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At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Archive of digitized analog boomer and minisparker seismic reflection data collected from the Alabama-Mississippi-Louisiana Shelf during cruises onboard the R/V Carancahua and R/V Gyre, April and July, 1981

In April and July of 1981, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted geophysical surveys to investigate the shallow geologic framework of the Alabama-Mississippi-Louisiana Shelf in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Work was conducted onboard the Texas A&M University R/V Carancahua and the R/V Gyre to develop a geologic understanding of the study area and to locate potential hazards related to offshore oil and gas production. While the R/V Carancahua only collected boomer data, the R/V Gyre used a 400-Joule minisparker, 3.5-kilohertz (kHz) subbottom profiler, 12-kHz precision depth recorder, and two air guns. The authors selected the minisparker data set because, unlike with the boomer data, it provided the most complete record. This report is part of a series to digitally archive the legacy analog data collected from the Mississippi-Alabama SHelf (MASH). The MASH data rescue project is a cooperative effort by the USGS and the Minerals Management Service (MMS). This report serves as an archive of high-resolution scanned Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) and Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) images of the original boomer and minisparker paper records, navigation files, trackline maps, Geographic Information System (GIS) files, cruise logs, and formal Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata.

Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi↗

Chapter 3. Tabular data and graphical images in support of the U.S. Geological Survey National Oil and Gas Assessment--East Texas basin and Louisiana-Mississippi salt basins provinces, Jurassic Smackover Interior salt basins total petroleum system (504902), Cotton Valley group

This chapter describes data used in support of the process being applied by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Oil and Gas Assessment (NOGA) project. Digital tabular data used in this report and archival data that permit the user to perform further analyses are available elsewhere on the CD-ROM. Computers and software may import the data without transcription from the Portable Document Format files (.pdf files) of the text by the reader. Because of the number and variety of platforms and software available, graphical images are provided as .pdf files and tabular data are provided in a raw form as tab-delimited text files (.tab files).

Alabama, Arkansas. Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mi↗

Chapter 6. Tabular data and graphical images in support of the U.S. Geological Survey National Oil and Gas Assessment–East Texas basin and Louisiana-Mississippi salt basins provinces, Jurassic Smackover interior salt basins total petroleum system (504902), Travis Peak and Hosston formations

This chapter describes data used in support of the process being applied by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Oil and Gas Assessment (NOGA) project. Digital tabular data used in this report and archival data that permit the user to perform further analyses are available elsewhere on the CD-ROM. Computers and software may import the data without transcription from the Portable Document Format files (.pdf files) of the text by the reader. Because of the number and variety of platforms and software available, graphical images are provided as .pdf files and tabular data are provided in a raw form as tab-delimited text files (.tab files).

Alabama, Arkansas. Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mi↗

Potentiometric map of the Lower Wilcox Aquifer in Mississippi, fall 1979

The potentiometric map of the lower Wilcox aquifer is one of a series of maps, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Mississippi Department of Natural Resources , delineating the potentiometric surfaces of the major aquifers in Mississippi. In the outcrop area of the lower Wilcox aquifer the potentiometric surface is strongly affected by recharge from precipitation, by topography, and by drainage of the aquifer by streams. The potentiometric surface slopes downward generally to the west away from the area of outcrop but is strongly affected by pumpage from public and industrial wells in several areas in northwestern Mississippi. This pumpage has caused a large shallow depression in the potentiometric surface in the Marks-Batesville-Charleston-Tunica area. (USGS)

Open-File Report↗

Potentiometric map of the Cockfield Aquifer in Mississippi, fall, 1980

This potentiometric map of the Cockfield aquifer is the eleventh in a series of maps, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Mississippi Department of Natural Resources , Bureau of Land and Water Resources, delineating the potentiometric surfaces of the major aquifers in Mississippi. In the outcrop area of the Cockfield quifer the potentiometric surface is strongly affected by recharge from precipitation, by topography, and by drainage of the aquifer by streams. The potentiometric surface slopes downward generally to the west away from the area of outcrop and is strongly affected by large ground-water withdrawals in the Jackson and Greenville areas. Historically, water levels in or near the outcrop of the Cockfield aquifer have shown little or no long-term changes, but in much of the confined part of the aquifer during the past 20 years, water levels have declined from 1 to 2 feet per year.

