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At least 469 records · Page 26Linked to original sources
USGS1978

Impact of sewerage systems on stream base flow and ground-water recharge on Long Island, New York

Statistically significant decreases in the ratio of base flow to total flow of streams along the south shore of Long Island, N.Y., are due to the use of expanding storm-sewer and sanitary-sewer networks. Base-flow losses due to sewering ranging from virtually none at Connetquot River (largely unaffected by urban development) to 211 liters per second, or a 60-percent decrease below natural levels, during 1965-74 at East Meadow Brook (which drains part of highly urbanized Nassau County). Nearly 75 percent of the baseflow loss at East Meadow Brook during 1965-74 was caused by a network of sanitary sewers west of the stream; the remainder resulted from loss of recharge in areas serviced by stream-directed storm sewers. In areas of the Carlls River basin serviced by stream-directed storm sewers, recharge depletion averaged only about 4 liter per second per square kilometer whereas in the more intensely urbanized East Meadow Brook basin, recharge depletion in such areas averaged 18 (L/s)/km 2 .

New York↗
USGS1977

Metamorphic rocks of the Yakutat-St. Elias area, south-central Alaska

Metamorphic rocks in the Yakutat-St. Elias area range in grade from zeolite to amphibolite facies. Radiometric age determinations on selected metamorphic rocks have helped to identify two major metamorphic events, one in Late Cretaceous time that was characterized by penetrative deformation, and one in the Miocene Epoch that resulted in widespread recrystallization and igneous intrusions. Mapped facies units show many discontinuities across major faults, and their distribution indicates major differential uplift between several structurally bound crustal blocks within a strongly deformed mobile belt west of the Art Lewis fault. Late Cretaceous metamorphic gradients indicate that the blocks have been tilted to the west or northwest parallel to their general structural grain. As mineral assemblages that were recrystallized during Miocene time occur on both sides of the Fairweather fault, large-scale, post-Miocene strike-slip movement along the fault is not indicated.

Alaska↗
USGS1978

Hydraulic characteristics of the White River streambed and glacial-outwash deposits at a site near Indianapolis, Indiana

An aquifer test was made in the glacial-outwash aquifer along the course of the White River in Marion County, Ind., to establish the hydraulic characteristics of this unit and the hydraulic conductivity of the White River streambed at a site 11 kilometers south of the center of downtown Indianapolis. In the immediate vicinity of the site, at a depth of about 15 meters below land surface, a clay lens separates the outwash aquifer into an upper sand and gravel unit 12 m thick and a lower unit 8.5 m thick. At the site of the test well, the clay lens is 3.0 m thick. The test was made in the upper sand and gravel unit, and data were analyzed for an assumed condition of no, or at least negligible, transient leakage from the clay lens underlying this unit. As no observation wells were installed in the clay lens, this assumption cannot be directly substantiated. However, observation wells beneath the clay lens indicated that a head loss was not induced below the clay lens by the test well, and the closeness of the values obtained for transmissivity of the upper unit by three different methods strongly supports the assumption. Results of the test include for the upper unit: lateral hydraulic conductivity, 108 meters per day; range of transmissivity (determined by three techniques), from 1400 to 1670 meters squared per day; specific yield, 0.08; and vertical hydraulic conductivity of the streambed, 2.2 m/d. These results should be of use in assessing the potential supply and in developing one of Indiana's major aquifer systems because a knowledge of aquifer characteristics is essential for proper design and spacing of wells.

Indiana↗
USGS1977

Electrical soundings near Yellow Creek, Rio Blanco County, Colorado

Ten vertical electrical soundings were made in the Piceance Creek Basin in October 1974-5 along Yellow Creek, 2 in Big Duck Creek, and 1 each along Corral Gulch, on the hill in sec. 20, 1 kilometre northwest of 84 Ranch, and along the White River between the mouths of Yellow and Piceance Creeks. Interpretations of these soundings indicate that the anisotropy of the upper oil shales decreases from 2 in the basin center to 1 at a location on its flank. This decrease could result from a greater number of vertical water-filled fractures in the upper shales near the edge of the basin. On the other hand, the anisotropy coefficient for the lower shales increases from 2 to around 9 along the same section, indicating the presence of an increasing number of isolated horizontal aquifers in the lower shales on the basin flank. It is speculated that this trend for the lower shales reverses nearer the basin edge in the area of recharge of these splintered horizontal aquifers.

