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At least 397 records · Page 22Linked to original sources
USGS2014

Quality of water in the upper Colorado River basin

In a drainage area as large as the Colorado River Basin there are naturally large differences in the quality of the surface waters. The chemical character of the water at six gaging stations on the Colorado River from near the headwaters to near the mouth is shown by the analyses in Table 1. It will be seen that the concentration of dissolved solids increased from 64 ppm (0.09 tons per ac ft) in the headwaters to 699 ppm (0.95 tons per ac ft) near the mouth.

Colorado↗
USGS2014

Quality of water in the northwest

Abstract The quality of natural waters, as judged by the dissolved mineral content, is quite varied throughout the Northwest. The concentrations of dissolved solids range from less than 50 ppm for many of the surface waters in Washington and Oregon, to several thousand ppm in the alkaline lakes of these states. On the whole, the quality of the natural waters is good but in some areas the waters have become unsatisfactory for many purposes, including irrigation, through contamination with wastes from industrial processes, which may include drainage from irrigated lands.

Oregon, Washington↗
USGS2014

Trends in runoff in the Pacific Northwest

The diminution in runoff in the Pacific Northwest, particularly the Columbia River Basin, during the past 50 years, and its hydrologic significance are discussed in this paper. An analysis of the rainfall‐runoff relations for the Basin is made in order to explain the different influence of short‐ and long‐term precipitation factors on the diminution of runoff. The indicated effects of long‐term precipitation may reflect the influence of ground‐water storage.

Oregon, Washington↗
USGS2014

Development of limestone reservoirs in Comal County, Texas

The Edwards limestone, and to a lesser extent the Comanche Peak limestone and the lower part of the Glen Rose limestone below, all of Lower Cretaceous age, form one of the most extensive ground‐water reservoirs in Texas. As a result of normal faulting, these formations are connected by underground channels to form a hydrologic unit which is partly artesian and partly unconfined. Observations in Comal County show that the development of the reservoir by solution is closely related to the geologic history, in which complex faulting and the disconformity between the Edwards and Georgetown limestones are important factors. Various phases of development are shown in different fault blocks, depending upon length of exposure at the surface. The Edwards limestone, which contains the main channels of underground drainage, is almost uniformly permeable from top to bottom, whereas the older, but more recently exposed lower part of the Glen Rose limestone is generally relatively impermeable except where exposed by mature streams.

Texas↗
USGS2014

Runoff from rain and snow

The basic principles of the idealized hydrologic cycle are reviewed with emphasis on storage and movement of water in the soil. A distinction is made between ground‐water runoff and overland runoff in terms of storage and lag, expressed as accumulated deviations from uniform flow over a period of several years. These functions are presented for the period 1920 through 1945 for three rivers in central Oregon: John Day, Deschutes, and Metolius, which exemplify minimum, moderate, and maximum effects, respectively, of storage and lag. The Metolius River is shown to have extremely small fluctuations in discharge from year to year, ascribed to a great portion of its flow being derived from ground‐water runoff; and its response to fluctuations in annual precipitation lags behind that of the John Day River by about five years. Specific techniques and measures for improving seasonal water supply forecasts are suggested.

Oregon↗
USGS2014

Annual rainfall and runoff in New England

This paper presents the results of studies of average rainfall and runoff, developed in the Office of the Division Engineer, New England Division, United States Corps of Engineers, in cooperation with the District Engineer, United States Geological Survey, and prepared in connection with flood‐control studies of the Connecticut and Merrimack River basins.

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, ↗
USGS2014

Report of the Research Committee on Runoff, 1947–1948

Since 1946, the Committee has given consideration to terminology as related to the field of runoff. As the science of hydrology develops, there is increasing need for a more definite and uniform terminology in order to promote use of more precise language in technical literature. While it may not be possible or desirable at this time to standardize completely, it appears entirely possible to standardize many of the terms in common usage. This Committee has begun a compilation of letter symbols and terms related to runoff.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Recovery of ground‐water supplies by pumping from watertable ponds

