USGS Science⌕ Search

SEARCH · USGS Science

Results for “Geological Journal”

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

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 883 records · Page 49Linked to original sources
USGS1973

Atomic absorption spectrophotometric determination of microgram levels of Co, Ni, Cu, Pb, and Zn in soil and sediment extracts containing large amounts of Mn and Fe

An atomic absorption spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of seven metal ions in the hydroxylamine extract of soils and sediments. Mn, Fe, and Zn are directly determined in the aqueous extract upon dilution. Co, Ni, Cu, and Pb in a separate aliquot of the extract are chelated with APDC (ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate) and extracted into MIBK (methyl isobutyl ketone) before determination. Data are presented to show the quantitative recovery of microgram levels of Co, Ni, Cu, and Pb by APDC-MIBK chelation-extraction from synthetic solutions containing as much as 2,000 ug/ml (micrograms per milliliter) Mn or 50 ug/ml Fe. Recovery of known amounts of the metal ions from sample solutions is equally satisfactory. Reproducible results are obtained by replicate analyses of two sediment samples for the seven metals.

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

Archaeocycas and Phasmatocycas - new genera of Permian cycads

The generic names Archaeocycas and Phasmatocycas are introduced for two previously announced but unnamed new genera of Early Permian plants; these taxa are regarded as early stages in the cycadean lineage. The names arc formalized with diagnoses, illustrations, and type designations.

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

Early Pleistocene(?) pollen spectra from near Lake Tahoe, California

Fossil pollen was recovered at Tahoe City, Calif., from beneath a 1.9-m.y.-old volcanic flow. Pollen counts of four fossil samples are compared with soil-surface pollen samples from the Sierra Nevada. The presence of Picea (spruce) pollen in the fossil samples suggests that summer drought conditions in the central Sierra Nevada were less severe prior to 1.9 m.y. ago than they are now.

California↗
USGS1973

The Late Cretaceous ammonite Trachyscaphites pulcherrimus (Roemer) in New Jersey and Texas

Trachyscaphites pulcherrimus , described originally by Ferdinand Roemer in 1841 from fragments of nodose ammonites from Germany, is characterized by having five rows of tubercles on each flank of the phragmocone and three to five rows on each side of the body chamber. Weak midventral tubercles are present on some specimens. Ribbing is dense and usually irregular. The species has been recorded from upper Campanian rocks in Germany, Austria, France, Poland, and Russia. Recently a few specimens have been found at the top of the Wenonah Formation of New Jersey and in the Taylor Marl of Texas.

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

Determination of the association and dissociation of humic acid fractions by small angle X-ray scattering

A procedure has been devised for the fractionation of humic acid samples from different environments. This procedure involves fractionation of the sample by adsorption chromatography on a Sephadex G-50 column followed by chromatography on either a G-25 or a G-100 column. The fractions of the solutions are then examined by small angle X-ray scattering. Three different types of behavior have been detected among the humic acid fractions: (1) Some fractions show very little change in aggregation at pH values above 3.5. (2) One fraction forms aggregates at pH values above and below pH 7, but at pH 7 it is completely dissociated. (3) In some fractions the degree of aggregation decreases with increasing pH. However, even at pH values as high as 11.5 some large particles are still present. These differences in association behavior are due to the interaction of different attractive and repulsive forces. In many aggregating systems only one type of attractive force is dominant; however in humic acid systems hydrogen bonding, π bonding between planar aromatic moieties, and other coulombic interactions apparently all play a role in the formation of molecular aggregates.

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

Fluorescent spectroscopy, a technique for characterizing surface films

A relationship is established between fluorescent spectra obtained by using a light path through the liquid solution and the fluorescent spectra obtained by a direct reading of surface reflection (remote sensing). A brief review of quantum fundamentals provides the necessary information to conclude that "see-through" and reflectance spectra are identical in wavelength response. Many floating films contain fluorescent materials; thus fluorescent spectroscopic techniques were used to obtain the fluorescent spectra of lube oil, crude oil, and lignosulfonie acid in an effort to detect, identify, and quantify these representative fluorescent materials in water solutions. For each material tested the emission maximum was established. The emission maximum was then held constant while the absorption spectrum was recorded and the absorption maximum established. The complete spectral curves are presented.

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

Effects of migratory waterfowl on water quality at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, Seneca County, New York

This study was done in response to the shellfish industry's concern that bacteria in effluent from the national wildlife refuges along the northeast coast of the United States may be adversely affecting the harvest of shellfish. A line graph shows inconsistent relationships between bird population at the Montezuma refuge and total coliform, fecal coliform, and fecal Streptococci counts. Salmonella were found in only one of 17 samples of water taken within the refuge. Counts of nonpathogenic bacteria in the two major streams flowing into the refuge, Black Brook and White Brook, were greater than they were in water flowing out of the refuge. Specific conductance of water flowing out of the refuge was less than that of water flowing into the refuge, although the effluent had higher concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen than the influent. A settling-pond effect in the quiet water of the refuge may help explain the improvement in the quality of the water leaving the refuge. The study shows how its quality changes both chemically and biologically as water flows through the refuge. Further study is needed, however, to determine the effects that a similar effluent would have on a coastal habitat of shellfish.

