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USGS2014

The use of resistivity‐methods in the location of salt‐water bodies in the El Paso, Texas, Area

During 1935 and 1936 the Ground‐Water Division of the United States Geological Survey made an investigation of the ground‐water resources of the El Paso, Texas, Area. Geological and hydrological studies comprised the principal part of the investigation, and these studies were supplemented by measurements of earth‐resistivity made largely by the Geophysical Section of the Geological Survey along traverses aggregating 51 miles. The extent to which resistivity‐methods may be useful in ground‐water work has been the subject of much discussion. A full evaluation of the method can not be made at this time. However, the work in the El Paso Area indicates that the presence of faults and of underground bodies of salt water may be definitely determined by resistivity‐measurements.

Texas↗
USGS2014

Results to be expected from resistivity‐measurements

The work described in this paper was all done in connection with dam‐site investigations and was not directly connected with hydrology. However, geophysics is coming to have a place in hydrologic investigations, and these results may throw some light on what can be accomplished by resistivity‐measurements. We have found that,for many questions not involving exact determinations of depth, resistivity‐ measurements give conclusive answers. Ordinarily a reliable answer can be expected to the question of the existence of a buried channel if the covering is composed of unconsolidated material with a resistivity differing from that of the rock. For example, topographic surveys were made at two alternative dam‐sites on a river about four miles apart. Examination of the surface‐geology indicated that a channel burled under glacial debris possibly existed at each site, but resistivity‐measurements proved that such a channel existed at one site and not at the other. On the other hand, at another site the geologist suspected there might be an old channel on a steep side hill. Geophysical measurements showed a depth of overburden of 46 feet and showed that if a deeper channel exists it must be narrow; but they did not show positively that no such channel exists. Probably a careful survey with a large number of lines would have given a more definite answer, but the rough topography interfered with the resistivity‐work, and time and money were not available for a detailed survey. After completion of the geophysical work, the geologist located some outcrops which led him to conclude that no old channel exists at this site. At two other dam‐sites in Oregon resistivity‐measurements showed that there were no burled channels.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

The mutual interference of artesian wells on Long Island, New York

The withdrawal of water from a well necessarily produces a drop in water‐level in the well. The ground‐water level in the vicinity of the well from which the water is withdrawn likewise declines, but the amount of decline decreases with increasing distance from the well, so that a cone of depression of the water‐surface in the vicinity of the well is produced. The cone of depression is an actual water‐surface if the ground‐water is not confined under pressure. If the ground‐water is under artesian pressure, the cone of depression is a depression in the piezometric surface. If the cones of depression of two or more wells ending in the same formation overlap, interference of the wells occurs. In this case (the combined yield of the wells when pumped simultaneously will be less than the sum of the individual yields if the wells are pumped separately. In choosing the proper spacing of wells from the operator's point of view, it is important to know the lateral extent of the cones of depression of supply‐wells ending in a given formation. In many installations two or more wells are so closely spaced that their mutual interference is excessive.

New York↗
USGS2014

Ground‐water in Utah

In common with many of the arid and semiarid States, the prosperity of Utah probably is more dependent upon the amount of water available than upon any other natural resource. Although only about four per cent of the State is irrigated, a shortage of water for irrigation becomes a major calamity. A large part of the water‐supply for the State is derived from surface‐streams, but a most valuable supplement to this supply is the water available from underground sources. Ground‐water is used extensively for domestic, stock‐watering, and industrial purposes as well as for irrigation. The primary source of the municipal water‐supply for Salt Lake City is from streams entering the Jordan River Valley from the western slope of the Wasatch Mountains. However, since the drought‐year of 1931, a supplementary municipal supply has been obtained from ground‐water, and, among the 17 wells developed by the City during the extreme drought of 1934, one—yielding about ten cubic feet per second, or 4500 gallons a minute—is probably the largest in the State. Ogden, the second largest city in Utah, with a population of about 40,000, obtains the major part of its municipal water‐supply from a group of artesian wells in Ogden Valley about 12 miles east of the City. A considerable part of the water‐supply for the City of Brigham is obtained from wells. Springs constitute the source of most of the water‐supply for Logan, Provo, and many smaller towns and localities in the State. In nearly every developed area of the State ground‐water is used for some purpose, and in some areas the water‐supply is obtained almost entirely from wells.

