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At least 829 records · Page 46Linked to original sources
USGS1924

The composition of the river and lake waters of the United States

In the summer of 1903 the late Richard B. Dole, chemist of the water-resources branch of the United States Geological Survey, began a systematic investigation of the composition of the river and lake waters of the United States. His plan, which developed gradually, was to have analyses made of the different waters in such a manner as to give the average composition of each one for an entire year. For a few waters, such completeness was impracticable, the analyses covered only part of a year, but even in these waters the data obtained were of much value. As a rule, samples of each water were collected day by day. They were then mixed in sets of ten and analyzed, so that for each river or lake from 34 to 37 analyses were made. For the Mississippi above New Orleans composite analyses were made in sets of seven, giving 52 analyses from which to compute the average. For the Great Lakes, however, only monthly samples were taken, for the reason that their waters vary so little in composition that greater elaboration was not necessary. Some of the larger rivers were treated even more thoroughly; their average composition was determined at more than one point – the Mississippi at six points. For some rivers the analyses cover two years of collection, and for the data, received from a contributor not connected with the Geological Survey, three years.

Professional Paper↗
USGS1989

Investigations of the characteristics, origin, and residence time of the upland residual mantle of the Piedmont of Fairfax County, Virginia

Undisturbed cores of upland regolith developed from a variety of crystalline rocks of the Piedmont province in Fairfax County, Va., have been obtained by using a combination of Shelby tubes, Denison sampler, and modified diamond core drilling. The core study correlated variations in chemistry, mineralogy, and texture with engineering properties throughout individual weathering profiles and contrasted these parameters among weathering profiles developed from various parent rocks. Coring sites were chosen to obtain a maximum depth of weathering on diverse lithologies. The rocks that were investigated included metapelite, metagraywacke, granite, diabase, and serpentinite. Four to twelve samples per core were selected for analysis of petrography, texture, clay mineralogy, and major-element chemistry. The number of samples was determined on the basis of (1) the thickness of the weathering profile (from about 1 m in serpentinite to more than 30 m in pelitic schist) and (2) megascopic changes in the weathering profile. Shear strength and compressibility were determined on corresponding segments of core. Standard penetration tests were performed adjacent to coring sites to evaluate in-place engineering properties. The regolith profiles on all rocks can be subdivided into soil, massive subsoil, saprolite, and weathered rock zones. Major differences in thicknesses of these zones are related to parent rock. Total regolith thickness is related to saprolite thickness. Saprolite is thickest on quartzofeldspathic metapelite, metagraywacke, and granite; thinner on diabase; and thinnest on serpentinite. Thickness of saprolite is related to rock structure and mineralogy. Geochemical changes of saprolite developed from each rock type follow predictable trends from fresh rock to soil profile, with increases in Ti, AI, Fe 3 +, and H 2 0+relative to absolute losses of Si, Fe2+, Mg, Ca, and Na. These variations are more pronounced in the weathering profiles above mafic and ultramafic rocks than in those above metagraywacke. Clay minerals in granite, schist, and metagraywacke saprolites are kaolinite, dioctahedral vermiculite, interlayered mica-vermiculite, and minor illite. Gibbsite is developed in near-surface samples of schist. Standard penetration test data for the upper 7 m of saprolite above schist, metagraywacke, and granite suggest alternations between stronger and weaker horizons that correlate with megascopic ally identified zones: soil, massive subsoil, and saprolite. The data correlate with density. Shear strength increases fairly regularly downward in the weathering profile. The engineering behavior of diabase saprolite is controlled by a dense, plastic, near-surface clay layer (montmorillonite and kaolinite) overlying rock that is weathered to a granular state (grus); the engineering properties of serpentinite are controlled by a very thin weathering profile. Similarities in regolith thickness, zonation, mineralogy, and chemistry of quartzofeldspathic rocks indicate the existence of fundamental geochemical and geomechanical controls on regolith evolution on the Piedmont upland. Data from the profiles of quartzofeldspathic regolith are used to construct a model suggesting the principal rate-control steps in the development and downwasting of the upland regolith. This model is consistent with available information about Piedmont hydrology and tectonic uplift.

Professional Paper↗
USGS1988

Some acanthoceratid ammonites from upper Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) rocks of Wyoming

Ammonites of the genera Calycoceras, Dunueganoceras, and Metoicoceras are useful in zoning the Frontier Formation of central and north-central Wyoming and the mostly undifferentiated rocks of northeastern Wyoming that are equivalent in age to the Belle Fourche Shale and Greenhorn Formation. The oldest of the four zones identified contains Dunueganoceras pondi Haas, Calycoceras canitaurinum (Haas), C. newboldi (Kossmat), and Metoicoceras praecox Haas. Calycoceras newboldi has not previously been reported from North America. The second zone is characterized by the new species Dunueganoceras problematicum, Calycoceras rubeyi, C. aff. C. canitaurinum, and Metoicoceras frontierense. A subspecies, D. problematicum natronense, is recognized in this zone in one area of central Wyoming. The third zone has Dunueganoceras albertense (Warren) and Metoicoceras mosbyense Cobban, as well as a new geographic subspecies, D. albertense regale. The fourth and youngest zone may be that of Dunueganoceras conditum Haas. Dunueganoceras is not known in the western interior of the United States above the zone of D. conditum. Metoicoceras, however, ranges higher and terminates in the species M. geslinianum (d'Orbigny).

