1 9 9 2 

Front cover: Columnar jointing in Pleistocene basalt 

(age probably less than 100,000 years), Devils 

Postpile National Monument, Sierra Nevada, Calif. 

Use of cover photograph is courtesy of Paul Stone. 

Back cover: Landsat imaging from USGS 

Geophysics Remote Sensing Laboratory, Denver, 

Colo. 
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY YEARBOOK 

FISCAL YEAR 1992 


PARTNERSHIPS IN THE EARTH SCIENCE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Dallas L. Peck, Director 

Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not 

imply endorsement by the U.S. Government 

United States Geological Survey Yearbook Fiscal Year 1992 

ISSN 0892-3442 

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1993 

For sale by the U.S. Geological Survey, Map Distribution, Box 25286, 

Bldg. 810, Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225 
CONTENTS 

v Message from the Director 

1 Science and Cooperation after the Storms 

11 People and Programs 

37 J Water Resources Investigations 

55 Geologic Investigations 

71 National Mapping Program 

81 International Activities 

93 Information Systems Activities 

101 Administration 

107 Organizational Chart 

108 Budget Information 

110 Guide to Information and Publications 

111 U.S. Geological Survey Offices 

116 Cooperators and Other Financial Contributors 

Contents iii 
DEDICATION 

Thomas B. Nolan 

1901-1992 

The 1992 Yearbook is dedicated to the memory of Thomas B. 

Nolan, Director of the USGS from 1956 to 1965. Dr. Nolan 

died on August 2, 1992. Nolan was the ultimate scientist, 

administrator, and public servant. Perhaps most importantly, he 

was a good and kind human being, which was reflected in all he 

did. For this most of all, he will be missed. Nolan joined the 

USGS in 1931, and during the course of his 68-year career, he 

authored more than 90 publications and served under 12 

presidents. He created the modern USGS and served as its 

director for 20 years. Highlights of his career include having been 

honored in 1961 by President Kennedy when he received the 

Rockefeller Public Service Award and in 1984 by President 

Reagan when he completed 60 years of active service. In addition 

to having mountains, minerals, and fossils named after him, he 

received international accolades too numerous to list. As President 

Reagan said in a letter to Nolan in honor of his 60 years of 

Federal service, "Tom set the highest of standards for all of us to 

pursue." His legacy to the USGS and to the worldwide community 

of earth scientists will never be forgotten. 
Message from the Director 

At its creation, the U.S. Geological Survey was given a daunting challenge: map the entire United States and catalog its natural resources. To help meet that challenge, the 

young USGS drew on the finest scientific talent the Nation 

had to offer, both from within its own ranks and from universities, State geological surveys, and industry. As the mission of 

the USGS has expanded and evolved, cooperative earth science ventures have become the firmly established tradition—a 

tradition that continues and flourishes today. 

The strong working relations that we have built over the 

years with our colleagues in the State geological surveys, with 

other Federal agencies, and with the academic community 

stood us in particularly good stead when the Nation faced 

Hurricane Andrew —the most costly natural disaster in American history—and Hurricane Iniki and tropical storm Omar in 

the Pacific. 

Relief efforts mounted by Federal, State, local, and private 

agencies relied on USGS maps. Map presses at the USGS ran 

around the clock to meet requests for literally 

hundreds of different maps of damaged areas 

that poured in from such agencies as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the 

Defense Mapping Agency Combat Support 

Center, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

and the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency. 

USGS geologists at the Center for 

Coastal Geology and Regional Marine Studies, 

a cooperative undertaking with the University 

of South Florida in St. Petersburg, joined with 

scientists from the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, the National 

Park Service, and the Florida Department of 

Natural Resources to assess the storm's effect 

on Florida's coast. USGS hydrologists worked 

with long-time cooperating State and local 

water management agencies to assess highwater marks and the hydrologic effects of 

Andrew's destructive path across Florida. 

By the time Hurricane Andrew crashed 

into Louisiana at the end of August 1992, its 

As the mission of 

the USGS has 

expanded and 

evolved, 

cooperative earth 

science ventures 

have become the 

firmly established 

tradition—a 

tradition that 

continues and 

flourishes today. 

fury was spent. But its destructive effects on the State's 

already-threatened coastline were tremendous. The USGS, 

along with several other Federal agencies and State and local 

agencies, had been working to establish the scientific reasons 

behind the loss and deterioration of the State's coastal wetlands and barrier islands to determine how to stem the loss of 

these valuable ecosystems. Because of strong existing partnerships among the USGS, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 

Wetland Research Center, the Louisiana Geological Survey, 

and the State's academic community, scientists were ready to 

respond when Hurricane Andrew hit. By using data gathered 

during earlier coastal studies and displayed in the recently 

published atlas of barrier island change, we were able to show 

exactly what happened when Andrew hit, why the barrier 

islands and wetlands reacted the way they did, and how the 

damage wrought by Andrew compares with other natural and 

human-caused impacts to coastal environments. 

Our desire to document the effects of Hurricane Andrew 

on the environment also opened the door to humanitarian service. USGS hydrologists tracing the extent of the storm surge 

in Florida were sometimes the first visitors to devastated areas. 

They provided the first emergency food and water supplies to 

several neighborhoods that had been destroyed by the storm. 

Later, USGS employees and retirees banded together to provide thousands of dollars in disaster relief funds to aid their 

colleagues whose homes had been shattered by the storm. 

In another disaster-related effort, we are paying closer 

attention to our own issues of disaster response and coordination in ensuring that telecommunications systems at USGS 

offices, particularly those in earthquake-prone California, are 

set up to work efficiently in the wake of a disaster and to 

ensure that we can continue to do our science and to communicate the information that is needed by community and State 

officials when an earthquake or other disaster happens. The 

message of preparedness is one that we all must heed. 

These examples of collaboration following 

disasters are dramatic reminders of the value 

of partnerships. As important as our joint 

work in the face of disaster is, it represents 

only a small fraction of the cooperative efforts 

between the USGS and our counterparts 

around the Nation and around the world. 

Many of the areas in which we are laboring 

cooperatively in the name of good science may 

never be front-page news. Nevertheless, the 

continual exchange of information, expertise, 

and commitment helps the Nation to be ready 

to respond to the challenges of safeguarding 

our environment and ensuring sustainable economic development. 

The National Geologic Mapping Act of 

1992 is a good example. This landmark legislation will further the production of geologic 

maps, which are valuable environmental and 

economic decisionmaking tools. The passage of 

Public Law 102-285 was the product of cooperative work among State geological surveys 

and the USGS. Geologic maps are a public 

good — providing valuable information that can be used by 

many to deal with the challenging tasks of reinvesting in and 

reinvigorating the American infrastructure. As recent examples, the USGS, in cooperation with State and local agencies, 

has demonstrated that using high-quality geologic map information in siting landfills and planning transportation corridors 

can significantly reduce costs and safeguard public well-being. 

An effective partnership among all those involved in geologic 

mapping and in the use of geologic map information is paramount in ensuring that we meet the challenges of effective 

management and preservation of our resources and our 

environment. 

Increased cooperation in geologic mapping represents 

only a portion of our efforts to promote partnerships in cartographic activities. The USGS chairs the Federal Geographic 

Data Committee (FGDC) on behalf of the Department of the 

Interior and the Federal Government. The FGDC is spearMessage from the Director 
heading a governmentwide effort to standardize the collection 

and sharing of spatial data needed for geographic information 

systems and other advanced mapping technologies. In 1992, 

the FGDC adopted a new spatial data standard—the Spatial 

Data Transfer Standard (SDTS)— that is being employed 

throughout the Federal system. A proposed national geographic data base, linking all levels of government and the 

private sector, and slated for development by 2000, will be 

an essential bridge between producers and users of spatial 

data. 

Partnerships have long been the way of doing business 

for USGS water resources programs. The nearly 100 years of 

successful cost-sharing coordination through the Federal-State 

Cooperative program have resulted in countless investigations 

that have served both Federal and State interests and have 

built a solid cooperative family of more than 1,000 agencies 

concerned about the health and welfare of the Nation's water 

resources. That model of cooperation is one of the essential 

building blocks of the ongoing National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program. Each NAWQA study unit (20 are 

currently underway with another 20 due to start in fiscal year 

1994 and the final 20 in fiscal year 1997) has a local liaison 

committee. These liaison committees have representatives from 

pertinent Federal, State, and local agencies and other interested groups. These local sounding boards for the success of 

the NAWQA study function as a guiding force in ensuring 

that the assessment addresses the water resource issues of the 

area and as a check that the project is proceeding in a way that 

meets the needs of all who are involved. 

The Glen Canyon environmental study that the USGS has 

undertaken with the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) is an excellent example of "in-house" cooperation of two Interior 

bureaus pooling their specific expertise to meet a common 

goal. The information that the USGS is developing on the 

hydrology of the area will be used by the BOR to develop procedures for Glen Canyon Dam that will ensure that operation 

of the dam is both environmentally sensitive and economically 

reasonable. As another example of water resources cooperation, the new Water Information Coordination Program 

(WICP) unites representatives from Federal, State, and local 

governments, Indian tribes, and the private sector in cooperative water data-gathering efforts. Identifying opportunities to 

improve the effectiveness of water information activities—from 

the collection of basic data to the dissemination of interpretive 

information—will be a key component of the WICP effort. 

Today, many of the most pressing problems in science, as 

well as critical issues in economic development, are global 

questions. Each day we are becoming more and more of a global community. To address these issues, USGS partnership 

arrangements extend well beyond the borders of the United 

States. USGS scientists apply the experience gained in cooperative mineral and energy resource assessments in foreign countries to assist in domestic minerals research and to help the 

U.S. minerals industry be more competitive in the world marketplace. Our efforts to help understand the ecology of water 

systems and in developing water supplies in foreign countries 

are useful in reexamining issues of water quality and water 

supply in our own country. Research links with such organizations as the United Nations Environment Programme aid scientists worldwide in their efforts to preserve the global 

environment. My official participation at the 29th International Geological Congress in Kyoto, Japan, in September 1992 

was an exciting reminder of the cutting-edge, earth science 

research that is ongoing in every corner of the world. It is 

essential that we continue to promote the cause of good science as an effective means of diplomacy and good will. The 

opportunities that are evolving in areas such as Eastern 

Europe underscore the value of scientific cooperation as a first 

step in reestablishing effective economic and diplomatic relations. Through our science we can indeed be good ambassadors in the world community. 

In areas of administration and information resources 

management, the USGS has been an effective partner as well. 

We have taken the lead in developing the computerized, stateof-the-art Federal Financial System (FFS), which has become 

the model for all Interior bureaus and has now also become a 

standard for many other Federal agencies. We are continually 

looking at new ways to share our information and to help our 

scientists network and interact online with other researchers to 

keep the flow of good science current and coordinated. 

I am also ever mindful of the most important resource of 

this bureau—its people. We are constantly working to ensure 

that our people feel empowered as partners within the bureau. 

We have taken seriously the charges to improve employment 

opportunities for women, minorities, and persons with disabilities, to increase the use of volunteers, and to promote education in the earth sciences. The Volunteer for Science program 

has proved especially beneficial, providing opportunities for 

people of many ages and many walks of life to help the USGS 

and also providing much needed help to USGS employees, 

while saving the Federal Government significant money. In 

education, we not only encourage educational pursuits by our 

employees and provide graduate and postgraduate opportunities for young people to get a foot in the door with the Federal system, but we are also making significant contributions to 

precollege education. The students of today will be the 

employees and voters of tomorrow, and it is in our own best 

interest to ensure that students in our elementary, middle, and 

high schools have a good solid understanding of the earth sciences and the important role that science plays in each person's life every day. 

The activities and investigations documented on the following pages would not have been possible without the contributions of many hundreds of partners with whom we work in 

other government agencies at the Federal, State, and local levels, in academic institutions, and in the private sector. These 

partnerships have implications that reach far beyond the world 

of earth science research. Because the earth sciences are intrinsic to so many policy and management decisions regarding the 

environment, natural resources, and the economy, they form 

the base on which the Nation can build. As the country seeks 

to restore the economy, rebuild the infrastructure, protect the 

environment, and contribute to international well-being, the 

USGS is proud of its contributions in providing "Earth Science 

in the Public Service." 

Dallas L. Peck 

vi 
Introduction 

Few natural hazards can match the awesome destructive power of tropical 

cyclones. The devastating visits of Hurricane Andrew in Florida and along the 

Gulf Coast and of Hurricane Iniki and Typhoon Omar in the Pacific left vivid 

memories of the powerful force and potential destruction generated by these storms. 

And we can expect more devastation. Statistics compiled by the United Nations in 

1989 show that by the year 2000, the surface of the Earth will experience several 

hundreds of earthquakes, landslides, floods, wildfires, and tornadoes, in addition to 

hundreds to several thousand tropical cyclones. 

The 1990's have been declared the International Decade for Natural Disaster 

Reduction (IDNDR) to bring worldwide attention to the impacts of natural disasters 

and to develop programs to reduce the loss of life, economic impact, and human 

suffering resulting from these natural phenomena. The USGS shares responsibilities 

for earthquake, volcano, landslide, and flood hazards in the realm of natural 

disasters. As one of the Federal science and disaster-reduction agencies that are a 

part of the U.S. program for the IDNDR, the USGS is working with State and 

local agencies to develop hazard and risk assessments, preparedness and mitigation 

measures, predictions and warnings for natural hazards, and greater awareness and 

education for all sectors of society. 

Natural hazards are severe manifestations of the natural processes of our 

environment, and we must learn to cope with them in the best manner possible. 

While great scientific strides have been made in predicting the course of hurricanes, 

for example, we cannot totally eliminate their devastating visits, although we can 

reduce their impacts through better building and land use practices. 

There is much that can be done, particularly in assessing areas at greatest risk 

to particular hazards, in developing methods and plans to mitigate the effects of 

those hazards, and in educating officials and the public of the steps that are 

necessary to prepare for the inevitability of nature. Actions in these areas are the key 

elements in reducing the severity and number of human disasters that result from 

natural hazards. 

Robert M. Hamilton 

Chairman, Subcommittee on Natural 

Disaster Reduction 

Committee on Earth and 

Environmental Sciences 

Federal Coordinating Council on 

Science, Engineering and 

Technology 

Hurricanes and Coastal 

Erosion — The Lessons 

of Andrew in Louisiana 

By Asbury H. Sallenger, Jr., and 

S. Jeffress Williams 

The coastal marshes and tidal wetlands of 

Louisiana's coast, and the barrier islands 

that protect them, form one of the world's 

most productive ecosystems. Louisiana has 25 

percent of the vegetated wetlands in the 48 

contiguous United States and 40 percent of 

the tidal wetlands. But the Gulf Coast of 

Louisiana is eroding faster than any other 

coastal area of the world. Every year, Louisiana loses as much as 100 square kilometers 

(39 square miles) of land—an area nearly the 

size of Washington, D.C. Some of this land 

loss can be traced to human activity, but much 

of it can also be traced to the forces of nature— 

including the large storms that strike the area 

about every 5 years. 

Several Federal, State, and local agencies 

have been working together to establish the 

reasons behind this massive land loss and 

determine what can be done to stem this 

problem. Because of these cooperative studies, 

scientists were ready to respond when Hurricane Andrew carved a swath through the 

State's coastal areas. Andrew was the most 

destructive storm in the Nation's history in 

terms of insured losses. Strong partnerships 

between the USGS, the Louisiana Geological 

Survey (LGS), and the State's academic community enabled scientists to begin assessing 

1 
Hurricane Andrew's effects only hours after 

the storm had passed on August 26, 1992. 

Earlier work by the USGS and LGS, 

which has been characterized by the State as a 

model of Federal-State interaction, produced 

an atlas of barrier island erosion and rapid 

land loss in Louisiana. This atlas, published in 

1992, provided a baseline against which storm 

damage could be measured. Using the data 

gathered during the Barrier Island Erosion 

Study, joint efforts are underway to understand exactly what happened when Andrew 

hit, why the islands reacted the way they did, 

and how the damage wrought by Andrew 

compares with other natural and manmade 

challenges the islands have faced. 

The barrier islands in Terrebonne and 

Lafourche parishes were hardest hit. Beaches 

were eroded more than 37 meters (120 feet) 

in 2 days. The Isles Dernieres and Timbalier 

Islands were completely inundated; storm 

action cut 15 major breaches in them and 

stripped away roughly 70 percent of their 

beach sand. Coastal wetlands behind these 

barrier islands also suffered severe damage. A 

blanket of mud about 46 centimeters (18 

inches) thick was deposited over tens of thousands of acres of marsh and shallow bays. 

Although this mud will help nourish deteriorating wetlands, it also smothered extensive 

oyster reefs in the Barataria-Terrebonne 

National Estuary. 

USGS studies, reported in the atlas prior 

to the storm, predicted that the Isles Dernieres barrier islands would likely disappear 

totally beneath the waves by 2020. As a result 

of Andrew, some of these islands may disappear before the turn of the century. And, 

once the barrier islands are gone, the productive wetlands that lie behind them will be fully 

exposed and vulnerable to wave action and 

storm flooding. 

To prevent the loss of these vital barriers, several erosion control and shoreline resUSGS-LOUISIANAGEOLOGICALSURVEY 

Hurricane Andrew continued—in a severe manner—an erosion process that has been going on for toration projects have begun along the Gulf at least the past several hundred years on Whiskey Island, which is a part of the Isles Dernieres 

barrier island system. The Isle Derniere previously was a single island off Terrebonne Parish that Coast. The storm was a valuable lesson by

supported forests and a resort community. An 1856 hurricane destroyed the resort, and continued 

erosion has since caused Isle Derniere to break up into four islands (Raccoon, Whiskey, Trinity, and 

East islands),—now renamed the plural Isles Dernieres. The dramatic effects of Andrew are shown 

in the "before" photograph (top), taken in July 1992, that shows Whiskey Island as nearly twice as 

long as in late August 1992 when the "after" photograph (bottom) was taken several days after 

Andrew. The west end of the island was washed away when Andrew's hurricane winds caused 

waters from the Gulf of Mexico to wash over the island. Some of the sand was deposited in the 

sandbars visible in the right center of the photograph. 

providing scientists and land managers with 

information on how these efforts fared. As a 

result, the most effective ways to implement 

coastal restoration and mitigation measures 

are being identified. 

The extreme erosion of the beaches and 

wetlands and the performance of the various 

coastal structures are providing insight into 

how to better manage Louisiana's coastal 

resources. All of the areas where protective 

seawalls had been built suffered severe erosion. Seawalls were somewhat effective, however, in protecting coastal oil and gas 

2 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
20 

62% 

EXPLANATION 

co Hurricanes 

rzi 15 

11111.1 Earthquakes 

MN Fire 

U, Weather 

(nonhurricane) 

Riot 

= 10 

a) ci) 

O

-J 20% 

7:3 5 a) 

C

v.) 10% 

5% 

3% 

0 

Thirteen Most Costly Insured Catastrophes, 

in United States History 

Insured Loss 

Year Peril (in Billions) 

1992 Hurricane Andrew $10.70 

1906 San Francisco Earthquake *$5.07 

1989 Hurricane Hugo $4.20 

1871 Chicago Fire 11.83 

1992 Hurricane Iniki $1.60 

1991 Oakland Fire $1.20 

1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake $0.95 

1983 Winter Storm/Freezing (41 States) $0.88 

1992 Los Angeles Riots $0.78 

1979 Hurricane Frederic $0.75 

1965 Hurricane Betsy $0.52 

1983 Hurricane Alicia $0.68 

1990 Wind/Hailstorm-Colorado $0.63 

*adjusted to 

1990 dollars 

Source: Property Claim Services Division, American Insurance 


Services Group; and Insurance Information Institute 


facilities. Coastal protection and restoration 

projects that used sediment and vegetation 

also suffered damage during the storm, but 

they were far more successful than seawalls in 

protecting barrier island dune and marsh 

habitats. One of these efforts, known as the 

Isles Dernieres barrier island restoration 

project, demonstrated the importance of 

maintaining island elevation and width in 

order to prevent barrier islands from breaking up. 

The legacy of Andrew lies in what the 

storm can tell us of the efficacy of human 

intervention in natural processes. Inherent in 

the most effective restoration actions is an 

understanding of the natural forces at work 

and an effort to develop mitigation measures 

that are in concert with nature's dynamic 

processes and its more capricious and destructive aspects. 

Effects of Hurricane Andrew 

Florida. —Mangrove coasts, both along the 

shores of Biscayne Bay and the Keys facing the 

Atlantic, were severely stripped and beaten by the 

wind. It is expected that severe wood damage to 

trees will prevent large areas of mangrove swamp 

from recovering rapidly. Dead mangrove forests 

required a decade to reestablish after Hurricane 

Donna tore through the Keys and Everglades in 

1960, 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Andrew's 

course. Curiously, a "green zone" of mangroves 

with leaves still intact extended a few feet above 

the water line on the eastern sides of the Keys and 

along the coast after Andrew's visit. Scientists 

speculate that these leaves were preserved 

because they were below water during the highest 

winds of the storm. 

Louisiana. —Hurricane Andrew directly 

impacted the Mississippi River delta plain in 

Louisiana on August 26, 1992, with sustained winds 

of 140 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour), 

gusting to 205 mph (330 kph). A storm surge of 15 

feet (4.6 meters) accompanied landfall, inundating 

St. Mary's, Terrebonne, Lafourche, Jefferson, and 

Plaquemines parishes for more than 25 miles (40 

kilometers) inland. The eastern eye wall of Hurricane Andrew cut a 30-mile (48-kilometer)-wide 

swath of destruction from Fourchon through 

Cocodrie and Morgan City to Baton Rouge. 

Hydrology and 

Hurricane Andrew in 

Florida 

By William B. Scott 

The center of the eye of Hurricane 

Andrew made landfall near Florida City, 

19 miles (31 kilometers) south of downtown 

Miami, Fla., at 5:30 a.m., on August 24, 1992, 

descending with winds at the eyewall of 140 

miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour) and 

gusts up to 168 miles per hour (270 kilometers per hour). The eyewall of the storm cut a 

swath 20 miles (32 kilometers) wide as it 

passed south of Miami. Andrew then roared 

across the southern tip of the State and swept 

into the Gulf of Mexico leaving a devastating 

trail of destruction. Damages were mostly 

wind related and estimated to be greater than 

$20 billion. The infrastructure of roads, 

power lines, water and sewer services, and 

communications was severely and extensively 

damaged, with the greatest destruction occurring in South Dade County in the vicinity 

Science and Cooperation After the Storms 3 
was not damaged but was without power until 

the morning of August 26. Damage, however, 

was extensive to the network of USGS hydrologic stations located throughout south Dade 

County. 

In accordance with the USGS mission to 

develop information on water-related natural 

hazards, hydrologists worked cooperatively 

with other Federal, State, and local agencies 

to document the magnitude and extent of 

Hurricane Andrew's tidal surge and flooding. 

USGS hydrologic data-collection activities related to Hurricane Andrew were coordinated 

with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, the Florida Department of 

Natural Resources, Division of Beaches and 

Shores, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterway Experiment Station, Coastal 

Engineering Research Center. 

On the day following the storm (August 

25), USGS personnel began fieldwork to collect pertinent data to document the hydrologic impact of Hurricane Andrew in southeastern and southwestern Florida and to 

assess and begin repairing damage to the 

hydrologic network. Reported damages to the 

USGS network included 27 instrument stations destroyed, 7 ancillary structures 

destroyed, and 16 satellite data-collection platforms damaged or destroyed. Cost to repair 

or replace damaged hydrologic equipment 

and structures was estimated at $778,000. As 

human and financial resources became available, continual progress was made on repairing damaged network stations in the months 

following the storm. 

The Federal Emergency Management 

Agency (FEMA) asked the USGS to locate and 

describe high-water marks in areas affected by 

the hurricane and to field survey these marks 

to determine the actual elevation and maximum extent of the tidal surge. USGS hydrologists and geologists worked together to determine the height of the storm surge in the 

Miami area. The flagging and surveying of 

Home of USGS employee that was totally destroyed by Hurricane Andrew at 111th St. in Miami. 

E. CAROLYN PRICE WILLIAM J. HAIRE 

View of destruction on 259th Street in Homestead. 

of Homestead and Florida City. A total of 15 

lives were reported lost in South Florida. Had 

the storm veered less than a degree of latitude north, the disaster from this natural hazard would have been even greater. 

Hurricane Andrew, described as the 

greatest natural disaster ever to strike the 

United States, did not discriminate in its devastation. Five people from the USGS Miami 

Subdistrict Office had their homes completely 

destroyed, while homes of seven other 

employees suffered severe damage. Fortunately, no injuries occurred to personnel or 

their immediate families. The office, located 

northwest of the Miami International Airport, 

recoverable high-water marks along the eastern and western coastlines of South Florida 

were completed by September 15. Large portions of the Florida Keys between Key Biscayne and the northern tip of Key Largo, a 

distance of 28 miles (45 kilometers), were submerged by a 6- to 8-foot (1.8- to 2.4-meter) 

surge across the islands. Biscayne Bay, 8 miles 

(12.9 kilometers) wide and only 12 feet (3.7 

meters) deep, was roiled by the storm, but 

major sediment deposits and grass beds 

appeared unaltered during overflights of the 

affected area. The shallow water amplified 

the storm surge so that, as Andrew crossed 

Biscayne Bay, the tide rose from 12 to 16 feet 

(3.7-4.9 meters) above normal by the time it 

reached the western shore. Although Andrew 

was not a particularly wet hurricane, western 

4 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Biscayne Bay was decidedly brackish after the 

storm. Freshwater extended several hundred 

yards from the shore, and the salinity was 11 

parts per thousand (compared with a typical 

34 parts per thousand) up to 1.5 miles (2.4 

kilometers) out. Much of this effect may have 

been due to the precautionary actions of State 

water management agencies, which lowered 

the level of Lake Okeechobee in anticipation 

of the storm. The network of salinity monitoring wells for the Biscayne aquifer (a sole 

source aquifer) was sampled within a week 

after the hurricane to determine if salinity 

conditions had been changed by the tidal 

surge. Results of sampling showed no significant increase in salinity when compared with 

data from previously collected samples. 

Preliminary evaluation of data shows the 

highest recorded elevation for high-water 

marks surveyed on the east coast to be 16.88 

feet (5.15 meters) above sea level at the 

Burger King Corporate Headquarters near 

SW. 184 Street in south Dade County. Elevations of high-water marks diminished from 

this point both north at Broad Causeway 

where it reached 5.17 feet (1.58 meters) and 

south at Key Largo and reached 5.49 feet 

(1.67 meters) on the west side of Key Largo 

near Sunset Cove. On the west coast of Florida, high-water marks ranged in elevation 

from 4.38 feet (1.34 meters) at Everglades 

City to 6.85 feet (2.09 meters) at west Goodland. The farthest landward extent of the 

tidal surge was detected about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the eastern coastline near 

SW. 224 Street east of the Florida Turnpike. 

The north-south inland extent spanned about 

33 miles (53 kilometers) along the eastern 

coastal area. 

The severe damage brought by Hurricane Andrew, as well as the emotional effects, 

will not be resolved in a few days, weeks, or 

even months. Recovery and rebuilding for the 

USGS, its employees, and their families, however, have begun. This catastrophe may have 

shattered homes and destroyed property, but 

it has also reinforced the bond of community 

that unites the USGS family. 

Hurricane Iniki: Effects on 

the Coast of Kauai 

By Bruce M. Richmond and 

Monty A. Hampton 

Hurricane Iniki struck Hawaii on September 11, 1992, causing extensive damage 

to property and natural coastal systems; it was 

the most powerful hurricane to strike the 

Hawaiian Islands this century. The island of 

Boat in photograph was docked at Cutler Ridge, just north of Homestead Air Force Base, near the 

area of maximum storm surge, and was moved about 300 feet (91 meters) inland by Andrew. 

Kauai, battered by sustained winds of about 

225 kilometers per hour (140 miles per hour), 

was the most extensively damaged. Overwash, 

which is the combination of wave setup, wave 

runup, and storm surge, extended inland to 

distances of nearly 300 meters (985 feet) and 

reached elevations above mean sea level of 

nearly 9 meters (30 feet). 

The effects of Hurricane Iniki varied 

depending on the orientation of the coast in 

relation to the eye wall, which is the zone of 

strongest winds. The south coast of Kauai, for 

example, experienced a combination of high 

overwash and strong winds, whereas the 

north coast underwent little overwash but 

suffered severe wind damage. The elevation 

Oblique aerial photograph of Poipu 

Beach Park, southern Kauai, 

showing turbid sediment plumes in 

the nearshore, erosion and 

channelization on the beachface, 

and overwash debris in the 

backshore. 

WILLIAM J. HAIRE MONTYHAMPTON 

Science and Cooperation After the Storms 5 
161° 160° r r 159° 158° 157° 156° 155° 154° 

23° 

EXPLANATION 

Hurricane Iniki force winds 

Path of Hurricane Iniki 

22° * Capital 

• County seat 

OAHU Honolulu / MOLOKAI 

21° iWailuku 

LANAI V MAUI 

KAHOOLAWE 

20° 

Hilo

PACIFIC OCEAN HAWAII 

19° 

0 25 50 75 100 NAUTICAL MILES 

1 rI I 

0 2'5 50 75 100 KILOMETERS 

18° 

Path of Hurricane Iniki and extent of hurricane force winds. 

and extent of overwash depended strongly on generally there was a loss or lowering of the 

local conditions. Overwash height increased foreshore profile of the beaches. Turbid 

with steeper offshore slopes, narrower reef plumes of suspended sediment persisted in 

widths, or both. the nearshore for weeks after the event. 

Geologic effects on the coast of Kauai USGS scientists and others observed that 

included erosion of the beachface and forma- the natural, undeveloped beaches underwent 

tion of scarps. Although accretion occurred in less erosion than beaches where engineered 

some of the natural beaches of the island, structures such as seawalls existed. 

Poipu Beach area, southern Kauai, 

showing damage to revetments and 

coastal road from Hurricane Iniki 

overwash. 

BRUCE RICHMOND 

6 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Meeting Demand for Maps 

in Storm's Wake 

By Harry L. Zohn 

As Hurricane Andrew approached the 

Florida coast, USGS customer service 

personnel were already pulling thousands of 

maps of Florida and nearby Gulf Coast States 

to meet the inevitable demands in the wake of 

such a devastating storm. Within hours of the 

storm's initial impact, USGS maps of south 

Florida had been provided to Federal disaster 

assistance authorities. More than 12,000 copies of 1,000 different maps of the affected 

areas were distributed quickly to the Federal 

Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, and numerous 

State and local agencies. 

When existing supplies were exhausted, 

USGS map printing presses, which can produce 5,000 maps an hour, ran around the 

clock, printing maps of Florida and Louisiana. 

An emergency printing of 24 topographic 

maps of the area most affected by the storm 

was underway within hours of the hurricane's 

devastating sweep across Florida. By September 4, more than 200,000 maps had been 

printed to replenish depleted stock and to 

meet the continuing demand by Federal, 

State, and local organizations. 

The USGS Earth Science Information 

Centers in Washington, D.C., and Reston, 

Va., assembled sets of maps to meet the 

demand, including 1:100,000 scale maps and 

7.5-minute topographic quadrangle maps of 

the area south of 27 degrees latitude in Florida and between New Orleans and Galveston 

on the Gulf Coast. The USGS Distribution 

Center in Denver, Colo., filled hundreds of 

orders directly received from various Federal 

and State agencies. 

USGS technicians at the EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls., S. Dak., produced sets of 

daily images from NOAA satellite AVHRR 

(Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) 

data to show the track of the storm as it swept 

across the Gulf. Prehurricane coverage of the 

Gulf Coast from the USGS National Aerial 

Photography Program was helpful in various 

analysis efforts. 

The USGS also helped assemble and 

organize a team of image interpreters to analyze damage from the storm. By registering 

high-altitude imagery to USGS maps of 

regional terrain, technical personnel were able 

to outline widely scattered damage sites along 

the storm's track. 

USGS customer service personnel 

pull maps of Florida and Gulf 

et, Coast States from shelves at the 

Earth Science Information Center in 

R Reston, Va., to support disaster 

o assistance efforts. 

Employees Lend Helping Hand 

In response to a general call for aid and assistance in the wake of 

Hurricane Andrew, USGS employees around the country and many retired 

employees joined together in lending a helping hand to their fellow employees. Director Dallas Peck sent the following memorandum to all employees: 

To: All Employees Dated: Nov. 6, 1992 

From: Director 

Subject: Support for Hurricane Andrew Victims 

I would like to share with you the contents of a memorandum dated 

November 4, 1992, I received from William B. Scott, Water Resources 

Division Subdistrict Chief, Miami, Florida, regarding the support many of 

you provided in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew: 

On behalf of the entire staff of the Miami Subdistrict Office, I would like 

to express our sincerest thanks to U.S. Geological Survey employees past 

and present for their outpouring of generosity in the wake of Hurricane 

Andrew. Your extraordinary support in the form of money, food, provisions, and heartfelt expressions of concern has touched us deeply. Your 

contributions to the USGS Disaster Relief Fund have served to feed, 

clothe, and ease the suffering of your fellow employees, some having 

lost nearly everything. 