Mississippi↗

Potentiometric map of the Winona-Tallahatta aquifer in northwestern Mississippi, fall 1979

The potentiometric map of the Winona-Tallahatta aquifer is one of a series of maps, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Mississippi Department of Natural Resources , Bureau of Land and Water Resources, delineating the potentiometric surfaces of the major aquifers in Mississippi. In the outcrop area of the Winona-Tallahatta aquifer the potentiometric surface is strongly affected by recharge from precipitation, by topography, and by drainage of the aquifer by streams. The potentiometric surface slopes downward generally to the west away from the area of outcrop and is strongly affected by recharge from precipitation, by topography, and by drainage of the aquifer by streams. The potentiometric surface slopes downward generally to the west away from the area of outcrop and is strongly affected by pumpage from wells in Leflore, Sunflower , and Bolivar Counties, Historically, water levels in or near the outcrop of the Winona-Tallahatta have shown little or no long-term changes, but the heavy withdrawals in the confined part of the aquifer have caused long-term water-level declines of 1 to 2 feet per year. (USGS)

Mississippi↗

Archive of sediment data from vibracores collected in 2010 offshore of the Mississippi barrier islands

In 2010, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center collected sediment cores from coastal waters offshore of the Mississippi barrier islands. With funding support from the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) Ecosystem Change and Hazard Susceptibility project, 65 subaqueous sediment cores were collected over an area of 480 square kilometers (km 2 ), from Ship Island to Petit Bois Island Pass, Mississippi, within the boundary of Gulf Islands National Seashore. This represents only a fraction of the total area encompassed by the NGOM project, which extends from Sabine Lake, Louisiana, to Perdido Bay, Alabama. The primary objectives of the NGOM project are to understand the evolution of coastal ecosystems on the northern gulf coast, the impact of human activities on these ecosystems, and the vulnerability of ecosystems and human communities to more frequent and intense hurricanes in the future. Selection of the core site locations was based on geophysical surveys conducted around the islands from 2008 to 2010. The surveys, using acoustic systems to image and interpret the nearsurface stratigraphy, were conducted to investigate the geologic controls on island evolution. This data series serves as an archive of sediment data collected from August to September 2010, offshore of the Mississippi barrier islands. Data products, including descriptive core logs, core photographs, results of sediment grain-size analyses, sample location maps, and geographic information system (GIS) data files with accompanying formal Federal Geographic Data Committee (FDGC) metadata can be downloaded from the data products and downloads page.

Mississippi↗

Occurrence, distributions, and transport of herbicides and their degradation products in the lower Mississippi river and its tributaries

The Mississippi River and its tributaries drain extensive agricultural regions of the midcontinental United States, where large amounts of herbicides are applied as weed control agents on crops such as corn and soybeans. Studies being conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey along the lower Mississippi River and its major tributaries, representing a 1930-km river reach, have confirmed that several triazine and chloroacetanilide herbicides and their degradation products are present in this riverine system. These herbicides include atrazine, and its degradation products, desethyl- and desisopropylatrazine; cyanazine; simazine; metolachlor; and alachlor and its degradation products, 2-chloro-2',6'-diethylacetanilide, and 2-hydroxy-2',6'-diethylacetanilide. Loads of these compounds were determined at 17 different sampling stations under various seasonal and hydrologic conditions, during five sampling trips from July 1987 to June 1989. Stream loads of herbicides were relatively small during the drought of 1987 and 1988. Stream loads were much greater during the relatively wet year of 1989. Trace levels of atrazine, cyanazine, and metolachlor also were associated with suspended sediments. Distribution coefficients (Koc) of these compounds varied considerably between sites and were much larger than Koc values reported in the literature. The annual transport of atrazine into the Gulf of Mexico was estimated to be less than 2% of the amount of atrazine applied each year in the midwest.

