Three-dimensional imaging, change detection, and stability assessment during the centerline trench levee seepage experiment using terrestrial light detection and ranging technology, Twitchell Island, California, 2012
Gerald W. Bawden, James Howle, Sandra Bond, Michelle Shriro, Peter Buck
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1092
A full scale field seepage test was conducted on a north-south trending levee segment of a now bypassed old meander belt on Twitchell Island, California, to understand the effects of live and decaying root systems on levee seepage and slope stability. The field test in May 2012 was centered on...
Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: Alaska North Slope and Kandik Basin, Alaska
William H. Craddock, Marc L. Buursink, Jacob A. Covault, Sean T. Brennan, Colin A. Doolan, Ronald M. Drake II, Matthew D. Merrill, Tina L. Roberts-Ashby, Ernie R. Slucher, Peter D. Warwick, Madalyn S. Blondes, P.A. Freeman, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Celeste D. Lohr
Peter D. Warwick, M.D. Corum, editor(s)
2014, Open-File Report 2012-1024-I
This report presents fourteen storage assessment units (SAUs) from the Alaska North Slope and two SAUs from the Kandik Basin of Alaska. The Alaska North Slope is a broad, north-dipping coastal plain that is underlain by a thick succession of sedimentary rocks that accumulated steadily throughout much of the Phanerozoic...
Flood inundation maps for the Wabash and Eel Rivers at Logansport, Indiana
Kathleen K. Fowler
2014, Scientific Investigations Map 3293
Digital flood-inundation maps for an 8.3-mile reach of the Wabash River and a 7.6-mile reach of the Eel River at Logansport, Indiana (Ind.), were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The inundation maps, which can be accessed through...
Hydrogeologic framework, groundwater movement, and water budget of the Kitsap Peninsula, west-central Washington
Wendy B. Welch, Lonna M. Frans, Theresa D. Olsen
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5106
This report presents information used to characterize the groundwater-flow system on the Kitsap Peninsula, and includes descriptions of the geology and hydrogeologic framework, groundwater recharge and discharge, groundwater levels and flow directions, seasonal groundwater-level fluctuations, interactions between aquifers and the surface‑water system, and a water budget. The Kitsap Peninsula is...
Karst geomorphology and hydrology of the Shenandoah Valley near Harrisonburg, Virginia
Daniel H. Doctor, Wil Orndorff, Joel Maynard, Matthew J. Heller, Gerolamo C. Casile
2014, GSA Field Guides (35) 161-213
The karst of the central Shenandoah Valley has characteristics of both shallow and deep phreatic formation. This field guide focuses on the region around Harrisonburg, Virginia, where a number of these karst features and their associated geologic context can be examined. Ancient, widespread alluvial deposits cover much of the carbonate...
Completion summary for boreholes USGS 140 and USGS 141 near the Advanced Test Reactor Complex, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Brian V. Twining, Roy C. Bartholomay, Mary K.V. Hodges
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5098
In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, drilled and constructed boreholes USGS 140 and USGS 141 for stratigraphic framework analyses and long-term groundwater monitoring of the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at the Idaho National Laboratory in southeast Idaho. Borehole USGS 140 initially...
Land subsidence, groundwater levels, and geology in the Coachella Valley, California, 1993-2010
Michelle Sneed, Justin T. Brandt, Mike Solt
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5075
Land subsidence associated with groundwater-level declines has been investigated by the U.S. Geological Survey in the Coachella Valley, California, since 1996. Groundwater has been a major source of agricultural, municipal, and domestic supply in the valley since the early 1920s. Pumping of groundwater resulted in water-level declines as much as...
Pluvial lakes in the Great Basin of the western United States: a view from the outcrop
Marith C. Reheis, Kenneth D. Adams, Charles G. Oviatt, Steven N. Bacon
2014, Quaternary Science Reviews (97) 33-57
Paleo-lakes in the western United States provide geomorphic and hydrologic records of climate and drainage-basin change at multiple time scales extending back to the Miocene. Recent reviews and studies of paleo-lake records have focused on interpretations of proxies in lake sediment cores from the northern and central parts of the...
