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USGS1984

Sandstone units of the Lee Formation and related strata in eastern Kentucky

Most of the Cumberland Plateau region of southeastern Kentucky is underlain by thick sequences of quartzose sandstone which are assigned for the most part to the Lee Formation. Much new information has been gathered about the Lee and related strata as a result of the cooperative mapping program of the U. S. Geological Survey and the Kentucky Geological Survey between 1960 and 1978. This report summarizes the age, lithology, distribution, sedimentary structures, and stratigraphic relations of the sandstone units of the Lee within and between each of three major outcrop belts in Kentucky: Cumberland Mountain, Pine Mountain, and the Pottsville Escarpment area. The Lee Formation generally has been regarded as Early Pennsylvanian in age and separated from Mississippian strata in Kentucky by an unconformity. However, lithostratigraphic units included in the formation as presently defined are broadly time-transgressive and range in age from Late Mississippian in parts of the Cumberland Mountain outcrop belt to Middle Pennsylvanian in the Pottsville Escarpment area. Members of the Lee intertongue with and grade into the underlying Pennington Formation and overlying Breathitt Formation. Sandstone and conglomeratic sandstone members of the Lee of Mississippian age found only in parts of the Cumberland overthrust sheet are closely associated with marine rocks; Pennsylvanian members are mostly associated with continental coal-bearing strata. Sandstone members of the Lee are mostly quartz rich and range from more than 90 percent to more than 99 percent quartz. They are relatively coarse grained, commonly pebbly, and in places conglomeratic. The units are southwest-trending linear or broadly lobate bodies. The Lee Formation is as much as 1,500 ft thick in the type area in Cumberland Mountain where it has been divided into eight members. The Pinnacle Overlook, Chadwell, White Rocks Sandstone, Middlesboro, Bee Rock Sandstone, and Naese Sandstone Members are mostly quartzose sandstone and conglomerate. The Dark Ridge and Hensley Members are mostly shale, siltstone, thin-bedded silty sandstone, and coal. The lower three of these members, the Pinnacle Overlook, Chadwell, and White Rocks Sandstone, are assigned to the Upper Mississippian Series because they intertongue with marine reddish or greenish shale and siltstone of the Pennington Formation or equivalent strata that contain a Late Mississippian fauna. The overlying quartzose sandstone members of the Lee commonly have coalified plant remains and impressions of plants and are Early to Middle Pennsylvanian in age; they are generally associated with terrestrial shale and siltstone containing coal beds and pinch out eastward into subgraywacke, siltstone, and shale. Although marine members commonly are bimodal, resultant transport directions for both marine and terrestrial members are southwesterly as determined by crossbedding. Thickness variations of the Middlesboro Member in the Cumberland overthrust sheet suggest that it represents tills of at least three major southwesterly trending paleovalleys. Thickness variations of the Bee Rock Sandstone Member east of Rocky Face fault and the combined Bee Rock and Naese Sandstone Members west of Rocky Face fault suggest that these members represent tills of at least two major southwesterly trending paleovalleys. East of Rocky Face fault, the Bee Rock is generally the uppermost member of the Lee; west of the fault, the overlying Naese is at the top. The Naese may range in age from Early to Middle Pennsylvanian and is partly or wholly equivalent to the Rockcastle Sandstone member of the Lee Formation in the area of the Pottsville Escarpment. The Mississippian-Pennsylvanian systemic boundary in the area of the Cumberland overthrust sheet in most places has been placed at an unconformity at the base of the Middlesboro Member; locally it is projected at the base of shales of the underlying Dark Ridge Member or equivalent strata in the Penningto

Professional Paper↗
USGS1970

Electrical-analog-model study of water resources of the Columbus area, Bartholomew County, Indiana

The Columbus study area is in part of a glacial outwash sand and gravel aquifer that was deposited in a preglacial bedrock valley. The study area extends from the north line of Bartholomew County to the south county line and includes a small part of Jackson County south of Sand Creek and east of the East Fork White River. This report area includes about 100 square miles of the aquifer. In the Columbus area, ground water in the outwash aquifer is unconfined. Results of pumping tests and estimates derived from specific-capacity data indicate that the average horizontal permeability for this aquifer is about 3,500 gallons per day per square foot. An average coefficient of storage of about 0.2 was determined from pumping tests. Transmissibilities range from near zero in some places along the boundary to about 500,000 gallons per day per foot in the thicker parts of the aquifer. About 800,000 acre-feet of water is in storage in the aquifer. This storage is equivalent to an average yield of 34 million gallons per day for about 21 years without recharge. An electrical-analog model was built to analyze the aquifer system and determine the effects of development. Analysis of the model indicates that there is more than enough water to meet the estimated needs of the city of Columbus without seriously depleting the aquifer. Additional withdrawals will affect the flow in the Flatrock River, but if the withdrawals are made south of the city, they will not affect the river any more than present pumping. Future pumping should be confined to the deepest part of the outwash aquifer and (or) to the area adjacent to the streams. On the basis of an hypothesized amount and distribution of pumping, the decline in water levels in the Columbus area as predicted by the model for the period 1970-2015 ranged from about 20 feet in the center of the areas of pumping to 3 feet or less in the areas upstream and downstream from these areas of pumping.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1982

Intrusive rocks of the Holden and Lucerne quadrangles, Washington— The relation of depth zones, composition, textures, and emplacement of plutons

