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We conduct impartial, multi- and interdisciplinary research and monitoring on a large range of natural-resource issues that impact the quality of life of citizens and landscapes of the Southeastern United States and the Caribbean region.
News
President Proposes $971.2 Million FY 2021 Budget for USGS
Budget Focuses on Bringing Science, Facilities, and Infrastructure into the 21st Century
USGS Estimates 214 trillion Cubic Feet of Natural Gas in Appalachian Basin Formations
The Marcellus Shale and Point Pleasant-Utica Shale formations of the Appalachian Basin contain an estimated mean of 214 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous resources of natural gas, according to new USGS assessments.
Seeking Water from Above: Low-Level Helicopter to Fly Above Mississippi Alluvial Plain
Editor: In the public interest and in accordance with Federal Aviation Administration regulations, the USGS is announcing this low-level airborne project. Your assistance informing the local communities is appreciated.
Publications
The relation of geogenic contaminants to groundwater age, aquifer hydrologic position, water type, and redox conditions in Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain aquifers, eastern and south-central USA
Groundwater age distributions developed from carbon-14 (14C), tritium (3H), and helium-4 (4He) concentrations, along with aquifer hydrologic position, water type, and redox conditions, were compared to geogenic contaminants of concern (GCOC) from 252 public-supply wells in six Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain unconsolidated-sediment aquifers....
Degnan, James R.; Lindsey, Bruce D.; Levitt, Joseph Patrick; Szabo, Zoltan Four major Holocene earthquakes on the Reelfoot fault recorded by sackungen in the New Madrid seismic zone, USA
Three sequences of well-documented, major ~M7+ earthquakes (1811-1812 CE, ~1450 CE, and ~900 CE) in the New Madrid seismic zone, USA, contribute significantly to seismic hazard in the region. However, it is unknown whether this <550 yr recurrence interval has been constant throughout the Holocene given limited geomorphic evidence of prior...
Gold, Ryan D.; Duross, Christopher; Delano, Jaime E.; Jibson, Randall W.; Briggs, Richard W.; Mahan, Shannon A.; Williams, Robert; Corbett, D. Reide Coseismic sackungen in the New Madrid seismic zone, USA
High‐resolution lidar reveals newly recognized evidence of strong shaking in the New Madrid seismic zone in the central United States. We mapped concentrations of sackungen (ridgetop spreading features) on bluffs along the eastern Mississippi River valley in northwestern Tennessee that likely form or are reactivated during large earthquakes. These...
Delano, Jaime E.; Gold, Ryan D.; Briggs, Richard W.; Jibson, Randall W.
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Terrestrial Analog Sample Collections
The Astrogeology Terrestrial Analog Sample Collections include three individual sample collections: the Meteor Crater Sample Collection, the Flynn Creek Crater Sample Collection, and the Shoemaker Sample Collection (embed links to individual pages; add buttons to click to go to individual pages).
Click Related Science tab above to navigate to the individual...
Appalachian Basin Geologic Mapping Project
The Appalachian Basin Geologic Mapping Project performs geologic mapping at local and regional scales, and geologic research in The Valley and Ridge and Appalachian Plateaus physiographic provinces. These provinces include parts of 11 states and mainly borders the Blue Ridge / Piedmont and North Interior Lowlands Provinces. Two states have Valley and Ridge geology only (GA, NJ), two have...
United States Assessments of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources
USGS Energy Resources Program provides periodic assessments of the oil and natural gas endowment of the United States and the World (click here for information about World Oil and Gas Assessments). This website provides access to new, prioritized, assessment results and supporting data for the United States, as part...
Spring/Summer 2011 Mississippi River Basin Floods
Learn more about USGS flood activities related to the Spring/Summer 2011 floods throughout the Mississippi River Basin.
May 2011 Memphis, Tennessee Flood
Learn more about USGS flood activities related to the May 2011 flood in Memphis, Tennessee, including deploying emergency real-time surface-water stage gages at critical locations in Shelby County.
Cincinnati Arch Oil and Gas Assessments
The U.S. Geological Survey completed the following assessments of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Cincinnati Arch Province (5066) :
- 1995 Assessment (DDS-30).
