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At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
USGS1975

Paleotectonic investigations of the Pennsylvanian System in the United States, Part I: Introduction and regional analyses of the Pennsylvanian System

The Pennsylvanian is the fourth geologic system to be analyzed and synthesized by geologists of the U.S. Geological Survey in the form of a paleotectonic study covering the conterminous United States. Earlier investigations were of the Jurassic, Triassic, and Permian Systems. Results were published as Miscellaneous Geologic Investigation Maps I-175, I-300, and I-450 and in Professional Paper 515. The objective of these investigations is to provide in graphic form the factual basis for recognition of tectonic events of each system on a countrywide scale. The maps in this publication depict rock thickness, generalized lithology, ancient geography, and other regional relations of the Pennsylvanian System. Method of preparation of the maps, the stratigraphic limits of the map units, and various stratigraphic and structural features and their probable tectonic significance are discussed. Pennsylvanian data were largely compiled between 1961 and 196 by 16 geologists, including the late Harold R. Wanless, who covered the five eastern regions and contributed to several of the special studies. The areas of responsibility of the cooperating geologists are indicated in figure 1. Work in Kansas was done by Gary F. Stewart, of the Kansas Geological Survey. Results of this investigation are presented in three units. Part I comprises an introduction and 17 chapters, each describing and discussing one of the regions in which the conterminous United States was divided for purposes of study and mapping. Part II is a synthesis of Pennsylvanian history to accompany interpretive maps of the five divisions of the Pennsylvanian System treated in this publication; it also includes a series of chapters on depositional environments, climatic conditions, and economic products of the system. The final section of part II is devoted to an index of localities and sources used in construction of the principal maps of this publication. Part III consists of the plates on which are presented the major maps and sections.

Professional Paper↗
USGS1992

The Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake of October 17, 1989: Strong ground motion and ground failure

Professional Paper 1551 describes the effects at the land surface caused by the Loma Prieta earthquake. These effects: include the pattern and characteristics of strong ground shaking, liquefaction of both floodplain deposits along the Pajaro and Salinas Rivers in the Monterey Bay region and sandy artificial fills along the margins of San Francisco Bay, landslides in the epicentral region, and increased stream flow. Some significant findings and their impacts were: * Strong shaking that was amplified by a factor of about two by soft soils caused damage at up to 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the epicenter. * Instrumental recordings of the ground shaking have been used to improve how building codes consider site amplification effects from soft soils. * Liquefaction at 134 locations caused $99.2 million of the total earthquake loss of $5.9 billion. Liquefaction of floodplain deposits and sandy artificial fills was similar in nature to that which occurred in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and indicated that many areas remain susceptible to liquefaction damage in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay regions. * Landslides caused $30 million in earthquake losses, damaging at least 200 residences. Many landslides showed evidence of movement in previous earthquakes. * Recognition of the similarities between liquefaction and landslides in 1906 and 1989 and research in intervening years that established methodologies to map liquefaction and landslide hazards prompted the California legislature to pass in 1990 the Seismic Hazards Mapping Act that required the California Geological Survey to delineate regulatory zones of areas potentially susceptible to these hazards. * The earthquake caused the flow of many streams in the epicentral region to increase. Effects were noted up to 88 km from the epicenter. * Post-earthquake studies of the Marina District of San Francisco provide perhaps the most comprehensive case history of earthquake effects at a specific site developed for any earthquake. Soft soils beneath the Marina amplified ground shaking to damaging levels and caused liquefaction of sandy artificial fills. Liquefaction required 123 repairs of pipelines in the Municipal Water Supply System, more than three times the number of repairs elsewhere in the system. Approximately 13.6 km of gas-distribution lines were replaced, and more than 20% of the wastewater collection lines were repaired or replaced.