Although battered, rebuilding and the putting of lives back together have 

begun, this calamity may have shattered homes and destroyed property, 

but it has also reinforced the bond of community that unites the USGS 

family. A thousand thanks from all of us to everyone who helped. 

I can only add to Mr. Scott's thoughts by expressing my sincerest thanks to 

those of you who supported this most worthy cause. 

(Signed) 

Dallas L. Peck 

Science and Cooperation After the Storms 7 
Generalized location map. Numbers 1 August 22, 1992, 8:53 a.m. e.s.t. 1 through 8 refer to reproductions 

of color images that were produced 

from NOAA satellite AVHRR data 

showing the track of Hurricane 

Andrew as it swept across the Gulf. 

3 August 23, 1992, 4:53 p.m. e.s.t. 4 August 24, 1992, 9:49 a.m. e.s.t. 

6 August 25, 1992, 9:28 a.m. e.s.t. 7 August 25, 1992, 4:29 p.m. e.s.t. 

8 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
2 August 23, 1992, 8:31 a.m. e.s.t. 5 August 24, 1992, 4:41 p.m. e.s.t. 

U.S. Department of the Interior

TEWARDSHIP 

after the 

TORM............ 


Stewardship After the Storm 

By Trudy P. Harlow 

T n order to highlight Interior's resource1 management and scientific efforts following 

natural disasters, the USGS, on behalf of 

the Department of the Interior, produced a 

newsletter, "Stewardship after the Storm." The 

newsletter provided information from all of the 

Interior Department bureaus that have responsibilities in the areas affected by Hurricanes 

Andrew and Iniki. 

In addition to reports on coastal erosion, 

disruption to water resources monitoring activities in Florida, and emergency map distribution 

efforts by the USGS, the newsletter told the 

story of other bureaus' efforts and how their 

operations were affected. Hurricane Andrew 

caused extensive damage, for example, to Everglades and Biscayne National Parks, which are 

located to the west and east of Homestead, the 

most heavily damaged area. Over half of the 

2,852 offshore drilling structures located in the 

Gulf of Mexico were exposed to the hurricaneforce winds, which significantly damaged 166 

production platforms and toppled 34. The Minerals Management Service, which is responsible 

for regulating the Nation's offshore drilling, 

swiftly moved in response teams to contain damage to offshore rigs and wells. National wildlife 

refuges survived Hurricane Andrew with only 

minor damage. As a result of Hurricane 

Andrew, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is 

developing proposals to monitor hurricane 

damage to local wildlife species. 

The resource and scientific information 

highlighted in the newsletter's two issues helped 

to evaluate the damage to Federal public resources and to provide scientific assessments of 

the impacts of these natural disasters that will 

guide immediate and long-range management 

decisions at Federal, State, and local levels. 

Department of the Interior employees were 

at the forefront of many relief efforts. They 

were among the first to volunteer by coming 

forward with donations and offers of assistance, 

giving special meaning to the expression, "The 

Interior Family." 

8 August 26, 1992, 4:17 p.m. e.s.t. 

Science and Cooperation after the Storms 9 
PEOPLE 


AND PROGRAMS 


MISSION 

As the Nation's largest earth science research and information 

agency, the USGS maintains a long tradition of providing "Earth 

Science in the Public Service." 

The USGS, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Interior, 

was established to provide a permanent Federal agency to 

conduct the systematic and scientific "classification of the public 

lands and examination of the geological structure, mineral 

resources, and products of the national domain." 

As a Nation we face serious questions concerning our global 

environment. How can we ensure an adequate supply of critical 

water, energy, and mineral resources in the future? In what ways 

are we irreversibly altering our natural environment when we use 

these resources? How has the global environment changed over 

geologic time, and what can the past tell us about the future? 

Will we have adequate supplies of quality water available for 

national needs? How can we predict, prevent, and mitigate the 

effects of natural hazards? 

Collecting, analyzing, and disseminating the scientific information needed to answer these questions are the primary mission 

of the USGS. This information is provided to the public in many 

forms, such as reports, maps, and data bases, that provide 

descriptions and analyses of the water, energy, and mineral 

resources, the land surface, the underlying geologic structure, 

and the dynamic processes of the Earth. 
from more than 3,000 authorized commercial 

map dealers nationwide. 

Water Resources Division 

The headquarters office of the Water Resources Division is located in Reston, 

Va. The Chief Hydrologist, the Associate 

Chief Hydrologist, and five Assistant Chief 

Hydrologists are responsible for the overall 

direction of the Division. National waterresearch programs are developed at Division 

headquarters under the direction of the Assistant Chief Hydrologist for Research and 

External Coordination. 

General direction of the Division's field 

programs is conducted through four Regional 

Hydrologists, located in Reston, Va.; Norcross, Ga.; Denver, Colo.; and Menlo Park, 

Calif. Forty-eight District Offices conduct the 

water-resources investigations and datacollection programs of the Division in all 50 

States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and 

the Territory of Guam. 

National Water-Quality Assessment.— 

The National Water-Quality Assessment 

(NAWQA) program seeks to provide nationally consistent descriptions of current waterquality conditions and trends for a large, representative part of the Nation's streams and 

ground-water resources and to provide explanations of the major natural and human factors influencing water quality. Information 

from the assessment is being used to monitor, 

manage, and regulate water resources. In fiscal year 1992, 20 study unit investigations 

developed assessment plans, began analyzing 

available water-quality information, and conducted reconnaissance-level field studies. 

National Water Summary.—The National 

Water Summary program provides water 

information on a State-by-State and national 

basis to aid policymakers in the analysis and 

development of water policies, legislation, and 

management actions. Changing patterns in 

availability, quantity, quality, and use of water 

resources are summarized for use by government officials, natural-resources managers, 

and the public. 

The principal products of the program 

are National Water Summary reports that 

describe hydrologic events and water conditions for individual water years and provide 

a State-by-State overview of specific waterrelated issues. In fiscal year 1992, the 

1988-89 report on floods and droughts 

(Water-Supply Paper 2375) was distributed. 

Hazardous Waste Hydrology.—The USGS 

conducts research and investigations into the 

disposal of hazardous chemical and radioactive wastes. This information is useful in 

alleviating the effects of waste on the Nation's 

water resources. The USGS evaluates the 

existing and potential effects on water resources of hazardous-waste disposal and provides baseline data on the chemical contamination of surface and ground water to assist 

the Department of Energy in developing procedures and guidelines for identifying suitable 

waste-disposal sites. 

Radioactive-waste studies are conducted 

in the Nuclear Waste Hydrology program, the 

principal emphasis of which is a better understanding of radionuclide transport in groundwater systems. 

Nonradioactive wastes are the focus of 

the Toxic Substances Hydrology program, 

which provides data to mitigate existing and 

potential contamination problems. 

Regional Aquifer-System Analysis.— The 

Regional Aquifer-System Analysis (RASA) 

program is a systematic study of a number 

of regional ground-water systems that represent a significant part of the Nation's water 

supply. The program includes assessment of 

discharge-recharge dynamics, hydrogeologic 

and chemical controls governing response of 

aquifer systems to stress, and development of 

computer simulation models. As of fiscal year 

1992, more than 800 RASA reports and maps 

have been produced. 

Acid Rain.—The USGS provides information needed to improve the scientific 

understanding of the occurrence and effects 

of acid rain, so that judgments can be made 

about effective measures for controlling or 

alleviating the problem. Components of the 

acid rain research and monitoring program 

include determination of the effects of acid 

deposition on lakes, streams, aquifers, and 

building stones and operation of the National 

Trends Network for monitoring precipitation 

chemistry. The program is coordinated 

through the Interagency Task Force on Acid 

Precipitation. In fiscal year 1991, program 

objectives were revised to emphasize evaluation of the effectiveness of the Clean Air Act 

Amendments of 1990. 

Hydrologic Data Collection.—The Hydrologic Data-Collection program provides information on the quantity, quality, location, and 

use of the Nation's surface and ground water 

to support the needs of Federal, State, and 

local governments. Data-collection stations are 

maintained at selected locations to provide 

records on streamflow, reservoir and lake 

storage, ground-water levels, and the quality 

of surface and ground water. These data 

form an information base that supports 

national and regional assessments of water 

resources. In fiscal year 1992, the USGS operated more than 7,300 continuous streamflow 

stations; collected stage and (or) discharge 

data at about 5,200 other stream, lake, and 

reservoir sites; determined ground-water levels in about 31,000 wells; and collected water12 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
USGS Programs 

Q cientific programs are administered 

L.3 through the Geologic, Water Resources, 

and National Mapping Divisions and supported by the Information Systems and 

Administrative Divisions. The National Center 

of the USGS is located in Reston, Va., near 

Washington, D.C. Research and investigations 

are carried out through an extensive organization of regional and field offices located 

throughout the 50 States, Puerto Rico, the 

Virgin Islands, and the Territory of Guam. 

National Mapping Division The headquarters office of the National 

Mapping Division is located in Reston, 

Va., and is composed of five primary organizational units: Program, Budget and Administration; Coordination and Requirements; 

Production Operations; Research; and 

Information Services. Four mapping centers 

(Reston, Va.; Rolla, Mo.; Denver, Colo.; and 

Menlo Park, Calif.) and the EROS (Earth 

Resources Observation Systems) Data Center 

(Sioux Falls, S. Dak.) perform operational 

mapping, remote sensing, printing, product 

distribution, and data dissemination activities. 

Mapping Coordination.— The USGS 

annually coordinates requirements for maps 

and digital cartographic data of Federal agencies under authority of Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) Circular A-16. In October 1990, OMB revised Circular A-16 to 

broaden the scope of Federal spatial data 

activities to be coordinated. Under the new 

circular, the USGS also coordinates requirements of State and local agencies for maps 

and map-related products. In the area of digital cartography, the USGS chairs both the 

Interior Geographic Data Committee (a 

departmental committee) and the Federal 

Geographic Data Committee (a multiagency 

committee) established under the new Circular A-16. The USGS provides leadership in 

the use of spatial data and in the development 

of digital data exchange standards. The USGS 

also provides staff support to the U.S. Board 

on Geographic Names, an interdepartmental 

board that determines the choice, form, spelling, and application of official geographic 

place names for Federal use. 

Map and Digital Data Production. — The 

USGS prepares base maps, image map products, digital cartographic and geographic data, 

and selected thematic maps of the Nation that 

are used extensively for land planning, land 

and resource management, and recreation 

purposes. Of rapidly increasing importance is 

the production of digital geographic data in 

various electronic media. Reproductions of 

aerial photographs and satellite images also 

are available. Digital data are available from 

the National Digital Cartographic Data Base 

as digital line graphs or digital elevation 

models. 

Primary topographic maps, including 

7.5-minute maps mostly at 1:24,000 scale for 

all areas of the lower 49 States and 15-minute 

maps of Alaska at 1:63,360 scale, are especially useful where detailed information is 

needed for all types of land and resource 

management. These detailed maps are periodically inspected and revised to maintain 

data currentness. 

Also available are smaller scale topographic maps, such as the intermediate-scale 

maps prepared at 1:100,000 scale and the 

1:250,000-scale map series. These map series 

are widely used by Federal and State agencies 

and the private sector for preparing their own 

special-purpose maps and depicting their 

unique data. Other maps available include 

1:500,000-scale State base maps and smaller 

scale U.S. base maps. 

The land use and land cover maps, 

primarily at a scale of 1:250,000 and of 

1:100,000 for selected areas, provide the only 

systematic nationwide inventory of land use 

and land cover data. The USGS also prepares 

special-purpose map products, such as orthophotoquads, small-scale image maps, U.S. 

National Park maps, and thematic maps. 

Research and Technology.— The USGS 

has pioneered investigations that have led to 

significant developments and changes in surveying and mapping. Mapping research activities, which are centered primarily on the geographic and cartographic disciplines, currently 

emphasize spatial data analysis, applications of 

remote sensing and geographic information 

systems, and advanced techniques for producing digital cartographic data. 

The Division has embarked on a major 

research and development plan to move from 

manual to digital production and revision of 

map products. The goals of the map modernization effort are to implement the advanced 

cartographic systems and procedures required 

to automate map production and to provide 

digital cartographic data required by Federal 

and State agencies for computer-based analysis of spatial data. 

Information Services.—The USGS 

disseminates much of the Nation's earth 

science information through its Earth Science 

Information Centers (ESIC), 64 State ESICaffiliated offices, the Tennessee Valley 

Authority, and the Library of Congress. 

Information about products is provided in 

many forms ranging from maps and books to 

computer-readable magnetic tapes and 

compact discs. About 130,000 different 

maps, books, and reports and about 9.5 

million aerial and space images are available 

for purchase. USGS maps are also available 

11 

SI1IV219011d UNIV arldOad 

quality data from about 3,700 surface-water 

and 7,700 ground-water sites. 

Federal-State Cooperative Program.— The 

Federal-State Cooperative program, which 

constitutes more than 40 percent of overall 

Division activity, is a partnership for waterresources investigations involving 50-50 cost 

sharing between the USGS and more than 

1,000 State or local government agencies. One 

of the program's unique characteristics is that 

the USGS conducts most of the work on 

behalf of the cooperators. Hydrologic datacollection activities as well as water-resources 

investigations and research are included in 

the program. In fiscal year 1992, water issues 

of highest priority included ground-water 

quality; water supply and demand; stream 

quality; wetlands, lakes, and estuaries; hydrologic hazards; hydrology of global climate 

change; nonpoint source pollution; and 

hydrologic data collection. 

National Research Program. — Basic 

research in the Water Resources Division 

focuses on increasing understanding of the 

fundamental hydrologic processes of the 

Nation's ground- and surface-water systems. 

Knowledge and techniques derived from 

these efforts are directed at solving current 

problems and anticipating future problems. 

Research studies are concentrated in surfacewater hydrology and chemistry, ground-water 

hydrology and chemistry, sediment transport 

and geomorphology, and ecology. 

State Research Institutes. — The State 

Water Resources Research Institutes program, 

the costs for which are shared by Federal and 

State governments, supports 54 Water 

Research Institutes at land-grant colleges or 

universities in the 50 States, the District of 

Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, 

and Guam. Research projects at the institutes 

are conducted in all water-related fields 

including engineering and the physical, biological, and social sciences. 

Research Grants.—The Water Resources 

Research Grants program supports research 

as defined in the Water Resources Research 

Act of 1984. Competitive grants are awarded 

on a dollar-for-dollar matching basis to qualified educational institutions, foundations, private firms, individuals, or agencies of local or 

State governments. Research is supported on 

water-resources-related problems of national 

interest. 

Water Data Activities Coordination.— 

The Office of Water Data Coordination is 

responsible for providing governmentwide 

leadership to coordinate water-information 

activities as required by the OMB memorandum No. M-92-01, which established the 

Water Information Coordination program 

(WICP). The goal of the WICP, administered 

by the USGS, is to establish and maintain an 

active partnership among Federal, State, and 

local agencies and the private sector to meet 

the Nation's water-resources information 

requirements effectively and economically (see 

article, p. 51). 

Geologic Division The headquarters office of the Geologic 

Division is located in Reston, Va., and 

consists of the Office of the Chief Geologist 

and six subordinate offices: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Engineering; Regional Geology; 

Mineral Resources; Energy and Marine Geology; International Geology; and Scientific 

Publications. Assistant Chief Geologists in the 

Eastern, Central, and Western Regions act for 

the Chief Geologist in carrying out general 

objectives, policies, and procedures for the 

Division. Project operations are conducted by 

personnel located principally in regional centers at Reston, Va.; Denver, Colo.; and Menlo 

Park, Calif.; at field offices in Flagstaff and 

Tucson, Ariz.; Anchorage, Alaska; Woods 

Hole, Mass.; Hawaii National Park, Hawaii; 

Pasadena, Calif.; Albuquerque, N. Mex.; 

Reno, Nev.; Seattle, Spokane, and Vancouver, 

Wash.; and San Juan, P.R.; and at the Center 

for Coastal and Regional Marine Studies in St. 

Petersburg, Fla. 

Geologic Hazards Surveys. — The Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program is a 

national research effort conducted to reduce 

hazards and risks from future earthquakes in 

the United States. Specific tasks include evaluation of earthquake potential for seismically 

active areas of the United States and operation of global seismic networks. Specific 

regions of emphasis include the central 

United States, Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and 

California. In fiscal year 1992, the Earthquake 

Hazards Reduction Program provided support to several dozen scientists studying the 

Landers and Big Bear earthquakes, the largest earthquakes to hit California in the past 

several decades; the ramifications of those 

earthquakes in the near future are being 

studied. 

The Volcano Hazards Program conducts 

research on volcanic processes to help reduce 

the loss of life, property, and natural resources that can result from volcanic eruptions and related hydrologic events. The 

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on the Island 

of Hawaii, the Cascades Volcano Observatory 

in Vancouver, Wash., and the Alaska Volcano 

Observatory in Anchorage are the program's 

principal field research centers. Volcano eruptions in Alaska during fiscal year 1992 were 

predicted in advance, and appropriate alerts 

were provided to private, State, military, and 

other Federal agencies. Ongoing monitoring 

of Mt. Pinatubo by USGS and Philippine 

Programs 13 
scientists has helped save thousands of lives 

and prevent major equipment losses. 

The Landslide Hazards Program emphasizes field and laboratory research on the 

earth processes that result in ground failures 

such as landslides, mudflows, subsidence, liquefaction, and debris flows. A study of landslides in Hawaii, nearing completion in fiscal 

year 1992, will help the State of Hawaii to 

design mitigative techniques to reduce the risk 

from future slides. The USGS also helped to 

assess the immediate landslide threat from the 

Oakland Hills wildfire in California. 

Geologic Framework and Processes.—The 

National Geologic Mapping Program conducts 

basic geologic research to acquire fundamental data on the Nation's geologic structure and 

the environmental and dynamic processes that 

have shaped it. Geologic mapping, geophysical research on the properties of Earth materials, age determinations of rocks, and modernization of mapping techniques through the 

development of digital geologic cartographic 

techniques are the main components of the 

program. Geologic maps provide the data 

required to address many societal and environmental issues, such as water-quality and 

toxic-waste issues; earthquake, volcano, and 

landslide hazards; and potential ground-water 

contamination by agrichemicals. The National 

Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 authorizes a 

program that includes not only the research 

described above but also geologic mapping 

conducted by State geological surveys. Under 

the enacted legislation, the USGS is responsible for managing and coordinating all components of the National Geologic Mapping Program. Plans for implementing the national 

cooperative program were developed during 

1992 (see article, p. 66). 

The Deep Continental Studies Program 

conducts research to obtain information on 

the composition, structure, formation, and 

evolution of the middle and lower crust and 

upper mantle of the Earth and on how 

dynamics of the deeper crust affect life at the 

surface. 

The Geomagnetism Program measures 

and interprets changes in the strength and 

direction of the Earth's magnetic field. Eleven 

global geomagnetic observatories provide data 

for continually updating navigational charts 

and maps produced by Federal agencies for 

use by Federal, military, and industrial entities. Efforts were expanded in fiscal year 1992 

to integrate a global network of stations for 

monitoring geomagnetism in realtime. 

The Coastal and Wetlands Program conducts research on the geologic processes 

involved in coastal issues, such as coastal erosion, wetland loss, and pollution. Information 

from the program is used by land use managers to make decisions on multiple use of 

coastal lands. The Southern Lake Michigan 

Coastal Erosion Study was completed in fiscal 

year 1992 (see article, p. 55). 

Global Change Research.—The Global 

Change and Climate History Program conducts research on the natural variability of 

past climate, including the mechanisms and 

rates of past change, and on the impacts of 

global change on ecosystems and lands in support of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, in which all USGS divisions participate. 

Major field operations completed in fiscal 

year 1992 are designed to obtain long records 

of past global change in northern and central 

California, along the California coast, and in 

the Arctic off the North Slope of Alaska. 

Offshore Surveys.—The Offshore Geologic Framework Program conducts scientific 

investigations to understand geologic and geophysical characteristics of the continental margins, adjacent slope and deep-ocean areas, 

and the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. 

Results of these studies and analysis of new 

information are essential for energy and 

mineral-resource evaluation and assessment. 

During fiscal year 1992, researchers created a 

model of how the Mississippi Fan off Louisiana and the Monterey Fan off California 

evolved, which will aid in understanding the 

distribution of oil and gas reservoir rocks. 

Mineral-Resource Surveys. —The National 

Mineral Resource Assessment Program conducts research to identify and delineate tracts 

of land that have potential for the occurrence 

of undiscovered mineral resources and to 

estimate the probable amounts of these 

resources. It provides useful, timely, and 

credible mineral-resource information and 

assessments for planning and managing the 

use of the Nation's lands and resources. 

Recent developments include a quantitative 

assessment of mineral resources in the East 

Mojave National Scenic Area, California (estimated gross-in-place value of metallic resources is $6.2 billion) and preliminary 

mineral-resource assessments of the following 

areas: West Mojave Management Area and 

San Bernardino National Forest, California; 

Butte and Dillon quadrangles, Idaho and 

Montana; Coronado National Forest, Arizona; 

International Falls 1:250,000 quadrangle, 

Minnesota; and West Virginia. 

The Strategic and Critical Minerals Program provides a continuing, accurate analysis 

of global mineral resources and a network for 

dissemination of comprehensive information 

on minerals that are essential to a strong 

national economy and security. In fiscal year 

1992, the program (1) completed a mineralresource assessment of the Guayana Shield in 

Venezuela and trained Venezuelan scientists; 

(2) installed or expanded the USGS Mineral 

Resources Data System (MRDS) data base in 

14 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
13 Latin American countries and increased 

the total number of MRDS records worldwide 

to more than 91,000; and (3) published, with 

the U.S. Bureau of Mines, a report on the 

resources and future production of phosphate 

rock in the United States. 

The Development of Assessment Techniques Program is continually developing new 

tools that can identify undiscovered mineral 

deposits. Recent developments include (1) a 

backpack-transportable electrical-geochemical 

method to move indicator elements out of the 

earth to collection electrodes, where they can 

be analyzed by chemical means; (2) an airborne remote-sensing procedure that allows 

remote mapping of variations in rock composition of some geologic units, which indirectly 

can be used to define potentially mineralized 

areas; and (3) regional studies that reveal the 

importance of geologic shear and fault zones 

for the localization of gold deposits in the 

Southeastern United States. 

Energy Surveys.—The Evolution of Sedimentary Basins Program conducts multidisciplinary research to define the evolution of 

and the energy and mineral commodities 

located in sedimentary basins in the United 

States. In fiscal year 1992, construction of the 

National Ice Core Repository was begun with 

funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to the Institute of Arctic and 

Alpine Research of the University of Colorado. This repository, located at the USGS 

Central Region Headquarters in Denver, 

Colo., will be used to store ice cores acquired 

by NSF's Division of Polar Programs and by 

the USGS Global Change and Climate History 

Program; the repository is a joint effort of the 

USGS, NSF, and the University of Colorado. 

The Coal Investigations Program conducts geologic, geophysical, and geochemical 

research to develop scientifically based assessments of the quality, quantity, and availability 

of the Nation's coal resources. During fiscal 

year 1992, coal availability studies were completed on six quadrangles—two in the central 

Appalachians, three in the northern Appalachians, and one in the Illinois Basin—covering 

a total of about 350 square miles (900 square 

kilometers). 

The Oil and Gas Investigations Program 

conducts petroleum and natural gas research 

to provide reliable assessments of the oil and 

gas resources of the Nation that are critical to 

the development and implementation of 

national energy policies and strategies. Fiscal 

year 1992 saw the initiation of a new assessment of the Nation's oil and gas resources 

(see article, p. 61). 

The Oil Shale Investigations Program 

conducts research to assess the Nation's oil 

shale resources, including investigation of the 

structure and chemistry of oil shale deposits 

and identification of oil-shale deposits suitable 

for exploitation under current environmental 

and technological constraints. More than 

22,000 feet (6,700 meters) of oil-shale core 

was processed for permanent archival at the 

USGS Core Research Center during fiscal 

year 1992. This work, performed in cooperation with the Department of Energy, will lead 

to preservation of a world-class collection of 

oil-shale cores that will be available for future 

research on oil-shale deposits. 

The Uranium and Radon Investigations 

Program conducts basic research to determine 

the nature and distribution of uranium and 

thorium resources and byproducts, such as 

radon, that may be health hazards. Through 

continuing cooperative agreements between 

the USGS, the Department of Energy, and 

the Environmental Protection Agency, scientists are investigating the sources and geological conditions that control the distribution of 

radon gas. Techniques developed by the 

USGS through these cooperative studies have 

been applied in indoor radon assessments; 

USGS-developed methodologies are being 

adopted by other Federal and State agencies. 

The Geothermal Investigations Program 

conducts basic research to determine the 

nature, distribution, and potential of the 

Nation's geothermal resources. In fiscal year 

1992, program scientists worked closely with 

private industry, the National Park Service, 

and the Department of Energy to define the 

geothermal resources associated with national 

parks in Hawaii, Alaska, California, and Wyoming and to assess the potential impact on 

these resources by development adjacent to 

the parks. 

Steam rising from Roaring Mountain in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., hints at the geothermal 

energy resources of the area. 

JOHN R.KEITH 

Programs 15 
Percentage of Total 

Funds by Activity 

Facilities 

General 

Administration 

3 

Geologic and 

Mineral Resource 32 Surveys and 

Mapping 

National Mapping, 

Geography, and 

Surveys 

Water Resources 

Investigations 

The World Energy Resources Assessment 

Program provides information on worldwide 

energy resources (principally oil and gas) for 

use by other agencies in the development of 

national-energy, international-trade, and 

foreign policies. During fiscal year 1992, 

researchers completed a study of the oil and 

gas resources of Southeast Asia. 

International Activities 

The USGS has conducted earth science 

studies in foreign countries for nearly 50 

years. Authorization is provided under the 

Organic Act, as revised, and the Foreign 

Assistance Act and related legislation when 

such studies are deemed by the U.S. Departments of the Interior and State to be in the 

interest of the U.S. Government. 

Current international program efforts 

focus on technical-assistance programs in 

developing countries and scientific cooperation and research through agreements with 

other countries as an extension and enhancement of USGS domestic programs. Cooperative research activities range from informal 

communications among scientists, through 

formal, jointly staffed projects, to multinationally staffed coordinated programs focused on 

particular problems or topics. 

Related activities that are integral to the 

international programs include institutional 

development, exchange of scientists, training 

of foreign nationals, and representation of the 

USGS or the U.S. Government in international organizations and at international conferences and meetings. 

In fiscal year 1992, a comprehensive 

study of the mineral resources of the Altiplano of Bolivia was completed and published 

(see article, p. 86). 

Information Systems Division 

The Information Systems Division headquarters office is in Reston, Va. The 

Division is composed of five offices: Assistant 

Director, Computer and Communications Services, Customer Services, Field Services, and 

Management Services. Service centers in Reston, Va.; Menlo Park, Calif.; Denver, Colo.; 

and Flagstaff, Ariz., provide a complete range 

of services to users. 

The Assistant Director for Information 

Systems is the Division Chief and chairs the 

USGS Information Systems Council, which 

recommends technology-related policies to 

the Director, coordinates computer science 

research and technology, and provides guidelines for USGS information management 

programs. 

Significant accomplishments in information systems management in fiscal year 1992 

included evaluation of a commercial mass 

storage software system as part of expanded 

mainframe services. In the area of electronic 

mail systems, numerous mail systems were 

linked together, and now over 8,000 addresses 

are maintained on the bureauwide system. 

Other activities included upgrading network 

access to the mainframe computer and automation of general-purpose computer data 

center operations, such as job scheduling and 

reports distribution. 

Administrative Division 

The headquarters office of the Administrative Division is located in Reston, Va. 

The Assistant Director for Administration is 

the Division Chief. Under his leadership, the 

Division provides administrative direction and 

coordination to support the scientific and 

technical programs of the USGS. 

The Division is composed of five headquarters offices: Financial Management and 

Systems Management are centralized headquarters functions. Facilities and Management 

Services, Personnel, and Procurement and 

Contracts provide operational support at 

headquarters and at USGS field units through 

Regional Management Offices in Denver, 

Colo., and Menlo Park, Calif. 

The Division also manages the development, maintenance, and operation of the 

financial management system for the entire 

U.S. Department of the Interior through a 

sixth component, the Washington Administrative Service Center. As of fiscal year 1992, 

7 of the 10 DOI bureaus are now using the 

Federal Financial System (see article, p. 102). 

In building on its success with the Federal Financial System for DOI, the USGS 

is leading the effort to acquire and implement 

a standard procurement system for the 

Department. 

16 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Cooperative Agreements Initiated in Fiscal Year 1991 

Counterpart Organization(s) 	i Description 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 	 Cooperation on the implementation of the National 


Water-Quality Assessment Program as it concerns 


pesticide-related water-quality issues. 


National Geographic Society 	 Coordination of water resource research activities. 


(See below.) 


Defense Mapping Agency 	 Sale of Defense Mapping Agency standard digital 


and topographic products by the USGS to the 


general public. 


Bureau of Land Management 	 Management of fossils on public lands. 

National Park Service 

U.S. Forest Service, Department of 


Agriculture 


National Center for Health Statistics 	 Collaboration in support of research, data 


collection, and joint studies to integrate data and 


information to help reveal relations between human 


health and earth science factors. 


U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 	 Cooperation in the conduct of water-quality 


monitoring and assessment activities. 


U.S. Forest Service, Coordination of the production, exchange, and 


Department of Agriculture dissemination of cartographic products and services. 


Woods Hole Research Center Cooperative research in the use of remote sensing 


Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution technology for assessment of global change. 


Office of Medical Services, Provide medical services to USGS employees who 


Department of State travel overseas on official temporary duty. 


Pacific Gas and Electric Company 	 Cooperative research and development agreement 

San Francisco, California 	 to demonstrate a prototype broadcast earthquake 


information service in the San Francisco Bay 


region. 


Washington State University 	 Cooperation in sharing facilities on the Pullman 

Pullman, Washington 	 campus. 

Soil Conservation Service 	 Establishment of the Cooperative Interagency 

U.S. Forest Service Terrestrial Ecosystem Regional Research and 


Agricultural Research Service Analysis (TERRA) laboratory in Colorado. 


Haskell Indian Junior College Support recruitment, training, and employment of 


Lawrence, Kansas Native Americans into the earth science career 


areas. 


Bureau of Indian Affairs 	 Indian water rights claims. 

Budget 

cooperative agreements with more than 

1,000 Federal, State, and local agencies USGS Signs Water Agreement 

and the academic community support a large with National Geographic 

share of research and investigations. In fiscal Society 

year 1992, the USGS had obligational author- In June 1992, the National 

ity for $852 million, $586.7 million of which Geographic Society and the USGS 

came from direct appropriations, $7.6 million launched a collaborative effort to 

increase public understanding of the from estimated receipts from map sales, and 

Nation's freshwater resources. The $257.7 million from reimbursements. The 

multiyear project will encompass a USGS was reimbursed for work performed variety of activities including collaborat­ for other Federal, State, and local agencies ing on scientific research and translating whose needs for earth science expertise com­ results of that research into outreach and 

plement USGS program objectives. Work for educational products. Some of the 

State, county, and municipal agencies is most projects that are underway are teacher 

often conducted on a cost-sharing basis (see workshops, instruction kits, and jointly 

p. 109). 	 written scientific reports. 

Programs 1 7 
Real-Live Lessons in Earth Science 


By Kathryn D. Gunderson and Wendy R. Hassibe 

I n its continuing effort to reach out to the public with a series of events to better acquaint people with the USGS, the 

National Center in Reston, Va., was the site for the 1992 Open 

House. More than 400 USGS employees were involved in the 

planning and hosting of this successful outreach to the local 

community. 

Visitors to the Saturday, April 25, 1992, Open House got a 

live-action lesson in realtime geology when a magnitude 6.9 

earthquake in northern California registered on a seismograph 

as they looked on. A USGS employee and Reston resident had 

just begun demonstrating how the seismograph operates when 

the seisomograph needle began to move, recording the earthquake that occurred about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of 

Eureka, Calif. 

The real-live earthquake was an unexpected addition to the 

more than 85 exhibits, presentations, and demonstrations that 

highlighted the theme of the Open House, "Earth Science Takes 

You Everywhere." 

More than 12,000 visitors made their way through the 

exhibits and had a chance to interact one-on-one with dozens of 

USGS scientists. The Earth Science Information Center was 

open throughout the Open House, affording visitors a chance to 

purchase USGS maps and book reports. The Hands-On Room, 

adjacent to the Visitors Center, was inaugurated during the 

Open House and was a beehive of activity with children using 

the interactive video display to learn about volcanoes and plate 

tectonics and donning hip-waders to stand in the portable water 

flume and measure streamflow, just like a real hydrologist. 

A special tent was set aside for an activity made popular at 

previous open houses—Ask the Scientist—where USGS scientists 

were available to answer questions about the earth sciences and 

to identify rocks. Particularly popular with the children, this 

activity also allowed adults to try to "stump" the scientists. 

Children also had a chance to learn to be rock detectives and 

solve various mysteries about rocks and minerals. 

Gold panning, dinosaur tracks (and a special exhibit on what 

dinosaurs ate), the deepest lake in the world, the mystery of vanishing barrier islands, and the stories that tree rings tell were all 

features of the third Open House that has been held in Reston. 