The core of the northern Cascade Range in Washington consists of Precambrian and upper Paleozoic metamorphic rocks cut by numerous plutons, ranging in age from early Triassic to Miocene. The older plutons have been eroded to catazonal depths, whereas subvolcanic rocks are exposed in the youngest plutons. The Holden and Lucerne quadrangles span a -sizeable and representative part of this core. The oldest of the formations mapped in these quadrangles is the Swakane Biotite Gneiss, which was shown on the quadrangle maps as Cretaceous and older in age. The Swakane has yielded a middle Paleozoic metamorphic age, and also contains evidence of zircon inherited from some parent material more than 1,650 m.y. old. In this report, the Swakane is assigned an early Paleozoic or older age. It consists mostly of biotite gneiss, but interlayered with it are scattered layers and lenses of hornblende schist and gneiss, clinozoisite-epidote gneiss, and quartzite. Thickness of the Swakane is many thousands of meters, and the base is not exposed. The biotite gneiss is probably derived from a pile of siliceous volcanic rocks containing scattered sedimentary beds and basalt flows. Overlying the Swakane is a thick sequence of eugeosynclinal upper Paleozoic rocks metamorphosed to amphibolite grade. The sequence includes quartzite and thin layers of marble, hornblende schist and gneiss, graphitic schist, and smaller amounts of schist and gneiss of widely varying compositions. The layers have been tightly and complexly folded, and, in places, probably had been thrust over the overlying Swakane prior to metamorphism. Youngest of the supracrustal rocks in the area are shale, arkosic sandstone, and conglomerate of the Paleocene Swauk Formation. These rocks are preserved in the Chiwaukum graben, a major structural element of the region. Of uncertain age, but possibly as old as any of the intrusive rocks in the area, are small masses of ultramafic rocks, now almost completely altered to serpentine. These occur either as included irregular masses in later intrusives or as tectonically emplaced lenses in metamorphic rocks. Also of uncertain age but probably much younger, perhaps as young as Eocene, are larger masses of hornblendite and hornblende periodotite that grade into hornblende gabbro. These are exposed on the surface and in the underground workings of the Holden mine. Oldest of the granitoid intrusives are the narrow, nearly concordant Dumbell Mountain plutons, having a radiometric age of about 220 m.y. They consist of gneissic hornblende-quartz diorite and quartz diorite gneiss. Most contacts consist of lit-par-lit zones, but some are gradational or more rarely sharp. The plutons are typically catazonal. Closely resembling the Dumbell Mountain plutons in outcrop appearance, but differing considerably in composition, are the Bearcat Ridge plutons. These consist of gneissic quartz diorite and granodiorite. The Bearcat Ridge plutons are not in contact with older dated plutons, but because their textural and structural characteristics so closely resemble those of the Dumbell Mountain plutons, they are considered to be the same age. Their composition, however, is suggestive of a much younger age. Cutting the Dumbell Mountain plutons is the Leroy Creek pluton, consisting of gneissic biotite-quartz diorite and trondjhemite. The gneissic foliation in the Leroy Creek is characterized by a strong and pervasive swirling. Cutting both the Dumbell Mountain and Leroy Creek plutons are the almost dikelike Seven-fingered Jack plutons. These range in composition from gabbro to quartz diorite; associated with them are contact complexes of highly varied rocks characterized by gabbro and coarse-grained hornblendite. Most of the rocks are gneissic, but some are massive and structureless. Dikes, sills, small stocks, and irregular clots of leucocratic quartz diorite and granodiorite are abundant in the Swakane Biotite Gneiss and are locally abundant in the Seven-fingered Jack and other plutons. Although the leucocratic rocks vary little in appearance or composition, some, particularly those in the Swakane, were formed by metamorphic segregation, whereas the others are probably felsic differentiates of intrusive rocks. The Tenpeak and White Mountain plutons are closely similar and are probably connected at depth. Rocks of the Tenpeak are more varied and range in composition from gabbro to granodiorite; quartz diorite is not only most common in the Tenpeak, but also constitutes, by far, the greatest bulk of the White Mountain pluton. Much of the rock in both plutons is somewhat gneissic, but some is nongneissic. The north end of the White Mountain pluton is bordered by a contact complex similar to those associated with the Seven-fingered Jack and other plutons in the area. Maximum potassium/argon ages determined on hornblende from the Tenpeak are about 90 m.y. Probably somewhat younger than the Tenpeak and White Mountain plutons is the Sulphur Mountain pluton. Only a small part of the pluton extends into the Holden quadrangle, and here the rocks are gneissic granodiorite. The High Pass and Buck Creek plutons are tabular, somewhat silllike masses of granodioritic and quartz dioritic composition. Rocks in the Buck Creek pluton are entirely gneissic, whereas rocks only near the contacts or in the thinner parts of the High Pass are gneissic. In most places, the contacts of both plutons consist of lit-par-lit zones, but numerous dikes of the High Pass are present in the host rocks, especially the Sulphur Mountain pluton. The Riddle Peaks pluton consists of layered and unlayered hornblende gabbro. Inasmuch as the pluton is cut on all sides by later intrusive rocks, its age relative to older plutons is not known, but it is almost certainly pre-Tertiary. Much of the gabbro is rhythmically layered, but some is unlayered or only vaguely layered. In places, thick sheets of unlayered gabbro alternate with equally thick sheets of rhythmically layered gabbro. The rock is mostly fresh and unaltered or recrystallized. No pseudosedimentary structures other than the gravity-stratified rhythmic layers were seen. The Cardinal Peak pluton has a core consisting largely of granodiorite and quartz diorite and a rim of contact complexes containing large amounts of gabbro and coarse-grained hornblendite. The northern part of the intrusive is highly protoclastic throughout and contains numerous spindle- and canoe-shaped masses a third of a meter to several meters across and a few meters to several tens of meters long that are either partly or completely enveloped by rinds of fine-grained protoclastic material. These masses seem to have behaved as roller bearings during intrusion of the partly crystalline magma.

Washington↗
USGS1976

Summary appraisals of the nation's ground-water resources – Arkansas-White-Red region

The Arkansas-White-Red Region, an area of265,000 square miles (6.86x10 11 square metres), is characterized by diversity in geography, climate, and geology and, in turn, by diversity in water resources and water problems. The western semiarid part of the region is water deficient, that is, potential evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation. The eastern, humid part has a surplus. Water use in the region in 1970 averaged 10 billion gallons per day (438 cubic metres per second), of which more than 65 percent was ground water. The largest use of ground water was for irrigation of crops, mostly in the water-deficient areas of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado. Because of its ready availability and widespread occurrence, ground water is used throughout the region to supply municipal and rural water needs. The most productive aquifers, capable of yielding more than 50 gallons per minute (0.0032 cubic metres per second) to individual wells, are alluvium, carbonate. rocks, gypsum, and sandstone. Fresh water in storage in aquifers in the region is estimated to be 2 billion acre-feet (2.5x10 12 cubic metres). In addition, a large, unmeasured volume of saline water (containing more than 1,000 milligrams per litre of dissolved solids) underlies the fresh water at depths generally less than 500 feet (150 metres). The flow of water in each aquifer depends upon the physical and hydrologic characteristics of the aquifer, the climate, and the relation to, and the character of, adjacent rocks and streams. These factors also determine the effect of water-supply development or other man-induced stresses on the flow and the quality of water in the aquifers. Analog and digital models of aquifers can be used to evaluate stresses on aquifers and thereby provide water managers and planners with efficient tools for planning the development and continued use of aquifers.

Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, N↗
USGS2015

Global trends in emerging viral diseases of wildlife origin

Fifty years ago, infectious diseases were rarely considered threats to wildlife populations, and the study of wildlife diseases was largely a neglected endeavor. Furthermore, public health leaders at that time had declared that “it is time to close the book on infectious diseases and the war against pestilence won,” a quote attributed to Dr. William H. Stewart in 1967. There is some debate whether he actually said these words; however, they reflect the widespread belief at that time (Spellberg, 2008). Leap forward to today, and the book on infectious diseases has been dusted off. There is general consensus that the global environment favors the emergence of infectious diseases, and in particular, diseases of wildlife origin (Taylor et al., 2001). Examples of drivers of these infectious diseases include climate and landscape changes, human demographic and behavior changes, global travel and trade, microbial adaptation, and lack of appropriate infrastructure for wildlife disease control and prevention (Daszak et al., 2001). The consequences of these emerging diseases are global and profound with increased burden on the public health system, negative impacts on the global economy and food security, declines and extinctions of wildlife species, and subsequent loss of ecosystem integrity. For example, 35 million people are currently living with HIV infection globally (http://www.who.int/gho/hiv/en); 400 million poultry have been culled since 2003 as a result of efforts to control highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza (http://www.fao.org/avianflu/en/index.html), and there are increasing biological and ecological consequences. Examples of health threats to biodiversity include the “spillover” of human diseases to great ape populations (Köndgen et al., 2008), the near-extirpation of the black-footed ferret from canine distemper and sylvatic plague (for a review see Abbott et al., 2012), and threats to Hawaiian forest birds from introduced pathogens such as avian malaria and avian pox (van Riper et al., 1986, 2002). There are also newly discovered pathogens or diseases that have resulted in population declines, and global extinctions of several species. Examples include Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, which causes a cutaneous fungal infection of amphibians and is linked to declines of amphibians globally (Kriger and Hero, 2009); and recently discovered Pseudogymnoascus (Geomyces) destructans, the etiologic agent of white-nose syndrome (WNS), which has caused precipitous declines of North American bat species (Blehert et al., 2009). Furthermore, there is increasing evidence of the subsequent impacts on human and ecosystem health; for example, increasing risk of exposure to Lyme disease as a consequence of decreased biodiversity (LoGiudice et al., 2003) as well as the economic cost of the loss of bats due to decreased insect control services (Boyles et al., 2011). Figure A12-1 is a timeline of important diseases investigated by the U.S. Geological Survey since the 1970s, which illustrates three factors: 1. The unprecedented emergence of new pathogens and geographic spread of known pathogens since the 1990s; 2. Diseases are increasingly causing large-scale, negative impacts on wildlife populations and spreading over larger geographic areas rather than remaining localized; and 3. Diseases are increasingly of concern for multiple sectors, including public health, agriculture and wildlife management agencies. Of increasing concern are these novel diseases such as WNS as they are hard to anticipate, particularly devastating to human health or wildlife populations, challenging to manage, spread over large geographic areas in short time periods, and may result in ecological ripple effects that are difficult to predict. The following article provides examples of recently emerged viral diseases of wildlife origin. The examples have been selected to illustrate the drivers of emerging viral diseases, both novel pathogens and previously known diseases, the impacts of these diseases, as well as the role of wildlife both as “villains” or reservoirs as well as “victims” of these viral diseases. The article also discusses potential management strategies for emerging viral diseases in wildlife populations and future science directions in wildlife health to prevent, prepare, respond to, and recover from these disease events. Finally, the concept of One Health and its potential role in developing solutions to these issues of mutual concern is discussed.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1961

