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At least 829 records · Page 46Linked to original sources
USGS1973

Rapid reaction rates between water and a calcareous clay as observed by specific-ion electrodes

Specific-ion electrodes were used to simultaneously determine the activity changes of calcium, hydrogen, sodium, fluoride, and divalent ions when 50 g of a natural, untreated material containing calcium-rich mixed-layer illite-montmorillonite clay, quartz sand, and calcium carbonate was added to 250 ml of natural Canadian River water containing 220 mg/1 Na. Calcium and magnesium were displaced from the clay by the sodium; the exchanged and dissolved noncarbonate calcium precipitated as calcium carbonate, and the magnesium remained in solution. Fluoride entered into both a rapid reaction and a long-term reaction, indicating solution from the material. The pH decreased rapidly. The reactions for all observed ions, other than fluoride, were faster than the response time of their respective electrodes and were complete in less than one minute. Rapid solution of material containing calcium, magnesium, sodium, and fluoride was also observed when a duplicate sample of the earth material was added to distilled water; pH also changed rapidly in this mixture. These results suggest that many important water-rock reactions can be considered nearly instantaneous for purposes of digital modeling of the geochemical changes during artificial recharge.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1973

Formation of joints in bedrock by moving glacial ice

The orientation of joints in igneous and sedimentary rocks was measured at 21 localities in California, Maine, and New York to investigate the hypothesis that glaciation may open joints in bedrock. A summary of strikes of all joint sets shows the following pattern relative to the direction of glacial advance: two sets, thought to be extension joints, flank the direction of advance and are separated from it by about 10°; two sets, thought to be shear joints, flank the direction of advance by about 40°; and two sets, thought to be release joints, are about 70° to 80° from the direction of advance, or nearly perpendicular to the extension joints. An average of five joint sets, including three or four in this pattern, was found at each locality. The joints are believed to have been opened, in response to stress applied by the moving ice, along preexisting zones of weakness (potential regional joints) in the rock. Some new joints may have formed where no such zone was present near the position required for fracture under the applied stress. Additional investigation of the hypothesis is desirable because of its possible bearing on glacial erosion by quarrying, on interpretation of joint patterns in glaciated regions, and on the nature of aquifers in glaciated bedrock.

California, Maine, New York↗
USGS1973

Radiometric dating of intrusive rocks in the Cottonwood area, Utah

Recently completed fission-track and K-Ar dating of zircon, sphene, apatite, muscovite, biotite, and hornblende indicate that the Clayton Peak stock was intruded 37-41 m.y. ago, the Alta stock about 32-33 m.y. ago, and the Little Cottonwood stock between 24 and 31 m.y. ago. Pb-a ages on zircon, though showing the same sequence, are about twice as great and are inferred to represent a partial mixing of inherited Precambrian zircons. Acceptance of a middle Tertiary age for the Little Cottonwood stock requires revision of earlier interpretations that it could be as old as Late Cretaceous. K-Ar dates also indicate that the Keetley Volcanics are 32 to 35 m.y. old, and a single date of 37.3 m.y. was obtained on the Traverse Volcanics, suggesting that they are more closely related to volcanic activity in the adjoining Oquirrh Mountains.

Utah↗
USGS1973

The concept of growth and maturity of ore-stage pyrite in roll-type uranium deposts

Roll-type uranium deposits contain both ore-stage pyrite and preore or diagenetic pyrite that was present in the host rock before the deposits began to form. Ore-stage pyrite forms as the result of redistribution and accretion from the preore pyrite. Accretion of the ore-stage pyrite seems to be governed by natural laws that limit its concentration to only a few times the concentration of the preore pyrite. Accumulations of ore-stage pyrite build up along the leading edge of a supergene oxidation zone which spreads through the host rocks, literally pushing the ore deposits ahead of it. The ore-stage pyrite probably progresses much as a wave that first grows to a nearly fixed amplitude and thereafter is steadily maintained as the mature deposit continues to advance.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1973

A second specimen of Parahyus vagus Marsh, 1876

The occurrence of the second known specimen of Parahyus vagus , from the Tepee Trail Formation, Wyoming, is recorded. As the first specimen was reported from the lower Eocene, this second occurrence casts doubt on the supposed age ranges of both Parahyus and the Tepee Trail.

