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Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

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At least 487 records · Page 27Linked to original sources
USGS1985

Maps showing selected geology and phosphate resources of the Johnson Creek quadrangle, Caribou County, Idaho

This report summarizes information on the thickness, grade, lateral continuity, phosphate resources, and ownership of phosphate-bearing units in the Meade Peak Phosphatic Shale Member of the Phosphoria Formation in the Johnson Creek quadrangle. This report is one of a series of quadrangle reports prepared by the Idaho Bureau of Mines and Geology under U.S. Geological Survey cost-sharing contract #14-08-0001-17925 to calculate phosphate resources in southeastern Idaho (fig. 1).

Idaho↗
USGS1984

Maps showing selected geology and phosphate resources of the Fossil Canyon quadrangle, Bear Lake and Caribou Counties, Idaho

This report summarizes information on the thickness, grade, lateral continuity, phosphate resources, and ownership of phosphate-bearing units in the Meade Peak Phosphatic Shale Member of the Phosphoria Formation in the Fossil Canyon quadrangle. This report is one of a series of quadrangle reports prepared by the Idaho Bureau of Mines and Geology under U.S. Geological Survey cost-sharing contract #14-08-0001-17925 to calculate phosphate resources in southeastern Idaho (fig. 1).

Idaho↗
USGS2004

Maps of Hawaiian Islands exclusive economic zone interpreted from GLORIA sidescan-sonar imagery

The map is geology around the Hawaiian Islands derived from GLORIA data collected in 1986-1989 from the southeastern Hawaiian Ridge EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone), which covers more than 1,000,000 km 2 of sea floor. The seafloor is characterized by a variety of volcanic and sedimentary processes. Cretaceous age seafloor underlies both subaerial and subaqueous erupted lava forming the Hawaiian Ridge and various Cretaceous seamounts. Subaerial lava quenches and brecciates as it enters the ocean forming smooth slopes. The mobile flanks of the islands have given way into slumps and debris avalanches.

Hawaii↗
USGS2015

Simulation of groundwater flow and streamflow depletion in the Branch Brook, Merriland River, and parts of the Mousam River watersheds in southern Maine

Watersheds of three streams, the Mousam River, Branch Brook, and Merriland River in southeastern Maine were investigated from 2010 through 2013 under a cooperative project between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Maine Geological Survey. The Branch Brook watershed previously had been deemed “at risk” by the Maine Geological Survey because of the proportionally large water withdrawals compared to estimates of the in-stream flow requirements for habitat protection. The primary groundwater withdrawals in the study area include a water-supply well in the headwaters of the system and three water-supply wells in the coastal plain near the downstream end of the system. A steady-state groundwater flow model was used to understand the movement of water within the system, to evaluate the water budget and the effect of groundwater withdrawals on streamflows, and to understand streamflow depletion in relation to the State of Maine’s requirements to maintain in-stream flows for habitat protection. Delineation of the simulated groundwater divides compared to the surface-water divides suggests that the groundwater divides in the headwater areas do not exactly correspond to the surface-water divides. Under both pumping and non-pumping conditions, groundwater flows from the headwaters of the Branch Brook watershed into the Mousam River watershed. Pumping in the Mousam River watershed captures a small amount of groundwater from the Branch Brook basin. The cumulative effect of groundwater withdrawals on base flows in two rivers in the study area (Branch Brook and the Merriland River) was evaluated using the groundwater flow model. Streamflow depletion in the headwaters of Branch Brook was 0.12 cubic feet per second (ft 3 /s) for the steady-state simulation, or about 10 percent of the average base flow at that location. Downstream on Branch Brook, the total streamflow depletion from all the wells was 0.59 ft 3 /s, or 3 percent of the average base flow at that location. In the Merriland River downstream from the Merriland River well, the total amount of streamflow depletion was 0.6 ft 3 /s, or about 7 percent of the average base flow. The groundwater model was used to evaluate several different scenarios that could affect streamflow and groundwater discharging to the rivers and streams in the study area. The scenarios were (1) no pumping from the water-supply wells; (2) current pumping from the water-supply wells, but simulated drought conditions (25 percent reduction in recharge); (3) current recharge, but with increased pumping from the large water-supply wells; and (4) drought conditions and increased pumping combined. Simulations of increased pumping in the water-supply wells resulted in streamflow depletion in the headwaters of Branch Brook increasing to 16 percent of the headwater base flow. Simulated increases in the pumping in the coastal plain wells increased the amount of streamflow depletion to 6 percent of the flow in Branch Brook and to 8 percent of the flow in the Merriland River. The additional stress of a drought imposed on the model (25 percent less recharge) had a substantial impact on streamflows, as expected. If the simulated drought occurred simultaneously with an increase in pumping, the base flows would be reduced 48 percent in the headwaters of Branch Brook, compared to the no-pumping scenario. Downstream in Branch Brook, the total reduction in flow would be 29 percent of the simulated base flows in the no-pumping scenario, and in the Merriland River, the reduction would be 33 percent of the base flows in the no-pumping scenario. The study evaluated two different methods of calculating in-stream flow requirements for Branch Brook and the Merriland River—a set of statewide equations used to calculate monthly median flows and the MOVE.1 record-extension technique used on site-specific streamflow measurements. The August median in-stream flow requirement in the Merriland River was calculated as 7.18 ft 3 /s using the statewide equations but was 3.07 ft 3 /s using the MOVE.1 analysis. In Branch Brook, the August median in-stream flow requirements were calculated as 20.3 ft 3 /s using the statewide equations and 11.8 ft 3 /s using the MOVE.1 analysis. In each case, using site-specific data yields an estimate of in-stream flow that is much lower than an estimate the statewide equations provide.

