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At least 289 records · Page 16Linked to original sources
USGS2024

Unscrambling the Proterozoic supercontinent record of northeastern Washington State, USA

The time interval from Supercontinent Nuna assembly in the late Paleoproterozoic to Supercontinent Rodinia breakup in the Neoproterozoic is considered by some geologists to comprise the “Boring Billion,” an interval possibly marked by a slowdown in plate tectonic processes. In northeastern Washington State, USA, similar to much of western Laurentia, early workers generally thought the tectonostratigraphic framework of this interval of geologic time consisted of two major sequences, the (ca. 1480–1380 Ma) Mesoproterozoic Belt Supergroup and unconformably overlying (<720 Ma) Neoproterozoic Windermere Supergroup. However, recent research indicates that strata considered by early workers as Belt Supergroup equivalents are actually younger, and a post-Belt, pre-Windermere record is present within the <1360 Ma Deer Trail Group and <760 Ma Buffalo Hump Formation. Thus, the northeastern Washington region perhaps comprises the most complete stratigraphic record of the “Boring Billion” time interval in the northwestern United States and holds important insights into global Proterozoic supercontinent tectonic processes. In light of these exciting developments, this field guide will address the early historic economic geology and original mapping of these Proterozoic sequences in the northeastern Washington region, and from that foundation explore more recent isotopic provenance data and their regional to global context. Finally, the guide will end with a discussion of remaining questions with a goal of stimulating interest in these relatively understudied, yet important, rocks.

Washington↗
USGS2015

Chronostratigraphic cross section of Cretaceous formations in western Montana, western Wyoming, eastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, and northwestern New Mexico, U.S.A.

The chronostratigraphic cross section presented herein is a contribution to the Western Interior Cretaceous (WIK) project of the Global Sedimentary Geology Program. It portrays the Cretaceous formations at 13 localities in a south-trending transect from northwestern Montana through western Wyoming, eastern Utah, and northeastern Arizona, to northwestern New Mexico. The localities are in the Rocky Mountains and on the Colorado Plateau and contain strata that were deposited along the western margin of the Cretaceous Interior Seaway of North America. These strata are marine and nonmarine, mainly siliceous and calcareous, and of Aptian through Maastrichtian ages. They range in thickness from nearly 19,000 feet (ft) in southwestern Montana to about 1,500 ft thick in northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico. Cretaceous formations in western Montana, western Wyoming, and eastern Utah disconformably overlie Jurassic rocks and locally include beds of either Aptian and Albian ages or Albian age. The Aptian beds consist of various lithologies of nonmarine origin. Albian beds consist of various nonmarine and marine lithologies. The Lower Cretaceous strata range in thickness from 4,300 ft in northern Utah to 180 ft in southern Utah and are absent at localities in Arizona and New Mexico. Upper Cretaceous strata at most localities in the transect include beds of Cenomanian through Maastrichtian ages, although at five of the localities in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, younger strata are missing. Beds of Cenomanian, Turonian, Coniacian, Santonian, and Campanian ages in the region are siliceous, calcareous, or bentonitic and were deposited in marine and nonmarine environments. In the following Maastrichtian, siliceous lithologies accumulated in nonmarine environments. Thicknesses of the Upper Cretaceous strata range from more than 17,000 ft in southwestern Montana to nearly 6,000 ft in northwestern New Mexico. In this transect for time-stratigraphic units of the Cretaceous, lateral changes in lithologies, regional differences in thicknesses, and the abundance of associated disconformities possibly reflect local and regional tectonic events. Examples of evidence of those events follow: (1) Disconformities and the absence of strata of lowest Cretaceous age in western Montana, western Wyoming, and northern Utah indicate significant tectonism and erosion probably during the Late Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous; ( 2) stages of Upper Cretaceous deposition in the transect display major lateral changes in thickness, which probably reflect regional and local tectonism.

Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming↗
USGS2018

Overview of the geologic effects of the November 14, 2016, Mw 7.8 Kaikoura, New Zealand, earthquake

The November 14, 2016, Kaikoura, New Zealand, earthquake (moment magnitude [Mw] 7.8) triggered more than 10,000 landslides over an area of about 12,000 square kilometers in the northeastern part of the South Island of New Zealand. In collaboration with GNS Science (the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Science Limited), we conducted ground and helicopter reconnaissance of the affected areas and assisted in rapid hazard evaluation. The majority of the triggered landslides were shallow- to moderate-depth (1–10 meters), highly disrupted falls and slides in rock and debris from Lower Cretaceous graywacke sandstone in the Seaward Kaikoura Range. Deeper, more coherent landslides in weak Upper Cretaceous to Neogene sedimentary rock also were numerous in the gentler topography south and inland (west) of the Seaward Kaikoura Range. The principal ground-failure hazards from the earthquake were the hundreds of valley-blocking landslides, many of which impounded lakes and ponds that posed potential downstream flooding hazards. Both large and small landslides also blocked road and rail corridors in many locations, including the main north-south highway (State Highway 1), which was still closed in October 2017. As part of our investigation, we compared post-earthquake field observations to the output of models used to estimate near-real-time landslide probabilities following earthquakes. The models generally over-predicted landslide occurrence and thus need further refinement.

