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Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

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At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources
USGS1984

DISCRIMINATION OF GRANITOIDS AND MINERALIZED GRANITOIDS IN THE MIDYAN REGION, NORTHWESTERN ARABIAN SHIELD, SAUDI ARABIA, BY LANDSAT MSS DATA-ANALYSIS.

Landsat multispectral scanner (MSS) band and band-ratio databases of two scenes covering the Midyan region of northwestern Saudi Arabia were examined quantitatively and qualitatively to determine which databases best discriminate the geologic units of this semi-arid and arid region. Unsupervised, linear-discriminant cluster-analysis was performed on these two band-ratio combinations and on the MSS bands for both scenes. The results for granitoid-rock discrimination indicated that the classification images using the MSS bands are superior to the band-ratio classification images for two reasons, discussed in the paper. Yet, the effects of topography and material type (including desert varnish) on the MSS-band data produced ambiguities in the MSS-band classification results. However, these ambiguities were clarified by using a simulated natural-color image in conjunction with the MSS-band classification image.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1994

Brief summary of National Bridge Scour Data Base

This paper briefly summarizes more than 470 measurements of local channel scour at bridge piers from 58 sites in 14 States. Relations between local scour and selected deterministic parameters are illustrated and discussed. Observed scour depths are compared with predicted values from two local scour prediction equations.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1993

Proceedings of the symposium on restoration planning for the rivers of Mississippi River ecosystem

This volume presents over 25 papers containing the proceedings of a symposium held at the 122nd annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society in September 1992. The symposium was organised to review the status of fish and wildlife resources and restoration planning for the Mississippi river ecosystem. The objectives of the symposia were as follows: to present existing information of the biota and values associated with riverine resources throughout the basin; to identify existing or planned actions that might be useful for fisheries management in rivers within the basin and to identify minimal requirements for the restoration of important fish stocks, other aquatic resources and entire ecosystems. Papers included in this issue cover the following topics: thee impacts of altered hydrologic sediment and organic matter cycles; the availability of woody debris in the river cross-section, loss of floodplain and side-arm connection, and changing water quality.

Mississippi River Basin↗
USGS2018

Quantifying the effect of beating inferred from recorded responses of tall buildings

The beating phenomenon observed in recorded earthquake responses of a tall building in Japan and of two others buildings in the U.S. are examined in this paper. The objective of the paper is to discuss the significance of beating and to estimate what percentage of total shaking energy impacting a building is contributed by beating when it occurs. Beating is prominent in the prolonged resonant responses of lightly damped structures and is a periodic vibrational behavior caused by distinctive coupling between translational and torsional modes that typically have close frequencies. Resonances from site effects may also enhance beating. Spectral analyses and system identification techniques are used herein to quantify the periods and amplitudes of the beating from strong-motion recordings of the three buildings. Quantification of beating is a first step towards determining remedial actions to improve building resilience to this phenomenon. It is shown by the analysis presented in this paper that the ratio of additional vibrational energy of a building exhibiting beating with respect to a postulated zero beating status can be as much as 105% depending on the building and the strong shaking record. Hence, beating should be considered during design and analyses process. Alternatively, remedies maybe implemented for existing buildings.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2005

Rainfall-induced landslides in Puerto Rico: An overview

Rainfall-induced landslides are common in Puerto Rico (PR). The presence of steep slopes in mountainous terrain, coupled with weathered soils and intense rainfall, leads to severe slope-stability problems throughout the island. Episodic triggering events such as hurricanes and earthquakes further exacerbate these problems. All physiographic provinces of the island have experienced landslides. The stability of natural and man-made slopes is a serious concern for government authorities and the civil engineering community in Puerto Rico. This paper presents an overview of the rainfall induced landslide problem in PR, a summary of literature published on this subject, and proposes a rainfall intensity landslide threshold based on landslide events data from 1959 to 2003. This threshold can be used as part of a potential landslide warning system.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2017