Professional Paper↗
USGS1984

Wilderness mineral potential: Assessment of mineral-resource potential in U.S. Forest Service lands studied in 1964-1984: Volume 1

Under the provisions of the Wilderness Act (Public Law 88-577, September 3, 1964) and subsequent related legislation, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) have been conducting mineral surveys of wilderness and primitive areas, and of other national forest lands being considered for wilderness designation. The Wilderness Act directs that the results of these surveys are to be made available to the public and are to be submitted to the President and the Congress. This professional paper is a synopsis of the mineral surveys made from 1965 to 1983. It summarizes our current knowledge of mineral and energy resources and of the potential for the occurrence of undiscovered mineral and energy resources in 45 million acres of Federal lands, chiefly in national forests. This book, in two volumes, consists of 332 summary articles, arranged alphabetically by State, in which the mineral-resource potential of about 800 individual areas is discussed. The summaries of the mineral surveys were written during 1982-83, generally by those who made the surveys. Index maps of each state show the location of the areas studied, numerically keyed to an alphabetic list. The national distribution of the wilderness lands studied is shown on the frontispiece. Where lands were in proximity or were added to expand previously designated areas, they often are described in a single article. Each article begins with a short summary of the results of the mineral survey followed by a discussion of the character and geologic setting of the area. Mineral resources (if any) are discussed, and the potential for undiscovered mineral resources is assessed; these are keyed to the generalized geographic and geologic map of each area Areas that have geologic characteristics indicative of different degrees of potential for the occurrence of mineral resources are shown in shades of red on each map. Some articles have a section on suggestions for further study to better define the mineral-resource potential of the area A list of pertinent references (including many of the maps and reports prepared during the mineral survey) is provided at the end of each article. This introduction contains some basic concepts about mineral resources and mineral-resource potential to try to make the book more useful to those who are not familiar with the fields of earth science and mineral-resource assessments. The legislation dealing with the wilderness program is reviewed briefly, because this evolving legislation has imparted a continuing and changing influence on the mineral-resource surveys. The introduction concludes with a description of the publications of the Geological Survey that report in greater detail the results of the joint wilderness studies by the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines.

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Co↗
USGS2015

Status and trends of land change in the Midwest–South Central United States—1973 to 2000

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1794–C is the third in a four-volume series on the status and trends of the Nation’s land use and land cover, providing an assessment of the rates and causes of land-use and land-cover change in the Midwest–South Central United States between 1973 and 2000. Volumes A, B, and D provide similar analyses for the Western United States, the Great Plains of the United States, and the Eastern United States, respectively. The assessments of land-use and land-cover trends are conducted on an ecoregion-by-ecoregion basis, and each ecoregion assessment is guided by a nationally consistent study design that includes mapping, statistical methods, field studies, and analysis. Individual assessments provide a picture of the characteristics of land change occurring in a given ecoregion; in combination, they provide a framework for understanding the complex national mosaic of change and also the causes and consequences of change. Thus, each volume in this series provides a regional assessment of how (and how fast) land use and land cover are changing, and why. The four volumes together form the first comprehensive picture of land change across the Nation. Geographic understanding of land-use and land-cover change is directly relevant to a wide variety of stakeholders, including land and resource managers, policymakers, and scientists. The chapters in this volume present brief summaries of the patterns and rates of land change observed in each ecoregion in the Midwest–South Central United States, together with field photographs, statistics, and comparisons with other assessments. In addition, a synthesis chapter summarizes the scope of land change observed across the entire Midwest–South Central United States. The studies provide a way of integrating information across the landscape, and they form a critical component in the efforts to understand how land use and land cover affect important issues such as the provision of ecological goods and services and also the determination of risks to, and vulnerabilities of, human communities. Results from this project also are published in peer-reviewed journals, and they are further used to produce maps of change and other tools for land management, as well as to provide inputs for carbon-cycle modeling and other climate change research.