Illinois Basin Oil and Gas Assessments
The U.S. Geological Survey completed the following assessments of undiscovered continuous oil and gas resources of the Illinois Basin Province 5064:
- 2007 Continuous and Conventional Assessment (Fact Sheet 2007-3058).
- 1995 Assessment ( ...
Blue Ridge and Inner Piedmont Geologic Mapping
The Blue Ridge and Inner Piedmont Geologic Mapping Task (BRIP) is the western focus of geologic mapping and framework studies of the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Project. BRIP will conduct modern geologic mapping and geologic framework studies in the Wytheville, Hickory and Boone 30x60-min. sheets. Collectively, the objectives of BRIP are to (1) characterize the geologic framework of the Blue Ridge...
Piedmont and Blue Ridge Project
The Piedmont and Blue Ridge Project is a geologic mapping project supported by the USGS National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program. The Piedmont Blue Ridge Project aims to understand the geologic framework and tectonic evolution of terranes and basins in the Appalachian Piedmont and Blue Ridge, and their significance for water, mineral and energy resources, natural hazards, and engineering/...
Appalachian Basin Oil and Gas Assessments
The USGS has conducted numerous assessments of undiscovered oil and gas in the Appalachian Basin, including studies of the Marcellus Shale. The region extends from Alabama to Maine. The following is an overview of the assessments:
- 2019 Ordovician Point Pleasant Formation and Utica Shale (FS 2019-3044)
- 2019 ...
Domestic wells provide drinking water supply for approximately 40 million people in the United States. Knowing the location of these wells, and the populations they serve, is important for identifying heavily used aquifers, locations susceptible to contamination, and populations potentially impacted by poor-quality groundwater.
The NWIS mapper provides access to over 1.5 million sites contained in the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), including sites where current and historical surface-water, groundwater, springs, and atmospheric data has been collected. Users can search by site type, data type, site number, or place.
The Mississippi Alluvial Plain (MAP) Project contains several geologic units which act as important aquifers. We collected several sets of time-domain electromagnetic (TEM) data consisting of two higher-density surveys and six regional-scale transects. The higher density surveys were collected to compare and contrast to other geophysical data not included in this data release, such as a
Crustal Architecture Beneath the Southern Midcontinent (USA) -- Data Grids and 3D Geophysical Models
Regional grid files and 3D voxel models were used to study crustal architecture beneath the Southern Midcontinent (USA) by McCafferty and others (2019). The study covered a rectangular, multi-state area of 924 by 924 kilometers centered on Missouri, and a corresponding volume extending from the topographic surface to a depth of 50 kilometers below sea level. The grid files consist of
GIS Data for Cincinnati Arch Oil and Gas Assessments
GIS Data for Illinois Basin Oil and Gas Assessments
Interactively explore assessment summary information for continuous (unconventional) assessments conducted at the USGS from 2000-2018. The assessment results data used to generate this visualization can be downloaded here in Excel Format. These data represent all assessment results for Continuous Assessments only from 2000-2018.
The National Water Information System (NWIS) web application provides access to real-time and historical surface-water, groundwater, water-quality, and water-use data collected at approximately 1.5 million sites across all 50 states.
Fish community richness, density, and biomass for entire communities, Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout, and minnows, including site characteristics, and water chemistry (acid neutralizing capacity, pH, nitrate, sulfate, ammonia, calcium, and total aluminum) collected at least once and as many as 13 times at each of 52 stream sites during the same years that fish were inve
See Current Water Conditions for Tennessee using our new interactive map. Here you can find information on Groundwater, Surface Water and Water Quality.
Groundwater Watch is a supplemental tool to NWISWeb and, as such, is able to provide additional benefits to the groundwater community. NWIS is the authoritative database for USGS groundwater data, and NWISWeb is the public interface for these groundwater data. This is information pertaining to the Memphis Area Groundwater-Level Network.
USGS data portray selected structures data, including the location and characteristics of manmade facilities. Characteristics consist of a structure's physical form (footprint), function, name, location, and detailed information about the structure. The types of structures collected are largely determined by the needs of the disaster planning and response and homeland security organizations.