Lower Mississippi River↗

A preliminary environmental site investigation for a bridge over the Mississippi River at Moline, Illinois

The Illinois State Geological Survey completed a preliminary environmental site assessment along the alignment of Interstate 74 (I-74) and its bridge over the Mississippi River for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) in 2002. The objective of the study was to determine if any of the parcels proposed for acquisition or on which soil excavation was intended were sufficiently contaminated to require additional investigation by a commercial environmental consultant under contract to IDOT and to identify potential natural hazards that might have an impact on the proposed construction project. VOC were detected at 13 of 37 sites tested for VOC. These sites included an elevator manufacturer, former foundries, former and active machine shops, former and active gasoline stations, and a former automobile dealer. PAH above TACO Tier 1 residential standards were detected on an island in the Mississippi River. PCB was detected at a former foundry and a control box for a railroad. Magnetic anomalies that might indicate the presence of UST were detected in a park that formerly had been the site of a city garage, adjacent to a parking lot that formerly contained an automobile dealer, and at the sites of three former gasoline stations. These studies helped IDOT to save millions of dollars in highway construction projects. This is an abstract of a paper presented in Contaminated Soils, Sediments and Water: Success and Challenges (Massachusetts Fall 2005).

Conference Paper↗

Potentiometric map of the Meridian-Upper Wilcox Aquifer in Mississippi, fall 1979

The potentiometric map of the Meridian-upper Wilcox aquifer is one of a series of maps, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Mississippi Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Land and Water Resources, delineating the potentiometric surfaces of the major aquifers in Mississippi. In the outcrop area of the Meridian-upper Wilcox aquifer the potentiometric surface is strongly affected by recharge from precipitation, by topography, and by drainage of the aquifer by streams. The potentiometric surface slopes downward generally to the west away from the area of outcrop and is strongly affected by large groundwater withdrawals in the Greenwood, Indianola, Marks, Grenada, and Memphis areas. Historically, water levels in or near the outcrop of the Meridian-upper Wilcox have shown little or no long-term changes, but during the past 20 years water levels have declined from 1 to 2 feet per year in much of the confined part of the aquifer. (USGS)

Open-File Report↗

Potentiometric map of the lower Wilcox aquifer in Mississippi, fall 1982

This potentiometric map is the second map of the lower Wilcox aquifer in a series of maps prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Mississippi Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Land and Water Resources, delineating the potentiometric surface of the major aquifers in Mississippi. The potentiometric surface of the lower Wilcox aquifer slopes generally to the west away from the outcrop area and it is marked by a large groundwater cone of depression in the area of Tallahatchie, Quitman, and Panola Counties. Water levels in or near the outcrop of the lower Wilcox aquifer show little longterm change. Heavy withdrawals in the downdip area have caused water level declines of about 1 to 2 feet per year since 1979 in much of the confined part of the aquifer. These water level declines in the area of Tallahatchie, Quitman, and Panola Counties have resulted in a wider cone of depression since 1979. (USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗

Tritium hydrology of the Mississippi River basin

In the early 1960s, the US Geological Survey began routinely analysing river water samples for tritium concentrations at locations within the Mississippi River basin. The sites included the main stem of the Mississippi River (at Luling Ferry, Louisiana), and three of its major tributaries, the Ohio River (at Markland Dam, Kentucky), the upper Missouri River (at Nebraska City, Nebraska) and the Arkansas River (near Van Buren, Arkansas). The measurements cover the period during the peak of the bomb-produced tritium transient when tritium concentrations in precipitation rose above natural levels by two to three orders of magnitude. Using measurements of tritium concentrations in precipitation, a tritium input function was established for the river basins above the Ohio River, Missouri River and Arkansas River sampling locations. Owing to the extent of the basin above the Luling Ferry site, no input function was developed for that location. The input functions for the Ohio and Missouri Rivers were then used in a two-component mixing model to estimate residence times of water within these two basins. (The Arkansas River was not modelled because of extremely large yearly variations in flow during the peak of the tritium transient.) The two components used were: (i) recent precipitation (prompt outflow) and (ii) waters derived from the long-term groundwater reservoir of the basin. The tritium concentration of the second component is a function of the atmospheric input and the residence times of the groundwaters within the basin. Using yearly time periods, the parameters of the model were varied until a best fit was obtained between modelled and measured tritium data. The results from the model indicate that about 40% of the flow in the Ohio River was from prompt outflow, as compared with 10% for the Missouri River. Mean residence times of 10 years were calculated for the groundwater component of the Ohio River versus 4 years for the Missouri River. The mass flux of tritium through the Mississippi Basin and its tributaries was calculated during the years that tritium measurements were made. The cumulative fluxes, calculated in grams of 3II were: (i) 160 g for the Ohio (1961-1986), (ii) 98 g for the upper Missouri (1963-1997), (iii) 30 g for the Arkansas (1961-1997) and (iv) 780 g for the Mississippi (1961-1997). Published in 2004 by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.

