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Research about Idaho

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Idaho.

At least 1,045 records · Page 58Linked to original sources
USGS1955

Preliminary geologic map of the Paris-Bloomington vanadium area, Bear Lake County, Idaho

The Permian Phosphoria formation in the vicinity of the towns of Paris and Bloomington, Bear Lake County, Idaho, contains large tannages of vanadiferous mudstone and phosphorite. The area underlain by these rocks was mapped in 1943 as a guide to the exploration of the vanadiferous zone then being conducted by the Wyodak Coal and Manufacturing Company, agent for the Metals Reserve Company. Pending publication of the full data acquired during these studies, the geologic maps are made available here in preliminary form as an aid to any who contemplate mining in the area.

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USGS1955

Feasibility of ground-water features of the alternate plan for the Mountain Home Project, Idaho: abstract and summary

On the arid Mountain Home Plateau of Idaho more than 400,000 acres of arable land is largely unused except for grazing. The Boise Valley, adjoining on the north, was reclaimed from similar land and irrigated with Boise River water. The productivity of about 100,000 acres of the valley land is lowered or threatened, however, by an ever-rising water table, caused to rise by infiltration of excess irrigation water. Surface drains alleviate the drainage problem but areas of water-logging, alkaline land, and inferior vegetation continue to spread.

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USGS1955

Ground-water-supply possibilities in parts of Bear Lake and Caribou Counties, Idaho

Ground-water possibilities in parts of Bear Lake and Caribou counties, Idaho, were studied briefly, with special reference to the vicinities of Dingle and Montpelier and to the availability of ground water for expected industrial developments. The work was part of the ground-water investigations by the Geological Survey in cooperation with the state of Idaho. Most of the factual information herein was obtained from well drillers, farmers, and municipal water engineers. Geological examination was made of apparently favorable areas and water samples were collected from wells at Dingle Station and south of Wardboro.

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USGS1955

Ground-water and drainage problems in the Whitney terrace area, Boise, Idaho

Ground-water levels in the Whitney terrace area, after many years of rise owing to downward percolation of water from irrigated land, became nearly stabilized by 1935. Strong seasonal water-level fluctuations of 8 to 10 feet, however, are common in the Boise Valley. In recent years, the Whitney terrace has been changing rapidly from a farming to an urban community. The 3,200-acre area now has about 15,000 inhabitants and the land area is about 35-percent occupied by urban developments. Population trends indicate that urban expansion will continue. Coincident with the change from rural to urban conditions on the Whitney terrace, the patterns of water use were drastically altered. The amount of irrigated land has decreased but the amount of ground-water recharge from irrigation and yard water may have increased. Liquid sewage effluent disposed in the ground also has increased the yearly volume of recharge. The estimated average yearly amount of recharge from all sources now is about 2.4 acre-feet per acre. Full urban development of the area may increase recharge from all sources to about 3.3 acre-feet per acre. Ground-water and drainage problems can be relieved by reducing excessive recharge to the ground-water reservoir. Reduction can be accomplished by economical use of water by individuals, establishment of a water-tight public sewage system to transport all sewage to a central plant outside of the area, and by drainage works. These measures would cause a net decline of ground-water levels in the area. They can be undertaken separately or collectively.

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USGS1955

New storage on Snake River for irrigation use above Milner, Idaho

With Palisades reservoir in operation there will be many years when the available water supply on Snake River above Milner will be fully utilized by storage in the then existing reservoirs under their established priority rights. Surplus water spilling to waste in past years is shown by the record of flow at the Milner gaging station on Snake River as follows.

