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At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources

Lower Ipswich River basin

The lower Ipswich River basin is that part of the Ipswich River drainage basin below the Geological Survey stream-gaging station at South Middleton in northeastern Massachusetts (fig. 1). It includes about 110 square miles between the gaging station at South Middleton and the Atlantic Ocean. This report presents basic data collected as part of an investigation of the geology and ground-water resources of the lower Ipswich River basin, Massachusetts by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Public Works. The data have been prepared for release in order to make available to the public basic ground-water data that will be useful in the planning of water-resources development. An earlier Basic-Data Report (Baker and Sammel, 1961) presents data pertaining to ground-water conditions in the upper part of the Ipswich River basin (the Wilmington-Reading area).

Massachusetts

Preliminary Geologic Map of the North-Central Part of the Alamosa 30' x 60' Quadrangle, Alamosa, Conejos and Costilla Counties, Colorado

This geologic map presents new polygon (geologic map unit contacts) and line (terrace and lacustrine spit/barrier bar) vector data for a map comprised of four 7.5' quadrangles in the north-central part of the Alamosa, Colorado, 30' x 60' quadrangle. The quadrangles include Baldy, Blanca, Blanca SE, and Lasauses. The map database, compiled at 1:50,000 scale from new 1:24,000-scale mapping, provides geologic coverage of an area of current hydrogeologic, tectonic, and stratigraphic interest. The mapped area is located primarily in Costilla County, but contains portions of Alamosa and Conejos Counties, and includes the town of Blanca in its northeastern part. The map area is mainly underlain by surficial geologic materials (fluvial and lacustrine deposits, and eolian sand), but Tertiary volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks crop out in the San Luis Hills, which are in the central and southern parts of the mapped area. The surficial geology of this area has never been mapped at any scale greater than 1:250,000 (broad reconnaissance), so this new map provides important data for ground-water assessments, engineering geology, and the Quaternary geologic history of the San Luis Basin. Newly discovered shoreline deposits are of particular interest (sands and gravels) that are associated with the high-water stand of Lake Alamosa, a Pliocene to middle Pleistocene lake that occupied the San Luis basin prior to its overflow and cutting of a river gorge through the San Luis Hills. After the lake drained, the Rio Grande system included Colorado drainages for the first time since the Miocene (>5.3 Ma). In addition, Servilleta Basalt, which forms the Basaltic Hills on the east margin of the map area, is dated at 3.79+or-0.17 Ma, consistent with its general age range of 3.67-4.84 Ma. This map provides new geologic information for better understanding ground-water flow paths in and adjacent to the Rio Grande system. The map abuts U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2005-1392 (a map of the northwestern part of the Alamosa 30' x 60' quadrangle map) to the west and U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 2965 (Fort Garland 7.5' quadrangle) to the east.

Open-File Report

Surficial geology in central Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island: interpretations of sidescan sonar and multibeam bathymetry

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is working cooperatively with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) to interpret the surficial geology in estuaries along the coast of the northeastern United States. The purpose of our present study is to determine the distributions of surficial sediments and sedimentary environments in two areas of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, using sidescan sonar imagery, high-resolution bathymetry, and sediment data. This study provides a framework for future studies on topics such as benthic habitats and oceanographic processes that control the transport and distribution of bottom sediments. This study mapped two separate areas totalling about 33 km² One area lies in West Passage between Plum Point, Quonset Point and Conanicut Island; the other area lies in East Passage around Dyer Island and extends south of Prudence Island.

Rhode Island

Risk assessment for the reintroduction of anadromous salmonids upstream of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams, Northeastern Washington

The Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT; Spokane, Colville, Kootenai, Coeur d’Alene, and Kalispel Tribes) and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife want to reintroduce anadromous salmonids to their historical range to restore ecosystem function and lost cultural and spiritual relationships in the upper Columbia River, northeastern Washington. The UCUT contracted with the U.S. Geological Survey to assess risks to resident taxa (existing fish populations in the reintroduction area upstream of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams) and reintroduced salmon associated with reintroduction. We developed a risk assessment framework for reintroduction of anadromous salmonids upstream of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams. To accomplish this goal, we applied strategies identified in previous risk assessment frameworks for reintroduction. The risk assessment is an initial step towards an anadromous reintroduction strategy. An initial list of potential donor sources for reintroduction species was developed from previous published sources for Chinook Salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) donors in the Transboundary Reach of the Columbia River, British Columbia; an ecological risk assessment of upper Columbia River hatchery programs on non-target taxa of concern; and a review of existing hatchery programs During two workshops, we further identified and ranked potential donor sources of anadromous Redband Trout (steelhead; O. mykiss ), Chinook Salmon, Sockeye Salmon ( O. nerka ), and Coho Salmon ( O. kisutch ). We also identified resident fish populations of interest and their primary habitat, location, status, and pathogen concerns to determine the potential risks of reintroduction. Species were deemed of interest based on resource management and potential interactions (that is, genetics, competition, and predation) with introduced species. We developed tables of potential donors by species and characterized potential sources (hatchery and natural origins), populations (individual runs), broodstock management and history, and potential constraints (that is, Endangered Species Act [ESA] listing, Evolutionarily Significant Unit concerns, pathogens, and availability). During the workshops, a group of regional fisheries and topic experts subjectively ranked the relative risks of pathogens, genetic effects, predation, and competition to resident fish and reintroduced salmonids. We assessed the pathogen risk of each potential donor for introducing new pathogens and the increased burden to existing pathogens for resident species upstream of the dams. We considered genetic risks to resident and downstream conspecifics and ecological impacts, including competition for food and space, predator-prey interactions, and ecosystem benefits/impacts. Each reintroduced species donor source was ranked based on abundance/viability (demographic risk to source and feasibility of collection), ancestral/genetic similarity (evolutionary similarity to historical populations), local adaptation (geographic proximity/similarity of source conditions to reintroduction conditions), and life history compatibility (including migration; spawn timing; and relative usage of reservoir, main-stem, or tributary habitats) with environmental conditions in the reintroduction area. We synthesized this information by species for all potential donors, in which an overall score and ranking system was established for decision support in donor selection for reintroduction into the upper Columbia River. We also provided information outside the ranking process by: Identifying predator-prey interactions and competition for food and space among species, Developing a decision support framework for donor selection, and Providing decision support for reintroduction strategies.

Washington

Age and growth of the rock bass, Ambloplites rupestris (Rafinesque), in Nebish Lake, Wisconsin

The present study of the age and growth of the Nebish Lake rock bass is another in a series of papers that have been based wholly or in part on materials collected in the course of investigations on the fishes of the lakes of the northeastern highlands, Wisconsin, conducted cooperatively by the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey and the United States Bureau of Fisheries over the periods, 1927-1928 and 1930-1932. The publications have included studies of the age and growth of the rock bass (Wright, 1929), whitefish (Hile and Deason, 1934), yellow perch (Schneberger, 1935), cisco (Hile, 1936a), muskellunge (Schloemer, 1936, 1938), largemouth black bass (Bennett, 1937), common sucker (Spoor, 1938), and smalimouth black bass (Bennett, 1938). A total of five mimeographed reports on the growth of game fish in Wisconsin has been issued by Juday and Schneberger (1930, 1933), Juday and Bennett (1935), and Juday and Schloemer (1936,. 1938). In addition there have appeared two publications on the morphometry of the cisco (Hile 193Gb, 1937), three dealing with the parasites of fishes in the region (Cross 1934, 1935, 1938) and one on the food of fishes (Couey, 1935). A paper by Hile and Juday on the bathymetric distribution of fish will appear simultaneously with the present study of the rock bass. A contribution on the growth of the bluegill by Schloemer will be published in the near future.

Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences,

Tertiary structural evolution of the southern Rhodope metamorphic province: a fundamental revision

The Rhodope province is conventionally interpreted as a continental fragment that was caught between Apulia and Europe and deformed and metamorphosed in the hinterland of the Hellenic collisional orogen. Geologic mapping in the Strymon Valley region of northeastern Greece augmented by new U-Pb and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar geochronologic data support an alternative view that the southwestern Rhodope province represents the core of an Alpine collisional orogen that was extended and tectonically unroofed by a succession of three late Cenozoic low-angle normal fault systems that alternated in polarity.

Strymon Valley

Geology and ore deposits of the Monument Valley area, Apache and Navajo Counties, Arizona

In 1951 the U.S. Geological Survey undertook a program of uranium investigations in Apache and Navajo Counties, northeastern Arizona. The work had three major objectives. The first was to accumulate data basic to an understanding of the regional geology. The second was to appraise the Triassic strata as host rocks for uranium deposits, and to select areas favorable for exploration for concealed deposits. The third objective was to study the controls that influence uranium deposition and from this study, to establish guides useful in prospecting for uranium deposits.