The Western Region headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., has 

hosted three open houses as well, the last in 1991. The Central 

Region headquarters in Denver, Colo., will host its first open 

house in May 1993. The USGS has developed a rotational schedule for open houses. Menlo Park will again hold an open house 

in 1994 and the National Center in 1995. 

These open house events provide a fun opportunity for 

people to learn more about the earth sciences and for USGS 

employees to tell visitors about what they do and how it affects 

daily life. As Director Dallas Peck said, "the Open House is an 

opportunity for the local community to come and spend some 

time with us, learn a little more about the earth sciences, and get 

a first-hand look at some of our exciting and important scientific 

research and investigations." 

Visitors start their adventure. 

Breaking News—earthquake registers under watchful eyes. 

(;e0lOgira 

Earth Science liliaLiaal 

The latest technology assists in the earth sciences. 

Acid rain can dissolve building stones. 

18 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Curiosity about the earth sciences has no age limits. 

Everyday items are made from minerals. 

Volunteers show visitors how to measure streamflow. 

Posters, maps, and first-hand advice are available to visitors. 

Partnerships strengthen knowledge of the earth sciences for all. 

Sediment cores show what's under our feet. Gold fever strikes again. 

People 19 
People 

At the end of fiscal year 1992, the USGS 

had 9,023 permanent full-time employees. The diversified earth science research 

programs and services of the bureau are 

reflected in the workforce, about half of 

which possess a bachelor's or higher level 

degree. 

Permanent employees are supported by 

the 2,036 other-than-full-time permanent 

employees, including many university students 

and faculty members. This relation with the 

academic community has made the expertise 

of many eminent scientists available to the 

USGS. Students have proved valuable during 

times of increased workload, especially during 

the field season. Academic institutions have 

provided a means of recruiting qualified 

young professionals for permanent full-time 

positions upon completion of their studies. 

The USGS has several innovative programs 

that provide opportunities for graduate students. Other programs promote interest in 

the earth sciences at historically black colleges 

and universities, at Hispanic-serving institutions, and at colleges with Native American 

students. 

Outreach and Information 

Dissemination 

n its continuing commitment to meet the 

earth science needs of the Nation, the 

USGS collects, analyzes, interprets, publishes, 

and disseminates earth science information. 

The results of USGS investigations are published in scientific reports and in topographic, 

geologic, and hydrologic maps. About 150,000 

different maps, books, and reports are available for purchase. A series of general-interest 

publications is available to inform the public 

about USGS activities. Research results and 

investigations are also published in journals of 

technical and scientific organizations and in 

publications of cooperating Federal and State 

agencies. News releases, realtime information 

on earthquakes in the United States and 

around the world, and news conferences on 

reports and events of current interest are 

other important means by which the USGS 

provides earth science information to the 

public. 

During fiscal year 1992, the USGS produced 1,500 new or revised topographic, geologic, and hydrologic maps, bringing the total 

number of maps available to 88,500. Of these, 

more than 7.1 million copies were distributed. 

The number of reports approved for publication in fiscal year 1992 was 4,571, 73 percent 

of which were designated for publication in 

outside professional journals and monographs 

and the remainder for publication by the 

USGS. 

More than 125,000 copies of technical 

reports were distributed. Also, 900 new 

reports were released as open files, making 

the total more than 30,000 open-file reports 

available. More than one million copies of 

general-interest publications were distributed 

in response to inquiries from the public. Of 

the approximately 9.9 million aerial and space 

images available for sale, about 200,000 copies 

are sold annually. 

Adventures in Earth 

Science — Public Lecture 

Series 

By Mark V. Bonito 

The last Thursday of each month has 

become an important outreach opportunity for the USGS Western Region Center. 

Since May of 1990, on the 10th anniversary of 

the eruption of Mount St. Helens, the center 

in Menlo Park, Calif., has hosted a monthly 

public lecture series to expand the public's 

understanding of the diverse mission of the 

USGS. The inaugural program featured an 

overview of 10 years of volcano research at 

Mount St. Helens in Washington. 

Scientists who present the talks are 

encouraged to use nontechnical language to 

communicate their research accomplishments 

and share personal experiences of their study 

of the Earth, its resources, and its complex 

processes. The informal atmosphere of the 

public lecture setting allows the public to 

interact with the scientists as individuals. It 

also gives the scientists a more relaxed format 

in which to present their research than the 

typical professional meetings. 

The lecture series has become a popular 

local event, well advertised in newspapers and 

on radio and television. Generally, more than 

100 people attend the lectures, and attendance 

is sometimes over 200. Lecture-goers range 

from professors and schoolteachers to realtors, outdoor enthusiasts, and those who just 

want to learn more about the earth sciences. 

The topic of each lecture is featured on large 

display panels and short video segments at the 

USGS Earth Science Information Center in 

Menlo Park, where maps and books are sold. 

Word-of-mouth enthusiasm has become the 

best form of advertising, as the series has 

grown in popularity. The lectures are videotaped and archived in the USGS library. 

20 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Topics in the lecture series have ranged 

from droughts and climate change on Earth 

to water and the possibility of life on Mars. 

One popular lecture in 1992 explained how 

the present topography, climate, and soil in 

the Napa Valley, which are so conducive to 

growing wine grapes, are the result of geologic events and processes that began eons 

ago and continue today. Other topics in 1992 

included the challenge of geologic mapping in 

the last frontier of Alaska; the explosive volcanic eruption of Mount Mazama that created 

the crater of Crater Lake National Park in 

southwest Oregon; and a "Journey to the 

Center of the Earth" on the composition of 

the Earth's interior and the techniques scientists use to explore it. Sometimes, timing is 

everything—a planned lecture on volcanology 

in June 1991 was given to a standing-roomonly crowd when Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted hours before the lecture was 

scheduled to begin. 

The USGS plans to continue its popular 

lecture series in 1993. These public presentations foster a greater appreciation of the multidisciplinary role of government scientists 

and of the wide-ranging mission and activities 

of the USGS. The scientists appreciate the 

opportunity to share directly with taxpayers 

the personal rewards and societal benefits of 

their ongoing adventures in earth science. 

Awards and Honors Each year USGS employees receive awards 

and honors that range from certificates 

of excellence and monetary awards to recognition of their achievements by election to 

membership or office in professional societies. 

Presidential Rank 

Presidential Rank Awards are presented 

annually by the Office of Personnel Management on behalf of the President, to career 

members of the Senior Executive Service, for 

exceptional service. Presidential Rank Awards, 

the highest civilian honor awarded to Federal 

executives, are given at two levels: Distinguished and Meritorious. In 1992, four USGS 

executives received Meritorious Rank awards: 

Peter F. Bermel, for his efforts to balance the 

demand for USGS information and products 

with the need to support Federal deficit 

reduction and to maximize the productivity of 

the scientific, technical, and administrative 

staff of the USGS. 

Gary W. Hill, for providing exceptional leadership in USGS offshore programs. He set 

targets and directions that have been critical 

to the successful development of a national oil 

and gas assessment, mapping of the U.S. 

Exclusive Economic Zone, and a new national 

coastal geology program. 

David W. Moody, for developing the National 

Water Summary (NWS), one of the most successful vehicles in the Nation's history for the 

dissemination of water-resources information. 

NWS reports provide a focus for communicating the results of USGS water-resources investigations to those who might benefit from 

them. 

Allen H. Watkins, for providing oversight to 

the Advanced Cartographic Systems modernization program, including a restructuring of 

the system development approach. He helped 

establish the USGS as an international leader 

in remote sensing and advanced informationsystems research, development, and operations. 

Distinguished Service 

The highest honor given by the Department of the Interior to its employees is the 

Distinguished Service Award. Symbolized by a 

gold medal, this award for outstanding 

achievement was presented to 15 USGS 

employees in 1992. 

Edith B. Chase, for exceptional contributions 

to scientific programs through excellence in 

the writing, editing, and design of technical 

reports. 

James F. Daniel, for exceptional contributions 

to the science of hydrology and to the management of water-resources programs. 

John R. Filson, for outstanding leadership of 

earthquake and seismologic research. 

William F. Gossman, Jr., for outstanding 

contributions in directing facilities and management programs and in administrative 

management. 

Donald E. Hillier, (retired) for exceptional 

contributions to the production and improvement of water-resources reports. 

Edgar A. Imhoff (retired), for numerous 

accomplishments in water-resources management throughout the United States. 

Samuel N. Luoma, for creative research in 

biochemistry and geochemistry. 

Richard F. Mast, for outstanding contributions to petroleum geology and to the administration and leadership of major petroleum 

research programs within the USGS. 

John C. Reed, Jr., in recognition of outstanding contributions to Precambrian geology and 

leadership of scientific programs of the 

USGS. 

Kathleen B. Rutledge, for outstanding contributions to human-resources management in 

the USGS. 

Verne R. Schneider, for exceptional contributions to the water-science community as a 

technical program manager, including execuPeople 21 
tive direction for the USGS National WaterQuality Assessment program. 

Ren Jen Sun, for his outstanding career with 

the USGS, particularly his significant contributions in the field of ground-water hydrology and the understanding of the Nation's 

regional aquifer system. 

Paul K. Theobald, Jr., in recognition of outstanding contributions to exploration geochemistry research, leadership in the international scientific community, and career-long 

dedication to earth science education. 

Edwin W. Tooker, for accomplishments in the 

field of economic geology and as an administrator of USGS mineral deposits research 

programs. 

Harry A. Tourtelot, for outstanding contributions to geology and for distinguished leadership and administration of geologic programs. 

Meritorious Service 

The Meritorious Service Award is the 

second highest award granted by the Department of the Interior and is given for significant contributions to the earth sciences and to 

management and administration of USGS scientific programs. Recipients in 1992 were 

R. ERNEST ANDERSON, CHARLES A. APPEL, 

PAUL R. BEAUCHEMIN, BRUCE L. BEAUDIN, 

JOHN C. BEHRENDT, BETTY B. BRODES, ERNEST 

D. COBB, GARY D. COBB, RICHARD M. COMERFORD, TYLER B. COPLEN II, WILLIAM P. DILLON, PAUL V. DRESLER, HAROLD E. FIEBELMAN, 

BETTE T. GOODRICH, LARRY C. HARMS, MAXINE CHAVIS JEFFERSON, MARSHALL JENNINGS, 

RICHARD D. KRUSHENSKY, LYMAN LADNER, 

DONALD L. LIGHT, STUART W. MCKENZIE, 

WANDA C. MEEKS, ALAN MIKUNI, WILLIAM D. 

MILES, JOHN W. MORGAN, C. WYLIE POAG, 

STEPHEN F. POUSARDIEN, DAVID A. RICKERT, 

WAYNE G. ROHDE, LAWRENCE F. ROONEY, 

HEDY J. ROSSMEISSL, NORMAN E. SCHMIDT, 

JR., WAYNE C. SHANKS III, ROBERT J. SHEDLOCK, DARLENE R. SIRA, CRAIG D. SKALET, 

MICHAEL T. TOBIN, KENNETH L. WAHL, 

WILLIAM G. WILBER, HELEN P. WILLINGHAM, 

JOE R. WILLMON, VALENTINE E. ZADNIK. 

Superior Service 

The Superior Service Award is the third 

highest award granted by the Department of 

the Interior and is given for significant acts, 

services, or achievements that materially aid 

the accomplishment of the Survey's mission. 

Recipients in 1992 were 

JAMES C. ADAMS, DON P. ADKINS, ELLEN P. 

ANTHOLIS, MARK A. AYERS, JAMES H. BARKS, 

LYNDA B. BELLISIME, KENNETH E. BENCALA, 

CURTIS S. BENNETT III, RICK D. BENSON, 

WILLIAM A. BRADDOCK, MAURICE G. BRUMM, 

ALLAN W. BURNS, DOROTHY I. BURNS, JACQUELINE BURNS, SCOTT C. CHRISTENSEN, TIMOTHY 

S. COLLETT, BILLY E. COLSON, JEROLD D. 

COMBS, ALAN K. COOPER, ROBERT A. CROVELLI, ROBERT S. CUPP, KATHRYN CZERNOWSKI, 

ROBERT E. DAVIS, DONALD L. DUNN, MARK L. 

FAYE, LORI GHEQUIERE, EDWARD J. GILROY, 

KIRSTIE LEA GINNODO, GEORGE D. GLYSSON, 

HERMAN C. GUNTER, RICHARD R. HANSELL, 

RONALD L. HANSON, SHERRY A. HATHAWAY, 

JOHN S. HAVENS, JOAN E. HELMRICH, WILLIAM 

J. HERB, DAVID C. HOOPER, RICK T. IWATSUBO, EMANUEL P. JAMES, F. PAUL KAPINOS, 

STANLEY W. KIRKENDALL, GARY W. KRAMER, 

RICHARD L. KRAUSE, MARK S. KUTSKO, TERRANCE E. LAMB, KENNETH J. LANFEAR, MARJORIE F. LANIER, MELINDA M. LANZA, MICHAEL 

P. LEE, RONALD LOFTON, DEREK R. LOVLEY, 

HAROLD C. MATTRAW, JR., JAMES B. MCCONNELL, NORWOOD B. MELCHER, BEVERLY A. 

MERCILLIOTT, TIMOTHY L. MILLER, JOAN G. 

NADEAU, CHARLES D. NETHAWAY, WENDY E. 

NORTON, DAVID A. PAGE, BRUCE PARKS, 

GLENN C. PATTERSON, RICHARD A. PEARSALL, 

JOHN D. PEPER, KATHY D. PETER, CAROL E. 

PETERS, JAMES G. PETERS, MARGARET B. 

PILLERA, J. ELTON PORTER, JEANICE I. POWELL, 

GERALD T. PRUETT, LEROY C. RAUSCHENBACH, 

JOSEPH F. RINELLA, GILPIN R. ROBINSON, JR., 

CURTIS L. SANDERS, JR., WILLIAM E. SCHINKEL, 

JAMES C. SCHORNICK, JR., JONATHON C. SCOTT, 

ALLEN M. SHAPIRO, JAMES 0. SHEARMAN, 

NANCY JEAN SHORT, JOHN SKELTON, JUDELL C. 

SPOERING, GERALDINE R. STALLWORTH, JOHN 

K. STAMER, JO ANNE M. STAPLETON, ELAINE 

M. STOUT, ROBERT R. SYBERT, JR., JANET T. 

THOMAS, WILLIAM A. THOMAS, W. JANE TIMMINS, PRISCILLA G.UTTERBACK, GARY R. 

VANDERHAVEN, LARRY M. VANDIVER, JAMES N. 

VANDRIEL, FRANK C. WELLS, MAURICE D. 

WINNER, JR., THOMAS H. YORKE, JR. 

USGS Unit Award for Excellence 

of Service 

The Women's Advisory Committee— 

Geologic Division—was recognized for its 

efforts to promote communication with Division management on issues related to the professional development of all women employees, to improve the working environment for 

women, and to recruit qualified women for 

positions at all levels. Members of the committee have also worked to identify and implement plans to enhance productivity, improve 

working conditions, and provide numerous 

educational programs on women's issues for 

all employees in the Geologic Division. 

The USGS Joint Education Initiative 

(JEdI) Team was recognized for its spirit, 

22 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
dedication, expertise, and teamwork in developing the JEdI CD-ROM's (compact disc, 

read-only memory) with accompanying activities for teachers to use in the classroom — 

a model for curriculum materials for the 

21st century. The JEdI program was developed in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

numerous educational communities, and the 

private sector. 

National Medal of Science 

Eugene M. Shoemaker was presented the 

National Medal of Science by President Bush, 

in a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the 

White House, on June 23, 1992. In presenting the award to Shoemaker, President Bush 

cited his "pioneering research and inspiring 

leadership in the geological exploration of the 

solar system, his entrepreneurial creation and 

direction of the Branch of Astrogeology of 

the USGS, and his research on Earthapproaching asteroids and comets and their 

potential impact effects." 

Awards and Honors Received by 

USGS Employees in 1992 

William J. Campbell was awarded the Nansen 

Polar Bear Award of Norway for outstanding 

research in remote sensing and polar geophysics (Dec. 5, 1991). Campbell died 

Nov. 20, 1992. 

William F. Cannon was awarded the 1992 

Goldrich Medal, presented annually by the 

Institute on Lake Superior Geology, for excellence in research on the geology of the Lake 

Superior region. 

Edward C.T. Chao received the 1992 Barringer Medal of the Meteoritical Society, in 

honor of his discovery of high-pressure forms 

of quartz that are evidence of terrestrial 

impact craters, and other contributions to the 

study of meteorite impact craters. 

Edward Clifton was granted honorary membership in the Society for Sedimentary Geology, in recognition of his contributions to 

the society and to the field of sedimentary 

geology. 

Billy E. Colson received the Meritorious 

Service Award from the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA), in honor of his 

work in preparing FEMA's report to the U.S. 

Congress on flood plain management. 

James E. Constantz received a patent and a 

cash award for developing a process for desalinating water and a drip irrigation system that 

uses solar energy to purify water and distribute it for irrigating crops or recharging 

ground water. 

George E. Ericksen received the Medal for 

Meritorious Service to Mining, from the Government of Bolivia, in recognition of his scientific investigations of Salar de Uyuni and 

other salt flats in southern Bolivia. Ericksen 

was also inducted into the Chilean Academy 

of Sciences in August 1992, in recognition of 

his contributions to science in Chile. 

Robert Fournier was presented the 1991 

Bowen Award of the Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology section of the American 

Geophysical Union for his innovative research 

on the chemistry of hydrothermal fluids. 

Harold J. Gluskoter received the 1992 

Gordon H. Wood, Jr., Memorial Award of the 


Energy Minerals Division of the American 


Association of Petroleum Geologists, in 


recognition of his significant contributions to 


the field of coal geology. 


Walter W. Hays received the Annual Leadership Award of the Central United States 


Earthquake Consortium for his support of 


earthquake preparedness in the central 


United States and for his work in promoting 


earthquake hazard-reduction measures 


nationwide. 


John D. Hem received a special award from 


the International Association of Geochemistry 


and Cosmochemistry for his pioneering contributions to developing an understanding of 


the geochemistry of aluminum, iron, and 


manganese. 


Derek R. Lovley was a Grand Winner in the 


Best of What's New awards for 1992 by Popular Science magazine, for his research in the 


field of organic remediation of water-quality 


problems. 


Bernard Malo received the Max Hecht Award 


of the American Society for Testing and 


Materials Committee D-19 on Water, for out-


Eugene M. Shoemaker (right) with 

former Presidential Science Advisor 

Allan D. Bromley (left) and 

President Bush at National Medal 

of Science awards ceremony in the 

Rose Garden of the White House. 

(Photograph by David Valdez, The 

White House.) 

People 23 
Federal Design 

Achievement Awards 

Federal Design Achievement Awards were presented to 

the USGS by the National 

Endowment for the Arts, for a 

poster-leaflet entitled "Map 

Projections," and for the prototype of an electronic "science 

journal" known as the Arctic 

Data InterActive. Award recipients for the poster-leaflet were 

Nancy B. Faries, Annette Kulyk, 

and Gary W. North; for Arctic 

Data InterActive, Kevin Laurent, 

Gerry Lebing, and Denise 

Wiltshire. 

On-The-Spot Awards 

On-the-Spot awards provide immediate recognition to 

employees for noteworthy 

performance and accomplishments that might go unrecognized under normal incentive 

award procedures. Since the 

first award was presented Oct. 

31, 1991, the USGS has presented 1,205 on-the-spot 

awards. Jane Wallace, received 

the first On-the-Spot Award for 

writing an ethics handbook for 

employees on USGS policies 

and procedures regarding 

ethics and outside activities. 

standing service in the advancement of water 

studies. 

Colleen C. Maurer was elected 1992-93 president of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Northern California Region. 

Jill McCarthy received the 1992 World of 

Today and Tomorrow Award from the Girl 

Scouts of America. The award is presented 

annually to an individual or group that 

increases the skills and awareness of young 

women in the fields of math, science, engineering, and computers. 

Alan M. Mikuni was appointed to the executive committee of the American Society of 

Civil Engineers, Surveying and Engineering 

Division. 

Joel L. Morrison was awarded an Honorary 

Fellowship by the International Cartographic 

Association, in recognition of his outstanding 

contributions to leadership of the ICA and 

for his contributions to the science of cartography. 

Christopher E. Neuzil received the O.E. 

Meinzer Award of the Geological Society of 

America, given for papers judged to have significantly advanced the field of hydrogeology 

or a related field. 

Gary W. North was elected chairman of the 

Geography and Map Section of the International Federation of Library Associations. 

James A. Peterson was awarded the Distinguished Service Award of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, for his service 

to the association and to the profession of 

geology in applying geology to exploration, 

educating students, and publications. 

David J. Roddy received the Interior Department's Award of Excellence for 15 years of 

accident-free flying. 

Robert 0. Rye received the Silver Medal of 

the Society of Economic Geologists, in recognition of his pioneering research in the application of stable isotopes and hydrothermal 

geochemistry to the understanding of oreforming processes, fluid-rock interaction, and 

the geochemistry of hydrothermal oreforming systems. The Society also chose Rye 

as their 1992 Distinguished Lecturer. 

Holly Stein was the recipient of the first Outstanding Woman Alumna Award from Western Illinois University. 

Robert Tilling was elected Vice-President for 

1991-95 of the International Association of 

Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's 

Interior (IAVCEI). Tilling is the only U.S. 

member of the IAVCEI Executive Committee. 

Donald E. Vaupel received the Peter Homack 

Award of the American Water Resources 

Association for outstanding contributions 

toward multidisciplinary understanding and 

management of water resources in New 

Jersey. 

Jane Wallace (left) is awarded the Smith College Medal 

by Mary Maples Dunn, President of Smith College. 

(Photography by Jim Gipe, copyright 1992, reprinted by 

permission.) 

John Vecchioli received the Keith E. Anderson Award of the Association of Ground 


Water Scientists and Engineers—a division of 


the National Water Well Association—for his 


many years of dedicated service to the association. 


Jane Wallace was elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. Wallace was also 


awarded the Smith College Medal for outstanding career achievements. 


Stephen M. Wessells received an Emmy from 


the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, 


in the category of student education videos, 


for "Oceanfloor Legacy: A Critical Juncture." 


Donald E. White received a special award 


from the International Association of Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry for his 


pioneering contributions to the understanding 


of water-rock interactions in geothermal and 


hydrothermal systems. 


Brenda Williams received an Interior Department "Point of Light" award for her years of 


work with the annual Colorado Special Olympics Winter Games and for supervising local 


Special Olympic Races at ski areas in the State 


of Colorado. 


Paul Woods was presented the Dedicated 


Public Service Award by the Clark Fork-Pend 


Oreille Coalition, for his study of nutrient 


enrichment of Pend Oreille Lake, Idaho. 


Sherman S.C. Wu was chosen as the 1992 


recipient of the Photogrammetric (Fairchild) 


Award of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing in honor of 


his contributions to planetary topographic 


mapping. 


Allen L. Zack was named Engineer of the 


Year for the USGS, Department of the 


24 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Interior, by the National Society of Professional Engineers. 

Public Service Recognition 

Special awards were presented by the 

USGS to nine employees in 1992 for their 

outstanding contributions as public servants. 

These awards were part of the celebration of 

Public Service Recognition Week activities, to 

celebrate the indispensable and diverse contributions of the millions of women and men 

who make up the public workforce. Those 

receiving Public Service Recognition Awards 

were 

Gale K. Fullerton, for creative problem solving in providing employee relations support 

and for the development of excellent training 

programs and a successful voluntary leave 

donation program. 

Charlotte de S.L. Garvin, for providing 

strong employee support in processing 

personnel actions and for ensuring that all 

personnel records are current. 

Barbara J. Gunderson, for performing her 

work in a most professional and productive 

manner and for setting high standards for 

peers and junior support staff. 

Doris M. Johnson, for dedication and commitment to excellence in every aspect of her 

work. 

Timothy H. Lee, for designing, implementing, and managing the local area network and 

for outstanding contributions to the data communications environment of the USGS. 

John E. Owen, for his commitment to the success of computer systems administration and 

management of water-resources programs. 

William H. Raymond, for time-consuming 

technical assistance to many facets of the Federal government and the Nation. 

Laurie F. Rinker, for her career-long dedication to making Federal service a career in 

which public interests are met with concern 

and excellence. 

Willie C. Rivers, for analyzing thousands of 

rock samples and for maintaining responsibility for accuracy and reproducibility of results. 

Productivity Enhancement Award 

Michael T. Meyer received the Secretary of 

the Interior's Productivity Enhancement 

Award for contributions to laboratory safety 

and automated methods development. 

John Wesley Powell Awards 

Each year the USGS presents the John 

Wesley Powell Awards to persons or groups 

outside the Federal Government for voluntary 

actions that result in significant gains or 

improvements in the efforts of the USGS to 

provide "Earth Science in the Public Service." 

The Powell Award is named in honor of 

the second USGS director (1881-84). Powell, 

a geologist, Civil War hero, and Indian ethnographer, led pioneer explorations of the 

Colorado River. Powell Award recipients for 

1992 were 

A. Ivan Johnson, of Arvada, Colo., received 

the Powell Award in the Citizen's Achievement category. A retired USGS hydrologist, 

Johnson has contributed over 45 years to the 

establishment of standards for earth sciences 

terminology, measurements, test methods, 

and practices. Over the past decade, he has 

served as a consultant, advisor, and coordinator for many national and international scientific societies and organizations. Through 

these professional activities, Johnson has 

helped to bring the scientific results of the 

USGS to the attention of the public and the 

professional community. 

Carl Kisslinger, Professor of Geology at the 

University of Colorado, received the Powell 

Award for Achievement in an Educational 

Institution. Kisslinger was cited for his careerlong commitment to developing and nurturing USGS programs, particularly in the areas 

of seismology and earthquake research. A distinguished scholar and teacher, Kisslinger has 

Charlotte Garvin, honored for 

exemplary personnel support. 

Willie Rivers, honored for 

career-long geologic data analysis 

and data management. 

People 25 
Asteroid number 3906 has 

been named in honor of 

Edward C.T. Chao, USGS geologist and pioneer in the study 

of meteorite impact structures 

on Earth and rocks brought 

back from the Moon by U.S. 

astronauts. Chao, a 42-year veteran of the USGS, has devoted 

his career to the study of planetary geology, with emphasis on 

tektites, a special kind of natural glass. He has advanced key 

theories that tektites are the 

product of meteorite impacts. 

"(3906) Chao" was discovered in 1987 and may be an 

extinct comet. It is large, with 

an estimated diameter of about 

25 miles (40 kilometers) and is 

now orbiting in the outer part 

of the asteroid belt between 

the orbits of Jupiter and Mars. 

The asteroid name has 

been endorsed by the International Astronomical Union. 

participated in many panels and committees 

that have provided guidance to the USGS, 

such as the National Academy of Sciences 

Committee on Specifications for a WorldWide Network of Standard Seismographs, 

and the USGS Advisory Panel on Earthquake 

Studies and its successor, the Earthquake 

Studies Subcommittee of the National 

Research Council. 

Ray A. Miller, Chief of Technical Services at 

the Idaho Department of Lands, received the 

Powell Award for Achievement in State and 

Local Government. Miller was cited for his 

leadership of the Idaho State Mapping Advisory Committee and the Idaho Geographic 

Information Advisory Committee in mapping 

the entire State. Miller was cited in particular 

for his foresight in creating locally produced 

and managed data as part of the USGS 

national map revision program. 

Stewardship Awards 

To recognize employees who play active 

roles in the preservation, conservation, and 

development of natural resources, then Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan, Jr., presented Stewardship Awards to three USGS 

employees. Recipients were 

Stephen J. Vandas accepted the Stewardship 

Award for Education on behalf of the Water 

Resources Education Initiative for efforts to 

increase student awareness of the importance 

of water resources. In cooperation with other 

Federal agencies, the American Water 

Resources Association, and the National 

Science Teachers Association, the Initiative is 

producing a series of posters for classroom 

use (see p. 29). 

Eleanora I. Robbins received the Stewardship 

Award for Education for her outstanding contributions and unfailing dedication to the education of children of all ages and especially 

for minority and underprivileged children. 

Robbins has been conducting annual summer 

field geology courses for inner city minority 

children in the Washington, D.C., area since 

1988. She was instrumental in the development of the publication, "What's Under Your 

Feet," an earth science activity book. 

Mary F. Orzech received the Stewardship 

Award for Volunteerism for her outstanding 

leadership and contributions to volunteer programs at the USGS. Orzech compiled a handbook of rules for supervisors of volunteers. 

Safety Management Awards 

Safety Management Awards are presented to employees who have made a significant contribution toward making the workplace safer by reducing or eliminating 

hazardous conditions or through safety awareEleanora I. Robbins receives the Secretary's Stewardship 

Award for Education from former Secretary Lujan 

(center). Also present (left to right) were then Assistant 

Secretary for Water and Science John Sayre, Chief 

Geologist Ben Morgan, and Associate Director Doyle 

Frederick. (Photograph by Tami A. Heilemann, DOI.) 

ness and education programs. Recipients in 

1992 were 

ISABELLE K. BROWNFIELD, RONALD D. GIST, 

RONALD V. JAMES, EDWARD A. JOHNSON, 

WILLIAM R. NORMARK, ROGER P. RUMENIK, 

JOHN S. STUCKLESS, JACKIE M. WILLIAMS. 

Special Programs and 

Initiatives 

During fiscal year 1992, the USGS continued its support of Secretarial initiatives 

in volunteerism, education, and women, 

minorities, and persons with disabilities. The 

following are highlights of activities in these 

special program areas. 

Volunteers for Science 

By Maxine C. Jefferson 

In fiscal year 1992, more than 1,000 volunteers donated their time and talent to the 

USGS under the Volunteer for Science program. Since the program began in June 1986, 

nearly 4,000 volunteers have served more 

than 700,000 hours—an estimated $8 million 

contribution to the USGS. The program has 

grown each year since its inception. The 

USGS experienced a 24 percent increase in 

volunteer activity in 1992 over that in 1991. 

The growth in the number of volunteers 

coming on board in 1992 can be partly attributed to an aggressive recruitment program. 

Leaflets, posters, pencils, and the annual 

"Volunteer/Intern/Teacher Opportunities" 

handbook were distributed at college recruitment fairs, volunteer conferences, the 

National Science Teachers Association Convention, the USGS Open House at the 

National Center (see p. 18), high schools, 

26 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
service clubs, and the annual meeting of the 

Geological Society of America. 

In conjunction with National Volunteer 

Week in April, public service announcements 

were printed in the newspapers circulated in 

the USGS National Center and regional 

offices. The Volunteer for Science Program 

gained nationwide exposure through an article, "Probing an Iceberg Barrier," and subsequent references to volunteer opportunities, 

in "Earth" magazine. The article detailed a 

research project undertaken by a team of 

USGS scientists and volunteers at the Bering 

Glacier in Alaska. The response to this 

publicity was overwhelming: hundreds of 

prospective volunteers requested additional 

information. 

The Volunteer for Science program continued to be a valuable asset to the USGS and 

to the volunteers as well. The program's versatility in meeting vocational, educational, 

programmatic, and altruistic needs was demonstrated over and over. Fifty high school students completed internships as research assistants to fulfill the requirements of a science 

fair project; classes of young students in Virginia and South Carolina learned the practical 

nature of scientific research and the value of 

public service by gathering hydrologic data; 

homemakers reentering the job market 

gained proficiency in an automated office setting; professionals between jobs stayed active 

in their career field and learned new skills; 

and many USGS retirees, concerned with 

passing their personal and professional store 

of knowledge to the next generations, served 

as docents, researchers, and historians. 

Volunteer recognition ceremonies, in 

Menlo Park in May and in Reston in August, 

gave the USGS an official opportunity to recognize and thank the more than 200 volunteers at each site who had served during the 

previous 12 months. The volunteers were 

commended for sharing their successful lives 

with the USGS and for investing themselves 

in their country. These events marked the 

first time that volunteers received special honorary awards based on their hours of service. 

Those who had donated 200 or more hours 

received a patch, bearing the Volunteer for 

Science logo, and those who donated 500 or 

more hours received a similar lapel pin. Volunteers who served 1,000 or more hours 

received a personalized plaque bearing the 

logo. Every volunteer received a special certificate. 

From sixth grader to scientist emeritus, 

the Volunteer for Science program offered 

energetic, curious, dedicated people a unique 

opportunity to be a public servant by joining 

the USGS in its work. 

Volunteers Help Keep PACE 

By Jill McCarthy 

In February 1992, the USGS completed 

the fourth and final phase of a refraction 

transect in the southwestern United States. 

The goal of the program, called PACE 

(Pacific to Arizona Crustal Experiment), was 

to study the geologic history and tectonic evolution across a broad zone of continental rifting. The combined transect ranges from the 

unbroken and elevated Colorado Plateau in 

northeastern Arizona to the highly faulted 

and extended Basin and Range province in 

southeastern California. The 1992 refraction 

experiment focused on the southwestern part 

of this transect, in the Imperial Valley and 

Salton Sea regions of California, to determine 

the thickness of the crust, the locations of 

major faults below the surface, the composition of the lower crust, and the geologic processes controlling rifting in the Salton Sea. 

Of the 30 participants in the 10-day-long 

refraction experiment, 6 were volunteers. 

