Other Earth Sciences Commons^™

Government Response To Drought In The United States: With Particular Reference To The Great Plains, Donald A. Wilhite

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Drought relief has become an expected response of the federal government to periods of widespread drought in the United States. A wide range of emergency, short-term and long-term drought programs were formulated to deal with the extreme drought of the 1930's. By 1977 there were 40 separate programs administered by 16 different federal agencies. This paper traces the development of federal drought relief bureaucracy, including drought designation criteria and procedures.

Two obvious deficiencies of past drought relief efforts in the United States are noted. First, drought relief organizations and programs have been hastily assembled during periods of crisis. This has …

Chemical Composition Of Ground Water And The Locations Of Permeable Zones In The Yucca Mountain Area, Nevada, Larry Benson, J. H. Robison, R. K. Blankennagel, A. E. Ogard

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Ten wells in the Yucca Mountain area of southern Nevada have been sampled for chemical analysis. Samples were obtained during pumping of water from the entire well bore (composite sample) and in one instance by pumping water from a single isolated interval in well UE-25b#1. Sodium is the most abundant cation and bicarbonate the most abundant anion in all water samples. Although the general chemical compositions of individual samples are similar, there are significant differences in uncorrected carbon-14 age and in inorganic and stable-isotope composition. Flow surveys of seven wells performed using iodine-131 as a tracer indicate that ground-water production …

Quaternary Geology Of Chaco Canyon, Northwestern New Mexico, David Waxham Love

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The overall purpose of studying the Quaternary geology of Chaco Canyon is to develop an understanding of how the geomorphic system in the Chaco drainage evolved and how it presently operates. This dissertation has several subsidiary purposes; (1) to describe and relate modern sedimentary features and facies (which are likely to be preserved in the alluvial fill of the canyon) to modern geomorphic processes, (2) to use the results from the study of modern sediments to interpret exposures of alluvium in Chaco Canyon in order to reconstruct past environments, (3) to develop conceptual models of the geologic subsystems of the …

A Statistical Analysis Of The Quality Of Surface Water In Nebraska, R. A. Engberg

United States Geological Survey: Publications

This report provides descriptive statistics for 29 chemical or biological constituents for 109 stream sites in Nebraska sampled by the U.S. Geological Survey beginning in 1946. Also provided for each site are regression equations relating specific conductance to each of 12 chemical constituents and a regression equation relating specific conductance to stream discharge. The descriptive statistics are presented by river basins. Water leaving these basins that has the lowest mean specific conductance (266 umho/cm) is from the Niobrara River at Verdel, and water that has the highest (1,890 umho/cm) is from the South Platte River at Roscoe. Statewide, the principal …

Changing Fields: Agricultural Land Use Changes In Nebraska 1925-1974, Donald A. Wilhite

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The series of graphs and maps which follow illustrate agricultural land use changes in Nebraska from 1925 to 1974. With these graphs and maps, the major agronomic crops of corn (dryland and irrigated), wheat, sorghum and soybeans are analyzed. The purpose of this analysis is to provide a pictorial history of Nebraska's ever-changing cropping system and, hopefully, to stimulate ideas and discussion with regard to trends and future directions. The Nebraska Water Resources Center is deeply interested in both the past and the future of Nebraska's agriculture because of the demands which agriculture places on the state's water resources. An …

Turbulence Spectra Above A Vegetated Surface Under Conditions Of Sensible Heat Advection, Raymond P. Motha, Shashi B. Verma, Norman J. Rosenberg

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Spectra of vertical and horizontal velocity, air temperature and humidity fluctuations were analyzed from measurements made over a well-watered alfalfa crop under conditions of sensible heat advection. Vertical velocity and air temperature spectra as well as cospectra of momentum, sensible heat and water vapor were found to be dependent on atmospheric thermal stratification. These spectra and cospectra were shifted toward higher frequencies under advective as compared to lapse conditions. These results indicate that the predominant eddy sizes are relatively smaller under advective conditions. Humidity spectra, on the other hand, were independent of daytime thermal stratification conditions but were influenced by …

List Of Geological Survey Geologic And Water-Supply Reports And Maps For Maine, U.S. Department Of The Interior - Geological Survey

Maine Collection

List of Geological Survey Geologic and Water-Supply Reports and Maps for Maine.