Colorado↗
USGS1977

Pleistocene fishes from Alameda County, California

Six types of freshwater fishes were recovered from an early Pleistocene (Irvingtonian) locality on the east side of San Francisco Bay, Alameda County, Calif. The fauna includes one centrarchid, one salmonid, three cyprinids, and one catostomid. The fauna indicates fluvial and slow-moving or lacustrine aquatic environments. One of the cyprinids and the catostomid are assigned to provisional genera because of the inadequate amount of material available for study and the obvious differences between these fossils and known fossil or recent fishes. They are new additions to the Pleistocene fish fauna of California. Paleogeographic distribution of some of these fishes indicates former fluvial or lacustrine connections between Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and California. The Pliocene and Pleistocene fossil fish faunas indicate the widespread occurrence of genera now endemic to California. A similar picture is presented by the molluscan evidence.

California↗
USGS1978

Hydrochemistry and hydrodynamics of injecting an iron-rich pickling liquor into a dolomitic sandstone: A laboratory study

Waste pickling liquor containing high concentrations of iron salts was injected into cores of quartzite, sandstone, and dolomite in a laboratory study to determine what effect this procedure might have on the permeability of these rock types. Experiments were performed at field conditions 40°C and 13.8 MPa (megapascals) in a high-pressure triaxial chamber similar to that used in rock-mechanics testing but modified to allow downstream sample collection of effluent liquids and direct visual monitoring at in-situ conditions. Five samples were tested, ranging in effective porosity from 2.9 to 13 percent and in lithology from a quartzite to a dolomite. Hydraulic conductivity of the quartzitic samples remained unchanged during injection of over 50 pore volumes of pickling liquor, but significant decreases in the hydraulic conductivity of dolomitic samples were observed. Chemical analyses of effluents from a dolomitic sample suggest that carbonate minerals were dissolving and iron was precipitating. Clogging of pore space by CO 2 entrapment or by CaCl 2 precipitation did not seem to play a role in decreasing hydraulic conductivity because injection into a dolomitic core of more than 140 pore volumes of HCl at a concentration similar to that of the pickling liquor caused only a slight decrease in hydraulic conductivity compared with the decrease observed when an additional 30 pore volumes of pickling liquor were subsequently injected.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1978

Determination of runoff coefficients of storm-water-basin drainage areas on Long Island, New York, by using maximum-stage gages

A method for determining runoff coefficients indirectly without direct measurement of volume of runoff was developed for drainage areas of selected storm-water basins on Long Island, N.Y., to expedite evaluation of basin performance. The method requires a maximum-stage gage to record the maximum water level attained in the basin during the storm, and a precipitation gage to record storm intensity at regular intervals. The maximum volume of runoff impounded in the basin during a storm is calculated from precipitation data, an arbitrarily estimated runoff coefficient, and the basin's dimensions and infiltration rate. The calculated result is then compared with the recorded maximum water level, and the process is repeated with increased or decreased coefficients on a trial basis until two of the resulting water-storage maxima closely bracket the recorded maximum. The runoff coefficient in effect during that storm is then interpolated or derived graphically from the calculated water-storage maxima. Results of data analyses suggest that a close approximation of a basin's infiltration rate may be used instead of a measured infiltration rate to calculate the runoff coefficient. Differences between measured and calculated runoff coefficients averaged less than 20 percent when based on average infiltration rates adjusted for water temperature and less than 10 percent when based on measured infiltration rates. Accuracy of the calculated runoff coefficient tends to decline as the interval between precipitation measurements increases. Precipitation data collected at 5- and 15-minute intervals gave accurate runoff coefficients regardless of storm duration, but data collected at 30- or 60-minute intervals gave widely varying results.