This paper summarizes a study made to determine whether ground‐water storage in the glacial deposits in the vicinity of Fresh Pond, a water‐table pond used as part of the public supply of the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is available to augment the supply from surface‐water reservoirs. Test wells were drilled; water level, well and test boring, and quality of water data, and data on Inflow and outflow from Fresh Pond were collected, and seismic profiles were run, to determine whether the glacial deposits in the vicinity of the pond contribute appreciable quantities of water to the pond. The data show that water levels in certain wells fluctuate with the level of Fresh Pond and that certain other water levels do not, indicating ground‐water contributions to the pond when it is at low stages and increases in ground‐water storage when pond stages are high. The largest changes in ground‐water storage occur in the glacial deposits underlying the banks to the west and northwest of the pond. Mineral characteristics of the well and pond waters offer no evidence as to the direction of ground‐water flow.

Massachusetts↗
USGS2014

Reservoir systems in Maine

The numerous lakes and ponds that are found in almost every portion of the State of Maine are important resources of the state. There are 2222 bodies of fresh water that are classed as great ponds, that is, ponds whose areas are ten acres or more, and the total area of these lakes aid ponds is about 1500 sq mi. These are a result of glaciation of the region. Some of these ponds are very deep; depths of 100 ft have been found in many lakes. In Moosehead Lake there are places where the water is 250 ft deep and in Sebago Lake as much as 315 ft. The deepest part of Sebago is 45 ft below mean sea level.

Maine↗
USGS2014

Artificial recharge of ground water by the city of Bountiful, Utah

The City of Bountiful, Utah, is situated just beyond the eastern edge of an area where alluvial gravel and sand of Pleistocene and probably Tertiary age yield water by artesian flow. Attempts to recharge these aquifers by diversion of surplus stream water into a spreading canal east of the city have been unsuccessful, because of the relative impermeability of the torrential debris which has accumulated along the western base of the Wasatch Range. Instead, the water spread from the canal has increased the yield of permeable shore deposits of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville which crop out east of the city.

Utah↗
USGS2014

Pedological relations of infiltration phenomena

An attempt is made to outline the principal features which are to be considered in infiltration problems. The need for consideration of genetic and morphological relations is emphasized, especially the view that the latter is a boundary condition for the quantitative procedures usually derived from the former. Detailed development of infiltration relations are given for the more usual genetic profiles. The role of soil structure in infiltration phenomena is developed in considerable detail. A discussion of fragmented soils is also given. A brief discussion of the physical mechanisms involved in infiltration develops the viewpoint that not only porosity and texture but also soil structure and moisture content are usually sufficient to define infiltration phenomena.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

The relation of geology to dry‐weather stream flow in Ohio

The regime of dry‐weather flow of several streams in Ohio is presented by flow‐duration curves. For comparison, the index of ground‐water flow for each basin is the discharge in cubic feet per second per square mile which is exceeded 90 per cent of the time. These indices are shown on a map of Ohio, and are discussed with respect to known geological conditions. It is concluded that stream‐flow records provide useful inferences to ground‐water geology, but the converse is not true.

Ohio↗
USGS2014

Cleavage in east‐central Vermont

Two types of cleavage, schistosity (flow cleavage) and slip cleavage, are common in the metamorphosed sediments of east‐central Vermont. Two generations of cleavage are also recognized. Cleavage of the earlier stage of deformation is schistosity, and is generally parallel to bedding. Just west of the Monroe Fault, along the eastern border of the area, only this earlier schistosity is present; farther west, a slip cleavage cuts the earlier schistosity. This slip cleavage is more and more intensely developed toward the west, and about three or four miles west of the Monroe Fault it grades without deflection into a true schistosity. This later schistosity apparently has obliterated the earlier schistosity that is presumed to have been present here. Both the later schistosity and its more easterly equivalent, the slip cleavage, are parallel to the axial planes of numerous minor folds in the rocks. The passage without deflection of slip cleavage into schistosity is taken as evidence that slip cleavage and schistosity are here mechanically equivalent. Schistosity forms in the higher metamorphic environment (staurolite zone of metamorphism in this area).

