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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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USGS1998

Single-edition quadrangle maps

In August 1993, the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Mapping Division and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service signed an Interagency Agreement to begin a single-edition joint mapping program. This agreement established the coordination for producing and maintaining single-edition primary series topographic maps for quadrangles containing National Forest System lands. The joint mapping program saves money by eliminating duplication of effort by the agencies and results in a more frequent revision cycle for quadrangles containing national forests. Maps are revised on the basis of jointly developed standards and contain normal features mapped by the USGS, as well as additional features required for efficient management of National Forest System lands. Single-edition maps look slightly different but meet the content, accuracy, and quality criteria of other USGS products. The Forest Service is responsible for the land management of more than 191 million acres of land throughout the continental United States, Alaska, and Puerto Rico, including 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands. These areas make up the National Forest System lands and comprise more than 10,600 of the 56,000 primary series 7.5-minute quadrangle maps (15-minute in Alaska) covering the United States. The Forest Service has assumed responsibility for maintaining these maps, and the USGS remains responsible for printing and distributing them. Before the agreement, both agencies published similar maps of the same areas. The maps were used for different purposes, but had comparable types of features that were revised at different times. Now, the two products have been combined into one so that the revision cycle is stabilized and only one agency revises the maps, thus increasing the number of current maps available for National Forest System lands. This agreement has improved service to the public by requiring that the agencies share the same maps and that the maps meet a common standard, as well as by significantly reducing duplication of effort.

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USGS1999

Water-Level Changes, 1980 to 1997, and Saturated Thickness, 1996-97, In the High Plains Aquifer

The High Plains aquifer underlies one of the major agricultural regions in the world, including parts of eight States--Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. In the area underlain by the High Plains aquifer (called the High Plains region in this report), the total number of acres irrigated with ground water expanded rapidly after 1940: 1949--2.1 million acres; 1959--6.1 million acres; 1969--9.0 million acres; and 1980--13.7 million acres (Gutentag and others, 1984; Thelin and Heimes, 1987). In 1990, about 95 percent of the water withdrawn from the High Plains aquifer (about 15.7 million acre-feet) was used for irrigation (Marilee Horn, U.S.Geological Survey, written commun., 1996). Water-level declines appeared in the High Plains aquifer soon after extensive ground-water irrigation development began. By 1980, water levels in the High Plains aquifer in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and southwestern Kansas had declined more than 100 feet (Luckey and others, 1981). In response to these declines, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with numerous Federal, State, and local water resource agencies, began a ground-water monitoring program in 1988 to assess annual water-level change in the aquifer using water-level measurements from more than 7,000 wells. The purpose of this report is to present (1) water-level changes in the High Plains aquifer from 1980 to 1997 and from 1996 to 1997, (2) the precipitation pattern in the High Plains region during 1996, and (3) estimated saturated thickness of the High Plains aquifer in 1996-97. The water-level measurements used in this report were collected in winter or early spring when irrigation wells were not pumping. Map scale and density of water-level elevation data preclude showing small areas in the maps of water-level change and saturated thickness where the value may be more or less than indicated.

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USGS2006

Along-Track Reef Imaging System (ATRIS)

"Along-Track Reef Imaging System (ATRIS)" describes the U.S. Geological Survey's Along-Track Reef Imaging System, a boat-based sensor package for rapidly mapping shallow water benthic environments. ATRIS acquires high resolution, color digital images that are accurately geo-located in real-time.

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USGS2012

Understanding earthquake hazards in urban areas - Evansville Area Earthquake Hazards Mapping Project

The region surrounding Evansville, Indiana, has experienced minor damage from earthquakes several times in the past 200 years. Because of this history and the proximity of Evansville to the Wabash Valley and New Madrid seismic zones, there is concern among nearby communities about hazards from earthquakes. Earthquakes currently cannot be predicted, but scientists can estimate how strongly the ground is likely to shake as a result of an earthquake and are able to design structures to withstand this estimated ground shaking. Earthquake-hazard maps provide one way of conveying such information and can help the region of Evansville prepare for future earthquakes and reduce earthquake-caused loss of life and financial and structural loss. The Evansville Area Earthquake Hazards Mapping Project (EAEHMP) has produced three types of hazard maps for the Evansville area: (1) probabilistic seismic-hazard maps show the ground motion that is expected to be exceeded with a given probability within a given period of time; (2) scenario ground-shaking maps show the expected shaking from two specific scenario earthquakes; (3) liquefaction-potential maps show how likely the strong ground shaking from the scenario earthquakes is to produce liquefaction. These maps complement the U.S. Geological Survey's National Seismic Hazard Maps but are more detailed regionally and take into account surficial geology, soil thickness, and soil stiffness; these elements greatly affect ground shaking.

