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At least 1,369 records · Page 76Linked to original sources
USGS2017

Salish Kootenai College and U.S. Geological Survey partnership—Enhancing student opportunities and professional development

Salish Kootenai College (SKC), in the Flathead Reservation in the northwestern corner of Montana, is the largest of the seven Tribal colleges in the State. In 2011, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Tribal Liaison Monique Fordham from the Office of Tribal Relations/Office of Science Quality and Integrity began discussions with SKC faculty to examine ways the USGS could assist with classes taught as part of the new hydrology program at the college. With funding provided by the USGS Office of Tribal Relations, Roy Sando from the Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center began collaborating with SKC. From 2012 to 2017, Sando and others have developed and taught eight educational workshops at SKC. Topics of the workshops have included classifying land cover using remote sensing, characterizing stream channel migration, estimating actual evapotranspiration, modeling groundwater contamination plumes, and building custom geographic information system tools. By contributing to the educational training of SKC students and establishing this high level of collaboration with a Tribal college, the USGS is demonstrating its commitment to helping build the next generation of Tribal scientists.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2018

Missouri StreamStats—A water-resources web application

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintains and operates more than 8,200 continuous streamgages nationwide. Types of data that may be collected, computed, and stored for streamgages include streamgage height (water-surface elevation), streamflow, and water quality. The streamflow data allow scientists and engineers to calculate streamflow statistics, such as the 1-percent annual exceedance probability flood (also known as the 100-year flood), the mean flow, and the 7-day, 10-year low flow, which are used by managers to make informed water resource management decisions, at each streamgage location. Researchers, regulators, and managers also commonly need physical characteristics (basin characteristics) that describe the unique properties of a basin. Common uses for streamflow statistics and basin characteristics include hydraulic design, water-supply management, water-use appropriations, and flood-plain mapping for establishing flood-insurance rates and land-use zones. The USGS periodically publishes reports that update the values of basin characteristics and streamflow statistics at selected gaged locations (locations with streamgages), but these studies usually only update a subset of streamgages, making data retrieval difficult. Additionally, streamflow statistics and basin characteristics are most often needed at ungaged locations (locations without streamgages) for which published streamflow statistics and basin characteristics do not exist. Missouri StreamStats is a web-based geographic information system that was created by the USGS in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to provide users with access to an assortment of tools that are useful for water-resources planning and management. StreamStats allows users to easily obtain the most recent published streamflow statistics and basin characteristics for streamgage locations and to automatically calculate selected basin characteristics and estimate streamflow statistics at ungaged locations.

Missouri↗
USGS2022

Water priorities for the Nation—The USGS National Water Dashboard

The U.S. Geological Survey National Water Dashboard supplies critical information to decision makers, emergency managers, and the public during extreme hydrologic events (such as droughts and floods) and during normal hydrologic conditions. It informs decision making that can help protect lives and property before and during extreme hydrologic events. The National Water Dashboard draws upon the extensive site-specific hydrologic data housed in the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System database ( https://doi.org/10.5066/F7P55KJN ) and also links to the U.S. Geological Survey WaterAlert system, which provides users with instant and customized updates about water conditions. Overall, the National Water Dashboard is part of the U.S. Geological Survey's effort to respond to 21st century science needs.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2022

Geospatial analysis delineates lode gold prospectivity in Alaska

Comprehensive, data-driven geographic information system analyses utilize publicly available lithologic, geochemical, geophysical, and mineral occurrence datasets to delineate gold resource potential in Alaska. These prospectivity analyses successfully identify areas containing known lode gold occurrences, expand areas of high prospectivity around known occurrences, improve the precision of delineation of areas of high prospectivity for lode gold deposit types, and determine new areas that may have potential for gold deposits. These analyses indicate prospectivity in areas where exposure is good and in areas where exposure is poor, which provide useful guidance for land-use decisions and exploration strategies.

