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At least 757 records · Page 42Linked to original sources
USGS2002

Preliminary hydrogeologic assessment and study plan for a regional ground-water resource investigation of the Blue Ridge and Piedmont provinces of North Carolina

Prolonged drought, allocation of surface-water flow, and increased demands on ground-water supplies resulting from population growth are focuses for the need to evaluate ground-water resources in the Blue Ridge and Piedmont Provinces of North Carolina. Urbanization and certain aspects of agricultural production also have caused increased concerns about protecting the quality of ground water in this region. More than 75 percent of the State's population resides in the Blue Ridge and Piedmont Provinces in an area that covers 30,544 square miles and 65 counties. Between 1940 and 2000, the population in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Provinces increased from 2.66 to 6.11 million; most of this increase occurred in the Piedmont. Of the total population, an estimated 1.97 million people, or 32.3 percent (based on the 1990 census), relied on ground water for a variety of uses, including commercial, industrial, and most importantly, potable supplies. Ground water in the Blue Ridge and Piedmont traditionally has not been considered as a source for large supplies, primarily because of readily available and seemingly limitless surface-water supplies, and the perception that ground water in the Blue Ridge and Piedmont Provinces occurs in a complex, generally heterogeneous geologic environment. Some reluctance to use ground water for large supplies derives from the reputation of aquifers in these provinces for producing low yields to wells, and the few high-yield wells that are drilled seem to be scattered in areas distant from where they are needed. Because the aquifers in these provinces are shallow, they also are susceptible to contamination by activities on the land surface. In response to these issues, the North Carolina Legislature supported the creation of a Resource Evaluation Program to ensure the long-term availability, sustainability, and quality of ground water in the State. As part of the Resource Evaluation Program, the North Carolina Division of Water Quality, Groundwater Section, in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, initiated a multiyear study of ground water in the Blue Ridge and Piedmont Provinces. The study began in 1999. Most of the study area is underlain by a complex, two-part, regolith-fractured crystalline rock aquifer system. Thickness of the regolith throughout the study area is highly variable and ranges from 0 to more than 150 feet. The regolith consists of an unconsolidated or semiconsolidated mixture of clay and fragmental material ranging in grain size from silt to boulders. Because porosities range from 35 to 55 percent, the regolith provides the bulk of the water storage within the Blue Ridge and Piedmont ground-water system. At the base of the regolith is the transition zone where saprolite grades into unweathered bedrock. The transition zone has been identified as a potential conduit for rapid ground-water flow. If this is the case, the transition zone also may serve as a conduit for rapid movement of contaminants to nearby wells or to streams with channels that cut into 1 U.S. Geological Survey, Raleigh, North Carolina. 2 North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Water Quality, Groundwater Section. or through the transition zone. How rapidly a contaminant moves through the system largely may be a function of the characteristics of the transition zone. The transition zone is one of several topics identified during the literature review and data synthesis, for which there is a deficiency in data and understanding of the processes involved in the movement of ground water to surface water. Because the Blue Ridge and Piedmont study area is so large, and the hydrogeology diverse, it is not feasible to study all of the area in detail. A more feasible approach is to select areas that are most representative of the land use, geology, and hydrology to obtain an understanding of the hydrologic processes in the selected areas, and transfer the knowledge from these local "type areas" to similar regional hydrogeologic areas. For the purpose of this study, the term "type area" applies to a 10- to 100-square mile area within a hydrogeologic terrane where information is sufficient to develop and test a concept of ground-water flow by using analytical or numerical methods that can be validated by field measurements. Ideally, these type areas are selected to be representative of the flow system that is present wherever a particular hydrogeologic terrane is present. This report consists of two basic parts. The first part describes the results of a comprehensive review and synthesis of information and literature that provides the basic background for the study. This includes current (2002) knowledge regarding general geology and the hydrogeologic framework of the fractured-rock aquifer system that underlies the Blue Ridge and Piedmont Provinces. In spite of the quantity of information identified during the literature review and the amount of past work that has been documented, there are still research needs to be met. The second part of the report describes State ground-water issues and problems, available data, and data deficiencies. It also describes the design and implementation of efforts to characterize ground-water quality and to quantify factors that influence the movement and availability of ground water in the hydrogeologic terranes characterized by (1) massive or foliated crystalline rocks overlain by thick regolith and (2) massive or foliated crystalline rocks overlain by thin regolith. As of September 2001, seven sites had been identified as potential study sites to be used to characterize the hydrogeology and water quality of ype areas considered representative of the larger terranes. Detailed geologic mapping, core drilling, well installation, and surface and borehole geophysical surveys are in progress at four of the sites.