New York↗
USGS1978

Accuracy and consistency comparisons of land use and land cover maps made from high-altitude photographs and Landsat multispectral imagery

Accuracy analyses for land use and land cover maps of the 74712-km 2 Central Atlantic Regional Ecological Test Site were performed for a 1-percent sample of the area. Researchers compared Level II land use and land cover maps produced at three scales, 1:24000, 1:100000, and 1:250000 from high-altitude photographs, with point data obtained in the field. The same procedures were employed to determine the accuracy of the Level I land use and land cover produced at 1:250 000 scale from high-altitude photographs and color composite Landsat imagery. The accuracy of the Level II maps was 85 percent at 1:24 000, 77 percent at 1:100 000, and 73 percent at 1:250 000. The accuracy of the Level I 1:250000 maps produced from high-altitude photographs was 77 percent and for those produced from Landsat multispectral imagery was 70 percent. The accuracy of the Level I land use maps produced using Landsat imagery is approximately that of the Level I land use maps produced from high-altitude photography with the exception of urban and built-up land. No built-up land was identified from Landsat imagery in the non-urban areas.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1978

Porphyry copper exploration model for northern Sonora, Mexico

The regional tectonic pattern of the porphyry copper province of northern Sonora, Mexico, is similar to, but more complex than, the Colorado mineral belt. Four northeast-trending shear zones, spaced at 30- to 50-kilometer intervals from Hermosillo, Mexico, north to Nogales, Mexico, are interpreted from analysis of lineament data from Landsat-1 images. From comparison with other areas, these zones are believed to have Precambrian ancestry. North-northwest-trending lineaments, which commonly occur along range fronts, are interpreted to be the principal basin and range faults. North-south- and west-northwest-trending lineaments are believed to be related to lesser faults and fractures. Areas of hydrothermal alteration have been mapped on a regional scale by use of digital image-processing techniques. These altered areas occur on the flanks of the northeast-trending shear zones, generally near intersections with north-northwest-trending lineaments. This tectonic framework with associated alteration is similar to patterns in the Colorado Plateau, the porphyry copper province of Arizona, and central Mexico and is supported by relationships found in limited local mapping. The pattern of northeast-trending shear zones and north-northwest-trending faults in northern Sonora closely resembles the tectonic framework of the Colorado mineral belt. The younger sedimentary and volcanic cover, however, has not been eroded in Sonora as it has been in the Colorado mineral belt. This comparison with the Colorado mineral belt suggests that mineral deposits are most likely to be found in altered areas where a northeast-trending shear zone is intersected by north-northwest-trending faults. Seven areas with these characteristics have been defined in Sonora and are being evaluated by means of regional geophysical and geochemical data.

Sonora↗
USGS1978

Metamorphic forsterite and diopside from the ultramafic complex at the Tuolumne River, California

Metamorphic forsterite (Fo=98) and diopside (Wo:En:Fs=48.5:49.5:2.0) have been, formed from serpentinite within intensely sheared zones in the large ultramafic complex at the Tuolumne River near Sonora, Calif. Bladelike grains of forsterite are elongate, parallel to c , and have prominent idiomorphic faces developed in (010). Metamorphic diopside occurs as small grains, free of inclusions, in rocks containing forsterite. The formation of forsterite and forsterite +diopside in serpentinite probably took place by the following reactions: antigorite+magnesite→2 forsterite+ fluid 3 antigorite+calcite→4 forsterite+diopside+fluid Iron derived from the primary olivine and chromite has been oxidized almost entirely to magnetite and may be treated as an indifferent or accessory component. Stratigraphic reconstruction indicates that the total load pressures probably did not exceed 3 kilobars. At these pressures, the reaction should take place between 400° and 500°C with a fluid composition ranging from nearly pure H 2 O to less than 5 mole percent CO 2 . The restriction of forsterite and forsterite-f-diopside to shear zones may be attributed to the presence of carbonate in the rock prior to metamorphism and to the dilution of a CO 2 -bearing fluid phase by water coming from outside the area of the reaction.