Floods in the Skagit River basin, Washington

According to Indian tradition, floods of unusually great magnitude harassed the Skagit River basin about 1815 and 1856. The heights of these floods were not recorded at the time; so they are called historical floods. Since the arrival of white men about 1863, a number of large and damaging floods have been witnessed and recorded. Data concerning and verifying the early floods, including those of 1815 and 1856, were collected prior to 1923 by James E. Stewart. He talked with many of the early settlers in the valley who had listened to Indians tell about the terrible floods. Some of these settlers had referenced the maximum stages of floods they had witnessed by cutting notches at or measuring to high-water marks on trees. In order to verify flood stages Stewart spent many weeks finding and levelling to high-water marks such as drift deposits, sand layers in coves, and silt in the bark of certain types of trees. Gaging stations have been in operation at various locations on the Skagit River and its tributaries since 1909, so recorded peak stages are available at certain sites for floods occurring since that date. All peak discharge data available for both historical and recorded floods have been listed in this report. The types of floods as to winter and summer, the duration of peaks, and the effect of reservoirs are discussed. In 1899 Sterling Dam was constructed at the head of Gages Slough near Sedro Woolley. This was the beginning of major diking in the lower reaches of the Skagit River. Maps included in the report show the location of most of the dike failures that have occurred during the last 73 years and the area probably inundated by major floods. The damage resulting from certain floods is briefly discussed. The report is concluded with a brief discussion of the U.S. Geological Survey method of computing flood-frequency curves as applied to the Skagit River basin. The treatment of single-station records and a means of combining these records for expressing regional significance are exemplified. Historical data are used in the development of both the single-station and the regional curves.

Washington↗
USGS1981

Alkalic rocks and resources of thorium and associated elements in the Powderhorn District, Gunnison County, Colorado

Alkalic igneous rocks and related concentrations of thorium, niobium, rare-earth elements, titanium, and other elements have long been known in the Powderhorn mining district and have been explored intermittently for several decades. The deposits formed chiefly about 570 m.y. (million years) ago in latest Precambrian or Early Cambrian time. They were emplaced in lower Proterozoic (Proterozoic X) metasedimentary, metavolcanic, and plutonic rocks. The complex of alkalic rocks of Iron Hill occupies 31 km 2 (square kilometers) and is composed of pyroxenite, uncompahgrite, ijolite, nepheline syenite, and carbonatite, in order of generally decreasing age. Fenite occurs in a zone, in places more than 0.6 km (kilometer) wide, around a large part of the margin of the complex and adjacent to alkalic dikes intruding Precambrian host rock. The alkalic rocks have a radioactivity, chiefly due to thorium, greater than that of the surrounding Powderhorn Granite (Proterozoic X) and metamorphic rocks. The pyroxenite, uncompahgrite, ijolite, and nepheline syenite, which form more than 80 percent of the complex, have fairly uniform radioactivity. Radioactivity in the carbonatite stock, carbonatite dikes, and the carbonatite-pyroxenite mixed rock zone, however, generally exceeds that in the other rocks of the complex. The thorium concentrations in the Powderhorn district occur in six types of deposits: thorite veins, a large massive carbonatite body, carbonatite dikes, trachyte dikes, magnetite-ilmeniteperovskite dikes or segregations, and disseminations in small, anomalously radioactive plutons chiefly of granite or quartz syenite that are older than rocks of the alkalic complex. The highest grade thorium concentrations in the district are in veins that commonly occur in steeply dipping, crosscutting shear or breccia zones in the Precambrian rocks. They range in thickness from a centimeter or less to 5 m (meters) and are as much as 1 km long. The thorite veins are composed chiefly of potassic feldspar, white to smoky quartz, calcite, barite, goethite, and hematite, and also contain thorite, jasper, magnetite, pyrite, galena, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, synchysite, apatite, fluorite, biotite, sodic amphibole, rutile, monazite, bastnaesite, and vanadinite. The Th0 2 content of the thorite veins ranges from less than 0.01 percent to as much as 4.9 percent in high-grade samples. The Th0 2 content is generally less than 1 percent, however, and is only 0.05 to 0.1 percent in many of the veins examined in the district. Samples of the dolomitic carbonatite of Iron Hill mostly range from 3 to 145 ppm (parts per million) thorium. Thirty samples of the carbonatite dikes, the most radioactive rocks within the complex of Iron Hill, contain about 30 to 3,200 ppm thorium and a trace to about 1.5 percent rare-earth oxides. The magnetite-ilmenite-perovskite rocks have a radioactivity of 2 to 12 times the background of Precambrian granite that is attributable chiefly to thorium substitution for calcium in the perovskite. In two analyses the perovskite contains 0.12 and 0.15 percent Th0 2 . Trachyte dikes as much as 25 m thick cut the Precambrian rocks; their radioactivity is generally about two to four times the background of typical Precambrian granite, is locally higher, but is low relative to other types of thorium concentrations. A finegrained granite that is anomalously radioactive occurs in thick, dikelike plutons as much as 1.2 km wide, or more. The thorium content varies widely within the granite bodies. Eight samples of the granite contain 32 to 281 ppm thorium (averaging 115 ppm). The economic potential of thorium in the Powderhorn district is related in part to other elements such as niobium, titanium, iron, and rare earths. The proportions of niobium and rare earths to thorium vary in different parts of the district. Within the carbonatite body of Iron Hill, the Nb 2 0 5 content greatly exceeds Th0 2 , but the Th0 2 -Nb 2 0 5

Professional Paper↗
USGS1964

Ground water in folded Cretaceous sandstone of the Bhachau area, Kutch, India, with reference to the Kandla Port water supply