Professional Paper↗
USGS2017

Critical mineral resources of the United States—An introduction

Many changes have taken place in the mineral resource sector since the publication by the U.S. Geological Survey of Professional Paper 820, “United States Mineral Resources,” which is a review of the long-term United States resource position for 65 mineral commodities or commodity groups. For example, since 1973, the United States has continued to become increasingly dependent on imports to meet its demands for an increasing number of mineral commodities. The global demand for mineral commodities is at an alltime high and is expected to continue to increase, and the development of new technologies and products has led to the use of a greater number of mineral commodities in increasing quantities to the point that, today, essentially all naturally occurring elements have several significant industrial uses. Although most mineral commodities are present in sufficient amounts in the earth to provide adequate supplies for many years to come, their availability can be affected by such factors as social constraints, politics, laws, environmental regulations, land-use restrictions, economics, and infrastructure. This volume presents updated reviews of 23 mineral commodities and commodity groups viewed as critical to a broad range of existing and emerging technologies, renewable energy, and national security. The commodities or commodity groups included are antimony, barite, beryllium, cobalt, fluorine, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, indium, lithium, manganese, niobium, platinum-group elements, rare-earth elements, rhenium, selenium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, vanadium, and zirconium. All these commodities have been listed as critical and (or) strategic in one or more of the recent studies based on assessed likelihood of supply interruption and the possible cost of such a disruption to the assessor. For some of the minerals, current production is limited to only one or a few countries. For many, the United States currently has no mine production or any significant identified resources and is largely dependent on imports to meet its needs. As a result, the emphasis in this volume is on the global distribution and availability of each mineral commodity. The environmental issues related to production of each mineral commodity, including current mitigation and remediation approaches to deal with these challenges, are also addressed. This introductory chapter provides an overview of the mineral resource classifications, terms, and definitions used in this volume. A review of the history of the use and meaning of the term “critical” minerals (or materials) is included as an appendix to the chapter.

Professional Paper↗
USGS2012

Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000

Preface U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1794–A is the first in a four-volume series on the status and trends of the Nation’s land use and land cover, providing an assessment of the rates and causes of land-use and land-cover change in the Western United States between 1973 and 2000. Volumes B, C, and D provide similar analyses for the Great Plains, the Midwest–South Central United States, and the Eastern United States, respectively. The assessments of land-use and land-cover trends are conducted on an ecoregion-by-ecoregion basis, and each ecoregion assessment is guided by a nationally consistent study design that includes mapping, statistical methods, field studies, and analysis. Individual assessments provide a picture of the characteristics of land change occurring in a given ecoregion; in combination, they provide a framework for understanding the complex national mosaic of change and also the causes and consequences of change. Thus, each volume in this series provides a regional assessment of how (and how fast) land use and land cover are changing, and why. The four volumes together form the first comprehensive picture of land change across the Nation. Geographic understanding of land-use and land-cover change is directly relevant to a wide variety of stakeholders, including land and resource managers, policymakers, and scientists. The chapters in this volume present brief summaries of the patterns and rates of land change observed in each ecoregion in the Western United States, together with field photographs, statistics, and comparisons with other assessments. In addition, a synthesis chapter summarizes the scope of land change observed across the entire Western United States. The studies provide a way of integrating information across the landscape, and they form a critical component in the efforts to understand how land use and land cover affect important issues such as the provision of ecological goods and services and also the determination of risks to, and vulnerabilities of, human communities. Results from this project also are published in peer-reviewed journals, and they are further used to produce maps of change and other tools for land management, as well as to provide inputs for carbon-cycle modeling and other climate change research. This report is only one of the products produced by USGS on land-use and land-cover change in the United States. Other reports and land-cover statistics are available online at http://landcovertrends.usgs.gov .

