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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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At least 901 records · Page 50Linked to original sources
USGS2011

Soil physical, chemical, and gas-flux characterization from Picea mariana stands near Erickson Creek, Alaska

Fire is a particularly important control on the carbon (C) balance of the boreal forest, and fire-return intervals and fire severity appear to have increased since the late 1900s in North America. In addition to the immediate release of stored C to the atmosphere through organic-matter combustion, fire also modifies soil conditions, possibly affecting C exchange between terrestrial and atmospheric pools for decades after the burn. The effects of fire on ecosystem C dynamics vary across the landscape, with topographic position and soil drainage functioning as important controls. The data reported here contributed to a larger U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study, published in the journal Ecosystems by O'Donnell and others (2009). To evaluate the effects of fire and drainage on ecosystem C dynamics, we selected sample sites within the 2003 Erickson Creek fire scar to measure CO 2 fluxes and soil C inventories in burned and unburned (control) sites in both upland and lowland black spruce (Picea mariana) forests. The results of this study suggested that although fire can create soil climate conditions which are more conducive to rapid decomposition, rates of C release from soils may be constrained after fire by changes in moisture and (or) substrate quality that impede rates of decomposition. Here, we report detailed site information, methodology, and data (in spreadsheet files) from that study.

Alaska↗
USGS1957

Water levels in observation wells in Nebraska during 1956

The Objective of the observation-well program in Nebraska is to provide an evaluation of the status of the ground-water supplies. Many uses tor water-level data are known but not all potential uses can be foreseen. Among the important uses are the following: (1) To indicate the status of ground water in storage or in transit and the availability or supplies. (2) To show the trend of ground-water supplies and the outlook tor the future. (3) To estimate or forecast the base flow of streams. (4) To indicate areas in which the water level is approaching too close to the land surface (water-logging) or is receding toward economic limits of lift or toward impairment by water of poor quality. (5) To provide long-term evidence for evaluating the effectiveness of land-management and water-conservation programs in relation to water conservation actually effected, and for use in basin or "watershed" studies. (6) To provide long-term continuous records to serve as a framework to which short-term records collected during intensive investigation may be related. The water level in an observation well functions as a gage to indicate the position or the water table. The water table is defined as the upper surface of the zone of saturation except where that surface is formed by overlying impermeable materials. The water table is also the boundary between the zone of saturation and the zone of aeration. It is not a level surface but is a sloping surface that has many irregularities, and it often conforms in a general way to the land surface. The irregularities are caused by several factors. In places where the recharge to the ground-water reservoir is exceptionally large, the water table may rise to form a mound from which the water slowly spreads. Depressions or troughs in the water table indicate places where the ground water is discharging, u along streams that are below the normal level it the water table, or indicate places where water is being withdrawn by wells or vegetation. The several factors that influence the water table vary in fact and amount from time to time because of changes in weather and the water requirements or vegetation and man; thus, the water table is nearly always rising or falling. The fluctuations or the water table are shown by the changes in water levels in wells. Thus, the rate and amount of the fluctuation of the water table can be ascertained by observing the water levels in wells, and the magnitude or the several factors effecting the position of the water table can be interpreted by analyzing the water-level data. Water-level measurements are given, in this report, in feet below the land surface at the well site. Water levels that are above land surface are preceded by a plus (+) sign in the tables, whereas those below land surface have no sign but are understood to be minus (-). The words "land-surface datum" are abbreviated "lsd'' in some places in tables of this report. The altitude above mean sea level (msl) of the land surface at many of the well sites has been determined and is included in the tables or this report. Twenty-eight observation wells in Nebraska are equipped with recording gages. Each recording gage produces a continuous graph of water-level fluctuations in the well. Only the lowest water level on the last day of record in each month, as recorded by the gage, is given in this report; the complete record is on file in the office of the U.S. Geological Survey in Lincoln, Nebr.

Nebraska↗
USGS1992

The digital geologic map of Colorado in ARC/INFO format: Part C. Explanation sheet database

This geologic map was prepared as a part of a study of digital methods and techniques as applied to complex geologic maps. The geologic map was digitized from the original scribe sheets used to prepare the published Geologic Map of Colorado (Tweto 1979). Consequently the digital version is at 1:500,000 scale using the Lambert Conformal Conic map projection parameters of the state base map. Stable base contact prints of the scribe sheets were scanned on a Tektronix 4991 digital scanner. The scanner automatically converts the scanned image to an ASCII vector format. These vectors were transferred to a VAX minicomputer, where they were then loaded into ARC/INFO. Each vector and polygon was given attributes derived from the original 1979 geologic map. This database was developed on a MicroVAX computer system using VAX V 5.4 nd ARC/INFO 5.0 software. UPDATE: April 1995, The update was done solely for the purpose of adding the abilitly to plot to an HP650c plotter. Two new ARC/INFO plot AMLs along with a lineset and shadeset for the HP650C design jet printer have been included. These new files are COLORADO.650, INDEX.650, TWETOLIN.E00 and TWETOSHD.E00. These files were created on a UNIX platform with ARC/INFO 6.1.2. Updated versions of INDEX.E00, CONTACT.E00, LINE.E00, DECO.E00 and BORDER.E00 files that included the newly defined HP650c items are also included.