Domestic wells provide drinking water supply for approximately 40 million people in the United States. Knowing the location of these wells, and the populations they serve, is important for identifying heavily used aquifers, locations susceptible to contamination, and populations potentially impacted by poor-quality groundwater.
This map shows the provinces assessed by the USGS for undiscovered oil and gas resources.
Flynn Creek crater is a 3.8 km diameter, 360-million-year-old impact structure located in north central Tennessee, and is an invaluable terrestrial analog for the study of impact cratering dynamics. The Flynn Creek Crater Sample Collection consists of over two thousand boxes of drill core from 18 drill holes in the crater’s central uplift, floor, and rim.
Network wells depicted on the Climate Response Network location map
Note: Color shading in the table below indicates multiple wells that plot as a single point on the state location map above.
Note: BLS = Water Level in Feet Below Land Surface, RVD = Water Level referenced to a vertical datum
June 1 marks the beginning of hurricane season. Should storms arrive on the Louisiana coast, the people in coastal communities across the State, along with many Federal, State, and local agencies will need to know how the storms are affecting the coastal and low-lying areas.The USGS maintains an extensive network of coastal gages that provides critical time-sensitive water level.
Subsurface geometry of the Mississippi Embayment Regional Aquifer Study (MERAS)
The 3DEP products and services available through The National Map consist of standard digital elevation models (DEMs) at various horizontal resolutions, elevation source and associated datasets, an elevation point query service and bulk point query service. All 3DEP products are available, free of charge and without use restrictions.
The relation of geogenic contaminants to groundwater age, aquifer hydrologic position, water type, and redox conditions in Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain aquifers, eastern and south-central USA
Groundwater age distributions developed from carbon-14 (14C), tritium (3H), and helium-4 (4He) concentrations, along with aquifer hydrologic position, water type, and redox conditions, were compared to geogenic contaminants of concern (GCOC) from 252 public-supply wells in six Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain unconsolidated-sediment aquifers....
Degnan, James R.; Lindsey, Bruce D.; Levitt, Joseph Patrick; Szabo, Zoltan Four major Holocene earthquakes on the Reelfoot fault recorded by sackungen in the New Madrid seismic zone, USA
Three sequences of well-documented, major ~M7+ earthquakes (1811-1812 CE, ~1450 CE, and ~900 CE) in the New Madrid seismic zone, USA, contribute significantly to seismic hazard in the region. However, it is unknown whether this <550 yr recurrence interval has been constant throughout the Holocene given limited geomorphic evidence of prior...
Gold, Ryan D.; Duross, Christopher; Delano, Jaime E.; Jibson, Randall W.; Briggs, Richard W.; Mahan, Shannon A.; Williams, Robert; Corbett, D. Reide Coseismic sackungen in the New Madrid seismic zone, USA
High‐resolution lidar reveals newly recognized evidence of strong shaking in the New Madrid seismic zone in the central United States. We mapped concentrations of sackungen (ridgetop spreading features) on bluffs along the eastern Mississippi River valley in northwestern Tennessee that likely form or are reactivated during large earthquakes. These...
Delano, Jaime E.; Gold, Ryan D.; Briggs, Richard W.; Jibson, Randall W. Continuity of the Reelfoot fault across the Cottonwood Grove and Ridgely faults of the New Madrid Seismic Zone
Previous investigators have argued that the northwest-striking Reelfoot fault of northwest Tennessee and southeastern Missouri is segmented. One segment boundary is at the intersection of the northeast-striking Cottonwood Grove and Ridgely strike-slip faults with the Reelfoot fault. We use seismic reflection and geologic mapping to locate and...
Greenwood, M.L.; Woolery, Edward W; Van Arsdale, R. B.; Stephenson, William J.; Patterson, Gary L. St. Louis area earthquake hazards mapping project; seismic and liquefaction hazard maps
We present probabilistic and deterministic seismic and liquefaction hazard maps for the densely populated St. Louis metropolitan area that account for the expected effects of surficial geology on earthquake ground shaking. Hazard calculations were based on a map grid of 0.005°, or about every 500 m, and are thus higher in resolution than any...
