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Research about Reston, Virginia

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Reston, Virginia.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2014

Powder X-ray diffraction laboratory, Reston, Virginia

The powder x-ray diffraction (XRD) laboratory is managed jointly by the Eastern Mineral and Environmental Resources and Eastern Energy Resources Science Centers. Laboratory scientists collaborate on a wide variety of research problems involving other U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) science centers and government agencies, universities, and industry. Capabilities include identification and quantification of crystalline and amorphous phases, and crystallographic and atomic structure analysis for a wide variety of sample media. Customized laboratory procedures and analyses commonly are used to characterize non-routine samples including, but not limited to, organic and inorganic components in petroleum source rocks, ore and mine waste, clay minerals, and glassy phases. Procedures can be adapted to meet a variety of research objectives.

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USGS2005

The stability of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in ground-water samples archived in borosilicate ampoules

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) Laboratory in Reston, Va., has been measuring concentrations of CFCs in ground-water samples since 1989 to estimate the year that a water sample was recharged to a ground-water flow system. The water samples have been collected in flame-sealed borosilicate ampoules. Typically for each site, three samples were analyzed within days to a few months after collection, and additional samples were archived for extended periods of time (up to four years). The stability of CFC concentrations in the archived water samples from the USGS CFC Laboratory was investigated by analyzing the CFC concentrations in archived water samples and comparing them with the CFC concentrations that were obtained soon after the samples were collected. The archived samples selected for analysis were chosen from sites with a wide variety of hydrogeologic and geochemical conditions. For CFC-11 and CFC-12 concentrations, approximately 14% and 10.5%, respectively, of the archived samples were statistically different (both higher and lower) from the concentrations obtained from analyses conducted soon after the sample collection. Most of the extraneous values were attributed to natural variability of CFC concentrations originally in the water discharged from wells, rather than to microbial degradation within the ampoule on storage.

Virginia↗
USGS2004

Atmospheric wet deposition of trace elements to a suburban environment, Reston, Virginia, USA

Wet deposition from a suburban area in Reston, Virginia was collected during 1998 and analyzed to assess the anion and trace-element concentrations and depositions. Suburban Reston, approximately 26 km west of Washington, DC, is densely populated and heavily developed. Wet deposition was collected bi-weekly in an automated collector using trace-element clean sampling and analytical techniques. The annual volume-weighted concentrations of As, Cd, and Pb were similar to those previously reported for a remote site on Catoctin Mt., Maryland (70 km northwest), which indicated a regional signal for these elements. The concentrations and depositions of Cu and Zn at the suburban site were nearly double those at remote sites because of the influence of local vehicular traffic. The 1998 average annual wet deposition (μg m −2 yr −1 ) was calculated for Al (52,000), As (94), Cd (54), Cr (160), Cu (700), Fe (23,000), Mn (2000), Ni (240), Pb (440), V (430), and Zn (4100). The average annual wet deposition (meq m −2 yr −1 ) was calculated for H + (74), Cl − (8.5), NO 3 − (33), and SO 4 2− (70). Analysis of digested total trace-element concentrations in a subset of samples showed that the refractory elements in suburban precipitation comprised a larger portion of the total deposition of trace elements than in remote areas.

Virginia↗
USGS2000

Water-quality data collected at Lake Anne, Reston, Virginia, 1997-1999

Samples from the Lake Anne watershed were collected and analyzed to assess the water quality from December 1997 through January 1999. Lake Anne is a stream impoundment in suburban Northern Virginia and its outflow is a sub-tributary of the Potomac River. Samples of wet deposition (precipitation), lake water, and streamwater that drain into and from Lake Anne were collected and analyzed. Trace-element clean sampling and analysis protocols were followed throughout the project. This report is a compilation of the precipitation, lake-water, and streamwater data collected in the Lake Anne watershed and the associated quality assurance/quality control data. Concentrations of the trace elements arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, nickel, strontium, vanadium, and zinc, and of the major inorganic ions, aluminum, bicarbonate, calcium, chloride, hydrogen ion, iron, magnesium, potassium, nitrate, sodium, and sulfate are reported.

