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At least 1,693 records · Page 94Linked to original sources
USGS1960

Variation in surface elevation of the nisqually glacier Mt. Rainier, Washington

Variation in surface elevations of the Nisqually Glacier has been recorded since 1942 by the annual measurement of three profiles across the glacier , designated as nos. 1, 2, and 3, located 0.5, 1.0, and 1.7 miles respectively from the terminus, at approximate mean elevations of 5,250,6,000, and 6,800 feet. A fourth profile, 2-A, located 1.4 miles from the terminus at an approximate mean elevation of 6,450 was measured from 1948 to 1954. These profiles cross the glacier approximately normal to the direction of flow. Additional data are available from measurements made at profiles no. 1 and no. 2 in 1931, 1932 and 1941. The results of these measurements show that a wave or surge has been moving down the glacier .The mean elevation at profile no. 3 began to increase in 1945 and continued through 1951 when it was 83 feet higher than in 1944. The general trend from 1952 to 1959 has been a decrease in elevation with a net change of 30 feet since 1951. The surface elevation at profile no. 2 continued to decrease through 1948, but began to increase in 1949 and continued to do so through 1957 in which year the mean elevation was 102 feet higher than in 1948. The wave became apparent at profile no. 1 in 1954 or 9 years after it first became evident at profile no. 3. The mean elevation has continued to increase and in 1959 was 70 feet higher than in 1954. The increase in surface elevation has been accompanied by a pronounced increase in rate of movement of the glacier .

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USGS1960

Availability of ground water at the border stations at Laurier and Ferry, Washington

In the Laurier area, Washington, the Kettle River has cut into crystalline rocks in the deepest part of the valley. Sand and gravel fill were deposited in the valley during Pleistocene time by melt water from glaciers, and subsequent erosion and alluviation formed three terrace levels. The highest level, on which Laurier Border Station is situated is about 200 feet above present river level The intermediate terrace is 150 to 180 feet above river level. Wells on the intermediate terrace yield about 4 gpm (gallons per minute) per foot of drawdown. Larger yields probably could be obtained from wells on the lowest terrace (flood plain). In the Ferry area the valley fill of the Kettle River valley is as much as 150 feet thick and contains boulders that are as much as 18 inches in diameter. Small to moderate quantities of water probably would be available from wells on the high-terrace level. Large quantities of water are obtained from irrigation wells on the low terrace. The bedrock at both sites is relatively impermeable and probably would yield very meager supplies of water.

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USGS1959

Time-lapse motion picture technique applied to the study of geological processes

Light-weight, battery-operated timers were built and coupled to 16-mm motion-picture cameras having apertures controlled by photoelectric cells. The cameras were placed adjacent to Emmons Glacier on Mount Rainier. The film obtained confirms the view that exterior time-lapse photography can be applied to the study of slow-acting geologic processes.

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USGS1959

Granitization, migmatization, and fusion in the northern Entiat Mountains, Washington

