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At least 433 records · Page 24Linked to original sources

Hydrogeologic and geospatial data for the assessment of focused recharge to the carbonate-rock Aquifer in Genesee County, New York

Existing hydrogeologic and geospatial data useful for the assessment of focused recharge to the carbonate-rock aquifer in the central part of Genesee County, NY, were compiled from numerous local, State, and Federal agency sources. Data sources utilized in this pilot study include available geospatial datasets from Federal and State agencies, interviews with local highway departments and the Genesee County Soil and Water Conservation District, and an initial assessment of karst features through the analysis of ortho-photographs, with minimal field verification. The compiled information is presented in a series of county-wide and quadrangle maps. The county-wide maps present generalized hydrogeologic conditions including distribution of geologic units, major faults, and karst features, and bedrock-surface and water-table configurations. Ten sets of quadrangle maps of the area that overlies the carbonate-rock aquifer present more detailed and additional information including distribution of bedrock outcrops, thin and (or) permeable soils, and karst features such as sinkholes and swallets. Water-resource managers can utilize the information summarized in this report as a guide to their assessment of focused recharge to, and the potential for surface contaminants to reach the carbonate-rock aquifer.

New York↗

Mapping Arundo donax (Arundo cane) with multispectral imagery before, during, and after herbicide treatment along the Rio Grande in Webb County, Texas, 2020–21

Arundo donax , commonly called Arundo cane, giant reed, or Carrizo cane, is an invasive bamboo-like perennial grass common in riparian areas throughout the southwestern United States. In Texas, not only does it negatively affect riparian ecosystems, but it has also become a problem for border security because it reduces visibility along the Rio Grande. To address these problems, in 2015 the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board was authorized by the Texas State Legislature to develop a program to eradicate Arundo cane along the Rio Grande. In 2020, the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board applied imazapyr and glyphosate herbicides along a 19.3-kilometer reach of the Rio Grande, northwest of Laredo, Texas. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and the Webb Soil and Water Conservation District, used WorldView-3 Standard high-resolution satellite imagery to map Arundo cane extent along the reach before , during , and after the herbicide-treatment period on June 30, 2020, September 26, 2020, and May 7, 2021, respectively. A maximum likelihood supervised classification analysis was computed on the images to map the spatial extent and estimate the area covered by Arundo cane. The estimated area covered by Arundo cane in the before classification was 1,282,000 square meters, in the during classification was 1,064,000 square meters, and in the after classification was 1,108,000 square meters. The qualitative comparison of the three images shows that there was an overall decrease in vegetation classified as Arundo cane throughout the study area.

Texas↗

Geologic map of the Camas Quadrangle, Clark County, Washington, and Multnomah County, Oregon

The Camas 7.5' quadrangle is in southwestern Washington and northwestern Oregon approximately 20 km east of Portland. The map area, bisected by the Columbia River, lies on the eastern margin of the Portland Basin, which is part of the Puget-Willamette Lowland that separates the Cascade Range from the Oregon Coast Range. Since late Eocene time, the Cascade Range has been the locus of an episodically active volcanic arc associated with underthrusting of oceanic lithosphere beneath the North American continent along the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Bedrock consists largely of basalt and basaltic andesite flows that erupted during late Oligocene time from one or more vents located outside the map area. These rocks crop out only north of the Columbia River: at the base of Prune Hill in Camas, where they dip southward at about 5°; and east of Lacamas Creek, where they dip to the southeast at 15 to 30°. The volcanic bedrock is unconformably overlain by Neogene sediments that accumulated as the Portland Basin subsided. In the Camas quadrangle, most of these sediments consist of basaltic hyaloclastic debris generated in the volcanic arc to the east and carried into the Portland Basin by the ancestral Columbia River. The dominant structures in the map area are northwest-striking dextral strike-slip faults that offset the Paleogene basin floor as well as the lower part of the basin fill. The Oligocene rocks at Prune Hill and to the east were uplifted in late Pliocene to early Pleistocene time within a restraining bend along one of these dextral faults. In Pleistocene time, basaltic andesite flows issued from a volcano centered on the west side of Prune Hill; another flow entered the map area from the east. These flows are part of the Boring volcanic field, which comprises several dozen late Pliocene and younger monogenetic volcanoes scattered throughout the greater Portland region. In latest Pleistocene time, the Missoula floods of glacial-outburst origin inundated the Portland Basin. The floods deposited huge bars of poorly sorted gravel in the lee of Prune Hill and west of the Sandy River. Volcanic debris from Mount Hood form a prominent delta at the mouth of the Sandy River. This map is a contribution to a program designed to improve geologic knowledge of the Portland Basin region of the Pacific Northwest urban corridor, the densely populated Cascadia forearc region of western Washington and Oregon. More detailed information on the bedrock and surficial geology of the basin and its surrounding area is necessary to refine assessments of seismic risk, ground-failure hazards and resource availability in this rapidly growing region.

