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At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
USGS2016

Aquatic Trophic Productivity model: A decision support model for river restoration planning in the Methow River, Washington

Introduction The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed a dynamic food-web simulation model to provide decision support for Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) river restoration projects in the Methow River, Washington. This modeling effort was done to contribute to Reasonable and Prudent Alternative actions 56 and 57of the 2014 Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion (FCRPS BO), which calls for exploration of modeling as a means to help evaluate Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed fish response to river restoration efforts. In the Methow River, these species of concern include Upper Columbia River (UCR) spring Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) and UCR summer steelhead ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ). Additionally, the Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) for the Columbia River has identified the need for modeling (Independent Scientific Advisory Board, 2011a)—including models that incorporate food-web dynamics (Independent Scientific Advisory Board, 2011b)—to better understand how restoration and management strategies might enhance salmon and steelhead populations. Dynamic food-web models, even relatively simple ones, can be valuable tools for exploring responses to river restoration. Although these models have rarely been applied to rivers and streams (but see Mcintire and Colby, 1978; Power and others, 1995), they are commonly used for management decisions in terrestrial and ocean ecosystems (Christensen and Pauly, 1993; Evans and others, 2013). One of the main strengths of these models is that they are rooted in the fundamental laws of thermodynamics (that is, mass balance). Moreover, these models can be easily adapted to different contexts by adding or subtracting different species from the web and by mechanistically linking the dynamics of web members to local environmental conditions, such as water temperature, stream discharge, and channel hydraulics (Power and others, 1995; Doyle, 2006). Alternative management actions can then be evaluated by changing these environmental conditions to simulate potential outcomes following restoration. In this report, we outline the structure of a stream food-web model constructed to explore how alternative river restoration strategies may affect stream fish populations. We have termed this model the “Aquatic Trophic Productivity model” (ATP). We present the model structure, followed by three case study applications of the model to segments of the Methow River watershed in northern Washington. For two case studies (middle Methow River and lower Twisp River floodplain), we ran a series of simulations to explore how food-web dynamics respond to four distinctly different, but applied, strategies in the Methow River watershed: (1) reconnection of floodplain aquatic habitats, (2) riparian vegetation planting, (3) nutrient augmentation (that is, salmon carcass addition), and (4) enhancement of habitat suitability for fish. For the third case study, we conducted simulations to explore the potential fish and food-web response to habitat improvements conducted in 2012 at the Whitefish Island Side Channel, located in the middle Methow River.

Washington↗
USGS1996

Development of the temporal transportation database for the analysis of urban development in the Baltimore-Washington region

The U.S. Geological Survey is participating in a joint effort with the University of Maryland Baltimore County and other government agencies to construct a dynamic database of urban development for the Baltimore-Washington region from the late-1700's to the 1990's. The multi-theme temporal database includes a principal transportation data layer that documents the primary roads, railroads, and other transportation features that provided the infrastructure for urban development. A geographic information system was used to collect from various maps at various scales. Compilation criteria, such as connectivity, mobility, lineage, and alignment, were developed to accommodate limitations in the source materials. Visualization techniques such as animation and flight simulation are used to portray the changing transportation infrastructure and its effect on urbanization. The database will be used to study the evolution of the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. The principal transportation data layer is essential to illustrate and analyze the regional and temporal aspects of human-induced land transformations. Modeling applications will explore the urban growth process and its correlation to key transportation development.

Maryland↗
USGS1986

Changing concepts of geologic structure and the problem of siting nuclear reactors: Examples from Washington State

The conflict between regulation and healthy evolution of geological science has contributed to the difficulties of siting nuclear reactors. On the Columbia Plateau in Washington, but for conservative design of the Hanford reactor facility, the recognition of the little-understood Olympic-Wallowa lineament as a major, possibly still active structural alinement might have jeopardized the acceptability of the site for nuclear reactors. On the Olympic Peninsula, evolving concepts of compressive structures and their possible recent activity and the current recognition of a subducting Juan de Fuca plate and its potential for generating great earthquakes—both concepts little-considered during initial site selection—may delay final acceptance of the Satsop site. Conflicts of this sort are inevitable but can be accommodated if they are anticipated in the reactor-licensing process. More important, society should be increasing its store of geologic knowledge now, during the current recess in nuclear reactor siting.