Landscape consequences of natural gas extraction in Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Huntingdon, and Luzerne counties, Pennsylvania, 2004-2010
E.T. Slonecker, L.E. Milheim, C.M. Roig-Silva, S.G. Winters
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1089
Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing unconventional hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau,...
Water resources of Acadia Parish, Louisiana
Larry B. Prakken, Vincent E. White
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3043
Information concerning the availability, use, and quality of water in Acadia Parish, Louisiana, is critical for proper water-supply management. The purpose of this fact sheet is to present information that can be used by water managers, parish residents, and others for stewardship of this vital resource. Information on the availability,...
Quality-assurance and data management plan for groundwater activities by the U.S. Geological Survey in Kansas, 2014
James E. Putnam, Cristi V. Hansen
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1060
As the Nation’s principle earth-science information agency, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is depended on to collect data of the highest quality. This document is a quality-assurance plan for groundwater activities (GWQAP) of the Kansas Water Science Center. The purpose of this GWQAP is to establish a minimum set of...
Natural uranium and strontium isotope tracers of water sources and surface water-groundwater interactions in arid wetlands: Pahranagat Valley, Nevada, USA
James B. Paces, Frederic C. Wurster
2014, Journal of Hydrology (517) 213-225
Near-surface physical and chemical process can strongly affect dissolved-ion concentrations and stable isotope compositions of water in wetland settings, especially under arid climate conditions. In contrast, heavy radiogenic isotopes of strontium (87Sr/86Sr) and uranium (234U/238U) remain largely unaffected and can be used to help identify unique signatures from different...
Concentrations, loads, and yields of total nitrogen and total phosphorus in the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor watershed, New Jersey, 1989-2011, at multiple spatial scales
Ronald J. Baker, Christine M. Wieben, Richard G. Lathrop, Robert S. Nicholson
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5072
Concentrations, loads, and yields of nutrients (total nitrogen and total phosphorus) were calculated for the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor (BB-LEH) watershed for 1989–2011 at annual and seasonal (growing and nongrowing) time scales. Concentrations, loads, and yields were calculated at three spatial scales: for each of the 81 subbasins specified by...
Continuous water-quality monitoring and regression analysis to estimate constituent concentrations and loads in the Red River of the North at Fargo and Grand Forks, North Dakota, 2003-12
Joel M. Galloway
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5064
The Red River of the North (hereafter referred to as “Red River”) Basin is an important hydrologic region where water is a valuable resource for the region’s economy. Continuous water-quality monitors have been operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the North Dakota Department of Health, Minnesota Pollution...
Monitoring recharge in areas of seasonally frozen ground in the Columbia Plateau and Snake River Plain, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington
Mark Mastin, Edward Josberger
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5083
Seasonally frozen ground occurs over approximately one‑third of the contiguous United States, causing increased winter runoff. Frozen ground generally rejects potential groundwater recharge. Nearly all recharge from precipitation in semi-arid regions such as the Columbia Plateau and the Snake River Plain in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, occurs between October and...
Investigation of methods for successful installation and operation of Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) hydrophones in the Willamette River, Oregon, 2012
Gary L. Rutz, Matthew D. Sholtis, Noah S. Adams, John W. Beeman
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1112
Acoustic telemetry equipment was installed at three sites in the Willamette River during October 2012 to test the effectiveness of using the Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System to monitor the movements of fish in a high-flow, high-velocity riverine environment. Hydrophones installed on concrete blocks were placed on the bottom of...
Alexandrium fundyense cysts in the Gulf of Maine: long-term time series of abundance and distribution, and linkages to past and future blooms
Donald M. Anderson, Bruce A. Keafer, Judith L. Kleindinst, Dennis J. McGillicuddy Jr., Jennifer L. Martin, Kerry Norton, Cynthia H. Pilskaln, Juliette L. Smith, Christopher R. Sherwood, Bradford Butman
2014, Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography (103) 6-26
Here we document Alexandrium fundyense cyst abundance and distribution patterns over nine years (1997 and 2004–2011) in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Maine (GOM) and identify linkages between those patterns and several metrics of the severity or magnitude of blooms occurring before and after each autumn cyst survey....
