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Occurrence of beds of low hydraulic conductivity in surficial deposits of Florida

The disposal of municipal and industrial wastes on or at shallow depths below land surface can result in contamination of ground water--the source of drinking water for more than 90 percent of Florida 's residents. This threat to public health has resulted in new State groundwater regulations. Knowledge of the ability of surficial deposits to retard movement of contaminants is important to the implementation of these regulations. This map report shows areas where beds of at least 10 feet thickness with a hydraulic conductivity (saturation) of less than 0.1 foot per day occur within 50 feet below land surface, based mainly on interpretations of lithology. The map is intended as a guide for making preliminary assessments and should not be considered definitive of permeability beneath a specific site. Available determinations of hydraulic conductivities of surficial deposits in Florida are shown in table format. (USGS)

Florida

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Seismic Data, January to December 2007

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) summary presents seismic data gathered during the year. The seismic summary is offered without interpretation as a source of preliminary data and is complete in that most data for events of M=1.5 are included. All latitude and longitude references in this report are stated in Old Hawaiian Datum. The HVO summaries have been published in various forms since 1956. Summaries prior to 1974 were issued quarterly, but cost, convenience of preparation and distribution, and the large quantities of data necessitated an annual publication, beginning with Summary 74 for the year 1974. Beginning in 2004, summaries are simply identified by the year, rather than by summary number. Summaries originally issued as administrative reports were republished in 2007 as Open-File Reports. All the summaries since 1956 are listed at http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/ (last accessed September 30, 2008). In January 1986, HVO adopted CUSP (California Institute of Technology USGS Seismic Processing). Summary 86 includes a description of the seismic instrumentation, calibration, and processing used in recent years. The present summary includes background information about the seismic network to provide the end user an understanding of the processing parameters and how the data were gathered. A report by Klein and Koyanagi (1980) tabulates instrumentation, calibration, and recording history of each seismic station in the network. It is designed as a reference for users of seismograms and phase data and includes and augments the information in the station table in this summary.

Open-File Report

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory seismic data, January to March 2009

This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) summary presents seismic data gathered during January–March 2009. The seismic summary offers earthquake hypocenters without interpretation as a source of preliminary data and is complete in that most data for events of M≥1.5 are included. All latitude and longitude references in this report are stated in Old Hawaiian Datum. The HVO summaries have been published in various forms since 1956. Summaries prior to 1974 were issued quarterly, but cost, convenience of preparation and distribution, and the large quantities of data necessitated an annual publication, beginning with Summary 74 for the year 1974. Since 2004, summaries have been identified simply by year, rather than by summary number. Summaries originally issued as administrative reports were republished in 2007 as Open-File Reports. All the summaries since 1956 are available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1316-1345/ (last accessed 02/24/2010). In January 1986, HVO adopted CUSP ( C alifornia Institute of Technology U SGS S eismic P rocessing). Summary 86, available at http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/ofr/ofr92301 (last accessed 02/24/2010), includes a description of the seismic instrumentation, calibration, and processing used in recent years. The present summary includes background information about the seismic network to provide the end user with an understanding of the processing parameters and how the data were gathered. Earthworm software, documentation available at http://folkworm.ceri.memphis.edu/ew-doc/ (last accessed 02/24/2010), was first installed at HVO in 1999 as part of an upgrade to tsunami warning capabilities in the Pacific region. This improved and expanded data exchange with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Oahu, that included not only seismic waveforms, but also parametric earthquake data. Although Earthworm does included modules for earthquake triggering and earthquake location, this software was never used to generate catalog hypocenter locations at HVO. During 2009, HVO migrated from CUSP to seismic processing software developed by the C alifornia I ntegrated S eismic N etwork or CISN. This software is now referred to as AQMS, for A dvanced National Seismic System Q uake M anagement S ystem. Summary data for this year will be presented in two reports; the first report includes earthquakes processed on the CUSP platform for January–March; earthquakes for the last three quarters, processed on the AQMS platform, will be published in a separate summary with a description of AQMS production parameters. A report by Klein and Koyanagi (USGS Open-File Report 80-302, 1980) tabulates instrumentation, calibration, and recording history of each seismic station in the network. It is designed as a reference for users of seismograms and phase data and includes and augments the information in the station table in this summary. Figures 11–14 are maps showing computer-located hypocenters. The maps were generated using the G eneric M apping T ools (GMT), found at http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/ (last accessed 01/22/2010), in place of traditional QPLOT maps.

