Search Results

Temperature surveys at depths of 1–2 m have had varying success in geothermal exploration in the Basin and Range province. The most successful surveys have identified patterns of near-surface thermal-fluid flow within areas of less than 2 km2. Results have been less consistent in larger areas where zones of hydrothermal...

Estimates of distributional parameters (mean, standard deviation, median, interquartile range) are often desired for data sets containing censored observations. Eight methods for estimating these parameters have been evaluated by R. J. Gilliom and D. R. Helsel (this issue) using Monte Carlo simulations. To verify those findings, the same methods are...

The major cations, anions, and detergents in a plume of contaminated groundwater at Otis Air Base on Cape Cod (Mass., U.S.A.) have moved approximately 3.5 km down gradient from the disposal beds. We hypothesize that the detergents form two distinct plumes, which consist of alkyl benzene sulfonates (ABS) detergents and...

No abstract available....

Specific conductance and concentrations of alkalinity, dissolved silica, nitrate, and ammonium were measured daily in the Sacramento River flow to northern San Francisco Bay during the rainfall seasons of 1983 and 1984 (high flow) and during late summer and early fall of 1984 (low flow). Flow and concentrations of chemical...

The slope stability of some offshore environments can be evaluated by using only conventional acoustic profiling and short-core sampling, followed by laboratory consolidation and strength testing. The test results are synthesized by using normalized-parameter techniques. The normalized data are then used to calculate the critical earthquake acceleration factors or the...

Recent seismic and tectonic activity in Rabaul Caldera, Papua New Guinea, suggests that magma is accumulating at a shallow depth beneath this partially submerged structure and that a new volcano may be developing. Changes in onshore elevation since 1971 (as much as 2 m on south Matupit Island) indicate that...

The U.S. Geological Survey used a recently developed heat-pulse flowmeter to measure very slow borehole axial water velocities in granitic rock at a site near Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba, Canada. The flowmeter was used with other geophysical measurements to locate and identify hydraulically conducting fractures contributing to the very slow...

Lead-isotopic studies of mineral deposits associated with Tertiary plutons found in the Cascade Range of Oregon and Washington demonstrate a rather uniform isotopic composition in various sulfide minerals (206Pb204Pb= 18.84 to 19.05">206Pb204Pb= 18.84 to 19.05; 207Pb204Pb= 15.57 to 15.62">207Pb204Pb=...

Annual losses in the United States, Japan, Italy, and India have been estimated at 1 billion or more each. During the period 1971-74, nearly 600 people per year were killed by landslides worldwide; about 90 percent of these deaths occurred in the Circum-Pacific region. From 1967-82, 150 people per year...

A generalized model of humic materials in soils and sediments, which is consistent with their observed properties, is presented. This model provides a means of understanding the interaction of hydrophobic pollutants with humic materials. In this model, it is proposed that the humic materials in soils and sediments consist of...

Six analytical techniques for the selective chemical dissolution of sulfides are compared with the purpose of defining the best method for accurately determining the concentration of sulfide-bound nickel. Synthesized sulfide phases of known elemental content, mixed with well-analyzed silicates, were used to determine the relative and absolute efficiency, based on...

Phase relations in the system Cu-V-S were studied by using a sealedcapsule technique, reflected-light microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction and electron microprobe analysis. In the temperature range between 300 and 900 ??C, six vanadium sulfides exist in the V-S system. These are VS, V7S8, V3S4, V5S8, V3S5 and VS4. In the...

One hundred and fifty new measurements of the solubility of witherite were used to evaluate the equilibrium constant of the reaction BaCO3(cr) = Ba2+(aq) + CO32−(aq) between 0 and 90°C and 1 atm total pressure. The temperature dependence of the equilibrium constant is given by logK = 607.642 + 0.121098T − 20011.25/T − 236.4948 logT where T is in degrees...

New specimens of Phasmatocycas and Taeniopteris from the original Lower Permian locality in Kansas demonstrate organic attachment of the two and corroborate Mamay's hypothesis that Phasmatocycas and Taeniopteris were parts of the same plant. These forms also suggest that cycads evolved from taxa with entire leaves; i.e. Taeniopteris, rather than...

In the later Cainozoic, approx 18 m.y. ago, the first basin and range faulting developed in the central part of the Great Basin, this extensional tectonic system resulting from drag on the North American plate as the Pacific plate moved obliquely to the NW along the San Andreas fault. The...

Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) was evaluated for its effectiveness in displaying factors controlling the spatial distribution of benthic insects in an oligotrophic stream where an experimental gradient (copper) that selectively affects population abundances was imposed. DCA proved to be highly sensitive to differences among samples and consistently provided ecologically meaningful...

Thalenite occurs as a minor constituent of a single small pegmatite within an extensive area of granite a few miles S of Kingman, Arizona. Partly crystalline and partly metamict, this thalenite has composition Y3(Si3O10)(OH), with extensive substitution of Y by REE, especially Dy, Er and Yb. Upon heating, even at...

Blowing dust is symptomatic of severe wind erosion and deterioration of soils in areas undergoing dessication and/or devegetation. Dust plumes on satellite images can commonly be traced to sources in marginally arable semiarid areas where protective lag gravels or vegetation have been removed and soils are dry, as demonstrated for...

A simulation nonlinear multiple-regression methodology for estimating parameters that characterize the transport of contaminants is developed and demonstrated. Finite difference contaminant transport simulation is combined with a nonlinear weighted least squares multiple-regression procedure. The technique provides optimal parameter estimates and gives statistics for assessing the reliability of these estimates under...

The distribution and residence time of cosmogenic 10Be in clay-rich soil horizons is fundamental to understanding and modelling the migration of 10Be on terrestrial sediments and in groundwater solutions. We have analyzed seven profiles of clay-rich soils developed from terrace sediments of the Merced River, California. The terraces and soils of increasing...

Certain geologic media are known to have small permeability; subsurface environments composed of these media and lacking well developed secondary permeability have groundwater flow sytems with many distinctive characteristics. Moreover, groundwater flow in these environments appears to influence the evolution of certain hydrologic, geologic, and geochemical systems, may affect the...

The effects of acid deposition on surface waters in eastern United States watersheds having similar size, physiography, climate and land use are related to the composition of the underlying bedrock. Watersheds developed on greenstone, calcareous shale, sandstone, granite, and schist differ in their ability to neutralize acid deposition....

The remanent magnetization of volcanic rocks has been determined at 650 sites in the San Francisco volcanic field in the southern part of the Colorado Plateau. The polarity of remanent magnetization—combined with K-Ar age determinations, spatial and petrographic associations, stratigraphic relations, and state of preservation...

Hydrodynamics of the upper extent of the Potomac Estuary between Indian Head and Morgantown, Md. , are simulated using a two-dimensional model. The model computes water-surface elevations and depth-averaged velocities by numerically integrating finite-difference forms of the equations of mass and momentum conservation using the alternating direction implicit method. The...