Geology topics
Publications and source records attributed to M.E. Lowry.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The climate of Park County, Wyoming, ranges from desert to alpine tundra. Average annual precipitation ranges from 6 to 40 inches. Ground water is present throughout most of the county, but supplies adequate for stock or domestic use are not readily available in areas of greatest need. The chemical quality of most of the water sampled was of suitable quality for livestock, but most of the water was not suitable for drinking, and the water from bedrock aquifers generally was not suitable for irrigation. Unconsolidated deposits are a principal source of ground water in the county. However, ground water is found in deposits topographically higher than stream level only where surface water has been applied for irrigation; those unconsolidated deposits beneath areas that are not irrigated, such as Polecat Bench, are dry. The conversion of irrigated land to urban development poses problems in some areas because yields of water-supply wells will be adversely affected by reduced recharge. The trend toward urban development also increases the risk of contamination of the ground water by septic tanks, petroleum products, and toxic and hazardous wastes. Perennial streams originate in the mountains and in areas where drainage from irrigated land is adequate to sustain flow. The average annual runoff from streams originating in the mountains is as large as 598 acre-feet per square mile, and the average annual runoff from streams originating in badlands and plains is as low as 14.8 acre-feet per square mile.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Quantity of runoff and peak discharge from one small basin in the White Tail Butte area, determined from a calibrated rainfall-runoff model, is less than the quantity computed using results of a regional study. The difference is caused by the extensive beds of exposed, permeable clinker in the area. Potentiometric surfaces in the White Tail Butte area indicate that, regionally, it is a discharge area. This is consistent with the conceptual model developed elsewhere in Campbell County , Wyo. The chemical quality of water from springs and alluvium, however, is characteristic of water found in recharge areas, so movement of water in the regional system is apparently small compared to local recharge. If surface coal mining occurs in the area, the principal adverse impact to the groundwater system would be the destruction of springs and seeps in the mined area. These could be restored with special reclamation procedures. There are adequate quantities of water of suitable quality for stock or domestic use below the coal so postreclamation supplies could be obtained. Impacts of surface mining on runoff could not be evaluated, but sensitivity of runoff to infiltration indicates a 10% change in runoff for a 1% change in infiltration. (USGS)
Surface water is scarce in Weston County, Wyoming. Groundwater has been developed from rocks ranging in age from Mississippian to Holocene. Adequate supplies for domestic or stock use can be developed from wells generally less than 1,000 ft deep, except in the area underlain by a thick sequence of predominantly marine shale that will yield only small quantities of very mineralized water. In the early 1960 's decreases in artesian pressures occurred in some wells completed in the Lakota Formation of Early Cretaceous age and Pahasapa Limestone of Early Mississippian age. Only the decrease in the Lakota was attributed to development of water from the formation. Extensive development of either of these aquifers, however, may result in significant interference between nearby wells completed within the same aquifer. There are other aquifers within a few hundred feet of the overlying Lakota Formation that could be developed as an alternative to the Lakota to help limit the loss of pressure. The much deeper Pahasapa Limestone generally is developed because of the large supplies that are possible. Because there are no other large yield aquifers, there are no alternatives to limit the loss of pressure of the Pahasapa in the event of increased development. (USGS)
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
No abstract available.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The lower Mesilla Valley extends southward from the vicinity of Anthony, Tex., to the gorge of the Rio Grande north of El Paso and westward from the Franklin Mountains to the east edge of La Mesa. The increase in the use of ground water for the public water supply of El Paso and for supplemental irrigation, when the surface-water allotments were inadequate, emphasized the need for an investigation of the ground-water resources of the lower Mesilla Valley.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.