United States Department of the Interior - Geological Survey, June 1978.

Contents: Annual Reports / Mineral Resources of the United States / Monographs / Geologic Folios / Topographic Atlas of the United States, Folio 1 / Professional Papers / Bulletins / Water-Supply Papers / Circulars / Maps, Charts and Atlases

Extreme Evapotranspiration By Irrigated Alfalfa: A Consequence Of The 1976 Midwestern Drought, Norman J. Rosenberg, Shashi B. Verma

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

The rate of evapotranspiration by irrigated alfalfa at Mead, NE (41°09'Nj 96°30'W, elevation 354 m) reached record levels in 1976. Evapotranspiration was measured with precision weighing lysimeters in a field 1.9 ha in size. Evapotranspiration ranged during the growing season from 4.75 to 14.22 mm day^-l and exceeded 10 mm day^-I on one-third of the days studied. On each day of study the ratio of latent heat flux density (LE) to the sum of the net radiation and soil heat flux densities (Rn+S) was such that LE/ (Rn+S) > 1, indicating the occurrence of significant …

How To Make A Natural Resources Inventory, Community Natural Resources Inventory Project

Maine Collection

A Handbook How to Make a Natural Resources Inventory for Your Community

Prepared by: James F. Connors, Sterling Dow III & Dean B. Bennett

Community Natural Resources Inventory Project (Title I, Higher Education Act), The University of Maine at Portland - Gorham (Project Sponsor) and The Maine Association of Conservation Commissions (Project Co-Sponsor), 1975.

"This handbook is published as a result of a grant from the U.S. Office of Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare under the Higher Education Act, Title I. No official endorsement by the U.S. Office of Education should be inferred."

Contents: Preface / Introduction / …

Effect Of The Pedernal Axis On Permian And Triassic Sedimentation, Philip F. Hock

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The area surrounding the Pedernal Hills has been of scientific and economic interest for a number of years. The effect of the Pedernal axis on sedimentation and stratigraphy of late Paleozoic rocks is of major importance. The principal purposes of this study were to determine whether the Precambrian terrane was an active source of sediment and what effect it had on thickness of strata during Permian and Triassic time. the area was also mapped in as much detail as the scale (1:125,000) permitted.

A Preliminary Survey Of The Damariscotta River Estuary, Lincoln County, Maine, Maine Department Of Economic Development

Maine Collection

A Preliminary Survey of the Damariscotta River Estuary, Lincoln County, Maine

Part I - Hydrology; Part II - Sediments

"Prepared Under a Grant From the Maine Marine Stipend Program".

Maine Department of Economic Development - Division of Science, Technology & Mineral Resources, Augusta, Maine (July 1969 - June 1970).

Paleotectonic Investigations Of The Permian System In The United States, Edwin D. Mckee, Stephen S. Oriel, Henry L. Berryhill, Eleanor J. Crosby, Donald A. Myers, George H. Dixon, Marjorie E. Maclachlan, Melville R. Mudge, Edwin K. Maughan, Richard P. Sheldon, Earl R. Cressman, Thomas M. Cheney, Walter E. Hallgarth, Keith B. Ketner

United States Geological Survey: Publications

(A) Allegheny region, by Henry L. Berryhill, Jr

(B) Gulf Coast region, by Eleanor J. Crosby

(C) West Texas Permian basin region, by Steven S. Oriel, Donald A. Myers, and Eleanor J. Crosby

(D) Northeastern New Mexico and Texas-Oklahoma Panhandles, by George H. Dixon

(E) Oklahoma, by Marjorie E. MacLachlan

(F) Central Midcontinent region, by Melville R. Mudge

(G) Eastern Wyoming, eastern Montana, and the Dakotas, by Edwin K. Maughan

(H) Middle Rocky Mountains and northeastern Great Basin, by Richard P. Sheldon, Earl R. Cressman, Thomas M. Cheney, and Vincent E. McKelvey

(I) Western Colorado, southern Utah, and northwestern New …

Roughness Characteristics Of Natural Channels, Harry H. Barnes Jr.

