Publications

A coal deposit in Bay County, Mich., typical of Pennsylvanian-coal deposits in the State, was studied to determine the degree to which hydrologic factors might affect future coal mining. The coal deposit, which averages about 0.5 meters in thickness, lies 50 meters below land surface. It is part of a multi-layered aquifer system that contains sandstone, shale, sand and gravel, and clay...

Water-quality characteristics were determined for four selected lakes to provide background data for evaluating changes that may occur in the lakes because of urbanization. Precipitation of calcium carbonate is suggested by high pH values and a decrease in the calcium concentration when magnesium, sodium, and chloride concentrations increase. Pollution is indicated by chloride...

The U.S. Geological Survey is conducting a study of the Cambrian and Ordovician aquifer system of the northern Midwest as part of a national series of Regional Aquifer-Systems Analysis (RASA). An integral part of this study will be a simulation of the ground-water flow regime using the Geological Survey's three-dimensional finite-difference model. The first step in the modeling effort is...

The history of deposition in the White River Reservoir was reconstructed from a study of sediment in the reservoir. Suspended-sediment concentrations, particle size, and streamflow characteristics were measured at gaging stations upstream and downstream from the reservoir from November 1975 through September 1977. Characteristics of the sediments were determined from borings and samples...

The purpose of this report is to make available the 1979 records of water levels and related data for the principal aquifers of the State. This report is written for municipalities, industries, institutions, consultants, drillers, hydrologists, and other people interested in the ground-water resources.

Larvicides are used to control sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in the Great Lakes. These larvicides are useful because they are more toxic to sea lamprey than fish species found in the same habitat. The lampricides come from two classes of chemical compounds: (1) halonitrophenols, and (2) halonitrosalicylanilides. Selectivity of the larvicides appears to be based on the differences in...

Profiles of the regional flood, 500-year flood, and flood-protection elevation have been developed for a 21-mile reach of the Mississippi River. Areas flooded by the regional flood and by the 500-year flood were delineated by photogrammetric mapping techniques and are shown on seven large-scale map sheets. Over 1,300 acres of flood plain are included in the cities of Anoka, Champlin...

A program of water-quality sampling to define the relationships between land use, watershed characteristics, and the quantity, quality, and timing of runoff has been started for the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota. Ten major watersheds were chosen as representative of conditions in the metropolitan area. Each will be sampled at one location near the outlet. Six of the...

Water-quality characteristics of 17 lakes and ponds in the city of Eagan were described from data collected from 1972 through 1978. The data showed that differences in water quality between lakes were related to differences in the percentage of urbanization. However, water-quality variations within each lake were affected more by climatic variations than by land-use changes during that...

Cedar Lake, a kettle lake with no surface inlet or outlet, was studied to evaluate the feasibility of maintaining water levels of lakes in the glaciated kettle moraine area of eastern Wisconsin by pumping ground water into them. The general hydrogeology of the area around the lake was defined and the hydrology of the lake was studied in detail. There are two aquifer systems in the Cedar...

Eagle Lake occupies 890 acres of a 9,000-acre watershed in central Minnesota. Because of its proximity to Willmar, many homes and summer cabins have been built around the lake. Presently (1978), the shore is more than 90 percent developed. One effect of this development is accelerated eutrophication, most commonly shown by algae blooms. An annual hydrologic budget for Eagle Lake was...

Muskegon County, Michigan, disposes of wastewater by spray irrigating farmland on its waste-disposal site. Buried drains in the highly permeable unconfined aquifer at the site control the level of the water table. Hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer and drain-leakance, the reciprocal of resistance to flow into the drains, was determined at a representative irrigation circle while...