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Research about Michigan

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Michigan.

At least 613 records · Page 34Linked to original sources
USGS1969

Water resources of the Belle River basin, southeastern Michigan

This hydrologic atlas represents a part of a comprehensive study of the water resources of southeastern Michigan. The purpose of the atlas is to present data on (1) the physical features of the Belle River and its tributaries, (2) the characteristics of streamflow, (3) the quality of ground and surface waters, and (4) an evaluation of the ground-water potential of the area. The atlas is one in a series of atlases on several river basins in southeastern Michigan.

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USGS1969

Water resources of the Pine River Basin, southeastern Michigan

The land surface of the Pine River basin, an area of 194 square miles, is a relatively flat or gently undulating northwest to southeast trending glacial lake plain. The plain is interrupted by small streams and by a series of former glacial lake beaches. Other irregularities are the morainal hills in the headwaters and the morainal areas that form a large part of the basin divide. Altitudes range from 850 feet above mean sea level in the northwest corner of the basin to 578 feet at the mouth of the Pine river. Drainage is not well developed in the basin. Many stream courses are poorly defined, having cut only from 3 to 10 feet below the adjacent plain. For this reason, ditches and drains are necessary to effectively drain parts of the basin. There are a few small scattered ponds, but no lakes within the basin.

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USGS1968

Analog simulation of ground-water development of the Saginaw Formation, Lansing metropolitan area, Michigan

This report was prepared as a part of the study of the water resources of Clinton, Eaton and Ingham Counties being made for the Tri-County Planning Commission by the Water Resources Division of the U. S. Geological Survey. The report describes one phase of the investigation, that is, the projections of future time-withdrawal-drawdown relationships obtained from an electric analog model study of the Saginaw Formation, the principal aquifer in the Lansing Metropolitan area. The study of the Tri-County Region is a part of the continuing program of water resources investigation conducted by the U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Geological Survey Division of the Michigan Department of Conservation and other state and local agencies.

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USGS1967

Water resources of the Marquette Iron Range area, Michigan

Large quantities of water are needed in the beneficiation and pelletizing processes by which the ore mined from low-grade iron-formations is upgraded into an excellent raw material for the iron and steel industry. Extensive reserves of low-grade iron-formation available for development herald an intensification of the demands upon the area's water supplies. This study was designed to provide water facts for public and private agencies in planning orderly development and in guiding the management of the water resources to meet existing and new requirements. Inland lakes and streams are the best potential sources of water for immediate development. The natural flow available for 90 percent of the time in the Middle and East Branches of the Escanaba River, the Carp River, and the Michigamme River is about 190 cubic feet per second. Potential storage sites are identified, and their complete development could increase the available supply from the above streams to about 450 cubic feet per second. Outwash deposits are the best potential sources of ground water. Large supplies could be developed from extensive outwash deposits in the eastern part of the area adjacent to Goose Lake Outlet and the East Branch Escanaba River. Other areas of outwash occur in the vicinity of Humboldt, West Branch Creek, and along the stream valleys. Streamflow data were used to make rough approximations of the ground-water potential in some areas. In general, however, the available data were not sufficient to permit quantitative evaluation of the potential ground-water supplies. Chemical quality of the surface and ground waters of the area is generally acceptable for most uses. Suspended sediment in the form of mineral tailings in effluents from ore-processing plants is a potential problem. Existing plants use settling basins to effectively remove most of the suspended material. Available records indicate that suspended-sediment concentrations and loads in the receiving waters have not been significantly increased by these operations. Present water use is about 60 cubic feet per second in the area. Thus, available water supplies are believed to be adequate for existing and foreseeable new uses. Water management, rather than water availability, is of prime consideration in this area. Time distribution of available water supplies, distribution of water to points of use, effect of surface-water development upon ground water and vice versa, and possible conflicts with competing uses are some of the management problems that are discussed. The presence of many inland lakes, favorable storage sites on streams, and several promising acquifers provide flexibility in possible water-management operations. A discussion of the interrelationships between surface and ground water and a ground-water budget are presented to render a better understanding of the hydrologic system with which water management will be concerned.

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USGS1966

Sulfide-mineral zoning in the basal nonesuch shale, Northern Michigan

A zone, 1 to 50 feet thick, at the base of the Nonesuch Shale , is relatively rich in copper, chiefly as chalcocite. Pyrite is the characteristic sulfide mineral of the overlying 400 to 600 feet of the formation. The boundary of the cupriferous zone with the pyrite zone regionally transgresses both stratigraphic layering and fades gradations indicative of ancient environmental boundaries. The top of the cupriferous zone is marked by the upward sequence, chalcocite-bornite-chalcopyrite-pyrite, and by the cadmium sulfide , greenockite. The sulfide zoning does not appear to be syngenetic. The regional configuration of the cupriferous zone suggests, instead, that the copper was introduced after deposition of the entire 50-foot sequence of strata. The area in which the top of the cupriferous zone is stratigraphically highest is related spatially, and probably genetically, to a zone of wedging in the underlying Copper Harbor Conglomerate.

