Publications

Winter snow accumulation and summer snow, firn, and ice melt were measured at South Cascade Glacier, Washington to determine the winter and net balances for the 1995 balance year. The 1995 winter balance, averaged over the glacier, was 2.86 meters, and the net balance was -0.69 meter. The winter balance was approximately 0.5 meter greater than the 1977-94 average winter balance. The net...

1. The relationships between three habitat scales and lotic invertebrate species composition were investigated for the 15 540 km2 Yakima River basin in south-central Washington, U.S.A. 2. The three spatial scales were sample (the sampled riffle), reach (a length of ten–twenty stream widths) and segment (a length of stream of nearly uniform slope and valley form having no change in stream...

No abstract available.

East King County is a 250-square-mile area east of Seattle underlain by as much as 1,200 feet of unconsolidated deposits of glacial and nonglacial origin. A surficial geology map and 12 geohydrologic sections were constructed and used to delineate 10 geohydrologic units, 4 of which are major aquifers. Annual precipitation over the study area averages 57 inches, of which 31 inches, or 413...

Long-term average deep-percolation rates of water from precipitation on the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site in semiarid south-central Washington, as estimated by a chloride mass-balance method, range from 0.008 to 0.30 mm/yr (millimeters per year) at nine locations covered by a variety of fine-grain soils and vegetated with sagebrush and other deep-rooted plants plus sparse...

Mount Rainier is potentially the most dangerous volcano in the Cascade Range because of its great height, frequent earthquakes, active hydrothermal system, and extensive glacier mantle. Many debris flows and their distal phases have inundated areas far from the volcano during postglacial time. Two types of debris flows, cohesive and noncohesive, have radically different origins and...

Benthic-algal distributions in the Yakima River, Washington, basin were, examined in relation to geology, land use, water chemistry, and stream habitat using indicator-species classification (TWINSPAN) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). Algal assemblages identified byTWINSPAN were each associated with a narrow range of water-quality conditions. In the Cascade geologic province...

Data on the quantity and quality of ground water that drains into dry docks at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard can be useful for planning environmental remediation work at the shipyard. Ground-water discharges into and total drain-water discharges from individual dry docks were computed from a single set of discharges of individual inflowing drains' and outflowing drain-water collection...

No abstract available.

This map report illustrates digitally generated depth-to-water zones for the Rathdrum Prairie in Idaho; part of the Spokane River Valley in eastern Washington; and the intermontane valleys of the upper Big Wood, Big Lost, Pahsimeroi, Little Lost, and Lemhi Rivers and Birch Creek in Idaho. Depth to water is 400 to 500 feet below land surface in the northern part of Rathdrum Prairie, 100...

The yearly net mass balance of South Cascade Glacier, Washington, has decreased since the mid-1970s. Results show that the decrease is primarily caused by a significant decrease in the winter mass balance. The decrease in winter mass balance is caused, in part, by changes in winter mean atmospheric circulation that began during the mid-1970s. Approximately 60% of the variability in...

The theoretical patterns of water drainage are presented for South Cascade Glacier for four different years between 1964 and 1992, during which the glacier was thinning and receding. The theoretical pattern compares well, in a broad sense, with the flow pattern determined from tracer injections in 1986 and 1987. Differences between the patterns may result from the routing of surface...