New York↗
USGS1973

Flow characteristics of a subsurface-controlled recharge basin on Long Island, New York

Ponding studies at the Woodbury recharge basin on Long Island, N.Y., show that the principal zones controlling infiltration are a surface-loam stratum and an intermediate gravelly, sandy loam stratum. The saturated hydraulic conductivities of these strata are 0.90 and 0.1 ft per day, respectively. The surface loam acts as the principal zone controlling infiltration until a perched ground-water mound develops above the intermediate gravelly, sandy loam and extends to the bottom of the surface loam; then the intermediate gravelly, sandy loam becomes the principal infiltration controlling zone. Infiltration rates at 15.6° Celsius are 1.4 ft per day when the surface loam is acting as the principal controlling zone and 0.5 ft per day when the intermediate gravelly, sandy loam is acting as the principal controlling zone. Projections of the probable infiltration rates associated with both the partial and the complete removal of the surface-loam stratum show that if recharge continues for several days total infiltration would not be greatly different whether or not the loam stratum is completely removed. The principal advantage of completely removing the surface-loam stratum is the resulting greater infiltration capacity during the early stages of ponding. This advantage is offset by potential problems associated with more intensive clogging of the subsurface controlling zone.

New York↗
USGS1974

Isotopic composition of carbon and hydrogen in some Apollo 14 and 15 lunar samples

Isotopic composition of carbon and hydrogen in some Apollo 14 and 15 lunar samples was determined by use of a newly constructed combustion line that yields low blanks for CO 2 and H 2 . The results from combustion of fines and breccia from Apollo 14 lunar samples and of fines, breccia, and basalt from Apollo 15 were compared with data obtained by heating samples in vacuo to over 1,350°C. The two techniques gave similar results. Total carbon in the fines ranged from 51 to 110 p/m with a C 13 of +12 to -8 per mil (parts per thousand) PDB. The breccias contain 22 to 50p/mcarbon with a C 13 of -21 to -25 per mil. The crystalline rock (sample 15555) has a carbon content of about 7 p/m and a C 13 of -28 per mil. The total hydrogen in the fines ranges from 66 to 120 p/m with a (D/H) X 10 -6 of 39 to 90. The breccias contain 8 to 38p/mH 2 with a (D/H) X 10 -6 of 103 to 144. The crystalline rock contains about 2 p/m H 2 with a (D/H) X 10 -6 of about 140. Arguments are presented to show that the contamination by earth materials is not as serious a problem as has been proposed by previous authors.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1976

Method and importance of obtaining humic and fulvic acids of high purity

A detailed procedure incorporating centrifugation, pressure filtration, dialysis, resin exchange, and freeze drying is given for the extraction and purification of fulvic and humic acids from soils and sediments. By use of the procedure humic acids have been prepared which have less than 0.22 percent ash. The isolation of relatively ash-free natural organic matter preparations is an essential prerequisite to the characterization of organic reactivity in natural systems. Inorganic impurities of amorphous and crystalline clay minerals and various inorganic metal ions often lead to numerous complications and errors during experimentation with organic matter because the inorganic substances associated with the organic phase cause variable reactivity of the organic substances.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1976

Behavior of trace elements during magmatic processes - A summary of theoretical models and their applications

Progress in understanding the behavior of trace elements during the processes that produce igneous rocks has been made possible by the parallel development of theoretical models to describe that behavior and analytical techniques that permit precise measurement of trace-element concentrations in igneous rocks and minerals. The result of this progress is that trace-element studies may now be used to place strong limits on both the degree of partial melting or fractional crystallization involved in the production of a given magma and the identity and quantity of the residual phases. A summary of quantitative trace-element theory and partition coefficient data for igneous rocks is presented.

Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey↗
USGS1976

Trace-metal variation in soils and sagebrush in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana

A reconnaissance study of 28 trace metals in samples of surface soil (0-2.5 cm deep), subsurface soil (15-20 cm deep), and big sagebrush ( Artemisia tridentata ) that were collected from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana indicates that little variation occurs in nature at scales greater than about 35 km. This general lack of broadscale variation suggests that simple summary statistics for these materials could provide basinwide geochemical baselines for use in monitoring secular changes in the local geochemical environment. Samples of big sagebrush near the Dave Johnston Power Plant at the southern edge of the basin exhibit statistically significant reductions of strontium, vanadium, uranium, and selenium eastward from the plant.

