Earth Sciences Commons^™

Great South Bay, Long Island, New York Summer Water Quality Monitoring Program, Cercom, Molloy University, John Tanacredi Ph.D., Sixto E. Portilla

CERCOM Reports

The Center for Environmental Research and Coastal Oceans Monitoring (CERCOM) visits 15 locations in Great South Bay to monitor for dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, salinity, clarity, total and fecal coliforms and temperature. This monitoring program has been conducted for the past 13 years. These parameters are critical in determining long-term water quality conditions in Long Island estuaries. Methodologies for monitoring parameters are provided by the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater 20th Edition (1998). Criteria for determining water quality conditions in marine eco-systems are based on the type of contact (uses) people have with the water system. …

Limitations And Benefits To Cultivating Tobacco, Edwin L. Ritchey, Gary K. Palmer

Plant and Soil Sciences Research Report

Historically, between-row cultivation for weed control has been an integral part of tobacco production. In one season, a grower might perform five or more cultivations and several hand weeding operations for adequate weed control. Early herbicide chemistries would control some weeds, but not all, forcing the producer to cultivate and hand weed. The development of better herbicides improved the range of weeds controlled, sometimes to the point that cultivation for weed control was not warranted. Many producers are so accustomed to cultivating they have forgotten why cultivation was necessary. The decision to cultivate should largely be based on the presence …

Could The 2012 Drought In Central U. S. Have Been Anticipated?, Shih-Yu (Simon) Wang, Danny Barandiaran, Kyle Hilburn, Paul Houser

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

This paper summarizes research related to the 2012 record drought in the central United States conducted by members of the NEWS (NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Energy and Water cycle Study) Working Group. Past drought patterns were analyzed for signal coherency with latest drought and the contribution of long-term trends in the Great Plains low-level jet, an important regional circulation feature of the spring rainy season in the Great Plains. Long-term changes in the seasonal transition from rainy spring into dry summer were also examined. Potential external forcing from radiative processes, soil-air interactions, and ocean teleconnections were assessed as …

The 17 May 2012 M4.8 Earthquake Near Timpson, East Texas: An Event Possibly Triggered By Fluid Injection, Cliff Frohlich, William Ellsworth, Wesley A. Brown, Michael Brunt, Jim Luetgert, Tim Macdonald, Steve Walter

Faculty Publications

This study summarizes our investigation of the 17 May 2012 MW‐RMT4.8 earthquake near Timpson, Texas, the largest earthquake recorded historically in eastern Texas. To identify preshocks and aftershocks of the 17 May event we examined the arrivals recorded at Nacogdoches (NATX) 30 km from the 17 May epicenter, at nearby USArray Transportable Array stations, and at eight temporary stations deployed between 26 May 2012 and mid‐2013. At NATX we identified seven preshocks, the earliest occurring in April 2008. Reliably located aftershocks recorded by the temporary stations lie along a 6 km long NW‐SE linear trend corresponding to a …

An Unusual Occurrence Of Arthrophycus Alleghaniensis(?) On The Shawangunk Ridge, Lower Mid-Hudson Valley, New York, Howard R. Feldman, Alexander Bartholomew, Beryl Kahn

Lander College for Women - The Anna Ruth and Mark Hasten School Publications and Research

The Shawangunk Formation is a medial Silurian conglomerate that crops out from near Rosendale, south through Wurtsboro, New York, High Point State Park and the Delaware Water Gap in New Jersey, and at Lehigh Gap, Pennsylvania after which it continues into Maryland and Virginia. The formation overall is interpreted to primarily represent a braided stream environment with flowage from mountains to the east that arose during the Taconic Orogeny into a basin toward the west. The trace fossil Arthrophycus was found in the upper-middle part of the formation on the Shawangunk Ridge at Mohonk, near New Paltz, New York. Arthrophycus …

National Drought Management Policy Guidelines: A Template For Action, Donald A. Wilhite, World Meteorological Organization, Global Water Partnership, National Drought Mitigation Center