North Carolina↗
USGS2019

Screen-printed soft capacitive sensors for spatial mapping of both positive and negative pressures

Soft pressure sensors are one class of the essential devices for robotics and wearable device applications. Despite the tremendous progress, sensors that can reliably detect both positive and negative pressures have not yet been demonstrated. In this paper, we report a soft capacitive pressure sensor made using a convenient and low-cost screen-printing process that can reliably detect both positive and negative pressures from −60 kPa to 20 kPa. The sensor is made with an Ecoflex-0030 dielectric layer, conductive and stretchable poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) (with ionic additives) electrodes and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) encapsulation layers. Air gaps are designed and incorporated into the dielectric layer to significantly enhance the sample deformation and pressure response especially to negative pressure. The sensor exhibits repeatable response for thousands of cycles, even under bending or stretching conditions. Lastly, to demonstrate the practical application, a 12×12-pixel sensor array that can automatically measure both positive and negative pressure distributions has been reported under −20 kPa and 10 kPa.

Advanced Functional Materials↗
USGS2021

SSA task force on diversity, equity, and inclusion: Toward a changing, inclusive future in earthquake science

In the United States, a wide variety of studies show that the geoscience community does not reflect the broader societal makeup (e.g., Velasco and Jaurrieta de Velasco, 2010; Dutt, 2020; Howley, 2020). In fact, only about 10% of all Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Ph.D. degrees are awarded to people of color, although they represent more than a third of the population (Dutt, 2020). These numbers have changed little over the past 40 yr (e.g., Bernard and Cooperdock, 2018; Dutt, 2020). Recent events in the United States have again raised awareness of this discrepancy in many fields; similar divergences may be present throughout the world. This discrepancy represents a tremendous loss of talent and contributes to ongoing bias and racism. As the premier international seismological professional society, Seismological Society of America (SSA) is committed, as stated in its ethics policy, to “freedom and transparency in research and education, which should be conducted in a supportive, inclusive, and respectful environment, free from any discrimination, harassment or bullying.” SSA convened the SSA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force to identify specific and actionable recommendations that the Society can take to start to address the significant issues surrounding the systematic underrepresentation in seismology and related geosciences by marginalized groups on both short- and long- term time horizons. This report, written by the Task Force, outlines actionable items that SSA can undertake as well as a framework by which progress can be measured to help guide the Society and its members forward as a community to make earthquake science more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive. We recognize that this document cannot address the multiple individual, cultural, and historical barriers that some members may face (e.g., Núñez et al., 2020), nor can it reflect all possibilities or all recommended practices (e.g., Ali et al., 2021). What this document does represent, however, is the beginning of what we hope to be a significant cultural change in how we conduct earthquake science as an organization, not the end of this process as the Task Force fulfills its charter. As a note, some of the recommendations that the Task Force has outlined here have already been implemented within SSA or are actively being considered. For completeness, we still include them here because this highlights the commitment to change that SSA leadership has embraced.

Seismological Research Letters↗
USGS1978

Cross-section data for selected Puerto Rico streams

The data presented in this report were originally collected for the purpose of delineating the inundation which could be expected by floods of selected magnitudes. As this study progressed, it became apparent that further analysis would be a duplication of effort as the United States Flood Insurance Administration was requiring similar information. Therefore, it was decided to publish the cross-section data that had been obtained and not to go into further analysis with this study. These cross section data can be used in Flood Insurance Administration studies and in other studies related to the planning, development, and management of flood plains. The data were collected by the Caribbean District of the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources.

