Geology topics

Research about Illinois River basin

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Illinois River basin.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2026

Evaluating chlorophyll fluorescence sensors as a proxy for chlorophyll a concentrations in the Illinois River, Illinois, water years 2018–24

The U.S. Geological Survey deployed instream chlorophyll fluorescence sensors on the Illinois River in Illinois to better understand the formation, dynamics, and persistence of riverine algal blooms. At five sensor locations across four U.S. Geological Survey streamgages, chlorophyll fluorescence (fChl) sensors were set to measure instantaneous fChl in micrograms per liter as chlorophyll at 15-minute intervals. These sensors estimate fChl based on the fluorescence response of algal pigments but do not directly measure chlorophyll a (Chl) concentrations or algal biomass. To evaluate the reliability of fChl as a proxy for Chl, fChl measurements were compared to laboratory-measured Chl concentrations. These Chl concentrations were obtained from water-quality samples collected at the sensor locations and analyzed using the standard chromatographic-fluorometric method with acetone extraction. A total of 209 paired fChl and Chl observations were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation and model II regression. Statistically significant, positive correlations (Pearson’s correlation coefficient of 0.68–0.95) were detected at all sensor locations, indicating that fChl generally tracked with Chl. However, model II regression detected proportional and fixed bias at three of the five locations and proportional bias at another location. At locations with proportional biases, model II regression slopes were less than 1, indicating that fChl increasingly underestimated Chl as concentrations increased; however, paired observations at high Chl concentrations were sparse. Substantial variability in bias was also observed across sensor locations with slopes ranging from 0.43 to 0.93. Overall, the results indicated that fChl correlates well with Chl in the Illinois River, but fChl may not reliably represent Chl concentrations without adjustment. For applications requiring accurate Chl estimates, a sensor location-specific surrogate model could be beneficial. These findings underscore the importance of field validation, consistent sensor placement, and careful interpretation of fChl data, particularly when reported in micrograms per liter.

Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin↗

USGS2003

Phosphorus concentrations, loads, and yields in the Illinois River Basin, Arkansas and Oklahoma, 1997-2001

The Illinois River and tributaries, Flint Creek and the Baron Fork, are designated scenic rivers in Oklahoma. Recent phosphorus increases in streams in the basin have resulted in the growth of excess algae, which have limited the aesthetic benefits of water bodies in the basin, especially the Illinois River and Lake Tenkiller. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board has established a standard for total phosphorus not to exceed the 30- day geometric mean concentration of 0.037 milligram per liter in Oklahoma Scenic Rivers. Data from water-quality samples from 1997 to 2001 were used to summarize phosphorus concentrations and estimate phosphorus loads, yields, and flowweighted concentrations in the Illinois River basin. Phosphorus concentrations in the Illinois River basin generally were significantly greater in runoff-event samples than in base-flow samples. Phosphorus concentrations generally decreased with increasing base flow, from dilution, and increased with runoff, possibly because of phosphorus resuspension, stream bank erosion, and the addition of phosphorus from nonpoint sources. Estimated mean annual phosphorus loads were greater at the Illinois River stations than at Flint Creek and the Baron Fork. Loads appeared to generally increase with time during 1997-2001 at all stations, but this increase might be partly attributable to the beginning of runoff-event sampling in the basin in July 1999. Base-flow loads at stations on the Illinois River were about 10 times greater than those on the Baron Fork and 5 times greater than those on Flint Creek. Runoff components of the annual total phosphorus load ranged from 58.7 to 96.8 percent from 1997-2001. Base-flow and runoff loads were generally greatest in spring (March through May) or summer (June through August), and were least in fall (September through November). Total yields of phosphorus ranged from 107 to 797 pounds per year per square mile. Greatest yields were at Flint Creek near Kansas (365 to 797 pounds per year per square mile) and the least yields were at Baron Fork at Eldon (107 to 440 pounds per year per square mile). Estimated mean flow-weighted concentrations were more than 10 times greater than the median and were consistently greater than the 75th percentile of flow-weighted phosphorus concentrations in samples collected at relatively undeveloped basins of the United States (0.022 milligram per liter and 0.037 milligram per liter, respectively). In addition, flow-weighted phosphorus concentrations in 1999-2001 at all Illinois River stations and at Flint Creek near Kansas were equal to or greater than the 75th percentile of all National Water-Quality Assessment program stations in the United States (0.29 milligram per liter). The annual average phosphorus load entering Lake Tenkiller was about 577,000 pounds per year, and more than 86 percent of the load was transported to the lake by runoff.The Illinois River and tributaries, Flint Creek and the Baron Fork, are designated scenic rivers in Oklahoma. Recent phosphorus increases in streams in the basin have resulted in the growth of excess algae, which have limited the aesthetic benefits of water bodies in the basin, especially the Illinois River and Lake Tenkiller. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board has established a standard for total phosphorus not to exceed the 30- day geometric mean concentration of 0.037 milligram per liter in Oklahoma Scenic Rivers. Data from water-quality samples from 1997 to 2001 were used to summarize phosphorus concentrations and estimate phosphorus loads, yields, and flowweighted concentrations in the Illinois River basin. Phosphorus concentrations in the Illinois River basin generally were significantly greater in runoff-event samples than in base-flow samples. Phosphorus concentrations generally decreased with increasing base flow, from dilution, and increased with runoff, possibly because of phosphorus resuspension, stream bank erosion, and the addition of phosphorus

Arkansas, Oklahoma↗

USGS2000

Diagenesis and reservoir quality of the Upper Mississippian Aux Vases Sandstone, Illinois Basin

Conventional reservoir quality data for more than 300 wells provided by the Illinois and Indiana state geological surveys were analyzed to determine the factors governing porosity and permeability in the Upper Mississippian Aux Vases Sandstone, an important hydrocarbon-producing unit in the Illinois Basin. In addition, approximately 150 samples of the Aux Vases Sandstone were collected for mineralogical and geochemical analysis to reconstruct the burial and diagenetic history and to establish the timing of diagenesis relative to the entrapment of hydrocarbons. One aspect of the study involved linking inorganic and organic diagenesis to late Paleozoic tectonism and hydrothermal fluid-flow events in the region.

