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Research about Kentucky

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Kentucky.

At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources
USGS1967

Some engineering geology problems at Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

The U.S. Geological Survey, at the request of the rational Park Service, participated in a field symposium May 22-26, 1967, at Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky. This symposium, held by the National Park Service, was to determine the applicability of the Wilderness Act of 1964 to underground and surface portions of the Park (W. Drew Chick, Jr., written communication, 1967). Scientific evidence bearing on the relationships between human surface activities and natural underground openings was examined and discussed at the symposium. This report discusses relations between various types of surface activities and physical damage to the cave openings and features. Additional interpretive material is taken from the literature and from limited laboratory information. Possible hydrologic and biologic effects are not considered here, but were investigated by other members of the symposium. Hydrologic effects are discussed in companion report by Robert V. Cushman of the Geological Survey.

Kentucky↗
USGS1966

Summary of hydrologic conditions of the Louisville area, Kentucky

Water problems and their solutions have been associated with the growth and development of the Louisville area for more than a century. Many hydrologic data that aided water users in the past can be applied to present water problems and will be helpful for solving many similar problems in the future. Most of the water problems of Louisville, a water-rich area, concern management and are associated with the distribution of supplies, the quality of water, drainage, and waste disposal. The local hydrologic system at Louisville is dominated by the Ohio River and the glacial-outwash deposits beneath its flood plain. The water-bearing limestones in the uplands are ,secondary sources of water. The average flow of the Ohio River at Louisville, 73 billion gallons per day, and the potential availability of 370 million gallons per day of ground water suitable for industrial cooling purposes minimize the chance of acute water shortage in the area. Under current development, use of water averages about 211 million gallons per day, excluding about 392 million gallons of Ohio River water circulated daily through steampower plants and returned directly to the river. Optimum use and control of the water resources will be dependent on solving several water problems. The principal sources of water are in the Ohio River bottom land, whereas the new and potential centers of use are in the uplands. Either water must be piped to these new centers from the present sources or new supplies must be developed. Available data on streamflow and ground water are adequate to plan for the development of small local supplies. Since the completion of floodwalls and levees in 1953, widespread damage from flooding is a thing of the past in the Louisville area. Some local flooding of unprotected areas and of lowlands along tributary streams still takes place. The analyses of streamflow data are useful in planning for protection of these areas, but additional streamflow records and flood-area mapping are needed to best solve the problem. Droughts are a problem only to users of small water supplies in the uplands, where additional water either can be imported or developed locally. Pollution and undesirable chemical quality of water for some uses are the most serious drawbacks to the optimum development of the water resources in Louisville and Jefferson County. Available chemical analyses of ground water are useful for determining its suitability for various uses, but additional data are needed to guide management decisions. Sources of contamination should be inventoried and water samples analyzed periodically to monitor changes in quality.

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USGS1965

Palynological investigations in the Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary of the Mississippi Embayment Region - II

As a part of the cooperative mapping project between the Kentucky Geological Survey and the U. S. Geological Survey, a study of Cretaceous and Tertiary spores and pollen assemblages has been undertaken to aid in distinguishing formations and to facilitate surface and subsurface correlations of strata. Reports completed from January 1, 1965 to the end of June 1965 are included in this report; others will be placed in open-file as they are completed and released for general use.

Kentucky↗
USGS1965

Plant microfossils of the Hazard No. 7 coal, Perry County, Kentucky

The cooperative mapping program between the Kentucky Geological Survey and the U. S. Geological Survey has yielded a number of interesting and valuable by-products. As a part of the stratigraphic studies involving Carboniferous coal fields, R. M. Kosanke has been involved in a detailed analysis of spore floras from various coal horizons. This study is aimed toward a correlation within the eastern coal field and, eventually, toward more accurate correlations with the western Kentucky coal fields.

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USGS1964

Mineral paragenesis and zoning in the central Kentucky mineral district

The Central Kentucky mineral district occupies the greater part of the Blue Grass lowland of Kentucky , which lies astride the Lexington dome and the Cincinnati arch. The oldest exposed rocks of the mineralized area are limestones of Middle Ordovician age. The paragenesis throughout the district is constant and traceable, although the relative abundance of minerals varies from vein to vein. The mineral association, areal distribution of the ore minerals, and comparison with other epithermal deposits indicate that the Central Kentucky veins are epithermal. The ore deposits have a district -wide lateral zoning in a concentric pattern. Near the middle of the district , and within the Lexington dome, are two centers of fluorite-calcite-dark sphalerite veins that form Zone 1. Surrounding these centers is a much larger Zone 2 in which nearly all the veins contain fluorite, barite, calcite, and two-colored (yellow-black) sphalerite. Galena is absent or present in very minute quantities in Zones 1 and 2. In Zone 3, which surrounds Zone 2, barite, galena, and bright-colored sphalerite are the principal minerals. Fluorite is absent, or present only in traces. Textures of the mineral veins change from bands of coarse comb crystals in Zone 1 to mostly colloform bands in the outer zones. Structural control of the ore is related to faults and fractures transecting the collapsed Lexington dome and is an important factor in the distribution of mineral veins. The district has many of the mineralogic, zonal, and structural features of the Central Tennessee, Kentucky -Illinois, and Pennine, England, mineral districts, which suggest that the origins of these districts were similar. The ores in the Central Kentucky district were probably deposited from ascending thermal solutions of slightly lower temperatures than those that formed the deposits in the Kentucky -Illinois district . The solutions are believed to have been derived from a deepseated magmatic source centered beneath the Lexington dome, but they may have been greatly diluted by ground waters within the dome. The innermost zone probably is nearest to the emanative centers.

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