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USGS1955

Uranium-bearing minerals in placer deposits of the Red River Valley, Elk City district, Idaho County, Idaho

Uranium-bearing multiple oxide minerals were first recognized in the jig-bed concentrate of !the Tyee Mining Company'ss gold dredge on the Red River about 10 miles south of Elk City. Idaho County, Idaho, in late 1951 or early 1952. The gravels of the placer deposits were derived from the Idaho batholith and a roof pendant of Precambrian rocks in the batholith. Three samples taken for analysis show that the jig-bed concenuate contains 0.134 percent uranium. The nonmagnetic, non-radioactive fractions of the samples assayed 0.2 percent niobium, but no columbite was recognized in the samples. The uranium-bearing placer mineals are brannerite. euxenitte, davidite. betafite, and also contain niobium; ilmenite in the gravels may also contain some niobium. Pegmatites are believed to be the somce of the uranium- and niobium-bearing minerals, but the possibility of finding a pegmatite in the area ,that can be mined economically for uranium or niobium is remote.

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USGS1954

The occurrence of cobalt and nickel in the Silver Summit Mine, Coeur d'Alene district, Idaho

Cobalt and nickel of possible commercial interest have been discovered in the Silver Summit mine, Coeur d'Alene district, Idaho. Assay data indicate that an ore shoot contained about 0.40 percent cobalt and about 1.0 percent nickel in addition to the copper and rich silver ores. The cobalt-nickel mineral gersdorffite occurs in tetrahedrite-siderite veins. Gersdorffite is widespread in small amounts and appears to have been the first of the "ore shoot" minerals. The known occurrence of either cobalt bloom or gersdorffite in other properties of the Coeur d'Alene district Silver Belt suggests that other ore shoots may exist that contain commercial quantities of cobalt and nickel.

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USGS1954

Fluorspar deposits near Meyers Cove, Lemhi County, Idaho

The fluorspar deposits near Meyers Cove, Lemhi County, Idaho, are localized along three groups of shear zones: one group strikes northeast and dips steeply northwestward, another strikes northeast and dips gently northwestward, and the third strikes northwest and dips gently southwestward. The country rocks are tuffs and flows of the Casto volcanics of Permian (?) age and the Challis volcanics of late Oligocene or early Miocene age. The known deposits are in a belt about 3 miles long and 2 miles wide and crop out at altitudes between 5,100 feet and 7,200 feet above sea level. The principal vein minerals are fluorite, chalcedony, and barite. The fluorite occurs as lodes, crusts around fragments of rock, and replacements of fine breccia. The lodes range in size from veinlets to vein zones several hundred feet long and as much as 20 feet wide and contain ore that ranges in grade from 40 percent to 85 percent CaF 2 ; the average grade is about 50 percent CaF 2 .

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USGS1954

Records of wells, ground-water levels, and ground-water withdrawals in the lower Goose Creek Basin, Cassia County, Idaho

Investigations by the United States Geological Survey of Ground Water in the Southern border area of the Snake Rive Plain, south of the Snake River, a re concerned at the present time with delineation of the principal ground-water districts, the extent and location of existing ground-water developments, the possibilities for additional development, and the effects of ground-water development on the regimen of streams and reservoirs whose waters are appropriate for beneficial use. The lower part of the Goose Creek Basin is one of the important ground-water districts of the southern plains area and there are substantial but spotty developments of ground water for irrigation in the basin. Several thousand irrigable acres that are now dry could be put under irrigation if a dependable supply of ground water could be developed. The relations of the ground-water reservoirs to the regime of the Snake River and Goose Cree, and to the large body of ground water in the Snake River Plain north of the Snake, are poorly known. A large amount of geologic and hydrologic study remains to be done before those relations can be accurately determined. Investigations will be continued in the future but file work and preparation of a comprehensive report inevitably will be delayed. Therefore the available records are presented herein in order to make them accessible to farmers, well drillers, government agencies, and the general public. Interpretation of the records is not attempted in this report and is deferred pending the accumulation of additional and quantitative information. The data summarized herein include records of the locations and physical characteristics of wells, the depth to water in wells, fluctuations of water levels in observation wells, and estimated rates and volumes of seasonal ans yearly ground-water pumpage for irrigation, municipal, and other uses. This information is complete for work done as of December 31, 1952. The investigations upon which this report is based were undertaken in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Region I, at the request of the Planning Division, Central Snake River District. The report was complied in the first instance for the use of the Bureau of Reclamation but is now released to the public. The observation-well program in the area has been maintained in cooperation with the Idaho State Department of Reclamation as part of the regular cooperative program of the Geological Survey.