Wyoming↗
USGS1973

Upper Cretaceous (Maestrichtian) fossils from the Kenai-Chugach Mountains, Kodiak and Shumagin Islands, Southern Alaska

A thick sequence of highly deformed flyschlike metasandstone, slate, and argillite crops out in southern Alaska in the Kenai-Chugach Mountains and on Kodiak and the Shumagin Islands to the southwest. These poorly fossiliferous rocks have long been considered Cretaceous in age because of scattered occurrences of fragmentary shells of Inoceramus . Mainly on the basis of new fossil collections, the age of some of these rocks can now be firmly established as Late Cretaceous (Maestrichtian); the critical fossil is Inoceramus kusiroensis Nagao and Matsumoto. Inoceramus kusiroensis also occurs in the much more fossiliferous and only slightly deformed Matanuska Formation that forms a parallel belt north of the Chugach Mountains. On the basis of faunal, lithologic, and bedding characteristics, the Matanuska Formation is the shelf equivalent of the deepwater, trench, or continental-rise deposits of the Kenai-Chugach Mountains and islands to the southwest. " Inoceramya concentrica " Ulrich occurs with Inoceramus kusiroensis and is Maestrichtian in age, not Early Jurassic as E. 0. Ulrich suggested in 1910. The syntypes of I. concentrica are refigured and a lectotype is designated.

Alaska↗
USGS1973

The fractionation of humic acids from natural water systems

Humic acids, the most abundant organic components of natural water systems, are complex mixtures of molecular aggregates of different chemical and physical properties. The first step in the study of such a mixture is the fractionation of the mixture. The most common approach with humic acids is to attempt to obtain a molecular weight fractionation by gel-permeation chromatography. However, since the preponderance of evidence indicates that the components of humic acid do not fulfill the basic criteria of uniform shape and chemical structure necessary for obtaining a molecular fractionation on gel-permeation media, molecular weight distributions in humic acids cannot be evaluated by this method. A fractionation dependent upon chemical structure can be obtained by the manipulation of elution conditions on a gel-permeation column. This procedure provides a beginning in the isolation and identification of discrete components of humic acids.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1973

Concepts of karst development in relation to interpretation of surface runoff

Some unusual characteristics of streamflow occur in regions underlain by carbonate rocks. The streamflow characteristics are related to processes of karstification, these processes being dependent on circulation of subsurface water and solution of the rock to form characteristic topography and underground cavern systems. Very highly cavernous and permeable unsaturated zones tend to keep the water table depressed below land surface in many karst regions, a condition that leads to a low density of perennial streams. The uneven distribution of permeability beneath surface karst streams causes them to lose or gain water, depending on the position of the water table with reference to stream level. The conventional techniques of interpolation and extrapolation that have been reasonably successful in approximating streamflow of ungaged sites in nonkarstic regions have only limited use in karst regions. An understanding of principles of karstification and an understanding of the hydrogeologic framework of a carbonate terrane provide a useful basis for evaluating the streamflow characteristics.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1973

Change in potentiometric head in the Lloyd Aquifer, Long Island, N.Y

The potentiometric surface of the Lloyd aquifer in 1970 locally was as much as 40 feet lower than in 1900. During this period, withdrawal of water from wells was estimated to exceed 300 billion gallons, and the amount of water released from aquifer storage by compressive forces was estimated to be 1.6 billion gallons (about 0.5 percent of the withdrawal). The remainder of the withdrawal was derived from downward leakage through overlying aquifers and confining layers and by the displacement of fresh water in the aquifer by landward movement of salty ground water

New York↗
USGS1973

Microbiological aspects of ground-water recharge injection of purified unchlorinated sewage effluent at Bay Park, Long Island, N. Y.

Unchlorinated, tertiary-treated sewage effluent was injected through a well at Bay Park, Long Island, N.Y., into a sand aquifer at a rate of 340 gpm for 10 days. Massive, biologically produced slime deposits formed in the filter pack immediately adjacent to the well screen. Observed head buildup in the recharge well was correlated with the formation of these deposits. Comparison of results from this test with results of earlier tests suggests that formation of these deposits may be avoided by addition of chlorine to the injectant.

New York↗
USGS1973

Photoimages for map bases

Maps with aerial photograph image bases have gained wide popularity. The orthophotomap presents an abundance of ground detail and information that cannot be shown on a line map with standard cartographic symbols. In preparing a map base covering areas of little relief, the imagery is fitted to map control with a conventional rectifier, but for areas of significant relief, the photographs are reproduced in an orthophotoscope to remove the effects of both camera tilt and terrain relief.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1973

Can satellite photography contribute to topographic mapping?