Professional Paper↗
USGS2016

Status and trends of land change in the Eastern United States—1973 to 2000

Preface U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1794–D is the fourth in a four-volume series on the status and trends of the Nation’s land use and land cover, providing an assessment of the rates and causes of land-use and land-cover change in the Eastern United States between 1973 and 2000. Volumes A, B, and C provide similar analyses for the Western United States, the Great Plains of the United States, and the Midwest–South Central United States, respectively. The assessments of land-use and land-cover trends are conducted on an ecoregion-by-ecoregion basis, and each ecoregion assessment is guided by a nationally consistent study design that includes mapping, statistical methods, field studies, and analysis. Individual assessments provide a picture of the characteristics of land change occurring in a given ecoregion; in combination, they provide a framework for understanding the complex national mosaic of change and also the causes and consequences of change. Thus, each volume in this series provides a regional assessment of how (and how fast) land use and land cover are changing, and why. The four volumes together form the first comprehensive picture of land change across the Nation. Geographic understanding of land-use and land-cover change is directly relevant to a wide variety of stakeholders, including land and resource managers, policymakers, and scientists. The chapters in this volume present brief summaries of the patterns and rates of land change observed in each ecoregion in the Eastern United States, together with field photographs, statistics, and comparisons with other assessments. In addition, a synthesis chapter summarizes the scope of land change observed across the entire Eastern United States. The studies provide a way of integrating information across the landscape, and they form a critical component in the efforts to understand how land use and land cover affect important issues such as the provision of ecological goods and services and also the determination of risks to, and vulnerabilities of, human communities. Results from this project also are published in peer-reviewed journals, and they are further used to produce maps of change and other tools for land management, as well as to provide inputs for carbon-cycle modeling and other climate change research. This report is only one of the products produced by USGS on land-use and land-cover change in the United States. Other reports and land-cover statistics are available online at http://landcovertrends.usgs.gov .

Professional Paper↗
USGS2015

Status and trends of land change in the Great Plains of the United States--1973 to 2000

Preface U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1794–B is the second in a four-volume series on the status and trends of the Nation’s land use and land cover, providing an assessment of the rates and causes of land-use and land-cover change in the Great Plains of the United States between 1973 and 2000. Volumes A, C, and D provide similar analyses for the Western United States, the Midwest–South Central United States, and the Eastern United States, respectively. The assessments of land-use and land-cover trends are conducted on an ecoregion-by-ecoregion basis, and each ecoregion assessment is guided by a nationally consistent study design that includes mapping, statistical methods, field studies, and analysis. Individual assessments provide a picture of the characteristics of land change occurring in a given ecoregion; in combination, they provide a framework for understanding the complex national mosaic of change and also the causes and consequences of change. Thus, each volume in this series provides a regional assessment of how (and how fast) land use and land cover are changing, and why. The four volumes together form the first comprehensive picture of land change across the Nation. Geographic understanding of land-use and land-cover change is directly relevant to a wide variety of stakeholders, including land and resource managers, policymakers, and scientists. The chapters in this volume present brief summaries of the patterns and rates of land change observed in each ecoregion in the Great Plains of the United States, together with field photographs, statistics, and comparisons with other assessments. In addition, a synthesis chapter summarizes the scope of land change observed across the entire Great Plains of the United States. The studies provide a way of integrating information across the landscape, and they form a critical component in the efforts to understand how land use and land cover affect important issues such as the provision of ecological goods and services and also the determination of risks to, and vulnerabilities of, human communities. Results from this project also are published in peer-reviewed journals, and they are further used to produce maps of change and other tools for land management, as well as to provide inputs for carbon-cycle modeling and other climate change research. This report is only one of the products produced by USGS on land-use and land-cover change in the United States. Other reports and land-cover statistics are available online at http://landcovertrends.usgs.gov .

Great Plains↗
USGS2010

Geology, geochemistry, and genesis of the Greens Creek massive sulfide deposit, Admiralty Island, southeastern Alaska