Geology↗
USGS1951

Stratigraphic sections of the Phosphoria formation in Idaho

The first of a series of reports giving detailed stratigraphic sections of the Phosphoria formation in the Western phosphate field as measured and described by the Geological Survey will be released as Circulars within the next few months. Because of the needs of industry for many of these data during the 1951 field season, and in view of the unavoidable delays attendant on publication, the tabular data to be included in these Circulars are hereby placed on open file in simple reproduction form (prepared by Ozalid from photographic negatives) and without explanatory text so that immediate use may be made of the data. The tables include data on sections in four states: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah; and the tables for each of these states are bound together as individual reports. The tables include name and location of section measured, brief description of geologic setting, acknowledgments for field and analytical work, abstract data on the sections (bed number, rock name, sample number, and thickness), and analytical data on the samples. The analytical data include reports on P 2 O 5 and acid insoluble for all samples and additional analyses, such as Al 2 0 3 , Fe 7 0 3 , loss on ignition, F, and V 2 O 5 , for selected samples. Spectrographic analyses for a large number of elements are included samples from selected localities, and special analyses have been made of a few samples. These reports are placed on open file at the offices of the Geological Survey in Washington, D. C., Spokane, Washington, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Montpelier, Idaho, and at the offices of the Idaho Bureau of Mines and Geology, Moscow, Idaho, the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, Butte, Montana, and the Wyoming Geological Survey, Laramie, Wyoming, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Idaho↗
USGS1951

Stratigraphic sections of the Phosphoria formation in Utah

The first of a series of reports giving detailed stratigraphic sections of the Phosphoria formation in the Western phosphate field as measured and described by the Geological Survey will be released as Circulars within the next few months. Because of the needs of industry for many of these data during the 1951 field season, and in view of the unavoidable delays attendant on publication: the tabular data to be included in these Circulars are hereby placed on open file in simple reproduction form (prepared by Ozalid from photographic negatives) and without explanatory text so that immediate use may be made of the data. The tables include data on sections in four states: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah; and the tables for each of these states are bound together as individual reports. The tables include name and location of section measured, brief description of geologic setting, acknowledgments for field and analytical work, abstract data on the sections (bed number, rock name, sample number, and thickness), and analytical data or the samples. The analytical data include reports on P 2 O 5 and acid insoluble for all samples and additional analyses, such as Al 2 0 3 , Fe 7 0 3 , loss on ignition, F, and V 2 O 5 , for selected samples. Spectrographic analyses for a large number of elements are included for samples from selected localities, and special analyses have been made of a few samples. These reports are placed on open file at the offices of the Geological Survey in Washington, D. C., Spokane, Washington, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Montpelier, Idaho, and at the offices of the Idaho Bureau of Mines and Geology, Moscow, Idaho, the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, Butte, Montana, and the Wyoming Geological Survey, Laramie, Wyoming, and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Utah↗
USGS2009

Preliminary Geologic Map of the Buxton 7.5' Quadrangle, Washington County, Oregon

This map, compiled from previously published and unpublished data, and new mapping by the authors, represents the general distribution of bedrock and surficial deposits of the Buxton 7.5-minute quadrangle. The database delineates map units that are identified by general age and lithology following the stratigraphic nomenclature of the U.S. Geological Survey. The scale of the source maps limits the spatial resolution (scale) of the database to 1:24,000 or smaller. This plot file and accompanying database depict the distribution of geologic materials and structures at a regional (1:24,000) scale. The report is intended to provide geologic information for the regional study of materials properties, earthquake shaking, landslide potential, mineral hazards, seismic velocity, and earthquake faults. In addition, the report contains new information and interpretations about the regional geologic history and framework. However, the regional scale of this report does not provide sufficient detail for site development purposes.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2017

Lidar-revised geologic map of the Des Moines 7.5' quadrangle, King County, Washington