Two of the volunteers were graduate students 

in geophysics—one from Pennsylvania State 

University and the other from the University 

of California at Santa Cruz. One volunteer 

was a retired Army officer, who teaches 

accounting and business law at a junior college in Kansas, and three were seismologists 

from the Geological Survey of Canada. 

These volunteers participated in all 

aspects of the experiment. They were responsible for programming the instruments to 

turn on at the predetermined shot times, for 

deploying the instruments in the field, and 

for transferring the data from the instruments to the field computers. The volunteers 

worked from helicopters and four-wheel drive 

vehicles in rugged terrain and assisted USGS 

experts in firing the seismic shots (holes 

100-200 feet (30-60 meters) deep, filled with 

chemical explosives), which produced the critical seismic energy to be measured. Without 

the hard work and competent help of these 

volunteers, the PACE experiment would not 

have succeeded. 

Volunteers at Bering Glacier, 

Alaska 

By Mary F. Orzech 

Scientists know that the largest and longest glacier in North America, the Bering Glacier, is retreating. But why? What will be the 

environmental consequences? Will the glacier 

produce icebergs that could threaten the 

safety of vessels in the Gulf of Alaska and 

Prince William Sound? 

Special Programs and Initiatives 27 
Volunteer chops ice to be used for 

drinking water; in the background, 

volunteers prepare to haul an 

inflatable boat into the water. 

USGS scientist and volunteer 

prepare a current meter, which will 

measure current velocity and allow 

them to determine the discharge of 

the Seal River. 

Volunteers use global-positioning 

system technology to survey a base 

These questions and others are studied 

each year by a team of scientists and volunteers from the USGS. Since 1989, the Bering 

Glacier Research Project has sent 11 scientists 

and 22 volunteers to Alaskan public land 

about 100 kilometers (62 miles) east of Prince 

William Sound. The volunteers represent 

diverse professions, including an explosives 

expert, a professor, scientists from various 

disciplines, students, a magazine writer, a 

photographer, a fisherman, a piano teacher, 

an art restorer, and a law enforcement 

officer. 

In 1992, more than 4,000 volunteer 

hours were spent in project preparation and 

actual fieldwork. Volunteers assessed iceberg 

production, performed seismic surveys, measured beach erosion and glacier thickness, 

studied water quality, and examined the new 

land surface exposed by the retreating glacier. 

They also documented an increase in the 

number and size of icebergs entering the 

open sea. Future volunteer efforts will focus 

on continued scientific observations to document potential threats to vessels off the coast 

of Alaska. 

Partnerships in Education 

By Susan Wells 

Like an African proverb that says, "It 

takes a whole village to educate a child," the 

USGS is joining teachers and parents 

throughout the country in the challenging 

task of educating America's younger citizens 

for the scientific and technological world of 

the 21st century. Through formal Partnerships in Education agreements, the USGS is 

channeling its people and other resources into 

an effective force for promoting overall scholarship, science education, and personal 

achievement among students. 

In 1992, the USGS Partnerships in Education program grew to six formal agreements 

between the USGS and educational institutions. Partnerships have now been established 

with Dogwood Elementary School in Reston, 

Va.; Cole Elementary in Cheyenne, Wyo.; 

Watkins Elementary School in Jackson, Miss.; 

Horace Mann Middle School in Denver, 

Colo.; the Grandview Heights Public School 

2 District in Columbus, Ohio; and Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo. USGS employees in these locations serve as tutors, science 

fair judges, coaches, project assistants, lecturers, and mentors and role models. Opportunities to support partner schools are available to 

all employees—scientist, secretary, technician, 

and manager. Maps, posters, brochures, 

career information, rock collections, and other 

displays and materials are made available to 

the schools for use in guiding students in 

pursuing scientific careers or in enriching the 

school curricula in science, mathematics, geography, and social studies. 

The USGS benefits, too, from these partnerships. Students provide art displays and 

music concerts for employees at USGS offices, 

teachers offer lectures on education and child 

development topics, and both students and 

teachers often serve as USGS volunteers. 

Through formal education agreements, the 

USGS is not only opening students' eyes to 

the wonders and possibilities of the earth sciences but also demonstrating the value of 

neighbor helping neighbor. 

With Bucket and Broom.—Sixth grade 

students from Dogwood Elementary School in 

LAU RIEORTIZ (VOLUNTEER)

station. Using these and other data, 

they will be able to measure the river 

discharge and its bathymetric profile 

Reston, Va., engaged in a unique, hands-on 

learning project during the 1991-92 school 

and determine the size of the largest year, called "With Bucket and Broom." Each

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning, iceberg that could float out into the 

Gulf of Alaska. these budding scientists trekked the short

28 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
distance to the USGS to study the hydrology 

of the 105-acre (42-hectare) National Center. 

The students worked in teams of 10 to 

12, with each student visiting the site three 

times each school quarter to observe changes 

in a runoff pond and two ground-water 

observation wells. Each of the 98 students 

measured and recorded the air temperature 

and the corresponding water temperature in 

the pond. They visually estimated the water 

level and used a pocket-sized electronic pH 

meter to measure changes in the acidity of the 

water. To help students appreciate the environmental effects of the natural cycles of 

water, they were encouraged to record 

weather conditions and changes in vegetation 

and animal life. 

The students learned that scientific discovery does not always need "high-tech" 

equipment. The project earned its name from 

the plastic mop bucket, attached to a broom 

handle, that was used to carry equipment. 

Emphasizing a "low-tech" approach to scientific discovery, the students were given a 

metal tape measure and blue carpenter's chalk 

to measure the water level in the groundwater wells. This technique has been used for 

over 100 years. The chalk turns dark in color 

when it hits the water. Students were, therefore, able to compare their measurements 

with those recorded at a nearby automated 

station that displays a digital reading of water 

depth and also tracks water-level changes by 

markings on graph paper. 

The "With Bucket and Broom" project 

not only tied in with science units on liquids 

and weather but also supported math concepts taught throughout the year. When the 

students first learned to measure the level of 

well water, they estimated the difference 

between the amount of tape dropped down 

the well and the water mark on the chalk. 

Later in the year, when the digital readout on 

the automated station failed to function, the 

students used their knowledge of decimals to 

interpolate the values on the graph paper. 

The USGS and the teachers at Dogwood 

Elementary School hope this experience will 

heighten the students' interest in science in 

coming years. They also hope that stereotypes 

of scientists in white laboratory coats with frizzled Einstein-like hair will be forever dispelled and be replaced with the image of 

themselves and their classmates. 

The data collected by the students have 

been given to the USGS and will be entered 

into a special data base. Because of their significant voluntary contribution to the hydrologic research of the USGS, each of the students and their teachers were officially 

recognized and honored through the USGS 

Volunteer for Science program. 

Sixth grade students from Dogwood Elementary School 

measure the level in a ground-water well at the USGS 

National Center as part of the Partnerships in Education 

project, "With Bucket and Broom." 

Learning About Water 

By Stephen J. Vandas 

The Water Resources Education Initiative, a USGS cooperative effort on water education, has been an extremely successful venture. The U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of 

the Department of the Interior, the U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, and the Nebraska 

Groundwater Foundation joined the initiative 

as new partners in 1992. These groups join 

the Interior Department's Bureau of Land 

Management, the American Water Resources 

Association, and the National Science Teachers Association as project participants. 

Activities of the water education program 

are designed to stimulate interest in and provide a basic knowledge of water resources for 

students in grades K-12. A key element in the 

program is development of various teaching 

aids. The first of these aids is a series of 

water-resources educational posters designed 

to capture the student's attention visually and 

then support that attention with a variety of 

in-class activities. The second set of aids will 

consist of water-resources educational-training 

notebooks designed to be taught by waterresources professionals in the classroom or at 

afterschool programs. The third component, 

which is just beginning, is to coordinate children's water festivals around the Nation, 

based on a model founded by the Nebraska 

Groundwater Foundation. 

Special Programs and Initiatives 29 
Three posters in the series have been 

completed: water use, wastewater treatment, 

and wetlands. The water-resources topics for 

each of the posters are depicted in a cartoon 

format and are available in full color or in 

black and white. The reverse sides of the 

color posters contain educational activities and 

are separately designed for grades K-5 and 

grades 6-8. Posters have been distributed initially through Science and Children (grades 

K-5) and Science Scope (grades 6-8), publications of the National Science Teachers Association. As inserts to these magazines, copies of 

the posters were distributed to more than 

43,000 teachers. To date, about 800,000 copies of the posters have been distributed. A 

Spanish-language version of the water-use 

poster is currently being developed. 

The water-resources educational-training 

notebooks are being designed to enable a 

water-resources professional to assist an 

instructor—the teacher in the classroom, a 

scout leader, or a 4—H counselor—in presenting the science of water resources. Notebooks 

will be created around the five general topics 

of ground water, water quality, surface water, 

water use, and basic water properties. Three 

notebooks will be created within each topic— 

one each for grades 3-5, grades 6-8, and 

grades 9-12—making a total of 15 notebooks. 

Ground water for grades 6-8 is the first 

notebook. The notebook was pilot tested in 

fiscal year 1992 by USGS employees working 

with teachers in 15 middle school classes in 

Texas. 

The educational material in the notebooks represents a unique partnership of 

instructors working in concert with waterresources professionals. Five different lesson 

plans are provided for the educational partners to teach together. The instructor selects 

the lesson plan that best complements the students curriculum. Instructors complete previsit activities with the students before the 

water-resources employee visits. While in the 

classroom, the hydrologist conducts a 

hands-on activity concerning the selected 

water-resources topic. Postvisit activities provide instructors with ways to augment the visit 

with additional information on the waterresources topic. By working as partners, the 

instructors are able to do what they do best— 

stimulate learning—and the water-resources 

employees are able to do what they do best— 

present the science of hydrology. 

In an exciting new project, the USGS is 

working with the Nebraska Groundwater 

Foundation to organize the 1993 Children's 

Water Festival in Nebraska. Held annually 

since 1989, the Nebraska Children's Water 

Festival has become a national model of 

hands-on ground-water education. The festival educates children in grades 4-6 about the 

30 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
importance of ground water in their lives. 

Over 3,000 children attended the event in 

1992, and there are over 8,000 children on 

the list to participate in 1993. The USGS and 

the Nebraska Groundwater Foundation have 

a cooperative agreement to prepare a manual 

to describe how to organize and coordinate a 

children's water festival. When completed, the 

manual, "Making Waves," can be used by 

USGS offices in every State to work with local 

agencies in developing similar water festivals 

for children throughout the country. 

Outreach in Geology Education 

By Laure Wallace 

Comprehensive programs to enhance 

geology and earth science education have 

developed out of the impressive talents and 

interests of a workforce dedicated to the concept that education outreach is a fundamental 

part of their responsibility as citizens and as 

employees of the USGS. 

Fiscal year 1992 was a banner year for 

support of technology and information transfer to the educational community. Nationwide 

workshops were given on the CD-ROM's 

developed under the Joint Education Initiative (JEdI). In cooperation with the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration, a multidisc set of CD-ROM's on volcanoes was 

developed for the educational community. 

CD-ROM's, which contain Landsat Thematic 

Mapper imagery of the Navajo Reservation 

and the Grand Canyon and sets of digitized 

aerial photographs, were developed for the 

Navajo Reservation schools in cooperation 

with the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Nazalini 

School. A project with Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Va., began to develop 

a CD-ROM on data and imagery of Virginia 

for the Commonwealth's science teachers. 

Working together in partnership is an 

important aspect of the outreach programs in 

the geological sciences. The USGS has been 

instrumental in developing the Coalition for 

Earth Science Education, an organization 

dedicated to communication, cooperation, 

and coordination within the earth science 

community—geology, astronomy, hydrology, 

atmospheric sciences, oceanography—on educational activities. The coalition will also provide a united voice on national and regional 

policy issues that affect earth science education reform. To date, more than 50 organizations, associations, Federal agencies, and academic institutions are committed to the vision 

of the coalition. 

The USGS is also continuing its commitment to support local and regional teaching 

communities. The following are a few notable 

examples: 

• Field guides on the Pacific Northwest 

region were developed for earth science 

teachers by the USGS field office in Spokane, 

Wash., in conjunction with local school systems, the Idaho Geological Survey, and Eastern Washington University. A summer field 

program put the field guides to good use. 

• Geo-Teach, a comprehensive field program 

for local area earth science teachers, was 

presented for the second year by scientists in 

the USGS central region in Denver, Colo. 

They also developed a field guide on the 

Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary for Colorado 

teachers. These scientists also presented a 

comprehensive field and laboratory program, 

complete with a publication and classroom 

activities, for Bureau of Indian Affairs teachers on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South 

Dakota. 

• Nearly 40,000 copies of "What's Under 

Your Feet," an earth science activity book for 

elementary-age children, were distributed. 

• The library-based Teacher Resource Centers at the USGS centers in Menlo Park, 

Calif., and Denver, Colo., were expanded, 

and a new center was developed in Reston, 

Va., at the National Center. 

• Educational outreach to Historically Black 

Colleges and Universities was expanded 

through a grant and through cooperative programs with Hampton University in Hampton, 

Va., for teacher programs and workshops; 

and through support of geology majors at 

Elizabeth City State University in North 

Carolina. 

Enriching Partnerships in the 

Southwest 

By Jim Crawforth and Fred Joines 

Partnerships—one new and one long 

term—between the USGS and university communities in the Southwest are enriching the 

USGS with new ideas from bright and talented students and professors and are helping 

the communities by connecting the USGS to 

important local issues. 

The USGS continued its cooperative 

efforts with New Mexico Highlands University 

that began in 1991. USGS representatives met 

with heads of the engineering, environmental 

science, mathematics, and business departments to discuss further the cooperative 

efforts, including guest lecturers, summer 

hires, and cooperative education appointments. A USGS scientist, for example, served 

as a guest instructor at the Eagle Peak Summer Camp sponsored by New Mexico Highlands. The goal of the Eagle Peak Summer 

Camp is to introduce minority high school 

Special Programs and Initiatives 31 
students to higher education and to career 

opportunities in the natural sciences. 

In Flagstaff, the USGS, local high 

schools, and Northern Arizona University 

have enjoyed a mutually beneficial, informal 

relation for the past 25 years. Over the years, 

the USGS has hired several high school students as well as students and faculty from 

Northern Arizona University. USGS employees have served as mentors, speakers, and 

instructors and have participated on several 

advisory committees. The relation was the 

natural result of the close proximity of a small 

community and the high level of interest in 

education and science in the Flagstaff area. 

From the days of the Apollo space program in the late 1960's to the present time, 

several faculty members and about 25 students have been employed each year at the 

USGS center in Flagstaff. Most of the students have come from the Northern Arizona 

departments of geology, geography, mathematics, engineering, and computer science. 

The students performed many tasks, including fieldwork, data manipulation, map compilation, and computer programming and operation. A major contribution to the hiring of 

students was the Minority Participation in the 

Earth Sciences program, a nationwide USGS 

program that was established at the center in 

1972. This program provided funding to hire 

10 to 15 minority and women students each 

year, and additional project funding enabled 

the USGS to hire an additional 10 to 15 students, for a total of 25. 

Collectively, these employees contributed 

tremendously to the work done at the USGS 

center and helped to reduce costs. The faculty 

benefited from the participation in real 

projects with actual data. The students 

received many benefits including meaningful 

employment, encouragement to continue their 

education, and work experience that would 

help them in the job market after graduation. 

The USGS now has 25 employees, many of 

them women and minorities, who started with 

the USGS as students and who compose 

almost one-fourth of the permanent workforce at the Flagstaff Center. 

Education Outreach at Hampton 

University 

By Ellen Findley 

The USGS continues to strengthen its 

relation with Hampton University in Hampton, Va., a historically black university, 

through increased interaction among the students, the faculty, and the USGS scientific 

community. Beginning in fiscal year 1993, a 

new cooperative education initiative with 

Hampton's graduate program in computer 

science will allow a student to remain on the 

university campus and work on earth science 

data base and telecommunications projects 

for the USGS. One of the goals for the 

project is to increase the knowledge of careers 

in the earth sciences and at the same time 

develop and implement highly flexible datamanagement and processing systems for earth 

science applications. Rapidly changing technological environments supply the means to 

achieve the underlying information-retrieval 

protocol necessary to automatically collect, 

collate, and integrate diverse scientific data. 

Highlights of the Hampton education 

partnership include 

• Developing an awareness of the increased 

productivity that is possible through the use 

of local area networks in earth science applications, such as sharing scientific data. 

• Giving students hands-on experience 

with the UNIX operating system, which is 

emerging as a primary scientific computing 

environment. 

• Providing students an opportunity to experiment with earth science data in a distributed 

data-base environment through a local area 

network. 

• Fostering a mentor relation with the 

students. 

Career Planning for the Year 

2000 

By Maxine C. Jefferson 

The USGS unveiled a significant career 

development tool in 1992, the Career Planning Manual, designed to help career goals of 

women, minorities, and persons with disabilities. Distributed bureauwide to clerical, 

administrative, and secretarial employees in 

grades 1-7, and their supervisors, the manual 

provides a self-directed guide to developing 

career goals, gaining self-awareness, and 

achieving personal growth. The Civil Service 

2000 report, recently issued by the Office of 

Personnel Management, indicated that the 

skill needs of the Federal Government will 

continue to increase, while the supply of 

skilled employees diminishes. The Career 

Planning Manual reflects the USGS commitment to meet the challenge of the year 2000 

and beyond by providing its workforce with 

assistance and direction in the development of 

work skills, the identification of career interests, and the pursuit of career goals. Both the 

employees and the USGS can benefit from 

this career planning approach—the employees 

find guidance with which to enrich their 

knowledge, skills, abilities, and qualifications; 

and the USGS gains more versatile, welltrained employees and is better able to promote from within. 

32 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
The career manual includes job analysis 

information, a self-assessment exercise that 

helps individuals pinpoint their own strengths 

and weaknesses, a guide for setting performance goals, and tips that can make it easier to 

achieve personal career goals. The manual 

also encourages the mentoring concept by 

providing an opportunity for employees to 

interact with their supervisors and coworkers 

to obtain useful career information and perspectives on career development. 

The Career Planning Manual is specifically tailored to allow individuals to match 

their personal preferences, skills, and abilities 

with the following USGS jobs: administrative 

operations assistant, computer clerk and assistant, accounting technician, editorial clerk and 

assistant, purchasing agent, hydrologic technician, cartographic technician, and library technician. These career targets were selected 

because these are job classifications in which 

there are large numbers of incumbents, there 

is a reasonable turnover, the jobs are found in 

sufficient numbers in all USGS geographic 

locations, and the jobs offer a diverse pool of 

career opportunity. 

The Career Planning Manual was distributed bureauwide early in 1992, and briefing 

sessions were held at USGS headquarters and 

regional offices. The initial response from 

employees and supervisors has been positive. 

Supplements to the manual are planned that 

will focus on USGS employees in technical 

occupational series. 

Women's Advisory Committee 

By Margo Kingston 

The Women's Advisory Committee 

(WAC) was established in 1990 within the 

Geologic Division to promote communication 

with managers on issues related to the professional development of all women employees. 

Committee members represent administrative, 

clerical, scientific, and technical women 

employees. WAC objectives are to examine 

opportunities for career enhancement that 

can be made available to all women in the 

Geologic Division and to identify problems 

that prevent or restrict women from realizing 

these opportunities. Since the committee 

began, numerous employees' concerns have 

been identified, recommendations have been 

made to managers, and actions have been 

taken to address these concerns. Both the 

WAC recommendations and management 

responses are made available to employees. 

As a result of WAC recommendations, a 

classification task force was established to provide occupational and position classification 

information on support occupations. The task 

force report is being used by the bureau's 

personnel office to revitalize the classification 

of secretarial, administrative assistant, and 

editorial support positions. 

The WAC also tackled sexual harassment 

issues that were seen as barriers to career 

advancement for women. A USGS policy 

statement on sexual harassment was issued in 

October 1992, based on the draft statement 

prepared by WAC members. The WAC developed a questionnaire on sexual harassment 

issues, and a special task force prepared a 

report on the results. In addition, employees 

will receive training in preventing and dealing 

with behaviors and actions that are sexually 

harassing. 

Improving communication is an important issue of the WAC. Program forums in 

each region have enabled employees to meet 

with program managers and coordinators to 

learn about opportunities and important 

developments. Career and Management 

Resource Centers have been established in the 

three regional USGS libraries to centrally 

locate books, videos, and other materials on 

topics such as leadership training, team building, mentoring, and USGS programs and 

organization. 

A human resources specialist is now on 

staff in the Geologic Division to better implement new training programs for improving 

the quality of management and to provide 

career-development growth opportunities. A 

series of leadership-development and teambuilding programs was sponsored by the division chief. A task force has begun work on a 

statistical study of career patterns of scientific 

personnel. 

Family and quality of work life are 

important concerns to the WAC, which sponsored employees in short-term detail assignments to investigate and report on alternative 

work schedules and family leave and childcare 

issues. 

Women's Executive Leadership 

Program 

By Susan Roach 

The Women's Executive Leadership program, an initiative of the Office of Personnel 

Management, is designed to train capable 

women who are interested in managerial 

and executive careers. The program provides 

for increased visibility and expanded experiences in preparing women for management 

positions. 

A pilot program was introduced in 1984 

with 63 participants from Federal agencies in 

the Washington, D.C., area. The program 

Special Programs and Initiatives 33 
was expanded nationwide in 1986, growing 

to 161 participants. In 1992, there were 305 

graduates from 30 agencies across the country. Four USGS women from the National 

Mapping Division have participated in the 

program; three have graduated, and one is 

enrolled in the 1992-93 program. 

The primary benefit of the Women's 

Executive Leadership program is the exposure to a wide variety of experiences and 

management styles through developmental 

assignments and managerial contacts. Developmental assignments from which the USGS 

and its participants have benefited include the 

Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and 

Veterans Affairs and, through a cooperative 

agreement, IBM. In addition to an increased 

knowledge of other government agency practices, programs, and policies, the participants 

gained a better understanding of USGS operations and its interactions with other organizations. USGS graduates of the program in the 

National Mapping Division have enhanced 

their career potential through the program. 

Ethnic Minority Advisory 

Committee 

By Jackie M. Williams 

To ensure that the professional wellbeing and career development of ethnic 

minority employees are being met, the USGS 

Geologic Division established an Ethnic 

Minority Advisory Committee. The committee 

met for the first time in June 1992 and 

included ethnic minority representatives 

from each of the -regions and from scientific, 

technical, administrative, and clerical job 

categories. 

Specific goals of the Ethnic Minority 

Advisory Committee are to achieve equitable 

representation, to increase cultural awareness, 

and to promote open communications. At the 

first meeting, the committee developed 

recommendations for issues of concern to the 

minority community. The main concerns cited 

were promotion and advancement, career 

development and training, increasing minority 

staffing, communications, and conflict resolution. These concerns will be addressed by the 

Ethnic Minority Advisory Committee in the 

coming year. 

34 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Enjoy Outdoors America! 

By John H. Wittmann 

The "Federal Recreation Lands Map— 

An Invitation to Enjoyment" was published in 

1992 as a cooperative venture among the 

seven primary Federal land-managing agencies, the USGS, and the Secretary of the Interior's Outdoor Recreation Initiative. On one 

side the map depicts more than 1,400 sites 

managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and Bureau of Land Management of 

the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Forest Service of the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture. The map 

also shows the interstate highway system and 

70 major cities to give travelers a frame of 

reference for locating areas they wish to visit. 

The other side of the map has information about each of the participating agencies, 

with lists of regional offices that travelers can 

contact for more information on specific sites. 

Also included is a list of all the State tourism 

offices and a description of the types of outdoor recreation opportunities available on 

public lands. The map sites and the agency 

information panels are color coded for easy 

use. 

Although the USGS does not manage 

Federal lands, it prepared and printed the 

outdoor recreation map. The USGS has 

detailed topographic maps for the entire 

country and special maps for national parks 

and monuments. The maps are available from 

the USGS and from private map dealers. The 

outdoor recreation map lists primary contacts 

for USGS map products. 

DOI and USGS officials examine first printed copy of the 

new Federal lands recreation map. 

LEWISTHOMPSON 

Special Programs and Initiatives 35 
WATER RESOURCES 


INVESTIGATIONS 


MISSION 

The U.S. Geological Survey has the principal 

responsibility within the Federal Government to 

provide the hydrologic information and understanding needed by others to achieve the best use 

and management of the Nation's water resources. 

To accomplish this mission, the Water Resources 

Division, in cooperation with State, local, and 

other Federal agencies, 

• Systematically collects and analyzes data to 

evaluate the quantity, quality, and use of the 

Nation's water resources and provides results of 

these investigations to the public. 

• Conducts water resources appraisals describing 

the occurrence, availability, and physical, chemical, 

and biological characteristics of surface and ground 

water. 

• Conducts basic and problem-oriented hydrologic 

PHOTOGRAPH USECOURTESY OF PAULSTONE

and related research that aids in alleviating water 

resources problems and provides an understanding 

of hydrologic systems sufficient to predict their 

response to natural or human-caused stress. 

• Coordinates the activities of Federal agencies in 

the acquisition of water resources data for streams, 


lakes, reservoirs, estuaries, and ground water. 


• Provides scientific and technical assistance in hydrologic fields to other Federal, State, and local agencies, 

to licensees of the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission, and to international agencies on behalf 

of the Department of State. 

• Administers the State Water Resources Research 

Institutes Program and the National Water Resources 

Research Grants Program. 
Message from the Chief Hydrologist, 

Water Resources Division Through studies of the distribution, availability, quality, and use of the Nation's 

water resources, USGS water-related programs have evolved over the past 100 

years to today's unique combination of hydrologic data collection, research, and 

investigations. Today's programs are relevant to such present and emerging concerns 

as ground-water and surface-water quality, water supply and demand, wetlands, 

nonpoint-source pollution, and hydrologic hazards. 

One strength of these water-related programs is the widely dispersed field 

organization that promotes the development of programs based on a synthesis of local 

and regional needs. These needs are identified on a continuing basis in collaboration 

with the more than 1,000 Federal, State, regional, and local agencies that provide 

funds to the USGS for cooperative water-resources investigations, as well as with 

many others who use the results of the work. 

Recent highlights of ongoing programs include the National Water-Quality 

Assessment (NAWQA) program, which identified sources of pesticides in the ground 

water of the Delmarva Peninsula in Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia and 

enabled the U.S. Department of Agriculture to structure surveys of farming 

practices. Also, through the NAWQA program, the surprisingly large amount of 

DDT still present in the Yakima River was found to be closely related to sediment 

movement, which permitted Washington State and U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency officials to determine areas where erosion control would be most beneficial. 

The Federal-State Cooperative program provides for most of the continuous 

streamflow stations operated by the USGS, including about 3,000 that constitute the 

National Weather Service's flood-forecasting network. More than 500 hydrologic 

investigations and research activities were conducted in fiscal year 1992 as part of 

the program. These studies emphasize issues such as ground-water contamination 

from wastes and saltwater intrusion, the effects of agricultural activities and 

stormwater runoff on water quality, and the identification of the effects of continued 

urban and industrial development on water supplies. 

USGS activities supported by other Federal agencies during fiscal year 1992 

included investigations of ground-water contamination at military bases for the U.S. 

Department of Defense, characterization of the geology and hydrology of the 

proposed radioactive waste repository site at Yucca Mountain, Nev., for the U.S. 

Department of Energy, and operation of 2,300 stream-gaging stations needed to 

manage the Nation's flood retention reservoirs and navigable waterways for the U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers. 

In fiscal year 1993 and the future, we will continue to stress cooperative 

working relations so as to make the most of the talents of the people and other 

resources available to us. We are committed to ensuring that our programs 

consistently produce high quality, credible information that is directly on target with 

emerging issues. 

Philip Cohen 

The 1992 Chicago 

Underground Flood 

By Stephen F. Blanchard and 

Arthur R. Schmidt On April 14, 1992, the underground portion of the downtown Chicago area 

known as the Loop was flooded. The Loop is 

underlain by about 50 miles of old tunnels 

that were constructed around the turn of 

the century. The tunnels, dug beneath the 

Chicago River, were used to deliver supplies, 

such as coal, to office buildings and to remove 

solid waste. The flooding was caused when a 

piling cluster was driven through the bottom 

of the Chicago River and possibly into the 

tunnel during summer 1991. This weakened 

or perforated the tunnel wall and eventually 

allowed water from the Chicago River to flow 

into the underground tunnel system and basements of the tunnel-connected buildings. The 

result was an "underground flood." The flood 

devastated the Loop. Property was damaged, 

businesses lost revenue, and cleanup costs 

totaled millions of dollars. 

WATERRESOURCESINVESTIGATIONS 


37 
STEPHEN F. BLANCHARD 

The dye allows 


detection of leaks 


as small as 


1 gallon 


per minute.. . 


USGS water-resources personnel pour rhodamine WT, a 

harmless vegetable-based water-soluble red dye, into a well 

bored into a tunnel beneath Kinzie Street in downtown 

Chicago, Ill. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

(Corps) initially contacted the USGS on April 

15 to request assistance in locating the hole 

from the Chicago River into the tunnel system. USGS hydrologists provided assistance to 

the Corps by measuring velocity in the tunnels, detecting leaks in plugs installed in the 

tunnels, and monitoring water levels in the 

tunnels. The Corps installed several plugs in 

the tunnels to block the flow of water from 

the river to the tunnels. At the request of the 

Corps, the USGS set up a velocity meter (initially an acoustic velocity meter and later a 

mechanical meter) in the tunnel on the landward (undamaged) side of a selected plug to 

evaluate the effectiveness of the plugs. Velocity measurements were made every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day. Drawbacks to the use of 

velocity meters to monitor leakage through a 

plug include the detection of low-velocity 

movement by the meters and the possibility 

that velocities measured by the meters could 

be caused by pumping rather than a leak in 

the plug. Because velocity measurements 

alone were insufficient to guarantee that 

leakage had been stopped, the USGS used a 

fluorescent dye, rhodamine WT, to determine 

if there was leakage past the plugs. The dye 

Sampling for the presence of rhodamine WT in water 

from a well bored into the tunnel. 

allows detection of leaks as small as 1 gallon 

per minute, whereas the minimum leak that 

could be detected by the velocity meter is 

about 550 gallons per minute. 

Plans for the dye injection were based on 

results from computer models of dispersion 

and horizontal movement of water in the tunnels. One model simulated the mixing of the 

dye with the water in the damaged part of the 

tunnel, which was open to the river but separated from the rest of the tunnel system by 

the plugs. This model also estimated the time 

until the dye reached the plug and the change 

in dye concentration over time at the plugs. A 

second model simulated the horizontal movement and dispersion of dye-water that leaked 

into the undamaged (landward) side of the 

tunnel through the plugs. Use of the two 

models permitted scientists to estimate the 

leakage rate. These models were also used 

to plan the amount of dye to use at each 

injection site. 

The USGS has used rhodamine WT 

extensively as a water tracer since the mid1960's because it is vegetable based, water 

soluble, inexpensive, and harmless to humans, 

fish, and water quality in the low concentrations used. Dye tests are commonly done to 

measure traveltime, dispersion, and discharge 

in surface- and ground-water systems. Nearly 

all applications include introducing a known 

amount of dye into a water body, collecting 

water samples at different times and locations, 

and using an instrument called a fluorometer 

to measure the amount of dye in the samples. 

The presence of dye in water samples 

collected on April 23 from holes bored into 

the tunnel indicated that some river water was 

still leaking through the plugs separating the 

damaged section from the undamaged sections of the tunnel. On the basis of this result, 

38 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
A hydrologist processes water samples by using a 

fluorometer to detect dye in the water. The laboratory was 

set up in a government-owned van onsite in downtown 

Chicago, Ill. 

the Corps ordered additional grouting to seal 

the plugs and stop the leaks. Water samples 

collected on April 24, after grouting was completed, indicated that the leaks had been 

stopped. The USGS continued to monitor dye 

concentrations until the undamaged tunnel 

sections near the plugs were dewatered on 

April 25. None of the samples indicated any 

further leakage. Because of this dye work, the 

Corps was successful in plugging the leak and 

stopping the flow of water from the river to 

the tunnels. 

The USGS also installed seven stage 

gages to monitor the level of water in the tunnels. These gages were based on a float-andpulley system with an electronic data logger to 

record water-level readings. In addition, the 

stage gages were equipped with phone telemetry so that the Corps could have realtime 

access to the data. The information provided 

by the stage gages was crucial to the Corps for 

regulating the rate of tunnel dewatering. 

These gages would also have served as an 

early warning system if another breach had 

occurred during tunnel dewatering. The 

gages were installed in basements of buildings, in manholes in streets, and in excavated 

access shafts. 

The Chicago flood was a devastating incident. It did, however, provide the USGS an 

opportunity to demonstrate how routine 

methods and instrumentation could assist in a 

very unusual situation. Techniques that would 

normally be used to measure traveltimes, discharge, and water levels of streams in the 

field were used instead to measure leakage 

through plugs and the water levels of an 

underground flood in an urban area, providing invaluable assistance to the Corps and a 

unique form of community service. 