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The implementation of a drought policy based on the philosophy of risk reduction can alter a nation’s approach to drought management by reducing the associated impacts (risk). This was the idea that motivated the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with a number of UN agencies, international and regional organizations, and key national agencies, to organize the Highlevel Meeting on National Drought Policy (HMNDP), which was held in Geneva from 11 to 15 March 2013. The theme of …

Water Quality During Two High-Flow Years On The Lower Missouri River: The Effects Of Reservoir And Tributary Contributions, D M. Morris, T R. Gemeinhardt, N.J C. Gosch, D E. Jensen

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

Complex socioeconomic and ecological issues, ranging from impaired streams to Gulf of Mexico hypoxia, have made nutrient management an increasingly important issue across the USA. High flows during 2010 and 2011 provided a unique opportunity to investigate trends in discharge, total nitrogen, nitrate/nitrite, total phosphorus, orthophosphorus, suspended sediment and total suspended solids during two distinct high-flow years on the Missouri River. We compared collections taken during 2010 and 2011 at 12 lower Missouri River locations (river kilometers 1212 to 71) and 22 Missouri River tributary locations. During 2011, average concentrations for all sampled parameters were significantly lower, despite significantly higher …

Size-Frequency Distribution Of Orbitolina Texana Foraminifera, Jeremy Foote

Undergraduate Review

This study examined size-frequency distributions for an extinct Cretaceous-age benthic foraminifera called Orbitolina Texana in order to determine the health of this foram community during the time of accumulation. Forams were collected from limestone outcrops of the Glen Rose Formation in central Texas. Based on paleontological and sedimentological evidence, Orbitolina Texana are interpreted to be a shallow water (<10 m) benthic organism that was most abundant in back-reef environments. Sizefrequency distributions were generated from the diameters of 4,245 Orbitolina Texana fossils. The results indicate that the Orbitolina Texana population is characterized by a Gaussian (normal) size distribution. Size-frequency distributions of fossilized foraminifera in the stratigraphic record are controlled by two principle variables; environmental controls that affect the biology of the organisms (e.g., environmental stressors, like food availability and ambient conditions) and sedimentological controls that affect how the organisms are distributed (e.g., hydrodynamic parameters, like waves and currents). Based on a sedimentological characterization of the host limestone including lack of high-energy sedimentary structures, high mud content and back-reef position on the depositional profile, hydrodynamic parameters are interpreted to not have exerted a significant effect on the distribution of the forams preserved in the rock record. As such, the biological controls are interpreted to be the dominate control on the foram sizefrequency distribution. Therefore, the Gaussian (normal) size distribution suggests that the mortality rate is independent of size/age, which is classified as Type II survivorship. As this result is consistent with similar taxon, the results indicate that this Orbitolina Texana population was a healthy biologic community, despite the low biologic diversity observed in the Glen Rose Formation.

Slope Stability Analysis Of Mount Meager, South-Western British Columbia, Canada, Rachel M. Hetherington

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The Mount Meager Volcanic Complex (MMVC) in south-western British Columbia is a potentially active, hydrothermally altered massif comprising a series of steep, glaciated peaks. Climatic conditions and glacial retreat has led to the further weathering, exposure and de-buttressing of steep slopes composed of weak, unconsolidated material. This has resulted in an increased frequency of landslide events over the past few decades, many of which have dammed the rivers bordering the Complex. The breach of these debris dams presents a risk of flooding to the downstream communities. Preliminary mapping showed there are numerous sites around the Complex where future failure could …

Investigating The Effect Of The ‘‘Land Between The Lakes’’ On Storm Patterns, Joshua D. Durkee, Ahmed M. Degu, Faisal Hossain, Rezaul Mahmood, Jesse Winchester, Themis Chronis

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

The artificially created region around the ‘‘Land between the Lakes’’ (LBL) in Kentucky represents unique land use and land cover (LULC) heterogeneities. Over a distance of 100 km, the LULC comprises artificially created open water bodies (i.e., two parallel large run-on-river dams separated by the LBL), mountainous terrain, forest cover, and extensive agricultural land. Such heterogeneities increase (decrease) moisture supply and sensible heat, resulting in a differential air mass boundary that helps to initiate (inhibit) convection. Hence, the LBL can potentially modify precipitation formation. Historical anecdotes reveal a tendency for storms to dissipate or reintensify near the LBL. The specific …

A Comparison Of The Mm5 And The Regional Atmospheric Modeling System Simulations For Land--Atmosphere Interactions Under Varying Soil Moisture, Astrid Suarez, Rezaul Mamood, Arturo I. Quintanar, Adriana Beltran-Prezekurat, Roger Pielke Sr.