Kaikoura↗
USGS2010

Floods in Florida due to Tropical Storm Fay, August 15 through September 26, 2008

Weather conditions produced by Tropical Storm Fay from August 15 through September 26, 2008, caused historic flooding, spawned 19 tornadoes, inflicted $390 million in damages, and contributed to five deaths in Florida. This slow-moving system made four separate landfalls accompanied by extensive rainfall and some wind-induced effects. Major flooding with new period-of-record instantaneous peaks and maximum monthly mean streamflows were reported throughout the Ochlockonee and St. Marks Rivers in the Florida Panhandle and the St. Marys, St. Johns, Econlockhatchee, and Wekiva Rivers in northeastern Florida. A total of 147 field crews from the U.S. Geological Survey in Florida made flood measurements immediately following passage of Tropical Storm Fay and continued to monitor high-water conditions for the subsequent 24 days. These measurements were used to verify and document the ratings and the peaks of this climatic event throughout the State.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1982

Digital model evaluation of the predevelopment flow system of the Tertiary limestone aquifer, Southeast Georgia, Northeast Florida, and South South Carolina

A computer model using finite-difference techniques was used successfully to simulate the predevelopment flow regime within the multilayered Tertiary limestone aquifer system in Southeastern Georgia, Northeastern Florida, and Southern South Carolina as part of the U.S. Geological Survey 's Tertiary Limestone Regional Aquifer System analysis. The aquifer, of early Eocene to Miocene age, ranges from thin interbedded clastics and marl in the updip area to massive limestone and dolomite 1,500 feet thick in the downdip area. The aquifer is confined above by Miocene clay beds, and terminates at depth in low-permeability rocks or the saltwater interface. Model-simulated transmissivity of the upper permeable zone ranged from about 1 x 10 super 3 foot squared per day in the updip area and within parts of the Gulf Trough (a series of alinement basins filled by fine clastic in material) to about 1 x 10 super 6 foot squared per day in South Georgia, and area having large secondarily developed solution channels. The model results indicate that only about 540 cubic feet per second of water flowed through the predeveloped system, from the updip highland area of high altitude and in the areas north of Valdosta and southwest of Jacksonville, to discharge along streams in the updip area and diffuse upward leakage in the downdip area near the coast and offshore. (USGS)

Florida, Georgia, South Carolina↗
USGS2003

Geology and biology of the sea floor as deduced from simulaneous photographs and samples

During 1963, 260 paired photographs and large bottom samples were taken on the continental shelf and slope off northeastern United States. The photographs revealed surface characteristics of the sediments and natural attitudes of benthic animals; the samples retrieved specimens for geological and biological examination and identification. Samples are the best source materials for making textural studies of sediments consisting mostly of sand, silt, or clay, but photographs are better than samples for bottoms too bouldery for proper sampling. Ripple marks and other surface irregularities revealed by the photographs supplement textural studies of the samples in deducing effects of wave movements and currents upon bottom materials. For biological studies, the photographs yield much information on relationships of the benthic fauna to bottom materials, but they fail to provide useful data on biomasses. Biomasses and accurate taxonomic identifications are far better made upon samples. Thus, a combination of photographs and accompanying samples provides maximum information for biological as well as geological purposes.

Limnology and Oceanography↗
USGS2025

Structural setting and geothermal potential of northeastern Reese River Valley, north-central Nevada: Highly prospective detailed study site for the INGENIOUS project