Colorado↗
USGS2002

Characteristics of urbanization in five watersheds of Anchorage, Alaska: Geographic Information System data

The report contains environmental and urban geographic information system data for 14 sites in 5 watersheds in Anchorage, Alaska. These sites were examined during summer in 1999 and 2000 to determine effects of urbanization on water quality. The data sets are Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., shapefiles, coverages, and images. Also included are an elevation grid and a triangulated irregular network. Although the data are intended for users with advanced geographic information system capabilities, simple images of the data also are available. ArcView 3.2 project, an ArcGIS project, and 16 ArcExplorer2 projects are linked to the PDF file based report. Some of these coverages are large files over 10 MB. The largest coverage, impervious cover, is 208 MB.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2012

Surficial geologic map of the Norton-Manomet-Westport-Sconticut Neck 23-quadrangle area in southeast Massachusetts

The surficial geologic map shows the distribution of nonlithified earth materials at land surface in an area of 23 7.5-minute quadrangles (919 mi 2 total) in southeastern Massachusetts. Across Massachusetts, these materials range from a few feet to more than 500 ft in thickness. They overlie bedrock, which crops out in upland hills and as resistant ledges in valley areas. The geologic map differentiates surficial materials of Quaternary age on the basis of their lithologic characteristics (such as grain size and sedimentary structures), constructional geomorphic features, stratigraphic relationships, and age. Surficial materials also are known in engineering classifications as unconsolidated soils, which include coarse-grained soils, fine-grained soils, and organic fine-grained soils. Surficial materials underlie and are the parent materials of modern pedogenic soils, which have developed in them at the land surface. Surficial earth materials significantly affect human use of the land, and an accurate description of their distribution is particularly important for assessing water resources, construction aggregate resources, and earth-surface hazards, and for making land-use decisions. This work is part of a comprehensive study to produce a statewide digital map of the surficial geology at a 1:24,000-scale level of accuracy. This report includes explanatory text (PDF), quadrangle maps at 1:24,000 scale (PDF files), GIS data layers (ArcGIS shapefiles), metadata for the GIS layers, scanned topographic base maps (TIF), and a readme.txt file.

Massachusetts↗
USGS2008

Fischer-assays of oil-shale drill cores and rotary cuttings from the greater Green River basin, southwestern Wyoming

Chapter 1 of this CD–ROM is a database of digitized Fischer (shale-oil) assays of cores and cuttings from boreholes drilled in the Eocene Green River oil shale deposits in southwestern Wyoming. Assays of samples from some surface sections are also included. Most of the Fischer assay analyses were made by the former U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) at its laboratory in Laramie, Wyoming. Other assays, made by institutional or private laboratories, were donated to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and are included in this database as well as Adobe PDF-scanned images of some of the original laboratory assay reports and lithologic logs prepared by USBM geologists. The size of this database is 75.2 megabytes and includes information on 971 core holes and rotary-drilled boreholes and numerous surface sections. Most of these data were released previously by the USBM and the USGS through the National Technical Information Service but are no longer available from that agency. Fischer assays for boreholes in northeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado have been published by the USGS. Additional data include geophysical logs, groundwater data, chemical and X-ray diffraction analyses, and other data. These materials are available for inspection in the office of the USGS Central Energy Resources Team in Lakewood, Colorado. The digitized assays were checked with the original laboratory reports, but some errors likely remain. Other information, such as locations and elevations of core holes and oil and gas tests, were not thoroughly checked. However, owing to the current interest in oil-shale development, it was considered in the public interest to make this preliminary database available at this time. Chapter 2 of this CD–ROM presents oil-yield histograms of samples of cores and cuttings from exploration drill holes in the Eocene Green River Formation in the Great Divide, Green River, and Washakie Basins of southwestern Wyoming. A database was compiled that includes about 47,000 Fischer assays from 186 core holes and 240 rotary drill holes. Most of the oil yield data are from analyses performed by the former U.S. Bureau of Mines oil shale laboratory in Laramie, Wyoming, with some analyses made by private laboratories. Location data for 971 Wyoming oil-shale drill holes are listed in a spreadsheet that is included in the CD–ROM. These Wyoming Fischer assays and histograms are part of a much larger collection of oil-shale information, including geophysical and lithologic logs, water data, chemical and X-ray diffraction analyses on the Green River oil-shale deposits in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming held by the U.S. Geological Survey. Because of an increased interest in oil shale, this CD–ROM containing Fischer assay data and oil-yield histograms for the Green River oil-shale deposits in southwestern Wyoming is being released to the public. Microsoft Excel spreadsheets included with Chapter 2 contain the Fischer assay data from the 426 holes and data on the company name and drill-hole name, and location. Histograms of the oil yields obtained from the Fischer assays are presented in both Grapher and PDF format. Fischer assay text data files are also included in the CD–ROM.

