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At least 793 records · Page 44Linked to original sources
USGS2020

"Modified Unified Method" of carp capture

Populations of Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (silver carp) and Hypophthalmichthys nobilis (bighead carp), (together referred to herein as “bigheaded carp”) have increased exponentially in the greater Mississippi River Basin. Detrimental effects on native fish and economically important fisheries have occurred where these invasive, filter-feeding fish are abundant. The Unified Method, a harvest technique developed in China for bigheaded carp in flood plain lakes, uses herding techniques and a variety of nets to drive bigheaded carp and concentrate them into an area where they can be easily harvested. The U.S. Geological Survey is adapting the Chinese Unified Method concepts to be consistent with North American financial, societal, and environmental conditions. We have modified these techniques and incorporated modern technology to reduce the time and expense of Unified Methods and to allow them to be used in public waters. Thus, the operations in North America are often described as the “Modified Unified Method.” The U.S. Geological Survey is studying and refining the Modified Unified Method to provide stakeholders with efficient, validated, and environmentally friendly methods for carp removal; however, this method is still new to the United States and additional research is needed to further increase the efficiency of Modified Unified Method operations.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2013

Analysis and inundation mapping of the April-May 2011 flood at selected locations in northern and eastern Arkansas and southern Missouri

Precipitation that fell from April 19 through May 3, 2011, resulted in widespread flooding across northern and eastern Arkansas and southern Missouri. The first storm produced a total of approximately 16 inches of precipitation over an 8-day period, and the following storms produced as much as 12 inches of precipitation over a 2-day period. Moderate to major flooding occurred quickly along many streams within Arkansas and Missouri (including the Black, Cache, Illinois, St. Francis, and White Rivers) at levels that had not been seen since the historic 1927 floods. The 2011 flood claimed an estimated 21 lives in Arkansas and Missouri, and damage caused by the flooding resulted in a Federal Disaster Declaration for 59 Arkansas counties that received Federal or State assistance. To further the goal of documenting and understanding floods, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers–Little Rock and Memphis Districts, and Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, conducted a study to summarize meteorological and hydrological conditions before the flood; computed flood-peak magnitudes for 39 streamgages; estimated annual exceedance probabilities for 37 of those streamgages; determined the joint probabilities for 11 streamgages paired to the Mississippi River at Helena, Arkansas, which refers to the probability that locations on two paired streams simultaneously experience floods of a magnitude greater than or equal to a given annual exceedance probability; collected high-water marks; constructed flood-peak inundation maps showing maximum flood extent and water depths; and summarized flood damages and effects. For the period of record used in this report, peak-of-record stage occurred at 24 of the 39 streamgages, and peak-of-record streamflow occurred at 13 of the 30 streamgages where streamflow was determined. Annual exceedance probabilities were estimated to be less than 0.5 percent at three streamgages. The joint probability values for streamgages paired with the Mississippi River at Helena, Ark., streamgage indicate a low probability of concurrent flooding with the paired streamgages. The inundation maps show the flood-peak extent and water depth of flooding for two stream reaches on the White River and two on the Black River; the vicinities of the communities of Holly Grove and Cotton Plant, Ark.; a reach of the White River that includes the crossing of Interstate 40 north of De Valls Bluff, Ark.; and the Tailwaters of Beaver Dam near Eureka Springs, Ark., Table Rock Dam near Branson, Mo., and Bull Shoals Dam near Flippin, Ark. The data and inundation maps can be used for flood response, recovery, and planning efforts by Federal, State, and local agencies.