Oregon, Washington↗

Geologic map of the Washougal quadrangle, Clark County, Washington, and Multnomah County, Oregon

The Washougal 7.5’ quadrangle spans the boundary between the Portland Basin and the Columbia River Gorge, approximately 30 km east of Portland, Oregon. The map area contains the westernmost portion of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic area as well as the rapidly growing areas surrounding the Clark County, Washington, cities of Camas and Washougal. The Columbia River transects the map area, and two major tributaries, the Washougal River in Washington and the Sandy River in Oregon, also flow through the quadrangle. The Columbia, Washougal, and Sandy Rivers have all cut deep valleys through hilly uplands, exposing Oligocene volcanic bedrock in the north part of the map area and lava flows of the Miocene Columbia River Basalt Group in the western Columbia River Gorge. Elsewhere in the map area, these older rocks are buried beneath weakly consolidated to well-consolidated Neogene and younger basin-fill sedimentary rocks and Quaternary volcanic and sedimentary deposits. The Portland Basin is part of the Coastal Lowland that separates the Cascade Range from the Oregon Coast Range. The basin has been interpreted as a pull-apart basin located in the releasing stepover between two en echelon, northwest-striking, right-lateral fault zones. These fault zones are thought to reflect regional transpression, transtension, and dextral shear within the forearc in response to oblique subduction of the Pacific plate along the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The southwestern margin of the Portland Basin is a well-defined topographic break along the base of the Tualatin Mountains, an asymmetric anticlinal ridge that is bounded on its northeast flank by the Portland Hills Fault Zone, which is probably an active structure. The nature of the corresponding northeastern margin of the basin is less clear, but a series of poorly defined and partially buried dextral extensional structures has been hypothesized from topography, microseismicity, potential-field anomalies, and reconnaissance geologic mapping. This map is a contribution to a program designed to improve the geologic database for the Portland Basin region of the Pacific Northwest urban corridor, the densely populated Cascadia forearc region of western Washington and Oregon. Updated, more detailed information on the bedrock and surficial geology of the basin and its surrounding area will facilitate improved assessments of seismic risk, and resource availability in this rapidly growing region.

Oregon↗

Potentiometric surface, 2013, and water-level differences, 1991-2013, of the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer in northwest Louisiana

The Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer is the primary source of fresh groundwater for public supply as well as industrial, agricultural, and domestic uses in several parishes in northwestern Louisiana, including Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, De Soto, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, and Webster. In 2010, about 19 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) were withdrawn from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer in Louisiana. This is an increase of over 6 Mgal/d from 1990 withdrawal amounts. The largest increase in withdrawals occurred in Caddo (3.79 Mgal/d) and De Soto Parishes (2.32 Mgal/d), whereas the largest decrease in withdrawals occurred in Natchitoches Parish (1.17 Mgal/d). Groundwater withdrawals from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer have caused water-level declines throughout much of the aquifer in the study area. Additional knowledge about the effects of withdrawals on water levels and flow directions in the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer are needed to assess current conditions in the aquifer. In 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources began a study to document current water levels and water-level changes in selected aquifers. This report presents data and maps that illustrate the potentiometric surface of the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer during March–May 2013 and water-level differences from 1991 to 2013. The potentiometric surface map can be used for determining the direction of groundwater flow, hydraulic gradients, and effects of withdrawals on the groundwater resource. The rate of groundwater movement also can be estimated from the gradient when the hydraulic conductivity is applied. Water-level data collected for this study are stored in the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) ( http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis ) and are on file at the USGS office in Baton Rouge, La.