Puerto Rico↗
USGS1993

National Research Program of the Water Resources Division, U. S. Geological Survey, Fiscal Year 1992

This report, one in a series of annual reports, provides current information about the National Research Program (NRP) of the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Resources Division (WRD) during fiscal year 1992. Organized by NRP's six research disciplines, the volume contains a summary of the problem, objective, approach, and progress for each project that was active during fiscal year 1992. It also contains bibliographic information that, because of the long-term nature of the program, covers a 5-year period. The bibliographic information does not include abstracts or informal reports. Rather it contains those reports that are readily available in the form of journal articles, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) publications, book chapters, or books.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2010

Recent U.S. Geological Survey Studies in the Tintina Gold Province, Alaska, United States, and Yukon, Canada-Results of a 5-Year Project

This report presents summary papers of work conducted between 2002 and 2007 under a 5-year project effort funded by the U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program, formerly entitled 'Tintina Metallogenic Province: Integrated Studies on Geologic Framework, Mineral Resources, and Environmental Signatures.' As the project progressed, the informal title changed from 'Tintina Metallogenic Province' project to 'Tintina Gold Province' project, the latter being more closely aligned with the terminology used by the mineral industry. As Goldfarb and others explain in the first chapter of this report, the Tintina Gold Province is a convenient term used by the mineral exploration community for a 'region of very varied geology, gold deposit types, and resource potential'. The Tintina Gold Province encompasses roughly 150,000 square kilometers, bounded by the Kaltag-Tintina fault system on the north and the Farewell-Denali fault system on the south. It extends westward in a broad arc, some 200 km wide, from northernmost British Columbia, through the Yukon, through southeastern and central Alaska, to southwestern Alaska. The climate is subarctic and, in Alaska, includes major physiographic delineations and ecoregions such as the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Tanana-Kuskokwim Lowlands, Yukon River Lowlands, and the Kuskokwim Mountains. Although the Tintina Gold Province is historically important for some of the very first placer and lode gold discoveries in northern North America, it has recently seen resurgence in mineral exploration, development, and mining activity. This resurgence is due to both new discoveries (for example, Pogo and Donlin Creek) and to the application of modern extraction methods to previously known, but economically restrictive, low-grade, bulk-tonnage gold resources (for example, Fort Knox, Clear Creek, and Scheelite Dome). In addition, the Tintina Gold Province hosts numerous other mineral deposit types, possessing both high and low sulfide content, which are not currently in development.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS1995

National Research Program of the Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, Fiscal Year 1993

INTRODUCTION This report, one in a series of annual reports, provides current information about the National Research Program (NRP) of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Water Resources Division (WRD) during fiscal year 1993. Organized by NRP's six research disciplines, the volume contains a summary of the problem, objective, approach, and progress for each project that was active during fiscal year 1993. It also contains bibliographic information that, because of the long-term nature of the program, covers a 5-year period. The bibliographic information does not include abstracts or informal reports. Rather it contains those reports that are readily available in the form of journal articles, USGS publications, book chapters, or books.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2004

Location, Age, and Tectonic Significance of the Western Idaho Suture Zone (WISZ)

The Western Idaho Suture Zone (WISZ) represents the boundary between crust overlying Proterozoic North American lithosphere and Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic intraoceanic crust accreted during Cretaceous time. Highly deformed plutons constituted of both arc and sialic components intrude the WISZ and in places are thrust over the accreted terranes. Pronounced variations in Sr, Nd, and O isotope ratios and in major and trace element composition occur across the suture zone in Mesozoic plutons. The WISZ is located by an abrupt west to east increase in initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios, traceable for over 300 km from eastern Washington near Clarkston, east along the Clearwater River thorough a bend to the south of about 110? from Orofino Creek to Harpster, and extending south-southwest to near Ola, Idaho, where Columbia River basalts conceal its extension to the south. K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar apparent ages of hornblende and biotite from Jurassic and Early Cretaceous plutons in the accreted terranes are highly discordant within about 10 km of the WISZ, exhibiting patterns of thermal loss caused by deformation, subsequent batholith intrusion, and rapid rise of the continental margin. Major crustal movements within the WISZ commenced after about 135 Ma, but much of the displacement may have been largely vertical, during and following emplacement of batholith-scale silicic magmas. Deformation continued until at least 85 Ma and probably until 74 Ma, progressing from south to north.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1980