Montana, Wyoming↗
USGS1976

Age and origin of the Darrough Felsite, southern Toiyabe Range, Nevada

The name Darrough Felsite was originally assigned to a body of fine-grained quartzofeldspathic igneous rock probably greater than 3 km thick that is exposed continuously over 100 km 2 in the southern Toiyabe Range of central Nevada. The Darrough was supposed to consist mostly of intrusive rocks of probable Permian age. Reexamination of parts of the Darrough Felsite indicates that it is Tertiary and has no genetic affiliation to pre-Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Toiyabe Range. The Darrough constitutes an enormously thick succession of crystal-lithic tuff, tuff breccia, crystal tuff, and volcanogenic sedimentary breccia and sandstone. The tuffaceous rocks are strongly compacted where ash particles are the dominant constituent but are much less compacted where lithic fragments and crystals constitute a rigid framework. Much of the Darrough Felsite may have undergone extensive siliciflcation, probably as a postcompaction event. Contact relations of the Darrough Felsite indicate that it is younger than pre-Tertiary rocks of the southern Toiyabe Range and the Ophir pluton, here dated at 53.9 m.y. (K-Ar, biotite). Three K-Ar ages of minerals from tuff of the Darrough are 26.1, 22.7, and 22.3 m.y., suggesting a middle Tertiary age. A large dike intruding the Darrough. previously assigned a Jurassic age, gives a K-Ar-biotite age of 29.4 m.y. We tentatively interpret the Darrough Felsite to represent an accumulation of ash and breccia flows in a volcanotectonic depression.

Nevada↗
USGS1976

Petrology of the Paloma Valley ring complex, southern California batholith

The Paloma Valley ring complex is one of the numerous plutons that make up the Cretaceous southern California batholith. The complex is composite, consisting of (1) an older, single ring dike and two subsidiary short-arced inner dikes, and (2) a younger set of thin short-arced dikes largely inside the older ring dike. The older ring dike, composed of granodiorite-quartz monzonite, has nearly vertical walls and is elliptical in plan; its long axis (14 km) is oriented west-northwest. It was emplaced in and contains numerous fragments of gabbro. The more than 200 short-arced granitic pegmatite dikes, mainly ranging from 0.2 to 1 m in thickness, define a domal ring dike set with moderately to steeply dipping outer dikes and nearly horizontal inner dikes. The younger dikes cut both the older ring dike and the gabbro. Spatially associated with the younger dikes are bodies of fine-grained granophyre that contain stringers of granitic pegmatite. The granophyre has an Mg content similar to that of the younger ring-dike rock, but contains less K and more Fe. The older ring dike is interpreted to have been magmatically emplaced in an elliptical zone of ring fracturing in gabbro; the magma made room by stoping the denser gabbro with little assimilation. Upon a release of pressure, a set of domal fractures formed, along which volatile-rich magma was emplaced, forming the younger ring dikes. Granophyre resulted from pressure-quenching through a loss of volatiles. Residual volatiles, or volatiles that were introduced later, recrystallized parts of the granophyre and caused the formation of pegmatite stringers.

California↗
USGS1976

Halogen contents of igneous minerals as indicators of magmatic evolution of rocks associated with the Ray porphyry copper deposit, Arizona

The contents of Cl, F, and H 2 O+ (calculated) in some hydrous igneous minerals in intrusive rocks of Laramide age (70-60 m.y.) near Ray, Ariz., appear to be related to the age and the chemistry of the whole-rock samples. Apatite and biotite in younger, more silicic rocks contain more F but less Cl and H 2 O+ than apatite and biotite in older, more mafic rock; the same relations hold for F and H 2 O+ in sphene. Correlations of the abundance of Cl, F, and H 2 O+ in hornblende with rock chemistry and age are not as strong as for apatite, biotite, and sphene; igneous (?) epidote does not contain Cl and F in amounts detectable by electron microprobe analysis. The contents of Cl, F, and H 2 O+ in whole-rock samples decrease with increasing differentiation index and decreasing age. Data for a single pluton of variable composition mirror the results for a suite of different plutons and dikes. The data are satisfactorily although not exclusively explained by postulating that the melts each contained progressively less Cl, F, and H 2 O and that the hydrons minerals consumed most of the Cl, F, and H 2 O in the magmas. The data may also be explained by postulating that (1) the stocks evolved Cl-bearing water during their ascent and crystallization, or that (2) Cl and H 2 O were concentrated during differentiation of the stocks but the minerals failed to record their buildup. Both alternative explanations find problems with and require special conditions to satisfy field, chemical, and experimental data. If many of the special conditions are not met, a nearby batholithic parent to the stocks is not a favorable source of the mineralized fluids at Ray. Propylitic alteration of biotite results in Cl-poor chlorites and may have provided some Cl to hydrothermal fluids; biotite may have also supplied some F to propylitizing fluids through alteration.