Maine↗
USGS1985

NEW STUDIES OF URBAN FLOOD FREQUENCY IN THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES.

Five reports dealing with flood magnitude and frequency in urban areas in the Southeastern United States have been published during the past 2 years by the U. S. Geological Survey. These reports are based on data collected in Tampa and Tallahassee, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia, and several cities in Alabama and Tennessee. Each report contains regression equations useful for estimating flood peaks for selected recurrence intervals at ungaged urban sites in their respective study area. A nationwide study of urban flood characteristics by the Geological Survey published in 1983 contains equations for estimating urban peak discharges for ungaged sites throughout the United States.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2000

Protection of fish spawning habitat for the conservation of warm-temperature reef-fish fisheries of shelf-edge reefs of Florida

We mapped and briefly describe the surficial geology of selected examples of shelf-edge reefs (50–120 m deep) of the southeastern United States, which are apparently derived from ancient Pleistocene shorelines and are intermittently distributed throughout the region. These reefs are ecologically significant because they support a diverse array of fish and invertebrate species, and they are the only aggregation spawning sites of gag ( Mycteroperca microlepis ), scamp ( M. phenax ), and other economically important reef fish. Our studies on the east Florida shelf in the Experimental Oculina Research Reserve show that extensive damage to the habitat-structuring coral Oculina varicosa has occurred in the past, apparently from trawling and dredging activities of the 1970s and later. On damaged or destroyed Oculina habitat, reef-fish abundance and diversity are low, whereas on intact habitat, reef-fish diversity is relatively high compared to historical diversity on the same site. The abundance and biomass of the economically important reef fish was much higher in the past than it is now, and spawning aggregations of gag and scamp have been lost or greatly reduced in size. On the west Florida shelf, fishers have concentrated on shelf-edge habitats for over 100 yrs, but fishing intensity increased dramatically in the 1980s. Those reefs are characterized by low abundance of economically important species. The degree and extent of habitat damage there is unknown. We recommend marine fishery reserves to protect habitat and for use in experimentally examining the potential production of unfished communities.