STEPHENF. BLANCHARD 

Hydrologic Research at the 

Five Management Systems 

Evaluation Areas 

By David W. Morganwalp 

The Management Systems Evaluation Area 

(MSEA) program is part of an interagency initiative to evaluate the effects of 

farming on water quality. The cooperating 

agencies of the MSEA program include the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural 

Research Service (ARS) and Cooperative State 

Research Service, the U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA), the USGS, and several State agencies. The MSEA's are located in 

a 12-State region in the Midwest, which 

includes the highly productive agricultural 

area known as the Corn Belt. 

Recent census data shows that in 1989, 

this 12-State region accounted for 86 percent 

of the Nation's corn production and over 78 

percent of the Nation's soybean production. 

The high level of agricultural productivity of 

the region is sustained by agricultural chemicals, such as atrazine, the most heavily used 

herbicide in the Nation. About 64 million 

pounds were applied to croplands in 1989, 

with about 62 percent applied to the corn 

acreage in the 12-State region. This intensive 

use of agricultural chemicals can affect water 

quality in the region. For example, USGS 

researchers have measured atrazine concentrations as high as tens of micrograms per 

liter in the rivers and streams of the 12-State 

region, after herbicides were applied in 

spring, which correlate with high stream discharge caused by storms. 

The general goal of the MSEA program 

is to reduce adverse effects of agricultural 

chemicals on the environment through use of 

improved farm management practices. The 

cooperating agencies of the MSEA program 

are collaborating on research at scales that 

range from laboratory experiments to small 

watersheds of about 20 square miles (52 

square kilometers). 

Five MSEA sites were selected to represent the principal hydrogeologic settings and 

geographic diversity of prevailing farming 

systems in the 12-State region. MSEA sites in 

sand and gravel settings are located in Minnesota, Nebraska, and Ohio; those in loess and 

till are in Iowa and Missouri. Research focuses 

on ground-water processes at all sites, but 

stream processes are also a major consideration at sites in Iowa and Missouri. 

The controlled application of agricultural 

chemicals to different types of experimental 

farming systems is typical of the research at 

MSEA sites, where researchers are trying to 

The general goal 

of the MSEA 

program is to 

reduce adverse 

effects of 

agricultural 

chemicals on the 

environment 

through use of 

improved farm 

management 

practices. 

Water Resources Investigations 39 
Objectives of the MSEA 

Program 

The objectives of the 

interagency effort are to 

(1) measure the effects of 

prevailing and modified farming 

systems on surface- and 

ground-water quality, 

(2) understand the processes 

and factors that affect the fate 

of selected agricultural chemicals in aquatic ecosystems, 

(3) assess the effect of selected 

agricultural chemicals on 

ecosystems, 

(4) assess the projected 

benefits to water quality of 

implementing modified farming 

systems, 

(5) evaluate the effects on the 

economy of using modified 

farming systems, and 

(6) encourage farmers to adopt 

new farming systems that have 

less of an adverse effect on 

surface- and ground-water 

quality. 

An illustration of the controlled 

application of agricultural chemicals 

to experimental farming systems. 

determine which farming systems are the least 

detrimental to the environment. To this end, 

the movement of agricultural chemicals from 

each experimental plot into ground and surface water is being tracked and the data compared between the different plots. 

The transport of agricultural chemicals 

in the environment is extremely complex and 

is influenced by physical processes and by 

agricultural management systems. The multidisciplinary research of the MSEA program 

seeks to provide greater scientific understanding of the fate of agricultural chemicals so 

that farmers and government officials can 

make informed decisions about agricultural 

management systems and their effects on the 

environment. 

Even though all of the MSEA sites have 

the same goal, there are differences in 

emphasis at each site. These differences are a 

result of the hydrogeologic settings and the 

farming techniques used in the general area 

of the site. USGS research at each MSEA site 

is described below. 

Iowa MSEA. —The Iowa MSEA site is the 

Walnut Creek watershed, underlain by loess, 

near Ames, Iowa. USGS researchers are 

defining the ground-water flow paths in the 

watershed and relating the distribution of 

agricultural chemicals to the major transport 

processes in the watershed. In addition, the 

USGS is evaluating the ability of its 

Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System to simulate the major flow paths of water and sediment in the watershed. The Iowa MSEA is 

also the site for EPA's Midwest Agrichemical 

Subsurface-Surface Transport and Effects 

research program that focuses on ecological 

effects of agricultural chemicals in surface 

water. 

NITROGEN 


AND 


HERBICIDES 


North Dakota 

South Dakota 

EXPLANATION 

* MSEA Site 

Location of Management Systems Evaluation Area 

(MSEA) sites in the Midwest. 

Minnesota MSEA.—The Minnesota 

MSEA site, located near Princeton, Minn., 

and its satellite sites in North and South 

Dakota and Wisconsin are the focus of the 

effects of climatic differences in farming systems. The USGS is studying the effects of 

transient recharge, topography, evapotranspiration, and diverse soil composition on the 

transport of agricultural chemicals from 

croplands. 

Missouri MSEA.—The Missouri MSEA 

site is the Goodwater Creek watershed, which 

has been monitored by ARS personnel for 18 

years. The USGS is investigating the nitrogen 

cycle in claypan soils and glacial drift aquifers. 

Interagency research includes computer models of fluid flow and solute transport. 

Nebraska MSEA. —The Nebraska MSEA 

site, which focuses on alternative irrigation 

systems, is located 2 miles (3 kilometers) north 

of the Platte River near Shelton, Nebr. The 

characteristics of the ground-water flow system in the shallow Quaternary sand and 

gravel deposits and the characteristics of 

possible hydraulic connections between the 

underlying Ogallala formation and the shallower Quaternary sand and gravels are being 

studied. 

Ohio MSEA.—The Ohio MSEA site overlies a buried valley aquifer near Piketon, 

Ohio. Similar buried valley aquifers in Ohio 

and elsewhere in the Midwest frequently have 

high concentrations of nitrates. In addition to 

describing the hydrology and evaluating the 

buried valley aquifer, USGS researchers are 

investigating how changes in water chemistry 

and microbial populations affect the fate of 

agricultural chemicals in the ground water of 

such aquifers. 

40 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Using Hydrologic Data to 

Forecast Floods 

By Charles W. Boningi and 

Eugene A. Stallings2 

Floods are dangerous, life-threatening, and 

destructive. Accounts of floods and flood 

disasters as well as droughts and famine 

appear in numerous biblical writings. The 

Romans used dams and diversions in attempting to reduce potential floods and to manage 

water resources. Concerns about floods have 

existed in the United States since the first settlers came to the New World. Early efforts to 

reduce flood-related deaths and damages, 

however, were primarily devoted to floodcontrol measures such as levees, dams, and 

storage reservoirs. Flood-warning systems 

would not be feasible until suitable communication systems were developed. 

Early flood-warning systems for people 

living along streams undoubtedly involved 

personal travel and verbal exchange of information. Communication systems such as the 

telephone greatly improved timeliness of 

flood warnings. Federal, State, and (or) local 

water-management agencies began to 

remotely access data from USGS gaging stations in the 1930's by using an instrument 

called "Telemark." When accessed by telephone, the Telemark transmitted river stage 

by a series of beeps or rings. Very high frequency radio also began to be used in the 

1930's to obtain river-stage data. By the 

1950's, river stage at hundreds of USGS gages 

throughout the United States could be 

accessed to forecast floods, provide flood 

warnings, or for water-management purposes 

including drought. 

The continued evolution of communication and stage-sensing equipment has further 

improved data access for flood-warning and 

flood-forecasting purposes. The principal 

devices currently in use in USGS gages for 

obtaining near realtime data for floodwarning or other water-management purposes 

are those that transmit data via satellite to a 

receiving station where the data are then 

relayed to the end users. In addition to satellite telemetry, many gages are equipped with 

conventional radio and telephone systems, 

which contribute to the timeliness of data 

critical to warning or water-management 

purposes. 

The initial use of remotely accessed data 

to forecast floods was often limited to the 

interpretation of correlative relations that 

1 U.S. Geological Survey. 


2 National Weather Service. 


existed between different streams or stream 

locations, which required a great deal of intuitive expertise and knowledge on the part of 

the river or weather forecaster. The rapid 

development of more sophisticated computer 

systems since the 1970's, however, has permitted large amounts of data to be incorporated 

into computer-simulation models for more 

accurate and timely forecasting. Although 

data from USGS gages are used for a wide 

variety of water-management purposes, a 

most critical use of such data is to provide 

warnings or forecasts of floods. 

The National Weather Service (NWS) of 

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, is the Federal agency in 

charge of weather forecasts and warnings for 

the Nation. Many people, however, are not 

aware that the NWS is also charged by law 

with the responsibility to issue forecasts and 

warnings of floods. The mission of the NWS's 

Hydrologic Services program is to save lives 

and decrease property damage by issuing 

timely flood warnings and river-stage forecasts. Although many cities, counties, or other 

local flood-management agencies are involved 

in the operation of local flood-warning networks, the NWS, through its nationwide 

hydrologic-forecasting mandate, is the principal agency that uses nonstructural methods to 

decrease flood damage. In addition, NWS 

reviews hydrologic and meteorological data 

during periods of deficient rainfall and snowfall to make predictions of water-supply and 

to issue drought advisories. 

Flooding along major rivers that is 

caused by rainfall takes many hours and 

even weeks to develop. Floods caused by 

snowmelt runoff may take months to develop. 

Flash floods occur when intense precipitation 

falls during a brief time span on smaller rivers; the time between the onset of intense 

precipitation and the cresting of the river is 

hours instead of days. More than 10,000 

Flooding of Susquehanna River at 

Market Street, Harrisburg, Pa., a 

result of Hurricane Agnes in June 

1972. 

More than 

10,000 

precipitation and 

streamflow 

stations, 

including more 

than 3,000 

streamflow gages 

operated by the 

USGS, provide 

hydrologic data 

to NWS offices 

across the 

country for use 

in the 

flood-forecasting 

program. 

Water Resources Investigations 41 
Schematic showing flow of data 

from a USGS streamflow station via 

the Geostationary Operational 

Environmental Satellite (GOES) to 

a Weather Service Forecast Office. 

precipitation and streamflow stations, including more than 3,000 streamflow gages operated by the USGS, provide hydrologic data to 

NWS offices across the country for use in the 

flood-forecasting program. Hydrologic data 

collection at stream-gaging stations is telemetered through the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) to 

regional NWS River Forecast Centers (RFC). 

The data are incorporated into hydrologic 

models that are used in making hydrologic 

forecasts and advisories. The data provided 

by the USGS streamflow gages are essential in 

creating timely and more accurate hydrologic 

forecasts and advisories. Most of these data 

are archived over a long period of time. As a 

result, a large base of hydrometeorological 

data is available for research and development activities and for statistical analysis. 

The NWS has 13 regional RFC's that 

serve as the principal mechanism for developing warnings against floods. Each RFC is 

responsible for warnings within at least one 

major river system. The staff of each RFC 

prepares river and flood forecasts and warnings, and provides guidance to a network of 

52 National Weather Service Forecast Offices 

(WSFO). Each WSFO redistributes this information to users in cities, counties, and States 

(including Puerto Rico) within its area of 

responsibility. 

GOES Satellite 

Local Readout 


Ground Station 


River Forecast USGS Center is Streamflow 

Station 

I., ■ ut . 

inrin 

Weather Service 

Forecast Office 

42 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 

A new era of river and flood forecasting 

is beginning. Expanded use of telemetry at 

the USGS streamflow stations and refinement 

of telemetry equipment continue to improve 

the timeliness and reliability of data that are 

transmitted for forecasting purposes. The 

NWS is beginning a major modernization of 

its forecasting system—the Next Generation 

Weather Radar—a doppler-based system that 

is replacing conventional radar. Automated 

surface observing systems are replacing manual weather observations, and advanced telecommunications systems are improving the 

integration and distribution of data. Modernization of the NWS forecasting systems will 

result in earlier and better warnings of severe 

thunderstorms, tornadoes, winter storms and 

hurricanes, general flooding, flash floods, and 

water supply. 

Scientific understanding of the Earth's 

atmosphere and technology for data communication continue to improve, but the need 

for hydrometeorological information and 

data for weather and river forecasting will 

not diminish. A principal basis for constructing, verifying, and executing streamflowsimulation models for river and floodforecasting purposes is the raw hydrologic 

data from USGS streamflow stations. Without 

such data, the NWS mandate to provide riverflood forecasts for the protection of life and 

property would be greatly limited. 

National Water-Quality 

Assessment: Public 

Outreach and Involvement 

By Pixie A. Hamilton 

The USGS began the National WaterQuality Assessment (NAWQA) program 

in 1986 to promote a better understanding of 

the quality of surface- and ground-water 

resources across the country. The NAWQA 

program is providing a nationally consistent 

description of current water-quality conditions 

for a large part of the Nation's water resources, defining long-term trends (or lack of 

trends) in water quality, and identifying and 

explaining the major factors that affect 

observed water-quality conditions and trends. 

NAWQA combines investigations in 60 study 

units that represent a variety of geologic, 

hydrologic, climatic, and cultural conditions 

throughout the Nation. These study units 

are the building blocks for understanding 

regional differences in the physical, chemical, 

and biological quality of the Nation's surface 

water and ground water. Information from 
Shaded areas show locations of 

NAWQA studies begun in 1991, 

the first phase of the national 

program. (None were begun in 

Alaska or Hawaii in 1991.) 

the NAWQA program is needed to enhance 

the effectiveness of programs and policies that 

are designed to alleviate the Nation's waterquality problems. 

An important goal is to ensure that 

key findings are available to meet publicinformation needs. A comprehensive publicoutreach program promotes communication, 

information exchange, and cooperation 

between the USGS and the public sector, 

other interested scientists, water-management 

personnel, and interest groups. 

Public outreach includes publications and 

audiovisual presentations, advisory and interagency groups, symposia, workshops, public 

meetings, and technology transfer and coordination. Some activities target local audiences 

that include citizens who are interested in 

how NAWQA findings might affect their 

lives and communities. Other activities reach 

policy makers and water managers at the 

U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of 

Management and Budget, Congress, and 

local, State, and Federal agencies who relate 

NAWQA findings to existing policy and other 

publicly funded programs. Each publicoutreach method plays an important role in 

communicating information to public and 

private audiences. Some workshops, for 

example, are designed to communicate information on a broad, regional or national scale, 

whereas some are targeted to specific local 

areas and selected audiences. Some publications are written for technical research groups 

whereas others are written for general-interest 

audiences. 

Publications. —NAWQA publications 

communicate information and important findings to as wide an audience as possible. Some 

NAWQA publications are produced by the 

USGS and others are produced in cooperation with other government agencies or the 

private sector. For example, NAWQA findings on the distribution of radon in the Carson River basin in Nevada are presented in a 

document produced in cooperation with the 

Nevada Cooperative Extension Service. The 

USGS is copublishing with EPA, Region 7, a 

listing of more than 700 references on water 

resources in the Platte, Loup, and Elkhorn 

River basins. 

In addition, the USGS and the National 

Geographic Society have launched a collaborative effort to increase public understanding of 

the Nation's freshwater resources. As part of 

this joint agreement, NAWQA findings will be 

presented in selected publications and educational products produced by the National 

Geographic Society. 

Audiovisual Presentations. — Videos are 

used primarily for educational purposes 

within school systems and in educational programs of local, State, and Federal agencies. 

For example, a video produced on the 

NAWQA study unit in Kansas, in cooperation 

with the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, 

has been distributed to more than 100 

Kansas conservation districts and is part of 

an 8-hour Kansas certification course for 

chemical applicators. 

Liaison Committees.—Each NAWQA 

study unit has a liaison committee whose 

members meet every 6 to 9 months to help 

ensure that the scientific information produced by the program is relevant to local and 

regional interests. The committees are composed of about 25 to 30 non-USGS members 

who represent a balance of technical and 

management interests. Represented organizations include Federal, State, interstate, and 

Communication and coordination 

among the USGS and other 

interested scientists and watermanagement personnel are 

important components of the 

NAWQA program. To make best 

use of the resources available, we 

are committed to foster information 

exchange and cooperation among 

all relevant agencies through the 

duration of this long-term program. 

Every level of government and the 

private sector has a role to play. 

Philip Cohen, 

USGS, Chief Hydrologist 

Water Resources Investigations 43 
The Delmarva Peninsula study-unit 

liaison committee participates in a 

demonstration of NAWQA 

field-sampling techniques. 

An Adirondack Park Interpretive 

Center scientist and high school 

student assess aquatic insects in 

monitoring water quality of streams. 

(Photograph by Keith Wheeler, 

Adirondack Park Interpretive 

Center.) 

local agencies, Native American tribes, publicinterest groups, and universities. Liaison committee activities include exchange of information about water-quality issues of local and 

regional interest, relevant data and information, and project design and products. Notable NAWQA liaison committee efforts include 

surface-water monitoring and sampling in the 

Upper Illinois River Basin (Illinois Environmental Protection Agency); reservoir monitoring and sampling in the Trinity River Basin, 

Tex. (Tarrant County Water Control and 

Improvement District); and fish collection and 

identification in the Central Nebraska study 

unit (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)). 

Federal Advisory Council.— This group 

was established to advise the USGS on making 

national aspects of the NAWQA program 

timely and appropriate for planning needs. 

Under the general auspices of the Interagency Advisory Committee on Water Data 

and the Advisory Committee on Water Data 

for Public Use, the work group advises the 

USGS on water-quality information needs of 

Federal and non-Federal agencies. Beginning 

in 1994, the Federal Advisory Council will 

play a key role in identifying national issues 

relative to pesticides, nutrients, and suspended sediment. 

Interagency Agreements. —The USGS has 

established national interagency agreements 

with EPA, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

and FWS that outline terms and conditions 

relative to the roles and responsibilities of the 

USGS and respective agencies in support of a 

fully implemented NAWQA program. For 

example, an individual from the EPA Office 

of Pesticide Programs has been detailed to the 

NAWQA national staff to help ensure that 

pesticide findings from the NAWQA program 

help to support the information needs of the 

regulatory community and the public. Similarly, several FWS scientists are working for 

the USGS on temporary duty status to provide support to NAWQA regional and 

national staffs to coordinate and provide technical support for biological field studies. 

The USGS also has interagency agreements with local agencies. For example, the 

NAWQA study unit in the Hudson River 

basin in New York is working cooperatively 

with the Adirondack Park Agency to coordinate hands-on stream-quality monitoring by 

high school students. This educational outreach program provides an interdisciplinary 

learning experience for science teachers and 

students at several schools in the Hudson 

River basin and complements data collection 

for the NAWQA program. USGS personnel 

working on the NAWQA study unit in the 

Upper Snake River basin in Idaho and Wyoming are working cooperatively with personnel of the Soil Conservation Service who have 

initiated a national program to implement 

and evaluate agricultural crop-management 

practices. 

Local Advisory Groups. —NAWQA findings that address water-resources issues are 

provided, often informally, to technical advisory groups within and adjacent to study 

units. These findings often become important 

components of local and State policy decisions. For example, NAWQA findings on the 

distribution of herbicides in surface water in 

the lower Kansas River basin in Kansas and 

Nebraska were used to establish the Delaware 

River Pesticide Management Area in Kansas. 

The NAWQA study of ground-water resources on the Delmarva Peninsula in Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia was used to help 

develop a comprehensive water-supply strategy for the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Findings on concentrations of DDT in streams and 

fish of the Yakima River basin, Wash., 

sparked a human-health-impact analysis by 

the Washington State Department of Health 

44 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
to assess health threats to people who consume fish and drinking water in the basin. 

Special Symposia and Workshops.— 

Symposia and workshops are organized by 

personnel of the NAWQA program to 

present NAWQA findings of national or 

regional emphasis. The NAWQA program 

personnel have coordinated special sessions 

within international organizations dedicated to 

water resources, such as the American Water 

Resources Association, American Geophysical 

Union, and the American Society of Civil 

Engineers, as well as hosting workshops at the 

New York Botanical Garden Institute of Ecosystem Studies on state-of-the-art methods for 

sampling biota in large rivers. 

Special symposia and workshops are also 

coordinated in the individual NAWQA study 

units to address specific topics that are often 

narrow in scope or specific to a local area. 

Information is provided in the symposia and 

workshops to a technical audience, such as 

university researchers, to enhance basic 

research and development of methods and to 

an administrative audience, such as waterresource managers, to aid in local and 

regional decisions. For example, a 1-day symposium on the Central Oklahoma Aquifer 

NAWQA study unit was held in Oklahoma at 

the completion of the study in 1991, at which 

NAWQA study unit personnel, researchers at 

state universities, and water managers and 

health officials at local and State agencies presented papers. 

Public Meetings.—Large meetings that 

are open to the public provide valuable information to local citizens interested in how 

NAWQA findings might affect their lives and 

communities. These meetings provide an 

opportunity for wide participation and education. Public meetings were used effectively in 

the Virginia part of the Delmarva Peninsula 

study unit, where more than 200 citizens 

gathered to learn about the quality and quantity of their ground water, which is the only 

source of water for drinking and irrigation on 

the peninsula. 

Technology Transfer and Coordination.— 

To ensure that NAWQA findings represent 

state-of-the-art science, the results, basic 

research, and development of methods by 

USGS researchers and by researchers from 

other organizations are coordinated within the 

NAWQA program. This coordination occurs 

at the local, State, national, and even international level. For example, exchange researchers from the People's Republic of China 

worked closely with NAWQA staff in sampling fish and biota in the Yakima River basin 

in Washington. 

Facilitating the exchange of data among 

water-resource managers in Federal, State, 

and local agencies as well as with university 

researchers and extension personnel, and 

sharing results of these data through publicoutreach programs, is a major mission of the 

NAWQA program and will remain so for the 

duration of the program. 

CFC's—Tools for AgeDating and Tracing 

Shallow Ground Water 

By L. Niel Plummer and 

Eurybiades Busenberg 

hallow ground-water supplies are valuable 

k..3 and renewable resources that are often 

more susceptible to contamination than older, 

deeper waters. In developing management 

strategies for shallow ground-water systems, 

age-dating can be an extremely useful tool to 

define recharge rates, develop hydrologic 

models of ground-water systems, classify 

hydrogeologic environments on the basis of 

contamination potential, and estimate remediation times for contaminated ground-water 

systems. There are relatively few methods for 

age-dating ground waters that have recharged 

over the past 50 years and, until recently, 

none of those methods were successful for use 

in establishing regional or even local-scale patterns. USGS personnel have now developed a 

method to age-date ground water based on 

the chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) content of the 

water. This age-dating method is practical 

and suitable for most shallow ground-water 

systems. 

CFC's as Tracers and 

Age-Dating Tools 

USGS scientists currently 

are extensively using CFC's as 

tracers and age-dating tools for 

shallow ground water in a number of locations throughout the 

United States. Some of these 

studies include using CFC's to 

(1) trace recent recharge to 

the Floridan aquifer from 

the Withlacoochee River at 

Valdosta, Ga., 

(2) test models of flow in 

unconsolidated sands and 

gravels in the Atlantic Coastal 

Plain of southern New Jersey 

and in the Portland Basin in 

Washington and Oregon, 

(3) study leakage to the 

Floridan aquifer relative to 

the extent of confinement in 

north-central Florida, 

(4) trace the flow of contaminant plumes at the Idaho 

National Engineering Laboratory 

in Idaho and at Globe, Ariz., 

and 

(5) investigate the hydraulics of 

ground-water flow in fractured 

rocks in New Hampshire. 

A hydrologist welds a water sample 

into a 50-cubic centimeter 

borosilicate glass ampule of the 

specially designed sampling 

apparatus that prevents contact 

between air and the water sample. 

IEL PLUMMER 

Water Resources Investigations 45 
NORTH 	 SOUTH 

METERS 


30 


20 

10 

SEA 

LEVEL 

10 

0 	

r 500 METERS 

EXPLANATION 

NITRATE CONCENTRATION, IN MILLIGRAMS — LINE SHOWING YEAR OF GROUND-WATER PER LITER AS NITROGEN—The Environmental RECHARGE—Determined by freon analysis Protection Agency drinking water standard can 

not exceed 10 milligrams per liter CHLOROFLUOROCARBON (CFC) 

MEASURING POINT Less than 1 

1 to 5 GENERAL DIRECTION OF GROUND-WATER 

FLOW 5 to 10 

11.1More than 10 

Cross section showing relation of dissolved nitrate concentrations and CFC recharge ages of ground 

water that discharges at Chesterville Branch near Locust Grove, Md., in the north-central Delmarva 

Peninsula. 

CFC's are stable compounds that are 

used as refrigerants, aerosol propellants, solvents, cleaning agents, and similar products. 

Concentrations of CFC's in the atmosphere 

have steadily increased since they were first 

introduced in the 1930's. Although CFC's are 

detrimental to the atmosphere, they are a 

valuable tracer of recently recharged ground CFC-dating water because they are soluble in water and indicates that up enter ground water during the recharge procto 30 years may ess. By using CFC solubility data and data on 

the fluctuation of CFC's in the atmosphere, be required to recharge ages can be determined from the 

flush the present amount of CFC's in ground-water samples. 

Field studies conducted on the Delmarva high-nitrate (Delaware-Maryland-Virginia) Peninsula and

water from in central Oklahoma, in conjunction with pilot 

NAWQA projects, have defined advantages several small and limitations of CFC dating. CFC dating is agricultural best suited for relatively rural environments 

watersheds in the because localized contamination, such as from

septic systems, sewage effluent, or urban Delmarva runoff, can contain CFC concentrations well 

Peninsula. 	 in excess of that of atmospheric sources. 

Although CFC's are very stable compounds, 

evidence suggests that microbes can degrade 

CFC's in some anaerobic (oxygen-free) environments. Nevertheless, the CFC dating 

method appears to work well in shallow, 

aerobic, sand aquifers that are low in particulate organic matter. Preliminary indications 

are that CFC dating can be accurate within 

several years for this type of environment. 

More than 100 wells in the Delmarva 

Peninsula NAWQA study site were sampled 

for CFC's between May 1989 and November 

1991. Results indicate that ground-water 

recharge on the Delmarva Peninsula occurs 

predominantly from December through 

March. The CFC ages of ground water on 

the Delmarva Peninsula are consistent with 

tritium data, as well as with the known 

hydrology and the known dates of the introduction of nitrates and pesticides to the Delmarva Peninsula. For example, water from 

depths of approximately 15 feet (4.6 meters) 

at the Fairmont watershed in the east-central 

Delmarva Peninsula was recharged in the 

mid- to late-1980's and is approximately 10 to 

20 years younger than water from depths of 

from 50 to 80 feet (15-24 meters). Throughout the Delmarva Peninsula, CFC dating indicates that the vertical component of groundwater movement ranges from 1 to 2 feet 

(0.30-0.61 meter) per year. 

A cross section of CFC recharge ages and 

nitrate concentrations from an agricultural 

area near Locust Grove, Md., in the northcentral Delmarva Peninsula, shows that water 

recharged since the early 1970's exceeds the 

EPA drinking water standard for dissolved 

nitrate and indicates the increased rate of 

application of nitrogen fertilizers, which 

began in the early 1970's. Water recharged 

prior to the early 1970's has lower nitrate concentrations. CFC dating indicates that ground 

water now discharging to streams that drain 

agricultural areas of Delmarva, as well as to 

coastal areas of Chesapeake Bay and the 

Atlantic Ocean, was recharged in nearby 

fields in the 1960's and 1970's. This ground 

water has lower levels of dissolved nitrate 

than does more recently recharged ground 

water from the same areas. Even if the application of nitrate to the fields stopped today, 

streams, rivers, and estuaries will continue to 

receive increasing amounts of nitrate from 

ground-water discharge until the contaminated water is flushed through the system. 

CFC dating indicates that up to 30 years may 

be required to flush the present high-nitrate 

water from several small agricultural watersheds in the Delmarva Peninsula. 

In central Oklahoma, water discharged 

from deep (400-800 feet (122-244 meters)) 

municipal supply wells in the central Oklahoma aquifer indicates that some mixing of 

shallow ground water with deep and presumably old water is induced by pumping. In this 

case, CFC's can be a valuable tracer for testing 

hydraulic seals of municipal water wells. Some 

of the shallow water from the alluvium and 

46 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
terrace aquifer system in central Oklahoma 

has recharge ages ranging from the early 

1950's to the mid-1970's. The distribution of 

CFC recharge ages in the alluvium and terrace system corresponded to the wetter 

periods of 1945 to 1960 and 1967 to 1975, 

whereas fewer mid-1960's recharge ages suggest that less recharge occurred in central 

Oklahoma during this drought period. 

Detectable concentrations of CFC's were 

also found in the Snake River Plain aquifer 

beneath the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) in southeastern Idaho. CFC 

recharge ages ranged from 4 to more than 50 

years, with most waters having recharge ages 

between 20 and 30 years. The ground water 

CFC concentrations were not in equilibrium 

with the unsaturated zone air, which indicates 

that recharge does not occur at the INEL by 

slow percolation through the unsaturated 

zone. Temperatures derived from permanent 

gas solubilities in ground water suggest that 

the Snake River Plain aquifer at the INEL is 

recharged locally rather than at higher elevations that would have cooler soil temperatures 

and correspondingly cooler water temperatures. These observations yield important 

information concerning the recharge mechanism: apparently, most recharge at the INEL 

occurs during floods in the Big Lost River, 

Little Lost River, and Birch Creek. CFC concentrations in ground water are in equilibrium with the shallow soil air; this indicates 

that water passes rapidly through the fractured basalts to the water table, which minimizes reequilibration with the air in the deep 

unsaturated zone. 

There are limitations to CFC dating of 

ground water, but when CFCs are present, 

they indicate that the water sample contains at 

least some post-1940's water. This fact alone 

points to CFC's as valuable tracers of recent 

recharge. 

Glen Canyon 

Environmental Study 

By J. Dungan Smith and Robert H. Webb 

The Glen Canyon Dam impounds the Colorado River near the Utah-Arizona border to create Lake Powell, with the dam controlling the river's flow and suspended-sand 

transport as it flows through the Glen Canyon 

National Recreational Area and Grand Canyon National Park. The release of water from 

Glen Canyon Dam exerts a strong influence 

on the ecological characteristics of the river 

corridor in a unique and fragile environment. 

USGS scientists have been studying the 

flow, sediment transport, and geomorphic 

processes in this river. Their work is a component of a large interagency study of the reach 

of the Colorado River between Lake Powell 

and Lake Mead. The study is designed to provide scientific information for an Environmental Impact Statement on the effects of 

Glen Canyon Dam. The interagency study, 

Glen Canyon Environmental Study II (GCESII), is being conducted in cooperation with 

the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), and is a 

follow-on to a pilot study that was conducted 

in the mid-1980's. 

Information about the flow, sediment 

transport, and geomorphological processes 

in the Colorado River between Lake Powell 

and Lake Mead relative to the regulated discharge from Glen Canyon Dam forms the 

foundation for assessing the environmental 

impact of typical and proposed water-release 

scenarios. For example, daily increases and 

decreases in discharge from the dam control 

the characteristics of the discharge "wave" as 

it moves downstream. The effect that this 

wave has on the transport of suspended sand 

and on erosion and deposition on specific 

Repeat Photography of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River 

The Grand Canyon and the Colorado River 

have been photographed during many expeditions. The Robert Brewster Stanton expedition, in 

winter 1889-90, had as its purpose systematic documentation of the river corridor in order to determine the feasibility of a railroad within the Grand 

Canyon. Professional photographer Franklin Nims 

was seriously injured in a fall on January 1, 1890, 

only 15 miles (24 kilometers) into Grand Canyon, 

so Stanton, who had never before used a camera, 

finished photographing the remaining 265 miles 

(426 kilometers) of river. 

During winters 1990, 1991, and 1992, most of 

the 446 Stanton photographs were replicated. 

Comparison of 400 views shows numerous environmental changes over the intervening century, 

including a cessation of extreme frost after 1890. 

Also, 40 species of shrubs, grasses, and cacti that 

can persist as individuals for more than a century 

are documented. Closure of Glen Canyon Dam in 

1963 caused substantial changes in the river corridor through the Grand Canyon because postdam 

clear-water releases eroded many of the sand 

bars that had been deposited previously by the 

sediment-laden river. Comparison of views taken 

a century apart reveal that in a sample of 557 

sand bars, the amount of erosion decreases with 

distance downstream from Glen Canyon Dam. 

Although more than 90 percent of the sand bars 

near the dam show erosion, about equal numbers 

of sand bars have eroded and aggraded at distances greater than 160 miles (256 kilometers) 

downstream. 

Water Resources Investigations 47 
Badger Rapid, at mile 8.0 on the 

Colorado River. 

At mile 119.0 on the Colorado 

River. 

A, Badger Rapid is the first major rapid in the Grand Canyon downstream from Glen Canyon Dam. Professional 

photographer Franklin Nims took this photograph on December 28, 1889, during the Robert Brewster Stanton expedition 

to document the feasibility of a railroad route through the Grand Canyon. The railroad would have traversed the base of 

the cliffs on the right. Nims' view shows the entire rapid. Jackass Canyon, sand bar, and debris fan are middle right in the 

photograph, and Badger Canyon fan and sand bar are in the middle of the photograph. (See B, facing page, for 

comparison.) 