Professional Paper↗
USGS1995

Hillside materials and slopes of the San Francisco Bay region, California

This report describes the various bedrock and soil materials and slope gradients that constitute hillsides in the San Francisco Bay region. Distribution of materials and slopes is shown on 1:125,000-scale maps of the region. Approximately 360 materials units are described by bedrock composition, physical properties of bedrock (rock hardness, spacing of fractures and partings, and bed thickness), texture of the soil cover, expansivity, permeability, and stratigraphic thickness. Materials map units are based on compilations of geologic mapping of the region; descriptions are based on systematic field observations, free-swell tests for expansivity, examination of aerial photographs, and the literature.

California↗
USGS1985

Evaluating earthquake hazards in the Los Angeles region— An earth-science perspective

Potentially destructive earthquakes are inevitable in the Los Angeles region of California, but hazards prediction can provide a basis for reducing damage and loss. This volume identifies the principal geologically controlled earthquake hazards of the region (surface faulting, strong shaking, ground failure, and tsunamis), summarizes methods for characterizing their extent and severity, and suggests opportunities for their reduction. Two systems of active faults generate earthquakes in the Los Angeles region: northwest-trending, chiefly horizontal-slip faults, such as the San Andreas, and west-trending, chiefly vertical-slip faults, such as those of the Transverse Ranges. Faults in these two systems have produced more than 40 damaging earthquakes since 1800. Ninety-five faults have slipped in late Quaternary time (approximately the past 750,000 yr) and are judged capable of generating future moderate to large earthquakes and displacing the ground surface. Average rates of late Quaternary slip or separation along these faults provide an index of their relative activity. The San Andreas and San Jacinto faults have slip rates measured in tens of millimeters per year, but most other faults have rates of about 1 mm/yr or less. Intermediate rates of as much as 6 mm/yr characterize a belt of Transverse Ranges faults that extends from near Santa Barbara to near San Bernardino. The dimensions of late Quaternary faults provide a basis for estimating the maximum sizes of likely future earthquakes in the Los Angeles region: moment magnitude .(M) 8 for the San Andreas, M 7 for the other northwest-trending elements of that fault system, and M 7.5 for the Transverse Ranges faults. Geologic and seismologic evidence along these faults, however, suggests that, for planning and designing noncritical facilities, appropriate sizes would be M 8 for the San Andreas, M 7 for the San Jacinto, M 6.5 for other northwest-trending faults, and M 6.5 to 7 for the Transverse Ranges faults. The geologic and seismologic record indicates that parts of the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults have generated major earthquakes having recurrence intervals of several tens to a few hundred years. In contrast, the geologic evidence at points along other active faults suggests recurrence intervals measured in many hundreds to several thousands of years. The distribution and character of late Quaternary surface faulting permit estimation of the likely location, style, and amount of future surface displacements. An extensive body of geologic and geotechnical information is used to evaluate areal differences in future levels of shaking. Bedrock and alluvial deposits are differentiated according to the physical properties that control shaking response; maps of these properties are prepared by analyzing existing geologic and soils maps, the geomorphology of surficial units, and. geotechnical data obtained from boreholes. The shear-wave velocities of near-surface geologic units must be estimated for some methods of evaluating shaking potential. Regional-scale maps of highly generalized shearwave velocity groups, based on the age and texture of exposed geologic units and on a simple two-dimensional model of Quaternary sediment distribution, provide a first approximation of the areal variability in shaking response. More accurate depictions of near-surface shear-wave velocity useful for predicting ground-motion parameters take into account the thickness of the Quaternary deposits, vertical variations in sediment .type, and the correlation of shear-wave velocity with standard penetration resistance of different sediments. A map of the upper Santa Ana River basin showing shear-wave velocities to depths equal to one-quarter wavelength of a 1-s shear wave demonstrates the three-dimensional mapping procedure. Four methods for predicting the distribution and strength of shaking from future earthquakes are presented. These techniques use different measures of strong-motion

California↗
USGS1986

Ice volumes on Cascade Volcanoes: Mount Rainier, Mount Hood, Three Sisters, and Mount Shasta

During the eruptions of Mount St. Helens the occurrence of floods and mudflows made apparent the need for predictive water-hazard analysis of other Cascade volcanoes. A basic requirement for such analysis is information about the volumes and distributions of snow and ice on other volcanoes. A radar unit contained in a backpack was used to make point measurements of ice thickness on major glaciers of Mount Rainier, Wash.; Mount Hood, Oreg.; the Three Sisters, Oreg.; and Mount Shasta, Calif. The measurements were corrected for slope and were used to develop subglacial contour maps from which glacier volumes were measured. These values were used to develop estimation methods for finding volumes of unmeasured glaciers. These methods require a knowledge of glacier slope, altitude, and area and require an estimation of basal shear stress, each estimate derived by using topographic maps updated by aerial photographs. The estimation methods were found to be accurate within ?20 percent on measured glaciers and to be within ?25 percent when applied to unmeasured glaciers on the Cascade volcanoes. The estimation methods may be applicable to other temperate glaciers in similar climatic settings. Areas and volumes of snow and ice are as follows: Mount Rainier, 991 million ft2, 156 billion ft3; Mount Hood, 145 million ft2, 12 billion ft3; Three Sisters, 89 million ft2, 6 billion ft3; and Mount Shasta, 74 million ft2, 5 billion ft3. The distribution of ice and firn patches within 58 glacierized basins on volcanoes is mapped and listed by altitude and by watershed to facilitate water-hazard analysis.

California, Oregon, Washington↗