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Color photographs and descriptive data are presented for 50 stream channels for which roughness coefficients have been determined. All hydraulic computations involving flow in open channels require an evaluation of the roughness characteristics of the channel. In the absence of a satisfactory quantitative procedure this evaluation remains chiefly an art. The ability to evaluate roughness coefficients must be developed through experience. One means of gaining this experience is by examining and becoming acquainted with the appearance of some typical channels whose roughness coefficients are known. The photographs and data contained in this report represent a wide range of channel conditions. …

Geology And Structure Of A Portion Of The Rio Puerco Fault Belt, Western Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Jock Campbell

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Rio Puerco fault belt is a transitional feature between the Colorado Plateau and the Rio Grande depression in west-central New Mexico.

The major purpose of this report has been to map in detail a portion of the Rio Puerco fault belt not previously investigated thoroughly. The main interest herein is the structure of the area. Particular attention has been given to the determination of the character of the Apache graben. Secondary emphasis is placed on stratigraphy, as more complete reports concerning the sedimentary section can be found elsewhere.

Slope Deposits Of The Pennsylvanian Haymond Formation, Marathon Region, Texas, Walter E. Dean Jr.

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Haymond Formation of the Marathon basin, Texas consists mainly of a sequence of more than 12,000 siltstone-shale couplets which, combined with the similar couplets of the older Tesnus Formation, form a sequence of "flysch" sediments more than 10,000 feet thick deposited on the eastern slope of the subsiding Llanoria geosyncline. The Haymond Formation contains no diagnostic fossils; its age is known only as Lower Pennsylvanian, probably Atokan.

Geology Of The Sedillo-Cedro Canyon Area, Bernallio County, New Mexico, Bert Norman Brown

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This report was undertaken primarily as a study of Pennsylvanian strata which crop out in the Sedillo-Cedro Canyon area. The subdivision of the Madera formation as proposed by Read and others (1944) was adopted for purposes of mapping. This subdivision is based on a dominance of either limestone or clastic rocks in the formation.

The writer was unable to measure a Pennsylvanian section in the field due to thickness changes, facies gradations, and faults which were often concealed by dense soil cover. However, by visually traversing the area on aerial photographs using arbitrarily chosen zones, estimated thicknesses for the members …

Permian Stratigraphy And Stratigraphic Paleontology Of The Colorado Plateau, Peggy L. Kirkland

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The purpose of this study is to synthesize a portion of this vast source of data in order to arrive at a better understanding of Permian stratigraphy.

Geology Of Torreon And Pedricenas Quadrangles, Coahuila And Durango, Mexico, Russell E. Clemons

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Torreon and Pedricenas quadrangles are in central Mexico between parallels 25 degrees and 26 degrees N. and meridians 103 degrees 20' and 104 degrees W.; together they embrace 7,600 square kilometers. The northeastern corner of the area lies in the Bolson de Mapimi; most of the area, however, is in the Sierra Madre Oriental.

Hypogene Zoning In The Lordsburg Mine District, Hidalgo County, New Mexico, K. F. Clark

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Although descriptions of the Lordsburg mining district have been in the literature for more than fifty years, no reference to hypogene zoning of the ores has been made. The present work is mainly concerned with hypogene zoning and related phenomena. Hypogene zoning, temperature of formation, and paragenesis are interrelated factors in ores differentiated from magmas. All three processes are discussed in this thesis. Other aspects of the mining district are mentioned only where relevant.

Geology And Ground-Water Resources Of Northern Lea County, New Mexico, Sidney R. Ash

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The economy of northern Lea County is dependent upon groundwater; the only other source of water is the runoff from precipitation that is caught and retained in the man-made or natural reservoirs, where is it used for water stock. Irrigation utilizes most of the groundwater pumped; much smaller amounts are used for stock watering and industrial, public, rural and domestic supplies. In 1958, about 107,000 acre-feet of groundwater was pumped for irrigation and 19,000 acre-feet was pumped for all other uses. On the basis of present production of potable water, the economically usable supply will be depleted in certain areas …

The Structure And Stratigraphy Of The Frontier Formation In The Big Piney-La Barge Area Sublette And Lincoln Counties, Wyoming, Eldred D. Johnson

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This study was undertaken to fulfill part of the requirements for the degree of Master in Science of Geology. The Big Piney-LA Barge area in western Wyoming covers approximately 354 square miles on the western edge of the Green River Basin and the eastern edge of the over thrust belt. The area is underlain by a sedimentary sequence containing rocks representing all the geologic time periods form the Cambrian through the Cenozoic, with the exception of the Silurian period. The entire known post-Precambrian strati-graphic sequence is approximately 18,00 feet thick.