The northeastern part of the Reese River basin situated ~15 km southeast of Battle Mountain, Nevada, scored highly in the Nevada geothermal play fairway analysis (PFA) for hosting potential hidden geothermal systems. This site (also referred to as Argenta Rise) was therefore chosen for detailed study in the INGENIOUS project (INnovative Geothermal Exploration through Novel Investigations Of Undiscovered Systems). The high PFA scores resulted primarily from favorable structural settings (e.g., fault intersections and pull aparts) with relatively high slip rates on Quaternary faults. The INGENIOUS project is utilizing additional parameters and more rigorous analytical techniques to further advance exploration at this site. This includes integration of geological (e.g., Quaternary fault mapping) and new geophysical datasets (e.g., gravity, magnetics, MT data, and five reprocessed seismic reflection profiles) to build a structural model and to identify specific favorable sites for potential geothermal upwellings. Two-meter temperature surveys were also conducted in the area (139 measurements). This part of north-central Nevada is characterized by systems of intersecting northerly and ENE-striking faults within the broader Humboldt structural zone, a poorly understood belt of ENE-striking faults and relatively high heat flow extending across northern Nevada. Kinematic analysis of exposed fault surfaces shows that ENE-striking faults have accommodated sinistral-normal slip, and normal slip characterizes N- to NNE-striking faults. Northeastern Reese River Valley lies within a broad left step between major ENE-striking fault zones on the northern flanks of the Argenta Rim and Shoshone Range and thus corresponds to a broad pull-apart in the ENE-striking sinistral-normal fault system. Notably, the nearby Beowawe geothermal system in Whirlwind Valley (with abundant sinter, hot springs, and a geothermal power plant) occupies a fault intersection in a relatively small left step in a major ENE-striking sinistral-normal fault and may serve as an analogue for a potential hidden system in northeastern Reese River Valley. Existing geological maps, high-resolution lidar, and seismic reflection data demonstrate that northeastern Reese River Valley is structurally complex with multiple intersections between the ENE- and N- to NNE-striking fault systems. Some of these fault intersections correspond to low resistivity anomalies, magnetic lows, and/or very subtle 2-m temperature anomalies, which may indicate hidden geothermal upwellings. Three-dimensional modeling and temperature-gradient drilling are planned to further evaluate these sites for geothermal activity.

Nevada↗
USGS2022

The role of preexisting upper plate strike-slip faults during long-lived (ca. 30 Myr) oblique flat slab subduction, southern Alaska

Upper plates of subduction zones commonly respond to flat slab subduction by structural reactivation, magmatic arc disruption, and foreland basin inversion. However, the role of active strike-slip faults in focusing convergent deformation and magmatism in response to oblique flat slab subduction remains less clear. Here, we present new detrital apatite fission-track (dAFT) ages from 12 modern catchments in the eastern Alaska Range, Alaska, USA, to reveal how the dextral Denali fault system has facilitated bedrock exhumation and topographic growth during ca. 30 Ma-to-present oblique flat slab subduction of the Yakutat oceanic plateau. Additionally, a 940 ka ( 40 Ar/ 39 Ar whole rock) basalt flow is spatially associated with Cenozoic structures, locally reset AFT ages and provides the first evidence for Quaternary volcanism along the southern flank of the eastern Alaska Range. We integrate our new data with other thermochronologic, geochronologic, and regional geologic datasets to show that (1) most high topography regions in southern Alaska have undergone rapid bedrock cooling and exhumation since ca. 30 Ma; (2) elevated terrain and young cooling are spatially associated with long-lived active strike-slip fault systems; (3) topographic growth associated with strike-slip fault deformation led to local inversion of basin systems and drainage reorganization; (4) the onset of oblique oceanic plateau subduction is coeval with a southward shift in arc magmatism from one region of active strike-slip faulting to another above the northeastern edge of the flat slab; and (5) Quaternary volcanism marks the revival of magmatism in the eastern Alaska Range above the geophysically imaged northeastern edge of the flat slab. Our analysis of the post-30 Ma geologic evolution of southern Alaska demonstrates that strike-slip fault systems that were active at the time of slab flattening evolved into transpression zones that focused bedrock cooling, rock exhumation, and topographic growth.

Alaska↗
USGS2000

Northeastern Gulf of Mexico Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Program: Coastal Characterization: an overview and update

The U.S. Geological Surveys Biological Resources Division (BRD) mission is to provide leadership in gathering, analyzing, and disseminating biological information as support for sound management of the Nation's natural resources. Since becoming operational in October of 1996 through the transfer of programs from various bureaus within the Department of the Interior, the BRD, in cooperation with other Federal, State, and local partners, has begun research, inventory and monitoring, information sharing, and technology transfer. Through these activities, the BRD is fostering an understanding of biological systems and their benefits to society, and providing the essential scientific support and technical assistance required for management and policy decisions. The role of BRD' s National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) in Lafayette, Louisiana, with project offices in Baton Rouge, LA and Gulf Breeze, FL, is to provide leadership in research and development related to the Nation's natural resources for the Southeast. The research focuses on wetlands ecology, animal ecology, and the development and application of spatial analysis techniques for natural resource related studies. Current geographic information system (GIS) technologies in use at NWRC are designed to provide natural resource managers with the on-line data and computerized techniques necessary to make informed decisions. Major GIS activities at NWRC include: compilation and analysis of digital databases for monitoring of natural resources; integration and transfer of databases with existing digital databases from various sources into a comprehensive GIS; and development of multifunctional decision support systems for natural resource managers using these data. NWRC is also an active participant in the National Information Infrastructure (NIT), in particular the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBTI), which will facilitate the dissemination of research results and other knowledge and information gained from these efforts. This summary and the three summaries that follow provides an overview and update of a four year study entitled, Northeastern Gulf of Mexico Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Program: Coastal Characterization.