Alaska↗
USGS2024

Using citizen scientists to collect oxygen and hydrogen isotope data in southern Nevada

What is Citizen Science? Citizen science programs provide a means for Federal and non-Federal government agencies to make science more engaging, transparent, and accessible by partnering with the public for the purpose of problem solving, data collection, and monitoring. Public volunteers become directly involved in local research, thereby engaging in scientific projects. The public has already been included in existing citizen science programs that cover a broad range of disciplines, such as ecology, hydrology, and tectonics. Citizen science advances research while simultaneously fostering a sense of involvement and interest from the public. Beginning in 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service collaborated with private, non-profit partners to inventory, survey, and rehabilitate springs in Clark County, Nevada. The USGS maintains the National Water Information System (NWIS), a publicly available online database of water-resources data for the Nation, and the agency is interested in using citizen science to add geochemical data from springs in southern Nevada. From 2021 to 2023, the USGS directly worked with citizen science partners, including the Springs Stewardship Institute and the Friends of Nevada Wilderness, to collect stable isotope and tritium samples from southern Nevada springs. The citizen science volunteers were provided the training and supplies for proper sample collection by USGS staff. As the citizen science partners traveled and hiked to the remote spring sites to complete spring surveys and perform restoration activities, they collected stable isotope and tritium samples for the USGS. Samples were shipped to national USGS laboratories for analysis, and the results were uploaded to the NWIS database (U.S. Geological Survey, 2024).

Nevada↗
USGS2025

The 3D Elevation Program—Supporting Vermont's economy

Introduction The geographic information system (GIS) community in Vermont has a long history of interdisciplinary and cooperative projects that have facilitated the leveraging of geospatial technology on myriad data acquisitions across the State. High-resolution elevation data are proving to be a resource of great economic value in dealing with many important issues in Vermont. Vermont attained statewide coverage of quality level 2 coverage of topographic light detection and ranging (lidar) data in 2019. Having access to elevation data that are exponentially more accurate than what was previously available is enabling GIS professionals to better support and empower decision makers in economically important efforts such as environmental protection, public safety, watershed management and water quality, geology, transportation planning, forest and wildlife management, local planning, and flood plain management. In addition, developing a consistent and seamless statewide topographic framework supplants the traditionally time consuming and costly approach of extensive field data collection by requiring less time and money, therefore adding economic benefits. Critical applications that meet the State’s management needs depend on lidar data that provide a highly detailed three-dimensional (3D) model of the Earth’s surface and aboveground features. The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in partnership with Federal, State, Tribal, U.S. territorial, and local agencies to acquire consistent lidar coverage at quality level 2 or better to meet the many needs of the Nation and Vermont. The status of available and in-progress 3DEP baseline lidar data in Vermont is shown in figure 1. 3DEP baseline lidar data include quality level 2 or better, 1-meter or better digital elevation models, and lidar point clouds, and must meet the Lidar Base Specification version 1.2 ( https://www.usgs.gov/3dep/lidarspec ) or newer requirements. The National Enhanced Elevation Assessment identified user requirements and conservatively estimated that availability of lidar data would result in at least $1.64 million in new benefits annually to the State. The top eight Vermont business uses for 3D elevation data, which are based on the estimated annual conservative benefits of 3DEP, are shown in table 2.

Vermont↗
USGS2013

Geologic map of the Valley Mountain 15’ quadrangle, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, California

The Valley Mountain 15’ quadrangle straddles the Pinto Mountain Fault, which bounds the eastern Transverse Ranges in the south against the Mojave Desert province in the north. The Pinto Mountains, part of the eastern Transverse Ranges in the south part of the quadrangle expose a series of Paleoproterozoic gneisses and granite and the Proterozoic quartzite of Pinto Mountain. Early Triassic quartz monzonite intruded the gneisses and was ductiley deformed prior to voluminous Jurassic intrusion of diorite, granodiorite, quartz monzonite, and granite plutons. The Jurassic rocks include part of the Bullion Mountains Intrusive Suite, which crops out prominently at Valley Mountain and in the Bullion Mountains, as well as in the Pinto Mountains. Jurassic plutons in the southwest part of the quadrangle are deeply denuded from midcrustal emplacement levels in contrast to supracrustal Jurassic limestone and volcanic rocks exposed in the northeast. Dikes inferred to be part of the Jurassic Independence Dike Swarm intrude the Jurassic plutons and Proterozoic rocks. Late Cretaceous intrusion of the Cadiz Valley Batholith in the northeast caused contact metamorphism of adjacent Jurassic plutonic rocks. The Tertiary period saw emplacement of basanitoid basalt at about 23 Ma and deposition of Miocene and (or) Pliocene ridge-capping gravels. An undated east-dipping low-angle normal fault zone in the Pinto Mountains drops hanging-wall rocks eastward and may account for part of the contrast in uplift history across the quadrangle. The eastern Transverse Ranges are commonly interpreted as severely rotated clockwise tectonically in the Neogene relative to the Mojave Desert, but similar orientations of Jurassic dike swarms suggest that any differential rotation between the two provinces is small in this quadrangle. The late Cenozoic Pinto Mountain Fault and other strike-slip faults cut Quaternary deposits in the quadrangle, with two northwest-striking faults cutting Holocene deposits. Geographic Information System and metadata on most geologic features are available on the Geologic map of the Sheep Hole Mountains 30’ by 60’ quadrangle, U.S. Geological Survey map MF–2234, scale 1:100,000, available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/mf/2002/2344/.

