Reconnaissance engineering geology of the Metlakatla area, Annette Island, Alaska, with emphasis on evaluation of earthquakes and other geologic hazards
Lynn A. Yehle
1977, Open-File Report 77-272
A program to study the engineering geology of most larger Alaska coastal communities and to evaluate their earthquake and other geologic hazards was started following the 1964 Alaska earthquake; this report about the Metlakatla area, Annette Island, is a product of that program. Field-study methods were of a reconnaissance nature,...
Lead and PCB's in canvasback ducks: Relationship between enzyme levels and residues in blood
Michael P. Dieter, Matthew Perry, Bernard M. Mulhern
1977, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (5) 1-13
Blood samples were taken for two successive years from canvasback ducks trapped in the Chesapeake Bay. The first winter (1972–1973) five plasma enzymes known to respond to organochlorine poisoning were examined. Abnormal enzyme elevations suggested that 20% of the population sampled (23/115 ducks) might contain organochlorine contaminants, but no residue...
Nevada test site craters used for astronaut training
H. J. Moore
1977, Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey (5) 719-733
Craters produced by chemical and nuclear explosives at the Nevada Test Site were used to train astronauts before their lunar missions. The craters have characteristics suitable for reconnaissance-type field investigations. The Schooner test produced a crater about 300 m across and excavated more than 72 m of stratigraphic section deposited...
Solution of three-dimensional groundwater flow equations using the strongly implicit procedure
P.C. Trescott, S. P. Larson
1977, Journal of Hydrology (35) 49-60
A three-dimensional numerical model has been coded to use the strongly implicit procedure for solving the finite-difference approximations to the ground-water flow equation. The model allows for: (1) the representation of each aquifer and each confining bed by several layers; and (2) the use of an anisotropic hydraulic conductivity at...
Chemical dissolution of sulfide minerals
T. T. Chao, R. F. Sanzolone
1977, Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey (5) 409-412
Chemical dissolution treatments involving the use of aqua regia, 4 N HNO3, H2O2-ascorbic acid, oxalic acid, KClO3+HCl, and KClO3+HCl followed by 4 N HNO3 were applied to specimens of nine common sulfide minerals (galena, chalcopyrite, cinnabar, molybdenite, orpiment, pyrite, stibnite, sphalerite, and tetrahedrite) mixed individually with a clay loam soil....
Disposal of saltwater during well construction--Problems and solutions
William A. Pitt Jr., Frederick W. Meyer, John E. Hull
1977, Groundwater (15) 276-283
The recent interest in the disposal of treated sewage effluent by deep-well injection into salt-water-filled aquifers has increased the need for proper disposal of salt water as more wells are drilled and tested each year.The effects on an unconfined aquifer of the improper disposal of salt water associated with the...
The chromosomes of the Didelphidae (Marsupialia) and their evolutionary significance
O. Reig, Alfred Gardner, N. O. Bianchi, James L. Patton
1977, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (9) 191-216
One hundred and seventy-seven specimens of American didelphids, representing 9 genera and 22 species have been studied for their chromosomal constitution. Didelphids are very conservative in chromosomal complements. All of the studied species can be sorted into one of three kinds of karyotypes: 2n= 14 (three species of Didelphis, one of Lutreolina, two of Philander, and...
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...
Cauldron subsidence of Oligocene age at Mount Lewis, Shoshone Range, Nevada: A reasonable interpretation
Chester T. Wrucke, Miles L. Silberman
1977, Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey (5) 331-335
James Gilluly has rejected the interpretation of Wrucke and Silberman (U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 876, 1975) that a thrust fault and tear fault mapped by Gilluly and Gates (U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 465, 1965) as structures bounding the upper plate of the Roberts Mountains thrust at Mount Lewis...
A reconnaissance investigation of a large meromictic lake in southeastern Alaska
George A. McCoy
1977, Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey (5) 319-324
Redoubt Lake is one of the largest documented meromictic lakes in North America. The chemocline extends in depth from 80 to 100 m (meters) and the steepest gradient is between 98 and 100 m. The monimolimnion is anoxic, contains hydrogen sulflde, and has a salinity about two-thirds that of seawater....
Interactions of nutrients, plant growth and herbivory in a mangrove ecosystem
Christopher P. Onuf, John M. Teal, Ivan Valiela
1977, Ecology (58) 514-526
The effect of nutrient enrichment of red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) was studied by comparing two mangrove—covered islands in the Indian River at Ft. Pierce, Florida, USA, one (high nutrient) with and one (low nutrient) without a breeding colony of pelicans and egrets. Repeated measurements taken on > 100 tagged branches...
Removal of fluorine and lithium from hectorite by solutions spanning a wide range of pH
Harry C. Starkey, Wayne Mountjoy, Johnnie M. Gardner
1977, Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey (5) 235-242
One-gram samples of hectorite were treated with 40 millilitres each of hydrochloric acid (6 N), acetic acid (4.5 N), distilled water, natural seawater, sodium chloride (0.6 N), and sodium hydroxide (2.5 N) for 10 days in stoppered plastic centrifuge tubes. X-ray diffraction patterns show that the structure was virtually destroyed...