In 1996, a memorandum of understanding was signed by representatives of the U.S. Geological Survey and Kennecott Greens Creek Mining Company to initiate a cooperative applied research project focused on the Greens Creek massive sulfide deposit in southeastern Alaska. The goals of the project were consistent with the mandate of the U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program to maintain a leading role in national mineral deposits research and with the need of Kennecott Greens Creek Mining Company to further development of the Greens Creek deposit and similar deposits in Alaska and elsewhere. The memorandum enumerated four main research priorities: (1) characterization of protoliths for the wall rocks, and elucidation of their alteration histories, (2) determination of the ore mineralogy and paragenesis, including metal residences and metal zonation within the deposit, (3) determination of the ages of events important to ore formation using both geochronology and paleontology, and (4) development of computer models that would allow the deposit and its host rocks to be examined in detail in three dimensions. The work was carried out by numerous scientists of diverse expertise over a period of several years. The written results, which are contained in this Professional Paper, are presented by 21 authors: 13 from the U.S. Geological Survey, 4 from Kennecott Greens Creek Mining Company, 2 from academia, and 2 from consultants. The Greens Creek deposit (global resource of 24.2 million tons at an average grade of 13.9 percent zinc, 5.1 percent lead, 0.15 troy ounce per ton gold, and 19.2 troy ounces per ton silver at zero cutoff) formed in latest Triassic time during a brief period of rifting of the Alexander terrane. The deposit exhibits a range of syngenetic, diagenetic, and epigenetic features that are typical of volcanogenic (VMS), sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX), and Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) genetic models. In the earliest stages of rifting, formation of precious-metal-rich silica-barite-carbonate white ores began at low temperature in a shallow, subaqueous setting, probably a thin carbonate shelf on the flanks of the Alexander landmass. Epigenetic carbonate replacement textures in the footwall dolostones are overlain by stratiform silica-carbonate-barite-rich ores and indicate that early mineralization formed at and just beneath the paleo sea floor by mixing of a reduced, precious-metal-rich, base-metal-poor hydrothermal fluid with oxygenated seawater. As rifting intensified, the shelf was downfaulted and isolated as a graben. Isolation of the basin and onset of starved-basin shale sedimentation was concurrent with emplacement of mafic-ultramafic intrusives at shallow levels in the rift, resulting in an increasingly higher temperature and progressively more anoxic ore-forming environment. The formation of the main stage of massive sulfide ores began as the supply of bacterially reduced sulfur increased in the accumulating shales. As the main-stage mineralization intensified, shale sedimentation inundated the hydrothermal system, eventually forming a cap. Biogenic sulfate reduction supplied reduced sulfur to the base of the shales where mixing occurred with hot, base-metal-rich hydrothermal fluids. Ore deposition continued by destruction and epigenetic replacement of the early white ores in proximal areas and by inflation and diagenetic replacement of unlithified shale at the interface between the white ores and the base of the shale cap. Ore deposition waned as the shales became lithified and as the supply of bacterially reduced sulfur to the site of ore deposition ceased. The final stages of rifting resulted in the emplacement of mafic-ultramafic intrusive rocks into the Greens Creek system and extrusion of voluminous basaltic flows at the top of the Triassic section. Greenschist facies metamorphism during the Jurassic-Cretaceous accretion of the Alexander terrane to the continental margin resulted in recrystalli

Professional Paper↗
USGS2012

State of the Earth’s cryosphere at the beginning of the 21st century: Glaciers, global snow cover, floating ice, and permafrost and periglacial environments

This chapter is the tenth in a series of 11 book-length chapters, collectively referred to as “this volume,” in the series U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386, Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World. In the other 10 chapters, each of which concerns a specific glacierized region of Earth, the authors used remotely sensed images, primarily from the Landsat 1, 2, and 3 series of spacecraft, in order to analyze that glacierized region and to monitor changes in its glaciers. Landsat images, acquired primarily during the period 1972 through 1981, were used by an international team of glaciologists and other scientists to study the various glacierized regions and (or) to discuss related glaciological topics. In each glacierized region, the present distribution of glaciers within its geographic area is compared, wherever possible, with historical information about their past areal extent. The atlas provides an accurate regional inventory of the areal extent of glacier ice on our planet during the 1970s as part of an expanding international scientific effort to measure global environmental change on the Earth’s surface. However, this chapter differs from the other 10 in its discussion of observed changes in all four elements of the Earth’s cryosphere (glaciers, snow cover, floating ice, and permafrost) in the context of documented changes in all components of the Earth System. Human impact on the planet at the beginning of the 21st century is pervasive. The focus of Chapter A is on changes in the cryosphere and the importance of long-term monitoring by a variety of sensors carried on Earth-orbiting satellites or by a ground-based network of observatories in the case of permafrost. The chapter consists of five parts. The first part provides an introduction to the Earth System, including the interrelationships of the geosphere (cryosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere), the biosphere, climate processes, biogeochemical cycles, and the critically important hydrologic cycle, in which glacier ice is the second largest reservoir of water after the oceans. The second part assesses the state of glaciers in all of the glacierized regions of the planet, primarily as drawn in the other 10 chapters. It includes sections on ice cores and the climate record they contain, volumetric changes in glaciers, harnessing spaceborne sensors to measure changes in glaciers, and related topics. The third part summarizes trends in global snow cover. The fourth part summarizes long-term changes in area and thickness of floating ice, including polar sea ice and freshwater (lake and river) ice. The fifth part assesses the loss of permafrost and changes in periglacial environments at high latitudes and high altitudes.