Indiana↗

USGS2013

Trends and causes of historical wetland loss in coastal Louisiana

Wetland losses in the northern Gulf Coast region of the United States are so extensive that they represent critical concerns to government environmental agencies and natural resource managers. In Louisiana, almost 3,000 square kilometers (km 2 ) of low-lying wetlands converted to open water between 1956 and 2004, and billions of dollars in State and Federal funding have been allocated for coastal restoration projects intended to compensate for some of those wetland losses. Recent research at the St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center (SPCMSC) focused on understanding the physical processes and human activities that contributed to historical wetland loss in coastal Louisiana and the spatial and temporal trends of that loss. The physical processes (land-surface subsidence and sediment erosion) responsible for historical wetland loss were quantified by comparing marsh-surface elevations, water depths, and vertical displacements of stratigraphic contacts at 10 study areas in the Mississippi River delta plain and 6 sites at Sabine National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR) in the western chenier plain. The timing and extent of land loss at the study areas was determined by comparing historical maps, aerial photographs, and satellite imagery; the temporal and spatial trends of those losses were compared with historical subsidence rates and hydrocarbon production trends.

Louisiana↗

USGS2017

The 3D Elevation Program—Landslide recognition, hazard assessment, and mitigation support

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Landslide Hazards Program conducts landslide hazard assessments, pursues landslide investigations and forecasts, provides technical assistance to respond to landslide emergencies, and engages in outreach. All of these activities benefit from the availability of high-resolution, three-dimensional (3D) elevation information in the form of light detection and ranging (lidar) data and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (IfSAR) data. Research on landslide processes addresses critical questions of where and when landslides are likely to occur as well as their size, speed, and effects. This understanding informs the development of methods and tools for hazard assessment and situational awareness used to guide efforts to avoid or mitigate landslide impacts. Such research is essential for the USGS to provide improved information on landslide potential associated with severe storms, earthquakes, volcanic activity, coastal wave erosion, and wildfire burn areas. Decisionmakers in government and the private sector increasingly depend on information the USGS provides before, during, and following disasters so that communities can live, work, travel, and build safely. The USGS 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) provides the programmatic infrastructure to generate and supply lidar-derived superior terrain data to address landslide applications and a wide range of other urgent needs nationwide. By providing data to users, 3DEP reduces users’ costs and risks and allows them to concentrate on their mission objectives. 3DEP includes (1) data acquisition partnerships that leverage funding, (2) contracts with experienced private mapping firms, (3) technical expertise, lidar data standards, and specifications, and (4) most important, public access to high-quality 3D elevation data.

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USGS2026

USGS Geochron Database

Introduction Geochronology helps us understand Earth’s history by determining when important events, like volcanic eruptions, the rise of mountains, the formation of mineral resources, and changes in the landscape, happened. Geochronological data directly support geologic mapping and can inform decisions about geologic hazard mitigation, natural resource management, and infrastructure resilience. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Geochron database provides access to more than 300,000 published, publicly available age measurements from more than 40,000 geological samples. This database is the result of a collaborative effort with State geological surveys and geoscientists from across the globe. The USGS Geochron database is the most comprehensive collection of geochronological data available for the United States. Users can view data through an interactive map explorer, download datasets, and integrate data into geospatial software or other analysis tools.

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USGS2008

Enhancing The National Map Through Tactical Planning and Performance Monitoring

Tactical planning and performance monitoring are initial steps toward improving 'the way The National Map works' and supporting the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Science Strategy. This Tactical Performance Planning Summary for The National Map combines information from The National Map 2.0 Tactical Plan and The National Map Performance Milestone Matrix. The National Map 2.0 Tactical Plan is primarily a working document to guide The National Map program's execution, production, and metrics monitoring for fiscal years (FY) 2008 and 2009. The Tactical Plan addresses data, products, and services, as well as supporting and enabling activities. The National Map's 2-year goal for FY 2008 and FY 2009 is to provide a range of geospatial products and services that further the National Spatial Data Infrastructure and underpin USGS science. To do this, the National Geospatial Program will develop a renewed understanding during FY 2008 of key customer needs and requirements, develop the infrastructure to support The National Map business model, modernize its business processes, and reengineer its workforce. Priorities for The National Map will be adjusted if necessary to respond to changes to the project that may impact resources, constrain timeframes, or change customer needs. The supporting and enabling activities that make it possible to produce the products and services of The National Map will include partnership activities, improved compatibility of systems, outreach, and integration of data themes.

