U.S. Department of the Interior a U.S. Geological Survey

U.S. Geological Survey

Programs in Massachusetts

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 

which was established by Congress in the 

Organic Act on March 3, 1879, provides 

geologic, topographic, hydrologic, and 

biologic information to the Nation. This 

information comprises maps, data bases, 

and reports that contain analyses and 

interpretations of water; energy, mineral, 

and biologic resources; land surface; geologic structures; natural hazards; and the 

dynamic processes of the Earth.

Nutrient Removal by Salt-Marsh 

Ecosystems

Since 1988, the USGS, in cooperation 

with the Massachusetts Department of 

Environmental Protection (MDEP) and 

the Cape Cod Commission, has been 

tracking the movement of ground water 

that contains high concentrations of nitrogen from a sewage-treatment facility 

toward Namskaket Marsh, which is a 

major salt marsh on Cape Cod (fig. 1). The 

Namskaket Marsh project will directly 

benefit the State and regional authorities 

responsible for the siting and approval of 

new sewage-treatment facilities in the 

rapidly developing coastal zone of Massachusetts. Nutrient loading from point and 

nonpoint sources is a major concern in the 

coastal zone because such nutrients can 

ultimately enter coastal waters and cause 

algal blooms, depletion of dissolved 

oxygen, fish kills, and general habitat degradation. In baseline studies of the hydrology and chemistry of Namskaket Marsh, 

the USGS has quantified the distribution 

and rates of ground-water discharge. 

Namskaket Creek sediments have been 

shown to be particularly active zones of 

ground-water discharge and nitrogen 

uptake. Moreover, the uptake capacity of 

these sediments is not fully utilized at 

present and could increase in response to 

increased nitrogen loading associated with 

the adjacent sewage-treatment facility. 

The USGS, in collaboration with the 

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 

also has mapped the natural vegetation 

communities in the marsh and conducted 

long-term fertilization experiments to 

evaluate the likely response of these communities to increased nutrient loading 

from ground water. Because a large fraction of the Massachusetts coastline is 

occupied by salt marshes, the results of 

the project will have broad significance 

for wastewater management throughout 

Massachusetts. 

Fate of Contaminants in 

Ground Water

Contamination from landfills, sewagetreatment facilities, and other land uses can 

seriously affect the quality of ground-water 

resources. Understanding processes that 

affect the fate of contaminants in ground 

water is critical for the protection of 

ground-water resources and the remediation of ground-water contamination.

As part of its Toxic Substances Hydrology Program, the USGS is studying the 

movement of contaminated ground water 

that emanates from the Massachusetts 

Military Reservation (MMR), on Cape 

Cod, and the complex interaction of 

hydrologic, chemical, and microbial processes that occur in the contaminated 

aquifer that underlies the site. Computer 

models of ground-water flow developed 

by the USGS for the MMR area were useful to the National Guard Bureau in planning a program to halt the advance of 

contaminated ground water in seven other 

areas on the MMR. 

Index of Subjects

Nutrient Removal by Salt-Marsh Ecosystems

Fate of Contaminants in Ground Water

Availability of Water

Water Quality in the Connecticut River Basin

Basins in the Quabbin Watershed

Collection of Hydrologic Data

Topographic Mapping

Earth Science Information Centers

Geologic Mapping

Minerals industry

Marine and Coastal Research at Woods Hole

Figure 1. Automated water-level and water-quality monitoring station at Namskaket Marsh, near 

Orleans, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Earth Science in the Public Service
Availability of Water

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management (MDEM) is developing plans to manage water in 27 riverbasin planning units in the State. The 

USGS, in cooperation with the MDEM, is 

investigating eight of the planning units 

and is providing information that is useful 

to the MDEM in developing these management plans. Reports that summarize the 

results of investigations such as availability 

and quality of surface and ground water, 

interactions between surface and ground 

water, and transport of sediment by rivers, 

are prepared as the data become available.