This report is based on an investigation of the availability of ground-water supplies in the Bhachau area for the nearby Kandla Port and township development undertaken by the Government of India. This seaport lies on an estuary of the Gulf of Kutch in western India and in the eastern part of the State of Kutch. The fieldwork on the investigation was carried on from November 1952 through April 1953 with continuing hydrologic observations through 1954-55. The fieldwork included: geologic mapping and delimitation of the principal aquifers of the region; preparation of water-table maps; a detailed inventory of existing wells and springs; observations of significant water table fluctuations; preparation of isobicarb, isochlor and isosulf maps to show the areal distribution of ground-water salinity. The Bhachau area includes about 116 square miles in eastern Kutch and lies in a belt of semiarid low-latitude steppes. The mean annual rainfall is about 15 inches, most of which falls from late June to late September during the southwest monsoon. The area includes a central sandy upland ranging from about 100 to 250 feet above sea level ; a northern lowland of between about 50 to 125 feet altitude that slopes north to the Great Rann of Kutch; a belt of low buttes and discontinuous ridges ranging from about 200 to 275 feet above sea level; and southern lowland which slopes in a southerly to southeasterly direction from an altitude of about 125 feet to 25 feet or less near the Gulf of Kutch. The principal streams are Kageshwar Vokra and Kara Vokra which drain north to the Great Rann and Kotwala Vokra and Dalwala Vokra which drain south toward the Gulf of Kutch. The rocks of the Bhachau area include nonmarine and marine sediments of Mesozoic, Tertiary, and Quaternary age and volcanic rocks of late Mesozoic to early Tertiary age. The oldest rocks in the area are medium- to coarse-grained white to buff current-bedded friable sandstone with occasional partings of white silty shale of the Upper Bhuj series that has been assigned to the Early Cretaceous. The soft friable sandstone of the Upper Bhuj series constitutes the most productive ground-water reservoir in the Bhachau area. At present (1955) there are nine irrigated tracts for which water is obtained from dug wells less than 90 feet deep in the Upper Bhuj. These wells are worked by bullocks and 'motes' (leather bags) at withdrawal rates ranging from about 6,000 to 24,000imperial gallons per day; however, many existing individual wells if equipped with mechanical pumps are capable of yielding 100,000 gallons per day. The Deccan trap of Late Cretaceous to Eocene age occurs in a sequence of basaltic lava flows in the Bhachau area, but trap dikes, sills and plugs that are common in other parts of Kutch have not been observed in the area. Laterite of probable Eocene age is extensive at the top of the Deccan trap, and in places where the lava flows are thin the parent rock has been almost completely lateritized. The Deccan lava flows or the laterite, where the trap is absent, rest disconformably on the Upper Bhuj. No wells have been observed in the Deccan trap of the Bhachau area, but it is possible that locally small supplies of good water may be obtained from these rocks. The Tertiary sediments, which are assigned to the Manchhar series of Pliocene age, generally rest on the laterite or the Deccan trap ; but where both are absent, the Manchhar rests directly on the Upper Bhuj. The Manchhar series includes massive reddish-brown gypseous clay shales, laminated gray siltstones, some limestone, mottled sandstone, and laterite trap gravel. Only meager supplies of brackish water are obtained from wells in these sediments. Along the channels of Kotwala, Dalwala, Kageshwar, and Kara Vokras are narrow bands of unconsolidated coarse sand with fine gravel of Quaternary age. No wells were observed in these deposits, but it is possible that locally they may contain small supplies of bracki

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS2020

A transect through Vermont's most famous volcano - Mount Ascutney

The Cretaceous Ascutney Mountain igneous complex affords a classic exposure of the White Mountain Igneous Suite. Often called Vermont’s most famous volcano, Mount Ascutney (elev. 3,144 feet, 958 m) stands as a prominent monadnock in the Connecticut River Valley. The mountain often serves as an inspirational landmark, as it does when viewed from locations throughout the valley including the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site (Walsh, 2017). The Ascutney Mountain igneous complex (Ratcliffe and others, 2011) consists of several mafic to felsic nested plutons including gabbro-diorite exposed at Little Ascutney to the west, and the Ascutney Mountain stock composed of syenite, granite, and related volcanic rocks underlying the main summit to the east (Fig. 1) (Schneiderman, 1989, 1991). Foland and Faul (1977) and Foland and others (1985) dated the gabbro-diorite complex at 125.5 to 122.2 Ma by K-Ar on biotite and by whole rock Rb/Sr, and dated the syenite-granite complex at 123.2 to 121.4 Ma by K-Ar on biotite. During the field trip we will visit the host rocks south of the mountain and the main rocks types of the Ascutney Mountain stock exposed near the summit and along the Mount Ascutney toll road. Mount Ascutney is the classic location where Daly (1903) discussed the evidence for piecemeal stoping as a pluton emplacement mechanism. This theory was later modified to favor cauldron subsidence, or ring-fracture stoping, as an alternative mode of emplacement (Chapman and Chapman, 1940). Our new mapping (Walsh and others, in press), which supersedes an earlier provisional study (Walsh and others, 1996a, b), supports the cauldron subsidence model, and shows that the main Ascutney Mountain stock is a funnel shaped composite pluton in agreement with geophysical data (Daniels, 1990). This field guide will primarily highlight the results of the new geologic mapping. This field guide is modified from a field trip presented in 2017 (Walsh, 2017). Additional stops have been added to examine the host rocks in the region south of the Ascutney Mountain stock. Two hikes are planned as part of this trip. Other NEIGC field trip guides to Mount Ascutney include Stoiber (1954) and Schneiderman (1988).

Vermont↗
USGS1978

Conductive heat flows in research drill holes in thermal areas of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

In convection systems with boiling springs, geysers, fumaroles, and other thermal features, the modes of heat flow become increasingly complex as a single liquid phase at depth rises into the near-surface environment where heat flows by convection of liquid and vapor and by conduction in high thermal gradients. This paper is mainly concerned with the changing patterns of conductive heat flow as related to channels of subsurface convective flow and to horizontal distance from spring vents. The primary data consist of temperatures measured in 13 cored drill holes as drilling progressed. Some temperatures plot convincingly on straight-line segments that suggest conductive gradients in rocks of nearly constant thermal conductivity. Temperature gradients and the conductive component of total heat flow nearly always decrease drastically downward; the gradient and heat flow of the lowest depth interval recognized in each hole is commonly only about 10 percent of the highest interval; the changes in gradient at interval boundaries are commonly interpreted as channels of near-boiling water or of cooler meteoric water. Temperature reversals are probably related to inflowing cooler water rather than to transient effects from recent changes. Some temperatures plot on curved segments that probably indicate dispersed convective upflow and boiling of water in ground penetrated by the drill hole. Other similar curved segments are too low in temperature for local boiling and are probably on the margins of hot upflow zones, reflecting conductive cooling of flowing water. The conifers of Yellowstone National Park (mainly lodgepole pine) seem to have normal growth characteristics where near-surface conductive heat flow is below about 200 heat-flow units (1 HFU = 10 -6 cal/cm 2 = 41.8 mW/m 2 ). Most areas of abnormal "stunted" trees (low ratio of height to base diameter, and low density of spacing) are characterized by conductive heat flows of about 250 to 350 HFU. The critical factor affecting growth is probably the seasonal maximum soil temperature at the root depths preferred by each form, rather than the heat flow as such. Heat flows up to 300 HFU are greatly dominated near the surface by conduction and are little affected by convection within the measured intervals. With increasing total heat flow above 300 HFU, the convection component, as indicated by snowfall calorimetry, becomes increasingly important. Snowfall calorimetry and tree growth as related to heat flow are calibrated by the heat-flow data considered here. Both snowfall calorimetry and tree growth patterns can be extrapolated rapidly, although without high precision, to thermal areas that lack subsurface data.