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USGS2009

Use of StreamStats in the Upper French Broad River Basin, North Carolina: A Pilot Water-Resources Web Application

StreamStats is a Web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) application that was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) to provide access to an assortment of analytical tools that are useful for water-resources planning and management. StreamStats allows users to easily obtain streamflow statistics, basin characteristics, and descriptive information for USGS data-collection sites and selected ungaged sites. StreamStats also allows users to identify stream reaches upstream and downstream from user-selected sites and obtain information for locations along streams where activities occur that can affect streamflow conditions. This functionality can be accessed through a map-based interface with the user's Web browser or through individual functions requested remotely through other Web applications.

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USGS1953

Geology of the Plumtree area, Spruce Pine district, North Carolina

This report describes the results of study and geologic mapping (1:12,000) in the 70-square-mile Plumtree area in the northeastern part of the Spruce Pine pegmatite district, on the Blue Ridge upland in western North Carolina. The district has been the chief domestic source of feldspar and sheet mica. The mining belt just west of the Blue Ridge Front trends northeast and is 25 miles long and 10 miles wide. The center of the Plumtree area lies 10 miles northeast of Spruce Pine pegmatite district, on the Blue Ridge upland in western North Carolina. The district has been the chief domestic source of feldspar and sheet mica. The mining belt just west of the Blue Ridge Front trends northeast and is 25 miles long and 10 miles wide. The center of the Plumtree area lies 10 miles northeast of Spruce Pine and includes parts of Mitchell and Avery Counties shown on the portions of the 7.5-minute Spruce Pine, Linville Falls, Newland, North Carolina, and Carvers Gap, North Carolina and Tennessee quadrangle. The topography varies from rugged mountains to rounded or flat topped hills near the entrenched, meandering master streams. Old erosion surfaces are approximately 600,1,100, 1,500, and 2,500 feet above the present master stream level. The area is in late youth or early maturity after rejuvenation.. The regionally metamorphosed rocks of the amophibolite facies form three mappable units: mica gneiss, mica schist, and hornblende rock. These rocks, perhaps of Precambrian age, are intimately interlayered with thicknesses of the individual layers ranging from less than one inch to several tons of feet. Field relationships and chemical data suggest that the mica (Carolina-type) rocks were derived from sandstones, graywackes, and shales and that the hornblende-rich (Roan-type) layers were derived from impure carbonate rocks. The igneous rocks include alaskite and associated pegmatite of early Paleozoic age (?), dunite and associated soapstone of a prepegmatite age, and a few diabasic dikes of post-pegmatite age (Triassic?). The alaskite and pegmatite have similar bulk compositions, notably low in iron (0.3 percent). The major constituents in order of decreasing abundance are plagioclase, perthitic microcline, quartz, and muncovite. All of these minerals, as well as clay deposits derived from the weathering of alaskite under old terraces, have economic value. The zoned pegmatites contain fewer zones which are less complex mineralogically than those in the pegmatites of many other areas. These essentially unmetamorphosed bodies were intruded approximately at the peak of the regional metamorphism. Their emplacement was controlled by local structure and rock type. The source of this igneous material may have been the mobilized portions of the Cranberry gneiss which underlies the area. The dunite bodies were intruded early in the metamorphic cycle. The bodies are commonly zoned: from the wall rock inwards (1) talc-antrophyllite-serpentine fringe, (3) serpentinized dunite, (3) granular olivine core. Dunite, chromite, vermiculite, and anthophyllite are the major economic commodities. Extensive hydrothermal alteration of dunite bodies produced soapstone. The area is the northeast end of a southwest plunging synclinorium about 20 miles wide with the steeper limb on the northwest side. There are three structural zones: zone I on the northwest is characterized by the northeast-trending isoclinal folds with steep southeast dips; zone II on the southwest includes an area of rocks with low and variable dip; zone III is the complex central core. In the extreme northeast zones I and II have an indistinct boundary where they coalesce along the rim of the synclinorium. Six stratigraphic units are exposed totaling approximately 10,500 feet of metamorphic rocks. Small scale structural features include a foliation, and a lineation in the planes of the foliation. Minor folding reflects the trends of the major structures. There are randomly orient

