Geology Commons^™

California Drought, An Update April 2008, Baryohay Davidoff, Fawzi Karajeh, Dean Reynolds, Eric Senter, John Woodling

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1. RECENT HYDROLOGIC CONDITIONS AND IMPACTS

Introduction....................................................... 1

Water Year 2007 .................................................. 1

Drought in the Colorado River Basin ..................................................... 5

Drought and Dry Conditions in the Early 2000s .................................... 7

The 2001 Klamath Basin Drought Emergency ............................... 11

CHAPTER 2. PROGRAMMATIC AND INSTITUTIONAL UPDATES

The San Francisco Bay-Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta.................................................................. 15

The Colorado River .................................................................... 16

State Financial Assistance to Local Agencies.................................... 17

Urban Water Management Planning ................................................... 20

Water Transfers .............................................................................. 20

Small Water Systems and Drought Preparedness ................................. 21

Morphological Analysis Of The Charlevoix-Antrim And Northport Drumlin Fields, Michigan Using Digital Elevation Models, Alan M. Lefever

Masters Theses

The Charlevoix-Antrim and Northport drumlin fields, located in northwest Lower Michigan, lie on opposite sides of Grand Traverse Bay. Morphological measurements were derived from topographic maps and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), combined with grain size analyses performed on collected drumlin sediments. Comparison of the morphological results demonstrates that statistical analysis of equal or better accuracy can be performed on drumlins using high resolution DEMs. The grain size analysis determined that the drumlins contain more gravel near the coast and become sandier to the south and east.

Spindle drumlins are the dominant drumlin form in both the Charlevoix-Antrim and Northport fields. …

Backstripping The Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure: Differentiating Regional Tectonics From Impact Effects, Travis Gary Hayden

Masters Theses

The Chesapeake Bay impact structure is a ca. 35.4 Ma old crater located on the coastal plain of Virginia along the eastern seaboard of North America. The impact generated a crater between 85 and 90 km in diameter, and over 2000 meters deep. Deposition returned to normal shortly after impact, resulting in a unique record of both the impact related and subsequent passive margin sedimentation. We use backstripping to show that the impact strongly affected sedimentation for 7 m.y. through a combination of impact derived crustal scale tectonics, dominated by the introduction and subsequent removal of a negative thermal anomaly, …

Tree - Ring Analysis Of Cores Extracted From The Osu Cabin, Holmes County, Ohio

Historic Structures

Dating historical structures in Holmes County, Ohio using dendrochronology. The Historical Structures collection consists of reports that are the result of dendochronological analysis of timbers from structures in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Contributors: Wiles, Greg

The Influence Of Metal Exposure History And Ultraviolet-B Radiation On Benthic Communities In Colorado Rocky Mountain Streams, Robert E. Zuellig, Donna R. Kashian, Marjorie L. Brooks, Peter M. Kiffney, William H. Clements

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

Interest in understanding the influence of ultraviolet-B (UVB; 280–320 nm) radiation in aquatic ecosystems has increased since the early 1990s. Pollution from historic mining operations coupled with physicochemical characteristics of Rocky Mountain streams that increase exposure of benthic communities to UVB provided an opportunity to examine how UVB interacted with heavy metal contamination to structure stream communities. We integrated a series of UVB addition experiments done in stream microcosms with a large-scale UVB shading experiment to test the hypothesis that effects of UVB were greater on benthic communities from metal-polluted streams than from reference streams. Microcosm experiments involved short-term exposure …

A Conceptual Model Of Groundwater Flow In Spring Valley, Nv, And Snake Valley, Nv-Ut, Jeremy Micheal Gillespie

Theses and Dissertations

A geochemical study of major springs and wells in Spring Valley, Nevada, and Snake Valley, Utah-Nevada was initiated in response to the Clark, Lincoln and White Pine Counties Groundwater Development Project proposed by the South Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). Water budget estimates suggest that interbasin flow accounts for a significant portion (~25%) of the water budgets in Spring and Snake Valleys. Although interbasin flow is possible in some areas, alternative plausible explanations place significant uncertainty on water budget allocations. To examine the plausibility of local and interbasin flow paths the groundwater flow in Spring and Snake Valleys was evaluated using …