Professional Paper↗
USGS2014

Coal and petroleum resources in the Appalachian basin: index maps of included studies

This chapter B.1 of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1708 provides index maps for many of the studies described in other chapters of the report. Scientists of the USGS and State geological surveys studied coal and petroleum resources in the central and southern Appalachian structural basins. In the southern Appalachian basin, studies focused on the coal-bearing parts of the Black Warrior basin in Alabama. The scientists used new and existing geologic data sets to create a common spatial geologic framework for the fossil-fuel-bearing strata of the central Appalachian basin and the Black Warrior basin in Alabama. Digital data have been compiled into a geographic information system (GIS) that is included in chapter I.1 (Trippi and others, this volume). Shape files and related metadata for features shown in the index maps of this chapter can be downloaded from chapter I.1. The study area for the Appalachian basin resource framework study includes the fossil-fuel-bearing strata of the following States (listed alphabetically): Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The outline of the study area is shown in figure 1; it differs from the boundary of the Appalachian Basin Province (Province 67) defined for the 1995 National Oil and Gas Assessment (NOGA) by the U.S. Geological Survey (1996a). The difference is that the study area includes regions where the Pennsylvanian coal-bearing strata crop out but does not include all of the oil- and gas-bearing strata of the Black Warrior basin, Alabama. The reasons for providing the index maps in this chapter are to show the locations of different studies, to give an overview of topics covered, and to help the user choose which chapter to read. Figures 1 and 2 show the study area outline and county names. Figure 3 shows oil and gas production in 1995 and 2005. Figure 4 shows locations of Upper Devonian sandstone oil and gas fields. Figure 5 shows major coal regions and coal fields. Figure 6 shows coal production by county. Figure 7 shows the locations of 10 cross sections of regional extent through the subsurface of the Appalachian basin. Figure 8 shows conodont alteration index sample locations and interpreted isograds for Ordovician rocks. Figure 9 shows vitrinite-reflectance data for Pennsylvanian coal in the Appalachian basin. Figure 10 shows the locations of coalbed-methane (CBM) assessment units in the study area, and figure 12 shows counties producing CBM. Figure 12 shows sulfur content of coal delivered to powerplants from coal-producing counties in the Appalachian basin and Black Warrior basin. Figure 13 shows locations of wells in Ohio and Pennsylvania where oil and gas were sampled in Lower Silurian reservoirs. Figure 14 shows the Conasauga-Rome/Conasauga Total Petroleum System and selected wells in the Rome trough in Kentucky and West Virginia having oil and gas production and shows. Figure 15 shows the locations of samples from Silurian reservoirs in Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia; the samples yielded total organic carbon data. Figure 16 shows the locations of the Ben Hur and Rose Hill oil fields, Virginia, and the Swan Creek oil field, Tennessee. The one index map that is not shown is the areal extent of the shale gas plays in the basin. The extents of the plays can be found in Coleman and others (this volume, chap. G.13).