Louisiana↗

Bathymetric survey of Lake Calumet, Cook County, Illinois

The U.S. Geological Survey collected bathymetric data in Lake Calumet and a portion of the Calumet River in the vicinity of Lake Calumet to produce a bathymetric map. The bathymetric survey was made over 3 days (July 26, September 11, and November 7, 2012). Lake Calumet has become a focus area for Asian carp rapid-response efforts by state and federal agencies, and very little bathymetric data existed prior to this survey. This bathymetric survey provides data for a variety of scientific and engineering studies of the area; for example, hydraulic modeling of water and sediment transport from Lake Calumet to the Calumet River.

Illinois↗

Geologic map of the San Antonio Mountain area, northern New Mexico and southern Colorado

The geologic map of the San Antonio Mountain area in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado is located along the west-central part of the San Luis Valley. The San Luis Valley is the geomorphic expression of the San Luis Basin, an extensional basin associated with the northern Rio Grande rift. Deposits within the map area record volcanic, sedimentary, and tectonic processes over the last ~33 million years. Oldest exposed deposits include Oligocene volcanic rocks associated with the southeast San Juan Mountains locus of volcanism within the Southern Rocky Mountains volcanic field. Overlying deposits of the Southern Rocky Mountains volcanic field are volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks interbedded with predominantly basaltic lava flows of Oligocene to Miocene age. Basalt to rhyolite volcanic rocks of the Pliocene to Pleistocene Taos Plateau volcanic field unconformably overlie Oligocene to Miocene volcanic and sedimentary deposits. Superposed on the Tertiary deposits are Pleistocene to Holocene alluvial and colluvial deposits. North- to northwest-trending faults displace rocks within the map area. Magnitude of deformation is broadly correlative with age of the deposits inasmuch as Oligocene to Miocene rocks display a greater degree of fault displacement and east tilting than Pliocene volcanic rocks. Within the map area, faults displace Oligocene to Miocene deposits 10–30 meters with generally down-to-west offset, and the units dip eastward 3–7 degrees. Pliocene volcanic rocks exhibit shallower eastward dips inferred primarily from the slope of upper lava flow surfaces that dip eastward from 1–3 degrees and lava flows are generally displaced less than 5 meters.

Colorado, New Mexico↗

Geologic map of Olympus Mons caldera, Mars

The Mars volcano, Olympus Mons, is probably the best known extraterrestrial volcano. The summit forms a nested caldera with six overlapping collapse pits that collectively measure ~65 x ~80 kilometers (km). Numerous wrinkle ridges and graben occur on the caldera floor, and topographic data indicate >1.2 km of elevation change since the formation of the floor as a series of lava lakes. The paths of lava flows on the south and southeast flanks do not conform to present-day topography. Mapping at a scale of 1:200,000 shows that the summit area displays a complex volcanic history that has numerous similarities to terrestrial shield volcanoes. Pangboche crater is a large (~10-km-diameter) crater of impact origin that lies on the south flank of the caldera and, because of the elevation and lack of volatiles, it displays numerous features more similar to fresh lunar craters than to impact craters on Mars.