Manual Pumping Test Method For Characterizing The Productivity Of Drilled Wells Equipped With Rope Pumps, Essa L. Gross

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

Since the introduction of the rope-pump in Nicaragua in the 1990s, the dependence on wells in rural areas has grown steadily. However, little or no attention is paid to rope-pump well performance after installation. Due to financial restraints, groundwater resource monitoring using conventional testing methods is too costly and out of reach of rural municipalities. Nonetheless, there is widespread agreement that without a way to quantify the changes in well performance over time, prioritizing regulatory actions is impossible. A manual pumping test method is presented, which at a fraction of the cost of a conventional pumping test, measures the specific …

Pamphlet To Accompany Geologic Map Gmc-34: Geologic Map Of The O’Neill 1º X 2º Quadrangle, Nebraska, With Configuration Maps Of Surfaces Of Formations, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Michael R. Voorhies, E. Jane Voorhies, H. E. Lagarry, C. L. Timperley, M. E. Perkins

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

This map is necessarily generalized. It is based primarily on data from 7.5’ surficial geologic quadrangle maps of the map area prepared by the authors principally from 1991 to 2000, from Voorhies (unpublished data, 1974), as well as data from test-hole drilling done across the quadrangle by the Conservation and Survey Division, University of Nebraska, and its cooperators over many years since the 1930s. For more detailed information, consult the geologic data files of the Conservation and Survey Division, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The quadrangle is mostly covered by vegetation and Holocene sediments. Limited good exposures of …

Visualization Of Groundwater Flow Within Touching-Vu And Matrix Porosity In An Eogenetic Karst Aquifer, Lee J. Florea, Kevin J. Cunningham, Stephen Altobelli

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

In this study, we use an innovative, non-invasive technology, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI), to visualize the direction and magnitude of groundwater flow in field samples of late Pleistocene limestone of the Biscayne aquifer. Specific goals of the first set of NMRI experiments are to map the advective velocity of water flowing at two rates of specific discharge (0.00025 and 0.00013 m/s) through a 10-cm-diameter cylindrical, epoxy-resin model. The model interior accurately reproduces a well-connected maze of ichnologically influenced, centimeter-scale, touching-vug macroporosity common within preferred flow zones in parts of the Biscayne aquifer. A second set of NMRI experiments investigates …

Biogenic Porosity And Its Lattice Boltzmann Method Permeability In The Karst Biscayne Aquifer, Kevin Cunningham, Mike Sukop, Haibo Huang, Pedro Alvarez, Allen Curran, Michael Waker, Lee J. Florea, Robert Renken, Joann F. Dixon

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Focus Group On Karst Hydrology - Conceptual Models, Aquifer Characterization, And Numerical Modeling, Martin Sauter, Lee J. Florea, Others

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

How Human And Natural Driving Forces Affect Pheasants And Pheasant Hunting In South Dakota, Chris Laingen

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Hypogene Calcitization: Evaporite Diagenesis In The Western Delaware Basin, Kevin W. Stafford, Dana Ulmer-Scholle, Laura Rosales-Lagarde

Faculty Publications

Evaporite calcitization within the Castile Formation of the Delaware Basin is more widespread and diverse than originally recognized. Coupled field and GIS studies have identified more than 1000 individual occurrences of calcitization within the Castile Formation outcrop area, which includes both calcitized masses (limestone buttes) and laterally extensive calcitized horizons (limestone sheets). Both limestone buttes and sheets commonly contain a central brecciated zone that we attribute to hypogene dissolution. Lithologic fabric of calcitized zones ranges from little alteration of original varved laminae to fabrics showing extensive laminae distortion as well as extensive vuggy and open cavernous porosity. Calcitization is most …

Hypogene Speleogenesis Within The Central Basin Platform: Karst Porosity In The Yates Field, Pecos County, Texas, U.S.A., Kevin W. Stafford, Fred H. Behnken, Jesse G. White

Faculty Publications

The Yates Unit Oil Field is located on the southeastern tip of the Central Basin Platform in eastern Pecos County, Texas. It produces from Middle Permian strata, primarily the upper San Andres Formation. Locally, the productive upper San Andres Formation is comprised of successively vertically stacked progradational shelf carbonates. Stratigraphically overlying the Yates Field reservoir, the Toborg Field produces from the uppermost Triassic and Cretaceous units. Both fields are bounded on the north and east sides by the Pecos River, which has remained entrenched in its current location since the early Tertiary. As mapped, the top of the San Andres …

