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J. E. Upson

Publications and source records attributed to J. E. Upson.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2006

Plans of the U.S.Geological Survey, water resources division for research, investigations, and data collection in ground water

The Geological Survey has been the foremost agency in the investigation of ground ‐ water resources in the United States beginning about 1910. Most of the basic principles of modern ground ‐ water hydrology were developed in the Survey ' s program of cooperative investigations . Use of ground water in the United States in 1960 was about 17½ percent of all water uses, excluding water power. The use will probably increase, though at a decreasing rate. Although amount of use may level off, the need to know about it will not. While coordinating its activities with those of the Office of Water Data Coordination and the Office of Water Resources Research , the Survey expects to step up its work in all three areas of data collection , investigations , and research . However, there will be changes of emphasis. Collection of raw data will tend to stress key observation points, and more and more observation of temperature and quality, including contaminants. Investigations will be aimed at upgrading reconnaissance coverage to general coverage for most of the Nation. The areal basis will be stream drainage basins and special hydrologic terranes, rather than political units. There will be an increase in the preparation of analog models for representative ground ‐ water systems. In research , the problem‐oriented basis will continue. Stress will be on basic principles that pertain to artificial recharge, and the natural recharge and discharge of ground ‐ water reservoirs; and also on the application of geologic principles on a regional scale. These are critical elements in the management of surface‐ water and ground ‐ water resources conjunctively in river basins.

Groundwater↗
USGS1959

The relation between fresh and salty ground water in southern Nassau and southeastern Queens counties, Long Island, New York

An investigation of the geology and ground - water conditions in a part of southwestern Long Island , including the construction of 8 deep and 5 shallow test and observation wells, has been completed by the Geological Survey in cooperation with the Nassau County Department of Public Works and the New York State Water Power and Control Commission. In this area are four main water -bearing units of Late Cretaceous and Pleistocene age. Ground water having a higher than normal salt content is encountered in some wells that penetrate the upper three units. Although the presence of this water constitutes a potential threat, existing fresh - water supplies apparently are in little immediate danger under present conditions. The " salty " ground water has chloride concentrations ranging from about 40 to 18,000 ppm (parts per million), generally more than about 2,000 ppm. It occurs in several bodies, seaward of and beneath the fresh water in the respective aquifers, and is in contact with the fresh water through zones of diffusion. The largest salt- water body, confined under artesian pressure, is in the Jameco gravel and the Magothy (?) formation beneath extreme southwestern Nassau County and adjoining southeastern Queens County . This body is thought to have occupied a substantial part of its present extent since at least 1895. It probably has been and is now encroaching, very slowly, because of increased pumping from the fresh - water bodies and possibly as a result of a postglacial rise of sea level. The rate of encroachment under present conditions probably is less than 100 feet per year. Application of the Ghyben-Herzberg principle to compute depths to the contact between salty and fresh ground water was found to give erroneous results. More accurate depths and a clearer understanding of the relation between heads in adjoining bodies of fresh and salty ground water are obtained by use of a formula adapted from one given by M. King Hubbert.

New York↗
USGS1954

Progress report on studies of salt-water encroachment on Long Island, New York, 1953

Nearly all the water used on Long Island, N. Y., is derived by wells from the thick and extensive water-bearing formations that underlie and compose the entire island. The unconsolidated deposits, consisting of sand, gravel, and clay, range in thickness from a few feet in northern Queens County to more than 2,000 feet in southern Suffolk County. Four main and relatively distinct aquifers, all interconnected hydraulically to a greater or lesser degree, have been recognized and delineated at least in a general way. They are, from younger to older, the upper Pleistocene deposits, in which the ground water is mainly unconfined, and three formations in which the water is generally confined - the Jameco gravel, of Pleistocene age, and the Magothy (?) formation and the Lloyd sand member of the Rartian formation, both of Lake Cretaceous age. Except for some artificial recharge, these aquifers are replenished entirely by infiltration of precipitation. Under natural conditions, the fresh water moves into and through the formations, discharging into the sea. With the growth of population on Long Island and the continuously increasing use of water over the years, not only has the infiltration of precipitation been seriously impeded at places, but the withdrawals from the ground-water reservoir have increased markedly. These factors have upset the natural balance between the fresh surface and ground water of the island and the surrounding sea water, and with increased use of water will do so more and more, thus leading to salt-water encroachment. In a sense, the whole problem of utilization of ground water on Long Island is one of determining how much ground water can be withdrawn without serious salt-water encroachment.

New York↗
USGS1951

Ground water in the Cuyama Valley, California

This is the fourth of a series of interpretive reports on the water resources of the major valleys of Santa Barbara County, Calif., prepared by the Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior, in cooperation with Santa Barbara County. The first three reports described the other major valleys in the county: the south-coast basins, Goleta and Carpinteria, and the Santa Maria and Santa Ynez River valleys. This report deals with the Cuyama Valley in the northeastern part of the county and adjoining parts of San Luis Obispo, Kern, and Ventura Counties. It includes estimates of natural discharge, pumpage, and yield of ground water, and all data on water levels, well records, and water quality that were available up to June 1946.

California↗