California↗
USGS1982

Geologic and structure map of the Choteau 1° x 2° quadrangle, western Montana: A digital database

The geologic and structure map of Choteau 1 x 2 degree quadrangle (Mudge and others, 1982) was originally converted to a digital format by Jeff Silkwood (U.S. Forest Service and completed by the U.S. Geological Survey staff and contractor at the Spokane Field Office (WA) in 2000 for input into a geographic information system (GIS). The resulting digital geologic map (GIS) database can be queried in many ways to produce a variey of geologic maps. Digital base map data files (topography, roads, towns, rivers and lakes, etc.) are not included: they may be obtained from a variety of commercial and government sources. This database is not meant to be used or displayed at any scale larger than 1:250,000 (e.g. 1:100,000 or 1:24,000. The digital geologic map graphics and plot files (chot250k.gra/.hp/.eps and chot-map.pdf) that are provided in the digital package are representations of the digital database. They are not designed to be cartographic products.

Montana↗
USGS1992

Maps showing mineral resource assessment for skarn deposits of gold, silver, copper, tungsten, and iron in the Butte 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Montana

The purpose of this report is to assess the potential for undiscovered skarn deposits of gold, silver, copper, tungsten, and iron in the Butte 1 °X2° quadrangle. Other deposit types have been assessed and reports for each of the following have been prepared: Vein and replacement deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, ·manganese, and tungsten; porphyry-stockwork deposits of copper, molybdenum, and tungsten; stockwork-disseminated deposits of gold and silver; placer deposits of gold; and miscellaneous deposit types including strata-bound deposits of copper and silver in rocks of the Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, phosphate deposits in the Permian Phosporia Formation, and deposits of barite and fluorite. The Butte quadrangle, in west-central Montana, is one of the most mineralized and productive mining regions in the U.S. Its mining districts, including the world famous Butte or Summit Valley district, have produced a variety of metallic and nonmetallic mineral commodities valued at more than $6.4 billion (at the time of production). Because of its importance as a mineral producing region, the Butte quadrangle was selected for study by the U.S. Geological Survey under the Conterminous United States Mineral Assessment Program (CUSMAP). Under this program, new data on geology, geochemistry, geophysics, geochronology, mineral resources, and remote sensing were collected and synthesized. The field and laboratory studies were supported, in part, by funding from the Geologic Framework and Synthesis Program and the Wilderness Program. The methods used in resource assessment include a compilation of all data into data sets, the development of an occurrence model for skarn deposits in the quadrangle, and the analysis of data using techniques provided by a Geographic Information System (GIS). This map is one of a number of reports and maps on the Butte 1 °X2° quadrangle. Other publications resulting from this study include U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Miscellaneous Investigations Series Maps 1-2050-A (Rowan and Segal, 1989), 1-2050-B (Rowan and others, 1991), 1-2050-D (Elliott and others, in press); Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-1925 (Wallace, 1987a); and Open-File Reports OF-86-292 (Wallace and others, 1986) and OF-86-0632 (Elliott and others, 1986).