Mississippi River basin↗

Potentiometric map of the Paleozoic aquifer in northeastern Mississippi, November and December 1982

This potentiometric map is the second map of the Gordo aquifer in a series of maps prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Mississippi Department of Natural Resources , Bureau of Land and Water Resources, delineating the potentiometric surfaces of the major aquifers in Mississippi. The potentiometric surface of the Gordo aquifer slopes generally to the west away from the outcrop area and it is marked by large ground-water cones of depression in the Tupelo and Columbus areas. Water levels in or near the outcrop of the Gordo aquifer show little long-term change. Heavy withdrawals in the downdip area have caused water-level declines of about 2 feet per year since 1978 in much of the confined part of the aquifer. The water-level decline in the Tupelo area has averaged about 5 feet per year since 1966; however, there has been water-level rise at the center of the cone of depression as a result of a change in the distribution of pumping. (USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗

Nutrients in northern Missouri streams

Nutrients, specifically nitrogen and phosphorus, are necessary for healthy aquatic communities to thrive, but if nutrient concentrations are too high, water quality can be degraded and natural aquatic communities may be destroyed. Nutrients consistently have been listed nationally as one of the top five causes of stream and river impairments, and agriculture consistently has been identified as the leading known source. The Mississippi River watershed was identified as a top priority for nutrient reductions because of the predominant agricultural land use, the associated harmful effects of nutrient loading on local water bodies, and the resulting annual midsummer northern Gulf of Mexico hypoxic “dead” zone. In 2010, the Natural Resources Conservation Service started the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative, which offers financial and technical assistance for voluntary conservation practices on agricultural lands. The intention is to reduce nutrient and sediment export to waterways within the Mississippi River watershed. The U.S. Geological Survey Missouri Water Science Center and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources began a cooperative study in 2010 to compare temporal changes in total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations in the Lower Grand River. Despite increases in conservation practice funding from the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative during 2011–15 for the Lower Grand River, decreases in flow-normalized total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations during this same period at the Grand River site were less than at the other long-term Missouri River tributary sites that did not receive additional funding. The flow-normalized total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations at the three long-term Missouri River tributary sites were related to the amount of agricultural land use within their watersheds and livestock manure may be a substantial source of stream nitrogen. Monthly total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations within the Lower Grand River increased with increased streamflow, indicating that the major sources of nitrogen and phosphorus are runoff or nutrients that are stored in soils within the streambank that mobilize during higher streamflows. Programs such as the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative are intended to encourage voluntary agricultural conservation practices to enhance soil health and reduce nutrient export to streams.

Missouri↗

Geotechnical description of four Mississippi Delta soil borings

The submerged portion of the Mississippi Delta complex forms an ideal natural laboratory to study the effects of rapid deposition. One of the most obvious of these effects is the mass movements of sediments. Slump and slide signatures, mudflow characteristics, and evidence for creep are all found in abundance on the delta platform. These types of features have been studied by Colemen and Wright (1974) with regard to form and by Garrison (1974) with regard to their spatial distribution. Assembling these authors' findings, it is clear that the entire offshore zone contiguous with the Mississippi River is a myriad of geological action. This situation is indeed stimulating to the sedimentologist, yet it represents a nightmare to the foundation engineer. Emplacing offshore structures in such an environment is a most difficult task, particularly since the high degree of local variability dictates that each case must be handled separately. It is under these circumstances that a marriage between geology and engineering is most fruitful, for determining the relationships between the sedimentological processes and the engineering properties is satisfying to parties from both disciplines. This, then, is the underlying objective of the Mississippi Delta research project. By investigating the instability in a geologic sense, it is hoped that many of the engineering problems will become more soluble and that extrapolation and prediction will become more realistic.

Mississippi Delta↗