This map is an interpretation of a modern lidar digital elevation model combined with the geology depicted on the Geologic Map of the Des Moines 7.5' Quadrangle, King County, Washington (Booth and Waldron, 2004). Booth and Waldron described, interpreted, and located the geology on the 1:24,000-scale topographic map of the Des Moines 7.5' quadrangle. The base map that they used was originally compiled in 1943 and revised using 1990 aerial photographs; it has 25-ft contours, nominal horizontal resolution of about 40 ft (12 m), and nominal mean vertical accuracy of about 10 ft (3 m). Similar to many geologic maps, much of the geology in the Booth and Waldron (2004) map was interpreted from landforms portrayed on the topographic map. In 2001, the Puget Sound Lidar Consortium obtained a lidar-derived digital elevation model (DEM) for much of the Puget Sound area, including the entire Des Moines 7.5' quadrangle. This new DEM has a horizontal resolution of about 6 ft (2 m) and a mean vertical accuracy of about 1 ft (0.3 m). The greater resolution and accuracy of the lidar DEM compared to topography constructed from air-photo stereo models have much improved the interpretation of geology, even in this heavily developed area, especially the distribution and relative age of some surficial deposits. For a brief description of the light detection and ranging (lidar) remote sensing method and this data acquisition program, see Haugerud and others (2003).

Washington↗
USGS2026

Simulated seasonal loads of total nitrogen and total phosphorus by major source from watersheds draining to Washington waters of the Salish Sea, 2005 through 2020

The U.S. Geological Survey and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) have developed watershed models of seasonal load estimates of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) discharging into the Washington State waters of the Salish Sea from 2005 through 2020. The modeling approach used was dynamic SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes), a statistical-physical watershed modeling technique, initially applied at large spatial scales to represent long-term average stream loads throughout a stream network, refined here to estimate seasonal TN and TP loads across watersheds. Upstream contributing sources included permitted treated wastewater facilities, crop fertilizer, animal feeding operations, septic systems, urban land and stormwater, atmospheric deposition (TN only), nitrogen fixation by Alnus rubra Bong. (red alder) trees (TN only), and background geologic material (TP only). Instream load magnitudes and their source compositions varied across watersheds, and even within each watershed, yet the largest loads typically occurred in the large rivers during winter and fall when streamflow was highest. Likewise, instream loads were typically lowest in summer during low streamflow, yet the relative instream aquatic decay was highest. The seasonal storage lag component of all nonpoint sources was estimated to contribute a quarter of the seasonal instream load during winter and fall high streamflow and sometimes half of the instream load during summer low streamflow. Simulated seasonal loads carried by streams to a few hundred river mouth marine discharge points ranged by several orders-of-magnitude for TN and TP due to the spatial and seasonal differences in hydrologic flows, magnitude and timing of contributing sources, and instream decay. The Snohomish and Skagit Rivers discharged the largest TN and TP loads, yet the Samish River was shown to have some of the highest TN and TP yields and concentrations. Additionally, a reference scenario estimate developed of the pre-industrial local and regional TN loads suggests that red alder tree density has increased in lower riparian areas and that treated wastewater is the dominant source in some watersheds that has led to increases in TN loading to marine waters.

British Columbia, Washington↗
USGS2005

Geologic map of the Wenatchee 1:100,000 quadrangle, central Washington: A digital database

This digital map database has been prepared by R.W. Tabor from the published Geologic map of the Wenatchee 1:100,000 Quadrangle, Central Washington. Together with the accompanying text files as PDF, it provides information on the geologic structure and stratigraphy of the area covered. The database delineates map units that are identified by general age and lithology following the stratigraphic nomenclature of the U.S. Geological Survey. The authors mapped most of the bedrock geology at 1:100,000 scale, but compiled Quaternary units at 1:24,000 scale. The Quaternary contacts and structural data have been much simplified for the 1:100,000-scale map and database. The spatial resolution (scale) of the database is 1:100,000 or smaller. This database depicts the distribution of geologic materials and structures at a regional (1:100,000) scale. The report is intended to provide geologic information for the regional study of materials properties, earthquake shaking, landslide potential, mineral hazards, seismic velocity, and earthquake faults. In addition, the report contains information and interpretations about the regional geologic history and framework. However, the regional scale of this report does not provide sufficient detail for site development purposes.

