International Programs
Publications
Indonesia and the United States team up to reduce impacts from dangerous volcanoes
With 75 historically active volcanoes, Indonesia is the world’s most volcanically active nation. Its volcanoes are legendary throughout the world, with the notorious 19th-century eruptions at Mount Tambora (1815) and Krakatau (1883), and the eruption that created the giant Toba Caldera in Sumatra (75,000 years ago)—the Earth’s largest volcanic...
Lowenstern, Jacob B.; Kasbani; Pallister, John S.; Ramsey, David W.Hydrogeologic framework and simulation of predevelopment groundwater flow, eastern Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates
Groundwater in eastern Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates is an important resource that is widely used for irrigation and domestic supplies in rural areas. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Environment Agency—Abu Dhabi cooperated on an investigation to integrate existing hydrogeologic information and to answer questions about regional...
Eggleston, Jack R.; Mack, Thomas J.; Imes, Jeffrey L.; Kress, Wade; Woodward, Dennis W.; Bright, Daniel J.Improving our understanding of hydraulic-electrical relations: A case study of the surficial aquifer in Emirate Abu Dhabi
Transmissivity is a bulk hydraulic property that can be correlated with bulk electrical properties of an aquifer. In aquifers that are electrically-resistive relative to adjacent layers in a horizontally stratified sequence, transmissivity has been shown to correlate with bulk transverse resistance. Conversely, in aquifers that are electrically-...
Ikard, Scott; Kress, Wade H.Earthshots: Satellite images of environmental change – Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Earthshots introduces remote sensing by showing examples of how environmental changes look from space. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) holds about 6% of the world’s total oil reserves. The oil cannot last forever, so Dubai is thinking of the future. The fast-growing city, and most populous in the UAE, is diversifying its economic base by...
Adamson, ThomasAssessment of bauxite, clay, and laterite deposits in Afghanistan
Bauxite-bearing rocks are present in several regions of Afghanistan; specifically, the southeast segment of the North Afghanistan Platform, the eastern parts of South Afghanistan, and within the Afghanistan-North and -South Pamir Fold Regions. Bauxite-bearing rocks occur at various stratigraphic levels, in lithologically different sequences of...
Renaud, Karine M.; Wardlaw, Bruce R.; Hubbard, Bernard E.Geologic map of the Ahankashan-Rakhna basin, Badghis, Ghor, and Herat Provinces, Afghanistan, modified from the 1974 original map compilation of Y.I. Shcherbina and others
This geologic map of the Ahankashan-Rakhna basin, Afghanistan, is a redrafted and modified version of the Geological map of the area of Ahankashan-Rakhna basin, scale 1:50,000 and Geological map of the Ahankashan area with data on mineral resources, scale 1:12,000 from Shcherbina and others (1974) (Soviet report no. 0822). That...
Tucker, Robert D.; Stettner, Will R.; Masonic, Linda M.; Bogdanow, Anya K.Groundwater levels in the Kabul Basin, Afghanistan, 2004-2013
The Afghanistan Geological Survey, with technical assistance from the U.S. Geological Survey, established a network of wells to measure and monitor groundwater levels to assess seasonal, areal, and potentially climatic variations in groundwater characteristics in the Kabul Basin, Afghanistan, the most populous region in the country. Groundwater...
Taher, Mohammad R.; Chornack, Michael P.; Mack, Thomas J.Hydrogeology and water quality of the Chakari Basin, Afghanistan
The hydrogeology and water quality of the Chakari Basin, a 391-square-kilometer (km2) watershed near Kabul, Afghanistan, was assessed by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Afghanistan Geological Survey to provide an understanding of the water resources in an area of Afghanistan with considerable copper and other mineral resources. Water quality,...
Mack, Thomas J.; Chornack, Michael P.; Flanagan, Sarah M.; Chalmers, Ann T.Water resources activities of the U.S. Geological Survey in Afghanistan from 2004 through 2014
Safe and reliable supply of water, for irrigation and domestic consumption, is one of Afghanistan’s critical needs for the country’s growing population. Water is also needed for mining and mineral processing and the associated business and community development, all of which contribute to the country’s economic growth and stability. Beginning in...
Mack, Thomas J.; Chornack, Michael P.; Vining, Kevin C.; Amer, Saud A.; Zaheer, Mohammad F.; Medlin, Jack H.Geologic map of the Shaida deposit and Misgaran prospect, Herat Province, Afghanistan, modified from the 1973 original map compilation of V.I. Tarasenko and others
This map is a modified version of Geological map and map of useful minerals, Shaida area, scale 1:50,000, which was compiled by V.I. Tarasenko, N.I. Borozenets, and others in 1973. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Afghan Geological Survey and the Task Force for Business and Stability Operations of the U.S....
Tucker, Robert D.; Stettner, Will R.; Masonic, Linda M.; Moran, Thomas W.Groundwater-level trends and forecasts, and salinity trends, in the Azraq, Dead Sea, Hammad, Jordan Side Valleys, Yarmouk, and Zarqa groundwater basins, Jordan
Changes in groundwater levels and salinity in six groundwater basins in Jordan were characterized by using linear trends fit to well-monitoring data collected from 1960 to early 2011. On the basis of data for 117 wells, groundwater levels in the six basins were declining, on average about -1 meter per year (m/yr), in 2010. The highest average rate...
Goode, Daniel J.; Senior, Lisa A.; Subah, Ali; Jaber, AymanAtmospheric bromine flux from the coastal Abu Dhabi sabkhat: A ground-water mass-balance investigation
A solute mass-balance study of ground water of the 3000 km2 coastal sabkhat (salt flats) of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, documents an annual bromide loss of approximately 255 metric tons (0.0032 Gmoles), or 85 kg/km2. This value is an order of magnitude greater than previously published direct measurements from the atmosphere...
Wood, W.W.; Sanford, W.E.