Biogeochemical prospecting for uranium with conifers: results from the Midnite Mine area, Washington
J. Thomas Nash, Frederick Norville Ward
1977, Open-File Report 77-354
The ash of needles, cones, and duff from Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Laws) growing near uranium deposits of the Midnite mine, Stevens County, Wash., contain as much as 200 parts per million (ppm) uranium. Needle samples containing more than 10 ppm uranium define zones that correlate well with known uranium...
Epithermal beryllium deposits in water-laid tuff, western Utah
David A. Lindsey
1977, Economic Geology (72) 219-232
Epithermal beryllium deposits in western Utah have distinctive geological and geochemical associations that provide guides to exploration for new resources of beryllium and associated metals. Beryllium deposits at Spor Mountain and the Honeycomb Hills are uniquely associated with topaz-bearing rhyolite of Late Tertiary age and are restricted to porous water-laid...
Deposition of the Tapeats Sandstone (Cambrian) in central Arizona
Richard Hereford
1977, GSA Bulletin (88) 199-211
Grain size, bedding thickness, dispersion of cross-stratification azimuths, and assemblages of sedimentary structures and trace fossils vary across central Arizona; they form the basis for recognizing six facies (A through F) in the Tapeats Sandstone. Five of these (A through E), present in western central Arizona, are marine deposits containing...
Borehole geophysical investigations in the south Texas uranium district
Harry S. Starkey
1977, Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey (5) 343-357
Contrasts of electrical properties between uranium deposits and their host rocks in South Texas are subtle. In places where deposits are small or deep, conventional geophysical well-logging techniques and hole-to-hole measurements may be the only practical method to detect changes in rock properties associated with the occurrence of uranium ore...
Discrimination of hydrothermal altered and unaltered rocks in visible and near infrared multispectral images
L. C. Rowan, A. F.H. Goetz, Roger P. Ashley
1977, Geophysics (42) 522-535
Mineralogical differences between altered rocks and most unaltered rocks in south-central Nevada cause visible and near-infrared (0.45 to 2.4 mu m) spectral-reflectance differences which can be used to discriminate these broad categories of rocks in multispectral images. The most important mineralogical differences are the increased abundance of goethite, hematite, and...
Fluorite solubility equilibria in selected geothermal waters
D. Kirk Nordstrom, E. A. Jenne
1977, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (41) 175-188
Calculation of chemical equilibria in 351 hot springs and surface waters from selected geothermal areas in the western United States indicate that the solubility of the mineral fluorite, CaF2, provides an equilibrium control on dissolved fluoride activity. Waters that are undersaturated...
Hydrochemistry of the Lake Magadi basin, Kenya
B.F. Jones, H.P. Eugster, S.L. Rettig
1977, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (41) 53-72
New and more complete compositional data are presented for a large number of water samples from the Lake Magadi area, Kenya. These water samples range from dilute inflow (<0.1 g/kg dissolved solids) to very concentrated brines (>300 g/kg dissolved solids). Five distinct hydrologic stages can be recognized in the evolution...
Radioactive springs geochemical data related to uranium exploration
R. A. Cadigan, J.K. Felmlee
1977, Journal of Geochemical Exploration (8) 381-395
Radioactive mineral springs and wells at 33 localities in the States of Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico in the United States were sampled and studied to obtain geochemical data which might be used for U exploration.The major source of radioactivity at mineral spring sites is 226Ra. Minor amounts...
A portable helium sniffer
Irving Friedman, E.H. Denton
1976, Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey (4) 35-36
A portable helium sniffer has been developed for field use. The instrument is mounted in a four-wheel-drive pickup truck and can detect 50 parts per billion of helium in soil gas. The usefulness of helium sniffing in soil is being investigated as a prospecting tool in gas, oil, uranium, and...
Exploration for porphyry copper deposits in Pakistan using digital processing of Landsat-1 data
Robert G. Schmidt
1976, Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey (4) 27-34
Rock-type classification by digital-computer processing of Landsat-1 (formerly ERTS-1) multispectral scanner data has been used to select 23 prospecting targets in the Chagai District, Pakistan, 5 of which have proved to be large areas of hydrothermally altered porphyry containing pyrite. The known porphyry copper deposit at Saindak was used as...
Ground water in Minnesota
Gerald F. Lindholm, Ralph F. Norvitch
1976, Open-File Report 76-354
Ground water is the major source of water supply in Minnesota. The quantity, quality, and availability vary greatly throughout the State. This study describes the State's ground-water resources as found in each of seven major drainage basins. Water is obtained from Quaternary glacial deposits and bedrock aquifers. Most supplies are from...
Hydrology of Lake County, Florida
Darwin D. Knochenmus, G.H. Hughes
1976, Water-Resources Investigations Report 76-72
Lake County includes a 1,150 square-mile area consisting of ridges, uplands, and valleys in central-peninsular Florida. About 32 percent of the county is covered by lakes, swamps, and marshes. Water requirements in 1970 averaged about 54 million gallons per day. About 85 percent of the water was obtained from wells;...
Preliminary investigation of the elemental variation and diagenesis of a tabular uranium deposit, La Sal Mine, San Juan County, Utah
Robert A. Brooks, John A. Campbell
1976, Open-File Report 76-287
Ore in the La Sal mine, San Juan County, Utah, occurs as a typical tabular-type uranium deposit of the-Colorado Plateau. Uranium-vanadium occurs in the Salt Wash Member of the Jurassic Morrison Formation. Chemical and petrographic analyses were used to determine elemental variation and diagenetic aspects across the orebody. Vanadium is...