A, Reaches of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon where Tapeats Sandstone is at river level typically have calm 

waters and only small rapids. In this downstream view at mile 119.0, several small riffles and quiescent eddies reflect 

these typical conditions. On February 20, 1890, after Nims was injured, Robert Brewster Stanton took this photograph to 

document his proposed railroad route, which would have traversed the right side of the river (and view) at the base of the 

first cliff above the river. (See B, facing page, for comparison.) 

48 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
B, David Edwards replicated Nims' view on January 30, 1991The Colorado River is several feet higher in 1991 than it 

was in the 1889 view. The camping beaches at Badger Rapid, which are heavily used by hikers and tourists rafting down 

the Colorado River, are significantly affected by dam operations because they are only 23 miles (37 kilometers) downstream 

from Glen Canyon Dam. The sand bar on the Jackass Canyon side has been studied for many years to determine processes 

of deposition and erosion of sediment. Several rocks that have m numented benchmarks in them show that the sand bar 

downstream from Jackass Canyon has lost 5 feet (1.5 meters) of sand since 1890. Tamarisk trees, which appear only in 

the 1991 view, are non-native invaders. The largest clumps at ower center germinated about 1938. From this distance, 

the rapid does not appear to have changed significantly, but oth r historic views show that a debris flow occurred between 

1897 and 1909 in Badger Canyon and deposited the rocks that form a navigation obstacle at the upper right center of the 

rapid. 

B, Ralph Hopkins replicated Stanton's view on February 3, 1990. The sand bar at right center appears to be about the 

same size as it was a century ago. Some sand bars in the view have eroded, whereas others have aggraded or are covered 

with riparian vegetation. About here, 135 miles (217 kilometers) downstream from Glen Canyon Dam, the widespread 

erosion characteristic of the upper half of the river corridor shift to a more complex mixture of eroded, aggraded, or 

similar-looking sand bars. 

Water Resources Investigations 49 
Location map of Glen Canyon Dam 

in relation to Lake Powell and the 

Grand Canyon. 

Information 

from these 

scenarios will be 

used by the BOR 

to develop 

operational 

procedures that 

are both 

environmentally 

sensitive and 

economically 

reasonable. 

113° 

\jig/ St. George 

UTAH 

ARIZONA 

Lake 

Mead 

Pearce 

Ferry 

36° 

ti 

. O 

K ingman 

35° 

Base from U.S. Geological Survey, 

1:500,000, State base map 0 

1 0 

sand beaches is of considerable environmental 

concern. Another concern is coarse sediment 

carried from small steep tributaries to the 

main channel, because deposits from these 

catastrophic flows can bury camping beaches 

and riparian habitats and can block the river 

and produce new rapids. Information from 

these scenarios will be used by the BOR to 

develop operational procedures that are both 

environmentally sensitive and economically 

reasonable. 

The Colorado River, like many rivers 

downstream of large dams, is cut deeply into 

bedrock, which controls many features of the 

river system. Rock falls from the steep valley 

walls result in irregular banks of coarse, 

poorly sorted talus along most of the channel, 

as well as many relatively short steep tributaries that intermittently contribute coarse, 

poorly sorted material to the main channel 

near the tributary mouths. Deposits from 

occasional large debris flows and floods partially block the main channel. These deposits 

produce pools on the upstream side, rapids 

over the top of the deposits, large deposits of 

sand (eddy bars) on the downstream edges, 

and downstream pools, which during normal 

flows are filled with materials transported 

through the rapids but are washed out during 

floods. 

The fluctuations in water discharged 

from a dam and the quality (temperature, 

type of sediments, organic materials, and 

112° 111°

tri Kanab Rivf, 

"Te` Lake 

Fels Powell Page Ferry U Glen

Canyon 


r Dam 


GRAND
 0 
 CANYON 


NATIONAL 
 laY PARK f Phantom : i°; 

Ranch •v z 

0 

4, 


4, 


Cameron 

(" 

P, 

Flagstaff 

50 MILES 

50 KILOMETERS 

water chemistry) of that released water are 

the predominant influences on the riverine 

and riparian environments below the dam. 

Usually water quality is established by the way 

water is released from the reservoir. For 

example, water released from the bottom of a 

reservoir may be colder, oxygen deficient, and 

sediment laden relative to water released from 

the surface of the same reservoir. Because the 

downstream environment will evolve toward a 

condition of equilibrium as established by the 

discharge history of the dam over a prolonged period of time, it is possible to determine the effects that different operational 

scenarios will have on the downstream 

environment. 

Glen Canyon Dam is operated to meet 

the hydroelectric power needs of the southwestern United States. It is critical that the 

computer model of daily fluctuations in river 

stage accurately reflects the changes in discharge that relate to fluctuating amounts of 

hydroelectric power usage. Changes in river 

stage control the water table near the stream, 

affect the stability of sand bars, control the 

rates of encroachment of plants onto the new 

eddy bars, and affect the rates of wind erosion and movement of sand on the beaches. 

The Colorado River between Lake Powell 

and Lake Mead is characteristic of a gravelbedded river system, but it has transported a 

significant amount of suspended sediment 

before and after the Glen Canyon Dam was 

50 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
built. When the dam was completed in 1963, 

the major supply of sand to the system was 

cut off, and the annual sediment load at the 

Grand Canyon stage gage was reduced from 

90 to 14 million tons (82 to 13 million metric 

tons) per year. The annual peak flow was 

reduced commensurately, however, and the 

distribution of sand in the system appears to 

have reached equilibrium with the reduced 

flow by 1980. About 30 percent of the channel bed was covered by sand before the dam 

was built, and only a slightly smaller fraction 

of the channel bed appears to be covered by 

sand at the end of 1991. 

Coarse, rapidly drained talus predominates along the channel margin, and sand 

deposited at high stage near the edges of the 

river is important to plants and for people 

rafting down the Colorado River through 

Grand Canyon National Park. Thin bands of 

sand along the channel margin provide a substrate for the most dense riparian vegetation, 

large unvegetated sand deposits downstream 

of rapids provide some of the best camping 

beaches, and the vegetated beaches provide 

marsh habitat for birds and warm backwaters 

for native fish. 

At moderate to high stage discharges, 

sand in the mainstream is transported in suspension and is continually exchanged with the 

sediment in the river bed and the eddy bars. 

As the stage rises, sand accumulates more 

rapidly than it is lost when the stage falls, 

which means that short periods of high discharge can be used to build up sand deposits. 

These beach-building flows, however, must be 

repeated every several years. Maintenance of 

high-elevation sand bars, which dominated 

the river system before the dam was closed, is 

extremely important because these beaches 

are necessary for recreation and riparian habitat. High stage discharge also removes a substantial amount of sand from the system, so 

the discharge must be timed carefully so as 

not to remove more sand from the Colorado 

River than is added to the river reach downstream from Glen Canyon Dam from floods 

in the Paria and Little Colorado Rivers 

between beach-building events. 

The USGS component of GCES II is to 

model the response of a downstream environment to the water-release history of a dam 

and to obtain the flow data necessary to test 

and prove the model. Data on the rate of 

addition—by debris flows and floods—of 

coarse sediment to the main channel and 

recirculation zones of the Colorado River and 

the effect on the eddy beaches of the discharge wave—generated daily in response to 

electricity demands in the regional network—are providing the foundation for the 

environmentally sensitive operation of large 

dams with a minimum loss of revenue. 

USGS Continues 

Coordination of WaterResources Information 

By Nancy C. Lopez and Paul V. Dresler 

Within the United States, water-resources 

data and information are collected by 

thousands of Federal, State, and local agencies, public interest groups, Native Americans, 

and private groups and individuals at a cost 

of several billion dollars annually. Federal 

agencies collect water-resources information 

to meet their individual mission requirements, 

such as pollution control, weather forecasting, 

emergency response, natural-resource management, regulatory enforcement, and basic 

research. The Federal-State Cooperative program, for example, which constitutes more 

than 40 percent of all USGS water-resources 

activities, promotes working partnerships 

between the USGS and more than 1,000 Federal and non-Federal organizations, resulting 

in the operation of more than 50,000 watermeasurement sites throughout the Nation. In 

addition, non-Federal agencies, local and private organizations, and public interest groups 

use water-resources information to manage 

and protect the resource and ensure that 

established standards and regulations are 

achieved. 

Existing water-information acquisition 

and dissemination methods meet some, but 

not all, needs for decisionmaking at the 

Federal, regional, State, and local levels 

and in the private sector. Identifying opportunities to improve the effectiveness of waterinformation activities requires extensive communication and collaboration among 

collectors and users of water-resources information. Previously, coordination efforts were 

primarily focused on coordination at the 

national level. The recognition that future 

water-information needs are more likely to 

occur at the State and local levels rather than 

at the national level, however, has resulted in 

interagency and intergovernmental coordination efforts that are ensuring that waterresources information needs can be met at all 

levels. 

On December 10, 1991, the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) issued 

Memorandum No. M-92-01 that directs the 

Federal Government to coordinate waterinformation activities. The OMB memorandum sets the requirements and objectives for 

the establishment of a Water Information 

Coordination Program (WICP) to ensure 

effective decisionmaking for the management 

of natural resources and protection of the 

environment at all levels of government and 

Water Resources Investigations 51 
in the private sector. Lead responsibility for 

implementing the OMB memorandum was 

assigned to the USGS, which has historically 

been the Nation's principal agent for waterdata acquisition. The new OMB memorandum supersedes OMB Circular A-67 on 

water-data coordination that was signed in 

1964. 

Implementation of the OMB memorandum, through the establishment of the WICP, 

will encourage and promote partnerships 

among water-resources information collectors 

and users at all government and nongovernmental levels, avoid duplication of efforts, 

result in more effective and economical 

natural-resource management, support environmental protection, and make better use of 

available resources to meet the Nation's waterinformation requirements. An important 

objective of the WICP is to coordinate the 

development of data-collection guidance to 

field operations on the best methods for 

collecting, analyzing, and reporting waterresources information. 

The WICP also will promote interagency 

collaboration to establish data and information archives that are interlinked and accessible. These archives need to contain information sufficient to qualify and interpret the 

data holdings and identify the status, quality, 

and location of water-resources information. 

Achievement of these goals will be accomplished by focusing on four interrelated 

activities: 

• Water Information Program Review.— 

Reviews water-information collection and dissemination programs for effectiveness and 

needed changes. 

• National Water Information Network. — 

Develops plans and priorities to adjust existing national water-resources information collection to meet current and future needs 

more effectively and efficiently. 

• Water Information Standards Development.—Develops, accepts, and disseminates 

water-information standards and establishes 

mechanisms to evaluate and test sampling and 

analytical methods that will produce comparable results. 

• National Water Information Clearinghouse. — Develops archiving procedures for 

government and the private sector and for 

public access to available data and interpretive 

products. 

It is through the establishment and maintenance of a strong partnership among all 

members, Federal and non-Federal, of the 

water-resources information community that 

effective water-resources decisionmaking, 

based on reliable and accurate information, 

may be achieved for the Nation, States, and 

local communities. The USGS leads the effort 

to coordinate these partnerships and to provide water-resources information that is 

responsive to the public need. 

52 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
STEERING COMMITTEE 


Water Information Coordination Program 


Membership: Federal Departments and 


Independent Agencies 


Interagency Committee 


on Water Data 


Membership: Federal 


Organizations 


Technical Subcommittees, 


Task Forces, and 


Groups 


Advisory Committee 


on Water Data for 


Public Use 


Membership: Non-Federal 


Organizations 


National Water Quality 


Assessment (NAWQA) 


Subcommittee 


Organization of the Water Information Coordination Program (WICP) 

WICP is structured to improve collaboration and coordination among all members of 

the water-resources information community. 

The WICP Steering Committee, which is 

composed of subcabinet-level Federal agency 

officials, will oversee the implementation of 

the OMB memorandum. A Federal Interagency 

Committee on Water Data reports to the 

Steering Committee. Through its task forces 

and groups, the Interagency Committee on 

Water Data focuses on specific technical 

aspects of water-resources information 

collection and dissemination. An Advisory 

Committee on Water Data for Public Use 

parallels the Interagency Committee. The 

Advisory Committee is composed of representatives from the non-Federal sector who will 

advise the Steering Committee on non-Federal 

water-resources information holdings and 

requirements and will review existing Federal 

programs and advise the Steering Committee 

as to how the Federal programs meet the 

needs of the non-Federal community. 

Water Resources Investigations 53 
GEOLOGIC 


INVESTIGATIONS 


MISSION 

The Geologic Division evaluates the Nation's geologic structure 

and the geologic processes that have shaped it, assesses the 

Nation's mineral and energy resources, and identifies and 

investigates geologic hazards. 

• Investigations of geologic hazards provide information for 

predicting and delineating hazards from earthquakes and 

volcanoes and for identifying engineering problems related to 

ground failure hazards. 

• Regional geologic studies provide geologic maps and regional 

syntheses of detailed geologic data essential to mineral, energy, 

and hazard assessments and to land use decisions such as 


landfill siting and selection of transportation routes. 


• Offshore geologic studies identify and describe the mineral and 

petroleum resources of the offshore areas of the United States, 

including the Exclusive Economic Zone, an area one-third larger 

than the land area of the United States. 

• Mineral-resource investigations assess the distribution, quantity, 

and quality of the Nation's mineral resources required for making 

land use decisions by Federal, State, and local land-management 

agencies. 

• Surveys of energy resources provide assessments of the 

Nation's coal, petroleum, uranium, and geothermal resources 

and enhance capabilities to explore for and develop new 


sources of energy. 


PHOTOGRAPH USE COURTESY OFPAULSTONE 
Message from the Chief Geologist, Geologic Division The mission of the Geologic Division provides us with many challenges as we 

seek to provide the public with valuable information about the application of 

earth science data to our Nation and our planet. 

Two of these challenges are to monitor natural hazards and to conduct 

extensive research that will help us to understand their causes and to mitigate their 

hazardous effects. In fiscal year 1992, the USGS responded to several large natural 

disasters including the Landers-Big Bear earthquakes in southern California, the 

ongoing volcanic activity of Mt. Spurr volcano in Alaska, and Hurricanes Andrew 

and Iniki, which devastated parts of Florida, Louisiana, and Hawaii. 

The growing need for geologic map data in land use decisions, in identification 

and investigation of geologic hazards, in resolution of environmental issues, and in 

energy and mineral-resource assessments is reflected in passage of the National 

Geologic Mapping Act of 1992. Through this Act, the USGS is designated the 

Federal agency responsible for planning, coordinating, and managing the National 

Geologic Mapping Program. To implement the provisions of the Act and to develop 

closer partnerships with State Geological Surveys and other members of the geologic 

mapping community is our focus for fiscal year 1993. 

Ocean-floor sediment pollution is an area of great environmental concern. In 

fiscal year 1992, the USGS carried out investigations of low-level radioactive-waste 

dumping in the Farallon Islands in San Francisco Bay and sludge dumping in the 

offshore areas of metropolitan New Jersey and New York. 

The Nation needs energy and mineral resources to sustain its economic growth 

and to promote national security. Division resource-assessment programs provide 

credible, unbiased estimates of undiscovered domestic energy and mineral resources. 

In fiscal year 1992, we began planning for the next national energy resource 

assessment, which is being conducted in cooperation with the Minerals Management 

Service and State Geological Surveys. Mineral-resource activities included USGS 

sponsorship—in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Mines and State Geological 

Surveys of Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, South 

Dakota, and Wisconsin—of a workshop to develop a balance between preservation of 

the environment and the increased need for industrial minerals to rebuild aging 

roads, bridges, buildings, and other structures in the Midwest. 

The Geologic Division is striving to increase its outreach and technology 

transfer to the public and private sectors. Much emphasis is being placed on 

identifying our customers and their needs, improving productivity and publication 

timeliness and quality, and inspiring leadership and team spirit throughout the 

division. 

Benjamin A. Morgan III 

have been lost by the 40 million people who Southern Lake Michigan live in the Great Lakes Basin and the many 

Coastal Erosion Study 	 vital industries that are located there. During 

each episode of high lake levels, bluff erosion 

increases, beachfront property is lost, and By David W. Folger A

structures and beaches are submerged. During each intervening episode of lower lake 

bout 15 percent of the U.S. population levels, navigation channels and harbors 

and 50 percent of Canada's population require extensive dredging of sediments that 

live along or near the 9,000-kilometer-long are commonly polluted, hydroelectric output 

(5,500-mile-long) coastline of the Great Lakes. decreases, the load on freshwater-pumping 

Eighty-three percent of the shoreline is pri- facilities increases, and sewage-disposal probvately owned. Erosion and flooding of this lems become more complex. 

coastline, often associated with periodic Since the turn of the century, levels of 

high lake levels, have resulted in extensive Lake Michigan have been increasing in a 

damage to domestic, recreational, and indus- series of peaks—each higher than the last— 

trial facilities. culminating in 1985-87, when high waters 

Because of fluctuating water levels in the flooded the streets of Chicago and caused 

Great Lakes, hundreds of millions of dollars extensive coastline erosion. As a result of the 

GEOLOGIC INVESTIGATIONS 


55 
. . .wide 

fluctuations in 

lake levels 

related to climate 

in the future are 

not only possible 

but probable. 

damage, a 5-year study was initiated to document the timing and magnitude of prehistoric 

lake-level fluctuations and to assess the geologic processes causing the severe erosion of 

the Illinois-Indiana shoreline. 

The Southern Lake Michigan Coastal 

Erosion Study has been a cooperative effort, 

involving research and technical personnel 

from USGS offices in Woods Hole, Mass., St. 

Petersburg, Fla., Denver, Colo., Menlo Park, 

Calif., and Reston, Va., and from the Illinois 

State Geological Survey, Indiana Geological 

Survey, Indiana University, Purdue University, Northeastern Illinois University, University of Wisconsin, Oregon State University, 

University of Washington, University of 

Rhode Island, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. 

The work, started in 1987, was divided 

into three parts—geologic framework studies, 

lake-level studies, and process studies: 

Geologic Framework Studies involved the 

collection of geophysical data, including 

single-channel seismic surveys to determine 

the thickness and distribution of the surface 

layers and sidescan sonar to determine, with 

bathymetric data, the physiography of the 

lake bottom and, with sample data and 

SCUBA observations, the areal distribution of 

various bottom sediment types. Sidescan sonar 

was also used to assess the condition and 

89° 88° 87° 86° 

45° 

44° 

43° 

42° 

INDIANA Indiana Dunes 

National Lakeshore 

50 100 KILOMETERS 

41° 

Location of the southern Lake Michigan Coastal Erosion 

study area. 

extent of damage to shore protection revetments along the Chicago waterfront. In addition, profiles of sand thickness on beaches 

and lake bottom were measured at 700 locations along 50 transects off the IllinoisIndiana shore. A hydraulic probe was used to 

penetrate as much as 12 meters (39 feet) into 

the sandy sediment from the beach to as far 

as 550 meters (1,800 feet) offshore on each 

transect. This study resulted in the most 

complete characterization of the thickness and 

distribution of the nearshore sand wedge 

available. 

Lake-Level Studies involved extensive 

single-channel seismic surveys of much of the 

deep southern basin of the lake to map the 

lake deposits and to guide the placement of 

piston cores. The sediment in this extensive 

collection of cores contains a record of prehistoric age, climate, and environment. The 

study in the lake basin was complemented by 

several detailed studies of exposed beach 

ridges and modern high-water deposits 

around the lake margin to document the 

age, frequency, and magnitude of high water 

levels. 

Process Studies involved measurements 

and studies of bluff recession, evolution of 

beaches, effects of manmade structures on 

erosion and sand transport, the role of wind 

in removing sand from the nearshore system 

to form massive dunes such as those in the 

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and the 

role of ice in eroding and protecting the 

coast. A model—derived from this information showing the sources, pathways, and sinks 

for the nearshore sediment—is essential to 

predicting the future of this coastline. 

Important highlights of the results of the 

study include 

• Sidescan sonar shows conclusively where, 

how, and why the revetments protecting the 

Chicago lakeshore are failing. Remedial 

designs based on this information are now 

being implemented. 

• The lake-level studies show that prehistoric 

fluctuations have been as much as 3 meters 

(10 feet), almost twice as great as the 1.6­

meter (5-foot) difference between the 1964 

low level and the 1986 high level. One such 

high level occurred in the 1600's before the 

Great Lakes region was extensively settled by 

Europeans. Thus, wide fluctuations in lake 

levels related to climate in the future are not 

only possible but probable. The impact of global warming, due to increased CO2 and the 

greenhouse effect, on the magnitude and frequency of these water-level cycles in the Great 

Lakes is still uncertain. 

• Bluff retreat between Wilmette and 

Waukegan varies from 10 to 75 centimeters 

per year (4-30 inches per year) and averages 

20-25 centimeters per year (8-10 inches per 

56 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Chicago, like many coastal cities in the United States, is 

particularly vulnerable to high lake levels and severe 

storms. 

year). Erosion rates north of Waukegan, however, have been as high as 3 meters per year 

(10 feet per year). 

• Sediment eroding from bluffs provides 

most of the sand to the nearshore zone. As 

people build more structures to protect the 

bluffs, less sand will be available to the system. 

As a result of this situation, at least in part, 

the nearshore sand wedge has dramatically 

decreased in volume during the last two 

decades. As the sand supply dwindles, more 

of the underlying finer textured lakebed will 

be exposed to wave attack, and coastal retreat 

will accelerate. 

• Ice ridges as high as 7 meters (23 feet) that 

form along the lakeshore do not effectively 

protect the shoreline from winter erosion, as 

previously thought. Commonly, many ice 

ridges form and break up each winter along 

much of the shoreline; significant amounts of 

sand are trapped in floating fragments of ice 

and carried not only alongshore but offshore 

into the deep water. This continuing natural 

process is one of the principal mechanisms by 

which sand is lost from the nearshore system. 

• The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, at 

the southernmost tip of Lake Michigan, 

appears to have been a major sink in the past 

for sand moving southward along the nearshore on both sides of the lake. Sand accumulating on broad beaches is blown inshore by 

strong winds from the north to form the 

dunes. Because scientists observed so little 

sand nearshore from Waukegan, Ill., to Gary, 

Ind., the main contribution to the dunes now 

is probably the eastern shore rather than both 

eastern and western shores of the lake. 

A summary volume containing 16 papers 

covering most aspects of the study will be 

published by the International Association 

of Great Lakes Research and will serve as an 

easily accessible source for researchers, engineers, coastal managers, and municipal planners in the southern Lake Michigan area. 

DAVID FOL GER 

Ice ridges cause significant erosion of the Lake Michigan shoreline in winter, rather than protecting 

it as previously thought. 

Volcanic Ash and Aircraft 

By Thomas P. Miller 

More than 40 active volcanoes are located 

along Alaska's southern coast, in a 

1,500-mile-long (2,400-kilometer-long) belt 

extending from Cook Inlet and the Alaska 

Peninsula through most of the Aleutian 

Islands. Although this chain of volcanoes 

averages one to two eruptions per year, most 

of them are remote and their hazard has hitherto been thought to be minimal. 

Recent eruptions of three volcanoes on 

the west side of Cook Inlet, however, have 

significantly affected the safety and commerce 

of 60 percent of Alaska's population, as well 

as domestic and international air travel. The 

1989-90 eruption of Redoubt volcano, for 

example, caused an estimated $160 million in 

economic losses, principally to aircraft and to 

oil production revenues. The near-tragic 

encounter between a Boeing 747 jet and volcanic ash 180 miles (290 kilometers) downwind from a major eruption of Redoubt on 

December 15, 1989, emphasized how vulnerable modern jet aircraft engines are to shutdown caused by intake of volcanic ash. Even 

remote volcanoes can pose a hazard to life 

and property hundreds of miles away. Ash 

from the 1992 eruption of Mount Spurr 

volcano was reported as far away as Sitka, 

760 miles (1,200 kilometers) southeast of the 

volcano. 

The USGS recognized the potential for 

hazardous eruptions in Alaska following the 

1986 eruption of Augustine volcano, 180 

Geologic Investigations 57 
miles (290 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage, and formally established the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) to study these littleknown volcanoes in 1988. To make effective 

use of existing facilities and expertise, AVO 

was established as a cooperative venture consisting of scientists and facilities of the USGS, 

the Geophysical Institute of the University of 

Alaska, Fairbanks, and the Alaska Division of 

Geological and Geophysical Surveys. 

Although AVO depends on a number of 

techniques for monitoring active volcanoes, 

the primary surveillance technique in the area 

around Anchorage and Cook Inlet (where 

four historically active volcanoes are found) is 

seismic monitoring. When molten rock moves 

through the Earth's crust before an eruption, 

swarms of small earthquakes mark its advance. As a result, short-term predictions can 

be made of many impending eruptions. The 

network of seismographs around Cook Inlet 

volcanoes and new seismic-recording and 

analysis systems that run on small personal 

computers permit accurate, timely interpretation of the seismicity, which is critical to determining the volcano's state of activity or potential activity. Electronic alarm systems allow for 

continuous monitoring of volcanic activity 

even during nonbusiness hours. 

Cook Inlet volcanoes are also studied 

through frequent overflights to monitor gas 

emissions and other parameters, field observations, ground-deformation studies using stateof-the-art satellite signals, and slow-scan TV 

monitoring. An innovative system that detects 

ash-induced lightning in an eruption cloud 

enables the USGS to warn pilots about areas 

hazardous for aircraft. A mudflow-detection 

system was installed in 1990 to detect and 

track volcanic mudflows that threatened an oil 

storage facility 25 miles (40 kilometers) from 

Redoubt volcano. 

Away from Cook Inlet, AVO depends 

primarily on information from pilot reports, 

satellite images, and observations from local 

inhabitants to prepare warnings and issue 

announcements on future volcanic activity. 

The eruptions of Redoubt volcano in 

1989-90 and Mount Spurr volcano in 1992 

led to the development of procedures for 

a rapid flow of information including briefings, news media releases, a color-code system 

designating the status of the volcano, and 

forecasts of plume trajectories. When measurable changes in the state of a volcano are 

noticed, AVO offices in Anchorage and at 

the Geophysical Institute in Fairbanks go on 

24-hour duty. A formal call-down list has 

been established for the immediate notification of eruptive activity. The Federal Aviation 

Administration, the National Weather Service, 

Elmendorf Air Force Base, the Alaska Division of Emergency Services, and any facility 

The August 18, 1992, eruption of Crater Peak on Mount 

Spurr volcano. 

near the volcano are notified immediately by 

telephone. 

During an eruption, AVO issues a 

printed Volcano Update one or more times 

daily, which describes eruptions, associated 

earthquake activity, and other noteworthy 

events. The updates also include a general 

summary of potential volcanic hazards over a 

period of days to weeks and, when possible, 

specific predictions about future events. 

These updates are faxed to a wide variety 

of government agencies, industry, and news 

media users. This information is also provided on recorded telephone messages that 

are continually updated. 

A scheme of color codes was developed 

to represent the level of concern based on the 

seismic activity beneath a particular volcano 

or confirmed by visual observations by AVO 

field crews or the airline industry. This system 

was implemented in order to more consistently describe the status of the volcano when 

a potentially hazardous event was in progress 

or was expected. Four colors were chosen to 

represent different levels of activity that were 

either presently occurring or expected to 

occur at the volcano. Green, for example, 

means the volcano is in a "dormant" state, 

and yellow indicates the volcano is "restless." 

Orange indicates either the occurrence or the 

imminence of a large explosion likely to send 

ash as high as 25,000 feet (7,620 meters) 

ALASKAVOLCAN

OOBSERVATORY 

58 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
above sea level, and red indicates potential for 

ash plumes higher than 25,000 feet (7,620 

meters). This simple but effective color-code 

system is being widely adopted by the airline 

industry. 

AVO also receives forecast data on winds 

above south-central Alaska from the National 

Weather Service in order to plot the potential 

ashfall area downwind from an erupting volcano. The maps produced are used to anticipate probable ashfall-hazard zones following 

an eruption. 

The value of these monitoring techniques and information procedures was 

apparent during the eruptions of Redoubt 

(1989-90) and Mount Spurr (1992) when 

AVO was able to issue warnings of impending 

eruptions and, in some instances, issue predictions of explosive eruptive events. Such predictions (ranging from 4 to 34 hours in 

advance and averaging 14 hours) were made 

for four different Redoubt eruptions. One 

forecast was made for Mount Spurr on the 

basis of seismic activity and was released 14 

hours before the June 27, 1992, eruption. For 

19 explosive eruptions of Redoubt, notifications began 2 to 17 minutes after the onset; 

the average response time was 7 minutes. 

Notifications were made 11 minutes after 

Mount Spurr's June 27 eruption and 3 minutes after the August 18 eruption. 

These warnings, forecasts, predictions, 

and notifications resulted in the efficient 

rerouting of air traffic and allowed the people 

likely to be affected to prepare for the hazards associated with ashfall, mudflows, and 

tsunamis. More than 40 Alaskan volcanoes 

have been active in the past 200 years, however, and only 4 of them are adequately 

instrumented at present. The remainder of 

Alaska's active volcanoes, although more isolated, lie along major international air routes 

across the Pacific Ocean and constitute a significant hazard to air traffic. The instrumentation and hazard analysis of these volcanoes 

remain a challenge for the future. 

Nearly A Century of Earth 

Science Cooperation in 

Puerto Rico 

By Walter J. Bawiec, Robert E. Learned, 

and Jean N. Weaver 

For almost a century, geoscientists of the 

USGS, often in cooperation with agencies 

of the insular government of Puerto Rico, 

have studied many aspects of Puerto Rican 

geology. Projects have focused on irrigation 

154° 152°r 150° 

1 

156° 

62° 

MOUNT SPURR A 

P Anchorage PA 

REDOUBT VOLCANO A 

60° 

4; 0

<4, 

Q. 	 AUGUSTINE 

0- VOLCANO 

b 

58° 

ALP" 

Recent eruptions of Mount Spurr, Redoubt, and Augustine volcanoes have significantly affected 

more than half of Alaska's population. 

and ground-water studies, systematic topographic mapping, the search for mineral 

resources, and assessment of natural hazards. 

These efforts have resulted in major contributions to an understanding of the island's geology and to the welfare of its people. The 

chronology of events in the study of earth sciences in Puerto Rico by the USGS and insular 

agencies demonstrates the spirit in which 

long-term beneficial goals can be pursued by 

cooperating agencies. 

In 1969, the USGS, in cooperation with 

the Puerto Rico Department of Public Works, 

began an investigation of the mineral resources of the island and established a geochemical laboratory in San Juan. Much of the 

project's attention was focused on the geology 

Geologic Investigations 59 
and geochemistry of the porphyry-copper 

deposits in west-central Puerto Rico, an area 

that also provided training for Puerto Rican 

geologists. The geochemical laboratory, which 

analyzed all the samples collected by project 

geologists, was staffed entirely by Puerto 

Rican personnel. The project produced many 

scientific publications, including a metallogenic map of Puerto Rico. In 1980, the USGS 

and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural 

Resources initiated a systematic geochemical 

survey of the drainage basins of Puerto Rico. 

The geochemical survey was terminated 

before its completion, but the results for one 

major drainage basin were published in 1981. 

The remaining results are incorporated in the 

mineral-resource assessment of Puerto Rico, a 

2-year project that began in 1990 and represents a culmination of the years of cooperative 

efforts in mapping and collection of geological, geochemical, and geophysical data. 

The most recent example of cooperative 

activity culminated in a June 1992 public 

meeting in San Juan, sponsored by the USGS, 

Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources, and the University of Puerto Rico 

(Mayaguez Campus). The public meeting was 

designed to communicate to government officials, mining company personnel, and interested organizations the results of a cooperative mineral-resource assessment of Puerto 

Rico. More than 100 people from the U.S. 

Bureau of Mines, U.S. Forest Service, mining 

companies, and universities attended the 

2-day meeting and 1-day field trip. 

The final day of the public meeting featured a field trip to 

some of the mineralized areas of Puerto Rico. Here 

participants examine the alteration zone of a copper 

deposit in south-central Puerto Rico. 

Although the conclusions of the study 

and an assessment of Puerto Rico's undiscovered mineral resources—probabilistic estimates of numbers of undiscovered mineral 

deposits—are important and will be published 

as a USGS map portfolio, a more far-reaching 

aspect of the meeting was a clearer sense of 

how this information can be used and how 

these cooperative projects provide benefits to 

the governments and the people. To ensure 

that both scientists and public officials could 

fully benefit from the discussions at the meeting, explanations were provided for each of 

the related disciplines. For example: 

• Comprehensive geologic maps of the entire 

island resulted in a better understanding of 

the map units and the geology. 

• Geochemical data showing the areas that 

contained anomalous metallic values were displayed, and interpretations of this information were presented. 

• Geophysical maps depicting magnetic and 

gravity characteristics of the island provided 

insight into the subsurface geology and an 

indication of subsurface faults. 

• Known mineral occurrences in Puerto 

Rico were displayed, with computer listings 

available so attendees could examine production statistics, mineral deposit characteristics, 

and other types of information. 

• Mineral-resource tracts, which outline areas 

most likely to contain specific mineral deposit 

types, were displayed and explained. Estimates of the numbers of undiscovered deposits at different probability levels were also 

provided. 

• A demonstration of digital geologic information in combination with geographic information systems (GIS) and compact disc, 

read-only memory (CD-ROM) provided an 

example of how this information is used. With 

this technology, attendees were able to combine geology, aeromagnetic data, gravity values, roads, rivers, and mineral occurrences, 

and to manipulate the information as desired. 