California↗
USGS1977

Mercury in oil shale from the mahogany zone of the Green River formation, eastern Utah and western Colorado

Mercury has been reported in concentrations as high as 4 parts per million from oil shale in the Green River Formation near the Federal oil-shale prototype lease-tracts U-a and U-b in eastern Utah. This high concentration of mercury if present throughout a minable zone, would be of concern in commercial oil-shale operations processing large volumes of shale. Using an improved analytical method, surface samples from eastern Utah previously reported to contain high concentrations of mercury were reanalyzed, and an additional 183 drill core samples from the Mahogany zone and adjacent beds were analyzed. The reanalyzed samples averaged slightly more than 0.35 ppm mercury and the drill-core samples averaged 0.37 ppm. The products from a Fischer assay of 100-gram sample of oil shale, found to yield 35 gallons pier ton of oil and 43 ppm of mercury, were analyzed for their mercury content. The spent shale contained only 2 percent of the total mercury in the assay products and the gas fraction contained about 58 percent.

Colorado, Utah↗
USGS1977

Activity-product constants of brucite from 10 degrees to 90 degrees C

The activity-product constant of brucite, K B = [Mg 2+ ][OH - ] 2 (where the brackets denote activities), was determined experimentally at 10°, 25°, 40°, 55°, 70°, and 90°C. The values obtained for -log K B are 10.89±0.16 (10°), 10.88±0.10 (25°), 10.90±0.10 (40°), 10.90±0.10 (55°), 10.99±0.14 (70°), and 11.10±0.14 (90°). Using National Bureau of Standards Technical Note 270 data for the ions, the free energy of formation (Δ G ° t ) at 25° for brucite is 831.486 joules per mole ( 198,730 cal mol -1 ). Using data compiled by R. A. Robie and D. R. Waldbaum in 1968 for the ions, this Δ G ° t is -823,323 J mol -1 (-198,930 cal mol -1 ). Values of log KB are also calculated for the temperature range 0° to 200°C, by using thermochemical data listed by V. B. Parker, D. D. Wagman, and W. H. Evans in 1971 and E. G. King, M. J. Ferrante, and L. B. Pankratz in 1975 and the partial molal heat capacities estimated by C. M. Criss and J. W. Cobble in 1965. The experimental values are similar to the calculated values, especially at lower temperatures.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1978

Petrology of the Precambrian intrusive center at Lake George, southern Front Range, Colorado

The intrusive center at Lake George, at the western margin of the Pikes Peak batholith (1030 m.y.) of central Colorado, contains rocks of both the potassic and sodic differentiation trends recognized in the batholith. Finer grained variants of the Pikes Peak Granite initially formed a texturally zoned stock 8 kilometers in diameter that cut the dominant coarse-grained granite of the batholith. This granite stock (potassic trend) was later intruded by partial ring dikes of quartz syenite to fayalite granite and by a central stock of quartz syenite to syenomonzonite (sodic trend). Xenoliths of alkali gabbro, diorite porphyry, and granodiorite are included within rocks of both differentiation trends. All major rock types of the intrusive center are thought to be derivatives of alkali basaltic magma from the mantle, modified by fractional crystallization and reaction melting of crustal rocks. The geometry of the intrusive center was controlled by ring-dike/cauldron-subsidence mechanisms.

Colorado↗
USGS1977

Removal of fluorine and lithium from hectorite by solutions spanning a wide range of pH

One-gram samples of hectorite were treated with 40 millilitres each of hydrochloric acid (6 N ), acetic acid (4.5 N ), distilled water, natural seawater, sodium chloride (0.6 N ), and sodium hydroxide (2.5 N ) for 10 days in stoppered plastic centrifuge tubes. X-ray diffraction patterns show that the structure was virtually destroyed by the hydrochloric and acetic acids. Analyses of the supernatant liquids were made to determine amounts of the elements removed by the various treatments. All treatments removed at least some SiO 2 , MgO, CaO, Li 2 O, and F. The acids removed most of the lithium and magnesium after 3 days. The fluorine and the magnesium released by the acetic acid began to form sellaite (MgF 2 ). After 5 days, sufficient sellaite was produced to be discernible by X-ray diffraction. The loss of silica from the sample when it was treated with sodium hydroxide amounted to about 10 percent of the total sample.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1977

