USGS Science⌕ Search

Geology topics

Denzel R. Cline

Publications and source records attributed to Denzel R. Cline.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1978

Water resources of No Name Valley, Colville Indian Reservation, Washington

No Name Creek valley is a trough cut in granitic bedrock in north-central Washington. A low topographic divide in the northern third of the valley separates it into the No Name Creek basin on the south and Omak Creek basin on the north. Omak Creek is the larger stream and enters the valley through a narrow gorge in the eastern granite wall. Partly filled with unconsolidated sand, gravel, and silt to depths as great as 163 feet, the valley contains a ground-water reservoir which supplies four irrigation wells and several domestic-supply wells. The ground-water reservoir also feeds springs which give rise to No Name Creek, and it contributes some water to Omak Creek to the north. Under conditions of the pre-1976 development the ground-water divide was naturally about 3,000 feet north of Omak Creek gorge, and about 580 acre-feet of leakage from Omak Creek recharges the No Name Creek ground-water reservoir. By 1977, ground-water withdrawal of 994 acre-feet per year in No Name Creek basin had caused the ground-water divide to shift to a position about 4,000 feet north of the topographic divide. This increased the drainage area contributing to the No Name Creek ground-water reservoir for about three months so that during a year of normal flow a total of about 600 acre-feet of leakage from Omak Creek can be captured. It is postulated that as much as 1,100 acre-feet per year can be pumped in the central part of the reservoir. This pumpage would cause the ground-water divide to shift farther north, resulting in the capture of additional recharge from Omak Creek; the total leakage would be about 700 acre-feet per year. (Woodard-USGS)

Open-File Report↗
USGS1976

Reconnaissance of the water resources of the upper Klickitat River Basin, Yakima Indian Reservation, Washington

Large quantities of ground water and surface water are available in Washington County. Major sources of ground water are the Gosport Sand and Lisbon Formation undifferentiated, the Miocene Series undifferentiated, and alluvium and low terrace deposits. The Miocene, the most productive source of ground water, will yield 0.5 to 1.0 mgd (million gallons per day) per well and is a potential source of larger supplies in most of the county. The quantity of potable water available is governed largely by geologic structures. Average flows of the Tombigbee and Mobile Rivers in the southeast corner of the county are 18,200 and 39,400 mgd. Average runoff originating in the county is about 1,100 mgd or 1 mgd per square mile. Water in aquifers tapped by wells generally contains less than 500 mg/l (milligrams per liter) dissolved solids. The water generally is soft to moderately hard. Water in streams is soft to moderately hard and low in dissolved solids. Estimated water use in 1966 was 43.5 mgd of which 10.9 mgd was ground water and 32.6 mgd was surface water. Lava flows underlie the entire basin, and unconsolidated sedimentary deposits overlie the lavas in the Camas Prairie-Glenwood area and in small areas elsewhere. A spring supplies water to much of the Camas Prairie-Glenwood area through a public system, so not many wells are used now. About 56 million gallons (110 acre-feet) of ground water was used in 1974. The unconsolidated deposits yield from 1 to 500 gallons per minute of water to wells, and the basalt can yield more than 100 gallons per minute and possibly several thousand gallons per minute to deep wells. Ground-water recharge and discharge on the reservation is estimated to average 550,000 acre-feet per year.

Washington↗
USGS1965

Geology and ground-water resources of Dane County, Wisconsin

The purpose of the ground-water investigation of Dane County, Wis., was to determine the occurrence, movement, quantity, quality, and availability of ground water in the unconsolidated deposits and the underlying bedrock. The relationships between ground water and surface water were studied in general in Dane County and in detail in the Madison metropolitan area. An analysis was made of the hydrologic system of the Yahara River valley and of the effects of ground-water pumpage on that system.

Wisconsin↗
USGS1963

Hydrology of upper Black Earth Creek basin, Wisconsin, with a section on surface water

The upper Black Earth Creek drainage basin has an area of 46 square miles and is in Dane County in south-central Wisconsin. The oldest rock exposed in the valley walls is the sandstone of Late Cambrian age. Dolomite of the Prairie du Chien Group of Ordovician age overlies the sandstone and forms the. resistant cap on the hills. The St. Peter Sandstone, Platteville and Decorah Formations, and Galena Dolomite, all Ordovician in age, form a narrow belt along the southern boundary of the area. Outwash and alluvium of Pleistocene and Recent age fill the valleys. The eastern half of the area was glaciated and is covered with till. The sandstone of Late Cambrian age and the sand and gravel of the outwash deposits are hydraulically connected. Ground water occurs under unconfined (water-table) conditions in the western unglaciated part of the basin and under artesian conditions beneath the till locally in the eastern part. The source of most of the ground water is direct infiltration of precipitation; however, some ground water enters the area as underflow from the south. About 7 inches of the 30 inches of average annual precipitation recharges the ground-water reservoir. The ground water generally moves toward Black Earth Creek where it is discharged. Some ground water moves out of the basin as underflow beneath the valley of Black Earth Creek, and some is discharged by evapotranspiration or is withdrawn by pumping from wells. Water levels in shallow nonartesian wells respond rapidly to precipitation. The effect of precipitation on water levels in artesian wells is slower and more subdued. Water levels are generally highest in spring and lowest in fall and winter. The flow of upper Black Earth Creek is derived mostly from ground-water discharge, except during short periods of and immediately after precipitation when most of the flow is derived from surface runoff. The runoff from upper Black Earth Creek basin decreased from an average of 8.72 inches per square mile of drainage area in 1955 to 5.55 inches in 1958; the decrease reflects the generally decreasing precipitation and declining water levels in the basin during that period. On July 10, 1958, the discharge from the basin was 0.367 cubic feet per second per square mile, and the greatest discharge was 0.84 cubic feet per second per square mile from the southwest subbasin. The ground water has an average temperature of about 50°F. It is a calcium magnesium bicarbonate type water and is very hard.

Wisconsin↗