A Petrographic And Environmental Study Of The Upper Cretaceous Greenhorn Limestone, New Mexico, John W. Emerson

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Upper Cretaceous Greenhorn Limestone is composed of intercalated agrillaceous limestone and calcareous shale beds which crop out over much of the Western Interior. The Greenhorn was deposited in late Cenomanian and early Turonian time in a westward transgressing sea. In New Mexico the age is early Turonian. The edge of deposition extends as far south as Capitan and Carthage, northward through western Bernalillio County, and northwest through Toadlena.

Lithogenesis Of Atoll Sediments, Uliga Island, Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, Phyllis B. Helms

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Sixteen thin sections and 53 samples of rock and sand were examined under petrographic and binocular microscopes to determine composition, kinds of cement, degrees of cementation, and the sequence of lithogenesis of the consolidated materials. Studies were made of the loose sediments to relate the characteristics of the sedimentary grains to environmental energy of today, and then collate these data with the lithified sediments.

Geology Of The Nutria Monocline, Mckinley County, New Mexico, R. John Edmonds

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Nutria monocline forms the northwestern boundary of the Zuni uplift in McKinley County, New Mexico. The sedimentary rocks that are exposed along the monocline range in age from Permian to Cretaceous and rest on Granite of probable Precambrian age. The Jurassic Todilto limestone, which is present north of the mapped area, pinches out in a southerly direction. South of this pinch-out the massive sandstone of the Entrada formation joins the main body of the Zuni sandstone. Only the even bedded, silty sandstone that has previously been considered to be the middle member of the Entrada is regarded as Entrada …

Geology Of The East Potrillo Hills, Dona Ana County, New Mexico, William E. Bowers

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The East Potrillo Hills are essentially a low north-westerly trending ridge that lies just north of the Mexican border in southern Dona Ana County, New Mexico. The range is approximately 7 miles long and up to 1 1/2 miles wide. It is cut by transverse canyons that carry water to the bolson only during occasionally heavy rains. The crest of the ranges lies 700 to 900 feet above the extensive La Mesa plain which stretches for more than 20 miles to the north, east, and south. In the northern part of the range, the crest reaches a maximum elevation of …

Qualitative Reconnaissance Methods Of Geochemical Exploration, John Francis Brady Jr.

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

No abstract provided.

Upper Cretaceous Farmington Sandstone Of Northeastern San Juan County, New Mexico, Ottis L. Dilworth

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Upper Cretaceous Farmington sandstone is found only in northwestern New Mexico and Southwestern Colorado. The Farmington sandstone is the middle member of the Kirtland shale, there being a Kirtland shale member above and below it. This sandstone unit appears as an extensive wedge in the Kirtland shale and thins northward, southward, and southeastward from Townships 30-31 North, Ranges 9-13 West. The thickness of the Farmington sandstone ranges from 27 to 818 feet within the area of this thesis. The unit is correlative with parts of the Vermejo formation of the Raton basin and the Fox Hills formation of the …

Geology Of The San Pedro Mountains Santa Fe County, New Mexico, William W. Atkinson Jr.

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

No abstract provided.

Water Resources Of The Western Slopes Of The Sandia Mountains, Bernalillo And Sandoval Counties, New Mexico, Eugene R. Caprio

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The purpose of the study on which this thesis is based is to determine the source, occurrence, characteristics, and possible amounts of surface and ground water available along the western slope of the Sandia Mountains, New Mexico.

Controls On Paradox Salt Deposition In The Area Of Comb Monocline San Juan County, Utah, Jim S. Hinds

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This study was undertaken for the purpose of delineating the configuration of the Paradox salt wedge edge in relation to the Comb monocline structure. It was designed to illustrate whether or not, and to what extent, the Comb structure was a submarine barrier controlling deposition of sediments on the western shelf of the Paradox seaway during middle Paradox time.