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

A comparison between two mesoscale models, Colorado State University Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) version 4.4 coupled with the Land-Ecosystem--Atmosphere Feedback Model (LEAF2) and Penn State/NCAR’s Mesoscale Model (MM5) coupled with NOAH Land Surface Model, was conducted in order to assess the sensitivity of forecasted planetary boundary layer (PBL) variables to anomalous initial volumetric soil moisture conditions. The experiments were conducted using three synoptic events: June 11, 17 and 22, 2006. For each event, one control run and six additional simulations were completed using RAMS and MM5. In each of the events, initial volumetric soil moisture was increased and decreased …

Esterification Pretreatment Of Free Fatty Acid In Biodiesel Production, From Laboratory To Industry, Ming Chai, Qingshi Tu, Jeffrey Y. Yang, Mingming Lu

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

In the United States, biodiesel producers usually follow the 19.8:1 methanol-to-FFA molar ratio for free fatty acid (FFA) esterification, as suggested by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) without optimization studies. In this paper, both laboratory studies and industrial practices of the esterification process were compared, and an optimization study of a used vegetable oil with 5% FFA was conducted. The optimal conditions of this oil, i.e., methanol-to-FFA molar ratio of 40:1, and sulfuric acid usage of 10%, fell out of the suggested range of 19.8:1. The activation energy of the esterification reaction is 20.7 kJ/mol at the optimized condition …

Bringing Resilience To Wildlife Management And Biodiversity Protection, Melinda Harm Benson, Matthew E. Hopton

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Biological diversity can be considered both temporally (Le., evolutionary time) and/or spatially and reflects the number, variety, and variability of organisms. It includes diversity within species (Le., genetic and morphological), between species (Le., alpha and beta), and among ecosystems (Le., beta and gamma). Over the past few hundred years, human activities have increased species extinction rates by as much as 1,000 times above the background rates that were typical over Earth's history (Figure 2.1) (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005; but see He and Hubbell 2011). In the United States, there are approximately 1,900 species listed as threatened or endangered, with potentially …

An Environmental Oestrogen Disrupts Fish Population Dynamics Through Direct And Transgenerational Effects On Survival And Fecundity, Adam R. Schwindt, Dana L. Wrinkelman, Kristen Keteles, Mark Murphy, Alan M. Vajda

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

1. Increased need for water and projected declines in precipitation due to climate change could leave waterways increasingly dominated by wastewater effluent. Understanding how components of wastewater influence fish populations is necessary for effective conservation and management. Despite research demonstrating effects of oestrogens, such as 17a-ethynylestradiol (EE2), on fish physiology and population failure, the generality of population responses is uncertain and the underlying mechanisms affecting population declines are unknown. EE2 is the steroid oestrogen in human contraceptive pills and has been measured up to 11 ng L ^-1 in the environment.

2. We identify disrupted population dynamics due to direct …

The Inky Story Of The Dinky Oak Gall, Ken Sulak

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Maybe you have noticed these little spheres before – but did not give them much thought. Or maybe, you puzzled: What are these wooden pearls? How did they get there? Well, a tiny wasp, called the pea galler wasp or gallfly, Belonocnema treatae, is the culprit. The diminutive female gallfly (one of nearly a thousand species in the gall wasp family Cynipidae), about the size of a fire ant, lays eggs on a freshly budded live oak leaf in spring. When the larva hatches, it produces a chemical that induces the oak to enclose it in a protective and …