Wyoming↗
USGS2009

Downsizer - A Graphical User Interface-Based Application for Browsing, Acquiring, and Formatting Time-Series Data for Hydrologic Modeling

The U.S. Geological Survey Downsizer is a computer application that selects, downloads, verifies, and formats station-based time-series data for environmental-resource models, particularly the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System. Downsizer implements the client-server software architecture. The client presents a map-based, graphical user interface that is intuitive to modelers; the server provides streamflow and climate time-series data from over 40,000 measurement stations across the United States. This report is the Downsizer user's manual and provides (1) an overview of the software design, (2) installation instructions, (3) a description of the graphical user interface, (4) a description of selected output files, and (5) troubleshooting information.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1956

Water levels in observation wells in Nebraska during 1955

The objective of the dbservation-well program in Nebraska is to provide an evaluation of the status of the ground-water supplies. Many uses for water-.level data are known but not all potential uses can be forseen. Among the important uses are the following: To indicate the status of ground water in storage or in transit and the availability of supplies. To show the trend of ground-water supplies and the outlook for the future. To estimate or forcast the base flow of streams. To indicate areas in which the water level is approaching too close to the land surface (water-logging) or is receding toward economic limits of lift or tow rd impairment by water of poor quality. To provide long-term vidence for evaluating the effectiveness of land-management and water...0 nservation programs in relation to water conservation actually of ected, and for use in basin or "watershed" studies. To provide longterm ontinuous records to serve as a framework to which short-term records collected during intensive investigation may be related. The water level in an observation well functions as a gage to indicate the position of the water table o The water table is defined as the upper surface of the zone of saturation except where that surface is formed by overlying impermeable materials. The water table is also the boundary between the zone of saturation and the zone of aeration. It is not a level surface but is a sloping surface that has many irregularities, and it often conforms in a general way to the land surface. The irregularities are caused by several factors. In places where the recharge to the ground-water reservoir is exceptionally large, the water-table may rise to form a mound from which the water slowly spreads. Depressions or troughs in the water table indicate places where the ground water is discharging, as along streams that are below the normal level of the water table, or indicate places where water is being withdrawn by wells or vegetation. The several factors that influence the water table vary in fact and amount from time to time because of changes in weather and the water requirements of vegetation and man; thus, the water table is nearly always rising or falling. The fluctuations of the water table are shown by the changes in water levels in wells. Thus, the rate and amount of the fluctuation of the water table can be ascertained by observing the water levels in wells, and the magnitude of the several factors effecting the position of the water table can be interpreted by analyzing the water—level data. Water-level measurements are given, in this report, in feet below the land surface at the well site. Water levels that are above land surface are preceded by a plus (+) sign, whereas those below land surface have no sign but are understood to be minus (-). The words "land-surface datum" are abbreviated "lsd" in tables of this report. The altitude above mean sea level (msl) of the land surface at many of the well sites has been determined and is included in the tables of this report. Lower case letters which appear in the table of water level measurements indicate the following: 6', nearby well pumped recently; f, dry; g, measured by outside agency; and j, frozen. Twenty-.six observation wells in Nebraska are equipped with recording gages. Each recording gage produces a continuous graph of water-level fluctuations in the well. Only the lowest water level on the last day of record in each month, as recorded by the gage, is given in this report; the complete record is on file in the office of the U. S. Geological Survey in Lincoln, Nebr.

Nebraska↗
USGS1979

Selected geologic information from drill holes in southeastern Iowa

This report presents selected geologic information derived from wells in a 22-county area of southeastern Iowa. The information was extracted from the Automatic Data Processing (ADP) geologic file of the Iowa and U.S. Geological Surveys. The data presented include location, well identification number, and elevation of the well sites; depth and stratigraphic classification of the bedrock top; stratigraphic classification of the bottom rock unit penetrated by the well; and the total depth of the well. More detailed information about the wells may be obtained from the files of the Iowa and U.S. Geological Surveys in Iowa City, Iowa.

Iowa↗