Semidiurnal bottom pressure and tidal currents on Georges Bank and in the Mid-Atlantic Bight

Observations of the semidiurnal (M 2 ) tidal current, bottom pressure, and coastal sea level from Nova Scotia to Cape May, New Jersey) show that: 1) the surface pressure at the edge of the Continental Shelf in the study area has a relatively uniform amplitude (40 cm) and phase (12 hr Greenwich); 2) in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, the semidiurnal M 2 tide is co-oscillating, and the onshore M 2 tidal current reaches a maximum 2 approximately 90° or 3.1 hr before high water; 3) in the Georges Bank region of the shelf, the M tide is more progressive than it is in the 2 Mid-Atlantic Bight, and the onshore M 2 tidal current in the Georges Bank 2 region of the shelf reaches a maximum about 7 ° or 14 min before high water; 4) the strongest M 2 tidal currents observed in the study area are 2 near the crest of Georges Bank (typical amplitudes are 74 cm/s near the surface); 5) the M 2 tidal currents are weaker in the Mid-Atlantic Bight 2 (typical amplitudes are 16 cm/s near the surface) than on Georges Bank; and 6) the tidal currents are weakest near the bottom south of Cape Cod in a region of transition between progressive and co-oscillating tides.

Georges Bank, Mid-Atlantic Bight↗
USGS2013

Concentration, flux, and the analysis of trends of total and dissolved phosphorus, total nitrogen, and chloride in 18 tributaries to Lake Champlain, Vermont and New York, 1990–2011

Annual concentration, flux, and yield for total phosphorus, dissolved phosphorus, total nitrogen, and chloride for 18 tributaries to Lake Champlain were estimated for 1990 through 2011 using a weighted regression method based on time, tributary streamflows (discharges), and seasonal factors. The weighted regression method generated two series of daily estimates of flux and concentration during the period of record: one based on observed discharges and a second based on a flow-normalization procedure that removes random variation due to year-to-year climate-driven effects. The flownormalized estimate for a given date is similar to an average estimate of concentration or flux that would be made if all of the observed discharges for that date were equally likely to have occurred. The flux bias statistic showed that 68 of the 72 flux regression models were minimally biased. Temporal trends in the concentrations and fluxes were determined by calculating percent changes in flow-normalized annual fluxes for the full period of analysis (1990 through 2010) and for the decades 1990–2000 and 2000–2010. Basinwide, flow-normalized total phosphorus flux decreased by 42 metric tons per year (t/yr) between 1990 and 2010. This net result reflects a basinwide decrease in flux of 21 metric tons (t) between 1990 and 2000, followed by a decrease of 20 t between 2000 and 2010; both results were largely influenced by flux patterns in the large tributaries on the eastern side of the basin. A comparison of results for total phosphorus for the two separate decades of analysis found that more tributaries had decreasing concentrations and flux rates in the second decade than the first. An overall reduction in dissolved phosphorus flux of 0.7 t/yr was seen in the Lake Champlain Basin during the full period of analysis. That very small net change in flux reflects substantial reductions between 1990 and 2000 from eastern tributaries, especially in Otter Creek and the LaPlatte and Winooski Rivers that largely were offset by increases in the Missisquoi and Saranac Rivers in the second decade (between 2000 and 2010). The number of tributaries that had increases in dissolved phosphorus concentrations stayed constant at 13 or 14 during the period of analysis. Total nitrogen concentration and flux for most of the monitored tributaries in the Lake Champlain Basin have decreased since 1990. Between 1990 and 2010, flow-normalized total nitrogen flux decreased by 386 t/yr, which reflects an increase of 440 t/yr between 1990 and 2000 and a decrease of 826 t/yr between 2000 and 2010. All individual tributaries except the Winooski River had decreases in total nitrogen concentration and flux between 2000 and 2010. The decrease in total nitrogen flux over the period of record could be related to the decrease in nitrogen from atmospheric deposition observed in Vermont or to concurrent benefits realized from the implementation of agricultural best-management practices in the Lake Champlain Basin that were designed primarily to reduce phosphorus runoff. For chloride, large increases in flow-normalized concentrations and flux between 1990 and 2000 for 17 of the 18 tributaries diminished to small increases or decreases between 2000 and 2010. Between 1990 and 2010, flow-normalized flux increased by 32,225 t/yr, 78 percent of which (25,163 t) was realized during the first decade, from 1990 through 2000. The five tributaries that had decreasing concentration and flux of chloride between 2000 and 2010 were all on the eastern side of Lake Champlain, possibly related to reductions since 1999 in winter road salt application in Vermont. Positive correlations of phosphorus flux and changes in phosphorus concentration and flux in tributaries with phosphorus inputs to basins from point sources, suggest that point sources have an effect on stream phosphorus chemistry. Several measures of changes in agricultural statistics, such as agricultural land use, acres of land in farms, acres of cropland, and acres of corn for grain or seed, are positively correlated with changes in phosphorus concentration or flux in the tributaries. Negative correlations of the amount of money spent on agricultural best-management practices with changes in phosphorus concentration or flux in the tributaries, suggest that best-management practices may be an effective tool, along with point-source reductions, in making progress towards management goals for phosphorus reductions in Lake Champlain.