Appalachian basin↗
USGS2010

Glaciers of Asia

This chapter is the ninth to be released in U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386, Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World, a series of 11 chapters. In each of the geographic area chapters, remotely sensed images, primarily from the Landsat 1, 2, and 3 series of spacecraft, are used to analyze the specific glacierized region of our planet under consideration and to monitor glacier changes. Landsat images, acquired primarily during the middle to late 1970s and early 1980s, were used by an international team of glaciologists and other scientists to study various geographic regions and (or) to discuss related glaciological topics. In each glacierized geographic region, the present areal distribution of glaciers is compared, wherever possible, with historical information about their past extent. The atlas provides an accurate regional inventory of the areal extent of glacier ice on our planet during the 1970s as part of a growing international scientific effort to measure global environmental change on the Earth’s surface. The chapter is divided into seven geographic parts and one topical part: Glaciers of the Former Soviet Union (F–1), Glaciers of China (F–2), Glaciers of Afghanistan (F–3), Glaciers of Pakistan (F–4), Glaciers of India (F–5), Glaciers of Nepal (F–6), Glaciers of Bhutan (F–7), and the Paleoenvironmental Record Preserved in Middle-Latitude, High-Mountain Glaciers (F–8). Each geographic section describes the glacier extent during the 1970s and 1980s, the benchmark time period (1972–1981) of this volume, but has been updated to include more recent information. Glaciers of the Former Soviet Union are located in the Russian Arctic and various mountain ranges of Russia and the Republics of Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakstun. The Glacier Inventory of the USSR and the World Atlas of Ice and Snow Resources recorded a total of 28,881 glaciers covering an area of 78,938 square kilometers (km 2 ). China includes many of the mountain-glacier systems of the world including the Himalaya, Karakorum, Tien Shan and Altay mountain ranges. The glaciers are widely scattered and cover an area of about 59,425 km 2 . The mountain glaciers may be classified as maritime, subcontinental or extreme continental. In Afghanistan, more than 3,000 small glaciers occur in the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountains. Most glaciers occur on north-facing slopes shaded by mountain peaks and on east and southeast slopes that are shaded by monsoon clouds. The glaciers provide vital water resources to the region and cover an area of about 2,700 km 2 . Glaciers of northern Pakistan are some of the largest and longest mid-latitude glaciers on Earth. They are located in the Hindu Kush, Himalaya, and Karakoram mountains and cover an area of about 15,000 km 2 . Glaciers here are important for their role in providing water resources and their hazard potential. The glaciers in India are located in the Himalaya and cover about 8,500 km 2 . The Himalaya contains one of the largest reservoirs of snow and ice outside the polar regions. The glaciers are a major source of fresh water and supply meltwater to all the rivers in northern India, thereby affecting the quality of life of millions of people. In Nepal, the glaciers are located in the Himalaya as individual glaciers; the glacierized area covers about 5,324 km 2 . The region is the highest mountainous region on Earth and includes the Mt. Everest region. Glaciers in the Bhutan Himalaya have a total area of about 1,317 km 2 . Many recent glacier studies are focused on glacier lakes that have the potential of generating dangerous glacier lake outburst floods. Research on the glaciers of the middle-latitude, high-mountain glaciers of Asia has also focused on the information contained in the ice cores from the glaciers. This information helps in the reconstruction of paleoclimatic records, and the computer modeling of global climate change.

Professional Paper↗
USGS1915

Stream-gaging stations and publications relating to water sources, 1885-1913; Part X: The Great Basin

Investigation of water resources by the United States Geological Survey has consisted in large part of measurements of the volume of fl.ow of streams and studies of the conditions affecting that flow, but it has comprised also investigation of such closely allied subjects as irrigation, water storage, water powers, underground waters, and quality of waters. Most of the results of these investigations have been published in the series of water-supply papers, but some have appeared in the bulletins, professional papers, and annual reports.

Great Basin↗
USGS1915

Stream-gaging stations and publications relating to water sources, 1885-1913; Part IX: Colorado River basin

Investigation of water resources by the United States Geological Survey has consisted in large part of measurements of the volume of flow of streams and studies of the conditions affecting that flow, but it has comprised also investigation of such closely allied subjects as irrigation, water storage, water powers, underground waters, and quality of waters. Most of the results of these investigations have been published in the series of water-supply papers, but some have appeared in the monographs, bulletins, professional papers, and annual reports.

