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At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1982

Background hydrologic information in potential lignite mining areas in Mississippi, August 1981

The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Mississippi Bureau of Geology is conducting a hydrologic data-collection program in potential lignite-producing areas in Mississippi. During the period August 24-31, 1981, hydrologic data consisting of channel characteristics and stream discharge were collected at 18 sites, and water and channel bottom material samples were collected at 15 sites on small streams draining potential lignite mining areas in east-central Mississippi. Main channel widths ranged from 100 feet on Mill Creek near Louisville to 30 feet on Spring Creek near Bond. Maximum water depths varied from 12.5 feet on Pawticfaw Creek to 0.2 foot on Beasha Creek. Three sites had no discharge. Specific conductance ranged from 100 micromhos on Lonsilocher Canal near Philadelphia to 24 micromhos on Jofuska Creek near Arlington. Water temperatures varied from 22.5 to 26 degrees Celsius. The highest pH was 7.6 on Fulton and Lonsilocher Canals. The dissolved oxygen concentration was 3.8 milligrams per liter or higher at all sites. Channel bottom-material samples commonly contained iron, manganese, and zinc. (USGS)

Open-File Report↗
USGS2023

Simulating groundwater flow in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain with a focus on the Mississippi Delta

The Mississippi Alluvial Plain has become one of the most important agricultural regions in the United States but relies heavily on groundwater for irrigation. On average, more than 12 billion gallons are withdrawn daily from the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer. Declining groundwater levels, especially in the Delta region of northwest Mississippi and the Cache and Grand Prairie regions of eastern Arkansas, have led to concerns about future sustainability. The U.S. Geological Survey Mississippi Alluvial Plain Project is focused on quantifying the groundwater system in the alluvial plain and the response of groundwater resources to future development. A key objective of the project is to provide updated groundwater flow models supported by extensive data collection and analyses. MODFLOW 6, PEST++, and several open-source python packages were used to develop a simplified, faster running version of the Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study model that can provide boundary conditions for local inset models, including the Mississippi Delta model described in this report. An automated workflow was used for model construction, history matching, and development of baseline future climate scenarios. The models incorporate information from a Soil-Water-Balance code simulation of the terrestrial water balance, metering-based estimates of water use from thousands of wells, measured and estimated streamflow and stages, and the largest airborne electromagnetic survey flown to date in the United States. Baseline scenarios for the Mississippi Delta under potential future climates were constructed using recharge, surface runoff and irrigation pumping forcings from a future version of the Soil-Water-Balance model, driven by downscaled temperature and precipitation output from 10 general circulation model simulations, including high and moderate carbon emissions pathways. Results indicate a complex water balance that varies in time and space in terms of the terrestrial recharge, stream leakage, and regional groundwater flow components, which are affected by seasonal forcings, human activity, and alluvial geomorphology. The general circulation model outputs indicate a continued rise in average temperatures but no clear precipitation trend. Increased crop water demand is anticipated from the higher temperatures, resulting in increased irrigation withdrawals to sustain current levels of irrigated agriculture. Simulated drawdowns in groundwater levels at the mid-21st century vary greatly. Under moderate or wet climate scenarios, and in parts of the aquifer that are well connected to surface water, little to no additional drawdown is anticipated. Under dry or warm scenarios, drawdowns of as much as 10 meters or more are possible in parts of the aquifer that are relatively disconnected from surface water. Under dry or warm scenarios, the portion of the Delta with greater than 60 feet of saturated thickness could be reduced from near 100 percent currently (2018) to 80–90 percent by mid-century. Future simulations with the model could include alternative management scenarios to identify options for improving groundwater sustainability. The automated model construction workflows are designed to facilitate regular updating, making this a “living” framework that the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and other stakeholders can use for adaptive management going forward.

Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi↗
USGS2025

An inset groundwater-flow model to evaluate the effects of layering configuration on model calibration and assess managed aquifer recharge near Shellmound, Mississippi

The U.S. Geological Survey has developed a high-resolution inset groundwater-flow model in the Mississippi Delta as part of an interdisciplinary collaboration coordinated by the Mississippi Alluvial Plain project to provide a tool that stakeholders can use to support water-resource management decisions. Groundwater withdrawals from the Mississippi River Valley alluvial (MRVA) aquifer have been vital to support agricultural production in the region, but substantial groundwater-level declines near Shellmound, Mississippi, have caused concerns for long-term sustainability of the aquifer. To better understand the subsurface and try to mitigate the long-term groundwater-level declines, stakeholders have undertaken actions including a Groundwater Transfer and Injection Pilot (GTIP) project using a riverbank filtration-based managed aquifer recharge approach. The pilot project consisted of extracting groundwater near the Tallahatchie River and reinjecting it into the aquifer 3 kilometers west where water levels have substantially declined. A high-resolution airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey was also completed to collect electrical resistivity data to support the GTIP project and the development of the groundwater model. The inset groundwater-flow model was developed to (1) integrate the AEM data into the optimal layering configuration of the MRVA aquifer that the available observation data can support through calibration, and (2) assess the potential effect of the GTIP project on the groundwater levels. The AEM data were processed into three different layering configurations leading to the development of model A (18 layers), model B (16 layers), and model C (8 layers), all at a 100- x 100-meter cell spatial resolution using the U.S. Geological Survey modular finite-difference flow model 6 code with Newton-Raphson formulation. The model development process integrated recent advances in modeling, such as the incorporation of AEM data, the use of outputs from the soil-water-balance (SWB) model, and the Aquaculture and Irrigation Water-Use Model, and was facilitated by robust automation using the open-source python packages Modflow-setup and SFRmaker. Using Parameter Estimation ++ Iterative Ensemble Smoother, the three numerical groundwater-flow models (models A, B, and C) were calibrated against a set of observations, which included aquifer groundwater levels, streamflows, stream stage, and aquifer transmissivity. Results indicate that the detailed representation of MRVA aquifer layers in model A produced the best calibrated model by history matching, and the integration of data representing surficial connectivity played a key role in improving groundwater recharge and enhancing the ability of the model to match groundwater levels in the cone of depression. A forecast model simulated the managed aquifer recharge approach, and the results indicated that, given average irrigation and recharge conditions (2010–15), the GTIP project has the potential to induce groundwater-level increases of as much as 3 meters around the injection site, but a sustained increase would require repetition in subsequent years of water transfer at 2022 rates or above.

Mississippi↗
USGS2021

Geology and genesis of the Shalipayco evaporite-related Mississippi Valley-type Zn–Pb deposit, Central Peru: 3D geological modeling and C–O–S–Sr isotope constraints

The Shalipayco Zn–Pb deposit, in central Peru, is composed of several stratabound orebodies, the largest of which are the Resurgidora and Intermedios, contained in carbonate rocks of the Upper Triassic Chambará Formation, Pucará group. Petrography suggests that a single ore-forming episode formed sphalerite and galena within vugs, open spaces, and fractures. Three-dimensional (3D) geological modeling has allowed division of the Chambará Formation into four members (Chambará I, II, III, and IV) that better define lithological controls on sulfide formation. Diagenetic replacement of evaporite minerals with the organic matter (OM) presence likely generated secondary porosity and H 2 S accumulation by bacterial sulfate reduction (BSR), providing ground preparation for the later Zn–Pb mineralizing event. The least-altered host rocks have C–O isotope compositions of 1.8 ± 0.1‰ (VPDB) and 29.9 ± 2.1‰ (VSMOW), respectively, within the Triassic marine carbonate ranges. Early dolomite contains lighter C–O composition (1.1 ± 0.9 and 23.8 ± 2.9‰, respectively) consistent with OM decomposition during burial diagenesis. Post-mineralization calcite has still lighter C–O composition (− 5.1 and 13.3‰, respectively), suggesting meteoric water that had migrated through organic-rich strata. The strontium isotopes of Mitu group basalts (0.709654–0.719669) indicate it as a possible, but not the unique source of strontium and probably of other metals. Highly negative sulfide sulfur isotope values (− 23.3 to − 6.2‰ (VCDT)) indicate a major component of the ore sulfur derived ultimately from BSR. However, multiple lines of evidence suggest that preexisting H 2 S underwent thermochemical redox cycling prior to ore formation. The influx of hot metalliferous brines to dolomitized zones containing trapped H 2 S is the preferred model for ore deposition at Shalipayco.

Mineralium Deposita↗
USGS1954

Flood of August 1953 in the vicinity of Tylertown, Mississippi

The United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the Mississippi Highway Department has been studying the surface-water resources and problems of Mississippi as they affect the highway program. One phase of this program is the determination of flood runoff from small drainage areas. This is the final of two reports on the August 1953 flood; the first or preliminary report was released to the Highway Department as an administrative report in November 1953.