New York;Vermont↗
USGS1917

Life zone investigations in Wyoming

Wyoming is among the foremost of our States in its wealth of natural scenery, culminating in the grandeur of Yellowstone National Park, one of the wonders of the world. In addition to this distinction it posseses vast open plains and lofty mountains whence flow the headwaters of mighty river systems emptying far away to the west into the Pacific Ocean, to the southeast into the Gulf of Mexico, and to the southwest into the Gulf of California. The various slope exposures of its mountain ranges, the fertility of its intervening valleys or basins, and the aridity of its desert spaces present a study of geographic and vertical distribution of wild life that is in many particulars unique. The study of geographic and vertical distribution of life with the governing factors and attendant problems is valuable as a matter of scientific research and in the attainment of practical knowledge. The Biological Survey has been making detailed investigations of the transcontinental life belts, or zones, of North America for some years, and this work has been carried on with special reference to their practical value. It has become increasingly evident that life zones furnish a fairly accurate index to average climatic conditions and, therefore, are useful as marking the limits of agricultural possibilities, so far as these are dependent upon climate. The knowledge thus gained has been published and made available as the investigations have progressed and the life zones have been mapped. 1

North American Fauna↗
USGS2014

The role of genetics in chronic wasting disease of North American cervids

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a major concern for the management of North American cervid populations. This fatal prion disease has led to declines in populations which have high CWD prevalence and areas with both high and low infection rates have experienced economic losses in wildlife recreation and fears of potential spill-over into livestock or humans. Research from human and veterinary medicine has established that the prion protein gene ( Prnp ) encodes the protein responsible for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Polymorphisms in the Prnp gene can lead to different prion forms that moderate individual susceptibility to and progression of TSE infection. Prnp genes have been sequenced in a number of cervid species including those currently infected by CWD (elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, moose) and those for which susceptibility is not yet determined (caribou, fallow deer, sika deer). Over thousands of sequences examined, the Prnp gene is remarkably conserved within the family Cervidae; only 16 amino acid polymorphisms have been reported within the 256 amino acid open reading frame in the third exon of the Prnp gene. Some of these polymorphisms have been associated with lower rates of CWD infection and slower progression of clinical CWD. Here we review the body of research on Prnp genetics of North American cervids. Specifically, we focus on known polymorphisms in the Prnp gene, observed genotypic differences in CWD infection rates and clinical progression, mechanisms for genetic TSE resistance related to both the cervid host and the prion agent and potential for natural selection for CWD-resistance. We also identify gaps in our knowledge that require future research.

Prion↗