Vermont↗
USGS2014

Report of the Committee on Groundwater, 1946–1948

No report of the Committee was prepared for the fiscal year 1946–1947, so the present report covers the two‐year period July 1, 1946 through June 30, 1948. Because of space limitations, fits report covers only items of research that have come to the attention of the Chairman. Reports m Hydrology and physiography of limestone terranes, by A. C. Swinnerton, and on The relation between comsumptive use of water and free‐water accretion below the root zone, by G‐ W. Musgrave, are given as Appendices A and B respectively.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Discussion of “Runoff from rain and snow” by Arthur M. Piper

As a basis to study the discharge characteristics of the Metolius River the John Day River was used. The Deschutes Basin of which the Metolius drainage area is a part was compared to the John Day Basin. There are several factors which must be considered when comparing the two basins. Perhaps the most important point which was not stresses is the fact that although about three‐fourths of the flow of the Deschutes River rises in the western most part of the Deschutes Basin, which part was more or less exempted by Piper in his discussion of general runoff characteristics, it is less than half of the Deschutes Watershed.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2014

Volcanic activity on Umnak and Great Sitkin Islands, 1946–1948

As part of the United States Geological Survey's volcano program in the Aleutian volcanic arc during 1946–1948, the volcanoes and thermal areas on Umnak and Great Sitkin Islands were studied. In addition to observation of the volcanoes, temperatures of fumaroles were measured and some products of the volcanic activity were collected and analyzed. After an eruption in 1945, Cone A in Okmok Caldera on northeastern Umnak Island remained relatively quiet during the period 1946–1948. The fumarole gases contained water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. The incrustations associated with the sulfur dioxide fumaroles are the sulfate minerals halotrichite, gypsum, and soda alum. Temperatures of lava fumaroles at the source of the December, 1945 lava flow from Cone A dropped from an average of 320°C on July 19, 1946, to 90°C on September 5, 1946. With exception of the large central fumarole which reached red heat in 1947, the extra crater fumaroles of Cone A ranged from 96° to 98° C in temperature Cone C, another cone in Okmok Caldera was in the solfataric stage and emitted water vapor, hydrogen sulfide, and probably carbon dioxide. Incrustations associated with fumaroles on this cone consisted of sulfur, pyrite, and aragonite. The temperatures of the fumaroles ranged from 95° to 96°C and were probably kept within this narrow range partly by the heat supplied during condensation of steam. Sixteen large thermal springs emerging from the base of Cone D in Okmok Caldera had an aggregate discharge of approximately 115 cfs and gave off approximately 21,000 kcal of heat per second on September 7, 1946. Water samples of thermal springs on Umnak Island contained as high as 159 ppm of boron expressed as B 2 0 3 and a few parts per million of arsenic and antimony. Several of the thermal springs in southwestern Umnak Island were slightly superheated with respect to the boiling point of water and behaved as small geysers. As has been found elsewhere, the discharge, temperature, and composition of the emanations from a spring is modified by surface conditions of topography and drainage. Thermal springs and fumaroles on Great Sitkin Island occurred at an altitude of about 2000 ft near the head of the west fork of Big Fox Creek. All the fumaroles were at or near a temperature of 100°C. The large crater fumarole in the center of the 1945 crater dome was unapproachable. No change in the activity of Great Sitkin volcano was observed between 1946 and August 1948.

Alaska↗
USGS2014

Natural water losses in mountain drainage areas of southern California

For twenty‐five small mountain drainage areas of Southern California, natural water losses are shown to vary with basin altitude, and with estimated absorptive and retentive characteristics of the drainage areas. Among other relationships demonstrated is the increase of the annual natural water loss with increased annual precipitation to an optimum, beyond which the loss is about uniform regardless of increased precipitation.

California↗
USGS2014

Annual floods and the partial‐duration flood series

Flood data are ordinarily listed either in annual‐flood series or in a partial‐duration series. If the expectancy of a flood in the duration series ϵ is known, then the probability of that flood being an annual flood is shown to be e −ϵ . From this relationship it is possible to transform recurrence intervals in the partial duration series to those in the annual‐flood series. It is shown that for equivalent floods, the recurrence intervals in the partial‐duration series are smaller than in the annual‐flood series, but that the difference becomes inconsequential for floods greater than about five‐year recurrence interval.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