What has been learned from pressure cores

The advancement of pressure core acquisition and analysis technology in recent decades has enabled detailed imaging and direct measurement of naturally occurring hydrate-bearing sediments and has shed light onto hydrate habits, formation processes, fundamental physical properties, and hydrate deposit responses during gas production. This paper reviews the development and capabilities of the pressure core technology, discusses insights learned from hydrate-bearing pressure cores and inherent limitations of this technology, and concludes with suggestions for potential applications of pressure core technology for investigating hydrate deposits.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2005

Drill hole logging with infrared spectroscopy

Infrared spectroscopy has been used to identify rocks and minerals for over 40 years. The technique is sensitive to primary silicates as well as alteration products. Minerals can be uniquely identified based on multiple absorption features at wavelengths from the visible to the thermal infrared. We are currently establishing methods and protocols in order to use the technique for rapid assessment of downhole lithology on samples obtained during drilling operations. Initial work performed includes spectral analysis of chip cuttings and core sections from drill sites around Desert Peak, NV. In this paper, we report on a survey of 10,000 feet of drill cuttings, at 100 foot intervals, from the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD). Data from Blue Mountain geothermal wells will also be acquired. We will describe the utility of the technique for rapid assessment of lithologic and mineralogic discrimination.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2004

History and effects of hatchery salmon in the Pacific

There has been a long history of production of hatchery salmon along the Pacific coast - from California’s first efforts in the 1870s using eggs from chinook and rainbow trout to the recent large-scale production hatcheries for pink salmon in Japan and the Russian Far East. The rationale for this production has also varied from replacement of fish lost in commercial ocean harvests to mitigation and restoration of salmon in areas where extensive habitat alteration has reduced salmonid viability and abundance. Over the years, we have become very successful in producing a certain type of product from salmon hatcheries, but until recently we seldom questioned the impacts the production and release of hatchery fish may have on freshwater and marine aquatic ecosystems and on the sustainability of sympatric wild salmon populations. This paper addresses the history of hatcheries around the Pacific Rim and considers potential negative implications of hatchery-produced salmon through discussions of biological impacts and biodiversity, ecological impacts and competitive displacement, fish and ecosystem health, and genetic impacts of hatchery fish as threats to wild populations of Pacific salmon.

Speaking for the Salmon↗
USGS2009

Afraid to Start Because the Outcome is Uncertain?: Social Site Characterization as a Tool for Informing Public Engagement Efforts

This paper introduces the concept of social site characterization as a parallel effort to technical site characterization to be used in evaluating and planning carbon dioxides capture and storage (CCS) projects. Social site characterization, much like technical site characterization, relies on a series of iterative investigations into public attitudes towards a CCS project and the factors that will shape those views. This paper also suggests ways it can be used to design approaches for actively engaging stakeholders and communities in the deployment of CCS projects. This work is informed by observing the site selection process for FutureGen and the implementation of research projects under the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership Program. ?? 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1978

Comparison of a few recording current meters in San Francisco Bay, CA

A team of research scientists in the U.S. Geological Survey uses San Francisco Bay, California, as an outdoor laboratory to study complicated interactions of physical, chemical, and biological processes which take place in an estuarine environment. A current meter comparison study was conceived because of the need to select a suitable current meter to meet field requirements for current measurements in the Bay. The study took place in south San Francisco Bay, California, in the spring of 1977. An instrument tower which was designed to support instruments free from the conventional mooring line motions was constructed and emplaced in south San Francisco Bay. During a period of two months, four types of recording current meters have been used in the tests. The four types were: (1) Aanderaa, (2) tethered shroud-impeller, (3) drag-inclinometer, and (4) electromagnetic current meters. With the exception of the electromagnetic current meter, one of each type was mounted on the instrument tower, and one of each type was deployed on moorings near the instrument tower. In addition, a wind anemometer and a recording tide gauge were also installed on the tower. This paper discusses the characteristics of each instrument and the accuracy that each instrument can provide when used in an estuarine environment. We pay special attention to our experiences in the field operation with respect to handling of the instruments and to our experiences working up the raw data in the post-deployment data analysis.