Controls of vegetation structure and net primary production in restored grasslands
Seth M. Munson, William K. Lauenroth
2014, Journal of Applied Ecology (51) 988-996
1. Vegetation structure and net primary production (NPP) are fundamental properties of ecosystems. Understanding how restoration practices following disturbance interact with environmental factors to control these properties can provide insight on how ecosystems recover and guide management efforts. 2. We assessed the relative contribution of environmental and restoration factors in...
Topographic lidar survey of the Alabama, Mississippi, and Southeast Louisiana Barrier Islands, from September 5 to October 11, 2012
Kristy K. Guy, Kara S. Doran, Hilary F. Stockdon, Nathaniel G. Plant
2014, Data Series 839
This Data Series Report contains lidar elevation data collected from September 5 to October 11, 2012, for the barrier islands of Alabama, Mississippi and southeast Louisiana, including the coast near Port Fourchon. Most of the data were collected September 5–10, 2012, with a reflight conducted on October 11, 2012, to...
Topographic lidar survey of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, February 6, 2012
Kristy K. Guy, Nathaniel G. Plant, Jamie M. Bonisteel-Cormier
2014, Data Series 840
This Data Series Report contains lidar elevation data collected February 6, 2012, for Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana. Point cloud data in lidar data exchange format (LAS) and bare earth digital elevation models (DEMs) in ERDAS Imagine raster format (IMG) are available as downloadable files. The point cloud data—data points described in...
Brine contamination to aquatic resources from oil and gas development in the Williston Basin, United States
Tara L. Chesley-Preston, James L. Coleman, Robert A. Gleason, Seth S. Haines, Karen E. Jenni, Timothy L. Nieman, Zell E. Peterman, Max Post van der Burg, Todd M. Preston, Bruce D. Smith, Brian A. Tangen, Joanna N. Thamke
Robert A. Gleason, Brian A. Tangen, editor(s)
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5017
The Williston Basin, which includes parts of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota in the United States and the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Canada, has been a leading domestic oil and gas producing region for more than one-half a century. Currently, there are renewed efforts to develop oil...
A screening tool for delineating subregions of steady recharge within groundwater models
Jesse E. Dickinson, T.P.A. Ferre, Mark Bakker, Becky Crompton
2014, Vadose Zone Journal (13)
We have developed a screening method for simplifying groundwater models by delineating areas within the domain that can be represented using steady-state groundwater recharge. The screening method is based on an analytical solution for the damping of sinusoidal infiltration variations in homogeneous soils in the vadose zone. The damping depth...
Spatial and stratigraphic distribution of water in oil shale of the Green River Formation using Fischer assay, Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado
Ronald C. Johnson, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5241
The spatial and stratigraphic distribution of water in oil shale of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin of northwestern Colorado was studied in detail using some 321,000 Fischer assay analyses in the U.S. Geological Survey oil-shale database. The oil-shale section was subdivided into 17 roughly time-stratigraphic intervals,...
Occurrence and hydrogeochemistry of radiochemical constituents in groundwater of Jefferson County and surrounding areas, southwestern Montana, 2007 through 2010
Rodney R. Caldwell, David A. Nimick, Rainie M. DeVaney
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5235
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Jefferson County and the Jefferson Valley Conservation District, sampled groundwater in southwestern Montana to evaluate the occurrence and concentration of naturally-occurring radioactive constituents and to identify geologic settings and environmental conditions in which elevated concentrations occur. A total of 168 samples were collected...
Evaluation of seepage and discharge uncertainty in the middle Snake River, southwestern Idaho
Molly S. Wood, Marshall L. Williams, David M. Evetts, Peter J. Vidmar
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5091
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the State of Idaho, Idaho Power Company, and the Idaho Department of Water Resources, evaluated seasonal seepage gains and losses in selected reaches of the middle Snake River, Idaho, during November 2012 and July 2013, and uncertainty in measured and computed discharge at...