Wyoming↗
USGS2010

Geometry and kinematics of the eastern Lake Mead fault system in the Virgin Mountains, Nevada and Arizona

The Lake Mead fault system is a northeast-striking, 130-km-long zone of left-slip in the southeast Great Basin, active from before 16 Ma to Quaternary time. The northeast end of the Lake Mead fault system in the Virgin Mountains of southeast Nevada and northwest Arizona forms a partitioned strain field comprising kinematically linked northeast-striking left-lateral faults, north-striking normal faults, and northwest-striking right-lateral faults. Major faults bound large structural blocks whose internal strain reflects their position within a left step-over of the left-lateral faults. Two north-striking large-displacement normal faults, the Lakeside Mine segment of the South Virgin–White Hills detachment fault and the Piedmont fault, intersect the left step-over from the southwest and northeast, respectively. The left step-over in the Lake Mead fault system therefore corresponds to a right-step in the regional normal fault system. Within the left step-over, displacement transfer between the left-lateral faults and linked normal faults occurs near their junctions, where the left-lateral faults become oblique and normal fault displacement decreases away from the junction. Southward from the center of the step-over in the Virgin Mountains, down-to-the-west normal faults splay northward from left-lateral faults, whereas north and east of the center, down-to-the-east normal faults splay southward from left-lateral faults. Minimum slip is thus in the central part of the left step-over, between east-directed slip to the north and west-directed slip to the south. Attenuation faults parallel or subparallel to bedding cut Lower Paleozoic rocks and are inferred to be early structures that accommodated footwall uplift during the initial stages of extension. Fault-slip data indicate oblique extensional strain within the left step-over in the South Virgin Mountains, manifested as east-west extension; shortening is partitioned between vertical for extension-dominated structural blocks and south-directed for strike-slip faults. Strike-slip faults are oblique to the extension direction due to structural inheritance from NE-striking fabrics in Proterozoic crystalline basement rocks. We hypothesize that (1) during early phases of deformation oblique extension was partitioned to form east-west–extended domains bounded by left-lateral faults of the Lake Mead fault system, from ca. 16 to 14 Ma. (2) Beginning ca. 13 Ma, increased south-directed shortening impinged on the Virgin Mountains and forced uplift, faulting, and overturning along the north and west side of the Virgin Mountains. (3) By ca. 10 Ma, initiation of the younger Hen Spring to Hamblin Bay fault segment of the Lake Mead fault system accommodated westward tectonic escape, and the focus of south-directed shortening transferred to the western Lake Mead region. The shift from early partitioned oblique extension to south-directed shortening may have resulted from initiation of right-lateral shear of the eastern Walker Lane to the west coupled with left-lateral shear along the eastern margin of the Great Basin.

Arizona, Nevada↗
USGS1963

Ground-water geology and pump irrigation in Frenchman Creek Basin above Palisade, Nebraska

This report describes the geography, geology, and ground-water resources of that part of the Frenchman Creek basin upstream from Palisade, Nebr., an area of about 4,900 square miles. The basin includes all of Phillips County, Colo., and Chase County, Nebr., and parts of Logan, Sedgwick, Washington, and Yuma Counties, Colo., and Dundy, Hayes, Hitchcock, and Perkins Counties, Nebr. The land surface ranges from nearly flat to rolling; choppy hills and interdune saddles are common in the areas of dune sand, and steep bluffs and gullies cut the edges of the relatively flat loess plateaus. Most of the basin is drained by tributaries of Frenchman Creek, but parts of the sandhills are undrained. Farming and livestock raising are the principal industries. Irrigation with ground water has expanded rapidly since 1934. The rocks exposed in the basin are largely unconsolidated and range in age from Pliocene to Recent. They comprise the Ogallala formation (Pliocene), the Sanborn formation (Pleistocene and Recent?), dune sand (Pleistocene and Recent), and alluvium (Recent). The rocks underlying the Ogallala are the Pierre shale (Late Cretaceous) and the White River group (Oligocene). The Pierre shale is relatively impermeable and yields little or no water to wells. The White River group also is relatively impermeable and yields little or no water to wells; however, small to moderate quantities of water possibly may be obtained from wells that penetrate fractured or 'porous' zones in the upper part of the White River group or permeable channel deposits within the group. The Ogallala formation is the main aquifer in the basin and yields moderate to large quantities of water to wells. The Sanborn formation and the dune sand generally lie above the water table, but in areas of high water table the dune sand yields small quantities of water to wells for domestic and stock supplies. The alluvium, which includes the low terrace deposits bordering the major streams, yields small to large quantities of water to wells. The ground-water reservoir is recharged only from precipitation on the basin. Of the average annual precipitation of 19.5 inches, about 0.9 inch infiltrates to the water table, thereby contributing about 220,000 acre-feet of water annually to the ground-water reservoir. About 81 million acre-feet of water that could drain under gravity, and thus theoretically is available to wells, is held in groundwater storage in the basin. Water is discharged from the ground-water reservoir by wells, evaporation and transpiration, springs, seepage into streams, and movement into adjacent areas to the east and southeast. Most of the domestic, stock, and irrigation water supplies and all the public supplies are pumped from wells. During 1953, 96 wells were used to irrigate 10,000 acres of land with 19,000 acre-feet of water. About 34,000 acre-feet of water is evaporated and transpired annually in the valleys of the main streams and in areas of shallow water table in the sandhills. From the projection of base-flow measurements made during 1952, it was estimated that the average annual flow of Frenchman Creek into the reservoir above Enders Dam is about 57,000 acre-feet. By similar determinations, the average annual flow of Frenchman Creek at the gaging station at Palisade, Nebr., about 22 miles downstream from Enders Dam, is about 76,000 acre-feet, and the flow of Stinking Water Creek at the gaging station near Palisade is about 22,000 acre-feet. The combined flow of Frenchman and Stinking Water Creeks at their confluence near Palisade thus is about 98,000 acre-feet per year. About 90,000 acre-feet of ground water is estimated to move eastward each year across the Colorado-Nebraska State line within the basin. Additional irrigation wells that will tap the Ogallala formation and the alluvium in the major valleys undoubtedly will be drilled. On the basis of current estimates of future irrigation.withdrawals, it is concluded that by the

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS2006

Forecasting selenium discharges to the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary: Ecological effects of a proposed San Luis Drain extension