Arkansas;Missouri↗
USGS1901

Profiles of rivers in the United States

The profiles here represented are derived from various sources and differ from one another greatly in accuracy. Many of them are drawn from the annual reports of the Chief of Engineers, U.S.A., under which are included the reports of the Mississippi and Missouri River commissions. The heights thus obtained are those of the level of water in the rivers at certain stages, and may be regarded as of great accuracy. Others have been obtained from railroad profiles, being the level of the rivers at points where the railroads touch or cross them. Still others have been taken from the atlas sheets of the United States Geological Survey and from other maps. In most such cases the points at which the contours cross the rivers upon the maps have been taken. These again differ in point of accuracy with the means adopted for the location of the contours. Where the spirit level was used in locating contours it may be assumed that the determinations are fairly good, but where the barometer was used the probable error may be of considerable magnitude. Such elevations are, however, mainly in the mountainous parts of the country, where the fall of the streams is great, and where, therefore, errors of considerable magnitude may be tolerated, as affecting but little the form of the profile.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS2001

The behaviour of 39 pesticides in surface waters as a function of scale

A portion of applied pesticides runs off agricultural fields and is transported through surface waters. In this study, the behaviour of 39 pesticides is examined as a function of scale across 14 orders of magnitude from the field to the ocean. Data on pesticide loads in streams from two US Geological Survey programs were combined with literature data from field and watershed studies. The annual load as percent of use (LAPU) was quantified for each of the fields and watersheds and was used as the normalization factor across watersheds and compounds. The in-stream losses of each pesticide were estimated for a model stream with a 15 day travel time (similar in characteristics to the upper Mississippi River). These estimated in-stream losses agreed well with the observed changes in apparent LAPU values as a function of watershed area. In general, herbicides applied to the soil surface had the greatest LAPU values and minimal in-stream losses. Soil-incorporated herbicides had smaller LAPU values and substantial in-stream losses. Insecticides generally had LAPU values similar to the incorporated herbicides, but had more variation in their in-stream losses. On the basis of the LAPU values of the 39 pesticides as a function of watershed area, a generalized conceptual model of the movement of pesticides from the field to the ocean is suggested. The importance of considering both field runoff and in-stream losses is discussed in relation to interpreting monitoring data and making regulatory decisions.

Hydrological Processes↗
USGS2025

Predictive regressive models of recent marsh sediment thickness improve the quantification of coastal marsh sediment budgets

Coastal marsh wetlands experience variations in vertical gains and losses through time, which have allowed them to infill relict topography and record variations in drivers. The stratigraphic unit associated with the development of the marsh also reflects the long-term importance of key ecosystem services supplied by the marsh environment, including carbon storage and storm mitigation. Mapping these coastal wetland sediments and the marsh unit thickness is challenging as traditional coastal geophysical tools are not easily deployable (acoustic methods) or are unreliable in saline-soil environments (e.g., ground-penetrating radar), leaving core-based methods the most viable mapping method. In the present study, we utilized prior information on the geologic architecture of the region to select spatial and physical metrics that likely persisted throughout evolution of the marsh during the late Holocene. We then assessed the individual and collective power of these metrics to predict marsh thickness observed from cores. Employing regressive predictive models powered by these data, we improve the quantification of marsh thickness for a coastal fringing marsh within the Grand Bay estuary in Mississippi and Alabama (USA). The information gained from this approach yields improved estimates of the carbon stocks in this environment. Additionally, the stored sediment masses reflect the past, and potential future, persistence of the Grand Bay marsh under historical and present marsh-estuarine sediment exchange fluxes. Such improvements to both the sediment budget of recent marsh stratigraphic units and the spatial extent provide new resources for comparison with large-scale landscape models, the latter of which may be used, when validated, to predict future change and ecosystem transformations.

Alabama. Mississippi↗
USGS1997

Map showing outcrop of the coal-bearing units and land use in the Gulf Coast region

