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Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Texas.

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Chemical analyses of lignite from the Wilcox Group, Texas region, central and eastern Texas

As part of a continuing program by the U.S. Geological Survey to collect and chemically analyze representative sales of U.S. coal, 45 samples of lignite and lignite-associated rocks were collected strip mines and drill holes in Freestone and Milam counties in central Texas, and in Harrison, Rains, Titus, Van Zandt, and Wood Counties in eastern Texas. The sampled areas are in the Texas region of the Gulf province (Trumbull, 1960). Figure 1 shows the counties from which the samples were collected. Brief descriptions of the 45 samples are given in table 1. Thirty-one samples (twenty-six lignite and five lignite-associated rock) were collected from four active strip mines in Freestone, Harrison, Milam, and Titus Counties by the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology; 14 samples (13 lignite and 1 carbonaceous shale) were collected from nine drill holes in connection with the U.S. Bureau of Mines evaluation of coal resources in the proposed Carl L. Estes Lake site, Rains, Van Zandt, and Wood Counties (Ward, 1977). All samples included in this report are from the Wilcox Group of Eocene age. The Wilcox Group is undifferentiated in Harrison, Rains, Titus, Van Zandt, and Wood Counties. Lignite in this area is in the upper two-thirds of the Wilcox. In Freestone and Milam Counties, the Wilcox Group is subdivided into the Hooper, Simsboro, and Calvert Bluff Formations. Lignite in this area is predominantly in the Calvert Bluff Formation, with minor amounts in the Hooper Formation. A generalized stratigraphic column of the Wilcox Group and associated Tertiary strata is given in figure 2. The Calvert Bluff Formation and undifferentiated Wilcox Group consist of clastic debris deposited in a fluvial environment, in which major channel complexes characterized by sand deposition divide interchannel areas composed of mud. Lignite was deposited as a blanket peat in freshwater swamps and marshes within interchannel areas. Individual lignite beds are lenticular bodies extending 3 to 20 km laterally; thicknesses are generally 1 to 3 m, rarely as much as 6 m. Descriptions of geology and lignite occurrences are in Fisher (1963), Kaiser (1974, 1978), and Kaiser and others (1978).

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Projected effects of the proposed Tennessee Colony Reservoir on ground-water conditions in the alluvium of the Trinity River and Cedar Creek, Texas: preliminary results for the Trinidad area

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed the construction of Tennessee Colony Dam and Reservoir as part of a multipurpose plan for the Trinity River and tributaries between the Dallas-Fort Worth area and the Texas Gulf Coast. The Corps requested the assistance of the U.S. Geological Survey (1) to define the existing ground-water conditions in the alluvium of the Trinity River and Cedar Creek in the Trinidad area, and (2) to project the long-term effects of stresses imposed on the ground-water system by Tennessee Colony Reservoir.

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Hydrologic data for urban studies in the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area, 1977

Hydrologic investigations of urban watersheds in Texas were begun by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1954. Studies are now in progress in Austin, Dallas and Dallas County, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the city of Houston, began studies in the Houston metropolitan area in 1964. The program was expanded in 1968 to include collection of water-quality data. The objectives of the Houston urban hydrology study are as follows:1. To determine, on the basis of historical data and hydrologic analyses, the magnitude and frequency of flood peaks and flood volume; 2. To determine the effect of urban development on flood peaks and volume; 3. To ascertain the variation in water quality for different flow conditions and different seasons. This report, the fourteenth in a series of reports to be published annually, is primarily applicable to objective 2. The report presents the basic hydrologic data collection in the Houston urban area for the1977 water year (October 1976 to September 1977). A previous report by Johnson and Sayre (April 1973) utilized records collected from 1965 to 1969 to make a study of the effects of urbanization on floods in the Houston area. The report also summarizes various basin parameters.

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Helium in soil-gas and helium/radon in ground water in the vicinity of a south Texas uranium roll-type deposit

A survey was run in the vicinity of a south Texas uranium roll-type deposit to determine the general concentration of helium in the soil gas and helium/radon ratios in the ground water for deposits of this nature. The helium in soil-gas concentrations are typical of the concentrations found associated with other low-grade uranium deposits in other areas. The distribution of the values probably reflects local structure and is influenced by surface activities such as farming and mining. The helium/radon ratios in water strikingly reveal the known orebody, and some samples taken for background information may indicate the presence of nearby mineralized areas.

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Hydrologic data for urban studies in the Fort Worth, Texas, metropolitan area, 1977

Hydrologic investigations of urban areas in Texas were begun by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1954. These investigations are now in progress in several major metropolitan areas including Austin, Dallas, Dallas County, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. In October 1968, the Geological Survey, in cooperation with the city of Fort Worth, began a program of hydrologic investigations on several small streams in Fort Worth. The investigations are designed to evaluate factors affecting floods on small streams in the metropolitan area. Studies of additional streams were added to the program in October 1969. In October 1976, a reduction in the scope of data collection was made, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District, assumed financing of the data collection.

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Approximate altitude of water levels in wells in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers in the Houston area, Texas, Spring 1977 and Spring 1978

The purpose of this report, which was prepared in cooperation with the cities of Houston and Galveston, the Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District, and the Texas Department of Water Resources, is to show the altitudes of water levels in wells in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers in the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area. The maps are based on water-level measurements in 1977 and 1978 in about 550 wells.