Cramer, Chris H.; Bauer, Robert A.; Chung, Jae-won; Rogers, David; Pierce, Larry; Voigt, Vicki; Mitchell, Brad; Gaunt, David; Williams, Robert; Hoffman, David; Hempen, Gregory L.; Steckel, Phyllis; Boyd, Oliver S.; Watkins, Connor M.; Tucker, Kathleen; McCallister, Natasha Dense lower crust elevates long-term earthquake rates in the New Madrid seismic zone
Knowledge of the local state of stress is critical in appraising intraplate seismic hazard. Inverting earthquake moment tensors, we demonstrate that principal stress directions in the New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ) differ significantly from those in the surrounding region. Faults in the NMSZ that are incompatible with slip in the regional stress...
Levandowski, William Brower; Boyd, Oliver S.; Ramirez-Guzman, Leonardo
Historical files from Federal Government mineral exploration-assistance programs, 1950 to 1974
The Defense Minerals Administration (DMA), Defense Minerals Exploration Administration (DMEA), and Office of Minerals Exploration (OME) mineral exploration programs were active over the period 1950–1974. Under these programs, the Federal Government contributed financial assistance in the exploration for certain strategic and critical minerals. The...
Frank, David G. Growth, survival, longevity, and population size of the Big Mouth Cave salamander (Gyrinophilus palleucus necturoides) from the type locality in Grundy County, Tennessee, USA
Salamander species that live entirely in subterranean habitats have evolved adaptations that allow them to cope with perpetual darkness and limited energy resources. We conducted a 26-month mark–recapture study to better understand the individual growth and demography of a population of the Big Mouth Cave Salamander (Gyrinophilus palleucus...
Niemiller, Matthew L.; Glorioso, Brad M.; Fenolio, Dante B.; Reynolds, R. Graham; Taylor, Steven J.; Miller, Brian T. Ground motion-simulations of 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes, central United States
We performed a suite of numerical simulations based on the 1811–1812 New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ) earthquakes, which demonstrate the importance of 3D geologic structure and rupture directivity on the ground‐motion response throughout a broad region of the central United States (CUS) for these events. Our simulation set consists of 20...
Ramirez-Guzman, L.; Graves, Robert; Olsen, Kim B.; Boyd, Oliver S.; Cramer, Chris H.; Hartzell, Stephen H.; Ni, Sidao; Somerville, Paul G.; Williams, Robert; Zhong, Jinquan Crustal deformation in the New Madrid seismic zone and the role of postseismic processes
Global Navigation Satellite System data across the New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ) in the central United States over the period from 2000 through 2014 are analyzed and modeled with several deformation mechanisms including the following: (1) creep on subsurface dislocations, (2) postseismic frictional afterslip and viscoelastic relaxation from the...
Boyd, Oliver S.; Robert Smalley, Jr; Zeng, Yuehua Why the New Madrid earthquakes are M 7–8 and the Charleston earthquake is ∼M 7
Estimates of magnitudes of large historical earthquakes are an essential input to and can seriously affect seismic‐hazard estimates. The earthquake‐intensity observations, modified Mercalli intensities (MMI), and assigned magnitudes Mof the 1811–1812 New Madrid events have been reinterpreted several times in the last decade and have...
Cramer, Chris H.; Boyd, Oliver S.
Workshop on New Madrid geodesy and the challenges of understanding intraplate earthquakes
On March 4, 2011, 26 researchers gathered in Norwood, Massachusetts, for a workshop sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey and FM Global to discuss geodesy in and around the New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ) and its relation to earthquake hazard. The group addressed the challenge of reconciling current geodetic measurements, which show low present-...
Boyd, Oliver; Calais, Eric; Langbein, John; Magistrale, Harold; Stein, Seth; Zoback, Mark
National Oil and Gas Assessment Provinces
This is a graphic from the USGS National Oil and Gas Assessment Explorer application, which allows user to drill into 70 oil and gas assessment provinces throughout the United States.
Habitat Connectivity: Assessing Threats and IDing Conservation Actions
An important conservation strategy for climate change is to enhance and maintain regional habitat connectivity for the long-term viability of wildlife populations. Modeling habitat connectivity for wildlife species often results in a mapped network of linkages between habitat patches. A critical next step is to determine which of those linkages are priorities for
Conglomerates, Sycamore Sand at Hammetts Crossing, Travis Cty, Texas
Conglomerates within the Sycamore Sand at Hammetts Crossing, Travis County, Texas (photograph by Allan K. Clark, U.S. Geological Survey, February 27, 2018).