Scientific Investigations Map↗

Geologic Map of the Upper Wolf Island Creek Watershed, Reidsville Area, Rockingham County, North Carolina

This geologic map provides a foundation for hydrogeologic investigations in the Reidsville area of Rockingham County, north-central North Carolina. The 16-mi2 area within the Southeast Eden and Reidsville 7.5-min quadrangles includes the watershed of Wolf Island Creek and its tributary, Carroll Creek, upstream of their confluence. Layered metamorphic rocks in this area of the Milton terrane, here informally named the Chinqua-Penn metamorphic suite, include a heterogeneous mica gneiss and schist unit that contains interlayers and lenses of white-mica schist, felsic gneiss, amphibolite, and ultramafic rock; a felsic gneiss that contains interlayers of amphibolite, white-mica schist, and minor ultramafic lenses; and a migmatitic biotite gneiss. Crushed stone is produced from an active quarry in the felsic gneiss. Igneous intrusive rocks include a mafic-ultramafic assemblage that may have originated as mafic intrusive bodies containing ultramafic cumulates, a foliated two-mica granite informally named the granite of Reidsville, and unmetamorphosed Jurassic diabase dikes. The newly recognized Carroll Creek shear zone strikes roughly east-west and separates heterogeneous mica gneiss and schist to the north from structurally overlying felsic gneiss to the south. Regional amphibolite-facies metamorphism accompanied polyphase ductile deformation in the metamorphic rocks. Two phases of isoclinal to tight folding and related penetrative deformation, described as D1 and D2, were followed by phases of high-strain mylonitic deformation in shear zones and late gentle to open folding. Later brittle deformation produced minor faults, steep joints, foliation-parallel parting, and sheeting joints. The metamorphic and igneous rocks are mantled by saprolite and residual soil derived from weathering of the underlying bedrock, and unconsolidated Quaternary alluvium occupies the flood plains of Wolf Island Creek and its tributaries. The geologic map delineates lithologic and structural features that may act as barriers or conduits for ground-water flow. It provides a hydrogeologic framework for the upper Wolf Island Creek drainage basin, including coreholes and ground-water monitoring wells along two transects. Collaborative hydrogeologic investigations by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the U.S. Geological Survey are in progress to increase understanding of the influence of geological features on ground-water quality, availability, and transport in an area representative of large areas in the west-central Piedmont.

Scientific Investigations Map↗

Geologic map of the west-central Buffalo National River region, northern Arkansas

This map summarizes the geology of the west-central Buffalo National River region in the Ozark Plateaus region of northern Arkansas. Geologically, the region lies on the southern flank of the Ozark dome, an uplift that exposes oldest rocks at its center in Missouri. Physiographically, the map area spans the Springfield Plateau, a topographic surface generally held up by Mississippian cherty limestone and the higher Boston Mountains to the south, held up by Pennsylvanian rocks. The Buffalo River flows eastward through the map area, enhancing bedrock erosion of an approximately 1,600-ft- (490-m-) thick sequence of Ordovician, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian carbonate and clastic sedimentary rocks that have been mildly deformed by a series of faults and folds. Quaternary surficial units are present as alluvial deposits along major streams, including a series of terrace deposits from the Buffalo River, as well as colluvium and landslide deposits mantling bedrock on hillslopes. This report provides a geologic map database of the map area that improves understanding of the regional geologic framework and its influence on the regional groundwater flow system. Furthermore, additional edits were made to the Ponca and Jasper quadrangles in the following ways: new control points on important contacts were obtained using modern GPS; recent higher resolution elevation data allowed further control on placement of contacts; some new contacts were added, in particular the contact separating the upper and lower Everton Formation.