Washington↗
USGS1952

Stratigraphic sections of the Phosphoria formation measured and sampled in 1951

The first four of a series of reports giving detailed stratigraphic sections and analyses of samples of the Phosphoria formation in the western phosphate field as described and sampled by the U. S. Geological Survey will soon be published as Circulars 208 through 211. Because of the needs of industry for many of these data during the 1951 field season, and owing to unavoidable delays attendant on publication, the tabular data prepared for these four and for two additional circulars, as yet unnumbered, were released on open file without texts or maps last year. These six reports constitute a summary of all the sampling done by the U. S. Geological Survey in the western phosphate field during 1947 and 1948. The analytical returns on the samples collected during 1949, 1950, and 1951 were incomplete at that time. However, in keeping with the objectives outlined above, abstracts of the stratigraphic units and P205 and acid insoluble analyses of the phosphatic parts of the sections measured and sampled during 1949 and 1950 were released on open file as two reports so that early use might be made of the most important economic data collected during this field work. This is a similar report covering the 1951 field season data. The data in these three open file reports are being prepared for publication in circulars like the six reports mentioned above. These reports, as well as others referred to, are placed on open file at the offices of the U. S. Geological Survey in Washington, D. C.; Spokane, Washington; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Montpelier, Idaho (open from May to October), and at the offices of the Idaho Bureau of Mines and Geology, Moscow, Idaho; the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, Butte, Montana; the Wyoming Geological Survey, Laramie, Wyoming; and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2026

Color-Shaded Relief Bathymetry of Lake Chelan, Washington

In 2023, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed a 3-week field operation in Lake Chelan, Washington, the third deepest lake in the conterminous United States, to acquire sediment cores, high-resolution bathymetry data, and chirp sub-bottom profiles. The high-resolution bathymetry displayed in this map publication was collected using a Norbit Winghead i67-curved array multibeam system; raw data were cleaned and gridded (3 by 3 meters [m]) in the Teledyne CARIS software. In some locations where the slopes of Lake Chelan are near-vertical, multibeam returns were sparse, resulting in artifacts resembling holes that appear as grey dots within the color-shaded bathymetric relief. Although the 2023 bathymetric mapping of Lake Chelan resulted in similar morphometric characteristics to previous hydrographic campaigns (table 1; Kendra and Singleton, 1987; Pelletier and others, 1989), these new data provide a much more detailed understanding of the two physiographic basins that comprise Lake Chelan: the deeper (as deep as 445.8 m [fig. 1]; previously reported as 453 m) and narrower (1–2 kilometers [km] wide) Lucerne Basin to the north, and the shallower (as deep as 127.8 m [fig. 1]), and wider (2–3 km wide) Wapato Basin to the south. With this detailed imaging of Lake Chelan, we find pervasive morphological evidence of slope failure and mass-transport deposits (MTDs) in at least 89 locations within the lake and 63 subaqueous deltas (fig. 2). The deeper Lucerne Basin is dominated by steep slopes and numerous subaqueous deltas fed by steep fluvial catchments, whereas the Wapato Basin contains numerous landslide scarps, scars, and debris aprons along the more gently sloping lake margins, and abundant relict kettle structures from the Pleistocene deglaciation. Lake Chelan’s geomorphic, geophysical, and sediment data contain important records of glacial retreat and advance, regional volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes that generate ground motions severe enough to induce landslides recorded in the sediment as MTDs. The epicenter of the 1872 Washington State Earthquake (M 6.5–7.2; Bakun and others, 2002; Brocher and others, 2017; Sherrod and others, 2021) is along the Spencer Canyon Fault, near the southern end of Lake Chelan. Shaking from this earthquake was strong enough to affect local aquifers, induce liquefaction of unconsolidated sediments, produce large seiches (Brocher and others, 2018), and likely cause landslides within Lake Chelan.

Washington↗
USGS2014

Preliminary geologic map of the eastern Willapa Hills, Cowlitz, Lewis, and Wahkiakum Counties, Washington

This digital map database and the PDF derived from the database were created from the analog geologic map: Wells, R.E. (1981), “Geologic map of the eastern Willapa Hills, Cowlitz, Lewis, and Wahkiakum Counties, Washington.” The geodatabase replicates the geologic mapping of the 1981 report with minor exceptions along water boundaries and also along the north and south map boundaries. Slight adjustments to contacts along water boundaries were made to correct differences between the topographic base map used in the 1981 compilation (analog USGS 15-minute series quadrangle maps at 1:62,500 scale) and the base map used for this digital compilation (scanned USGS 7.5-minute series quadrangle maps at 1:24,000 scale). These minor adjustments, however, did not materially alter the geologic map. No new field mapping was performed to create this digital map database, and no attempt was made to fit geologic contacts to the new 1:24,000 topographic base, except as noted above. We corrected typographical errors, formatting errors, and attribution errors (for example, the name change of Goble Volcanics to Grays River Volcanics following current State of Washington usage; Walsh and others, 1987). We also updated selected references, substituted published papers for abstracts, and cited published radiometric ages for the volcanic and plutonic rocks. The reader is referred to Magill and others (1982), Wells and Coe (1985), Walsh and others (1987), Moothart (1993), Payne (1998), Kleibacker (2001), McCutcheon (2003), Wells and others (2009), Chan and others (2012), and Wells and others (in press) for subsequent interpretations of the Willapa Hills geology.