Integrating Land Cover Modeling And Adaptive Management To Conserve Endangered Species And Reduce Catastrophic Fire Risk, David Breininger, Brean Duncan, Mitchell J. Eaton, Fred Johnson, James Nichols

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Land cover modeling is used to inform land management, but most often via a two-step process, where science informs how management alternatives can influence resources, and then, decision makers can use this information to make decisions. A more efficient process is to directly integrate science and decision-making, where science allows us to learn in order to better accomplish management objectives and is developed to address specific decisions. Co-development of management and science is especially productive when decisions are complicated by multiple objectives and impeded by uncertainty. Multiple objectives can be met by the specification of tradeoffs, and relevant uncertainty can …

Lithologic Influences On Groundwater Recharge Through Incised Glacial Till From Profile To Regional Scales: Evidence From Glaciated Eastern Nebraska, John L. Gates, Gregory V. Steele, Paolo Nasta, Jozsef Szilagyi

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

[1] Variability in sediment hydraulic properties associated with landscape depositional and erosional features can influence groundwater recharge processes by affecting soil-water storage and transmission. This study considers recharge to aquifers underlying river-incised glaciated terrain where the distribution of clay-rich till is largely intact in upland locations but has been removed by alluvial erosion in stream valleys. In a stream-dissected glacial region in eastern Nebraska (Great Plains region of the United States), recharge estimates were developed for nested profile, aquifer, and regional scales using unsaturated zone profile measurements (matric potentials, Cl⁻ and ³H), groundwater tracers (CFC-12 and SF_{6 …}

Hydrographic Survey Of Chaktomuk, The Confluence Of The Mekong, Tonlé Sap, And Bassac Rivers Near Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2012, Benjamin J. Dietsch, Brenda K. Densmore, Richard C. Wilson

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State, Mekong River Commission, Phnom Penh Autonomous Port, and the Cambodian Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, completed a hydrographic survey of Chaktomuk, which is the confluence of the Mekong, Tonlé Sap (also spelled Tônlé Sab), and Bassac Rivers near Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The hydrographic survey used a high-resolution multibeam echosounder mapping system to map the riverbed during April 21–May 2, 2012.

The multibeam echosounder mapping system was made up of several components: A RESON Seabat™ 7125 multibeam echosounder, an inertial measurement unit and navigation unit, data collection computers, …

Interpreting The Paleozoogeography And Sea Level History Of Thermally Anomalous Marine Terrace Faunas: A Case Study From The Last Interglacial Complex Of San Clemente Island, California, Daniel R. Muhs, Lindsey T. Groves, R. Randall Schumann

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Marine invertebrate faunas with mixtures of extralimital southern and extralimital northern faunal elements, called thermally anomalous faunas, have been recognized for more than a century in the Quaternary marine terrace record of the Pacific Coast of North America. Although many mechanisms have been proposed to explain this phenomenon, no single explanation seems to be applicable to all localities where thermally anomalous faunas have been observed. Here, we describe one such thermally anomalous fossil fauna that was studied on the second emergent marine terrace at Eel Point on San Clemente Island. The Eel Point terrace complex is a composite feature, consisting …

Identifying Sources Of Aeolian Mineral Dust: Present And Past, Daniel R. Muhs, Joseph M. Prospero, Matthew C. Baddock, Thomas E. Gill

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Aeolian mineral dust is an important component of the Earth’s environmental systems, playing roles in the planetary radiation balance, as a source of fertilizer for biota in both terrestrial and marine realms and as an archive for understanding atmospheric circulation and paleoclimate in the geologic past. Crucial to understanding all of these roles of dust is the identification of dust sources. Here we review the methods used to identify dust sources active at present and in the past. Contemporary dust sources, produced by both glaciogenic and non-glaciogenic processes, can be readily identified by the use of Earth-orbiting satellites. These data …

Monitoring Conterminous United States (Conus) Land Cover Change With Web-Enabled Landsat Data (Weld), M C. Hansen, A. Egorov, P V. Potapov, S V. Stehman, A Tyukavina, S A. Turubanova, D. P. Roy, S J. Goetz, T R. Loveland, J Ju, A. Kommareddy, V. Kovalskyy, C Forsyth, T Bents