U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3418, https://doi.org/10.3133/sim3418
Developing Effective Drought Monitoring Tools for Farmers and Ranchers
This webinar was conducted on August 7, 2017 as part of the USGS National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center’s Climate Change Science and Management Webinar Series, held in partnership with the USFWS National Conservation Training Center.
Webinar Summary: The South Central U.S. is one of the main agricultural regions in North America: annual agricultural
An Appalachian Mountain Stream in the Spring
An Appalachian Mountain Stream in the Spring. Photographed by Samuel H Austin
Blue Ridge of Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee
Panoramic view (~270 degrees) looking across the Blue Ridge of Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee (from left to right). The Valley and Ridge is in the distance (gap between mountains).
The Piedmont and Blue Ridge provinces extend from southeastern New York to Alabama and include parts of eleven states in the Eastern U.S. and part of Washington, D.C. Blue Ridge
...
Measuring discharge during May 2011 Memphis, Tennessee flood
Measuring discharge during May 2011 Memphis, Tennessee flood
USGS boat crew prepares for a discharge measurement
USGS boat crew prepares for a discharge measurement during May 2011 Memphis, Tennessee flooding
Downtown Nashville
Rivers in middle Tennessee crested May 2-3,2010, breaking records at many USGS-operated streamgages.The flood peak on the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville ranks as the highest observed during the past 73 years. Flooding on the Cumberland River damaged the Grand Ole Opry House, Bridgestone Arena, and other landmarks with several feet of water.
Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge Visitor's Center Site Dedication
Dedication ceremony for the construction of the new Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge Visitor's Center by U.S. Fish and Wildife Director Same Hamilton, and refuge manage John Taylor.
Budget Focuses on Bringing Science, Facilities, and Infrastructure into the 21st Century
The Marcellus Shale and Point Pleasant-Utica Shale formations of the Appalachian Basin contain an estimated mean of 214 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous resources of natural gas, according to new USGS assessments.
Editor: In the public interest and in accordance with Federal Aviation Administration regulations, the USGS is announcing this low-level airborne project. Your assistance informing the local communities is appreciated.
This page contains the weekly highlights from the Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center for the week of 9/112017 - 9/15/2017! Please take a look and see what we have been up to!
As Harvey’s record breaking rainfall and catastrophic flood waters recede in Texas and western Louisiana, U.S. Geological Survey teams are collecting high water marks, monitoring water levels and coastal change, retrieving storm tide sensors and collecting samples for water quality analysis.
A carbonatite here, a glacial moraine there, a zig-zagging fault or two, even a behemoth of a batholith. The geology of the 50 States is an enormous patchwork of varied forms, beautiful in their variance but challenging to present as a single map.
A regional assessment of untreated groundwater in the Southeastern Coastal Plain aquifer system is now available from the U.S. Geological Survey.
A regional assessment of untreated groundwater in the combined Valley and Ridge and Piedmont and Blue Ridge aquifers in the eastern United States is now available from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Four Seasons, Four Beautiful Views of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
First-of-its-kind survey shows that algal toxins are found nationwide
A newly published, three-volume “Remote Sensing Handbook” is a comprehensive coverage of all remote sensing topics written by over 300 leading global experts.
Computer simulations of earthquake shaking, replicating the quakes that occurred in 1811-1812 in the New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ), indicate that future large earthquakes there would produce major, prolonged ground shaking.
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Locations
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center - Nashville, TN Office
GS-W-TNnsh Webmaster@usgs.gov
Phone: (615) 837-4700
Fax: (615) 837-4799
Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK) Headquarters
Phone: 406-994-7544
Fax: 406-994-6556
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center - Memphis, TN Office
Phone: 901-678-7287
Fax: 901-678-7300
Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center - Knoxville, TN Office
rbrendli@usgs.gov
Phone: 865-862-2029
Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK) Southern Appalachian Duty Station
Phone: 865-974-4790
Fax: 865-974-3555