This map is a preliminary compilation of the outcrop geology of the known coal-bearing units in the Gulf Coast Coal region. The map has been compiled for use in the National Coal Resource Assessment Project currently being conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, and will be updated as the assessment progresses. The purpose of the map is to show the distribution of coal-bearing rocks in the Gulf Coastal Plain Region and to show stratigraphic correlations, transportation network, fossil-fuel burning power plants, and federally managed lands in the region. It is hoped that this map may aid coal exploration and development in the region. Geologic contacts were digitized from paper copies of the maps listed in the reference section below. The primary source of information was the 1:500,000-scale state geology map series, but larger scale maps were use to better define certain areas, notably the Jackson-Claiborne contact in western Kentucky and Tennessee for example (Olive, 1980). Contacts along state boundaries were modified to best-fit information available from the border areas. Note that coal distribution in the mapped units is not uniform. For example, the Jackson Group contains coal in Texas, but in Mississippi is not presently known to contain significant coal deposits. The unit is widespread and in part non-marine and thus of potential future interest. In contrast, the Jackson Group is not shown in Georgia where it is mostly marine and residuum (weathered material) at the surface. Tertiary age coal has also been noted in the Vicksburg Group (Oligocene) of Louisiana and Mississippi, but is not shown on this map. Contacts with mapped surficial units are not always shown. The locations of coal mine permit boundaries are based on information available at the time of publication and were obtained from the Division of Surface Mining and Reclamation, Railroad Commission of Texas, Austin, and the Injection and Mining Division, Department of Natural Resources, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The correlation of map units and formation names generally follow Galloway and others (1991). We have placed the Paleocene-Eocene boundary in the middle of the Calvert Bluff Formation in Texas based on unpublished pollen biostratigraphy reports (N.O. Fredericksen, unpublished data, 1993; D.J. Nichols, unpublished data, 1996).

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kansas, Kentu↗
USGS2003

Water-quality assessment of the eastern Iowa Basins: Selected pesticides and pesticide degradates in streams, 1996-98

Water samples were collected in streams of the Eastern Iowa Basins study unit from 1996 to 1998 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. More than 350 samples were collected to document the occurrence, distribution, and transport of pesticides and pesticide degradates. The Eastern Iowa Basins study unit encompasses about 50,500 square kilometers (19,500 square miles) in eastern Iowa and southern Minnesota and is drained by four major rivers—the Wapsipinicon, Cedar, Iowa, and Skunk—which flow into the Mississippi River at the eastern border of Iowa. The most commonly detected pesticides— acetochlor, alachlor, atrazine, cyanazine, and metolachlor—were those most heavily used on crops during the study. Atrazine and metolachlor were detected in 100 percent, and acetochlor, alachlor and cyanazine were detected in more than 70 percent of all surface-water samples. Four pesticide degradates—metolachlor ethane sulfonic acid, alachlor ethane sulfonic acid, metolachlor oxanilic acid, and acetochlor ethane sulfonic acid were detected in more than 75 percent of the samples. Only one nonagricultural herbicide, prometon, was detected in more than 80 percent of the samples. Carbofuran, the most commonly detected insecticide, was found in 16 percent of all samples. Mixtures of pesticide compounds commonly occurred in the samples. Five or more parent pesticide compounds were detected in 50 percent of the samples. Four or more pesticide degradates were detected in 68 percent and seven or more pesticide degradates were detected in 17 percent of the samples. Acetochlor, alachlor, atrazine, cyanazine, and metolachlor were generally present at low concentrations; median concentrations ranged from 0.01 to 0.22 microgram per liter. However, median concentrations for the pesticide degra-dates, 0.07 to 3.7 micrograms per liter, were larger than their parent compounds. Acetochlor, alachlor, atrazine, cyanazine, and metolachlor pesticide compounds were detected at an order of magnitude or higher in the late spring and summer than at other times of the year. Pesticide concentrations generally peak following application in May and June and decrease during the growing season. A small secondary peak of atrazine, acetochlor, alachlor, cyanazine, and metolachlor concentrations occurred in late winter at all sites. The seasonal patterns for the triazine (atrazine and cyanazine) degradates were similar to the parent compounds (increasing in the spring), but the triazine degra-dates often had higher median concentrations than their parent compounds in the fall and winter. The chloroacetanilide (acetochlor, alachlor, and metolachlor) degradates did not follow a strong seasonal pattern like their parent compounds. In general, the chloroacetanilide degradates had constant and higher median concentrations when compared to their parent compounds throughout the year. The median concentrations for the chloroacetanilide pesticide degradates were often an order of magnitude higher than their parent compounds. Concentrations of pesticides varied by land-form region. Atrazine and cyanazine and their degradates were present in significantly greater concentrations in streams of the Southern Iowa Drift Plain than streams of either the Des Moines Lobe or the Iowan Surface.

