic events, and geomorphic history must be considered in using the gradient index. Gradient-index values can be obtained quickly by simple measurements on topographic maps, or they can be obtained by more sophisticated photogrammetric measurements that involve simple computer calculations from x, y, z coordinates.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1973

Identification of a lithium-bearing smectite from Spor Mountain, Utah

Chemical analyses, X-ray diffraction data, and cation exchange determinations are given for a lithium-bearing smectite. The X-ray data and Greene-Kelly's lithium test indicate the presence of both dioctahedral and trioctahedral phases. The exchange determinations indicate that the lithium is in the structure of the clay, and the chemical data are intermediate between those for hectorite and montmorillonite. All data indicate that the clay is a mixture of hectorite and montmorillonite.

Utah↗