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Robert B. Leonard

Publications and source records attributed to Robert B. Leonard.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1995

Hydrochemistry of aquifer systems and relation to regional flow patterns in Cretaceous and older rocks underlying Kansas, Nebraska, and parts of Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming

Aquifer systems in Cretaceous and older rocks of the Central Midwest are divided on the basis of hydrochemistry and ground-water flow patterns in the Plains subregion, the Western Interior Plains aquifer system contains sodium chloride type water with large concentrations of dissolved solids. Ion ratios suggest that the water was derived from seawater by concentration and by depletion of calcium and sulfate ions. In the overlying Western Interior Plains confining system, concentrations of depositional sea water and dissolution of extensive evaporite deposits have resulted in sodium chloride type water with large concentrations of dissolved solids and sodium. Overlying this confining system in the northwest part of the study area, the Great Plains aquifer system yields water that generally is less mineralized and more variable in water type than the underlying systems. Recharge of meteoric water, concentration of brackish water in which the rocks were deposited, and dissolution of underlying evaporite deposits have contributed to the observed water chemistry. The Great Plains confining system restricts the exchange of water between the underlying Great Plains aquifer system and the overlying unconfined aquifers. In the Ozark subregion, geological units equivalent to the Western Interior Plains aquifer system comprise the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system. Units of this aquifer system are exposed at the land surface, and fresh meteoric water moves rapidly through fractures and solution openings. Water chemistry in this system reflects primarily the dissolution of the predominately carbonate rocks.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1980

Supplemental data from the Ennis and other thermal-springs areas, Southwestern Montana, 1978-80

Hydrogeologic data were collected principally during 1978-80 in eight hot-spring areas, in the Marysville geothermal test well, in the Butte Mine and in the Bitterroot and Missoula River valleys to provide a basis for evaluating the geothermal potential of the areas. Measurements are tabulated for subsurface temperatures, water levels, rates of flow, and the chemical composition of water and gas in wells and test holes. Most of the data are for the area near Ennis Hot Springs.

Montana↗
USGS1980

Geothermal gradients in the Missoula and Bitterroot Valleys, west-central Montana

Temperature-depth profiles of six cased test holes in the Missoula and Bitterroot Valleys, west-central Montana, consist of linear segments, the intersections of which commonly correspond with lithologic boundaries. Geothermal gradients commonly decreased with depth, probably as a result of compaction and higher quartz content of the deeper sedimentary deposits. There is no evidence for hydrothermal discharge. A maximum temperature of 31.7 degrees Celsius was measured at a depth of 869 meters. Estimated temperatures at a depth of 1 kilometer at the drill sites ranged from about 34 to 63 degrees Celsius. Temperatures exceeding 90 degrees Celsius probably would not occur at depths less than 1,500 meters. Values of thermal conductivity needed to maintain an assumed regional heat flow of about 2.1 heat flow units along the measured geothermal gradients generally exceeded published values for the rock and soil penetrated by the wells. Laboratory determinations of the thermal conductivity of cores and cuttings would be useful to refine the estimates and to test the conclusion that the measured temperatures are not hotter than normal. (USGS)

Montana↗
USGS1978

Natural radioactivity in geothermal waters, Alhambra Hot Springs and nearby areas, Jefferson County, Montana

Radioactive hot springs issue from a fault zone in crystalline rock of the Boulder batholith at Alhambra, Jefferson County, in southwestern Montana. The discharge contains high concentrations of radon, and the gross alpha activity and the concentration of adium-226 exceed maximum levels recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water. Part of the discharge is diverted for space heating, bathing, and domestic use. The radioactive thermal waters at measured temperatures of about 60°C are of the sodium bicarbonate type and saturated with respect to calcium carbonate. Radium-226 in the rock and on fractured surfaces or coprecipitated with calcium carbonate probably is the principal source of radon that is dissolved in the thermal water and discharged with other gases from some wells and springs. Local surface water and shallow ground water are of the calcium bicarbonate type and exhibit low background activity. The temperature, percent sodium, and radioactivity of mixed waters adjacent to the fault zone increase with depth. Samples from most of the major hot springs in southwestern Montana have been analyzed for gross alpha and beta activity. The high level of radioactivity at Alhambra appears to be related to leaching of radioactive material from siliceous veins by ascending thermal waters and is not a normal characteristic of hot springs issuing from fractured crystalline rock in Montana.

Montana↗
USGS1976

Saline water in the Little Arkansas River Basin area, south-central Kansas

Ground water in unconsolidated deposits of Pleistocene age in part of the Little Arkansas River basin has been polluted by the influx of saline water. The source of the saline water generally is oil-field brine that leaked from disposal ponds on the land surface. Locally, pollution by saline water also has been caused by upwelling of oil-field brine injected under pressure into the "lost-circulation zone" of the Lower Permian Wellington Formation and, possibly, by leakage of brine from corroded or improperly cased disposal wells. Anomalously high concentrations of chloride ion in some reaches of the Little Arkansas River probably can be attributed to pollution by municipal wastes rather than from inflow of saline ground water. Hydraulic connection exists between the "lost-circulation zone" and unconsolidated deposits, as evidenced by the continuing development of sinkholes, by the continuing discharge of saline water through springs and seeps along the Arkansas River south of the Little Arkansas River basin and by changes in the chloride concentration in water pumped from wells in the "lost-circulation zone." The hydraulic head in the "lost-circulation zone" is below the base of the unconsolidated deposits, and much below the potentiometric surface of the aquifer in those deposits. Any movement of water, therefore, would be downward from the "fresh-water" aquifer to the saline "lost-circulation zone."

Kansas↗