Iowa, Minnesota↗
USGS1983

Hydrogeologic and water-quality characteristics of the St. Peter aquifer, Southeast Minnesota

Quality of water in the St. Peter aquifer is generally acceptable for most uses. Sulfate concentrations increase toward the southwestern part of the aquifer because of highly mineralized leakage from overlying Cretaceous deposits. Concentrations of sodium, magnesium, and sulfate generally increase to the west, and those of calcium, bicarbonate, and chloride generally increase toward the margins of the aquifer. Calcium magnesium bicarbonate water is the most common type in the aquifer. The aquifer is well protected from surface sources of Contaminants by the overlying Decorah-Platteville-Glenwood confining bed, which overlies about 80 percent of the St. Peter aquifer. Thin drift, which overlies the east side of the aquifer, provides much less protection than the confining bed. Water in the aquifer generally flows toward the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Some water flows southward into Iowa from a ground-water divide in Dodge and Steele Counties, Well yields from the aquifer, which are generally between 100 and 250 gallons per minute, are generally adequate for most uses. This report is one of a series on the hydrogeology and water quality of the 14 principal aquifers in Minnesota prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency requested these studies because of the need for information to develop its Underground Injection Control Program.

Minnesota↗
USGS2023

National- to continental-scale governmental geophysical efforts for critical mineral mapping, USA

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has established robust collaborations with domestic state and international geological surveys to provide geophysical and other types of earth science data that act to underpin critical mineral research efforts across the United States, Canada, and Australia. The Earth Mapping Resource Initiative (EMRI) is a national-scale collaborative effort with state geological surveys to improve geophysical and geological data to advance our understanding of the United States’ critical mineral endowment. The Critical Mineral Mapping Initiative (CMMI) is a tri-national collaboration with the federal geological surveys of Canada and Australia to conduct research that will aid in identifying new areas with potential for critical mineral deposits across all three countries. This study describes the important interplay between the EMRI and CMMI and how each act in a complementary fashion to advance critical mineral research. We present examples that illustrate how magnetic anomaly data are used to define critical mineral prospectivity for Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) Zn-Pb mineral systems and illustrate how CMMI magnetic derivative maps were considered into USGS’ EMRI efforts to acquire modern high-resolution airborne geophysical data over a large area within the US Midcontinent.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1920

An Eocene flora from trans-Pecos Texas

During the fall of 1916 I received a small collection of fossil plants which had been obtained during a geologic reconnaissance of the trans-Pecos region of Texas, by Charles Lawrence Baker. A preliminary report was sent to Mr. Baker in November of that year and was quoted in his discussion of the geology of that region. I have since made a careful study of the collection, and although it contains only a few species the occurrence of fossil plans in this region is worthy of more definite and detailed record, especially as these plants enabled me to assign a definite age to the beginning of the igneous activity of the region and to establish correlations between the floras of the Mississippi embayment and the Rocky Mountain Region.