Florida↗
USGS2000

Protection of fish spawning habitat for the conservation of warm temperate reef fish fisheries of shelf-edge reefs of Florida

We mapped and briefly describe the surficial geology of selected examples of shelf-edge reefs (50–120 m deep) of the southeastern United States, which are apparently derived from ancient Pleistocene shorelines and are intermittently distributed throughout the region. These reefs are ecologically significant because they support a diverse array of fish and invertebrate species, and they are the only aggregation spawning sites of gag ( Mycteroperca microlepis ), scamp ( M. phenax ), and other economically important reef fish. Our studies on the east Florida shelf in the Experimental Oculina Research Reserve show that extensive damage to the habitat-structuring coral Oculina varicosa has occurred in the past, apparently from trawling and dredging activities of the 1970s and later. On damaged or destroyed Oculina habitat, reef-fish abundance and diversity are low, whereas on intact habitat, reef-fish diversity is relatively high compared to historical diversity on the same site. The abundance and biomass of the economically important reef fish was much higher in the past than it is now, and spawning aggregations of gag and scamp have been lost or greatly reduced in size. On the west Florida shelf, fishers have concentrated on shelf-edge habitats for over 100 yrs, but fishing intensity increased dramatically in the 1980s. Those reefs are characterized by low abundance of economically important species. The degree and extent of habitat damage there is unknown. We recommend marine fishery reserves to protect habitat and for use in experimentally examining the potential production of unfished communities.

Florida↗
USGS1978

Ground-water records for eastern Oklahoma, Part 2; water-quality records for wells, test-holes, and springs

The U. S. Geological Survey has collected data on Oklahoma's ground-water resources since 1934. Most of these data were collected as part of specific ground-water studies conducted in cooperation with various Federal, State, and local agencies. Data on construction, yield, water levels, and other physical well parameters are given in 'Ground-Water Records for Northeastern Oklahoma, Part 1 - Records of Wells, Test Holes, and Springs' and in 'Ground-Water Records for Southeastern Oklahoma, Part 1 - Records of Wells, Test Holes, and Springs.' These reports are available from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, Rm. 621, 201 N.W. Third, Oklahoma City, OK 73102. Although some water-quality data for wells, test-holes, and springs have been published, they are scattered through a variety of reports and are not readily available on a regional basis. Furthermore, a considerable amount of data have never been published and can be obtained only from the files of the Geological Survey. The purpose of this report is to make available both published and unpublished water-quality records for approximately 1,740 wells, test-holes, and springs in 23 counties in northeastern Oklahoma and 16 counties in southeastern Oklahoma. Acknowledgment is extended to the many hundreds of individuals who have provided the data compiled in this report.

Oklahoma↗
USGS2015

The 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake and its significance for seismic hazards in eastern North America: overview and synthesis

The 23 August 2011 M w (moment magnitude) 5.7 ± 0.1, Mineral, Virginia, earthquake was the largest and most damaging in the central and eastern United States since the 1886 M w 6.8–7.0, Charleston, South Carolina, earthquake. Seismic data indicate that the earthquake rupture occurred on a southeast-dipping reverse fault and consisted of three subevents that progressed northeastward and updip. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) "Did You Feel It?" intensity reports from across the eastern United States and southeastern Canada, rockfalls triggered at distances to 245 km, and regional groundwater-level changes are all consistent with efficient propagation of high-frequency seismic waves (∼1 Hz and higher) in eastern North America due to low attenuation. Reported damage included cracked or shifted foundations and broken walls or chimneys, notably in unreinforced masonry, and indicated intensities up to VIII in the epicentral area based on USGS "Did You Feel It?" reports. The earthquake triggered the first automatic shutdown of a U.S. nuclear power plant, located ∼23 km northeast of the main shock epicenter. Although shaking exceeded the plant's design basis earthquake, the actual damage to safety-related structures, systems, and components was superficial. Damage to relatively tall masonry structures 130 km to the northeast in Washington, D.C., was consistent with source directivity, soft-soil ground-motion amplification, and anisotropic wave propagation with lower attenuation parallel to the northeast-trending Appalachian tectonic fabric. The earthquake and aftershocks occurred in crystalline rocks within Paleozoic thrust sheets of the Chopawamsic terrane. The main shock and majority of aftershocks delineated the newly named Quail fault zone in the subsurface, and shallow aftershocks defined outlying faults. The earthquake induced minor liquefaction sand boils, but notably there was no evidence of a surface fault rupture. Recurrence intervals, and evidence for larger earthquakes in the Quaternary in this area, remain important unknowns. This event, along with similar events during historical time, is a reminder that earthquakes of similar or larger magnitude pose a real hazard in eastern North America.