Selenium discharges to the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta) could change significantly if federal and state agencies (1) approve an extension of the San Luis Drain to convey agricultural drainage from the western San Joaquin Valley to the North Bay (Suisun Bay, Carquinez Strait, and San Pablo Bay); (2) allow changes in flow patterns of the lower San Joaquin River and Bay-Delta while using an existing portion of the San Luis Drain to convey agricultural drainage to a tributary of the San Joaquin River; or (3) revise selenium criteria for the protection of aquatic life or issue criteria for the protection of wildlife. Understanding the biotransfer of selenium is essential to evaluating effects of selenium on Bay-Delta ecosystems. Confusion about selenium threats to fish and wildlife stem from (1) monitoring programs that do not address specific protocols necessary for an element that bioaccumulates; and (2) failure to consider the full complexity of the processes that result in selenium toxicity. Past studies show that predators are more at risk from selenium contamination than their prey, making it difficult to use traditional methods to predict risk from environmental concentrations alone. This report presents an approach to conceptualize and model the fate and effects of selenium under various load scenarios from the San Joaquin Valley. For each potential load, progressive forecasts show resulting (1) water-column concentration; (2) speciation; (3) transformation to particulate form; (4) particulate concentration; (5) bioaccumulation by invertebrates; (6) trophic transfer to predators; and (7) effects on those predators. Enough is known to establish a first-order understanding of relevant conditions, biological response, and ecological risks should selenium be discharged directly into the North Bay through a conveyance such as a proposed extension of the San Luis Drain. The approach presented here, the Bay-Delta selenium model, determines the mass, fate, and effects of selenium released to the Bay-Delta through use of (1) historical land-use, drainage, alluvial-fill, and runoff databases; (2) existing knowledge concerning biogeochemical reactions and physiological parameters of selenium (e.g., speciation, partitioning between dissolved and particulate forms, and bivalve assimilation efficiency); and (3) site-specific data mainly from 1986 to 1996 for clams and bottom-feeding fish and birds. Selenium load scenarios consider effluents from North Bay oil refineries and discharges of agricultural drainage from the San Joaquin Valley to enable calculation of (a) a composite freshwater endmember selenium concentration at the head of the estuary; and (b) a selenium concentration at a selected seawater location (Carquinez Strait) as a foundation for modeling. Analysis of selenium effects also takes into account the mode of conveyance for agricultural drainage (i.e., the San Luis Drain or San Joaquin River); and flows of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River on a seasonal or monthly basis. Load scenarios for San Joaquin Valley mirror predictions made since 1955 of a worsening salt (and by inference, selenium) build-up exacerbated by an arid climate and massive irrigation. The reservoir of selenium in the San Joaquin Valley is sufficient to provide loading at an annual rate of approximately 42,500 pounds of selenium to a Bay-Delta disposal point for 63 to 304 years at the lower range of projections presented here, even if influx of selenium from the California Coast Ranges could be curtailed. Disposal of wastewaters on an annual basis outside of the San Joaquin Valley may slow the degradation of valley resources, but drainage alone cannot alleviate the salt and selenium build-up in the San Joaquin Valley, at least within a century. Load scenarios also show the different proportions of selenium loading to the Bay-Delta. Oil refinery loads from 1986 to 1992 ranged from 8.5 to 20 pounds of selenium per day; with treatment and cleanup, loads decreased to 3.0 pounds of selenium per day in 1999. In contrast, San Joaquin Valley agricultural drainage loads disposed of in a San Luis Drain extension could range from 45 to 117 pounds of selenium per day across a set of historical and future conditions. Components of this valley-wide load include five source subareas (i.e., Grassland, Westlands, Tulare, Kern, and Northern) defined by water and drainage management. Loads vary per subarea mainly because of proximity of the subarea to geologic sources of selenium and irrigation history. Loads from the Sacramento River, depending on flow conditions, range from 0.8 to 10 pounds of selenium per day. Loads from the San Joaquin River vary depending on restoration and flow conditions, which are considered. A consistent picture of ecological risk emerges under modeled selenium discharges from a proposed San Luis Drain extension. The threat to the estuary is greatest during low flow seasons and critically dry years. Where selenium undergoes reactions typical of low flow or longer residence time, highly problematic bioaccumulation in prey (food) is forecast. Surf scoter, greater and lesser scaup, and white sturgeon appear to be most at risk because these Bay-Delta predators feed on deposit and filter-feeding bivalves. Recent findings add Sacramento splittail and Dungeness crab to that list. During the low flow season of critically dry years, forecasted selenium concentrations in water, particulate matter, prey (diet), and predator tissue exceed guidelines with a high certainty of producing adverse effects under the most likely load scenario from a proposed San Luis Drain extension. High flows afford some protection under certain conditions in modeled San Joaquin River scenarios. However, meeting a combined goal of releasing a specific load during maximum flows and keeping selenium concentrations in the river below a certain objective to protect against bioaccumulation may not always be attainable. Management of the San Joaquin River on a constant concentration basis also could create problematic bioaccumulation during a wet year, especially during the low flow season, because high flows translate to high loads that are not always offset by seasonal river inflows. Prior to refinery cleanup, selenium contamination was sufficient to threaten reproduction in key species within the Bay-Delta ecosystems and human health advisories were posted based on selenium concentrations in tissues of diving ducks. During this time, selenium concentrations in the Bay-Delta were well below the most stringent recommended water quality criterion [1 microgram per liter (1 µg/L)]. Enhanced biogeochemical transformations to bioavailable particulate selenium and efficient bioaccumulation by bivalves characterized the system. If these biogeochemical conditions continue to prevail and agricultural selenium sources replace or exceed refinery sources, ecological forecasts suggest the risk of adverse effects will be difficult to eliminate under an out-of-valley resolution to the selenium problem. The Bay-Delta selenium model presented here is a systematic approach for conducting forecasts of the ecological effects from selenium on aquatic food webs. It is a new tool that links and models the major processes leading from loads through consumer organisms to predators. It also is a feasible approach for site-specific analysis and could provide a framework for developing new protective selenium foodweb guidelines and predator criteria. Model components that help ensure understanding ecosystems and the basis of environmental protection are (1) contaminant concentrations and speciation in sources, such as particulate material, that most influence bioavailability; (2) bioaccumulation models that calculate concentrations in diet, specifically in bivalves of the Bay-Delta that act as sensitive indicators of selenium contamination; (3) food-web type that determines what animals are threatened and when; and (4) multiple media concentrations (water, particulate material, and tissue of prey and predators) that, in-combination, determine risk or hazard.

California↗
USGS1967

Geology and ground-water resources of Laramie County, Wyoming

Laramie County, an area of 2,709 square miles, is in the southeast corner of Wyoming. Rocks exposed there range in age from Precambrian to Recent. The most extensive aquifers in the county are the White River Formation of Oligocene age, which is as much as 500 feet thick and consists predominantly of siltstone ; the Arikaree Formation of Miocene age, which consists of as much as 450 feet of very fine grained to fine-grained sandstone; and the Ogallala Formation of Miocene and Pliocene age, which consists ,of as much as 330 feet of gravel, sand, silt, and some cobbles and boulders. These formations are capable of yielding large ,supplies of water locally. Terrace deposits of Quaternary age yield moderate .to large supplies of water in the southeastern and northeastern parts of the county. In the Federal well field, large yields of water from the White River Formation are obtained from gravel lenses. In the eastern part of the county near Pine Bluffs, large yields are obtained from openings in .the siltstone of the White River. Previous investigators reported that the large yields were obtained in areas where the formation is fractured and fissured. The authors of this report believe that .the large yields from siltstone in the White River Formation are from pipes, sometimes called natural tunnels, rather than from fractures ,or fissures. Little is known about the water-bearing properties of the pro-Tertiary aquifers in the county, but water derived from the pro-Tertiary formations would probably be of poor quality, except in the vicinity of the outcrop near the western edge of the county. Precipitation is the principal source of recharge to the ground-water reservoirs. About 5 percent of the annual precipitation, or about 108,400 acre-feet per year, is estimated to be recharged. Only a small amount of additional recharge is from streams. The general movement of ground water is eastward, and the average gradient of the water table is about 40 feet per mile. The total amount ,of ground water pumped from wells in Laramie County during 1964 is estimated to be 28,000 acre-feet; about 6,000 acre-feet was used for municipal and industrial supplies, about 17,000 acre-feet was used for irrigation in the Pine Bluffs-Carpenter area, and about 5,000 acre-feet was used for other purposes. The balance of the recharge (80,400 acre-feet) is estimated to be discharged by the following means: 20 percent by underflow, 20 percent by streamflow, and 60 percent by evapotranspiration. The coefficient of transmissibility of the Ogallala Formation, determined by averaging data from 28 pumping tests made in the Cheyenne municipal well field, is about 16,000 gallons per day per foot. However, this figure is an average of the more permeable zones, and the average coefficient of transmissibility of the Ogallala in the county is probably much less because of the heterogeneous character of the formation. A coefficient of transmissibility of 3,800 gallons per day per foot was calculated for the Ogallala, in the same vicinity that the pumping tests were made, by using a regional method of analysis. Although the average transmissibility of the Ogallala is considered to be low, large yields are obtained from gravel stringers and lenses in the formation. The maximum perennial yield from the Cheyenne well field is estimated to be about 1.6 billion gallons per year. Moderate to large yields of water can be obtained in the north-central part of the county where the saturated thickness of the Arikaree Formation, or combined Arikaree and Ogallala Formations, is 200 feet or more. Ground water has been developed throughout the county, but development has been intensive only in the Cheyenne municipal well fields near Cheyenne and Federal and in the Pine Bluffs lowland. The water level has been lowered as much as 40 feet in the Cheyenne well field and somewhat less in the Federal well field.