Professional Paper↗
USGS2012

Floods of June 2012 in northeastern Minnesota

During June 19–20, 2012, heavy rainfall, as much as 10 inches locally reported, caused severe flooding across northeastern Minnesota. The floods were exacerbated by wet antecedent conditions from a relatively rainy spring, with May 2012 as one of the wettest Mays on record in Duluth. The June 19–20, 2012, rainfall event set new records in Duluth, including greatest 2-day precipitation with 7.25 inches of rain. The heavy rains fell on three major watersheds: the Mississippi Headwaters; the St. Croix, which drains to the Mississippi River; and Western Lake Superior, which includes the St. Louis River and other tributaries to Lake Superior. Widespread flash and river flooding that resulted from the heavy rainfall caused evacuations of residents, and damages to residences, businesses, and infrastructure. In all, nine counties in northeastern Minnesota were declared Federal disaster areas as a result of the flooding. Peak-of-record streamflows were recorded at 13 U.S. Geological Survey streamgages as a result of the heavy rainfall. Flood-peak gage heights, peak streamflows, and annual exceedance probabilities were tabulated for 35 U.S. Geological Survey streamgages. Flood-peak streamflows in June 2012 had annual exceedance probabilities estimated to be less than 0.002 (0.2 percent; recurrence interval greater than 500 years) for five streamgages, and between 0.002 and 0.01 (1 percent; recurrence interval greater than 100 years) for four streamgages. High-water marks were identified and tabulated for the most severely affected communities of Barnum (Moose Horn River), Carlton (Otter Creek), Duluth Heights neighborhood of Duluth (Miller Creek), Fond du Lac neighborhood of Duluth (St. Louis River), Moose Lake (Moose Horn River and Moosehead Lake), and Thomson (Thomson Reservoir outflow near the St. Louis River). Flood-peak inundation maps and water-surface profiles were produced for these six severely affected communities. The inundation maps were constructed in a geographic information system by combining high-water-mark data with high-resolution digital elevation model data. The flood maps and profiles show the extent and depth of flooding through the communities and can be used for flood response and recovery efforts by local, county, State, and Federal agencies.

Minnesota↗
USGS1997

Ground Water Atlas of the United States: Segment 3, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska

The three States-Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska-that comprise Segment 3 of this Atlas are in the central part of the United States. The major rivers that drain these States are the Niobrara, the Platte, the Kansas, the Arkansas, and the Missouri; the Mississippi River is the eastern boundary of the area. These rivers supply water for many uses but ground water is the source of slightly more than one-half of the total water withdrawn for all uses within the three-State area. The aquifers that contain the water consist of consolidated sedimentary rocks and unconsolidated deposits that range in age from Cambrian through Quaternary. This chapter describes the geology and hydrology of each of the principal aquifers throughout the three-State area. Some water enters Segment 3 as inflow from rivers and aquifers that cross the segment boundaries, but precipitation, as rain and snow, is the primary source of water within the area. Average annual precipitation (1951-80) increases from west to east and ranges from about 16 to 48 inches (fig. 1). The climate of the western one-third of Kansas and Nebraska, where the average annual precipitation generally is less than 20 inches per year, is considered to be semiarid. This area receives little precipitation chiefly because it is distant from the Gulf of Mexico, which is the principal source of moisture-laden air for the entire segment, but partly because it is located in the rain shadow of the Rocky Mountains. Average annual precipitation is greatest in southeastern Missouri. Much of the precipitation is returned to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration, which is the combination of evaporation from the land surface and surface-water bodies, and transpiration from plants. Some of the precipitation either flows directly into streams as overland runoff or percolates into the soil and then moves downward into aquifers where it is stored for a time and subsequently released as base flow to streams. Average annual runoff, which is the total discharge into a stream from surface- and ground-water sources, ranges from about 0.2 inch in the western part of the area to about 20 inches in southeastern Missouri (fig. 2). Average annual runoff generally reflects the distribution of average annual precipitation during the same period. However, runoff is less than precipitation everywhere and ranges from less than 5 to about 35 percent of the average annual precipitation. Evapotranspiration rates are high, especially in the western one-half of the area; thus, only a small percentage of the precipitation is available to recharge aquifers in most places. Locally, however, runoff might be significantly less than shown in figure 2, and ground-water recharge, greater, especially where highly permeable rocks or deposits at the land surface allow precipitation to rapidly infiltrate. Examples of such places are the Sand Hills area of Nebraska, which is blanketed by permeable windblown sands, and parts of southern Missouri, where permeable limestone is at or near the land surface. The land surface of Segment 3 generally slopes gradually from west to east. In the Great Plains Physiographic Province (fig. 3), the altitude of the flat land surface locally is about 5,000 feet above sea level in westernmost Nebraska. By contrast, in the flat Coastal Plain Physiographic Province of eastern Missouri, the altitude is about 500 feet above sea level. The land surface is gently rolling in the Central Lowland Province except where major rivers and their tributaries are deeply incised. In the Ozark Plateaus Physiographic Province, rugged topography has developed where the underlying rocks have been uplifted and deeply eroded.

Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska↗
USGS1994

Lead and barium sources in Cambrian siliciclastics and sediment provenance of a sector of the Taconic Orogen, Quebec: a mixing scenario based on Pb-isotopic evidence

To test the hypothesis that siliciclastic rocks constituted the major source of Pb and Ba in barite-galena deposits of the Taconic Orogen, we determined Pb-isotope ratios in galena, barren rocks and contained minerals, as well as concentrations of Pb, U, Th and Ba in the latter (detrital feldspars, sandstones, mudstones, rock clasts and carbonate cements and clasts). Ranges in 206 Pb/ 204 Pb, 207 Pb/ 204 Pb and 208 Pb/ 204 Pb of 28 galena samples are 17.96–18.05, 15.56–15.59 and 37.75–37.93, respectively; ranges for 41 barren rocks and minerals are 16.17–23.31, 15.26–15.86 and 35.98–42.51, respectively. The lowest ratios are in feldspar, and the highest in carbonate and mudstone. Values of the mudstones samples overlap those of galena when corrected for in situ decay of U and Th since galena precipitation (∼450Ma). We thus propose that mudstones constituted a source of lead. Corrected ratios for anomalously Pb-rich mudstones are virtually identical to galena-Pb ratios and may be due to contamination by lead-bearing brines. Assuming that burial diagenesis did not disturb the Pb-isotope values of sandstones, these rocks contributed only a minor fraction of lead to the galena, estimated at∼20% for one deposit. The source of barite-Ba was probably perthite. Low Ba and Pb concentrations of sandstone adjacent to this deposit, compared to high concentrations remote from it, support leaching of barium (and minor lead) from feldspar penecontemporaneous with feldspar dissolution. Geological data indicate that the provenance of the siliciclastic rocks was mainly from Grenville terrane. A comparison of our Pb-isotopic data for Taconic perthite with those of Grenville K-feldspar, as well as ratios of trace elements, support this provenance for both sandstones and mudstones. The presence of carbonate platforms peripheral to the orogen, and the Middle Ordovician-Middle Devonian depositional range of the studied and Mississippi Valley type deposits north (Newfoundland) and south (U.S.A. Appalachians) of our study area suggest targets for exploration in these platforms.

Applied Geochemistry↗
USGS1918

Shorter contributions to general geology, 1917

Contents: A. Baked shale and slag formed by the burning of coal beds / G.S. Rogers B. The Newington moraine, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts / F.J. Katz and Arthur Keith C.A comparison of Paleozoic sections in southern New Mexico / N.H. Darton D. Wasatch fossils in so-called Fort Union beds of the Powder River Basin, Wyo., and their bearing on the stratigraphy of the region / C.H. Wegemann E. Geologic history indicated by the fossiliferous deposits of the Wilcox group at Meridian, Miss. / E.W. Berry F.A fossil flora from the Frontier formation of southwestern Wyoming / F.H. Knowlton G. The stratigraphic position and faunal associates of the orbitoid Foraminifera of the genus Orthophragmina from Georgia and Florida / C.W. Cooke G. Orbitoid Foraminifera of the genus Orthophragmina from Georgia and Florida / J.A. Cushman H. The Pliocene history of northern and central Mississippi / E.W. Shaw I. Stratigraphy in northwestern Maine and southeastern New Hampshire / F.J. Katz J. The Flaxville gravel and its relation to other terrace gravels of the northern Great Plains / A.J. Collier K. The Helderberg limestone of central Pennsylvania / J.B. Reeside L. Stratigraphy of the Hanna Basin, Wyo. / C.F. Bowen