Ground-water conditions in the Kingston area, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and their effect on basement flooding
Douglas J. Growitz
1976, Open-File Report 76-793
Ground water underlying the Kingston area occurs in one very complex reservoir that consists of two essential parts--a shallow system and a deep system. The shallow system is composed of the unconsolidated deposits in the buried valley. The deep system is composed of bedrock, including anthracite coal, some of which...
Volcanic rocks of the McDermitt Caldera, Nevada-Oregon
Robert C. Greene
1976, Open-File Report 76-753
The McDermitt caldera, a major Miocene eruptive center is locatedin the northernmost Great Basin directly west of McDermitt, Nev. The alkali rhyolite of Jordan Meadow was erupted from the caldera and covered an area of about 60,000 sq km; the volume of rhyolite is about 960 cubic km. Paleozoic and...
Ground water in the Harrisburg-Halsey area, southern Willamette Valley, Oregon
F. J. Frank
1976, Water Supply Paper 2040
The Harrisburg-Halsey area lies between the Cascade and Coast Ranges in the southern Willamette Valley in northwestern Oregon. The area consists of approximately 350 square miles (910 km2) and includes a part of the lower foothills of the Coast and Cascade Ranges. Volcanic and marine sedimentary units exposed in the...
Reconnaissance water sampling for radium-226 in central and northern Florida, December 1974-March 1976
G. A. Irwin, C. B. Hutchinson
1976, Water-Resources Investigations Report 76-103
Analyses of 115 water samples collected from December 1974 through March 1976 in eight Florida Counties indicated that 22 samples (19 percent) had radium-226 activities equal to or in excess of 3 piC/liter (picocuries per liter), the concentration limit recommended for drinking water by the U.S. Public Health Service. The...
Summary appraisals of the nation's ground-water resources – California region
H. E. Thomas, D. A. Phoenix
1976, Professional Paper 813-E
Most people in the California Region live in a semiarid or arid climate, with precipitation less than the potential evapotranspiration- environments of perennial water deficiency. The deficiency becomes most onerous during the characteristically rainless summers and during recurrent droughts that may continue for 10--20 years. However, water from winter rain...
Geological reconnaissance of some Uruguayan iron and manganese deposits in 1962
Roberts Manning Wallace
1976, Open-File Report 76-466
The Valentines iron deposit, Florida, Uruguay This report is the result of a request by the Uruguayan Government for technical assistance in the field of geology by the U.S. Geological Survey under the auspices of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Corps of Engineers, United States Army. Geological reconnaissance...
Computer-enhanced LANDSAT imagery as a tool for mineral exploration in Alaska
Nairn Albert, Pat S. Chavez
1976, Open-File Report 76-65
Recent work in the Nabesna and McCarthy quadrangles, Alaska, indicates that computer-enhanced LANDSAT imagery shows many of the known mineral deposits and can help in the prediction of potential mineral occurrences. False color, "simulated natural color" and color ratio techniques, were used successfully in conjunction with a black and white,...
Ground water in the San Juan metropolitan area, Puerto Rico
H. R. Anderson
1976, Water-Resources Investigations Report 75-41
Ground water in the San Juan, Puerto Rico, area has played a declining role in water supply since the completion of the Lofza reservoir project in the early 1950's. Ground-water potential is limited because of the small size of the aquifers and susceptibility to seawater intrusion. Of the 30 million...
Summary of geology and ground-water resources of Passaic County, New Jersey
L.D. Carswell, J.G. Rooney
1976, Water-Resources Investigations Report 76-75
Ground water in Passaic County occurs in intergranular openings of unconsolidated stratified deposits of Quaternary age and in joints and fractures in consolidated rocks of Precambrian, Paleozoic, and Triassic age.The Brunswick Formation of Triassic age is the most important aquifer in the southeastern one-third of Passaic County. Reported yields of public supply and...
Water availability, quality, and use in Alaska
G. O. Balding
1976, Open-File Report 76-513
The Alaska Water Assessment, sponsored by the Water Resources Council, is a specific problem analysis for Alaska of the National Assessment of Water and Related Land Resources. The assessment addresses water and water-related land problems, present and future. It was felt that a supplementary report, as a part of the...
Water resources of Lincoln County coastal area, Oregon
F. J. Frank, Antonius Laenen
1976, Water-Resources Investigations Report 76-90
The Lincoln County coastal area is underlain by Tertiary volcanic and sedimentary rocks of low permeability that store only a small volume of the annual precipitation which averages 68 inches (1,730 millimeters). Consequently, the Tertiary units yield small quantities of water to wells and furnish little ground-water discharge to maintain...
Radioactive mineral springs in Delta County, Colorado
Robert A. Cadigan, John N. Rosholt, J. Karen Felmlee
1976, Open-File Report 76-223
The system of springs in Delta County, Colo., contains geochemical clues to the nature and location of buried uranium-mineralized rock. The springs, which occur along the Gunnison River and a principal tributary between Delta and Paonia, are regarded as evidence of a still-functioning hydrothermal system. Associated with the springs are...