Colorado River basin↗
USGS2010

Digital map of the aquifer boundary for the High Plains aquifer in parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming

This digital data set represents the extent of the High Plains aquifer in the central United States. The extent of the High Plains aquifer covers 174,000 square miles in eight states: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. This data set represents a compilation of information from digital and paper sources and personal communication. This boundary is an update to the boundary published in U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1400-B, and this report supersedes Open-File Report 99-267. The purpose of this data set is to refine and update the extent of the High Plains aquifer based on currently available information. This data set represents a compilation of arcs from a variety of sources and scales that represent the 174,000 square-mile extent of the High Plains aquifer within the eight states. Where updated information was not available, the original boundary extent defined by OFR 99-267 was retained. The citations for the sources in each State are listed in the 00README.txt file. The boundary also contains internal polygons, or 'islands', that represent the areas within the aquifer boundary where the aquifer is not present due to erosion or non-deposition. The datasets that pertain to this report can be found on the U.S. Geological Survey's NSDI (National Spatial Data Infrastructure) Node, the links are provided on the sidebar.

Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, ↗
USGS1977

Cauldron subsidence of Oligocene age at Mount Lewis, Shoshone Range, Nevada: A reasonable interpretation

James Gilluly has rejected the interpretation of Wrucke and Silberman (U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 876, 1975) that a thrust fault and tear fault mapped by Gilluly and Gates (U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 465, 1965) as structures bounding the upper plate of the Roberts Mountains thrust at Mount Lewis are parts of a ring fracture around an area that underwent volcanic collapse. In his discussion (this volume) of our paper, Gilluly fails to consider important questions that we presented in support of the subsidence hypothesis. Instead of answering these critical questions, Gilluly merely recapitulates the interpretations that he and Gates gave in Professional Paper 465. We presented new information, including a map of one critical area along the cauldron boundary where, among other significant differences in geologic interpretation, we found the ring fault where previously no steep fault was shown. Gilluly believes that the paucity of dikes along the ring fracture at Mount Lewis is highly anomalous for cauldrons. However, the amount of dike rock is comparable to that in known cauldrons (some cauldrons have none) and is what might be expected at high levels in subsidence structures that have undergone relatively little resurgent igneous activity after collapse. Gilluly concludes that in formulating our interpretation of volcanic collapse, we have ignored much evidence that he and Gates have presented on thrust faulting; in the Shoshone Range. On the contrary, we have considered their ideas and have reinterpreted them using new evidence that strongly supports the concept of cauldron subsidence at Mount Lewis.

Nevada↗
USGS1998

Geology of the conterminous United States at 1:2,500,000 scale a digital representation of the 1974 P.B. King and H.M. Beikman map

This CD-ROM contains a digital version of the Geologic Map of the United States, originally published at a scale of 1:2,500,000 (King and Beikman, 1974b). It excludes Alaska and Hawaii. In addition to the graphical formats, the map key is included in ASCII text. A geographic information system (GIS) allows combining and overlaying of layers for analysis of spatial relations not readily apparent in the standard paper publication. This disc contains only geology. However, digital data on geology, geophysics, and geochemistry can be combined to create useful derivative products-- for example, see Phillips and others (1993). This CD-ROM contains a copy of the text and figures from Professional Paper 901 by King and Beikman (1974a). This text describes the historical background of the map, details of the compilation process, and limitations to interpretation. The digital version of the text can be searched for keywords or phrases.

Data Series↗
USGS2007

Mount St. Helens Petrology Workshop

Following seismic activity in late September 2004, the current eruption of Mount St. Helens began with an explosive steam and ash emission on 1 October 2004, with hot dacite emerging from the crater floor on 11 October 2004. Nearly two years later, with more than 80 million cubic meters of erupted dacite, accompanied by rare explosions and predominantly shallow seismicity questions still remain about what initiated and what is sustaining the eruption. The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Cascade Volcano Observatory (CVO) hosted the 2006 Mount St. Helens Petrology Workshop in Vancouver, Wash., on 27–30 August 2006. With many of the more than 40 workshop participants finalizing contributions to a USGS Professional Paper on the current Mount St. Helens eruption, the workshop was a timely opportunity to share results, reconcile interpretations, and plan future research.

Washington↗