The USGS and the MDEM also are 

cooperating in two other investigations. 

Results of one of these will provide data to 

develop low-flow statistics for Massachusetts streams. The other investigation is 

obtaining information on the withdrawal, 

distribution, use, and return of water by 

municipal, agricultural, commercial, and 

industrial water users. Information from the 

USGS–MDEM investigations helps waterresource planners locate potential new 

water-supply sources, plan and manage for 

droughts, design wastewater-treatment and 

other facilities, and assess water withdrawals and interbasin water transfers.

Water Quality in the 

Connecticut River Basin

Pollution affects many of the Nation’s 

streams and aquifers. In 1991, the USGS 

began its National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program to describe the 

quality of many of the Nation’s streams 

and aquifers. Results from one of the 

regional NAWQA projects, the Connecticut, Housatonic, and Thames Rivers study, 

include the following:

• Pesticides were commonly found in 

streams that drain urban areas and 

large tracts of agricultural land, but 

concentrations rarely exceeded the 

detection levels in streams that drain 

undeveloped areas. 

• Twenty-five volatile organic compounds, 

generally petroleum compounds and 

solvents, were detected in water from 

shallow wells that tap glacial sand and 

gravel aquifers beneath urban areas. 

The gasoline additive methyl tert-butyl 

ether (MTBE) was detected in 35 percent of the water samples collected 

from shallow, urban wells. All MTBE 

detections were less than 3.0 micrograms per liter.

• Riverbed-sediment samples indicated 

that seven U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Priority Pollutants, which included antimony, 

cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, 

silver, zinc, and sulfur, were at abovenatural levels in areas of intensive 

urban land use, large population densities, and large numbers of pointsource discharges upstream of the 

collection point.

• PCB’s and DDE (a DDT metabolite) 

were found in fish tissues sampled 

throughout the study area, with 28 

detections of PCB and 31 detections 

of DDE at 32 sites. PCB’s were found 

to have the highest levels, particularly 

on the Housatonic River, where 

concentrations were more than 10 

parts per million at the three sites 

sampled there.

• A new type of geologic map was developed in which geologic formations are 

recast into lithochemical units. This 

map helps in the interpretation of natural water-quality variations owing to 

the influence of the rock and sediment 

geochemistry.

Basins in the Quabbin 

Watershed

Quabbin Reservoir (fig. 2) provides 

high-quality drinking water to more than 

2.5 million people in 44 communities in 

central and eastern Massachusetts. About 

65 percent of the 96,000-acre Quabbin 

Reservoir drainage basin is managed by 

the Metropolitan District Commission 

(MDC) and preserved as State-owned forest land. The MDC is responsible for protecting the quantity and quality of water 

that discharges from the drainage basin to 

the reservoir. 

The USGS and the MDC are cooperating to classify small watersheds by land 

use, topography, geology, soils, and 

streamwater quality. If similarities among 

watershed groups can be identified, then 

hydrologic and water-quality management 

models can be developed that will apply to 

watersheds with similar characteristics. 

Data collected by the USGS, the MDC, the 

University of Massachusetts, and the 

MDEP will be used to refine watershed 

classification.

Collection of Hydrologic Data

Massachusetts has 27 major river planning basins (fig. 2). To monitor the quantity of water in each basin, the USGS 

operates and maintains 76 continuous 

streamflow-gaging stations and obtains 

monthly ground-water-level measurements 

from 169 wells. These networks are operated in cooperation with about 10 local, 

State, and Federal agencies. These data are 

critical for the daily administration and 

management of the water resources, determining the extent and severity of droughts, 

characterizing and predicting conditions 

during floods, and monitoring the effects 

of human activities on streamflow and 

water quality. The data also are used in 

interpretive studies that provide information critical to decisions about water issues 

that affect millions of people.

Topographic Mapping

The use of maps and digital cartographic data is widespread, and requirements for this information are expanding. 