Castile Evaporite Karst Potential Map Of The Gypsum Plain, Eddy County, New Mexico And Culberson County, Texas: A Gis Methodological Comparison, Kevin W. Stafford, Laura Rosales-Lagarde, Penelope J. Boston

Faculty Publications

Castile Formation gypsum crops out over ,1,800 km2 in the western Delaware Basin where it forms the majority of the Gypsum Plain. Karst development is well recognized in the Gypsum Plain (i.e., filled and open sinkholes with associated caves); however, the spatial occurrence has been poorly known. In order to evaluate the extent and distribution of karst development within the Castile portion of the Gypsum Plain, combined field and Geographic Information System (GIS) studies were conducted, which enable a first approximation of regional speleogenesis and delineate karst-related natural resources for management. Field studies included physical mapping of 50, 1-km2 sites, …

Introgression And Dispersal Among Spotted Owl (Strix Occidentalis) Subspecies, W. Chris Funk, Eric D. Forsman, Thomas D. Mullins, Susan M. Haig

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Population genetics plays an increasingly important role in the conservation and management of declining species, particularly for defining taxonomic units. Subspecies are recognized by several conservation organizations and countries and receive legal protection under the US Endangered Species Act (ESA). Two subspecies of spotted owls, northern (Strix occidentalis caurina) and Mexican (S. o. lucida) spotted owls, are ESA-listed as threatened, but the California (S. o. occidentalis) spotted owl is not listed. Thus, determining the boundaries of these subspecies is critical for effective enforcement of the ESA. We tested the validity of previously recognized spotted …

Development And Evaluation Of Geochemical Methods For The Sourcing Of Archaeological Maize, L.V. Benson, H. E. Taylor, K.A. Peterson, B.D. Shattuck, C.A. Ramotnik, J.R. Stein

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Strontium (Sr)-isotope values on bone from deer mice pairs from 12 field sites in the Chaco Canyon area, New Mexico, were compared with isotope values of synthetic soil waters from the same fields. The data indicate that mice obtain Sr from near-surface sources and that soil samples collected at depths ranging from 25 to 95 cm contain Sr that is more accessible to the deep roots of maize; thus, synthetic soil solutions provide better data for the sourcing of archaeological maize. However, the Sr-isotope composition of mice may be more valuable in sourcing archaeological remains of animals such as rabbit, …

Tools And Technology Article: Estimation And Correction Of Visibility Bias In Aerial Surveys Of Wintering Ducks, Aaron T. Pearse, Patrick D. Gerard, Stephen J. Dinsmore, Richard M. Kaminski, Kenneth J. Reinecke

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Incomplete detection of all individuals leading to negative bias in abundance estimates is a pervasive source of error in aerial surveys of wildlife, and correcting that bias is a critical step in improving surveys. We conducted experiments using duck decoys as surrogates for live ducks to estimate bias associated with surveys of wintering ducks in Mississippi, USA. We found detection of decoy groups was related to wedand cover type (open vs. forested), group size (1-100 decoys), and interaction of these variables. Observers who detected decoy groups reported counts that averaged 78% of the decoys actually present, and this counting bias …

Tools And Technology Article: Evaluation Of An Aerial Survey To Estimate Abundance Of Wintering Ducks In Mississippi, Aaron T. Pearse, Stephen J. Dinsmore, Richard M. Kaminski, Kenneth J. Reinecke

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Researchers have successfully designed aerial surveys that provided precise estimates of wintering populations of ducks over large physiographic regions, yet few conservation agencies have adopted these probability-based sampling designs for their surveys. We designed and evaluated an aerial survey to estimate abundance of wintering mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), dabbling ducks (tribe Anatini) other than mallards, diving ducks (tribes Aythini, Mergini, and Oxyurini), and total ducks in western Mississippi, USA. We used design-based sampling of fixed width transects to estimate population indices (/), and we used model-based methods to correct population indices for visibility bias and estimate population abundance (N) for 14 …