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USGS1966

Flexible plastic collars compared to nasal discs for marking geese

Construction of a flexible plastic collar for marking geese is described. The usefulness of the collars, tried on 468 Canada geese ( Branta canadensis ) at the Seney National Wildlife Refuge from 1963 to 1965, was compared with that of nasal discs attached to 361 Canada geese at Seney in 1961 and 1962. The collars were superior to the discs in visibility, retention, and ease of placement, and injury to the geese was eliminated. There was no evidence that the collars affected breeding behavior.

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USGS1966

Induced recharge of an artesian glacial-drift aquifer at Kalamazoo, Michigan

As part of a program for managing its ground-water supply, the city of Kalamazoo has constructed induced-recharge facilities at the sites of several of its well fields. To determine the benefits of induced recharge in a water-management program, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the city, conducted a series of field experiments at a city well field (Station 9). The 12 production wells at the test site penetrate about 160 feet of glacial drift, which can be separated into three general units a lower aquifer, an intervening confining layer, and an upper aquifer. Although the upper aquifer is not tapped by any of the municipal supply wells, it serves as a storage and transmission medium for water from the West Fork Portage Creek. The testing program consisted of four aquifer and three recharge tests. The aquifer tests show that the transmissibility of the upper and lower aquifers ranges from 50,000 to 100,000 gallons per day per foot and indicate that nearly 200 gpm (gallons per minute) leaks through the intervening aquiclude under nonpumping conditions. The object of the three recharge tests (tests 5, 6, and 7) was to observe the effects of induced recharge by varying conditions in the recharge channel. During the three recharge tests, 7 wells were pumped at a total rate averaging about 2,500 gpm. During test 5, inflow to the channel was shut off, and the water level in the channel was allowed to decline. Drawdowns measured during this test were used as a standard for comparison with drawdowns in tests 6 and 7. During test 6, the head in the recharge channel was maintained as constant as possible, and the inflow to the channel was measured. The rate of induced recharge, as indicated by the measured inflow, averaged about 300 gpm. Between tests 6 and 7, the area of the channel was increased from 27,000 to 143,000 square feet. During test 7, the head in the channel was again maintained as constant as possible, but the inflow to the larger channel increased to about 600 gpm. The principal effect of induced recharge on the two aquifers was to reduce the amount and rate of drawdown. Therefore, where water levels and artesian pressures can be maintained at high stages, the result is lower pumping costs and increased rates of withdrawal during periods of peak demand.

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USGS1966

Water resources of Branch County, Michigan

Branch County has abundant water resources throughout most of its area. Almost all the water used is supplied by wells that obtain water from glacial drift deposits and locally from fractures and sandy beds in the Coldwater Shale. Glacial drift in buried bedrock valleys may yield large quantities of water to wells. Well yields are generally adequate for domestic and farm supplies. Properly developed large-diameter wells tapping thick beds of sand and gravel of the glacial drift can yield up to several thousands of gallons per minute locally. The hundreds of lakes and the many perennial streams have great recreational value. They are also a large potential source of water for some supplies. For example, it is estimated that 88 billion gallons of water runs off in streams of the county in an average year, and the lakes o the county hold about 42billion gallons of water in storage. Problems of water supply to wells exist locally in some moraine and till areas of where the glacial drift is thin and the underlying bedrock yields only small quantities of water or none at all. Ground water is generally hard to very hard and often contains excessive iron. Salty water is mainly a problem in areas where bedrock is the chief source. Floods are not a serious problem largely because of the storage capacity of the lakes and the permeable materials in some stream basins. Based on measurements at eight stream sites the estimated amount of flow for 90 percent of the time ranges from 80,000 to 150,000 gallons per day per square mile of drainage area. A special study of low levels in land-locked Gilead Lake indicated that this lake is semiperched and mostly dependent upon the water table for tits levels.