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Hydrologic data for North Creek, Trinity River basin, Texas, 1977

The U.S. Soil Conservation Service is actively engaged in the installation of flood- and soil-erosion reducing structures in Texas under the authority of "The Flood Control Act of 1936 and 1944" and "Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act" (Public Law 566), as amended. The Soil Conservation Service has found that approximately 3,500 floodwaterretarding structures would be physically and economically feasible in Texas. As of September 30, 1977, 1,695 (corrected figure) of these structures had been built. This watershed-development program will have varying but important effects on surface- and ground-water resources of river basins, especially where a large number of the floodwater-retarding structures are built. Basic hydrologic data under natural and developed conditions are needed to appraise the effects of the structures on the yield and mode of occurrence of runoff. During the period 1951-62, the U.S. Geological Survey began hydrologic investigations in 12 small watersheds (fig. 1). As of Sept. 30, 1977, data collection in eleven of these study areas has been completed and is now in progress in one area. This study is being made in cooperation with the Texas Department of Water Resources, the Soil Conservation Service, the San Antonio River Authority, the city of Dallas, and the Tarrant County Control and Improvement District No. 1. The 12 study areas were chosen to sample watersheds having different rainfall, topography, geology, and soils. In five of the study areas (North, Little Elm, Mukewater, Little Pond-North Elm, and Pin Oak Creeks), streamflow and rainfall records were collected prior to construction of the floodwater-retarding structures, thus affording the opportunity for analyses of the conditions "before and after" development. A summary of the development of the floodwater-retarding structures in each study area as of Sept. 30, 1977, is shown in table 1.

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Borehole gravity surveys in native-sulfur deposits, Culberson and Pecos counties, Texas

Native-sulfur deposits in west Texas are heterogeneous, with sulfur content and formation properties varying significantly over small vertical and horizontal distances. The zone of recovery of the Frasch process extends tens or even hundreds of feet around each recovery well, but the investigation depth of most wire-line logs is measured in inches. Consequently, the analysis of drill cores is still the primary method for the evaluation of sulfur deposits.

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Physical characteristics of suspended sediments, South Texas Continental Shelf

This report presents the results of a three-year study of suspended sediments within the South Texas OCS region. The investigations were a part of the environmental studies of the South Texas Outer Continental shelf sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management. The physical properties of the suspended particulate system studied were the turbidity of the water and the texture of the suspended particulates. The objective of the study was to determine the spatial and temporal variability in the distribution of suspended sediments in an effort to gain insight into the regional sediment transport system.

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Hydrologic data for Mountain Creek, Trinity River basin, Texas, 1977

The collection of hydrologic data by the U.S. Geological Survey in the Mountain Creek watershed began on March 9, 1925, with the establishment of a stream-gaging station located about 2.5 miles upstream from the present site of Mountain Creek Lake Dam. The stream-gaging station was discontinued on July 5, 1933. Daily streamflow records obtained at this site are published in the annual series of Geological Survey Water-Supply Papers beginning in 1925. Monthly and yearly summaries are published in Water-Supply Paper 1312. In October 1960, the Geological Survey resumed collection of hydrologic data in the Mountain Creek watershed by establishing three stream-gaging stations and one reservoir-content station. The data-collection sites are on Mountain Creek near Cedar Hill, Walnut Creek near Mansfield, Mountain Creek at Grand Prairie, and Mountain Creek Lake near Grand Prairie (fig. 1). In October 1970, the Geological Survey assumed operation of the stage station Mountain Creek near Duncanville (fig. 1). Water-quality data for the 1977 water year for sites in the study area are presented in downstream order along with the streamflow data in the section "Compilation of data." A complete tabulation of data, including laboratory analyses, for the 1977 water year for the Trinity River basin is given in Water resources data for Texas, TX-77-1, 1977. The purpose of this report is to compile the records of streamflow and reservoir content for the year into a form which facilitates their use in detailed analyses of the Mountain Creek hydrologic system. This report contains basic-hydrologic data for the 1977 water year (Oct. 1, 1976-Sept. 30, 1977). Assistance in the form of funds or services was provided by the Texas Department of Water Resources and the Dallas Power and Light Company.

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Hydrologic data for urban studies in the Dallas, Texas, metropolitan area, 1977

In August 1961, the Geological Survey, in cooperation with the city of Dallas, began a program of investigations designed to evaluate hydrologic factors affecting floods on several small streams in Dallas. During the 1977 water year, the original program was expanded to include the greater Dallas metropolitan area.

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Mathematical model for simulating discharges on the Sabine River between Tatum and Ruliff, Texas

A mathematical model for simulating discharges on the Sabine River between Tatum and Ruliff, TX., was developed to evaluate the effects of release schedules on discharges from the Toledo Bend Reservoir compared to discharges under natural conditions. Using the discharge at Tatum, TX., the rainfall over the basin, and the discharge release schedule for the reservoir, discharge hydrographs for the natural and reservoir-controlled conditions can be computed.

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Approximate water-level changes in wells in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers, 1977-79, and measured compaction, 1973-79, in Harris and Galveston Counties, Texas

This report consists of: (1) Four maps that present data on water-level changes during 1977-79 in the Chicot and Evangeline aquifers and; (2) one set of graphs that present data on the compaction of subsurface materials for 1973-79. During 1977-79, groundwater pumping decreased in Galveston County and southern Harris County, Tex., and increased in northern and western Harris County. (Woodard-USGS)

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