News

The flow of the Red River officially broke the 100-year-old record on Thurs. April 17, 1997, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 occurred Tues., April 22, 1997, about 35 miles off the coast of Trinidad, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Peat soils in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and their relationship to water quality; the history and consequences of long-term groundwater use in the Mojave Desert; the hydrology, biology and geology of San Francisco Bay; 

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and its potential effects on air and water quality were the focus of a session Wed. and Thurs, April 16-17, 1997, at the American Chemical Society annual meeting in San Francisco, California. U.S. Geological Survey scientists will report on several studies of the occurrence and distribution of this compound in surface water and ground water during the session.

Dr. Gordon Eaton, the national director of the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Va., will be one of the speakers at the Friday, April 18, 1997 dedication of Placer Hall on the California State University at Sacramento campus.

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in the nation’s ground waters and surface waters will be the subject of papers and poster presentations by U.S. Geological Survey scientists at the American Chemical Society annual meeting, April 16-17, in San Francisco, Calif.

The presence of the U.S. Geological Survey in Placer Hall on the campus of California State University at Sacramento marks the latest chapter in the USGS’s long association with the study of earth sciences in California and cooperation with the state’s Division of Mines and Geology and its higher education system.

As part of a continuing expanded partnership with private industry, the U.S. Geological Survey has contracted with NIES Mapping Group, Inc., of Bellevue, Wash., to produce digital orthophoto quadrangles.

U.S. Geological Survey scientists are encouraged because they now know that they have the capability to explain the blind thrust faults of the Los Angeles region with seismic reflection methods, according to USGS researcher Dr. Rufus Catchings. 

The term "geologic hazards" in Hawaii generally means volcanic eruptions and lava flows. A hazard that might not come to mind is the possibility of earthquakes, as large as magnitude-eight, under the flanks of the active volcanoes, according to Fred Klein, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif.

U.S. output of mineral-based materials contributed nearly $400 billion to the nation’s economy in 1996, according to a new report from the U.S. Geological Survey.