Hawai'i

Geologic and geochemical results from boreholes drilled in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2007 and 2008

Between 2007 and 2008, seven Earthscope Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) boreholes ranging in depth from about 200 to 800 feet deep were drilled in and adjacent to the Yellowstone caldera in Yellowstone National Park, for the purpose of installing volcano monitoring instrumentation. Five of the seven boreholes were equipped with strainmeters, downhole seismometers, and tiltmeters. Data collected during drilling included field observations of drill cuttings, stratigraphy within the boreholes, water temperature, and water and drill cuttings samples from selected depths. Six of the seven boreholes encountered rhyolite lavas and tuffs. The rhyolite lavas compose the Canyon flow, the Gardner River flow, the Gibbon River flow, the Hayden Valley flow, the Nez Perce Creek flow, and the West Thumb flow. Boreholes also penetrated a vertical sequence through the Lava Creek Tuff and the Tuff of Bluff Point. In addition, one borehole drilled through a Swan Lake Flat Basalt sequence and terminated in a rhyolite lava flow. After drilling the seven PBO boreholes, cuttings were examined and selected for preparation of grain mounts, thin sections, and geochemical analysis. Major ions and trace elements (including rare earth elements) of selected cuttings were determined by x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS); the ICP-MS provided more precise trace-element analysis than XRF. A preliminary interpretation of the results of geochemical analyses generally shows a correlation between borehole cuttings and previously mapped geology. The geochemical data and borehole stratigraphy presented in this report provide a foundation for future petrologic, geochemical, and geophysical studies.

Wyoming

Preliminary Gravity and Ground Magnetic Data in the Arbuckle Uplift near Sulphur, Oklahoma

Improving knowledge of the geology and geophysics of the Arbuckle Uplift in south-central Oklahoma is a goal of the Framework Geology of Mid-Continent Carbonate Aquifers project sponsored by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP). In May 2007, we collected ground magnetic and gravity observations in the Hunton Anticline region of the Arbuckle Uplift, near Sulphur, Oklahoma. These observations complement prior gravity data collected for a project sponsored by the National Park Service and helicopter electromagnetic (HEM) and aeromagnetic data collected in March 2007 for the NCGMP project. This report describes the instrumentation and processing that was utilized in the May 2007 geophysical fieldwork, and it presents preliminary results as gravity anomaly maps and magnetic anomaly profiles. Digital tables of gravity and magnetic observations are provided as a supplement to this report. Future work will generate interpretive models of these anomalies and will involve joint analysis of these ground geophysical measurements with airborne and other geophysical and geological observations, with the goal of understanding the geological structures influencing the hydrologic properties of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer.

Open-File Report

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory seismic data, January to December 2008

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) summary presents seismic data gathered during the year. The seismic summary is offered without interpretation as a source of preliminary data and is complete in that most data for events of M greater than 1.5 are included. All latitude and longitude references in this report are stated in Old Hawaiian Datum. The HVO summaries have been published in various forms since 1956. Summaries prior to 1974 were issued quarterly, but cost, convenience of preparation and distribution, and the large quantities of data necessitated an annual publication, beginning with Summary 74 for the year 1974. Beginning in 2004, summaries are simply identified by the year, rather than by summary number. Summaries originally issued as administrative reports were republished in 2007 as Open-File Reports. All the summaries since 1956 are listed at http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/ (last accessed 09/21/2009). In January 1986, HVO adopted CUSP (California Institute of Technology USGS Seismic Processing). Summary 86 includes a description of the seismic instrumentation, calibration, and processing used in recent years. The present summary includes background information about the seismic network to provide the end user an understanding of the processing parameters and how the data were gathered. A report by Klein and Koyanagi (1980) tabulates instrumentation, calibration, and recording history of each seismic station in the network. It is designed as a reference for users of seismograms and phase data and includes and augments the information in the station table in this summary. Figures 11-14 are maps showing computer-located hypocenters. The maps were generated using the Generic Mapping Tools (GMT http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/, last accessed 09/21/2009) in place of traditional Qplot maps.