Relations Between And Among Contaminant Concentrations And Biomarkers In Black Bass (Micropterus Spp.) And Common Carp (Cyprinus Carpio) From Large U.S. Rivers, 1995–2004, Jo Ellen Hinck, Christopher J. Schmitt, Mark R. Ellersieck, Donald E. Tillitt

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Environmental contaminant and biomarker monitoring data from major U.S. river basins were summarized for black bass (Micropterus spp.) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) sampled over a nine year period. Cumulative frequency distributions revealed taxon differences for many organochlorine residue concentrations, elemental contaminant concentrations, and biomarkers, but few gender differences were evident for chemical concentrations. Concentrations of dacthal, pentachloroanisole, p,p'-DDE, endosulfan sulfate, barium, cadmium, copper, manganese, lead, selenium, vanadium, and zinc were greater in carp than bass, but concentrations of mercury and magnesium were greater in bass. Gender differences were evident in bass for mercury and in carp …

Impact Of Drought On Prehistoric Western Native Americans, Larry Benson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Some droughts that occurred during the so-called Medieval Climate Anomaly (approximately AD 800-1300) appear to have been catalysts for major changes in settlement patterns of two western Native American groups - the Lovelock culture in Nevada’s Great Basin and the Anasazi people of the Four Corners area. Both groups’ subsistence bases were impacted by diminished water supplies associated with prolonged drought, leading to the dispersal of these Native Americans from their former territories.

Tree-ring-based Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) reconstructions by Cook et al. (2004) indicate that over 50% of the western U.S. experienced drought conditions during the middle-12th and …

Grenetic Evidence Of Intercontinental Movement Of Avian Influenza In A Migratory Bird: The Northern Pintail (Anas Acuta), Anson V. Koehler, John M. Pearce, Paul L. Flint, J. Christian Franson, Hon S. Ip

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The role of migratory birds in the movement of the highly pathogenic (HP) avian influenza H5N1 remains a subject of debate. Testing hypotheses regarding intercontinental movement of low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) viruses will help evaluate the potential that wild birds could carry Asian-origin strains of HP avian influenza to North America during migration. Previous North American assessments of LPAI genetic variation have found few Asian reassortment events. Here, we present results from whole-genome analyses of LPAI isolates collected in Alaska from the northern pintail (Anas acuta), a species that migrates between North America and Asia. Phylogenetic analyses …

Holocene Sediment Magnetic Properties Along A Transect From Isafjardardjup To Djupall, Northwest Iceland, Sarah M. Principato, J.T. Andrews, J. Hardardottir, J.S. Stoner

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Holocene changes in terrestrial provenance and processes of sediment transport and deposition are tracked along a fjord-to-shelf transect adjacent to Vestfirdir, Iceland, using the magnetic properties ofmarine sediments.Magnetic susceptibility (MS) profiles of 10 cores (gravity and piston) were obtained onboard using a Bartington MS loop. Remanent magnetizations were measured at 1-cm intervals from u-channel samples taken from six cores on a cryogenic magnetometer. Between six and nine alternating field demagnetization steps were used to isolate the characteristic magnetization directions. The chronologies of the cores used in this study were determined from AMS14 C dates on mollusks and foraminifera and contrained …

Composition, Microstructures, And Petrophysics Of The Mozumi Fault, Japan: In Situ Analyses Of Fault Zone Properties And Structure In Sedimentary Rocks From Shallow Crustal Levels, Angela J. Isaacs, James P. Evans, Peter T. Kolesar, Tsuyoshi Nohara

Geosciences Faculty Publications

[1] We characterize the chemical, microstructural, and geophysical properties of fault-related rock samples from the 80–100 m wide Mozumi fault zone, north central Honshu, Japan. The fault is exposed in a research tunnel 300–400 m below the ground, and we combine geological data with borehole geophysical logs to determine the elastic and seismic properties of the fault zone. Detailed mapping within the tunnel reveals that the fault zone consists of two zones of breccia to foliated cataclasites 20 and 50 m thick. Two narrow (tens of centimeters wide) principal slip zones on which most of the slip occurred bound the …

Stable Isotope Analysis Of Upper Tithonian Limestones With Dinosaur Footprints From Kirmenjak Quarry (Istria, Croatia), Blanka Cvetko Tešović, Aleksandar Mezga, Bosiljka Glumac