Mississippi↗
USGS2020

Field comparison of five in situ turbidity sensors

Five commercially available turbidity sensors were field tested by the U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility for accuracy and data comparability. The tested sensors were the Xylem EXO (EXO), the Hach Solitax sc (Solitax), the In Situ Aqua TROLL sensor installed onto a TROLL 600 sonde (TROLL 600), the Campbell Scientific OBS501 (OBS501), and the Observator ANALITE NEP–5000 (NEP–5000). The sensors were deployed at Pearl River at National Space Technology Laboratories Station, Mississippi (U.S. Geological Survey site 02492620), and were serviced weekly. In addition to the five in situ turbidity sensors, corresponding discrete samples were collected and analyzed during the evaluation on a calibrated Hach 2100N benchtop turbidimeter. The OBS501 malfunctioned early in the evaluation and eventually failed, resulting in few data from the sensor. During this study, the four remaining sensors (minus the OBS501) changed similarly throughout the field test; however, sensor data from the EXO consistently demonstrated lower results than the Solitax, TROLL 600, and NEP–5000, possibly because of the variation in raw signal processing among manufacturers. Results from a single factor analysis of variance test and a Tukey Honestly Significant Difference test verified the low bias observed in the EXO data and indicated there was a significant difference between the EXO data and data from the Solitax, TROLL 600, and NEP–5000 but an insignificant difference among the data when the Solitax, TROLL 600, and NEP–5000 were compared to each other.

Mississippi↗
USGS1996

Neogene and Quaternary geology of a stratigraphic test hole on Horn Island, Mississippi Sound

During April and May, 1991, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) drilled a 510-ft-deep, continuously cored, stratigraphic test hole on Horn Island, Mississippi Sound, as part of a field study of the Neogene and Quaternary geology of the Mississippi coastal area. The USGS drilled two new holes at the Horn Island site. The first hole was continuously cored to a depth of 510 ft; coring stopped at this depth due to mechanical problems. To facilitate geophysical logging, an unsampled second hole was drilled to a depth of 519 ft at the same location.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2023

Status and trends of total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations, loads, and yields in streams of Mississippi, water years 2008–18

To assess the status and trends of conditions of surface waters throughout Mississippi, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), summarized concentrations and estimated loads, yields, trends, and spatial and temporal patterns of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) at 20 stream sites in MDEQ’s ambient water-quality monitoring network and 2 stream sites in the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment Project’s monitoring network. Comparison of streamflow at the time of water-quality sample collection to flow-duration curves for each site showed that samples were relatively evenly spread over a wide range of flows, indicating that load estimations were representative of a wide range of flows. Relation of streamflow to concentrations of TN and TP varied among sites and land use. Sites with high agriculture land use in the drainage basin tended to have a positive correlation between streamflow and concentration, suggesting influence of event-driven nonpoint-source runoff. Sites near urban (developed) areas tended to have a negative correlation between streamflow and concentration, suggesting chronic point-source influences during low-flow conditions. Sites with high forest land use and lower agriculture and urban (developed) land use showed little to no association between streamflow and concentration. Seasonal distributions of concentrations of TN and TP also corresponded closely with variations in land use. Sites near urban (developed) land had the highest concentrations in late summer and fall, sites with a high percentage of agricultural land had the highest concentrations in the spring, and sites that were primarily forested or with little developed land did not exhibit substantial changes in concentration across seasons. Eight sites had statistical likelihoods for upward trends of TN loads, and seven sites had statistical likelihoods for downward trends. Trends in TN loads at six sites were considered “about as likely as not,” meaning that a site has an equal chance of having an upward or downward trend. Trend results of mean annual flow-normalized loads of TP for the period of analysis (2008–18) showed that 16 sites had upward trends, 3 sites had downward trends, and 2 sites were considered “about as likely as not.” Results from our study were compared to results from existing regional models to assess accuracy of predictions at a local scale. Comparisons of yields predicted from 2012 regional-scale SPAtially Referenced Regressions on Watershed attributes (SPARROW) to results from this study showed the 2012 SPARROW-predicted estimates varied in consistency with results from this study. The 2012 SPARROW-prediction model underestimated TN yields, more often and by a slightly larger degree, more than it overestimated TN yields. The 2012 SPARROW-predicted model tended to underestimate yields at study sites with higher yields. All four sites in the predominantly agricultural area of northwest Mississippi, locally known as the Mississippi Delta, were underestimated by 2012 SPARROW. For TP, yield comparisons at sites with lower yields were consistent, yields at sites with midrange yields tended to be overestimated by SPARROW, and yields at sites with high yields tended to be underestimated by SPARROW. TP yields at four sites in the Mississippi Delta were underestimated by the 2012 SPARROW-predicted model. Results of select sites from our study were also compared to other published load estimates from an earlier time period to evaluate possible trends. Comparison of TN yields at four sites and TP yields at three sites from the study-derived estimates to estimates made from data spanning 1993–2004 showed decreasing TN yields at all four sites and decreasing TP yields at two of three sites, with increasing yields of TP at the Yazoo River lower site. Also, a third comparison of the TN and TP yields of the Yazoo River lower site of this study to estimates made from data spanning 1996–97 showed decreasing TN yields but similar TP yields. This suggests that TN yields may have decreased over the last 20–30 years, but TP yields remain constant or are increasing.