Photographs taken on early space missions, in the Gemini-Apollo series, demonstrated the usefulness of the long view for cartography despite acknowledged shortcomings. Later developments, such as ERTS and Skylab, will provide far more data about Earth, but mostly in planimetric form. The third dimension, height, which makes the map representation topographic, is not easy to measure at orbital altitudes. The capability of current and near-future systems is not likely to do much for topographic mapping at scales larger than 1:250,000, but the benefits in planimetric mapping may be better than even the optimists hoped for.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1973

Two diamictons in a landslide scarp on Admiralty Island, Alaska, and the tectonic insignificance of an intervening peat bed

Two till-like diamictons, 700 feet above present sea level on Admiralty Island, Alaska, are separated by peat near the top of a landslide scarp. The lower diamicton is glaciomarine; the upper diamicton is probably a mudflow. The lower diamicton contains the foraminifer Elphidium clavatum Cushman, a species typical of fiords. Similar diamicton crops out along Gastineau Channel near Juneau, 15 miles eastward. Diamicton in both areas reflects deposition in glacier-free fiords during land depression and sea transgression. Consequently, till-like deposits less than 700 feet above sea level elsewhere in southeastern Alaska should be considered as possibly glaciomarine. Sliding occurred after late 1962, but before July 1964; the March 27, 1964, Alaska earthquake might have caused sliding of diamicton saturated by melting snow and spring rains. The peat in the landslide scarp has a published radiocarbon date of 3,400±250 years B.P. (W-1955). The peat was expected to be older, and to relate to Holocene tectonic movement of Admiralty Island. The unexpectedly young date led to additional field study that showed the material over the peat to be a probable mudflow derived from glaciomarine diamicton upvalley; the date has no tectonic significance.

Alaska↗
USGS1973

Radioelement and radiogenic heat distribution in Drill Hole UCe-1, Belmont Stock, Central Nevada

Uranium, thorium, and potassium concentrations were measured in 60 samples collected from an exploratory hole drilled in the Belmont stock about 40 miles north-northeast of Tonopah, Nev. The results indicate that, at least within 2,000 feet of the surface, the granitic pluton contains radioelement concentrations similar to those in average granodiorites and that local variations in concentrations may reflect the effects of argillic alteration.

Nevada↗
USGS1973

Petrography and structural relations of granitic basement rocks in the Monterey Bay area, California

In the past, the granitic basement of the Coast Ranges has been thought to be dominantly quartz diorite and low in K-feldspar. However, a study of outcrops around Monterey Bay, basement well samples, and dredge samples from Monterey Bay shows that the granitic basement averages about 15 to 20 percent K-feldspar. Therefore, as a sedimentary provenance, the basement around Monterey Bay could have contributed abundant K-feldspar to the Cenozoic sedimentary deposits of the region; that is, in the Monterey Bay area the local basement is an adequate source for the abundant K-feldspar in the sedimentary units. The distribution of basement rocks and mapped faults, coupled with gravity-geophysical data, suggests that the area between the San Andreas and Sur-Nacimiento fault zones (the Salinian block) near Monterey Bay is broken into several discrete structural blocks. Some of these blocks juxtapose not only different basement rocks, but also different contour patterns on the buried basement surface. These features suggest large strike-slip movements along some faults within the Salinian block in the Monterey Bay area.

California↗
USGS1973

Zeolites in the Miocene Briones Sandstone and related formations of the central Coast Ranges, California

Authigenic zeolites present in the generally tuffaceous Miocene Briones Sandstone and related formations of the central Coast Ranges of California indicate three stages of diagenetic history: (1) Initial alteration of pyroclastic materials to clinoptilolite (and montmorillonite) that is widely distributed in small amounts throughout the region. (2) Subsequent crystallization of heulandite followed by stilbite in fractures at a few places. (3) Widespread development of laumontite in only the southern part of the region, where the sandstone appears to have been downfolded and faulted to greater depths than elsewhere. Laumontite occurs both as pervasive cement of sandstone and as filling of fractures, and was produced through the reaction of interstitial solutions with other zeolites and with such major constituents of the sandstone as plagioclase, montmorillonite, and calcite at temperatures of 100° C or higher. Mordenite was found at only one locality, closely associated with clinoptilolite and opal. Analcite occurs in diverse settings, and its relation to the other zeolites is obscure. Sparry calcite and coexisting stilbite, laumontite, or analcite in veins seem to make up nonequilibrium assemblages.

California↗