Wyoming↗
USGS1956

Water requirements of the aluminum industry

Aluminum is unique among metals in the way it is obtained from its ore. The first step is to produce alumina, a white powder that bears no resemblance to the bauxite from which it is derived or to the metallic aluminum to which it is reduced by electrolytic action in a second step. Each step requires a complete plant facility, and the plants may be adjacent or separated by as much as the width of the North American continent. Field investigations sf every alumina plant and reduction works in the United States were undertaken to determine the industry's water use. Detailed studies were made of process and plant layout so that a water balance could be made for each plant to determine not only the gross water intake but also an approximation of the consumptive use of water. Water requirements of alumina plants range from 0.28 to 1.10 gallons per pound of alumina; the average for the industry is 0.66 gallon. Water requirements of reduction works vary considerably more, ranging from 1.24 to 36.33 gallons per pound of aluminum, and average 14.62 gallons. All alumina plants in the United States derive alumina from bauxite by the Bayer process or by the Combination process, a modification of the Bayer process. Although the chemical process for obtaining alumina from bauxite is essentially the same at all plants, different procedures are employed to cool the sodium aluminate solution before it enters the precipitating tanks and to concentrate it by evaporation of some of the water in the solution. Where this evaporation takes place in a cooling tower, water in the solution is lost to the atmosphere as water vapor and so is used consumptively. In other plants, the quantity of solution in the system is controlled by evaporation in a multiple-effect evaporator where practically all vapor distilled out of the solution is condensed to water that may be reused. The latter method is used in all recently constructed alumina plants, and some older plants are replacing cooling towers with multiple-effect evaporators. All reduction works in the United States use the Hall process, but the variation in water requirements is even greater than the variation at alumina plants, and, further, the total daily water requirement for all reduction works is more than 9 times the total daily requirement of all alumina plants. Many reduction works use gas scrubbers, but some do not. As gas scrubbing is one of the principal water uses in reduction works, the manner in which wash water is used, cooled, and reused accounts in large measure for the variation in water requirements. Although the supply of water for all plants but one was reported by the management to be ample for all plant needs, the economic factor of the cost of water differs considerably among plants. It is this factor that accounts in large measure for the widely divergent slant practices. Plant capacity alone has so little effect on plant water requirements that other conditions such as plant operation based on the cost of water, plant location, and the need for conservation of water mask any economy inherent in plant size.

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS1987

Ground water in the southeastern Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado

The potential for developing oil-shale resources in the southeastern Uinta Basin of Utah and Colorado has created the need for information on the quantity and quality of water available in the area. This report describes the availability and chemical quality of ground water, which might provide a source or supplement of water supply for an oil-shale industry. Ground water in the southeastern Uinta Basin occurs in three major aquifers. Alluvial aquifers of small areal extent are present i n val ley-f i 11 deposits of six major drainages. Consolidated-rock aquifers include the birds's-nest aquifer i n the Parachute Creek Member of the G reen River Formation, which is limited to the central part of the study area; and the Douglas Creek aquifer, which includes parts of the Douglas Creek Member of the Green River Formation and parts of the intertonguing Renegade Tongue of the Wasatch Formation; this aquifer underlies most of the study area. The alluvial aquifers are recharged by infiltration of streamflow and leakage from consolidated-rock aquifers. Recharge is estimated to average about 32,000 acre-feet per year. Discharge from alluvial aquifers, primarily by evapotranspiration, also averages about 32,000 acre-feet per year. The estimated volume of recoverable water in storage in alluvial aquifers is about 200,000 acre-feet. Maximum yields to individual wells are less than 1,000 gallons per minute. Recharge to the bird's-nest aquifer, primarily from stream infiltration and downward leakage from the overlying Uinta Formation, is estimated to average 670 acre-feet per year. Discharge from the bird's-nest aquifer, which is primarily by seepage to Bitter Creek and the White River, is estimated to be at 670 acre-feet per year. The estimated volume of recoverable water in storage in the bird's-nest aquifer is 1.9 million acre-feet. Maximum yields to individual wells in some areas may be as much as 5,000 gallons per minute. A digital-computer model of the flow system was used to evaluate the effects of oil-shale development on the bird's-nest aquifer at the Federal lease tracts Ua and Ub. Results of model simulations indicate that during construction of a vertical access shaft, a pumping rate of about 900 gallons per minute would be required to dewaterthe aquifer. The model also indicates that the construction of a proposed reservoir on the White River may raise water levels in the bird's-nest aquifer near the reservoir site by as much as 45 feet. The flow model was used to evaluate the potential ground-water supply available for oil-shale development in the vicinity of the Federal lease tracts Ua and Ub. The results of the simulation indicate that bird's-nest aquifer could supply about 10,000 acre-feet of water per year at that site, for a period of 20 years. Downdraw after 20 years of pumping would exceed 250 feet near the simulated well field. Based on the results of the model simulation, it is estimated that the aquifer could simultaneously supply another 10,000 acre-feet of water per year in the northern part of the study area, but some interference between well fields could be expected. The Douglas Creek aquifer is recharged by precipitation and stream infiltration at an average rate of about 20.000 acre-feet per year. Discharge is estimated to be about the same and is primarily through springs and diffuse seepage. The estimated volume of recoverable water in storage is 16 million acre-feet. Maximum yields to individual wells are estimated to be less than 500 gallons per minute. A model of the flow system in the Douglas Creek aquifer indicates that the aquifer could supply about 700 acre-feet of water per year for oil-shale development at Federal lease tracts Ua and Ub and at the TOSCO Corp. site. After 20 years of pumping, water levels in production wells would be near the base of the aquifer. Based on the results of the model simulation, it is estimated that the aquifer could supply another 700 acre-feet of water per year in the southern part of the modeled area, but some interference between wells could be expected. Chemical quality of the ground water in the southeastern Uinta Basin varies considerably. Water from alluvial wells ranges from about 440 to 27,800 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids. Water from two consolidated-rock aquifers has dissolved-solids concentrations ranging from 870 to 5,810 milligrams per liter in the bird's-nest aquifer, and from 640 to 6,100 milligrams per liter in the Douglas Creek aquifer. Water from alluvial wells generally is a sodium sulfate type, whereas water in both the consolidated-rock aquifers generally changes from a sodium sulfate type to a sodium bicarbonate type. All ground water is very alkaline, and the alluvial aquifers contain very hard water. None of the water is suitable for public supply, but all the water could be used for industrial purposes such as washing and cooling. Changes in chemical composition of the ground water can be attributed to several physiochemical processes, including mineral precipitation and dissolution, oxidation and reduction, mixing, ion exchange, and evaporative concentration. Mass-transfer modeling of these processes shows how they can account for the variability in the ground-water quality. The mass-transfer model of the Bitter Creek alluvial aquifer shows that evaporative concentration, combined with precipitation of calcite, dolomite, gypsum, and release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere results in the documented changes in the pH and dissolved solids in the water. The water-quality changes in the consolidated-rock aquifers are a result of precipitation of calcium carbonate and perhaps dolomite (calcium magnesium carbonate) with the reduction of sulfate by organic carbon, as well as ion exchange of magnesium for sodium. These processes result in large values of pH and alkalinity in the water.