The National Mapping Program strives 

to ensure the availability of map data in 

graphic and digital forms to the public 

through timely and effective datacollection and revision procedures. 

Among the most popular and versatile 

products of the USGS are its 1:24,000-

scale topographic maps (1 inch on the 

map represents 2,083 feet on the ground). 

These maps depict basic natural and cultural features of the landscape, such as 

lakes and streams, highways and railroads, boundaries, and geographic names; 

contour lines are used to depict the elevation and shape of terrain. Massachusetts is 

covered by 188 maps at this scale, which 

is useful for civil engineering, land-use 

planning, natural-resource monitoring, 

and other technical applications. The 

USGS has prepared digital line graph 

coverage (transportation, hydrography, 

contours, and boundaries) for about 30 

percent of the State.

The National Mapping Program fosters 

partnerships with State and Federal agencies to improve the effectiveness of its 

data-collection activities, to maximize 

resource sharing, and to enhance the availability of timely and accurate data to the 

general public. The USGS and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) are involved in a 

cooperative agreement wherein the USGS 
 EXPLANATION

CURRENT STUDY REPORT PLANNED BASIN BOUNDARY 

REPORT PUBLISHED SUBBASIN BOUNDARY

PLANNING BASINS

 1. Hudson 11. Nashua 18. North Coastal 22. Cape Cod

 2. Housatonic 12. Blackstone 19. Boston Harbor 23. Islands

 3. Deerfield 13. Merrimack a. Mystic 24. Buzzards Bay

 4. Westfield 14. Concord b. Neponset 25. Taunton

 5. Farmington a. Assabet c. Weymouth 26. Narragansett Bay

 6. Connecticut b. Concord and Wier and Mt. Hope

 7. Millers and Sudbury 20. Charles Bay Shore

 8. Chicopee 15. Shawsheen 21. South Coastal 27. Ten Mile

 9. Quinebaug 16. Parker a. North and

10. French 17. Ipswich South River

b. South Coastal 

 Shore

Base from U.S. Geological Survey digital data,

Massachusetts State Plane, zone 4151,1991

1:25,000

73 ̊00'

42 ̊30'

42 ̊00'

41 ̊30'

72 ̊30' 72 ̊00' 71 ̊30'

71 ̊00'

70 ̊00'

70 ̊30'

20

0

0 10

10 20 30 40 KILOMETERS

30 40 MILES

1 

7

11

12 10

9

9

14a

14b 20

19a 15

17

16 13

19c

21a

25

18

18

26

24 22

21b

26

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Massachusetts

Bay

Nantucket

Sound

19b

27

3

WORCESTER

2

23

23

1

4

5

6

8

Hudson River

Basin

Connecticut

River Basin

New England

Coastal Basins BOSTON

Quabbin

Reservoir

provides assistance to support EOEA's 

preparation of digital orthophotoquads 

(DOQ's) to meet USGS standards. About 

15 percent of the State is being covered by 

DOQ's under this project. A DOQ is 

derived from digitized aerial photographs 

with displacement caused by camera tilt 

and terrain relief removed. It combines the 

image characteristics of a photograph with 

the geometric qualities of a map. DOQ's 

are becoming increasingly useful as a 

component in geographic information systems in combination with vector data. The 

USGS and the EOEA also have collaborated to provide National Aerial Photography Program photographic coverage for 

the entire State. 

Earth Science Information 

Centers

The Earth Science Information Centers 

(ESIC's) provide information about USGS 

programs, products, and technological 

developments to the public. The ESIC in 

Amherst was established under a cooperative agreement between the USGS and the 

University of Massachusetts. As part of the 

national ESIC network, this office provides 

information on such earth science topics as 

cartography, geography, digital data, 

remote sensing, geology, geophysics, 

geochemistry, hydrology, geohydrology, 

aerial photography, and land use. It is supported by the USGS with reference materials, technical assistance, training and 

outreach activities, and access to USGS 

data bases.