Open-File Report↗

USGS1972

A computer program for creating keyword indexes to textual data files

A keyword-in-context (KWIC) or out-of-context (KWOC) index is a convenient means of organizing information. This keyword index program can be used to create either KWIC or KWOC indexes of bibliographic references or other types of information punched on. cards, typed on optical scanner sheets, or retrieved from various Department of Interior data bases using the Generalized Information Processing System (GIPSY). The index consists of a 'bibliographic' section and a keyword-section based on the permutation of. document titles, project titles, environmental impact statement titles, maps, etc. or lists of descriptors. The program can also create a back-of-the-book index to documents from a list of descriptors. By providing the user with a wide range of input and output options, the program provides the researcher, manager, or librarian with a means of-maintaining a list and index to documents in. a small library, reprint collection, or office file.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2002

Geologic map of the Yucca Mountain region, Nye County, Nevada

Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nev., has been identified as a potential site for underground storage of high-level radioactive waste. This geologic map compilation, including all of Yucca Mountain and Crater Flat, most of the Calico Hills, western Jackass Flats, Little Skull Mountain, the Striped Hills, the Skeleton Hills, and the northeastern Amargosa Desert, portrays the geologic framework for a saturated-zone hydrologic flow model of the Yucca Mountain site. Key geologic features shown on the geologic map and accompanying cross sections include: (1) exposures of Proterozoic through Devonian strata inferred to have been deformed by regional thrust faulting and folding, in the Skeleton Hills, Striped Hills, and Amargosa Desert near Big Dune; (2) folded and thrust-faulted Devonian and Mississippian strata, unconformably overlain by Miocene tuffs and lavas and cut by complex Neogene fault patterns, in the Calico Hills; (3) the Claim Canyon caldera, a segment of which is exposed north of Yucca Mountain and Crater Flat; (4) thick densely welded to nonwelded ash-flow sheets of the Miocene southwest Nevada volcanic field exposed in normal-fault-bounded blocks at Yucca Mountain; (5) upper Tertiary and Quaternary basaltic cinder cones and lava flows in Crater Flat and at southernmost Yucca Mountain; and (6) broad basins covered by Quaternary and upper Tertiary surficial deposits in Jackass Flats, Crater Flat, and the northeastern Amargosa Desert, beneath which Neogene normal and strike-slip faults are inferred to be present on the basis of geophysical data and geologic map patterns. A regional thrust belt of late Paleozoic or Mesozoic age affected all pre-Tertiary rocks in the region; main thrust faults, not exposed in the map area, are interpreted to underlie the map area in an arcuate pattern, striking north, northeast, and east. The predominant vergence of thrust faults exposed elsewhere in the region, including the Belted Range and Specter Range thrusts, was to the east, southeast, and south. The vertical to overturned strata of the Striped Hills are hypothesized to result from successive stacking of three south-vergent thrust ramps, the lowest of which is the Specter Range thrust. The CP thrust is interpreted as a north-vergent backthrust that may have been roughly contemporaneous with the Belted Range and Specter Range thrusts. The southwest Nevada volcanic field consists predominantly of a series of silicic tuffs and lava flows ranging in age from 15 to 8 Ma. The map area is in the southwestern quadrant of the southwest Nevada volcanic field, just south of the Timber Mountain caldera complex. The Claim Canyon caldera, exposed in the northern part of the map area, contains thick deposits of the 12.7-Ma Tiva Canyon Tuff, along with widespread megabreccia deposits of similar age, and subordinate thick exposures of other 12.8- to 12.7-Ma Paintbrush Group rocks. An irregular, blocky fault array, which affects parts of the caldera and much of the nearby area, includes several large-displacement, steeply dipping faults that strike radially to the caldera and bound south-dipping blocks of volcanic rock. South and southeast of the Claim Canyon caldera, in the area that includes Yucca Mountain, the Neogene fault pattern is dominated by closely spaced, north-northwest- to north-northeast-striking normal faults that lie within a north-trending graben. This 20- to 25-km-wide graben includes Crater Flat, Yucca Mountain, and Fortymile Wash, and is bounded on the east by the 'gravity fault' and on the west by the Bare Mountain fault. Both of these faults separate Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in their footwalls from Miocene volcanic rocks in their hanging walls. Stratigraphic and structural relations at Yucca Mountain demonstrate that block-bounding faults were active before and during eruption of the 12.8- to 12.7-Ma Paintbrush Group, and significant motion on these faults continued unt

IMAP↗

USGS2007

U.S. Geological Survey scientific activities in the exploration of Antarctica: 2002-03 field season

