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John Skelton

Publications and source records attributed to John Skelton.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1983

Hydrology of area 38, Western Region, Interior Coal Province, Iowa and Missouri

A nationwide need for information characterizing hydrologic conditions in mined and potential mine areas has become paramount with the enactment of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. This report is designed to be useful to the mine owners, operators, and others by presenting information about the existing hydrologic conditions and by identifying sources of hydrologic information. General hydrologic information is presented using a brief text with an accompanying map, chart, graph, or other illustration for each of a series of water-resources-related topics. The summation of the topical discussions provides a description of the hydrology of the area. Coal has been mined for 130 years in Area 38, but large reserves remain. Production peaked in 1917 when Iowa produced 9 million tons and Missouri produced 6 million tons. Underground mining has been replaced by surface mining in Area 38. Not all past surface-mined lands are subject to reclamation under recently enacted reclamation laws. The surface-water monitoring network in Area 38 consists of 183 stations. Streamflow varies seasonally and from year to year. Water-quality data are available for 49 stations in the study area. Measurements of specific conductance, dissolved solids, pH, alkalinity, sulfate, iron, manganese, trace metals and other constituents are available for 36 stations operated between 1978 and 1981 expressly for the collection of water-quality data within basins containing coal mines. A cumulative impact of coal mining on the mineralization of surface water is evident from specific-conductance data for stations downstream from mining activities. Alkalinity in streams in Area 38 averaged greater than 118 milligrams per liter, providing the capability to neutralize acid-mine drainage to some extent. Sulfate concentrations in streamflow averaged 88 milligrams per liter at stations upstream from coal mines and 269 milligrams per liter at stations downstream from coal mines. Significant relationships exist between totalrecoverable-iron concentrations and suspendedsediment concentrations. Manganese concentrations are larger in streams draining mined areas. Streamflow at 5 of the 36 coal-hydrology stations in Area 38, all located downstream from coal mines, exceeded acid-mine-drainage criteria at one time or another. In Area 38 dissolved-solids concentrations in water from the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer range from 300 to 15,000 milligrams per liter; in southcentral Iowa and where the aquifer underlies the Missouri River alluvium, as in Boone County, Missouri, dissolved-solids concentrations are less than 1,000 milligrams per liter. In these areas the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer is suitable for domestic and other uses. Chemical quality of water from Quaternary aquifers generally is suitable for domestic uses and other uses, dissolved-solids concentrations averaged less than 1,000 milligrams per liter. Iron, manganese and nitrate are excessive in some instances. Chemical quality of water from Mississippian and Pennsylvanian aquifers is unsuitable for domestic use and may be unsuitable for other uses. The Pennsylvanian and Misissippian aquifers have average sulfate concentrations in excess of 1,000 milligrams per liter.

Iowa, Missouri↗
USGS1982

Water information for northwestern Missouri: A planning document

Water supplies are limited in much of northwestern Missouri, and water-resources data also are limited. This report presents a summary of hydrologic data and an evaluation of areas where additional hydrologic data are needed to provide a data base suitable for use in making decisions regarding future water development. The largest and most dependable surface-water supplies that can be obtained without storage from tributary streams, as indicated by the 30-day low flow with recurrence interval of 10 years, potentially are available from the lower Grand River (15 to 30 million gallons per day) and the Nodaway and Chariton Rivers (5 to 10 million gallons per day). Flow of the Missouri River is greater than 1,300 million gallons per day at all points in Missouri. Surface water is primarily a calcium bicarbonate type with dissolved-solids concentration less than 400 milligrams per liter. Sources of water in surficial deposits are the Missouri River alluvium (well yields as much as 2,000 gallons per minute), glacial drift (well yields of 30 to 500 gallons per minute), and alluvium of tributary streams (well yields exceed 50 gallons per minute in large basins). The Pennsylvanian bedrock yields only a few gallons per minute to wells. The Cambrian and Ordovician formations are not evaluated because data are few, and there are no water wells open to these units. Water from the alluvium is a hard, calcium bicarbonate type that commonly has relatively large iron concentrations and typically has dissolved-solids concentrations of less than 500 milligrams per liter. Water from the glacial-drift and bedrock generally is a mixed calcium bicarbonate sodium sulfate type, is hard, has relatively large iron concentrations, and some of it is classified as saline. Areas where additional hydrologic data are needed to provide a data base suitable for use in making decisions regarding future water development include the lower Grand and Thompson River basins, the Missouri River alluvial aquifer, the Nodaway-Tarkio-One Hundred and Two River basins, the Chariton River basin, and the 19 counties where surface-mineable coal reserves make coal-related industrial expansion possible.

Missouri↗
USGS1978

Relationship between hydrology and bottomland vegetation in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri

The identification of plants and plant assemblages that are common to stream reaches that gain water and those that do not is an important key in the study of limestone hydrology. In the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, a rapid change from a stream-channel growth of abundant willows ( Salix spp.), touch-me-nots ( Impatiens capensis ), and sedges such as Carex Frankii and Eleocharis spp. to an abundant growth of bluestars ( Amsonia illustris ) indicates a rapid increase in depth to water. Vegetative indicators of hydrologic conditions are most helpful when used in conjunction with other information, but they are independently useful in pinpointing areas of abrupt hydrologic changes.

Missouri↗
USGS1977

Streamflow characteristics of the Joplin area, Missouri

Low-flow and peak-flow frequency data and flow-duration-data, based on records from 21 gaging stations in the Joplin area of southwestern Missouri, are presented. Generalized equations and graphs based on gaging-station records are-shown so that estimates of frequency data and the effects of urbanization on peak flows can be made at ungaged sites. An analysis of a histogram of annual flood peaks shows that the chances for delay in construction work due to flooding are greatest during April through June and in September.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1974

Estimating low-flow frequency for perennial Missouri Ozarks streams

A linear regression model, utilizing an independent variable described as the flow area of a stream, has been developed for use in estimating minimum streamflow at ungaged sites in the Ozarks region of Missouri. The basic premise in the method is that low-flow characteristics at any point on perennial Ozarks streams are significantly related to the average width and depth or flow area of the minimum flows. The standard errors of regression equations defining the 7-day Q2, 7-day Q10, and 7-day Q20 are 41, 60, and 76 percent, respectively. In comparison, standard errors of 170 to 390 percent were obtained during previous regionalization studies.

Missouri↗