Mississippi↗
USGS1985

Background hydrologic information in potential lignite mining areas in north-central Mississippi, August 1984

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Mississippi Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Geology, is conducting a hydrologic data collection program in potential lignite-producing areas in Mississippi. During the last two weeks of August 1984, hydrologic data were collected at 15 stream sites that drain potential lignite mining areas in Lafayette, Calhoun, and Yalobusha Counties. Main channel widths ranged from approximately 60 feet at three streams (Coon Creek near Toccopula, Muckaloon Creek near Tula, and Hurricane Creek near Velma) to approximately 120 feet at two streams (Potlockney Creek near Tula, and Savannah Creek near Bruce). Maximum water depths ranged from less than 1.0 foot at most streams to over 5.0 feet at sites on Potlockney Creek near Tula and McGill Creek near Sarepta. Stream discharge ranged from 0.32 cubic feet per second in Persimmon Creek near Bruce to 18.5 cubic feet per second in Puskus Creek near Etta. The specific conductance of stream water ranged from 25 to 160 microsiemens and dissolved solids concentrations ranged from 22 to 91 mg/L (milligrams per liter). Most major ion concentrations were less than 10 mg/L with the exception of calcium (11 mg/L), sodium (12 mg/L) and sulfate (18 mg/L) in the water of Persimmon Creek near Bruce. Dissolved oxygen concentrations were greater than 5.0 mg/L at all but one site. Turbidity values were generally less than 50 units. Nitrate plus nitrite concentrations were equal to or less than 0.10 mg/L in all streams except in Potlockney Creek near Tula where the concentration was 0.11 mg/L. Copper and selenium concentrations in the water at all sampling sites ranged from below the detection limits (1 microgram/g) to 4 micrograms/g (micrograms per gram) and mercury concentrations in bottom material samples ranged from less than 0.01 microgram/g to 0.15 microgram/g. (USGS)

Open-File Report↗
USGS2018

Nearshore coastal bathymetry data collected in 2016 from West Ship Island to Horn Island, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Mississippi

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, conducted bathymetric surveys of the nearshore waters surrounding Ship and Horn Islands, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Mississippi. The objective of this study was to establish base-level elevation conditions around West Ship, East Ship, and Horn Islands and their associated active littoral system prior to restoration activities. These activities include the closure of Camille Cut and the placement of sediment in the littoral zone of East Ship Island. These surveys can be compared with future surveys to monitor sediment migration patterns post-restoration and can also be measured against historic bathymetric datasets to further our understanding of island evolution. The USGS collected 667 line-kilometers (km) of single-beam bathymetry data and 844 line-km of interferometric swath bathymetry data in July 2016 under Field Activity Number 2016-347-FA. Data are provided in three datums: (1) the International Terrestrial Reference Frame of 2000 (ellipsoid height); (2) the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83) CORS96 realization and the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 with respect to the GEOID12B model (orthometric height); and (3) NAD83 (CORS96) and Mean Lower Low Water (tidal datum). Data products, including x,y,z point datasets, trackline shapefiles, digital and handwritten Field Activity Collection Systems logs, 50-meter digital elevation model, and formal Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata, are available for download.