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

The Kirmenjak locality of western Istria, Croatia, represents the oldest evidence of a dinosaur presence on the Adriatic-Dinaridic Carbonate Platform (ADCP). In a quarry at this locality, almost a thousand sauropod footprints are recognized in one distinctive trackbearing horizon within the Upper Tithonian limestones. The stable isotopes of oxygen and carbon, in conjunction with microfacies analysis of carbonate rocks exposed in this quarry, unravel details about the marginal marine or coastal environments in which sauropods left their footprints. Rocks from the trackbearing horizon, and laterally adjacent area, represent intertidal fenestral mudstones that form the top of a shallowing-upward succession, capped …

Fossil Palm Frond And Tree Trunk Molds: Occurrence And Implications For Interpretation Of Bahamian Quaternary Carbonate Eolianites, H. Allen Curran, Mark A. Wilson, John E. Mylroie

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Molds of palm fronds and vertical, cylindrical structures interpreted as molds of palm tree trunks were reported from Holocene and upper Pleistocene carbonate eolianites on several islands in the Bahamas in the early 1990s. As a result of recent discoveries described herein, palm frond and tree trunk molds are now known to be widespread in Bahamian eolianites, including Holocene beds on Cat Island, Eleuthera, Lee Stocking Island of the Exuma Cays, Long Island, and Stocking Island offshore from Georgetown, Exuma. Late Pleistocene occurrences are known from Eleuthera, Long Island, Norman's Pond Cay of the Exuma Cays, and San Salvador Island. …

Plagioclase Populations And Zoning In Dacite Of The 2004–2005 Mount St. Helens Eruption: Constraints For Magma Origin And Dynamics, Martin J. Streck, Cindy A. Broderick, Carl R. Thornber, Michael A. Clynne, John S. Pallister

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We investigated plagioclase phenocrysts in dacite of the 2004–5 eruption of Mount St. Helens to gain insights into the magmatic processes of the current eruption, which is char­acterized by prolonged, nearly solid-state extrusion, low gas emission, and shallow seismicity. In addition, we investigated plagioclase of 1980–86 dacite.

Light and Nomarski microscopy were used to texturally characterize plagioclase crystals. Electron microprobe analy­ses measured their compositions. We systematically mapped and categorized all plagioclase phenocrysts in a preselected area according to the following criteria: (1) occurrence of zones of acicular orthopyroxene inclusions, (2) presence of dissolution surface(s), and (3) spatial association of 1 …

Kentucky Terrain, Daniel I. Carey, Terry D. Hounshell

Map and Chart--KGS

The terrain of Kentucky has been shaped by geologic forces and the underlying rocks.Tectonic forces lifted, bent, and buckled the rocks–originally formed from sediments on shallow sea floors or swampy lowlands. Weathering and erosion shaved the hills and dissected the plains, exposing at the surface a cross section of rocks 250 to 500 million years old. The sands, gravels, silts, and clays of the Jackson Purchase Region are younger, remnants of a time when the sea lapped at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.

The landforms in Kentucky are the result of the differential weathering of interbedded sandstones, …

Geologic Hazards In Kentucky, Daniel I. Carey, Terry D. Hounshell, John D. Kiefer

Map and Chart--KGS

Geologic data were derived from the Kentucky Geological Survey-U.S. Geological Survey areal geologic mapping project. Nearly 190 geologists mapped the geology of Kentucky from 1960 to 1978. KGS geologists converted the resulting 707 geologic quadrangle maps into digital format at part of the STATEMAP component of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program of the United States Geological Survey.

Geology Of Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, Matthew M. Crawford, Rickard A. Olson, Rickard S. Toomey Iii, Lillian J. Scoggins

Map and Chart--KGS

Mammoth Cave National Park in south-central Kentucky was authorized as a national park in 1926 and was fully established in 1941 to protect the cave system, scenic landscape, and diverse flora and fauna. The park contains 52,830 acres and most of the longest recorded cave system in the world, with more than 390 miles of mapped passages as of 2013. Even though Mammoth Cave is famous, people are often unaware of the park's intricate connection to the outside region. This poster shows the geology of Mammoth Cave and the interconnected issues that are important to the park and its visitors. …