Geologic Mapping 

The USGS has produced a set of digital 

maps that show the distribution of surficial 

materials and associated urban and suburban land uses. Surficial materials maps are 

useful to delineate sources of sand and 

gravel used in construction and aquifers, 

which are a source of water for human 

consumption. The maps are based on more 

than 50 years of cooperative study between 

the USGS and the State and are used 

extensively by State and local planning 

agencies and consultants in addressing 

environmental issues.

Minerals Industry 

The USGS canvasses the nonfuel mining and mineral-processing industries in 

the United States for mineral production, 

mineral exploration, and mine development 

and other related mineral-production information. Mineral Industry Surveys (MIS’s) 

are produced monthly, quarterly, and annually. Volume 2 of the three-volume Minerals Yearbook, which is a compilation of the 

annual State MIS’s, reports the mineralproduction information by State. In 1995, 

Massachusetts ranked 39th in the Nation in 

nonfuel mineral value, or about 0.5 percent 

of the U.S. total. The leading mineral commodities were crushed stone and construction sand and gravel.

Marine and Coastal Research 

at Woods Hole

The USGS conducts geological and geophysical research and mapping investigations of the continental margins of the 

United States and the world through its 

Woods Hole Field Center.

The USGS is conducting a study in 

Boston Harbor and Massachusetts and 

Cape Cod Bays to understand the transport 

of sediments in coastal waters. Construction of a new ocean outfall, which is proposed to begin operation in 1998, will 

change the treated-sewage disposal site 

Figure 2. Planning basin boundaries and status of basin hydrology studies and National Water-Quality Assessment study units in Massachusetts, 1996.
For More

Information

from Boston Harbor to Massachusetts 

Bay (fig. 3). The USGS effort will help 

predict the fate of contaminants in sediments in Massachusetts Bay. The USGS 

project is coordinated with studies supported by the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, the USEPA’s Massachusetts Bays 

Program, and the Massachusetts Water 

Resources Authority.

The USGS, in cooperation with the 

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric 

Administration, the University of Rhode 

Island, the Canadian Hydrographic Service, and the University of New Brunswick, is mapping sedimentary environments and biological habitats of Georges 

Bank and the Stellwagen Bank National 

Marine Sanctuary (a newly designated 

sanctuary located off the coast of Boston; 

fig. 3). The waters of Georges Bank are 

highly productive and, at one time, supported a successful fishery. The mapping 

studies will assist those who are designing 

monitoring strategies to preserve and manage the environmental resources and fisheries of Stellwagen and Georges Banks. 

The USGS is studying the transport and 

accumulation of sediments and contaminants and mapping the geology and sedimentary environments of the seafloor on a 

regional basis. These regional studies are 

essential for the wise management of 

coastal systems. 

USGS state representative

28 Lord Rd., Suite 280

Marlborough, MA 01752

Phone: (508) 485-6360

Fax: (508) 490-5068

Email: dc_ma@er.usgs.gov

District Reports and Information:

Information Officer

(508) 490-5058

Additional earth science

information can be found by

accessing the USGS Home Page

on the World Wide Web at

http://www.usgs.gov/

For more information on

all USGS reports and products

(including maps, images,

and computerized data), call

1-800-USA-MAPS

The USGS provides maps,

reports, and information to help

others meet their needs to manage,

 develop, and protect America’s water,

energy, mineral, biological, and land

resources. We help find the natural

resources needed to build tomorrow,

and supply the scientific understanding needed to help minimize or mitigate the effects of natural hazards

and environmental damage caused

by natural and human activities. The

results of our efforts touch the daily

 life of almost every American.

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet FS–021–96

Figure 3. Perspective view of the seafloor topography off Boston, Massachusetts, also showing the 

location of the Massachusetts Bay Disposal Site (MBDS), which will handle the effluent from the new 

Deer Island sewage treatment plant. The effluent is expected to be discharged through the outfall 

beginning in 1997.