Utah↗
USGS2014

Amount of ground‐water recharge in the southern High Plains

For the last six years the United States Geological Survey, in cooperation with the State Engineer of New Mexico, has been making somewhat intensive studies of ground‐water in the part of the High Plains that lies in New Mexico, and in 1933 and 1934 the Geological Survey, with funas allocated by the Public Works Administration, made an extensive reconnaissance‐survey of the ground‐water conditions in the southern High Plains. These studies have resulted in considerable data that throw much light on the quantity of recharge to the ground‐water in this area. An estimate of the quantity of recharge is of immediate value for this area, because the use of ground‐water is constantly being increased. In addition, it has a general value in serving as a criterion for estimating recharge in other areas in the Southwest for which fewer data are available. Estimates of the recharge in the High Plains as previously made without the advantage of quantitative data have ranged from less than three or four inches a year [see 1 of “References” at end of paper] to less than six inches [2]. The work of the last few years indicates they should be greatly reduced.

Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas↗
USGS2014

Ground‐water for air‐conditioning on Long Island, New York

During the last five years ground‐water has been more and more extensively used for air‐conditioning on Long Island, New York. The wide‐spread occurrence of highly permeable water‐bearing material and the relatively small cost of installation and operation of a ground‐water, air‐conditioning system has resulted in many such installations by theaters, restaurants, stores, and other establishments. Many companies likewise have taken advantage of these favorable factors and are utilizing low‐temperature ground‐water for cooling purposes in the manufacture of ice. This new use of ground‐water has considerably increased the draft in the western end of Long Island where there had already been so much over‐development that the watertable was below sea‐level in an area of more than 40 square miles. In 1933 the State Legislature, recognizing the seriousness of this over‐development, passed a law requiring that the approval, of the State Water Power and Control Commission be secured before constructing a well with a capacity greater than 100,000 gallons a day. Since the passage of the law the‐policy of the Commission has been to require water pumped from new‐wells for cooling purposes to be returned to the ground. This requirement has resulted in the construction of many recharge‐wells (locally called diffusion‐wells) through which the warm water is returned to the ground.

New York↗
USGS2014

Precipitation and vegetation

As time marches on, historians are usually quite faithful in recording the activities of man, and it will usually be found that Mother Nature is even more meticulous in reflecting and preserving her experiences, more especially with regard to climate and vegetation. Just how much the activities of man have done to modify the natural conditions of a virgin country may in some respects always remain a question. There is however, no longer the slightest doubt about the influence civilization may have had on the climate—which is none at all! And it is the purpose of the present paper to introduce a few trustworthy witnesses in support of the hypothesis that the activities of man have also been ineffective with respect to noteworthy changes in the general aspect of the native vegetation, outside the ranch‐fences of the West.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

A recording evaporimeter

The instrument herein described was originally designed and built to record the evaporation‐loss from a standard Weather Bureau pan for use in a study of the variation of flow in Santa Ana River. Valuable suggestions were made by various members of the Water Resources Branch of the Geological Survey in Southern California, and financial assistance for construction was given by F. C. Ebert and H. C. Troxell of the same organization. The typing of the paper and some of the drafting were done by Works Progress Administration help. The original instrument was damaged by flood‐waters in 1934, while in operation at Baldwin Park, California. It was then redesigned and constructed of stainless materials and installed on the campus of the San Bernardino Valley Junior College. The Weather Bureau pan was replaced by a thermally insulated pan. The damping unit was added at this time by the present writers. The evaporimeter was placed in regular operation on October 30, 1937, in a study of the relative magnitudes of the various energy‐components associated with solar and sky radiation and with evaporation from water‐surfaces, from damp soil, and from plants.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Evaporation and runoff from snow in the Alpine Zone of our western mountains

In this informal paper the processes of snow‐wastage at high altitudes were discussed and a number of slides illustrating suncups and sunpits in different stages of development were shown. It was stressed that these features are peculiar to the region above the timber‐line, which biologists term the Alpine, or Arctic‐Alpine, Zone. That regions is, as a matter of fact, primarily and fundamentally a physiographic zone distinct from all other physiographic zones at lower levels by reason of an unusual combination of climatic, hydrologic, and geologic factors.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Ground‐water problems in the Southern High Plains