Effects of dredged channels on trace-metal migration in an estuary

Determination of trace-metal levels in the sediments of the Matagorda Bay system revealed anomalously high mercury values. The distribution of the mercury-rich sediment deposits is the result of the sedimentological regime of the bay system produced by the tidal currents in the dredged channel. According to this model, the oxygenated open gulf water pushed into the bay by tidal currents activates the mercury and reintroduces it into the sediment regime of the bay in an area where the turbidity maximum is most prevalent. Within this region, the absorption sites are at a maximum, tying up the mercury. The mercury-enriched suspended material is then transported and deposited according to the hydraulic regime within the bay system.

Texas↗
USGS1978

Igneous and metamorphic petrology of the southwestern Dana Mountains, Lassiter Coast, Antarctic Peninsula

The southwestern Dana Mountains of the southern Antarctic Peninsula are underlain by the western part of a composite concentrically zoned Upper Cretaceous batholith consisting largely of granodiorite. The granodiorite (felsic phase) was intrusive into older heterogeneous gabbro-diorite (mafic phase) which makes up the margin of the batholith. Flat-lying pegmatite bodies and abundant inclusions, roof pendants, and septa of metasedimentary rocks and gabbrodiorite suggest that the granodiorite lies near the roof of the batholith. Petrography, chemistry, field relations, and radiometric age dates indicate that the batholith is part of the Andean intrusive suite, a suite of calc-alkaline plutonic rocks that crops out extensively throughout the Antarctic Peninsula and Chilean and Patagonian Andes. Textural features, mineralogy, and chemical data indicate that both phases of the batholith in the southwestern Dana Mountains have been contaminated by assimilation of the Latady Formation, an Upper Jurassic sequence of shale, siltstone, and sandstone that underlies large parts of the southern Antarctic Peninsula. Composition of the granodiorite also has been modified by assimilation of lesser amounts of the gabbro-diorite phase. Such contaminated plutonic rocks occur in several places in the northern Antarctic Peninsula; the batholith in the southwestern Dana Mountains represents the southernmost exposures of contaminated igneous rocks known from the Antarctic Peninsula. Hornblende andesite dikes cut both the mafic and felsic phases of the batholith. Chemical data imply that the dikes represent small amounts of mafic material remobilized by intrusion of the granodiorite. During the austral summers of 1969

Antarctic Peninsula, Dana Mountains, Lassiter Coas↗
USGS1978

Implications of the petrochemistry of palladium at Iron Canyon, Lander County, Nevada

Approximately one-half of the 270 samples from the Iron Canyon area, Nevada, analyzed for platinum-group metals, contain measurable amounts of palladium in the 0.001- to 0.02-part per million range with an average of 0.0034 ppm. The rocks include lower Paleozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks, Tertiary granitic porphyries, and breccia, all of which exhibit various degrees of hydrothermal alteration. Fault-related iron oxides and vein quartz are also present. The area lies astride the outermost fringes of the zone of dispersed alteration visible in outcrops around the middle Tertiary porphyry-copper system at Copper Canyon, Nevada. At Iron Canyon, the palladium concentrations greater than 0.003 ppm seem to be spatially related to the Butte fault zone, a north-striking fault system active during the time of porphyry-type mineralization. Palladium contents vary directly with those of mercury, arsenic, strontium, silver, lanthanum, and boron, as well as with lead, gold, and copper in obviously metallized rocks. This relation probably reflects the mobility of palladium during porphyry-type mineralization. However, our study failed to document conclusively the overall introduction of palladium during mineralization. Among the likely sources of palladium are the lower Paleozoic volcanic rocks or fluids equilibrated with magma (s) associated with the middle Tertiary porphyries.

Nevada↗