Professional Paper↗
USGS2016

Generalized sediment budgets of the Lower Missouri River, 1968–2014

Sediment budgets of the Lower Missouri River were developed in a study led by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The scope of the study included the development of a long-term (post-impoundment, 1968–2014) average annual sediment budget and selected annual, monthly, and daily sediment budgets for a reach and period that adequate data were available. Included in the analyses were 31 main-stem and tributary stations of the Lower Missouri River and two Mississippi River stations—the Mississippi River below Grafton, Illinois, and the Mississippi River at St. Louis, Missouri. Long-term average annual suspended-sediment loads of Missouri River main-stem stations ranged from 0.33 million tons at the Missouri River at Yankton, South Dakota, station to 71.2 million tons at Missouri River at Hermann, Mo., station. Gaged tributary gains accounted for 9–36 percent of the local reach budgets and cumulative gaged tributary contributions accounted for 84 percent of the long-term average suspended-sediment load of the Missouri River at Hermann, Mo., station. Although the sediment budgets for seven defined main-stem reaches generally were incomplete—missing bedload, reach storage, and ungaged tributary contributions—the budget residuals (net result of sediment inputs and outputs) for six of the seven reaches ranged from -7.0 to 1.7 million tons, or from -9.2 to 4.0 percent of the reach output suspended-sediment load, and were within the 10 percent reported measurement error of annual suspended-sediment loads for large rivers. The remaining reach, downstream from Gavin’s Point Dam, extended from Yankton, S. Dak., to Sioux City, Iowa, and had a budget residual of -9.8 million tons, which was -88 percent of the suspended-sediment load at Sioux City. The Lower Missouri River reach from Omaha, Nebraska, to Nebraska City, Nebr., had periods of concurrent sediment data for each primary budget component with which to analyze and determine a suspended-sediment budget for selected annual, monthly, and daily time increments. The temporal changes in the cumulative annual budget residuals were poorly correlated with the comparatively steady 1968–2011 annual stage trends at the Missouri River at Nebraska City, Nebr., station. An accurate total sediment budget is developed by having concurrent data available for all primary suspended and bedload components for a reach of interest throughout a period. Such a complete budget, with concurrent record for suspended-sediment load and bedload components, is unavailable for any reach and period in the Lower Missouri River. The primary data gaps are in bedload data, and also in suspended-sediment gains and losses including ungaged tributary inputs and sediment storage. Bedload data gaps in the Missouri River Basin are much more prevalent than suspended-sediment data gaps, and the first step in the development of reach bedload budgets is the establishment of a standardized bedload monitoring program at main-stem stations. The temporal changes in flow-adjusted suspended-sediment concentrations analyzed at main-stem Missouri River stations indicated an overall downward change in concentrations between 1968 and 2014. Temporary declines in flow-adjusted suspended-sediment concentrations during and following large floods were evident but generally returned to near pre-flood values within about 6 months. Data uncertainties associated with the development of a sediment budget include uncertainties associated with the collection of suspended-sediment and bedload data and the computation of suspended-sediment loads. These uncertainties vary depending on the frequency of data collection, the variability of conditions being represented by the discrete samples, and the statistical approach to suspended-sediment load computations. The coefficients of variation of suspended-sediment loads of Missouri River tributary stations for 1968–2014 were greater, 75.0 percent, than the main-stem stations, 47.1 percent. The lower coefficient of variation at main-stem stations compared to tributaries, primarily is the result of the lower variability in streamflow and sediment discharge identified at main-stem stations. To obtain similar accuracy between suspended-sediment loads at main-stem and tributary stations, a longer period of record is required of the tributary stations. During 1968–2014, however, the Missouri River main-stem station record was much more complete (87 percent) than the tributary station record (28 percent).