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Forest cover loss and bare ground gain from 2006 to 2010 for the conterminous United States (CONUS) were quantified at a 30 m spatial resolution using Web-Enabled Landsat Data available from the USGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) (http://landsat.usgs.gov/WELD.php). The approach related multi-temporal WELD metrics and expert-derived training data for forest cover loss and bare ground gain through a decision tree classification algorithm. Forest cover loss was reported at state and ecoregional scales, and the identification of core forests' absent of change was made and verified using LiDAR data from the GLAS (Geoscience Laser Altimetry System) instrument. …

On Target For People And Planet: Setting And Achieving Water-Related Sustainable Development Goals, Julie Van Der Bliek, Peter G. Mccornick, James Clarke

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Our specific focus in this book is on securing water for sustainable food production. This links to sustainable water resources management, delivering on the water supply and sanitation requirements and provisioning water for energy and the urban sector. A specific intent is to ensure that the realities in low- and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia are recognized and to provide practical pathways to change that fit these realities and the aspirations of those countries. This will help to prepare for the next step in the SDG [sustainable development goals] process: devolving the SDGs to the national level. It will …

Co-Occurrence Of The Cyanotoxins Bmaa, Daba And Anatoxin-A In Nebraska Reservoirs, Fish, And Aquatic Plants, Maitham Ahmed Al-Sammak, Kyle D. Hoagland, David A. Cassada, Daniel D. Snow

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Several groups of microorganisms are capable of producing toxins in aquatic environments. Cyanobacteria are prevalent blue green algae in freshwater systems, and many species produce cyanotoxins which include a variety of chemical irritants, hepatotoxins and neurotoxins. Production and occurrence of potent neurotoxic cyanotoxins β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), 2,4-diaminobutyric acid dihydrochloride (DABA), and anatoxin-a are especially critical with environmental implications to public and animal health. Biomagnification, though not well understood in aquatic systems, is potentially relevant to both human and animal health effects. Because little is known regarding their presence in fresh water, we investigated the occurrence and potential for bioaccumulation of cyanotoxins …

Coastal Geology And Recent Origins For Sand Point, Lake Superior, Timothy G. Fisher, David E. Krantz, Mario R. Castaneda, Walter L. Loope, Harry M. Jol, Ronald J. Goble, Melinda C. Higley, Samantha Dewald, Paul R. Hanson

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Sand Point is a small cuspate foreland located along the southeastern shore of Lake Superior within Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore near Munising, Michigan. Park managers’ concerns for the integrity of historic buildings at the northern periphery of the point during the rising lake levels in the mid-1980s greatly elevated the priority of research into the geomorphic history and age of Sand Point. To pursue this priority, we recovered sediment cores from four ponds on Sand Point, assessed subsurface stratigraphy onshore and offshore using geophysical techniques, and interpreted the chronology of events using radiocarbon and luminescence dating. Sand Point formed at …

Toward Enhanced Understanding And Projections Of Climate Extremes Using Physics-Guided Data Mining Techniques, A. R. Ganguly, E. A. Kodra, A. Agrawal, A. Banerjee, S. Boriah, Sn. Chatterjee, So. Chatterjee, A. Choudhary, D. Das, J. Faghmous, P. Ganguli, S. Ghosh, K. Hayhoe, C. J. Hays, W. Hendrix, Q. Fu, J. Kawale, D. Kumar, V. Kumar, W. Liao, S. Liess, R. Mawalagedara, V. Mithal, R. Oglesby, K. Salvi, P. K. Snyder, K. Steinhaeuser, D. Wang, D. Wuebbles

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Extreme events such as heat waves, cold spells, floods, droughts, tropical cyclones, and tornadoes have potentially devastating impacts on natural and engineered systems and human communities worldwide. Stakeholder decisions about critical infrastructures, natural resources, emergency preparedness and humanitarian aid typically need to be made at local to regional scales over seasonal to decadal planning horizons. However, credible climate change attribution and reliable projections at more localized and shorter time scales remain grand challenges. Long-standing gaps include inadequate understanding of processes such as cloud physics and ocean–land–atmosphere interactions, limitations of physics-based computer models, and the importance of intrinsic climate system variability …