IMAP↗
USGS1993

Maps showing mineral resource assessment for porphyry and stockwork deposits of copper, molybdenum, and tungsten and for stockwork and disseminated deposits of gold and silver in the Butte 1° x 2° quadrangle, Montana

This report documents the assessment for potential occurrences of undiscovered porphyry and stockwork deposits of copper, molybdenum, and tungsten (porphyry Cu-Mo-W) and stockwork and disseminated deposits of gold and silver (disseminated Au-Ag) in the Butte 1 °X2° quadrangle. The Butte quadrangle, in west-central Montana, is one of the best known mineral producing regions in the U.S. Mining districts in the quadrangle, including the world famous Butte or Summit Valley district, have produced a variety of metallic and nonmetallic mineral commodities valued at more than $6.4 billion (at the time of production). Because of its importance as a mineral producing region, the Butte quadrangle was selected for study by the U.S. Geological Survey under the Conterminous United States Mineral Assessment Program (CUSMAP). Under this program, new data on geology, geochemistry, geophysics, geochronology, mineral resources, and remote sensing were collected and synthesized. The field and laboratory studies were supported, in part, by funding from the Geologic Framework and Synthesis Program and the Wilderness Program. The methods used in this resource assessment for porphyry Cu-Mo-W and disseminated Au-Ag deposits in the quadrangle include a compilation of all data, the development of descriptive occurrence models, and the analysis of data using techniques provided by a Geographic Information System (GIS). This map is one of several maps on the Butte 1 °X2° quadrangle. Other deposit types have been assessed for the Butte quadrangle, and maps (U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Miscellaneous Investigation Series Maps) for each of the following have been prepared: Vein and replacement deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, manganese, and tungsten (Elliott, Wallace, and others, 1992a) and skarn deposits of gold, silver, copper, tungsten, and iron (Elliott and others, 1992b ). Other publications resulting from this study include linear features map (Rowan and others, 1991 ); limonite and hydrothermal alteration map (Rowan and Segal, 1989); mineral occurrence maps (Elliott and others, 1986; Elliott, Loen, and others, 1992); and geologic maps (Wallace, 1987; Wallace and others, 1987).

Montana↗
USGS1999

Lithologic, age group, magnetopolarity, and geochemical maps of the Springerville Volcanic Field, east-central Arizona

The Springerville volcanic field is one of the many late Pliocene to Holocene, mostly basaltic, volcanic fields present near the Colorado Plateau margin (fig. 1, in pamphlet). The field overlies the lithospheric transition zone between the Colorado Plateau and the Basin and Range Province (Condit and others, 1989b). Establishing relations in time, space, and composition of the rocks of these plateau-margin fields offers the possibility to integrate more fully into a regional synthesis the detailed geochemistry of these fields now being examined (for example, Perry and others, 1987; Fitton and others, 1988; Menzies and others, 1991). The work also provides baseline information for understanding mantle properties and processes at different depths and locations. Because the Springerville field is the southernmost of the plateau-margin fields, and because it contains both tholeiitic and alkalic rocks (tables 1 and 2, in pamphlet), it is a particularly important location for establishing these patterns in time, space, and composition. Our four thematic maps of the Springerville field were compiled by using digital mapping techniques so that associated petrologic and chemical data could be conveniently included in a geographic information system for one of the plateau-margin fields. Parts of these maps have been included in Condit (1995), a stand-alone Macintosh2 computer program that takes advantage of their digital format.

Arizona↗
USGS2001

South Florida Everglades: satellite image map

These satellite image maps are one product of the USGS Land Characteristics from Remote Sensing project, funded through the USGS Place-Based Studies Program (http://access.usgs.gov/) with support from the Everglades National Park (http://www.nps.gov/ever/). The objective of this project is to develop and apply innovative remote sensing and geographic information system techniques to map the distribution of vegetation, vegetation characteristics, and related hydrologic variables through space and over time. The mapping and description of vegetation characteristics and their variations are necessary to accurately simulate surface hydrology and other surface processes in South Florida and to monitor land surface changes. As part of this research, data from many airborne and satellite imaging systems have been georeferenced and processed to facilitate data fusion and analysis. These image maps were created using image fusion techniques developed as part of this project.

IMAP↗
USGS2002

Northern Everglades, Florida, satellite image map

These satellite image maps are one product of the USGS Land Characteristics from Remote Sensing project, funded through the USGS Place-Based Studies Program with support from the Everglades National Park. The objective of this project is to develop and apply innovative remote sensing and geographic information system techniques to map the distribution of vegetation, vegetation characteristics, and related hydrologic variables through space and over time. The mapping and description of vegetation characteristics and their variations are necessary to accurately simulate surface hydrology and other surface processes in South Florida and to monitor land surface changes. As part of this research, data from many airborne and satellite imaging systems have been georeferenced and processed to facilitate data fusion and analysis. These image maps were created using image fusion techniques developed as part of this project.