Missouri River Basin↗
USGS1963

Geology and ground-water conditions in the southern part of the Camp Ripley Military Reservation, Morrison County, Minnesota

The southern part of the Camp Ripley Military Reservation, in central Minnesota, includes an area of about 20 square miles. This investigation was conducted to assist the U.S. National Guard Bureau in locating adequate water supplies for expansion and standby needs. Bedrock in the area consists of Precambrian phyllite which is equivalent to the Virginia slate. The area is covered largely by Pleistocene deposits in the form of moraines, ice-contact features, outwash plains, and the valley train of the Mississippi River. Almost all the surface deposits consist of outwash-plain and valley-train sediments that are generally permeable. Test drilling and an electrical-resistivity survey indicate that the post area, in the southeast part of the reservation, is underlain by about 50 to 115 feet of glacial drift. The west side of the post area is underlain by a bedrock valley filled in part by permeable glaciofluvial deposits in which there is a narrow, highly permeable channel deposit of sand and gravel. Aquifers of this type are probably the most important source of ground water in the area, although substantial quantities of water also may be obtained from other types of glacial aquifers. Properly constructed and developed wells tapping the channel deposits should yield 2,000 to 3,000 gallons per minute, or more. Recharge to the aquifers in the reservation is derived from the downward percolation of local precipitation. Most recharge occurs during the spring breakup when accumulated winter snows melt and during the warmer months when the heaviest rains occur. Sufficient water is stored in sands and gravels in the area to support substantial water-supply developments for several years, even without normal recharge. The water is harder than is desirable for domestic uses, and it is relatively highly colored, probably owing to the presence of iron. Otherwise, the water is satisfactory for most domestic purposes as it contains only about 250 parts per million of dissolved solids.

Minnesota↗
USGS2007

Detrital mineral chronology of the Uinta Mountain Group: Implications for the Grenville flood in southwestern Laurentia

Numerous studies have shown that large quantities of Grenville-age detritus dominate Neoproterozoic to Cambrian arenites in southwest Laurentia (southwestern United States). U-Pb ages and Hf isotopic compositions of zircons and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages of white mica from clastic sedimentary rocks of the Neoproterozoic Uinta Mountain Group also indicate significant Mesoproterozoic detritus mixed with a variably abundant Archean component. Zircons with ages representative of the Paleoproterozoic basement in the eastern Uinta Mountains or the younger Paleoproterozoic rocks of the adjacent Yavapai-Mazatzal terranes were not observed. A limited range of initial ϵ Hf (∼90% between –3 and +3) for Mesoproterozoic zircons suggests derivation from a source region (or regions) characterized by mixing between juvenile and reworked older crust during Grenville orogenesis. The enriched Grenville-age basement proposed to underlie much of southeastern North America may be this source based on similarities of Hf isotopic data from Mesoproterozoic zircons in Mississippi River sand and available paleocurrent data. If so, then disruption of this supply in the Cambrian may be related to Iapetan rifting and, perhaps, the separation of the Precordillera terrane from Laurentia.

Geology↗
USGS2025

Quantitative subsurface characterization illuminates the origin of the Quaternary Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer

The Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer (MRVA) is vital to U.S. food security and global agricultural supply. However, quantitative understanding of its Quaternary origin, architecture, and hydrologic function remains incomplete. Here we develop a three-dimensional hydrostratigraphic model to characterize the deposition of clay and silt, fine-medium sands, and graveliferous sands using lithologic data from 75,000 boreholes compiled across the Lower Mississippi Valley and a geostatistical method—interval kriging. We find that cyclic glacial entrenchments, evidenced by remnants of pre-Wisconsinan postglacial sediments, alongside geodynamic activities shaped the MRVA basal configuration. Stratal weakening from faulting and salt diapirism enhanced glacial incision and thereby produced abrupt aquifer thickening. We demarcate the top of graveliferous sands as the regional marker of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. The MRVA hydrostratigraphy reveals hydrologic function and geologic controls on groundwater storage and quality, advancing the assessment of aquifer sustainability under a changing climate, with implications for alluvial aquifers globally.

Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississip↗