Virginia↗
USGS2018

Groundwater quality in the Floridan aquifer system, Southeastern United States

Groundwater provides nearly 50 percent of the Nation’s drinking water. To help protect this vital resource, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project assesses groundwater quality in aquifers that are important sources of drinking water (Burow and Belitz, 2014). The Floridan aquifer system constitutes one of the important aquifer systems being evaluated.

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina↗
USGS2022

Groundwater quality in the Surficial Aquifer System, Southeastern United States:

Groundwater provides nearly 50 percent of the Nation’s drinking water. To help protect this vital resource, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project assesses groundwater quality in aquifers that are important sources of drinking water (Burow and Belitz, 2014). The surficial aquifer system constitutes one of the important aquifer systems being evaluated.

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina↗
USGS1963

Geology of the Terra Bella-Lost Hills Area, San Joaquin Valley, California

The Terra Bella-Lost Hills area in the southeastern part of the San Joaquin Valley includes about 1,700 square miles of Kings, Tulare and Kern Counties. This part of the San Joaquin Valley has mild winters, long hot summers, and little precipitating, almost all of which occurs during the fall and winter months. The area is a basin of interior drainage and the streams are tributary to Tulare Lake. The Terra Bella-Lost Hills area is characterized by dissected uplands, low alluvial plains and fans, river-flood plains and channels, and overflow land. and. lake bottoms.

California↗
USGS2013

Application of the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin in the southeastern United States

A hydrologic model of the Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River Basin (ACFB) has been developed as part of a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center effort to provide integrated science that helps resource managers understand the effect of climate change on a range of ecosystem responses. The hydrologic model was developed as part of the Southeast Regional Assessment Project using the Precipitation Runoff Modeling System (PRMS), a deterministic, distributed-parameter, process-based system that simulates the effects of precipitation, temperature, and land use on basin hydrology. The ACFB PRMS model simulates streamflow throughout the approximately 50,700 square-kilometer basin on a daily time step for the period 1950–99 using gridded climate forcings of air temperature and precipitation, and parameters derived from spatial data layers of altitude, land cover, soils, surficial geology, depression storage (small water bodies), and data from 56 USGS streamgages. Measured streamflow data from 35 of the 56 USGS streamgages were used to calibrate and evaluate simulated basin streamflow; the remaining gage locations were used for model delineation only. The model matched measured daily streamflow at 31 of the 35 calibration gages with Nash-Sutcliffe Model Efficiency Index (NS) greater than 0.6. Streamflow data for some calibration gages were augmented for regulation and water use effects to represent more natural flow volumes. Time-static parameters describing land cover limited the ability of the simulation to match historical runoff in the more developed subbasins. Overall, the PRMS simulation of the ACFB provides a good representation of basin hydrology on annual and monthly time steps. Calibration subbasins were analyzed by separating the 35 subbasins into five classes based on physiography, land use, and stream type (tributary or mainstem). The lowest NS values were rarely below 0.6, whereas the median NS for all five classes was within 0.74 to 0.96 for annual mean streamflow, 0.89 to 0.98 for mean monthly streamflow, and 0.82 to 0.98 for monthly mean streamflow. The median bias for all five classes was within –4.3 to 0.8 percent for annual mean streamflow, –6.3 to 0.5 percent for mean monthly streamflow, and –9.3 to 1.3 percent for monthly mean streamflow. The NS results combined with the percent bias results indicated a good to very good streamflow volume simulation for all subbasins. This simulation of the ACFB provides a foundation for future modeling and interpretive studies. Streamflow and other components of the hydrologic cycle simulated by PRMS can be used to inform other types of simulations; water-temperature, hydrodynamic, and ecosystem-dynamics simulations are three examples. In addition, possible future hydrologic conditions could be studied using this model in combination with land cover projections and downscaled general circulation model results.