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USGS1965

Ages of minerals from metamorphic and igneous rocks near Iron Mountain, Michigan

More than 100 independent isotopic ages have been determined for minerals from an area in northern Michigan about 35 miles square. Granites, pegmatites, and metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rocks have yielded Rb-Sr ages for feldspar, muscovite, and biotite, K-Ar ages for hornblende, muscovite, biotite, and feldspar, and U-Pb and Th-Pb ages for zircon. It was anticipated that we would learn from the measurements both the intrusive and metamorphic history of the area and would be able to place limits on the age of the Precambrian sediments in this area. The conclusions may be summarized as follows: (1) Granites and pegmatites with approximate ages of 2,700 and 1,900 m.y. have been found. (2) The major mineral -forming metamorphic event occurred between 1,800 and 2,000 m.y. ago. (3) The Precambrian sedimentary rocks called Animikie are older than 1, 900 m.y. and younger than 2,700 m.y. (4) Biotite Rb-Sr and K-Ar ages and muscovite K-Ar ages were strongly modified by the equivalent of a rise in temperature approximately 1,350 m.y. ago, although no mineral -forming event in this interval has been observed. (5) The K-Ar system was further affected by a thermal rise at about 1,100 m.y. This later event is probably recorded geologically by a few diabase dikes.The resistance to post-formation thermal events shown by the various minerals and decay systems tested may be classified as follows (lowest to highest): feldspar K-Ar, biotite K-Ar, muscovite K-Ar, biotite Rb-Sr, zircon U 238 -Pb 206 , zircon Th-Pb 208 , zircon U 235 -Pb 207 , muscovite Rb-Sr, feldspar Rb-Sr. The few hornblende K-Ar measurements indicate that the resistance of this system is about comparable to that of muscovite and feldspar Rb-Sr. The Pb 207 -Pb 206 age derived from the two U-Pb ages is somewhat more resistant to change than the feldspar Rb-Sr ages .

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USGS1965

Aeromagnetic map of parts of Marquette, Dickinson, Baraga, Alger, and Schoolcraft Counties, Michigan, and its geologic interpretation

The U. S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Geological Survey Division of the Michigan Department of Conservation, is conducting a comprehensive restudy of the iron-bearing districts of Michigan. The use of aeromagnetic data is one of the fastest and most reliable methods for outlining the areal distribution of magnetic iron-formation and thus is of material value in assessing the iron resources of the United States. As part of this program of restudy, aeromagnetic surveys of approximately 4,500 square miles of the Northern Peninsula have been made. The results of several of these surveys have been presented by Balsley and others (1949) and by Wier and others (.1953). This report is about a survey made in 1950, over an area of about 1,400 square miles in Marquette County and ad-· joining strips in northern Dickinson and northeastern Baraga Counties, and a later survey flown in 1961, over about 500 square miles in parts of Marquette, Alger, and Schoolcraft Counties. The Marquette iron range extends in an east-west direction across approximately the west-central part of the area, and iron districts of lesser importance are located at Republic, in the southwestern part of the area, and near Gwinn, in the south -central part of the area. Aeromagnetic surveys were flown along north-south lines spaced at intervals of one-quarter mile in the western part of the area and at intervals of from about 1 to 3 miles in the eastern part. Lines were flown at approximately 500 feet above the surface or at elevations of 1,100 to 2,400 feet above sea level. The flight path of the aircraft was recorded by a gyrostabilized continuous-strip camera, and elevation was continuously recorded by a radio altimeter. Magnetic measurements were made by an AN/ASQ-3A fluxgate magnetometer. Compilation of aeromagnetic data was by standard methods, described by Balsley ( 1952 ), under the supervision of John Kirby and Frank Petrafeso. The aeromagnetic contours are relative to an arbitrary datum. Magnetic properties of rocks were measured by W. E. Huff. At the time the earlier aeromagnetic survey was flown, the only base maps available were planimetric maps such as the Helena NW quadrangle and county road maps. Small errors, therefore, may exist in the location of flight lines and specific aeromagnetic a nomalies. The major magnetic anomalies and broad areas that have characteristic magnetic patterns are correlated herein with geology as determined from published reports and from mapping done since 1957 by the U. S. Geological Survey in the eastern part of the Marquette iron range. The geology north of the Marquette iron range and west of the line between R. 25 W. and R. 26 W. is based mainly on a compilation made by Robert Reed of the Geological Survey Division of the Michigan Department of Conservation from data in the files of the State Survey. In addition some aeromagnetic features have been checked by ground magnetometer in selected localities and correlated directly with the rock types. A few oriented samples have been collected for measurement of the magnetic properties of the major rock units, but many hundreds or thousands of samples would be required to obtain a full range of values of the magnetic susceptibility and remanent magnetization of the rocks over such a large area. Although the geology of much of the area is still imperfectly known, the available aeromagnetic data together with the best obtainable geologic data are presented at this time, rather than awaiting the eventual extension or completion of the present mapping program, because the combined data provide much information on the extent and location of magnetic iron-formation and other major rock units where concealed beneath glacial, vegetative, and alluvial cover.

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