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USGS1954

Stockton and Stanley Hill clay deposits, Kootenai County, Idaho

The Stockton and Stanley Hill deposits, Kootenai County, Idaho, are about 25 to 30 miles east of Spokane, Wash. During World War II, the areas were studied by the U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U. S. Bureau of Mines. The Bureau of Mines hand-augered 162 holes and made chemical analyses of the samples for available alumina, and available ferric oxide, and measured the ignition loss. The deposit contains two types of clay: granite residual clay derived from the weathering of Cretaceous granite gneiss in place; and transported clays of the Latah formation derived from the weathered. debris of the granodiorite and older rocks. The Stockton deposits average more than 20 percent available alumina and less than 10 percent available ferric oxide. The deposits, therefore, could serve as a small source of low-grade high alumina clay. Clays containing more than 15 percent available alumina and less than 5 percent available ferric oxide would be suitable for many ceramic products and some may meet the requirements for high-heat or super-heat duties. Therefore, the Stockton and Stanley Hill clay deposits contain ceramic-grade clays.

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USGS1954

Stanford clay deposit, Latah County, Idaho

The Stanford clay deposit, Latah County, Idaho, is about 4 miles northwest of Deary, Idaho. During World War II, the area was studied by the U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U. S. Bureau of Mines. The Bureau of Mines hand-augered 10 holes and made chemical analyses on the samples for available alumina and available ferric oxide, and also measured the ignition loss. The deposit contains three types of clay: granitic residual clay derived from the weathering of Cretaceous granodiorite in place; basaltic residual clay derived from the weathering of Tertiary Columbia River basalts in place; and transported clays of the Latah formation derived from the weathered debris of the granodiorite and older rocks. Only the transported clays are considered as a potential source of available alumina and ceramic-grade clay in the Stanford deposit. The Stanford deposit averages 24.8 percent available alumina and 2 percent available ferric oxide. Transported clays containing more than 15 percent available alumina and less than 5% percent available ferric oxide would be suitable for many ceramic products and some may meet the requirements of high-heat or super-heat duties. Therefore, the clays are usable for ceramic structural ware such as bricks, terra cotta, and drain tile.

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USGS1954

Ground-water development and problems in Idaho

The development of groundwater for irrigation in Idaho, as most of you know, has proceeded at phenomenal rate since the Second World War. In the period 1907 to 1944 inclusive only about 328 valid permits and licenses to appropriate ground water were issued by the state. thereafter 28 permits became valid in 1945, 83 in 1946, and 121 in 1947. Sine 1947 permits and licenses have been issued at the rate of more than 400 a year.

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USGS1954

Results of core drilling for uranium-bearing carbonaceous shale and lignite in the Goose Creek district, Cassia County, Idaho

Thirteen core holes, totaling 2,023 feet, were drilled during the fall of 1953 to explore the grade and extent of uranium-bearing beds of carbonaceous shale and lignite in the east-central part of the Goose Creek district, Cassia County, Idaho. The beds tested are interbedded with volcanic ash, bentonite, greenish-gray shale, sandstone, and conglomerate in two fairly well defined zones in the lower part of the Salt Lake formation of lower Pliocene age. Nine holes penetrated carbonaceous shale beds in the Barrett zone, and one hole penetrated carbonaceous shale and lignite beds in zone B, 160 feet stratigraphically below the Barrett zone. The highest concentration of uranium found by drilling is 0.10 percent in the upper part of a 4-foot bed of carbonaceous shale and lignite in zone B. The grade of carbonaceous shale beds in the Barrett zone ranges from 0.044 percent to less than 0.003 percent uranium. Inferred reserves in the district are estimated to be 790,000 tons in beds 1 foot or more thick containing an average of 0.014 percent or 120 tons of uranium.

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