Alabama, Florida, Georgia↗
USGS1968

Geology and ground water resources of Cass County, North Dakota

Cass County comprises an area of 1,749 square miles in the southeastern corner of North Dakota. About one-fourth of the county is in the Drift Prairie physiographic province; the rest is in the Red River Valley (Lake Agassiz basin) physiographic division.

North Dakota↗
USGS1997

The Conterminous United States Mineral-Resource Assessment Program; background information to accompany folios of geologic and mineral-resource maps of the Harrison 1 degree x 2 degrees quadrangle, Missouri and Arkansas, and the Joplin 1 degree x 2 degrees quadrangle Kansas and Missouri

The Harrison 1 deg X 2 deg quadrangle in southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas and the Joplin 1 deg X 2 deg quadrangle in southeastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri were studied under the Conterminous United States Mineral-Resource Assessment Program (CUSMAP). Map publications in the CUSMAP folios included bedrock geology, subsurface geochemistry, geophysics, subsurface stratigraphy and lithofacies, and potential resources of metallic and industrial minerals and coal. This report summarizes the contents of those publications and related studies.

Circular↗
USGS2008

Assessment of Appalachian Basin Oil and Gas Resources: Utica-Lower Paleozoic Total Petroleum System

The Utica-Lower Paleozoic Total Petroleum System (TPS) is an important TPS identified in the 2002 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in the Appalachian basin province (Milici and others, 2003). The TPS is named for the Upper Ordovician Utica Shale, which is the primary source rock, and for multiple lower Paleozoic sandstone and carbonate units that are the important reservoirs. Upper Cambrian through Upper Silurian petroleum-bearing strata that constitute the Utica-Lower Paleozoic TPS thicken eastward from about 2,700 ft at the western margin of the Appalachian basin to about 12,000 ft at the thrust-faulted eastern margin of the Appalachian basin. The Utica-Lower Paleozoic TPS covers approximately 170,000 mi2 of the Appalachian basin from northeastern Tennessee to southeastern New York and from central Ohio to eastern West Virginia. The boundary of the TPS is defined by the following geologic features: (1) the northern boundary (from central Ontario to northeastern New York) extends along the outcrop limit of the Utica Shale-Trenton Limestone; (2) the northeastern boundary (from southeastern New York, through southeastern Pennsylvania-western Maryland-easternmost West Virginia, to northern Virginia) extends along the eastern limit of the Utica Shale-Trenton Limestone in the thrust-faulted eastern margin of the Appalachian basin; (3) the southeastern boundary (from west-central and southwestern Virginia to eastern Tennessee) extends along the eastern limit of the Trenton Limestone in the thrust-faulted eastern margin of the Appalachian basin; (4) the southwestern boundary (from eastern Tennessee, through eastern Kentucky, to southwestern Ohio) extends along the approximate facies change from the Trenton Limestone with thin black shale interbeds (on the east) to the equivalent Lexington Limestone without black shale interbeds (on the west); (5) the northern part of the boundary in southwestern Ohio to the Indiana border extends along an arbitrary boundary between the Utica Shale of the Appalachian basin and the Utica Shale of the Sebree trough (Kolata and others, 2001); and (6) the northwestern boundary (from east-central Indiana, through northwesternmost Ohio and southeasternmost Michigan, to central Ontario) extends along the approximate southeastern boundary of the Michigan Basin. Although the Utica-Lower Paleozoic TPS extends into northwestern Ohio, southeastern Michigan, and northeastern Indiana, these areas have been assigned to the Michigan Basin (Swezey and others, 2005) and are outside the scope of this report. Furthermore, although the northern part of the Utica-Lower Paleozoic TPS extends across the Great Lakes (Lake Erie and Lake Ontario) into southern Ontario, Canada, only the undiscovered oil and gas resources in the U.S. waters of the Great Lakes have been included in the USGS assessment of the Utica-Lower Paleozoic TPS. This TPS is similar to the Point Pleasant-Brassfield petroleum system previously identified by Drozd and Cole (1994) in the Ohio part of the Appalachian basin.

Open-File Report↗