A tabular quartz diorite complex extends along the Entiat Mountains , which form a southeast-trending spur of the Northern Cascade Mountains . The country rocks of the complex are biotite gneiss, probably derived from arkosic sedimentary rocks, and hornblende schist, probably derived from basic volcanic rocks. Their present mineral composition is typical of the upper epidote amphibolite and amphibolite facies of regional metamorphism. During regional metamorphism the biotite gneiss was granitized to biotite-quartz diorite gneiss and the hornblende schist to hornblende-quartz diorite gneiss. The metamorphic origin of these quartz diorite gneisses involving relatively little replacement is shown by their chemical and mineralogical similarity to the original biotite gneiss and hornblende schist, by their enclosing long, thin, undisturbed layers of country rocks, and by their association with migmatites formed by metamorphic processes. Here and there in the quartz diorite gneisses massive rocks with hypidiomorphic granular "igneous" textures have formed principally by recrystallization, and these features are associated with small-scale swirling of the foliation and some intrusive features, which show that the gneiss was rendered plastic and mobile during granitization . Migmatites containing replacement bodies and secretions of leucocratic quartz diorite occur in the biotite gneiss and in most of the rocks of the complex - particularly in the biotite-quartz diorite gneiss. During the formation of the complex, the felsic material contained in the leucocratic rocks, principally sodium, potassium, and silicon, was generated by metamorphic differentiation. During the granitization , anatectic magmas were formed by fusion of hornblende-quartz diorite gneiss, and some similar magma intruded from below. Melting without metamorphic differentiation is indicated by the chemical similarity between the anatectic quartz diorite and the parent hornblende-quartz diorite gneiss. Smearing out of inclusions and crystals and the tabular, sill-like nature of the bodies indicate that fusion may have been triggered by differential movement and shearing. The anatectic rocks contain inclusions of hornblende schist that survived both the granitization to hornblende-quartz diorite and the fusion . Crystallization differentiation of the anatectic magmas yielded potassium-rich pegmatites and local granodioritic masses. Regional metamorphism continued after the anatectic magmas in the sills had solidified; felsic metamorphic differentiates occur in leucocratic quartz diorite that partly replaces the borders of the sills. The leucocratic material was plastic and facilitated differential movement between the sill and its walls.

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USGS1959

White-spot disease of salmon fry

White-spot disease, sometimes referred to as coagulated-yolk disease, has been associated with excessive mortalities occurring among the fry and early fingerling stages of the fall chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytacha ) at the U.S. Fish-Cultural Stations at Carson, Cook, Underwood, and Willard, Washington. This disease of eggs and fry should not be confused with the "white-spot" infection that is caused in fingerlings by members of the protozoan genus Ichthyophthirius .

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USGS1959

Geology of the southern part of the Turtle Lake quadrangle, northeastern Washington

The Turle Lake quadrangle is in northeastern Washington about twenty-five miles west of Spokane. The present study includes slightly more than the southern half of the quadrangle. This study is the first detailed study of the rocks in this vicinity; earlier work in the area consists of reconnaissance mapping north of the quadrangle and reports on individual mines.

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USGS1959

Coal resources of southwestern Washington

This summary of coal reserves in the Centralia-Chehalis district and the Kelso-Castle Rock area is part of a reappraisal of coal reserves of the State of Washington which is now in progress. The State-wide summary will show the quantity, quality and distribution of coal in the State based on a study of all available information. The Centralia-Chehalis district is in Lewis and Thurston Counties. It covers an area of more than 200 square miles underlain by coal-bearing rocks and is the largest of the subbituminous coal fields in southwestern Washington. The total reserves of subbituminous coal remaining in the ground in this district as of January 1, 1958, are estimated to be 3,694 million short tons, all within 3,000 feet of the surface. The Kelso-Castle Rock area is in Lewis and Cowlitz Counties. The coal in this area ranges in rank from lignite to subbituminous. The total reserves of coal in the area are estimated to be about 150 million short tons, all within less than 24000 feet of the surface. Of this total, 25 million short tons are sub-bituminous and 125 million short tons are lignite.

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USGS1958

Nickel-gold ore of the mackinaw mine, Snohomish County, Washington

The Mackinaw mine ore is of an unusual or unique type, consisting chiefly of niccolite, maucherite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite, cubanite, and magnetite in an altered peridotite. Valleriite, gold and sphalerite are minor primary minerals; chalcocite and violarite or bravoite are supergene minerals. Pyrrhotite and pyrite are absent. From the textural relations it is inferred that a complex copper-nickel-iron sulfide was deposited early. On cooling, the sulfide unmixed into two different complex sulfides, one of which in turn unmixed into chalcopyrite and cubanite, the other into chalcopyrite and pentlandite. The latter exsolution relationship has not been previously reported. Valleriite either exsolved from, or replaced, chalcopyrite. Late solutions altered the niccolite to maucherite, and introduced gold and magnetite. The gold is almost always with maucherite.

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