Hawaii

Water resources of the Coamo area, Puerto Rico

This study, like other similar studies, was made possible by a cooperative water-resources program between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority (at the time), representing also the Puerto Rico Aqueduct & Sewer Authority and the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company. This report covers the hydrologic investigation made in 1967 in the Coamo area, on the south coast of Puerto Rico. The purpose of the investigation was to make a preliminary, intensive reconnaissance of the water resources of the area. Emphasis was on the Coamo fan, which is essentially coextensive with the coastal plain. The scope of the investigation covered the collection, analysis, and interpretation of hydrologic data so as to arrive at a linkage between how much, where, and what type of water is available in relation to the water needs of the area (largely for irrigation). This report is based in good part on the field work of Ralph Gonzalez, hydrologic assistant for the project, who installed and maintained in working order most of the recording instruments and collected most of the field data. We acknowledge the cooperation of Luce & Company, owner or user of most of the water wells in the area. Its personnel guided us to their wells and provided invaluable records on well yield and rainfall.

Coamo

2001 floods in the Red River of the North basin in eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota

The Red River of the North is a complex river system in the north-central plains of the United States. The river continues to impact the people and property within its basin. During the spring of 2001, major flooding occurred for the second time in four years on the Red River of the North and its many tributaries in eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota. Unlike the 1997 floods, which were the result of record-high snowpacks region-wide and a late spring blizzard, the 2001 floods were the result of above-average soil moistures in some areas of the basin, rapid melting of above-average snowpacks in the upper basin, and heavy rainfall that swept across the region on April 7, 2001. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), one of the principal Federal agencies responsible for the collection and interpretation of water-resources data, works with other Federal, State, and local agencies to ensure that accurate and timely data are available for making decisions regarding the public's welfare. This report presents preliminary water-resources 2001 flood data that were obtained from selected streamflow-gaging stations located in the Red River of the North Basin. Flooding in eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota usually is caused by spring snowmelt, and the severity of the flooding is affected by (1) substantial precipitation in the fall that produces high levels of soil moisture, (2) above-normal snowfall in the winter, (3) moist, frozen ground that prohibits infiltration of moisture, (4) a late spring thaw, (5) above-normal precipitation during spring thaw, and (6) ice jams (temporary dams of ice) on rivers and streams. Stream stages (height of water in a stream above an arbitrarily established datum) and discharges measured by USGS personnel at streamflow-gaging stations are used to define a unique relation between stage and discharge. This relation, commonly called a rating curve, may not be well defined at extreme high discharges because these discharges are rare events of short duration and have unstable conditions that often make measurement extremely difficult. Therefore, estimates for some peak discharges need to be extrapolated from rating curves extended to known peak stages. The peak discharges are used to determine the probability, often expressed in recurrence intervals, that a given discharge will be exceeded in the future. For example, a flood that has a 1-percent chance of exceedance in any given year would, on the long-term average, be expected to occur only about once a century; therefore, the flood would be termed a "100-year flood." However, the chance of such a flood occurring in any given year is 1 percent. Thus, a 100-year flood can occur in successive years at the same location. In some instances, recurrence interval estimates can be based on periods of regulated flow or made with historic adjustments when historic data are available. Historical peak stages and peak discharges and the 2001 peak stages, peak discharges, and recurrence intervals are shown in table 1. The streamflow-gaging stations are listed in downstream order by station number, and station locations are shown in figure 1. Revisions to the 2001 peak stages and peak discharges given in this preliminary report may occur as site surveys are completed and additional field data are reviewed in the upcoming months.

Open-File Report