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mapping program in Antarctica is one of the longest continuously funded projects in the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). This is the 53rd U.S. expedition to Antarctica in which USGS scientists have participated. The financial support from the National Science Foundation, which extends back to the time of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1956–57, can be attributed to the need for accurate maps of specific field areas or regions where NSF-funded science projects were planned. The epoch of Antarctic exploration during the IGY was being driven by science, and, in a spirit of peaceful cooperation, the international scientific community wanted to limit military activities on the continent to logistical support. The USGS, a Federal civilian science agency in the Department of the Interior, had, since its founding in 1879, carried out numerous field-based national (and some international) programs in biology, geology, hydrology, and mapping. Therefore, the USGS was the obvious choice for these tasks, because it already had a professional staff of experienced mapmakers and program managers with the foresight, dedication, and understanding of the need for accurate maps to support the science programs in Antarctica when asked to do so by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Public Laws 85-743 and 87-626, signed in August 1958 and in September 1962, respectively, authorized the Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior, through the USGS, to support mapping and scientific work in Antarctica. The USGS mapping and science programs still play a significant role in the advancement of science in Antarctica today. Antarctica is the planet's 5th largest continent [13.2 million km 2 (5.1 million mi 2 )], it contains the world's largest (of two) remaining ice sheets, and it is considered to be one of the most important scientific laboratories on Earth. This report provides documentation of USGS scientific activities in the exploration of Antarctica during the 2002–03 field season (Mullins, 2002).

Open-File Report↗

USGS2007

U.S. Geological Survey scientific activities in the exploration of Antarctica: 1995-96 field season

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) mapping program in Antarctica is one of the longest continuously funded projects in the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). This is the 46th U.S. expedition to Antarctica in which USGS scientists have participated. The financial support from the National Science Foundation, which extends back to the time of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1956-57, can be attributed to the need for accurate maps of specific field areas or regions where NSF-funded science projects were planned. The epoch of Antarctic exploration during the IGY was being driven by science and, in a spirit of peaceful cooperation, the international scientific community wanted to limit military activities on the continent to logistical support. The USGS, a Federal civilian science agency in the Department of the Interior, had, since its founding in 1879, carried out numerous field-based national (and some international) programs in biology, geology, hydrology, and mapping. Therefore, the USGS was the obvious choice for these tasks, because it already had a professional staff of experienced mapmakers and program managers with the foresight, dedication, and understanding of the need for accurate maps to support the science programs in Antarctica when asked to do so by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Public Laws 85-743 and 87-626, signed in August 1958 and in September 1962, respectively, authorized the Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior, through the USGS, to support mapping and scientific work in Antarctica. The USGS mapping and science programs still play a significant role in the advancement of science in Antarctica today. Antarctica is the planet's 5th largest continent (13.2 million km 2 (5.1 million mi 2 )), it contains the world's largest (of two) remaining ice sheet, and it is considered to be one of the most important scientific laboratories on Earth. This report provides documentation of USGS scientific activities in the exploration of Antarctica during the 1995-96 field season (Mullins and Meunier, 1995).

Open-File Report↗

USGS1994

Effects of major storms on Pacific Islands

Tropical storms of various kinds are as much a depositional event as an erosional event. Much attention is given to the destructive aspects of major storms because of the loss of life and property, but little is known about their beneficial effects to coastal accretion. While we can usually measure and map the instantaneous effects of a tropical storm, we can only speculate about the long-term effects. Geologic mapping by the U.S. Geological Survey in areas prone to storm effects can give us opportunities to minimize losses by identifying locations most likely to suffer.

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USGS2000

The National Atlas of the United States of America

In 1970, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published The National Atlas of the United States of America ™. It was a 400-page, oversized, 12-pound collection of maps. In 1998, a new and innovative National Atlas was released. This edition includes both electronic and paper map products and exploits information management, access, and delivery technologies that didn't exist in 1970.

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USGS2000

Earth Explorer

The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Earth Explorer Web site provides access to millions of land-related products, including the following: Satellite images from Landsat, advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR), and Corona data sets. Aerial photographs from the National Aerial Photography Program, NASA, and USGS data sets. Digital cartographic data from digital elevation models, digital line graphs, digital raster graphics, and digital orthophoto quadrangles. USGS paper maps Digital, film, and paper products are available, and many products can be previewed before ordering.

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USGS2005

Did you feel it? : citizens contribute to earthquake science

Since the early 1990s, the magnitude and location of an earthquake have been available within minutes on the Internet. Now, as a result of work by the U.S. Geological Survey and with the cooperation of various regional seismic networks, people who experience an earthquake can go online and share information about its effects to help create a map of shaking intensities and damage. Such “Community Internet Intensity Maps” (CIIMs) contribute greatly toward the quick assessment of the scope of an earthquake emergency and provide valuable data for earthquake research.

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