The High Plains region has been passing through a prolonged low in the precipitation‐cycle during a large part of the last decade. The drought has continued longer and has been more severe than any that has been experienced since the region began to be farmed. It has caused untold distress. Crops have failed for years in succession. In large areas in the so‐called dust‐bowl the top soil has been almost entirely removed by wind‐erosion and the dust‐storms have become so bad at times that the health of the inhabitants has been seriously threatened. In some parts of the region the annual rainfall, which ranges from about 18 to 24 inches, according to the location of the area, has returned to about the normal or long‐time average. In others the drought is still in progress and a partial or complete crop‐failure was again experienced in 1938. When the rainfall‐record is studied, it becomes apparent that a large part of the High Plains never should have been farmed and should be allowed to go back to the range, if indeed the native grasses can be restored. Other parts, however, can still be farmed with moderate success by the farmer who uses proper methods of cultivation and crop‐rotation, and combines farming with stock‐raising by keeping a part of his land in pasture and raising mostly feed‐crops. Irrigation, if it can be accomplished at a practicable cost, affords security both to the farmer and stock‐raiser.

Southern High Plains↗
USGS2014

Relation of fall stream‐flow to spring runoff

In the prediction of spring runoff from precipitation‐records or snow‐surveys, one of the factors which seems to require consideration is the amount of water held in ground‐storage. The determination of the quantity of water in ground‐storage is a difficult problem involving soil‐sampling, measurements of ground‐water wells, and measurements of the flow of small streams and springs. It has occurred to the writer that selected stream‐flow records for either the late fall or early spring might provide a better index of the ground‐water available for spring runoff than that obtained by other methods. This would involve a comparison of runoff in the fall with runoff in the spring, and might eliminate uncertainties in the relation of a reservoir‐level in the fall with runoff in the spring. Such a method would be especially desirable because of the availability of stream‐flow records. The discussion which follows is more an explanation of the method to be used than an attempt to develop an accurate formula for the prediction of spring runoff.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Some general observations of physiographic and climatic influences on floods

The magnitude of flood‐runoff and the degree to which it concentrates in river‐channels with respect to time is known to vary within wide limits. To a considerable extent these variations relate to the physiographic and edaphlc features of the drainage‐basins as they have been developed by the geologic and climatic history of the particular province in which they are located. Although storms of high intensity occur throughout the United States, the runoff therefrom has been observed to have certain inherent characteristics in wet or humid areas that are different from those in arid or semiarld regions even though the laws governing the flow of water either over ground or in river‐channels are universal in application. Essential features of flood‐behavior in wet or humid areas where stream‐flow is sustained throughout the year and river‐channels and valleys are comparatively well defined and permanent, differ from those in arid or semiarld regions where stream‐flow is very erratic and flashy and the channels are formed largely by occasional intense runoff rather than the slow and orderly development by the continuous occupancy by flowing water. Moreover the flood‐problem in areas where a part of the precipitation occurs as snow differs from that in areas where all the precipitation occurs as rain. Furthermore, in areas where snow does occur there seems to be a wide range in flood‐runoff characteristics depending upon the temperature in and altitude of the particular zone. Some of the different flood‐characteristics as they relate to total runoff and the concentration thereof are described herein and possible reasons therefor are related to conditions which seem to be more or less inherent in particular physiographic and climatic provinces.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

The measurement and computation of flood‐discharge

The Geological Survey has been engaged for more than 50 years in measuring and publishing the discharge of streams of the United States. Measured discharges have ranged in quantity from a small fraction of a second‐foot measured volumetrically to more than 2,000,000 second‐feet measured by use of the current‐meter equipment recently developed by the Survey and described by the writer in the April 1938 issue of Civil Engineering . In this work, systematic and generally complete records of discharge are being obtained at about 3700 gaging‐stations maintained and operated by the United States Geological Survey. A typical structure at which records of river‐stages are obtained is shown in Figure 1. A discharge‐record at a gaging‐station is usually derived from a record of stage by means of a curve or table showing the stage‐discharge relation as determined by measurements of discharge distributed over the range of stage.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Part I—History and activities of the section of geophysics of the United States Geological Survey