Arizona↗
USGS1976

Bootstrap window, Elko and Eureka Counties, Nevada

The Bootstrap window in the Roberts Mountains thrust of north-central Nevada contains a 1,500-ft (460-m)- thick autochthonous section of carbonate assemblage rocks. These carbonate rocks include the upper part of the Roberts Mountains Formation and an unnamed limestone of Devonian age. They contain abundant material that must have been deposited in or near a reef. Allochthonous chert and shale of the siliceous assemblage, presumably Ordovician and Silurian in age, are present around the window and in a north-trending graben within the window. The Paleozoic rocks contain altered dikes, most of which may originally have been granodioritic. The localized recrystallization in the Paleozoic rocks probably occurred during dike emplacement. Sometime after the intrusion; both the dikes and their host rocks were epithermally altered. Some gold has been mined, and relatively high gold values (≥1 ppm) occur in rocks of the siliceous assemblage in and near the northern part of the steep north-trending fault zone on the west side of the graben. Areas of secondary alteration and of high values of silver and mercury are more widespread than the area of high gold values. The highest concentrations of silver and mercury, however, are also found near the same gold-bearing fault zone.

Nevada↗
USGS1976

Stratigraphic and hydrologic relationship of the Piney Point aquifer and the Alloway Clay Member of the Kirkwood Formation in New Jersey

Coarse quartzose (clastic) sediments of middle and late Eocene age in the subsurface of southern New Jersey are identified in this report as the Piney Point aquifer. The sediments are as thick as 220 feet (67 metres) and form a freshwater aquifer which is laterally continuous with the Piney Point aquifer of the Delmarva Peninsula. The Piney Point aquifer, in the area of Newport in Cumberland County, consists of fine to coarse glauconitic sand that is suggestive of deposition in a marginal marine beach environment. The aquifer tends to become finer grained with depth; coarse sand is dominant near the top of the aquifer, whereas, silt and clay are dominant near the base. The top of the aquifer- is marked by an angular unconformity. The hiatus between the upper Eocene sediments and the overlying Kirkwood Formation of middle Miocene age represents erosion during Oligocene and early Miocene time. The Alloway Clay Member, the basal unit of the Kirkwood Formation, rests unconformably on the Piney Point aquifer. It is a silty clay, dark brown to light tan, and contains abundant shell fragments and reworked greensand from the underlying Piney Point aquifer. The Alloway Clay Member, where present, acts as a confining unit for the Piney Point aquifer in southern New Jersey. Chemical analyses of water samples from the Piney Point aquifer in Cumberland County indicate a potential chloride problem in the aquifer near Delaware Bay. A water sample taken in 1973 at the Gandys Beach well contained 516 milligrams per litre of chloride, and a water sample taken in 1973 at the Money Island Marina well contained 73 milligrams per litre of chloride. Scant water-level data indicate the possibility of declining water levels in Cumberland County near Delaware Bay due to pumping from the Piney Point aquifer in Delaware. The altitude of the water level at well 16 is -3 feet (-1 metre), and the water-level altitude at well 11 is +23 feet (+7 metres).

New Jersey↗
USGS1976

Land subsidence and aquifer-system compaction in the San Jacinto Valley, Riverside County, California - A progress report

Widespread subsidence continues in the San Jacinto structural trough as water levels continue to decline. Subsidence is due principally to the compaction of water-bearing deposits as effective stresses are increased by artesian-head decline. Other possible contributory causes of subsidence are (1) local or regional tectonic adjustments and graben downfaulting, (2) natural compaction of deep water-bearing deposits below the bottom of well casings, and (3) continuing compaction of surficial deposits due to causes other than artesian-head decline. A careful analysis of 4 yr of correlative records of waterlevel, extensometer, and land-surface changes suggests three types of vertical ground movement occurring at the 4S/1W-21N2 recorder site near the San Jacinto reservoir site. The reservoir was drained in October 1973. Listed in descending order of magnitude these are (1) an elastic undulation of the land surface of about 0.06 ft (0.02 m) per year in close response to the roughly 50 ft (15 m) of seasonal water-level fluctuations, (2) a long-term permanent compaction of the deposits in the 0-1,237-ft (0-377-m) zone of about 0.04 ft (0.01 m) per year, and (3) a deep settlement of deposits below the 1,237-ft (377-m) extensometer anchor of 0.01-0.02 ft (0.003-0.006 m) per year, probably caused by continuing downfaulting in the graben trough. The specific compaction of the aquifer system at this site from 1970 to 1974 was about 1.3x 10 -2 (units of compaction per unit of increase in applied stress). The specific, expansion during this period decreased progressively from 1.29x 10 -3 (units of expansion per unit of stress decrease) in 1970-71 to 0.95x10 -3 in 1973-74, suggesting that excess pore pressures in the slow-draining aquitards were not completely dissipated each year.

California↗