Sensitivity Of The Late Permian Climate To Tectonic And Radiative Forcing Changes: Implications For The Mass Extinction, Angela Osen

Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertations - Archive

The largest mass extinction occurred near the Permian-Triassic boundary (ca. 252 Ma). Significant carbon isotope shifts indicate that perturbations in the carbon cycle occurred during the Late Permian and persisted into the Early Triassic. The loss of biodiversity within the terrestrial and marine realms coincided with the eruption of the Siberian Flood Basalts and magma intrusion into coal beds, leading to the emission of greenhouse, sulfur, and other gases into the atmosphere. In this study, climate model output from the Community Climate System Model Version 3 with improved topographic features, along with a prediction of patterns of oceanic water masses …

Application Of In-Situ Remediation By Using Soil Phosphate Amendments At Three Lead Contaminated Soil Sites (Residential Yards) In New Orleans, La., Dhary Saad Alkandary

Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertations - Archive

Lead (Pb) contamination of soil continues as a threat to public health. The problem exists, in part, due to the abundance of lead in soil in certain contexts which has the potential to cause adverse health effects in children at relatively low exposure levels. The dominant source of lead in soils in the city of New Orleans, in the older urban areas close to residences, is old deteriorated lead-based paint. A cost-effective intervention method to address the problem of lead in these soils is needed to reduce the Pb exposure risk for people in these areas.Excavation and removal of lead …

Chemostratigraphy Of The Late Cretaceous Eagle Ford Group, South Texas, Robert Francis Nikirk

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses - Archive

Strata of the Eagle Ford Group of South Texas, deposited during the Cenomanian and Turonian of the Late Cretaceous, are largely characterized as mixed siliciclastic and carbonate mudrocks rich in organic carbon. The Eagle Ford Group records deposition within the Maverick Basin, along the Comanche Shelf, at the southern margin of the Western Interior Seaway in present-day South Texas. In recent years, the Eagle Ford has emerged as one of the premiere petroleum plays, as it has been proven to be capable of producing significant volumes of dry gas, wet gas/condensates, and oil. It is believed the Eagle Ford represents …

Constraining The Provenance Of Middle Cenozoic Fluvial Sandstone In The Central Rocky Mountains Using Detrital Zircon U-Pb Geochronology And Sandstone Petrography, Alex Leigh Mankin

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses - Archive

Detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and sandstone petrography are studied to constrain the provenance of middle Cenozoic fluvial sandstone in the Central Rocky Mountains. Petrographic point counting of 12 sandstone samples show immature compositions, and combined recycled orogen provenance of the proximal Laramide uplifts and magmatic arc provenance of the distal middle Cenozoic magmatism in western and southwestern North America. A total of 670 detrital zircon U-Pb ages show a 17-44 Ma population, derived from the distal middle Cenozoic magmatism, and populations of 45-218 Ma, 220-708 Ma, 948-1326 Ma, 1332-1816 Ma, and 1825-3314 Ma, derived or recycled from the Precambrian basement …

Petroleum Geology Of The Leonardian Age, Harkey Mills Sandstone: A New Horizontal Target In The Permian Bone Spring Formation, Eddy And Lea Counties, Southeast New Mexico, Marshall Dewayne Davis

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses - Archive

Lowstand, siliciclastic turbidite and submarine fan deposits within the Leonardian Bone Spring Formation have proved to be prolific targets for horizontal drilling across the northern portion of the Delaware Basin. Reservoir sandstones in this area are very fine grained, with porosities of 8 - 12%, permeabilities of 1 - 2 md and water saturations between 40% and 60%. In Big Eddy, James Ranch and Poker Lake New Mexico Federal Units, a new target for horizontal drilling, the Harkey Mills Sandstone, is proposed, which may have production comparable to the Second Bone Spring Sandstone. There are currently four horizontal wells producing …