Washington↗
USGS2020

Evaluation of the Washington State Department of Transportation stormwater monitoring and effectiveness program for 2014–19

The U.S. Geological Survey was asked by the Washington State Department of Transportation to provide technical assistance as a third-party reviewer of their stormwater effectiveness monitoring program during the transition between the completion of the 2014 Washington State Department of Ecology permit requirements and start of the new 2019 Washington State Department of Ecology permit requirements. For the purposes of this evaluation, the U.S. Geological Survey reviewed Washington State Department of Transportation’s 2014 National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit. This review focuses on sections S7, S8, G9, and appendix 4 of the permit that are specific to monitoring. These sections cover the methods of monitoring, the constituents that were monitored, laboratory requirements, reporting requirements, and data archival. Next, all quality-assurance project plans for the 2014 general permit and annual reports required for the permit were reviewed. The quality-assurance project plans and annual reports were reviewed to ensure that monitoring was executed and reported as required by the 2014 general permit. The monitoring requirements put forth from the permits were fully addressed in quality-assurance project plans and were completed and presented in the annual monitoring reports. Overall, the Washington State Department of Transportation monitoring program does not change much under its new 2019 permit. The Washington State Department of Transportation has followed through with the plan set out in each of its approved quality-assurance project plans and therefore, is in a good position to meet or exceed the new permit requirements in the upcoming 5-year permit cycle.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2026

The geologic history of the Chehalis Forearc Basin, Washington State, USA

The Chehalis basin is located between the Cascade arc and the Coast Range in southwest Washington State. It consists of sedimentary and volcanic rocks deposited throughout the Cenozoic and is underlain by the Siletzia terrane, a thick, large igneous province accreted in the Eocene. Here, we constrain evolution of the Chehalis basin depocenter using isochore maps derived from isostatic gravity anomalies, borehole data, and stratigraphy for several time periods: the Eocene (47.6–36.8 Ma), the Oligocene (36.8–20 Ma), and the Neogene (20–0 Ma). Our results suggest that local subsidence is driven by deformation on faults that bound and intersect the basin. We see northward depocenter migration, interpreted as a shift in deformation from the northwest striking Cedar Creek fault to the west striking Doty fault. We interpret these data in terms of the long-term north-south shortening and clockwise rotation of the Cascadia forearc. During the Eocene, the Cedar Creek fault was preferentially aligned with north-south shortening, but became less active when clockwise rotation brought the Doty fault into east-west alignment with the stress field. Sediment accumulation rates decreased from 196 m/Myr in the Paleogene (∼40–20 Ma) to 27 m/Myr in the Neogene (∼20–0 Ma) as Miocene uplift of the Coast Range limited accommodation space and shifted the depositional environment from marine to fluvial. Our results are consistent with the geologic evolution of the Portland and Tualatin basins to the south and reveal a depositional and structural history uniquely shaped by clockwise rotation of the Cascadia forearc.

Washington↗
USGS2006

Database for the geologic map of the Chelan 30-minute by 60-minute quadrangle, Washington (I-1661)

This digital map database has been prepared by R. W. Tabor from the published Geologic map of the Chelan 30-Minute Quadrangle, Washington. Together with the accompanying text files as PDF, it provides information on the geologic structure and stratigraphy of the area covered. The database delineates map units that are identified by general age and lithology following the stratigraphic nomenclature of the U.S. Geological Survey. The authors mapped most of the bedrock geology at 1:100,000 scale, but compiled Quaternary units at 1:24,000 scale. The Quaternary contacts and structural data have been much simplified for the 1:100,000-scale map and database. The spatial resolution (scale) of the database is 1:100,000 or smaller. This database depicts the distribution of geologic materials and structures at a regional (1:100,000) scale. The report is intended to provide geologic information for the regional study of materials properties, earthquake shaking, landslide potential, mineral hazards, seismic velocity, and earthquake faults. In addition, the report contains information and interpretations about the regional geologic history and framework. However, the regional scale of this report does not provide sufficient detail for site development purposes.

Washington↗