California↗
USGS2021

Experiences in LP-IoT: EnviSense deployment of remotely reprogrammable environmental sensors

The advent of Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) has improved the feasibility of wireless sensor networks for environmental sensing across wide areas. We have built EnviSense, an ultra-low power environmental sensing system, and deployed over a dozen of them across two locations in Northern California for hydrological monitoring applications with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). This paper details our experiences with the design and implementation of this system across two years, including six months of continuous measurement in the field. We describe the lessons learned for deployment planning, remote device management and programming, and system co-design with a domain-expert from the USGS.

California↗
USGS2009

Strategic analysis for the MER Cape Verde approach

The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has recently completed a two year campaign studying Victoria Crater. The campaign culminated in a close approach of Cape Verde in order to acquire high resolution imagery of the exposed stratigraphy in the cliff face. The close approach to Cape Verde provided significant challenges for every subsystem of the rover as the rover needed to traverse difficult, uncharacterised terrain and approach a cliff face with the potential of blocking out solar energy and communications with Earth. In this paper we describe the strategic analyses performed by the science and engineering teams so that we could successfully achieve the science objectives while keeping the rover safe. ??2009 IEEE.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1989

High-resolution two dimensional advective transport

The paper describes a two-dimensional high-resolution scheme for advective transport that is based on a Eulerian-Lagrangian method with a flux limiter. The scheme is applied to the problem of pure-advection of a rotated Gaussian hill and shown to preserve the monotonicity property of the governing conservation law.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1994

Critical and supercritical flows in two unstable, mountain rivers, Toutle river system, Washington

Critical and supercritical flows are generally considered to be rare occurrences in natural river channels. This paper presents data and results pertaining to the existence of measured critical and supercritical flows at gaging stations on the North Fork Toutle River (NFT) and Toutle River main stem (TR). The data set includes 930 discharge measurements made by the staff of the U.S. Geological Survey, Cascades Volcano Observatory, between 1980 and 1989.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2004

Issues of scale, location and geologic terrain related to Salt Lake City and Baltimore-Washington metropolitan areas

Planning and development of expanding metropolitan regions require consideration of earth science issues related to issues involving scale, space (location), geologic terrain and physiographic units, and information transfer. This paper explores these matters with examples from the Salt Lake City, Utah area and Mid-Atlantic region of Baltimore-Washington that include water supply and natural hazards (earthquakes, landslides, and sinkholes.) Information transfer methods using physiographic units at national, regional, local and site scales serve to communicate relevant geologic constraint and natural resource information.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2006

Model-data fusion in the studies of terrestrial carbon sink

Current uncertainty in quantifying the global carbon budget remains a major contributing source of uncertainty in reliably projecting future climate change. Furthermore, quantifying the global carbon budget and characterizing uncertainties have emerged as critical to a successful implementation of United National Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol. Beyond fundamental quantification, attribution of the processes responsible for the so-called ‘residual terrestrial uptake’ is important to the carbon cycle communities’ ability to simulated the future response of the terrestrial biosphere to climate change and intentional sequestration activities. This paper’s objective is to describe the efforts of the workshop participants and their approaches to model-data fusion enabling continued advances in the solution of quantifying carbon cycling and the terrestrial mechanisms at work.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2023

Reimagining standardization and geospatial interoperability in today’s GeoAI culture

Integrating Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) into our technological landscape has revolutionized our capacity to understand and engage with the world. However, the burgeoning adoption of GeoAI applications has underscored the imperative of data, format, and conveyance standardization and enhancing geospatial interoperability. This vision paper delves into the intricacies of the evolving GeoAI environment, emphasizing the indispensable role of standardized practices and elevated interoperability. By synthesizing insights from geography, computer science, and data ethics, this contribution envisions a future characterized by seamless synergy between AI systems and geospatial data, driving impactful decision-making and transformative innovation.

Conference Paper↗