Arizona

Geologic map of Okmok Volcano

The geologic map and description of map units presented here cover approximately 880 km2 of northeastern Umnak Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. This report focuses on Okmok Volcano and its eruptive products and updates the mid-20th-century geologic map of Byers (1959). Mapped deposits reflect the state of the volcano just prior to the 2008 eruption. Published information about other portions of Umnak Island geology, including Mount Recheshnoi and Mount Vsevidof, can be found in Byers (1959). The 2008 eruption and its deposits are described in Larsen and others (2009, 2013, 2015). Okmok Volcano is one of 54 historically active volcanoes in the Alaska–Aleutian volcanic arc that stretches across southern mainland Alaska and the Aleutian Islands (fig. 1; Wood and Kienle, 1990; Miller and others, 1998; Cameron and others, 2020). The highest point of the modern Okmok Caldera is along the caldera’s northern rim, 967 m in elevation, and formally named “Mount Okmok” (U.S. Board on Geographic Names, www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/ngp/boardon-geographic-names/domestic-names). Okmok Volcano dominates the northeastern portion of Umnak Island, which is 100 km southwest of Unalaska/Dutch Harbor and 1,400 km southwest of Anchorage (figs. 1, 2). The Port of Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island produces the highest volume of seafood for any port in the United States (see fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/document/fisheries-united-states-2018-report). Unalaska city and the Port of Dutch Harbor have been impacted by ash fall and drifting ash clouds from Okmok Volcano’s explosive eruptions as recently as 2008. Holocene and late Pleistocene volcanic rocks and deposits of Okmok Volcano rest upon glaciated Tertiary volcanic and sedimentary rocks (Byers, 1959). The first geologic mapping expedition to Okmok Volcano was by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) after the 1945 eruption, largely in response to concerns about volcanic hazards to U.S. military activities in the Aleutians Islands (Byers and others, 1947, 1959; Byers and Brannock, 1949; Byers, 1955, 1959, 1961). The State of Alaska conducted further mapping and geochemical studies as part of its geothermal exploration program in the 1980s (Nye, 1983; Nye and Reid, 1986; Motyka and others, 1993). Additional modern geological work focused on Okmok Volcano and the rest of Umnak Island to address the geochemistry and origin of primary Aleutian arc magmas and subduction zone mass recycling (Marsh, 1982; Brophy and Marsh, 1986; Nye and Reid, 1986; Myers and Marsh, 1987; Miller and others, 1992; Fournelle and others, 1994; Kay and Kay, 1994). In 1998, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) began a multi-year effort to expand geophysical monitoring in the central Aleutians Islands, including at Okmok Volcano. As part of this effort, AVO geologists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute (UAF/GI), the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS), and USGS also began a renewed effort to document Okmok Volcano’s recent eruption products. The project started with reconnaissance fieldwork to document and sample products from the 1997 eruption within Okmok Caldera. This evolved into an effort to produce an updated geologic map of Okmok Volcano and gather more information about its eruptive history and hazards. Three significant eruptions occurred at Okmok Volcano in 1958, 1997, and 2008—after fieldwork had been conducted for the original 1:63,360-scale geologic map produced by Byers (1959)—resulting in new volcanic deposits not previously described. Okmok Volcano is one of the most frequently active volcanoes in the Aleutian volcanic arc. Seismic and geodetic monitoring indicate ongoing unrest at Okmok Volcano since at least 1997. Geodetic observations of inflation before and after the 1997 and 2008 eruptions indicate a nearly continuous input of new magma from a depth consistent with frequent eruptions of basalt and basaltic andesite magmas over the past 200 years (Larsen and others, 2013; Lu and others, 2000, 2003, 2005; Mann, 2002; Mann and others, 2002). To better understand the likelihood and character of future eruptions from Okmok Volcano, it is necessary to understand its past behavior, including eruptions since the first geologic map was published by Byers (1959).

Alaska

Transit traverse in Missouri, 1900-1937. Part 6, Northeastern Missouri, 1900-37

This bulletin, which for convenience is to be published in eight parts, contains the results of all transit traverse* done In Missouri through 1937 by the Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior, including those heretofore published. (See page X.) Each of the parts deals with one of eight sections into which the State has been divided for this purpose and which have been designated northeastern, northwestern, southeastern, southwestern, central, east-central, south-central, and west-central Missouri. In each part descriptions of the points for which geodetic positions have been determined are listed according to the quadrangles in which the points occur. Results of transit traverse other than that done by the Geological Survey have not been included. Northeastern Missouri, as the term is used in this bulletin and as the subject of part 6 of the bulletin, is, as its name indicates, the north-easternmost section of the State. Its north and east boundaries are the boundaries of the State; its west and south boundaries are formed by a line that runs south along longitude 93°15' to latitude 39°30', thence east to longitude 92°00', thence south to latitude 39°15', thence east to the east boundary of the State.