Florida↗
USGS2003

Geologic map of the Salmon National Forest and vicinity, east-central Idaho

The geology of the Salmon National Forest, Idaho, was compiled from published and unpublished sources and new field mapping by Evans, Lund, Tysdal, and Winkler between 1997 and 2001. The geology was compiled onto 1:100,000-scale topographic base maps for input into a geographic information system (GIS). The digital geologic map database can be queried in many ways to produce a variety of geologic maps.

IMAP↗
USGS2003

Crater Lake revealed

Around 500,000 people each year visit Crater Lake National Park in the Cascade Range of southern Oregon. Volcanic peaks, evergreen forests, and Crater Lake’s incredibly blue water are the park’s main attractions. Crater Lake partially fills the caldera that formed approximately 7,700 years ago by the eruption and subsequent collapse of a 12,000-foot volcano called Mount Mazama. The caldera-forming or climactic eruption of Mount Mazama drastically changed the landscape all around the volcano and spread a blanket of volcanic ash at least as far away as southern Canada. Prior to the climactic event, Mount Mazama had a 400,000 year history of cone building activity like that of other Cascade volcanoes such as Mount Shasta. Since the climactic eruption, there have been several less violent, smaller postcaldera eruptions within the caldera itself. However, relatively little was known about the specifics of these eruptions because their products were obscured beneath Crater Lake’s surface. As the Crater Lake region is still potentially volcanically active, understanding past eruptive events is important to understanding future eruptions, which could threaten facilities and people at Crater Lake National Park and the major transportation corridor east of the Cascades. Recently, the lake bottom was mapped with a high-resolution multibeam echo sounder. The new bathymetric survey provides a 2m/pixel view of the lake floor from its deepest basins virtually to the shoreline. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications, the bathymetry data can be visualized and analyzed to shed light on the geology, geomorphology, and geologic history of Crater Lake.

Oregon↗
USGS2002

Geologic map of the Stillwater Complex, Montana: A digital database

This report provides a digital version of the Geologic map of the Stillwater Complex, Montana by Page and Nokleberg (1974). Paper copies of the four geologic map sheets from the original report were scanned and initially attributed by Optronics Specialty Co., Inc. (Northridge, CA) and remitted to the U.S. Geological Survey for further attribution and publication of the geospatial digital files. The resulting digital geologic dataset can be queried in a geographic information system (GIS) in many ways to produce a variety of geological maps.

Montana↗
USGS1978

Geologic map of the Boulder-Fort Collins-Greeley area, Colorado

This digital map shows the geographic extent of rock stratigraphic units (formations) as compiled by Colton in 1976 under the Front Range Urban Corridor Geology Program. Colton used his own geologic mapping and previously published geologic maps to compile one map having a single classification of geologic units. The resulting published color paper map (USGS Map I-855-G, Colton, 1978) was intended for land-use planning and to depict the regional geology. In 1997-1999, another USGS project designed to address urban growth issues was undertaken. This project, the USGS Front Range Infrastructure Resources Project, undertook to digitize Colton's map at 1:100,000 scale, making it useable in Geographical Information Systems (GIS). That product is described here. In general, the digitized map depicts in its western part Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks, Pennsylvanian and younger sedimentary rock units, major faults, and brecciated zones along an eastern strip (5-20 km wide) of the Front Range. The central and eastern parts of the map (Colorado Piedmont) show a mantle of Quaternary unconsolidated deposits and interspersed outcrops of sedimentary rock of Cretaceous or Tertiary age. A surficial mantle of unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age is differentiated and depicted as eolium (wind-blown sand and silt), alluvium (river gravel, sand, and silt of variable composition), colluvium, and a few landslide deposits. At the mountain front, north-trending, Paleozoic and Mesozoic formations of sandstone, shale, and minor limestone dip mostly eastward and form folds, fault blocks, hogbacks and intervening valleys. Local dikes and sills of Tertiary rhyodacite and basalt intrude rocks near the range front, mostly in the Boulder area.

Colorado↗