They were, for example, able to display all 

known landslide areas, hydrothermally altered 

rocks, or the extent of limestone deposits, 

important to the island's cement industry. 

The use of earth science information 

to address issues in a world with greater 

demands upon diminishing available space, 

decreasing resources, and a more sensitive 

environment is becoming critical. Long-term 

cooperation among research organizations, 

both in the collection of data and in the application of these data to social and economic 

problems, is vital to solving these problems in 

an informed and efficient manner. 

60 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 National Oil and Gas 

Assessment 

By Donald L. Gautier 

The USGS, in cooperation with the Minerals Management Service (MMS), formally 

began a new national assessment of oil and 

gas resources on January 1, 1992. The 

national assessment is scheduled for completion and submittal to the Department of the 

Interior by January 1, 1995. The USGS has 

responsibility for all onshore areas, including 

private lands, Federal lands, State lands, and 

other land categories, as well as the State offshore waters. The MMS maintains responsibility for assessments of oil and gas resources in 

all Federal offshore areas. The principal purpose of the national assessment is to provide 

the government and the citizens of the United 

States with a consistent set of scientifically 

based judgments of the amounts of oil and 

gas resources remaining to be added to 

reserves in the United States. 

The 1995 national assessment will be 

based upon the "play" concept. A play encompasses a set of oil and (or) gas accumulations 

that are geographically and temporally related 

and that exist by virtue of identical or similar 

geological conditions. The oil or gas accumulations may be real (discovered) or imaginary 

(undiscovered). The play-based assessment is 

a sound and practical approach because it 

provides a method for assessors to relate data 

from known oil and gas accumulations, such 

as dates of discoveries, production histories, 

reserves, recovery factors, and the like, to 

their own geologic knowledge and insights on 

undiscovered oil and gas accumulations. The 

ability to relate the geologic understanding of 

oil and gas data from discovered fields gives a 

basis for estimating the sizes and number of 

undiscovered fields in the play. 

Many plays to be used in the national 

assessment were defined and characterized in 

the previous national assessment in 1987. The 

next step is to analyze the plays and develop 

hypotheses concerning resources contained 

within the play. The assessment will utilize a 

combination of play analysis, discoveryprocess modeling, and other techniques. 

Beginning at least as early as 1909, the 

USGS has conducted assessments of the oil 

and gas resources of the United States. This 

work has historically focused upon estimates 

of the undiscovered, conventionally recoverable (that is, recoverable with existing technology) resources of oil and gas of the United 

States. However, the scope of the 1995 

national assessment will be expanded somewhat over previous assessments to include, 

in addition to the conventional undiscovered 

a) 100 

a) 

90 

• (1) 


O M 


C) 80 0 9-


0 


0 70 

H-
 60 


50 


40 


cu 0 30 _a co 

4--0 a -

20 

10 

0 

Perceptions of the total amount of recoverable oil and gas (including past production) from fields 

discovered before 1920 are still changing upward, as this graph shows. Increases between January 

1, 1978, and January 1, 1991, were 5.5 billion barrels of oil and 14 trillion cubic feet of gas. 

resources, evaluations of those unconventional 

resources that can be expected to be produced through a wellbore; these resources 

include heavy oil, gas in low-permeability 

(tight) reservoirs, coal-bed gas, and gas 

entrapped in clathrates (lattices of water 

molecules). Measurements of total in-place 

unconventional resources yield quantities of 

resource estimates that are orders of magnitude larger than all conventional resource 

categories. Many of these unconventional 

resources are either technically or economically unavailable. Only the portion of the 

resource that can be reasonably expected to 

be available for additions to U.S. reserves over 

the next few decades will be included in the 

assessment. This evaluation will require determining the fraction of the unconventional 

resources that is technically recoverable and 

developing cost-supply curves to estimate 

potential availability of such resources. The 

issue of development of new technology and 

its effect upon the availability of the unconventional resources will be discussed. 

Another topic receiving special attention 

in the new national assessment is the phenomenon of reserve growth. When fields are discovered and reserves are calculated, the total 

amount of reserves and production are often 

recorded as of a particular date. If these historical views of the total reserves and production of fields are determined for a number of 

years, the total of reserves and production 

commonly increases through time. Review of 

new data demonstrates that reserve growth is 

much greater than previously believed, particularly in California and in the Permian Basin 

Review of 


new data 


demonstrates that 


reserve growth is 


much greater 


than previously 


believed. . . 


Geologic Investigations 61 
Southern 

California is an 

excellent natural 

laboratory in 

which to develop 

this new method 

of hazard 

mitigation. 

of West Texas and New Mexico. Many old 

fields, especially in California and West 

Texas, discovered in the 1920's or before, 

have shown significant growth in ultimate 

production (production plus reserves) that 

continues to this day. Although the exact 

amounts of reserve growth in the United 

States are still subject to research and interpretation, it is clear that the amount of oil 

and gas to be added to U.S. reserves from 

reserve growth is about as large as the 

amount of oil and gas estimated remaining to 

be found in the last national assessment. The 

new assessment will include a detailed and 

comprehensive evaluation of the anticipated 

impact of reserve growth on both discovered 

and undiscovered resources of oil and gas. 

In addition to a national total, the new 

national assessment will give subtotals for 

provinces, regions, individual States, and Federal and native lands. The results will be summarized and published jointly by the USGS 

and MMS, in CD-ROM format as well as in 

more conventional publication media. A significant effort is being made to involve other 

Federal agencies and State geological surveys 

and to use the latest industry information in 

the assessment. 

The Southern California 

Earthquake Center 

By Lisa Wald 

The Southern California Earthquake 

Center (SCEC) is one of 14 new National 

Science Foundation Science and Technology 

Centers. SCEC is a consortium of more than 

100 researchers working at 7 core academic 

institutions—University of Southern California (coordinating institution), California Institute of Technology, Columbia University's 

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, University of California at Los Angeles, University 

of California at Santa Barbara, University of 

California at Santa Cruz, and University of 

California at San Diego's Scripps Institution 

of Oceanography—in partnership with the 

USGS. A major goal of SCEC is development 

of a "master model" for earthquakes in Southern California, which will integrate all available geoscience information to develop methods for estimating and analyzing the seismic 

hazards of the region and for mitigating the 

damage caused by earthquakes. The master 

model is being developed through working 

groups and seminars with participation from 

other scientists who will use the model. 

Another goal of SCEC is to produce 

maps showing the probability of ground shaking throughout Southern California at any 

given time. Eventual results of the project 

include research products such as maps of 

shear-wave and compressional-wave velocities 

for the three principal layers of the lithosphere—the brittle upper crust, the ductile 

lower crust, and the upper mantle—and maps 

of the probability of damaging earthquakes 

occurring on major faults for time periods 

ranging from weeks to decades. 

The master model and the pertinent geophysical and geologic data are being archived 

at a readily accessible data center in Pasadena, 

Calif. The data center has purchased a mass 

storage system to archive all the information 

that will be integrated into the master model 

from the various sources. Currently, earthquake data from the past 10 years have been 

loaded into the system and are available to the 

user community via electronic access. A data 

base is being developed that will enable users 

to search for different types of data that meet 

specific parameters. 

Education and outreach are also vital 

parts of SCEC's program. Education for the 

general public and primary and secondary 

schools in Southern California is currently 

being done through the Southern California 

Earthquake Preparedness Project (SCEPP), 

which is part of the California Office of 

Emergency Services (OES). Additionally, a 

visitor's program allows researchers and postdoctoral fellows not affiliated with the center 

to interact with center scientists at one or 

more of the participating institutions. 

Southern California is an excellent natural laboratory in which to develop this new 

method of hazard mitigation. The State of 

62 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
California is the most seismically active area in 

the conterminous United States and is threatened by major earthquakes, which will have 

serious effects on densely populated areas 

such as the Los Angeles, San Diego, and San 

Francisco Bay areas. In addition, California's 

academic institutions have an established technical infrastructure and a history of earthquake research in which to conduct this work 

and to test the model as it develops. 

Many of the probability estimates for 

large earthquakes are based solely on the 

length of the fault segment and the current 

slip rate. The problems of fault segmentation, 

fault behavior, and earthquake recurrence are 

being addressed by detailed mapping and 

trenching across known faults. Knowledge of 

the recurrence interval for earthquakes on 

different fault segments will make those probability estimates more accurate and reliable. 

Southern California has specific earthquake problems that will be addressed by the 

master model. For example, the southern section of the San Andreas fault is expected to 

produce a large earthquake sometime in the 

coming decades. Depending on the magnitude, epicentral location, and, perhaps most 

crucially, the time of day that it occurs, the 

loss of life and property could be catastrophic. 

Furthermore, recent earthquake activity in the 

Los Angeles basin suggests that a complex 

system of buried faults, capable of producing 

a moderate or large earthquake, lies directly 

beneath metropolitan Los Angeles. Reducing 

the risk from future earthquakes requires a 

good understanding of potential earthquake 

sources and the types of ground shaking that 

they can produce. 

To measure the tectonic, or earthquakerelated, movement of the Earth's crust, highly 

accurate, interconnected survey networks have 

been established throughout Southern California. These networks provide sparse geographic coverage in most areas but good coverage over time. By learning more about the 

nature of these crustal movements, scientists 

and probably cause most of the damage done by earthquakes. 

and ordinarily reach the surface first, they are often called "primary waves" 

face waves, 

travel through the Earth. Surface waves usually have the strongest vibrations 

to distant points on the surface, but only compressional waves travel through 

the Earth's molten core. Because compressional waves travel at great speeds 

body waves pass through the Earth's interior from the focus of an earthquake 

The two general types of vibrations produced by earthquakes are 

Body waves are of two types, 

which travel along the Earth's surface, and 

compressional and shear. 

body waves, 

Both types of 

which 

sur­ or simply "P" waves. P waves push tiny particles of Earth material directly 

ahead of them or displace the particles directly behind their line of travel. 

Shear waves do not travel as rapidly through the Earth's crust and mantle as do compressional waves, and because they ordinarily reach the surface 

later they are called "secondary" or "S" waves. Instead of affecting material 

directly behind or ahead of their line of travel, shear waves displace material 

at right angles to their path and are therefore sometimes called "transverse" 

waves. 

The times of arrival of compressional and shear waves at selected seismograph stations throughout the world indicate where and when the earthquake occurred and, sometimes, its focal depth. The recorded amplitudes of 

seismic waves indicate the amount of energy released by the earthquake. 

From the USGS general-interest publication, Earthquakes. 

Geologic Investigations 63 
118° 

34° 

Mapped faults in the Los Angeles 

basin and surrounding area. The 

solid lines are known faults; the 

dashed lines are faults inferred on 

the basis of surface displacements 

during the last 10,000 years; the 

dotted lines are faults concealed by 

younger rocks. 

will be better equipped to forecast when and 

where the next large earthquake might occur. 

The Los Angeles basin is a primary focus for 

this study, since it is poorly understood and 

has a large population at risk. Many counties 

in Southern California and the California 

Transit Authority are helping to fund this 

effort and also are providing independent 

survey data. 

Many activities are currently focused on 

the Los Angeles area, specifically the Sierra 

Madre fault system, near the San Gabriel 

Mountains north of Los Angeles, and the 

Santa Monica-Hollywood fault system, which 

runs east-west from the Pacific Coast north of 

downtown Los Angeles to the Pasadena area, 

where it becomes the Raymond fault. There 

has not been a large earthquake on this fault 

system in historic times, so the recurrence 

interval is unknown. The Hollywood fault is 

currently being trenched so that the record of 

past movement in the geologic record and the 

recurrence interval of large earthquakes can 

be determined. A large earthquake on this 

fault could be devastating to the Los Angeles 

area since it is situated in the middle of the 

most developed and most highly populated 

area. 

The SCEC operation was tested during 

the Landers-Big Bear earthquake sequence, 

..,---

C(Licamonga fault 

which began just after 5 a.m., P.d.t., on June 

28, 1992. The magnitude-7.5 Landers mainshock ruptured a 70-kilometer-long (43-milelong) fault about 95 kilometers (60 miles) east 

of San Bernardino; the magnitude-6.5 Big 

Bear mainshock occurred 3 hours later. Four 

hours after the Landers mainshock, USGS 

scientists met with OES officials and issued 

a public warning advising residents of San 

Bernardino and Riverside Counties to "avoid 

nonessential activity, including use of the freeway system." The warning was accompanied 

by a B level alert for a large earthquake in 

Southern California for the next 24 hours, 

meaning that there was a greater than 50 percent chance of a magnitude-6.0 or larger 

earthquake in the area of the main shock. 

These probability estimates, based on statistics 

from seismicity in the past, enable fire departments, hospitals, police departments, utility 

companies, and other emergency units to 

make preparations for responding quickly 

and efficiently during emergency situations. 

They also allow the public who may be 

affected to ready themselves. 

The participating groups in SCEC cooperated successfully in response to the Landers 

earthquake sequence. Portable instruments 

were deployed within hours of the mainshock, and many details of the surface 

64 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
118° 117° 116° 

35° _ 0 20 KILOMETERS 

I 

MOJAVE DESERTr ° 

anders 

34° _ •Los Angeles 1 t- .. 0 

• Pal Springs 

The Landers and Big Bear earthquake sequence, recorded on the Southern California Seismic Network from June 28 

through August 31, 1992. Size of circle denotes magnitude of earthquake; stars denote epicenters of earthquakes 

magnitude 6 and greater. The dense clusterings of dark circles represent the thousands of aftershocks that occurred in the 

weeks after the mainshocks. 

KEN HU DNUT 

This road near Landers was offset 2.5 meters (8 feet) by the June 28, 1992, Landers earthquake. 

Geologic Investigations 65 
rupture as well as the earthquake source itself 

were determined very quickly. That information was then used to inform the public and 

to direct the emergency response. 

The Landers and Big Bear earthquakes 

and the associated seismic activity revealed 

some unexpected problems associated with 

earthquake hazards in California. The most 

alarming is that the Landers earthquake ruptured four separate adjacent faults simultaneously. In the past, separate fault segments 

were generally thought to behave independently, rupturing in earthquakes at different 

times. Consequently, past research has 

focused on faults that are long enough to produce a sizable and damaging earthquake. Scientists now know that several fault segments 

can rupture simultaneously to produce a large 

earthquake, although the mechanism that 

controls this type of behavior is not known. 

The earthquake potential of many of the 

adjacent small fault segments that exist 

throughout Southern California, especially the 

intricate system of faults in the Los Angeles 

basin, must be reconsidered in light of this 

discovery. 

The National Geologic 

Mapping Act of 1992 — 

Background and 

Challenges 

By Mitchell W. Reynolds 

The most significant national legislation 

affecting the geological sciences in more 

than a decade was passed by the U.S. Congress and became law on May 18, 1992. The 

bill, The National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 

[Public Law 102-285], authorizes a national 

program of geologic mapping that will be 

accomplished through the partnership of 

State geological surveys, academia, the private 

sector, and the USGS. Such a partnership is 

essential to develop the extensive amount of 

geologic map information needed across the 

Nation for informed decisionmaking regarding land use and resource identification and 

management. 

in the distribution of the materials. Numerical 

of explanation, geologic maps also define the 

compositions and relative ages of the earth 

information. They define the areal distribulogic maps provide users with a wealth of 

materials, structures, and events that resulted 

tion of rocks, sediments, and geologic structures exposed at the surface of the Earth. By 

means of symbols, patterns, color, and words 

Why Are Geologic Maps Important?—Geoages are provided, for example, in cases 

where selected isotopic compositions of key 

minerals, such as zircon, in the earth materials 

can be studied. By studying the arrangement 

of the rock layers or units and structures on 

the map, a user can determine whether units 

lie above or below adjacent units, interfinger 

with adjacent units as a result of depositional 

or intrusive processes, or are faulted against 

adjacent units. Geologic maps display directly 

or provide information from which scientists 

can deduce the distribution beneath the 

Earth's surface of geologic units containing 

economically valuable accumulations of minerals, fossil fuels, or construction aggregate and 

stone. Geologic maps define faults that can 

move or have moved to produce earthquakes 

and provide information regarding the ages 

of such fault movements. The timing and 

extent of volcanic eruptions, of landslides, or 

of earth failure produced by liquefaction of 

sediment are portrayed on geologic maps. 

Every element of information displayed on a 

geologic map has potential application to 

needs or circumstances of daily living. 

Who Uses and Produces Geologic Maps? — In 

view of such varied and widespread applications of geologic map information, it was not 

surprising that results of a 1988 nationwide 

canvass of map users were decisive: Users 

want geological map information, preferably 

in color, and at intermediate and large map 

scales. The survey, conducted by the Board 

on Earth Sciences of the National Research 

Council, found that users need the information in realtime, which means that they are 

willing to sacrifice color for black and white 

maps in order to expedite release of the geologic maps. Other forms of geoscience map 

information, such as geophysical, geochemical, 

and ground-water maps, are also helpful to 

users. 

Most responses to the nationwide canvass, which was designed to "determine current and future geoscience needs in the 

United States," came from the private sector, 

but academia and all levels of government 

also responded. As extrapolated from 

responses, more than 5 million geologic 

maps are used annually in the Nation. At the 

time of the survey, the private sector was the 

principal user group; use by governmental 

agencies has since increased as geologic map 

information is increasingly applied to issues 

of land-use planning and environmental 

management. 

Currently, most geologic maps available 

to the public are produced by the USGS; 

State geological surveys and colleges and universities also produce significant numbers of 

maps. Firms in the private sector also make 

geologic maps, but generally their maps are of 

66 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
specific areas for highly specific purposes and 

are generally not available to outside users. 

Geologic mapping that is done cooperatively, through joint ventures and agreements, 

makes good economic sense. The cost of making geologic maps is high because each step of 

the process, from fieldwork to publication, is 

labor and time intensive. As a result, the private sector depends heavily on governmental 

agencies for production of geologic maps. In 

economic terms, geologic map making by 

public agencies can be defined as a public 

good: Information contained on the maps is 

available to everyone, and the use by one consumer does not diminish the availability or 

usefulness to any other user. The public and 

private sectors alike can use the information, 

whereas similar data if produced by a private 

firm would have highly restricted use. In 

order to achieve the full public good of geologic map information produced under the 

National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992, State 

geological surveys and the USGS will work in 

partnership. 

What Are the Goals of the Legislation?—The 

objective of the National Geologic Mapping 

Act of 1992 is "to determine the geologic 

framework of the Nation by the systematic 

development of geologic maps at scales appropriate to the geologic setting and perceived 

applications" of the maps [P.L. 102-285, sec. 

4, (c) (1)]. A national geologic map data base 

will be the principal product. That data base 

will be available to the public through a threelevel national archive: (1) At the State level, 

maps produced at large (1:24,000) and intermediate (1:100,000) scales by State geological 

surveys will be archived by them as open-file 

or published maps; (2) at the national level, 

maps produced at large and intermediate 

scales by the USGS will be archived initially in 

various map series; (3) separate parts of the 

large-scale archive from States will be consolidated by the USGS into an intermediate-scale 

national data base archive. 

As rapidly as conversion can be accomplished, all geologic map information will be 

archived in digital format that will meet 

national digital geologic map standards and 

national data transfer standards. The geologic 

mapmaking will be performed in the context 

of ongoing Federal efforts to coordinate surveying, mapping, and related spatial data 

activities under Office of Management and 

Budget Circular A-16, revised. 

Four other supplementary data bases will 

be products of the national program. A 

national geophysical-map data base, at a 

principal scale of 1:100,000; a national geochemical map data base at 1:500,000 scale; 

a national paleontologic data base; and a 

national geochronologic data base. All 

106 STAT. 166 PUBLIC LAW 102-285—MAY 18,1992 

Public Law 102-285 


102d Congress 


An Act 


May 18, 1992 To enhance geologic mapping of the United States, and for other purposes. [H.R. 2763] 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States 

National of America in Congress assembled, Geologic 


Mapping 
 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. Act of 1992. 


Conservation. 
 This Act may be cited as the "National Geologic Mapping Act Environmental 


protection. of 1992". 
 43 USC 31a 


note. SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
 43 USC 31a. 

(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds and declares that— 

(1) during the past 2 decades, the production of geologic 

maps has been drastically curtailed; 

(2) geologic maps are the primary data base for virtually 

all applied and basic earth-science investigations, including — 

(A) exploration for and development of mineral, energy, 

and water resources; 

(B) screening and characterizing sites for toxic and 

nuclear waste disposal; 

(C) land use evaluation and planning for environmental 

protection; 

(D) earthquake hazards reduction; 

(E) predicting volcanic hazards; 

(F) design and construction of infrastructure requirements such as utility lifelines, transportation corridors, 

and surface-water impoundments; 

(G) reducing losses from landslides and other ground 

failures; 

(H) mitigating effects of coastal and stream erosion; 

(I) siting of critical facilities; and 

(J) basic earth-science research; 

(3) Federal agencies, State and local governments, private 

industry, and the general public depend on the information 

provided by geologic maps to determine the extent of potential 

environmental damage before embarking on projects that could 

lead to preventable, costly environmental problems or litigation; 

(4) the combined capabilities of State, Federal, and academic 

groups to provide geologic mapping are not sufficient to meet 

the present and future needs of the United States for national 

security, environmental protection, and energy self-sufficiency 

of the Nation; 

(5) States are willing to contribute 50 percent of the funding 

necessary to complete the mapping of the geology within the 

State; 

(6) the lack of proper geologic maps has led to the poor 

design of such structures as dams and waste-disposal facilities; 

(7) geologic maps have proven indispensable in the search 

for needed fossil-fuel and mineral resources; and 

59-139 0 - 92 (285) 

106 STAT. 167 

(8) a comprehensive nationwide program of geologic mapping 

is required in order to systematically build the Nation's geologic-map data base at a pace that responds to increasing 

demand. 

(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to expedite the production of a geologic-map data base for the Nation, to be located within 

the United States Geological Survey, which can be applied to landuse management, assessment, and utilization, conservation of natural resources, groundwater management, and environmental 

protection. 

Re-creation of an excerpt from Public Law 102-285, the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992. 

Geologic Investigations 67 
program participants will maintain local data 

bases, and the USGS is responsible for developing the formats and standards and for 

assembling the nationwide data bases. 

The task of developing geologic map 

information for the Nation is immense. Basemap coverage for the Nation, exclusive of 

Alaska, at a scale of 1:24,000 (the standard 

format of the popular USGS topographic 

quadrangles), requires about 57,000 quadrangles. Nearly 1,800 base maps at a scale of 

1:100,000 cover the country. Both large-scale 

and intermediate-scale maps are critical in 

deriving the most useful geologic information 

to solve the broadest spectrum of earth 

science concerns. 

Priorities must be established at State and 

Federal levels in order to produce geologic 

maps in the most timely and cost-efficient 

sequence possible, first for areas of highest 

priority, then for areas of decreasing priority. 

Again through State and Federal partnership, 

priorities will be established. State geological 

surveys will canvass State, county, and local 

governmental agencies, local users from the 

private sector, and colleges and universities 

within each State to establish Statewide priorities. Working through the Federal Geographic 

Data Committee's Subcommittee on Geological Data, the USGS will canvass Federal agencies and national organizations to determine 

priorities for Federal geologic mapping. 

Finally, analysis of State and Federal requirements will be merged to guide development 

of work plans and funding proposals by all 

partners to accomplish geologic mapping of 

the highest priority at the beginning of the 

program. 

Implementation of the National Geologic 

Mapping Program will be achieved through 

four components. Each component will work 

to accomplish its specific goals, but all will 

work together toward the goal of developing 

national geologic map data bases. The State 

geologic mapping component, for example, 

will determine the geologic framework of 

areas that States "determine to be vital to 

the economic, social, and scientific welfare 

of the individual States" [P.L. 102-285, sec. 4, 

(f) (3)]. This component is fundamental to the 

program, because Federal funds will be available to be matched by the State on a one-toone basis with non-Federal funds, thereby 

multiplying the extent and effectiveness of 

geologic mapping. 

The USGS conducts two components of 

the program. In one Federal component, the 

USGS performs geologic mapping to establish 

the geologic framework of areas that are vital 

to the economic, social or scientific welfare of 

the Nation. The second Federal component 

provides interdisciplinary support for the geologic mapping by performing paleontologic 

and isotopic geologic studies to determine the 

ages of earth materials, and support for the 

development of techniques for and assembly 

of a national digital geologic map data base. 

The final program component, geologic 

mapping education, is critical for the longterm vitality of the overall national program. 

During the past 15 years, the teaching of geologic field methods and analysis has declined 

or been abandoned in many colleges and universities. A combination of factors, such as a 

past decrease in the availability of funds for 

geologic mapping, the time- and laborintensive character of geologic mapping compared to other kinds of earth science investigations, and a general decline in mineral and 

energy exploration in the Nation, has led to a 

decrease in well-trained geologic mappers. 

The fourth component of the National Geologic Mapping Program would develop programs that teach students the principles of 

geologic mapping and field analysis and 

would support field teaching institutes. 

What Are the Challenges of the Legislation?— 

The National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 

provides intriguing challenges to institutions 

across the country that have responsibility for 

mapping the geology of our Nation. One 

challenge is to reinforce partnerships in geologic mapping and to reinvigorate geologic 

mapping among all geological surveys. A second challenge is to develop methods of accelerating geologic mapping and publication of 

geologic maps. Another major challenge is to 

develop new methods of representing geologic map information clearly to an expanding, sophisticated clientele, which is able rapidly to assimilate and use such information in 

geographic information systems to solve a 

variety of problems that require geologic data. 

A final challenge is to interpret and apply 

geologic map information for effective policymaking at all levels of government. An effective partnership among all participants in the 

geologic mapping program is the key to meeting these challenges successfully. 

68 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Robotics in the 

Geochemical Laboratory 

By Steve Wilson and Richard O'Leary 

The geochemical laboratory has undergone a dramatic change in recent years, 

due to the development of techniques that 

can quantify most elements at concentration 

levels lower than previously thought possible. 

Along with this explosion in information is a 

basic need to improve data quality while keeping costs at a reasonable level. Because salary 

is one of the greatest laboratory costs, efforts 

are continually directed toward optimum use 

of personnel through increased automation. 

One of the most rapidly growing areas of laboratory automation is the use of robotics for 

sample preparation. 

USGS involvement with robotics spans 

more than 10 years, and in the course of that 

decade the bureau has developed methods 

ranging from sample disaggregation to sample decomposition. The geochemistry lab 

maintains a fairly unusual position in the field 

of robotics by developing systems that tolerate 

the corrosive, high-temperature conditions 

required for geochemical analysis. The latest 

use of laboratory robotics deals with the automated digestion of geologic samples for mercury analysis. The procedure combines an 

existing method with a robotic system 

designed to operate independently for as long 

as 10 hours. Analysis of standards and real 

samples indicates that the robotic and manual 

methods are_glual in terms of accuracy and 

reproducibility (plus or minus 10 percent). 

The robotic system can process up to 3 times 

as many samples as the manual method. 

Laboratory robot prepares samples for geochemical 

analyses. 

In addition to the obvious increase in 

productivity, laboratory robotics has several 

other advantages. By shifting trained personnel to more complex or technical applications, 

their interpretive and manipulative skills are 

put to better use. The presence of robotics 

provides a minimum level of analytical capacity, which is less affected by budgetary limitations than are skilled laboratory personnel. In 

addition, the use of robotics for the more 

mundane applications allows greater professional growth potential for technicians by 

using their skills in more challenging jobs. 

RICHARD O'LEARY 

Geologic Investigations 69 
NATIONAL MAPPING 


PROGRAM 


MISSION 

The National Mapping Division provides accurate 

and up-to-date basic cartographic information for the 

United States in forms that can be readily applied to 

present-day problems. Maps, digital data, aerial 

photographs, satellite images, and geodetic control information represent some of the cartographic products 

available. Topographic maps at various scales, which 

illustrate detailed and precisely referenced information 

about natural and manmade features on the Earth's 

surface, continue to be important products. 

These maps provide basic cartographic information 

that is needed by Federal, State, and local government 

agencies in dealing with key issues ranging from satisfying energy demands to conserving natural resources, from 

identifying environmental problems to developing acceptable solutions, and from locating commercial facilities to 

designing public works. 

In addition to maps, cartographic data in computerreadable form are becoming increasingly important. 

These data are used in computer-based resource and 

geographic information systems to evaluate alternative 

management plans and to study the effects of different 

management policies. 
Message from the Chief, National Mapping Division 

ince 1885, when an agreement was signed with the State of Massachusetts to 

Sproduce topographic maps, the USGS has worked with Federal agencies, State 

and local governments, the private sector, and academia to provide accurate and 

timely maps and map-related descriptions of the Nation's terrain, water features, 

transportation networks, political and administrative boundaries, land cover and 

use, and other geographic features. Today, this geographic information produced 

through the National Mapping Program is a key ingredient in decisions that impact 

the many economic, environmental, and natural resource issues facing the Nation. 

At a time when the demand for this information has never been greater, no one 

organization has the resources to meet this need. The use of computerized 

technologies creates new opportunities for sharing data and challenges us to be 

innovative in allocating, budgeting, and concentrating resources to create and 

maintain these vital data. 

Working through the Federal Geographic Data Committee and building on 

current agreements, we are developing a new network of partnerships to produce 

detailed, current digital geographic and orthophotoquadrangle coverage for the 

Nation by 2000. This initiative builds on the strengths of the partners so that each 

meets the needs of its programs and also benefits others. Much of the federally 

funded data will be developed through the private sector. In addition, we anticipate 

that at least a quarter of the data will be from State and local governments, utilities, 

and others in the private sector. With these rich sources of data in mind, we are 

strengthening our cooperative programs and beginning an innovative incentive 

program. Our work to implement the Spatial Data Transfer Standard will reduce 

the technical problems often encountered in these partnerships. 

Partnerships are a key ingredient to understanding complex environmental 

issues. Working with the Department of Agriculture, we recently established the 

Terrestrial Ecosystem Regional Research and Analysis (TERRA) Laboratory to link 

disciplines and gain a better understanding of changing regional land conditions. 

Our activities in polar regions also depend on working with other agencies and 

nations. 

The key to anticipating and responding to issues facing the Nation lies in the 

availability of current and accurate information about the rapidly changing 

landscape. The task of obtaining this information is huge, and success depends on 

all of us working together to share and benefit from the Nation's investment in 

geographic data. 

Allen H. Watkins 

Partnerships in the 

National Mapping Program 

By Richard L. Kleckner 

Geographic information systems (GIS) and 

related computer technologies have 

become crucially important land resource 

management tools. The best use of these systems, however, requires massive amounts of 

geographic data in digital form—data that can 

be compiled efficiently only through effective 

partnerships of major data producers and 

archivers. 

To ensure that the necessary data are 

available, the USGS has established a network 

to gather and maintain high-quality spatial 

data. This network creates unprecedented 

opportunities for cooperation among government agencies and between the public and 

private sectors. Through these partnerships, 

scientists and managers soon will be able to 

perform resource assessments, socioeconomic 

analyses, and disaster preparedness plans 

faster and less expensively than ever before. 

Although the USGS has devoted considerable effort over the past 10 years to digitize 

data from the 1:24,000-scale topographic 

quadrangles for entry into the National Digital Cartographic Data Base (NDCDB), less 

than 20 percent of the approximately 54,000 

quadrangle maps that cover the contiguous 

United States have been digitized. Completing 

this essential data base and expanding the 

NDCDB to include other scales and coverage 

are paramount goals of the USGS effort. 

Recognizing the need to better coordinate the collection of digital spatial data and 

to reduce duplication of effort, the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) issued 

71 
GIS 

Geographic Information 

System (GIS) technology is a 

powerful new means of handling spatially related information and is a major element in 

the new digital direction of 

USGS mapping efforts. GIS's 

capture, store, and process 

data according to their geographic or spatial relations. 

From these systems, scientists 

can produce maplike layers of 

digital data that can be merged, 

separated, manipulated, and 

analyzed by computers to support more informed decisionmaking for many scientific, 

engineering, and planning 

purposes. 

revised Circular A-16, "Coordination of Surveying, Mapping, and Related Spatial Data 

Activities," in October 1990. The revised circular expanded the breadth of spatial data 

coordination, assigned leadership to Federal 

departments for coordinating activities related 

to certain categories of spatial data, and established a new interagency coordinating committee to guide and oversee these activities. 

The objective of the coordinating committee, 

the Federal Geographic Data Committee 

(FGDC), is to promote the development, use, 

sharing, and dissemination of surveying, mapping, and related spatial data. The FGDC has 

proposed developing a national spatial (geographic) data base, linking all levels of government and the private sector. This data 

base (a distributed information system incorporating common criteria and standards) is 

expected to promote the efficient transfer of 

spatial data between producers and users. In 

its efforts to implement revised Circular A-16 

within the USGS, the bureau is developing 

various partnerships to accomplish common 

data collection goals. 

The USGS has developed the National 

Map and Digital Data Cooperative Program 

to increase its capacity to offer up-to-date 

maps, digital cartographic data, and remotely 

sensed data. Under this program, the USGS 

uses cooperative program resources to fund 

up to 50 percent of the costs of a mapping 

partnership project to produce spatial data 

more efficiently. 