Colorado, Utah↗
USGS1978

Statistical inference from capture data on closed animal populations

The estimation of animal abundance is an important problem in both the theoretical and applied biological sciences. Serious work to develop estimation methods began during the 1950s, with a few attempts before that time. The literature on estimation methods has increased tremendously during the past 25 years (Cormack 1968, Seber 1973). However, in large part, the problem remains unsolved. Past efforts toward comprehensive and systematic estimation of density (D) or population size (N) have been inadequate, in general. While more than 200 papers have been published on the subject, one is generally left without a unified approach to the estimation of abundance of an animal population This situation is unfortunate because a number of pressing research problems require such information. In addition, a wide array of environmental assessment studies and biological inventory programs require the estimation of animal abundance. These needs have been further emphasized by the requirement for the preparation of Environmental Impact Statements imposed by the National Environmental Protection Act in 1970. This publication treats inference procedures for certain types of capture data on closed animal populations. This includes multiple capture-recapture studies (variously called capture-mark-recapture, mark-recapture, or tag-recapture studies) involving livetrapping techniques and removal studies involving kill traps or at least temporary removal of captured individuals during the study. Animals do not necessarily need to be physically trapped; visual sightings of marked animals and electrofishing studies also produce data suitable for the methods described in this monograph. To provide a frame of reference for what follows, we give an exampled of a capture-recapture experiment to estimate population size of small animals using live traps. The general field experiment is similar for all capture-recapture studies (a removal study is, of course, slightly different). A typical field experiment is the following: a number of traps are positioned in the area to be studied, say 144 traps in a 12 X 12 grid, 7 m apart. At the beginning of the study (j=1) a sample size of n 1 is taken from the population, the animals are tagged and marked for future identification, and then returned to the population, usually at the same point where they were trapped. After allowing time of the marked and unmarked animals to mix, a second sample (j=2, often the following day) or n 2 animals is then taken.the second sample normally contains both marked and unmarked animals. The unmarked animals are marked and all captured animals are released back into the population. This procedure continues for t periods where t ≥ 2. The animals should be marked in such a way that the capture-recapture history of each animal caught during the study is known. In practice, toes are often clipped to uniquely identify individual animals (Taber and Cowan 1969) or serially numbered tags are sometimes used on larger animals. Such capture studies are classified by 2 schemes that are directly related to what class of models are appropriate and what parameters can be estimated. The first classification addresses the subject of closure. Closure usually means the size of the population is constant over the priod of investigation, i.e., no recruitment (birth or immigration) or losses (death or emigration). This is a strong assumption and, of course, never completely true in a natural biological population. For greater generality, we define closure to mean there are no unknown changes to the initial population. In practice, this means known losses (trap death), or deliberate removals) do not violate our definition of closure. If the study is properly designed, closure can be met at least approximately. Open or nonclosed populations explicitly allow for one or more types of recruitment or losses to operate during the course of the experiment (Jolly 1965, Seber 1965, Robson 1969, Pollock 1975). Only closed populations will be considered in this monograph. The second classification depends on the type of data collected with 2 possibilities occurring (Pollock 1974, unpublished doctoral dissertation, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York): (1) only information on the recovery of marked animals is available for each sampling occasion, j, j=1, 2, ... t. (2) information on both marked and unmarked animals is available for each sampling occasion, j, j=1, 2, ... t. In case (1), population size (N) is not identifiable, however, other parameters can be estimated (Brownie et al. 1978). In case (2), N can be estimated using a wide variety of approaches depending upon what we wish to assume. Only case (2) will be dealt with here.

Wildlife Monographs↗
USGS2017

Platinum-group elements

The platinum-group elements (PGEs)—platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium—are metals that have similar physical and chemical properties and tend to occur together in nature. PGEs are indispensable to many industrial applications but are mined in only a few places. The availability and accessibility of PGEs could be disrupted by economic, environmental, political, and social events. The United States net import reliance as a percentage of apparent consumption is about 90 percent. PGEs have many industrial applications. They are used in catalytic converters to reduce carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and nitrous oxide emissions in automobile exhaust. The chemical industry requires platinum or platinum-rhodium alloys to manufacture nitric oxide, which is the raw material used to manufacture explosives, fertilizers, and nitric acid. In the petrochemical industry, platinum-supported catalysts are needed to refine crude oil and to produce aromatic compounds and high-octane gasoline. Alloys of PGEs are exceptionally hard and durable, making them the best known coating for industrial crucibles used in the manufacture of chemicals and synthetic materials. PGEs are used by the glass manufacturing industry in the production of fiberglass and flat-panel and liquid crystal displays. In the electronics industry, PGEs are used in computer hard disks, hybridized integrated circuits, and multilayer ceramic capacitors. Aside from their industrial applications, PGEs are used in such other fields as health, consumer goods, and finance. Platinum, for example, is used in medical implants, such as pacemakers, and PGEs are used in cancer-fighting drugs. Platinum alloys are an ideal choice for jewelry because of their white color, strength, and resistance to tarnish. Platinum, palladium, and rhodium in the form of coins and bars are also used as investment commodities, and various financial instruments based on the value of these PGEs are traded on major exchanges. PGEs are among the rarest metals; Earth’s upper crust contains only about 0.0005 part per million (ppm) platinum. Today, the average grade of PGEs in ores that are mined primarily for their PGE concentrations varies from 5 to 15 ppm, although the concentration of PGEs in hand-picked ore specimens may range from tens to hundreds of parts per million. More than 100 different minerals have one of the PGEs as an essential component. PGE minerals occur as native metals. They also occur as compounds with other transition metals (copper, iron, mercury, nickel, and silver), post-transition metals (bismuth, lead, and tin), metalloids (antimony, arsenic, and tellurium), and nonmetals (selenium and sulfur). From 1900 to 2011, approximately 14,200 metric tons of PGEs was produced, and roughly 95 percent of that production (13,500 metric tons) took place between 1960 and 2011. The breakdown of production by country shows that, since 1900, about 90 percent of the production came from South Africa and Russia. The secondary supply of platinum, palladium, and rhodium is obtained through the recycling of catalytic converters from end-of-life vehicles, jewelry, and electronic equipment. Recycled platinum, palladium, and rhodium provide a significant proportion of the world’s total supply; these secondary sources are sufficient to close the gap between world mine production and consumption. Exploration and mining companies report resources of about 104,000 metric tons of PGEs (including minor amounts of gold) in mineral deposits around the world that could be developed. For PGEs, almost all the reported production and identified resources are associated with deposits in three geologic features—the Bushveld Complex, which is a layered mafic-to-ultramafic intrusion in South Africa; the Great Dyke, which is a layered mafic-to-ultramafic intrusion in Zimbabwe; and sill-like intrusions associated with flood basalts in the Noril’sk-Talnakh area of Russia. The metallic forms of PGEs are generally considered to be inert. PGEs pose a risk to human health only in cases where individuals are occupationally exposed to synthetic PGE compounds, especially workers in precious-metal refineries. In the natural environment, background PGE concentrations are low in water, sediment, soil, and plants. Anthropogenic sources of PGEs in the environment include catalytic converters used in modern automobiles, platinum-based chemotherapy drugs, and smelter emissions. The abundance of sulfide minerals defines the environmental and geologic characteristics of PGE-enriched magmatic sulfide deposits; those deposits with the highest amount of sulfide minerals could have the highest environmental impact. Acid rock drainage from reef-type and contact-type deposits is unlikely because the ores and their host rocks contain low proportions of sulfide minerals. For some conduit-type orebodies with massive ores, mineral-processing techniques separate and produce concentrates of copper-, iron-, and nickel-bearing sulfide minerals; those with copper and nickel are processed to extract metal, but the iron-sulfide minerals, mainly pyrrhotite, are discarded as waste. This results in waste material with a high acid-generating potential. The most significant primary source of PGEs in the United States is a deposit in the Stillwater Complex, which is a layered igneous intrusion in Montana. Approximately 305 metric tons of platinum and palladium have been mined from the Stillwater Complex deposit since 1986. Exploration and development drilling indicate that another 2,200 metric tons are present. Mining has progressed to depths of 1,800 meters below the surface, but the bottom of the ore deposit has not been reached; geologic estimates suggest that another 1,000 to 6,200 metric tons of PGEs could be present at depth. In the future, PGEs may be mined from deposits found near the base of the Duluth Complex, which is a group of igneous intrusions in Minnesota.

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