Arkansas↗

Bedrock geologic map of the Bellows Falls 7.5- x 15-minute quadrangle, Windham and Windsor Counties, Vermont, and Sullivan and Cheshire Counties, New Hampshire

Introduction The bedrock geology of the Bellows Falls 7.5- x 15-minute quadrangle, Vermont and New Hampshire, consists of polydeformed Ordovician to Devonian metasedimentary, metavolcanic, and metaplutonic rocks of the Connecticut Valley trough, Bronson Hill anticlinorium (or Bronson Hill terrane), and the Central Maine terrane. Previous work in this area includes a 1:62,500-scale published map and text (1946), State geologic maps of New Hampshire (1997) and Vermont (2011), and various maps and reports presented largely as parts of field trip guidebooks. A provisional open-file map of the geology of the Vermont part of the Bellows Falls 7.5- x 15-minute quadrangle, completed in 1997, is incorporated and revised on this map based on additional fieldwork. This study recognizes three major structural levels from west to east and from lowest to highest: (1) autochthonous rocks of the Connecticut Valley trough; (2) allochthonous rocks of the New Hampshire sequence and Bronson Hill arc in the Monroe thrust sheet (or nappe), including the Skitchewaug nappe; and (3) allochthonous rocks of the Fall Mountain thrust sheet or nappe.

New Hampshire, Vermont↗

Geologic Map of the Pueblo of Isleta Tribal Lands and Vicinity, Bernalillo, Torrance, and Valencia Counties, Central New Mexico

This 1:50,000-scale map compiles geologic mapping of the Pueblo of Isleta tribal lands and vicinity in the central part of the Albuquerque Basin in central New Mexico. The map synthesizes new geologic mapping and summarizes the stratigraphy, structure, and geomorphology of an area of approximately 2,000 km2 that spans the late Paleogene-Neogene Rio Grande rift south of Albuquerque, N. Mex. The map is part of studies conducted between 1996 and 2001 under the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Middle Rio Grande Basin Study by geologists from the USGS, the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (NMBGMR), and the University of New Mexico (UNM). This work was conducted in order to investigate the geologic factors that influence ground-water resources of the Middle Rio Grande Basin, and to provide new insights into the complex geologic history of the Rio Grande rift in this region.

Scientific Investigations Map↗

Surficial Geologic Map of the Death Valley Junction 30' x 60' Quadrangle, California and Nevada

This surficial geologic map of the Death Valley Junction 30' x 60' quadrangle was compiled digitally at 1:100,000 scale. The map area covers the central part of Death Valley and adjacent mountain ranges - the Panamint Range on the west and the Funeral Mountains on the east - as well as areas east of Death Valley including some of the Amargosa Desert, the Spring Mountains and Pahrump Valley. Shaded relief delineates the topography and appears as gray tones in the mountain ranges where the bedrock is undifferentiated and depicted as a single unit.

Scientific Investigations Map↗

Regional potentiometric-surface map of the Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system in Snake Valley and surrounding areas, Juab, Millard, and Beaver Counties, Utah, and White Pine and Lincoln Counties, Nevada

Water-level measurements from 190 wells were used to develop a potentiometric-surface map of the east-central portion of the regional Great Basin carbonate and alluvial aquifer system in and around Snake Valley, eastern Nevada and western Utah. The map area covers approximately 9,000 square miles in Juab, Millard, and Beaver Counties, Utah, and White Pine and Lincoln Counties, Nevada. Recent (2007-2010) drilling by the Utah Geological Survey and U.S. Geological Survey has provided new data for areas where water-level measurements were previously unavailable. New water-level data were used to refine mapping of the pathways of intrabasin and interbasin groundwater flow. At 20 of these locations, nested observation wells provide vertical hydraulic gradient data and information related to the degree of connection between basin-fill aquifers and consolidated-rock aquifers. Multiple-year water-level hydrographs are also presented for 32 wells to illustrate the aquifer system's response to interannual climate variations and well withdrawals.