Virginia↗
USGS1993

Planning and acquiring a national center for the United States Geological Survey

In August 1973, the U.S. Geological Survey moved its first group of employees into the John Wesley Powell Federal Building of its newly constructed National Center at Reston, Virginia. The move signaled the fruition of more than 20 years of dedicated planning and work following World War II, to consolidate the agency's widespread activities into one location, which could truly serve as a national center. Architecture of distinction and quality, in the words of its principal architect, Walter A. Netsch , ''was considered to be quite radical at the time." The John Wesley Powell Federal Building provides requisite and adequate facilities in an architectural style and form which reflect the dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability of the United States Government. It symbolizes the dedication to the public service that must continue to motivate and guide the Geological Survey. This history of building a National Center for the U.S. Geological Survey is a "nuts and bolts" account of the planning, design and construction, forgotten happenings, and frustrations in the planning and authorization process, and the political and other considerations which played a significant role in the culmination of a dream about a National Center for the Geological Survey. This documented data of unique procedures in the acquisition and financing of Federal buildings, the choice and development of the building site, and its location as a contribution to the enhancement of the "new town" concept of the 1960's in the planning and development of the National Capital Area, may well provide guidance in the future to those who have to decide whether a building of true worth should be preserved.

Virginia↗
USGS1978

Hydrogeology of the observation well site at the United States Geological Survey National Center, Reston, Virginia

The U. S. Geological Survey's National Center is on a 105-acre tract straddling rocks of two distinct types. These are pelitic schists of late Precambrian and early Paleozoic age; and sandstone, shale, siltstone, and conglomerate of Triassic age. Within the Triassic part is a diabase dike and an associated contact metamorphic zone. Two observation wells and two core holes were drilled on the part of the property underlain by Triassic rocks. The wells are 10-inch and 8-inch diameter and were drilled to depths of 165 feet and 205 feet. The wells were drilled to monitor water levels, for equipment testing, and to determine the hydraulic properties of the Triassic rocks. Geophysical logs were run, and good correlations were found between the electric and caliper logs and the lithologic logs prepared from drill cuttings and cores. An aquifer test was made and was analyzed by the Theis method which considers nonleaky artesian conditions and the Streltsova method which considers flow in fractured rocks. The test results suggest that transmissivity of the sandstone aquifer is about 40 ft2/day. Flowmeter surveys showed that the water comes from two thin zones parallel to the bedding. The flowmeter surveys, core samples, and geophysical logs suggest that the Triassic sandstone is a fractured-rock aquifer. Water is probably derived from partings and joints parallel to bedding which in turn are fed by vertical joints and fractures. A water sample taken at the close of the aquifer test indicates that the water has a low dissolved solids content, is soft, and is generally of excellent quality.

Virginia↗
USGS1974

Tour guide: John Wesley Powell Federal Building

Data from 5,594 samples collected from 1931 through 2006 were used to describe naturally occurring fluoride concentrations in freshwater aquifers in Louisiana. Statistical analyses were used to summarize fluoride concentrations in the aquifers.

Virginia↗
USGS1974

The National Center of the U.S. Geological Survey

In August of 1973, the U. S. Geological Survey moved its first group of employees into the John Wesley Powell Federal Building of its newly constructed National Center at Reston, Virginia. The move signaled the fruition of more than a decade of planning and work to consolidate the agency's widespread activities into one location which could truly serve as a National Center. The Survey's leadership in the natural resources field has been materially strengthened through the availability of the Center's outstanding research and engineering facilities. Also the Center affords important professional and administrative advantages by bringing together the 2,200 Survey employees in the Washington, D.C, metropolitan area.

Virginia↗
USGS1972

U.S. Geological Survey National Center, Reston, Virginia

In 1917 the Geological Survey moved into the newly built Interior Building near the White House in Washington, D. C. Twenty years later a larger building was constructed nearby to house the expanding U. S. Department of the Interior. Height restrictions reduced the planned size of the new building, and the Geological Survey was compelled to remain in the older Interior Building now identified as the General Services Administration Building. Expansion of the Survey's programs, and particularly the overall government need for additional office space in downtown Washington, has resulted in the Survey's activities being presently housed in 30 different buildings, at 17 widely scattered locations throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Virginia↗