Minerals Management Service↗
USGS2020

Foreward: Geology Field Trips in and around the U.S. Capital

The first annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) was held in 1888 in Ithaca, New York (Fairchild, 1932), but official Sections of GSA formed much later. During the spring of 1949, a symposium in Knoxville, Tennessee, on mineral resources of the southeastern United States became the catalyst for the creation of the Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America (King, 1964), and the first annual meeting of the Southeastern Section was held in 1952 in Roanoke, Virginia (Wilson, 1954). The Northeastern Section formed much later, and its first annual meeting was held in 1966 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Socolow, 1968). At all of these section meetings, field trips have been important venues for geologists and especially students to gather together, examine rocks in the field, and discuss ideas. These field trips have been especially important at combined section meetings because they provide settings for geologists who are experienced in one geographic region to examine and compare the geology of other regions. The first combined meeting of the Southeastern and Northeastern sections occurred in 1976 in Arlington, Virginia. Since then, the Southeastern and Northeastern sections have met together on numerous occasions, including 1982 in Washington, DC; 1991 in Baltimore, Maryland; 2004 in Tysons Corner, Virginia; and 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland. Since the first combined section meeting in 1976, there has been a gradual increase in the role of technology in geology field studies. In fact, during the past several decades there has been an increase in emphasis in our society on the instrumental component of science, the goal of which is operational techniques to do or control things, and a corresponding decrease in emphasis on the natural philosophy component of science, the goal of which is a greater understanding of the natural world (Dear, 2006). The modern education acronym STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), for example, is often used as a catch-all term that implies that science and technology are relatively synonymous, and implies that greater technology leads automatically to greater understanding of the natural world. This assumption, however, is not always valid (Dear, 2006), and technology should not be promoted as a substitute for field experiences. Technology can be a tool that leads to greater understanding of the natural world, but not all Science uses technology as a means of providing greater understanding. The benefits of new technologies include: (1) data of greater resolution; and (2) greater efficiency of capturing, storing, and visualizing data. The risks of new technologies include: (1) an overabundance of data, some of which may be of little value; (2) less time available for analysis of data, if geologists become occupied primarily with capturing and storing data; and (3) errors that arise from complacency and the perception that field-checking may not be necessary. In other words, there is a risk that a glut of data and vast amounts of time devoted to the capturing and storing of data may result in a reduced interest and (or) willingness to field-check data. In the spirit of the early GSA section meetings, we feel that there are still enormous advantages to conducting geology field trips in conjunction with traditional meeting presentations and posters. In 2020, with this current combined Southeastern and Northeastern section meeting in Reston, Virginia, we have assembled eight different field trips that cover a wide range of territory in and around the Nation’s capital. These field trip localities include the immediate vicinity of Washington, DC, as well as various locations in nearby areas of Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia. The physiographic provinces include Mesozoic Rift Basins, the Piedmont, the Blue Ridge, the Valley and Ridge, and the Allegheny Plateau of the Appalachian Basin. The field trip sites exhibit a wide range of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, as well as rocks with a wide range of geologic ages from the Mesoproterozoic to the Holocene. We hope that this guidebook provides new motivation for geologists to examine rocks in the field, to discuss ideas with colleagues in the field, and to avoid becoming complacent. The editors of this volume would like to thank the authors of the different field trip guides, the field trip leaders, and all of the reviewers who made suggestions for improving the field trip manuscripts. The editors would also like to thank Elle Derwent of GSA for her logistical help and guidance regarding the field trips, and April Leo and the staff of the GSA Publications Department for seeing this book through to publication.

Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia↗
USGS1961

Geology and ground-water resources of Clayton County, Iowa

Clayton County includes 784 square miles in northeastern Iowa and in 1960 had a population of 21, 962. For the most part, the county is a dissected upland that is drained mainly by the southeastward flowing Turkey River and its principal tributary, the Volga River. The Turkey River empties into the Mississippi River, which flows southward along the eastern border of the county. The climate is humid continental, and the average annual precipitation is 33.01 inches. The economy of the county is based on farming and the raising of livestock. The natural resources of the county include soil, water, rock, sand, and timber.

Iowa↗