Missouri

Maps showing distribution of the Middle Cretaceous unconformity in the eastern Gulf of Mexico

Several theories on the origin of the Gulf of Mexico basin have been introduced by various researchers (Beloussov, 1970; Freeland and Dietz, 1971; Malfait and Dinkelman, 1972; Wood and Walper, 1974; Pilger, 1978; Buffler and others, 1980; Dickinson and Coney, 1980; Gose and others, 1980; Schmidt-Effing, 1980; Walper, 1980; Schlager and others, 1984). Although no final agreement has been reached, one prominent geologic feature is generally recognized. The early evolution of the basin ended with a major middle Cretaceous event resulting in a Gulf-wide unconformity referred to as the middle Cretaceous unconformity (MCU). This event represents a major shift from Early Cretaceous shallow-water bank sedimentation to Late Cretaceous deeper water carbonates (Worzel and others, 1973; Mitchum, 1978). Seismic data collected by the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, Galveston Geophysics Laboratory (UTMSI-GGL) were used to map the MCU and its relationship to the deep stratigraphy and structure of the eastern Gulf basin east of long 90° W. In addition, data from the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) in the southeastern Gulf and along the Campeche Escarpment and dredge samples collected by Schlager and others (1984) from the Florida Escarpment provide an age for the MCU (Cenomanian, 97 m. y. ) and a detailed lithological record. This report emphasizes the salt diapirs, pillows, and ridges in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico because of the profound effect these geologic structures have on the MCU. Salt locations are shown on the isopach of post-MCU sediments (fig. 1). A second map shows pre-middle Cretaceous outcrops terminated by the MCU along the Florida Escarpment, the southeastern Gulf, and the Campeche Escarpment (fig. 2).

Miscellaneous Field Studies Map

Basalts dredged from the northeastern Pacific Ocean

Volcanic rocks dredged from seamounts, fault ridges, and other major geological features of the northeast Pacific Ocean include a wide variety of basalts. Most of these are vesicular, porphyritic types with near analogues in the Hawaiian and other oceanic islands. in addition, aluminous basalts and diabasic tholeiites impoverished in potassium also occur. There is no simple correlation of composition, degree of oxidation, vesiculation, or hydration of these basalts with texture, or depth of dredge site. Most samples appear to have been extruded at much shallower depths than those now pertaining at the dredge site. the distribution of these basalts suggests that the andesite line coincides with or lies on the continent side of the foot of the continental slope.

Science

Selected field data collected in 1975, northeastern Craig Quadrangle, southeastern Alaska

This report consists of a computer printout of geologic field data recorded by H.C. Berg from July 2 to July 20, 1975 in the part of the Craig (CR) 1:250,000-scale quadrangle northeast of Clarence Strait (figs. 1 and 2). It contains edited and revised observations on structure, lithology, mineralogy, metamorphism, and mineral occurrences. Areas covered by the observations include southern Etolin and adjacent islands and part of Cleveland Peninsula, including 5 sites in the Ketchikan (KC) quadrangle immediately adjacent to the Craig quadrangle (fig. 2). A preliminary geologic map incorporating the data has been released (Berg and others, 1976). The printout includes the latitude-longitude coordinates of each field station, so that the user can locate the observations within a few metres on larger-scale topographic maps than figure 2. The purpose of this report is to provide an organized file of detailed field observations to supplement and amplify a companion geologic map. The combined reports thus constitute a complete record of available information to serve as wide a range of potential users as possible. The information in this report was transferred from geologic fieldsheets (fig. 3) to computer storage using the method described by Hudson and others (1975). A. Marianne Fujii transcribed the data from the fieldsheets; Betsy Yount and Frances Wahl helped to update the computer file and prepare it for publication; and Bruce Salem wrote the interactive computer program that greatly facilitated entry of the fieldnotes into the computer file.

Alaska

Geology and ground water resources of Grand Forks County

Grand Forks County in northeastern North Dakota is underlain by glacial drift, westward-dipping Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks and Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks. Glacial drift that covers the bedrock reaches a maximum thickness of 455 feet. It can be differentiated into 5 drift sheets, each of which in turn can be separated into till units, lake clay and silt units, and sand and gravel units. Relief on the bedrock surface is much greater than that on the present glacial topography. In western Grand Forks County, the bedrock rises 600 feet from east to west at the Pembina escarpment, whereas the surface elevations rise only 300 feet.

North Dakota