Mississippi↗
USGS1997

Campanian coastal plain sediments in southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois - Significance to the early geologic history of the northern Mississippi Embayment

Basal Cretaceous deposits in the northernmost part of the Mississippi Embayment in southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois have been correlated previously with the Tuscaloosa Formation of Alabama. New palynological data indicate that these clastic deposits comprise non-marine and marine sections of middle to late Campanian age. They consist of a lower non-marine deposit, the herein newly proposed Post Creek Formation, and an upper marine deposit that we correlate in part with the Coffee Sand of Tennessee. These Campanian deposits overlie a diachronous Mesozoic paleosol, Little Bear Formation, and are progressively overlain by the McNairy Sand of early to middle Maastrichtian age, the Owl Creek Formation of middle to late Maastrichtian age, and the Porters Creek Clay of late Paleocene age. Outcrops and subsurface occurrences of the Post Creek Formation are widespread around the northern margin of the Mississippi Embayment. In contrast, the Coffee Sand is more restricted in distribution, and is present in southeast Missouri only as an outlier. Extensive occurrences of the Coffee Sand are found in Tennessee and further south in the embayment. This study shows that (1) the basal Cretaceous deposits in the northern Mississippi Embayment are not equivalent to the Tuscaloosa Formation, but are entirely separate stratigraphic units, (2) the shallow Cretaceous Interior Seaway occupied the northernmost part of the present Mississippi Embayment by the late Campanian, and (3) a large part of the northern embayment may have experienced an episode of uplift and erosion during the latest Campanian or earliest Maastrichtian, prior to deposition of McNairy Sand. ?? 1997 Academic Press Limited.

Illinois, Missouri↗
USGS2020

Simulation of water-management scenarios for the Mississippi Delta

To compare the effectiveness of proposed alternative water-supply scenarios on future water availability in the Mississippi Delta, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality are collaborating on the update and enhancement of an existing regional groundwater-flow model of the area. Through this collaboration, the model has been updated to include boundary conditions through March 2014 with the most recent water-use data, precipitation and recharge data, and streamflow and water-level observation data. The updated model has been used to evaluate selected alternative water-supply scenarios to determine relative effects on the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer. Alternative water-supply options evaluated in this report include: (1) irrigation efficiency, (2) on-farm storage and tailwater recovery, (3) instream weirs to increase surface-water availability, (4) intrabasin transfer of surface water, and (5) groundwater transfer and injection. A relative comparison approach was used to calculate the simulated water-level response caused by each scenario. Water-level response is the difference between water levels simulated by the alternative water-supply scenario and those simulated by a base or “no action” scenario. Water-level response in the alluvial aquifer varied for each scenario based on the location, magnitude, and (or) adoption rates of the simulated alternative water-supply option. The groundwater transfer and injection scenario showed the largest water-level response.

Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri↗
USGS1991

Observation of suspended sediments in Mobile Bay, Alabama from satellite

As part of a comprehensive geologic study of coastal Alabama and Mississippi, the U.S. Geological Survey is investigating coastal sediment transport in Mobile Bay and the adjacent shelf. Satellite imagery from the NOAA AVHRR is being used to provide data on the variability of spatial patterns in the near-surface suspended sediment concentration. This imagery is processed using atmospheric corrections to remove haze and Rayleigh radiance in order to obtain water reflectances; the reflectances are than converted to approximate sediment concentrations using standard relationships between water reflectance and in situ sediment concentrations. A series of images from early 1990 shows rapid changes in sediment concentrations in response to high river flow of the Alabama-Tombigbee river system. During these times, suspended sediment tends to flow out Mobile Bay without mixing into the eastern lobe of the Bay (Bon Secour Bay). The sediment concentration field also appears to be disturbed by the main ship channel. The sediment plume extends more than 60 km offshore after the peak flow event. One wind event in December 1989 was identified as increasing sediment concentration in the Bay. It is not believed that such an event has been previously observed from satellite.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1993

40Ar-39Ar ages of bentonite beds in the upper part of the Yazoo Formation (Upper Eocene), west-central Mississippi

Bentonite beds recorded from both outcrops and cores in the upper Eocene Yazoo Formation offer opportunities to date the uppermost Eocene of this region and to provide information on the age of the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. This report gives radiometric age dates for three bentonites sampled from the upper Yazoo Formation. Two bentonites are from outcrops near Satartia in western Mississippi and one is from a core hole at Society Ridge in west-central Mississippi. The upper bentonite at Satartia was studied independently at two laboratories using different techniques but with the same results, an age of 34.3 Ma (million years). Results from the Society Ridge bentonite gave the same age. -from Authors

Mississippi Geology↗