From the beginning of time, all ingenuity of mankind has been concentrated upon the methods of finding gold and unusual deposits in the earth. An illustration (Fig. 1) from the old treatise by Agricola, “De Re Metallica,” published in 1580, will serve to show the implicit faith of that generation in divining methods. However, it was not until 1920 that real progress was made in prospecting by using the latest advances of the physical sciences. The public interest was stimulated by the successes of these methods on the part of commercial operators, and governmental agencies received many requests for information concerning their reliability. There were also, in the late 1920's, high‐pressure mine‐promotion schemes which used geophysical methods in a very questionable manner, symbolized in Figure 2 as of 1928 by an electrified forked stick. Authoritative information concerning such practices for public protection was needed to curb such notorious undertakings. Dr. Scott Turner, then Director of the United States Bureau of Mines, thoroughly understood the situation and was first in the governmental departments to recognize the possible value of a study of modern prospecting methods. The Bureau of Mines began this investigation by employing Drs. A. S. Eve and D. A. Keys of McGill University for short periods in the summer in 1927. Their first publication [see 1 of “References” at end of paper] served to illustrate the fundamental scientific principles which underlie geophysical prospecting. This was followed by a second publication [2] giving the results of field‐tests. In the light of the rapid improvements during the intervening ten years, these two papers take a historical position.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Part II—Geophysical investigations in the Hawaiian Islands

During 1938 and 1939, an extensive series of geophysical surveys, employing both resistivity and magnetic methods, have been carried on in the Hawaiian Islands by the Section of Geophysics of the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the Division of Ground‐Water of the Survey and the Division of Hydrography of the Territorial Government (see Fig. 1). During this time, surveys have been conducted on the islands of Oahu, Molokai, and Maul. Two distinct types of ground‐water occurrence are being investigated: (1) The basal fresh‐water lens floating on underlying salt water in obedience to the Ghyben‐Herzberg principle (Fig. 2); and (2) perched ground‐water (Fig. 3) .

Hawaii↗
USGS2014

Part III—Fundamental research in geophysics relating to prospecting

In addition to projects such as those reported in parts I and II above, the Section of Geophysics of the Federal Government has undertaken a considerable amount of fundamental research. Two such field‐projects may be mentioned, one a magnetometric study in the Comstock District of Nevada, and the other a resistivity‐study of snow and ice. In addition to the field‐problems, there have been two classes of research of a mathematical type. One of these has been the preparation of tables, scales, and charts for the important geophysical functions already known; the other has been the extension of the relations involved in the resistivity‐problem.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

The possibility of electrical stratification in the Earth as disclosed by surface‐measurements of currents and potentials

Early application of electricity to the ground was of interest particularly to telegraphy especially when it was first commercially applied. There was available at that time the Newtonian analysis of sources and sinks in a semi‐infinite medium which could be applied directly to ground‐contacts. Experiments conducted at that time showed that, while the electrical ground‐resistivity was a factor, it was under engineering control. In computing the resistance of a ground‐contact, Kennelly [see 1 of “References” at end of paper] equated the conducting surface buried in the ground to that of a hemisphere in a medium having a uniform resistivity, and the values so secured were within the safe limits of operation of telegraph‐ and cable‐lines. Later Ollendorf [2] gave a very much more detailed solution of a large number of different types of ground‐contacts for which was computed the current‐ and potential‐distribution in the ground immediately around the ground‐electrode. Wenner [3] also gave a classical solution for the measurement of ground‐resistivity by using separate current‐ and potential‐contacts to the ground which was good practice for measuring the resistivity of metal conductors.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Some features of the Livingston Formation near Nye, Montana

The Livingston Formation is a series of pyroclastic rocks several thousand feet thick cropping out on the north side of the Beartooth Mountains. These pyroclastic rocks grade laterally into the Claggett, Judith River, Bearpaw, and Lennep formations of the Montana Group, according to Stone and Calvert [see 1 of references at end of paper], showing that they were being deposited during much of Montana time; they are therefore of Upper Cretaceous age and antedate the Laramide orogeny. The purpose of this paper is to describe briefly several significant features of the Formation where it is exposed in the Nye No. 2 Quadrangle (Fig. 1) along the southeast edge of its outcrop. It is concluded that much of the Formation was formed by mudflows, and that certain chloritized beds were deposited by hot mudflows.

Montana↗