Pleistocene fishes from Alameda County, California
Richard W. Casteel, David P. Adam
1977, Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey (5) 209-215
Six types of freshwater fishes were recovered from an early Pleistocene (Irvingtonian) locality on the east side of San Francisco Bay, Alameda County, Calif. The fauna includes one centrarchid, one salmonid, three cyprinids, and one catostomid. The fauna indicates fluvial and slow-moving or lacustrine aquatic environments. One of the...
Intrusive rocks of the Yakutat-St. Elias area, south-central Alaska
Travis Hudson, George Plafker, Marvin A. Lanphere
1977, Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey (5) 155-172
Twenty-three plutons, exposed over a total area of nearly 1200 km2, have been studied in the Alaska part of the St. Elias Mountains between long 138° and 141°W. Results of potassium-argon age determinations combined with field relations, petrography, and major- and trace-element chemistry suggest six major intrusive events: (1) late...
High temperature heat content and heat capacity of silicate glasses: experimental determination and a model for calculation
Charles R. Bacon
1977, American Journal of Science (277) 109-135
Knowledge of the thermodynamic properties of silicate melts is fundamental to quantitative characterization of igneous systems. This paper presents new data on one of these properties, heat content, for silicate glasses and supercooled silicate liquids and derives partial molar heat contents for the glasses. The high temperature heat contents of...
Composition of Pacific Ocean ferromanganese nodules
David Z. Piper, M.E. Williamson
1977, Marine Geology (23) 285-303
Bulk composition of ferromanganese nodules from the pelagic environment of the Pacific Ocean is apparently related to nodule-growth rate, sediment-accumulation rate, and biologic productivity in the overlying seawater. Nodules with a high MnFe">MnFe ratio and high Ni and Cu concentrations tend to occur in areas where...
Saline-water intrusion related to well construction in Lee County, Florida
Durward Hoye Boggess, T.M. Missimer, T.H. O’Donnell
1977, Water-Resources Investigations Report 77-33
Ground water is the principle source of water supply in Lee County, Florida where an estimated 30,000 wells have been drilled since 1990. These wells ranges in depth from about 10 to 1,240 feet and tap the water table aquifer or one or more of the artesian water-bearing units or...
Geochemical and petrological studies of a uraniferous granite from the Granite Mountains, Wyoming
John S. Stuckless, C. M. Bunker, C. A. Bush, W. P. Doering, J. H. Scott
1977, Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey (5) 61-81
Granite rocks from the Granite Mountains, Wyo. have been proposed as the source of uranium deposits in the Crooks Gap, Gas Hills and Shirley Basin uranium districts, Wyoming. We have divided these granitic rocks into four units: (1) a biotitic phase which forms the dominant unit at the western end...
Application of a hydrometeorological model to the south-central Sierra Nevada of California
Wendell V. Tangborn, Lowell A. Rasmussen
1977, Journal of Research of the U.S. Geological Survey (5) 33-48
A hydrometeorological streamflow-prediction model (HM model) developed for the North Cascades of Washington has been tested in the south-central Sierra Nevada of California. Twenty-four drainages ranging in mean altitude from 770 to 3,160 metres, including several of the major ones such as those of the Kern, Kings, and Merced Rivers,...
Application of gold compositional analyses to mineral exploration in the United States
J.C. Antweiler, W. L. Campbell
1977, Journal of Geochemical Exploration (8) 17-29
Native gold is a mineral composed of Au, Ag and Cu in solid solution and it usually contains one or more trace metals as lattice impurities, as mineral inclusions, in grain boundaries or in surface coatings. Alloy proportions of Au, Ag and Cu, together with certain other elements, can...
Orientale and Caloris
J.F. McCauley
1977, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors (15) 220-250
Applications of experimental explosion-crater data to Orientale and recent geologic mapping of the basin have produced a new stratigraphy and genetic model for Orientale that are also applicable to Caloris. The inner-basin scarp of Orientale is thought to be a bench separating the upper parts of the basin from its...
Earthquakes, December 1976
W. J. Person
1977, Earthquake Information Bulletin (USGS) (9) 28-29
The month of December was seismically quiet compared to the previous months of the year. There were no major earthquakes during the month and only one that caused fatalities. On December 8, the Republic of South Africa was struck by an earthquake that caused deaths and damage. The United States...
Abnormal tooth development in a sea lamprey
Patrick J. Manion, Lee H. Hanson
1977, Progressive Fish-Culturist (39) 127-128
Sea lampreys en route to their spawning grounds have been captured at mechanical or electrical structures that have been in operation for 1 to 27 spawning seasons (1949-75) on some 167 tributaries of the upper Great Lakes; more than 750,000 were taken in 1949-70 (Smith 1971). Among these lampreys...
Landslides
T. H. Nilsen
1977, Earthquake Information Bulletin (USGS) (9) 27-33
Landslides are frequent in areas where there is high seismicity and steep slopes. Landslides associated with earthquakes may cause as much damage as the initial ground shaking. They may also occur long after the earthquake. Some of the major earthquakes that have occurred during the past 15 years demonstrate the hazards...
Earthquakes: August-September 1976
W. J. Person
1977, Earthquake Information Bulletin (USGS) (9) 32-33
Destructive earthquakes continued to strike in many parts of the world during this period. The sparsely populated area of the New Hebrides Islands in the southwest Pacific was struck by a major earthquake (one with a magnitude between 7.0 and 7.9). A great earthquake (magnitude 8.0 or above) struck just...