Illinois↗

USGS1998

Flood tracking chart for the Illinois River basin

This Flood Tracking Chart for the Illinois River Basin in Illinois can be used to record and compare the predicted or current flood-crest stage to past flood-crest information. This information can then be used by residents and emergency-response personnel to make informed decisions concerning the threat of flooding to life and property. The chart shows a map of the Illinois River Basin (see below), the location of real-time streamflow-gaging stations in the basin, graphs of selected historical recorded flood-crest stages at each of the stations, and sea-level conversion (SLC) factors that allow conversion of the current or predicted flood-crest stage to elevation above sea level. Each graph represents a streamflow-gaging station and has a space to record the most current river stage reported for that station by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The National Weather Service (NWS) predicts flood crests for many of the stations shown on this chart.

Illinois↗

USGS1998

Water-quality assessment of the lower Illinois River Basin: Environmental setting

The lower Illinois River Basin (LIRB) encompasses 18,000 square miles of central and western Illinois. Historical and recent information from Federal, State, and local agencies describing the physiography, population, land use, soils, climate, geology, streamflow, habitat, ground water, water use, and aquatic biology is summarized to describe the environmental setting of the LIRB. The LIRB is in the Till Plains Section of the Central Lowland physiographic province. The basin is characterized by flat topography, which is dissected by the Illinois River. The drainage pattern of the LIRB has been shaped by many bedrock and glacial geologic processes. Erosion prior to and during Pleistocene time created wide and deep bedrock valleys. The thickest deposits and most major aquifers are in buried bedrock valleys. The Wisconsinan glaciation, which bisects the northern half of the LIRB, affects the distribution and characteristics of glacial deposits in the basin. Agriculture is the largest land use and forested land is the second largest land use in the LIRB. The major urban areas are near Peoria, Springfield, Decatur, and Bloomington-Normal. Soil type and distribution affect the amount of soil erosion, which results in sedimentation of lakes and reservoirs in the basin. Rates of soil erosion of up to 2 percent per year of farmland soil have been measured. Many of the 300 reservoirs, lakes, and wetlands are disappearing because of sedimentation resulting from agriculture activities, levee building, and urbanization. Sedimentation and the destruction of habitat appreciably affect the ecosystem. The Illinois River is a large river-floodplain ecosystem where biological productivity is enhanced by annual flood pulses that advance and retreat over the flood plain and temporarily expand backwater and flood-plain lakes. Ground-water discharge to streams affects the flow and water quality of the streams. The water budget of several subbasins show variability in ground-water contribution from runoff and storage. More than half of the drinking water, including domestic and public-supply use, in the LIRB is from ground water. Fifty-two percent of the public-supply water is from surface water. Ground-water withdrawals mostly are from glacial sand and gravel aquifers. Structural features, such as monoclines, synclines, and anticlines, in the buried bedrock affect the water quality of the aquifers. There are five natural environmental divisions in the LIRB. The Grand Prairie covers most of the northeastern half of the basin, and the Western Forest-Prairie covers most of the southwestern half. Implications of environmental setting for water quality in the LIRB are related primarily to land use. The balanced fish community indicates that the lower Illinois River is affected less from urban and industrial waste than the upper Illinois River. A decrease in dissolved oxygen concentrations and turbidity in the lower reaches of the basin in 1993 have resulted from the recent influx of European zebra mussels to the LIRB. Many factors affect water quality in the LIRB. Bedrock and surface topography, type of glacial material, and land use most directly affect water quality in the basin.

Illinois↗

USGS1995

Water-quality assessment of the upper Illinois River Basin in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin: Nutrients, dissolved oxygen, and fecal-indicator bacteria in surface water, April 1987 through August 1990

Data describing the presence, spatial distribution, and temporal variability of nutrients, dissolved oxygen, and fecal-indicator bacteria in surface water were collected from streams in the upper Illinois River Basin from 1987-90 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program. The largest concen- trations and loads of total nitrogen and total phosphorus were observed in streams in the urban areas of the basin. Mean annual loads of total nitrogen and total phosphorus leaving the upper Illinois River Basin accounted for 30 and 4 percent, respectively, of the input of these nutrients to the basin. Upward trends in total nitrogen concen- trations from 1978-90 were observed at three surface-water sampling stations, and downward trends in total phosphorus concentrations were observed at two stations. Median dissolved oxygen concentrations ranged from 3.4 to 12.2 milligrams per liter at eight long-term monitoring stations in the basin. During low-flow conditions, dissolved oxygen concentrations at 59 percent of the sites in the agricultural Kankakee River Basin and 49 percent of the sites in the urban Des Plaines River Basin were less than the Illinois water-quality standard of 5.0 milligrams per liter. Upward trends in dissolved oxygen concentrations were indicated at the two most downstream stations in the upper Illinois River Basin. Fecal-coliform densities at the fixed stations ranged from 1 to 45,000 colonies per 100 milliliters; stream-water samples from the Des Plaines River Basin typically had densities one or two orders of magnitude larger than samples from the rest of the Upper Illinois River Basin. Between 30 and 100 percent of the samples collected at surface-water sampling stations in the Des Plaines River Basin had densities of E.Coli greater than the Federal criteria for infrequently used full-body- contact water. Significant downward trends in bacteria densities were observed at three of the surface-water-monitoring stations.

Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin↗