Utah, Nevada↗

Bathymetry, morphology, and lakebed geologic characteristics of potential Kokanee salmon spawning habitat in Lake Pend Oreille, Bayview and Lakeview quadrangles, Idaho

Kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) are a keystone species in Lake Pend Oreille in northern Idaho, historically supporting a high-yield recreational fishery and serving as the primary prey for the threatened native bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and the Gerrard-strain rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). After 1965, the kokanee population rapidly declined and has remained at a low level of abundance. Lake Pend Oreille is one of the deepest lakes in the United States, the largest lake in Idaho, and home to the U.S. Navy Acoustic Research Detachment Base. The U.S. Geological Survey and Idaho Department of Fish and Game are mapping the bathymetry, morphology, and the lakebed geologic units and embeddedness of potential kokanee salmon spawning habitat in Lake Pend Oreille. Relations between lake morphology, lakebed geologic units, and substrate embeddedness are characterized for the shore zone, rise zone, and open water in bays and the main stem of the lake. This detailed knowledge of physical habitat along the shoreline of Lake Pend Oreille is necessary to better evaluate and develop kokanee recovery actions.

Idaho↗

Delineating the Pierre Shale from geophysical surveys within and near Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, 2019

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force Civil Engineering Center, investigated the use of surface geophysical methods to delineate the top of the Cretaceous Pierre Shale along survey transects in selected areas within and near Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. Two complementary geophysical methods—electrical resistivity and passive seismic—were used along 26 co-located transect surveys within and near Ellsworth Air Force Base for a total of 12.7 line-kilometers. Electrical resistivity results were analyzed using EarthImager2D electrical resistivity tomography processing and inversion software. Two-dimensional earth models showing the electrical properties of the subsurface were evaluated by directly comparing the high and low subsurface resistivity values to a surficial geologic map and nearby wells with driller logs. Passive seismic data were analyzed using the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio method to determine the depth to the Pierre Shale at each survey point. The electrical resistivity and passive seismic results were compared to driller logs from nearby wells to delineate the top of the Pierre Shale. The depth to the Pierre Shale along the transects ranged from about 2.4 to 20.3 meters, and mean and median depths were about 9.2 and 9.0 meters, respectively. The elevation of the Pierre Shale and thickness of unconsolidated deposits generally increased with land-surface elevation from south to north; however, some transects displayed topographically high and low areas that sometimes did not correlate with land-surface topography and may affect local groundwater flow.

South Dakota↗

Geodynamics map of northeast Asia

This map portrays the geodynamics of Northeast Asia at a scale of 1:5,000,000 using the concepts of plate tectonics and analysis of terranes and overlap assemblages. The map is the result of a detailed compilation and synthesis at 5 million scale and is part of a major international collaborative study of the mineral resources, metallogenesis, and tectonics of northeast Asia conducted from 1997 through 2002 by geologists from earth science agencies and universities in Russia, Mongolia, northeastern China, South Korea, Japan, and the USA.

Asia↗

Thermal maturity map of Devonian shale in the Illinois, Michigan, and Appalachian basins of North America

Much of the oil and gas in the Illinois, Michigan, and Appalachian basins of eastern North America is thought to be derived from Devonian shale that is within these basins (for example, Milici and others, 2003; Swezey, 2002, 2008, 2009; Swezey and others, 2005, 2007). As the Devonian strata were buried by younger sediments, the Devonian shale was subjected to great temperature and pressure, and in some areas the shale crossed a thermal maturity threshold and began to generate oil. With increasing burial (increasing temperature and pressure), some of this oil-generating shale crossed another thermal maturity threshold and began to generate natural gas. Knowledge of the thermal maturity of the Devonian shale is therefore useful for predicting the occurrence and the spatial distribution of oil and gas within these three basins. This publication presents a thermal maturity map of Devonian shale in the Illinois, Michigan, and Appalachian basins. The map shows outlines of the three basins (dashed black lines) and an outline of Devonian shale (solid black lines). The basin outlines are compiled from Thomas and others (1989) and Swezey (2008, 2009). The outline of Devonian shale is a compilation from Freeman (1978), Thomas and others (1989), de Witt and others (1993), Dart (1995), Nicholson and others (2004), Dicken and others (2005a,b), and Stoeser and others (2005).

Alabama;Illinois;Indiana;Kentucky;Maryl;Michigan;M↗