In 1991, the USGS formed more than 35 

partnerships with other agencies and provided $2.8 million toward the cooperative 

production of standard USGS cartographic 

products. Although the number of partnerships remained stable in 1992, funding 

increased to $3.3 million. 

Different types of agreements serve different potential partnerships. Funded agreements involve sharing production costs for a 

project. For unfunded agreements, either the 

USGS and its partners complete portions of 

the production work for a project without 

transferring funds or produce completed 

USGS standard products that are exchanged 

with no transfer of funds. To add flexibility 

and convenience to the cooperative program, 

partnership agreements may contain combinations of funded and unfunded activities. 

Additionally, a consortium of partners with 

identical product needs may collectively contribute to a project, reducing the cost to each 

partner to less than 50 percent. 

The following are several examples of 

products developed through the varying partnership arrangements. 

• Electric Utility. The USGS participated in 

a joint funding agreement with the City of 

Austin, Texas, Electric Utility, which called 

for the USGS to produce digital line graph 

(DLG) data from seven USGS 1:24,000-scale 

maps. The digital layers included boundaries, 

hydrography, and transportation. The data 

were combined with the Electric Utility data 

to form a resource data base that identifies 

alternate transmission line routes and substation sites. 

• Graphic revision of 7.5-minute topographic maps of Louisiana. The Louisiana 

Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) used a joint funding agreement with the USGS for graphic revision of 

7.5-minute topographic maps. The maps are 

being used by LADOTD for planning, maintenance, and management of the State's transportation network, as well as flood control 

and other water-resource needs. Other State 

agencies use the maps for research and management applications. 

• Digital line graphs and digital elevation 

models (DEM's) for Lake County, in northeastern Illinois. Lake County had a joint 

funding agreement with the USGS for the 

preparation of DLG's (transportation, hydrography, hypsography, Public Land Survey System [PLSS], and boundary overlays) and 

DEM's for the 7.5-minute quadrangles covering the county. These data are being used by 

county officials and other agencies for wetlands management, storm water planning, 

and landform analyses. 

• Digital line graphs for Idaho. The USGS is 

working with the Idaho Transportation 

Department to produce and exchange some 

630, 1:24,000-scale DLG's. The overlays 

include transportation, hydrography, boundaries, and PLSS. According to the agreement, 

the work is shared, with each party completing half of the work and providing the other 

party with the data. 

• Digital elevation models for the U.S. 

Forest Service. The USGS is close to completing a work-share agreement with the U.S. 

Forest Service (USFS) for the production of 

DEM's. This agreement calls for the one-forone exchange of the 700 DEM's produced by 

each agency. The USFS uses the DEM data to 

develop forest plans, conduct environmental 

impact studies, and perform endangered species habitat assessments and pest control management studies. 

Until recently, no mechanisms existed to 

effectively cooperate with public utilities and 

the private sector. Under the fiscal year 1993 

National Map and Digital Data Cooperative 

program, the USGS began to initiate cooperative agreements with public utilities and private industry to acquire DLG data for entry 

into the NDCDB and for public distribution 

through the USGS Earth Science Information 

Centers. The intent is to identify sources of 

DLG's or map data of similar accuracy being 

72 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
prepared in the private sector and by other 

government agencies to save costs in preparing the data to meet USGS standards. Acceptable data will be acquired for the public 

domain through cooperative DLG production 

agreements, through negotiated purchase of 

existing data that can be converted to DLG 

standards by the USGS, or through donation 

or data exchange. Incorporating DLG or 

other accurate base category data from these 

organizations into the NDCDB reduces duplicative data collection efforts and leverages 

government funds. 

In addition to the funded and unfunded 

partnerships between the USGS and other 

organizations, a group of Federal agencies 

within the FGDC has proposed to produce 

the national spatial (geographic) data base 

required by Federal agencies and other GIS 

users by 2000. The group has proposed a 

multiagency approach whereby the data 

would be produced by a consortium of data 

producers and cooperators using common 

standards. 

Organizations willing to participate in 

the consortium of data producers include 

the Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service, Agricultural Stabilization and 

Conservation Service, and Forest Service; the 

Department of Commerce's Census Bureau 

and Coast and Geodetic Survey; the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management and USGS; and the Tennessee Valley Authority. 

The USGS will manage the consortium, 

which could include private contractors. Federal agencies will concentrate on administration, quality control, coordination, data sharing, and other activities that cannot be 

provided through contracts. The proposal 

also recognizes the potential for partnerships 

and data donor programs with the nonFederal community. About 25 percent of the 

digital base cartographic data sets are 

expected to be acquired in this way. 

Initially, the USGS will focus on meeting 

digital base cartographic needs of highpriority Department of the Interior (DOI) 

lands, such as those managed by the Bureau 

of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Indian 

Affairs, and the National Park Service. DOI 

lands constitute about 20 percent of the total 

land area of the United States (not including 

Alaska). 

Partnerships among all levels of government and the private sector are no longer a 

management luxury but have become a necessity. The demand for large amounts of highquality, digital spatial data, produced quickly 

and easily exchanged, is necessitating a wholesale change in the way organizations will do 

business. 

Spatial Data Transfer 

Standard: The Key to Data 

Sharing 

By Kathryn Wortman 

An essential step in data sharing is to have 

a mechanism by which data can be transferred from one computer system to another 

without distorting or losing data. The Spatial 

Data Transfer Standard (SDTS), being coordinated and promoted by the USGS at the 

direction of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), does just that. 

The standard consists of specifications for the 

organization and structure of digital data 

transfer, definitions of spatial features and 

attributes, and encoding instructions for data For additional information 

transfer. regarding the SDTS, 

The SDTS was approved in July 1992 as contact: 

Federal Information Processing Standard SDTS Task Force 

(FIPS) Publication 173. FIPS are issued and U.S. Geological Survey 

administered by the NIST (formerly the 526 National Center 

National Bureau of Standards) of the Depart- Reston, VA 22092 

ment of Commerce after approval by the Electronic mail messages may

Secretary of Commerce pursuant to public be sent to: 

law. The purpose of a FIPS is to achieve effi­ sdts@usgs.gov

ciency and cost savings by standardizing automated data processing (ADP) within the Federal Government. The SDTS contributes 

standardization for spatial data transfer. FIPS 

are mandatory for all ADP applications implemented by a Federal agency or its contractors. 

Effective February 15, 1993, the SDTS 

becomes mandatory for Federal agencies 1 

year from that date. The SDTS is also available for use by State and local governments 

and the private sector. 

The components of the proposal to develop a national spatial data base that will 

link all levels of government and the private sector are 

• A fully funded national aerial photography program that would cover 20 percent of 

the contiguous United States each year; 

• Tide-coordinated, geodetically controlled aerial photography to update the official 

shoreline of the contiguous United States on a 5-year cycle; 

• Digital orthophotoquad coverage of the United States by 1998 and replacement of 

the coverage on a 10-year cycle thereafter; 

• Completing digitization of USGS 1:24,000- and 1:25,000-scale maps by 2000; 

• Completing the review and updating of USGS 1:24,000- and 1:25,000-scale digital cartographic data by 2000 and establishing a capability to continue updates on a 5- to 

10-year cycle; 

• Achieving accurate coordinate values for the PLSS corner monuments for all PLSS 

States by 2000; 

• Establishing a comprehensive digital nautical information data base of U.S. coastal 

waters by 2000. 

National Mapping Program 73 
Spatial Data Models 

There are two fundamental approaches to the representation of the spatial component 

of geographic information: The 

vector model and the raster 

model. 

Vector.— In the vector 

model, spatial objects consisting of points, lines, and polygons are used to represent 

irregularly distributed geographic objects or conditions in 

the real world. There is a direct 

link between a vector modelspatial object and the realworld entity it represents. The 

position of each object is 

defined by its placement in a 

map space that is organized by 

a coordinate reference system. 

Each position in the map has a 

unique coordinate value. 

Raster.—In the raster 

model, spatial objects consisting of cells are used to represent a regular subdivision (usually square) of the real world. A 

value stored for each cell indicates the type of real-world 

object or condition that is 

found over the area covered by 

the cell. Unlike the vector 

model, a raster model-spatial 

object does not correspond 

directly to a real-world entity. 

Instead, a group of adjacent 

raster spatial objects (cells) with 

the same value may together 

represent a real-world entity. 

The spatial units in the raster 

model are the cells which are 

organized into rows and columns so that the entire map 

surface is covered. The location 

of a real-world entity can only 

be recorded to the nearest cell 

in the raster model. 

graphic Information Systems: A 

Management Perspective, 

SOURCE: Aronoff, S. 1989. 

p. 164-165. 

GeoThe USGS is actively promoting the use 

of the SDTS by conducting workshops and 

training, as well as developing practical user 

guides and software, a spatial feature and 

attribute dictionary, and a spatial data transfer processor. 

As with all FIPS, the SDTS now enters a 

required 5-year maintenance cycle. During 

this cycle, the USGS will provide the capability 

for the spatial data community to review the 

contents of the SDTS in order to address requirements for changes to the standard. The 

SDTS has a modular design that allows for 

modifications and enhancements to be made 

with relative ease. In addition, approvals will 

be sought from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International 

Standards Organization (ISO) in an effort to 

broaden access to the SDTS among the commercial and international communities. 

The SDTS is implemented through the 

use of profiles, or subsets, of the SDTS 

designed to handle a specific type of data. 

Defining a profile allows for the elimination 

of numerous options, thus simplifying the 

encoding and decoding process. The first of 

these profiles is the Topological Vector Profile (TVP). The TVP will standardize the distribution of one of the more common types of 

spatial data currently created by Federal agencies—topologically structured vector data. 

Two prominent data sets covered by this profile are U.S. Census Bureau TIGER data and 

USGS digital line graphs. The TVP was 

drafted in early 1992. A comprehensive test 

and demonstration period for the TVP was 

then initiated with final results expected by 

the end of 1992. The profile will then be forwarded to NIST for approval as an annex, or 

amendment, to FIPS 173. 

Development of a draft raster profile of 

the SDTS will be completed by early 1993. 

The process to define and refine the profile 

will follow the process used to develop the 

TVP. The profile will focus on georeferenced, regularly spaced raster data, such as 

digital elevation models, digital orthophotoquads, and some types of remotely sensed 

data. A test and demonstration period will 

begin by mid-1993. 

Additional profiles being considered for 

development include one for network data 

structures, one for Computer Aided Design/ 

Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) 

graphics, and one for data that replaces or 

modifies an existing data set. The USGS is 

actively working with State and local communities to identify requirements for SDTS profiles to support municipal and utility requirements. Information for profile development 

needs is being requested from State and local 

governments and the private sector through 

the major professional societies. 

User guides and other training materials 

for the SDTS will be developed in the near 

future. Educational information, such as user 

guides, is critical to increasing knowledge and 

understanding of the SDTS within the user 

community. The USGS will use these materials in workshops and other presentations to 

educate the spatial data community and to 

promote the use of the SDTS. 

Although the vendor community will 

have a large role in software development, the 

USGS plans to develop publicly available software tools to support encoding and decoding 

of SDTS data. The first of these tools, an ISO 

8211/FIPS 123 Function Library, is currently 

available. In addition, the USGS is designing a 

processing system to support SDTS transfers 

of its own digital spatial data, such as digital 

line graphs and digital elevation models. Digital line-graph data will be made available in 

the SDTS TVP by May 1993. 

The SDTS contains a standard model for 

a spatial features data dictionary as well as a 

list of terms and definitions for entities and 

attributes. The feature and attribute glossary 

provides a foundation for standardizing spatial features. This glossary currently contains 

a limited set of hydrographic and topographic 

terms. Because of the increased efforts to 

share and integrate spatial data, the glossary 

must be expanded to include additional terms 

and definitions for additional categories of 

data. As such, the NIST has established a 

FIPS Spatial Features Register at the USGS to 

allow the periodic addition, modification, or 

deletion of spatial features to the register. A 

plan to maintain the register, and to identify 

sponsoring groups for appropriate categories 

of spatial features, is being developed with 

input from the Federal Geographic Data 

Committee (FGDC). 

Longer term goals for SDTS activities 

include maintenance of FIPS 173 to ensure 

that it continues to meet data exchange 

requirements for spatial data and continued 

cooperation with the spatial data community 

to address national and international implementation needs. 

The USGS is working closely with the 

FGDC and relevant professional societies to 

ensure that everyone is actively involved in 

the development and promotion of the SDTS. 

Participation from all areas of the spatial data 

community is critical. To encourage widespread use of the SDTS, the USGS is developing additional agreements to increase participation and support. 

74 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
 

Digital Orthophotoquads 

By Gary L. Fairgrieve 

0ne of the most significant advances in 

spatial data technology in the past 10 

years is the automated processing of orthophotographs. What was once a fairly slowprocess requiring extensive human assistance can 

now be accomplished better and faster by 

computer. This new process brings spatially 

corrected photographic images into comput89° 40' 

4780 

126 000 


METERS 


477 9 

43° 07' 30" 

NAD 83 

ers, where the data can be overlaid with other 

digital map data (such as roads, boundaries, 

and hydrography) and can be used in many 

ways. 

A digital orthophotoquad (DOQ) is created by scanning an aerial photograph into a 

computer in a raster file format. Using a pixel 

size of about 25 microns (about one-third the 

diameter of a human hair), a computer then 

digitally compares the photographic image 

to the corresponding digital terrain model 

to mathematically adjust the image, pixel 

by pixel. This is a fast and effective way to 

284 38' 45" 285 

Portion of a 1:12,000-scale digital orthophotoquad experimental edition of Black Earth SW, 

Wisconsin, made from 1:40,000-scale National Aerial Photography Program photography. 

National Mapping Program 75 
Partnerships 

are being 

established with 

other Federal 

and State 

agencies and 

private 

organizations 

that need 

DOQ data. 

eliminate displacement caused by tilt of the 

airplane and the somewhat distorted view of 

the photograph, since the camera cannot be 

directly over every object in the photograph. 

A DOQ, then, is spatially corrected aerial 

photographic data that are available in a 3.75­

minute quadrangle format—four DOQ's per 

standard large-scale USGS topographic map. 

As part of its map modernization program, the USGS is planning to use DOQ's in 

revising its 1:24,000-scale topographic map 

series. DOQ's will serve as a source of new 

information that can be compared directly 

with topographic maps that are in need of 

revision. This process will expedite map revision. As a byproduct of this process, a new 

form of digital data will be available for these 

quadrangles (in addition to the digital line 

graphs and digital elevation models). These 

forms of digital data will be available through 

the USGS National Digital Cartographic Data 

Base. The availability of this product will provide geographic information system (GIS) 

users with high quality images to use in the 

collection of data related to their specialized 

applications. It will provide an image base for 

the collection and display of cartographic and 

geographically referenced data. 

DOQ data are important to all agencies 

involved in mapping or using spatial data. 

Partnerships are being established with other 

Federal and State agencies and private organizations that need DOQ data. For example, the 

Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation 

Service plans to use DOQ's as a basis for a 

GIS that will be used to allocate farmland for 

certain crops and for preventing soil erosion 

and water pollution. By using DOQ data, the 

Department of Agriculture will establish a 

more systematic method for organizing and 

analyzing geographic resource data in their 

field offices. This tool will provide a common 

method to locate and number permanent 

farm field boundaries and locate and identify 

the various classes of wetland. Through the 

use of accurate DOQ's and collection standards, data will be shared usefully with other 

Federal, State, and local agencies. 

The use of DOQ's is being explored in 

the joint development of a data base between 

the USGS and the Census Bureau. Procedures 

are being developed that will link census 

information from local agencies and enumerators back to the original digital files and 

DOQ's to allow updating of the 1:100,000­

scale transportation data. 

The USGS is also cooperating with the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by providing 

DOQ data for GIS projects that involve land 

use and endangered species. The Bureau of 

Land Management is also arranging to use 

this type of data for programs in land management, wilderness preservation, and recreation. The National Park Service plans to 

obtain DOQ data to be used for GIS applications in park management. 

The use of DOQ's in GIS is expected to 

facilitate partnerships and cooperation needed 

by Federal, State, and local agencies to carry 

out resource planning more effectively. They 

will provide a common image base for map 

revision and GIS development. 

Arctic Region — Sensitive 

Indicator of Global Change 

By Mark Shasby and Jeff Eidenshink 

Arctic and sub-Arctic ecosystems, due to their short growing seasons and highly 

adapted species, are extremely sensitive to 

chemical, biological, and physical changes 

brought about by human activity. When these 

factors are coupled with the potential for global climate change, it is relatively clear why 

the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program has identified the Arctic as the "bellwether of global change and the zone of early 

warning for global greenhouse warming." An 

understanding of the implications of climate 

change in the Arctic and its ecosystems is 

essential. 

Improved understanding of the effects 

of a changing climate on the Arctic is the mission of a cooperative effort of the USGS, the 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. 

Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Environment Canada, and other international 

environmental and land management agencies. Characterization of land-based ecosystems around the pole is necessary to establish 

a system for monitoring these changes. This 

international research is examining the composition, structure, function, distribution, and 

extent of the ecosystems and the vegetation 

and wildlife that compose them. 

With geographic information system 

(GIS) and remote sensing technologies, 

scientists are able to study and classify these 

remote regions in ways never before possible. 

Because of the remoteness of the region, the 

short growing seasons, and the migrations of 

many important wildlife species, remote sensing and GIS technology are more important 

in developing data bases for global change 

studies here than anywhere else on the planet. 

Satellites are the primary remote sensing 

tools for gathering data on land surface conditions in the Arctic. For example, detailed 

vegetation maps derived from computer 

analysis of Landsat multispectral scanner data 

have been integrated with topographic data, 

soils, hydrology, and other earth science data 

76 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
bases into a GIS that characterizes the habitat 

conditions on the Arctic National Wildlife 

Refuge. Radio collar transmitters on caribou, 

polar bears, and other large mammals enable 

scientists to track the daily movements of 

these animals, and to integrate these migratory patterns into the GIS to study the relations between the animals and their habitat. 

Another primary source of remote sensing data comes from the advanced very high 

resolution radiometer (AVHRR) data on one 

of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration's polar orbiting weather satellites. The AVHRR provides daily observations 

at 1-kilometer resolution of the entire Arctic 

region. These daily observations are combined 

biweekly and analyzed to determine the general types of vegetation and to render a profile of the vegetation condition throughout 

the Arctic growing season. The condition of 

the vegetation is one of the key indicators of 

the effects of change caused by human activity as well as the climate. 

By pulling information together from 

satellite observations, maps, and field observations, this project is establishing a system for 

monitoring conditions in the Arctic with precision and timeliness. The interagency and 

international nature of the project will result 

in comprehensive studies that can be integrated and related. The derivative data bases 

will show the effects of environmental 

changes from climatic sources, as well as the 

effects of human activity from such things as North American Vegetation Greenness Index, August 11-20, 1990. Produced by the USGS, in airborne pollutants. Improved understanding cooperation with Energy, Mines, and Resources Canada, this prototype data set of the North of the Arctic, a region up to now poorly American continent allows scientists to assess the "greenness" of the vegetation. Low values (lighter understood, may lead to a better picture of shades) indicate poor or sparse vegetation, while high values (darker shades) indicate dense, healthy 

the entire Earth's processes. vegetation such as crops and forests. 

Cooperating on TERRA Firma 

The Terrestrial Ecosystem Regional Research and Analysis (TERRA) Laboratory was 

established in 1992 at Fort Collins, Colo., by the USGS and the U.S. Forest Service, the 

Agricultural Research Service, and the Soil Conservation Service of the Department of 

Agriculture. Scientists will work cooperatively at the lab to combine land models from different 

disciplines—hydrologic models, tree growth and soil erosion models, and other land resource 

study models. These disparate models now operate independently. TERRA lab scientists are also 

developing technology for coverting these models to geographic information systems (GIS) and 

their data bases. The main objective is to evaluate changing regional land conditions and 

resources by using geographic information, modeling, and remote sensing. For example, 

USGS scientists will research the vulnerability to environmental change of national parks and 

monuments, changes in wildlife habitat, and potential changes in Native American lands in the 

Western United States. 

National Mapping Program 77 
Involvement in the Earth 

Observing System 

By R. J. Thompson and 

Lyndon R. Oleson 

Many nations sponsor programs to study the effects of both natural and humaninduced environmental change. The United 

States has initiated the U.S. Global Change 

Research Program (USGCRP) to develop a 

strong scientific understanding of the interactive physical, chemical, biological, geological, 

and social processes that regulate the Earth's 

environmental system. This knowledge may 

prove to be a scientific basis for national and 

international policy decisions related to 

changes in the global system. 

The USGS is contributing to the 

USGCRP not only through its own global 

change data and information systems initiatives but also through involvement in other 

agency initiatives such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Earth 

Observing System (EOS). EOS is a 15-year 

program consisting of a series of Earthorbiting spacecraft designed to study the 

atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, biosphere, 

and solid Earth. 

Those portions of EOS data relating to 

land processes will be archived, processed, 

and distributed by the USGS EROS Data Center (EDC) in Sioux Falls, S. Dak. 

The first of a series of EOS spacecraft is 

scheduled to be launched in 1998. The EDC 

will be involved in the archiving and distributing scientific data from two of the five instruments aboard this initial spacecraft. The EDC 

will archive and distribute data from the moderate resolution imaging spectro-radiometer 

(MODIS) and the advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer 

(ASTER) instruments. MODIS will measure 

Earth vegetation and land surface cover to 

monitor change in land surface cover, conditions, and productivity. ASTER, a Japanese 

instrument, will be used to study surface 

vegetation and temperature, rock types, and 

volcanoes. 

The EDC is participating in pre-EOS 

programs to make existing earth science data 

more useful. For example, the EDC is 

involved in an international program to 

obtain complete 1-year coverage of all the 

land surfaces of the globe with National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

advanced very high resolution radiometer 

(AVHRR) sensor data. This global land 

AVHRR data set will be a precursor data set 

for EOS investigators developing algorithms 

and scientific models. Other similar activities 

include improved access to existing global 

topographic, aircraft scanner, and synthetic 

aperture radar data sets. 

Availability of Global 

Digital Topographic Data 

By Susan K. Jenson and Kevin S. Larson 

I ncreasingly, earth scientists need digital topographic data at many scales for applications ranging from geometric and radiometric correction of satellite data, to slope computations for surface-water modeling, to studies 

of plate tectonics. Data availability for areas 

outside the United States, however, has 

remained limited to the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration's ETOPO5 data 

set with a 5-minute (approximately 10-kilometer) resolution. 

The Defense Mapping Agency's (DMA) 

newly available Digital Chart of the World 

(DCW) provides 1:1,000,000-scale global contour data. DMA's digital terrain elevation data 

(DTED) contain topographic information with 

a 3-arc-second resolution (approximately 90 

meters). DTED exist for much of the Earth, 

primarily in the northern hemisphere. At this 

time, distribution of DTED is limited to agencies within the executive branch of the U.S. 

Government. The DCW is a source of global 

topographic information with the potential 

for generating elevation grids with a 0.5- to 

1-kilometer cell size, thus providing greater 

detail than ETOPO5 but less than DTED. 

The figure (see p. 79) shows a data comparison for these three data sources for a 

2°-square study area in the United Kingdom. 

The USGS plans to continue to generate 

global digital elevation data from the DCW. 

The island of Madagascar was recently completed, along with parts of Africa, Haiti, and 

Puerto Rico. 

78 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
2W 0 2W 0 

53N 53N 

Location of 2°-square study area in 

the United Kingdom. 

51N 

53N 

2W (a) ETOP05 

51N 

53N 

0 2W 

(b) Level 1 DIED 0 

51N 51N 

(c) Digital Chart of the World Contours (d) Gridded Digital Chart of the World 

Elevation data comparison. (a) shows a shaded-relief representation of the ETOPO5 data for the area. The 

ETOPO5 grid of elevation values consists of 24 cells by 24 cells. (b) shows the DTED data for the area. With 

a resolution of 3 arc-seconds (approximately 90 meters), there are 2,401 by 2,401 cells in the DTED grid. (c) 

shows the contours of the same region from the Digital Chart of the World with a contour interval of 250 

feet (76 meters). Finally, (d) shows a shaded-relief representation of the grid that was generated from the 

contours in (c). The 481 by 481 grid in (d) has a 15-arc-second cell size. The same major landform 

components are visible in each of the three data sets, but the grid produced using DCW provides improved 

detail over ETOPO5. 

National Mapping Program 
INTERNATIONAL 


ACTIVITIES 


MISSION 

U.S. Geological Survey cooperative science and technology 

studies with foreign nations are authorized under the Organic Act, as 

revised, and the Foreign Assistance Act and related legislation when 

the activities are determined by the Departments of State and the 

Interior to be in the best interest of the U.S. Government. Objectives 

of the investigations include: 

• Liaison will be established and maintained with foreign counterpart organizations, scientists, and technicians. The technology 


transfer and data exchange will be facilitated through cooperation, 

goodwill, and harmony. 

• Comparative international studies will expand the range and contribute to the attainment of domestic research objectives through 


testing and application of scientific concepts and techniques in 

favorable areas abroad. 

• Worldwide data bases will be established into which information 


about known and potential foreign resources of interest to the 


United States will be incorporated. These data bases will be 


available worldwide to all interested parties. 


• Worldwide cooperative studies in the earth sciences will broaden 

the expertise of both USGS and foreign-counterpart scientists 


and technicians. 


• Earth science and natural resource programs of other Federal 

agencies, international organizations, academia, and the private 

sector that share mutual interest with USGS efforts will be supported; 

the Department of State, in particular, will be provided with information from which to formulate objectives and decisions on matters of 

foreign policy. 
Introduction USGS foreign studies in the earth sciences 

continued in fiscal year 1992 as essential 

and complementary aspects of the domestic 

scientific program. These international studies 

are done under U.S. Government-approved, 

bilateral or multilateral agreements with foreign organizations. USGS technical assistance 

programs provide for the transfer of technology by means of advice, training, and demonstrations and are commonly carried out under 

the auspices of other Federal agencies, international scientific organizations, international 

financial institutions, or foreign governments. 

USGS international cooperative programs in 

the earth sciences include activities ranging 

from informal contacts between individual 

scientists to cooperative activities that are formally organized, jointly staffed and funded, 

and sanctioned by international treaties 

between the United States and foreign governments. USGS scientists also serve as officers, committee members, and participants in 

international earth sciences organizations, 

commissions, and associations. 

Programs in the geological, hydrological, and mapping sciences are underway in 

Europe and the Near East, and proposals for 

new programs in Africa, South America, and 

the Far East are under discussion. 

International activities highlighted in this 

chapter include the International Geographical Congress and concurrent meetings of the 

International Society for Photogrammetry and 

Remote Sensing and the American Society for 

Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing held in 

Washington, D.C.; the International Geological Congress held in Kyoto, Japan; mineral 

resource assessment studies of Bolivia; advice 

to the Government of Hungary; the continental deep drilling program; assessment and 

redevelopment of the prehistoric Hamdah 

gold mine, Saudi Arabia; and mapping in the 

Antarctic in cooperation with New Zealand. 

Global Resources 

Information Data Base 

By Ronald E. Beck The USGS Earth Resources Observation 

System (EROS) Data Center became the 

North American segment of the United 

Nations Environment Global Resources Information Database (GRID) with dedication of an 

office at the Center in March 1992. The 

GRID office at the EROS Data Center, near 

Sioux Falls, S. Dak., joins a network with 

other offices in Kenya, Thailand, Switzerland, 

Nepal, Japan, Norway, Brazil, and Poland. 

The GRID offices were established to 

help scientists obtain information for environmental studies such as land forms, land use, 

and vegetation condition, as well as recent satellite images. The staff in the GRID offices 

help scientists find the appropriate data and 

work with them on how best to use the information. 

The Sioux Falls facility was established as 

a cooperative program among the United 

Nations, the USGS, the National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration, the University of 

New Hampshire, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. 

Gold Exploration in Saudi 

Arabia 

By Kenneth Sargent Following a successful cooperative exploradon program with the Saudi Arabian 

Directorate General of Mineral Resources 

(DGMR), USGS studies at the Hamdah gold 

prospect in the southwestern part of Saudi 

Arabia phased out at the end of 1992 with the 

completion of a series of evaluation reports. 

Cooperative agreements with the Saudi Arabian government date to 1963 and include 

extensive regional geologic mapping and mineral exploration. 

The Hamdah gold project included a 

heap-leach test, executed over 17 weeks, to 

dissolve the gold from the rock in which it is 

found. The test culminated in a ceremonial 

gold pour on July 21, 1991, at which the gold 

was poured into ingots. Officials of the Saudi 

Arabian government and of DGMR joined 

USGS scientists at the ceremony to mark the 

project's completion. The pour yielded 19.2 

kilograms (more than 42 pounds) of gold of 

91 percent average purity. The deposit contains 1.1 million short tons (1 million metric 

tons) of overburden at an average grade of 

0.1 troy ounce of gold per short ton (2.8 

grams per metric ton) and 89,000 short tons 

(81,000 metric tons) of bedrock containing 

significant amounts of gold. 

The Hamdah deposit was originally 

worked more than 800 years ago and was 

reinvestigated starting in 1989. More than 

10,000 collected samples, almost 4,000 meters 

(more than 13,000 feet) of recent core drilling, and 6,000 meters (almost 20,000 feet) of 

trenching confirmed the presence of an economically significant amount of gold ore. The 

deposit is central to other smaller deposits 

81 

SHIIIAIIDV IVNOIIVNITHINI 

Aerial oblique view of the Hamdah 

heap-leach plant, in remote 

southwestern Saudi Arabia. 

(Left to right) His Excellency 

Hisham Nazer (Minister of 

Petroleum and Mineral Resources 

and Acting Minister of Planning), 

His Excellency Ibrahim Khaberi 

(Deputy Minister of Mineral 

Resources), and Dr. Mohammed 

Tawfiq (Assistant Deputy Minister 

of Mineral Resources) hold a gold 

bar produced by the ceremonial gold 

pour. 

that can be mined because of their proximity 

to the larger Hamdah deposit. 

Cooperation with the DGMR is continuing on other gold properties and is expected 

to lead to additional significant deposits in the 

near future. 

New Zealand Antarctic 

Mapping Program 

By Jerry L. Mullins 

The New Zealand Department of Survey 

and Land Information and the USGS are 

producing 1:50,000-scale topographic maps 

for areas of the Dry Valleys in the Antarctic. 

Five of 33 quadrangles will be published in 

1993. In accordance with U.S. policy, the 

maps will show no territorial claims in Antarctica. 

Under this cooperative program, the 

United States has been obtaining aerial photographs and establishing geodetic control in 

cooperation with New Zealand, performing 

aerotriangulation, and producing the standard map collar layout. New Zealand is performing the stereocompilation, collecting the 

digital cartographic data, preparing the 

shaded-relief and place names overlays, and 

providing the color separates. The USGS will 

print the maps. 

The McMurdo Dry Valleys are generally 

snow-free valleys in the Transantarctic mountains located in the McMurdo Sound region. 

The area is comprised of three major valleys, 

the Wright, Taylor, and Victoria Valleys, each 

of which contain glaciers. The valleys are separated by mountains ranging to approximately 2,400 meters (7,874 feet). 

The project includes the revision of eight 

maps that were produced by the USGS in 

1977. These 15-minute topographic maps are 

at 1:50,000 scale with a 50-meter (164-foot) 

contour interval and 25-meter (82-foot) supplemental contours. They cover the Taylor 

and Wright Valleys in the Dry Valleys area of 

northern Victoria Land. The revision includes 

converting the maps from the local geodetic 

datum to World Geodetic System 84 datum, 

preparing a shaded-relief version, and updating the maps with new place names approved 

since the last printing. 

The USGS has a long-standing commitment to cooperative mapping and scientific 

research in Antarctica as part of the United 

States Antarctic Program that maintains a permanent technical and scientific preserve at the 

South Pole. The Antarctic Mapping Program 

has produced more than 150 maps of the 

5,374,000-square mile (13,918,660-square 

kilometer) continent. The newest maps in this 

series will be particularly beneficial to the U.S. 

and to New Zealand for Antarctic research. 

Holes of Opportunity— 

Continental Scientific 

Drilling 

By David P. Russ and Kurt Dodd 

Continental scientific drilling is an exciting 

frontier area of geologic research involving national and international efforts to 

improve the scientific knowledge of the 

Earth's continental crust. The USGS, through 

the multiagency U.S. Continental Scientific 

Drilling Program, is working with the Department of Energy and the National Science 

Foundation to coordinate activities with international and foreign geoscience agencies. 

Current knowledge of the Earth's subsurface is limited largely to inferences based on 

geophysical measurements (such as seismic, 

gravity, and magnetic surveys), studies of certain rocks that are exposed at the surface but 

that formed or were altered deep within the 

Earth, and laboratory experiments at high 

82 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
pressures and temperatures similar to those 

found in the Earth's interior. Continental scientific drilling greatly expands our knowledge 

of the Earth's crust by providing direct fundamental data concerning subsurface rocks, temperature and pressure conditions, crustal fluid 

characteristics, changes in crustal densities 

and stresses, and the occurrence of deep 

crustal structures. 

Drilling is a well-established technique 

for developing onshore water, petroleum, and 

other natural resources; most of this drilling 

is relatively shallow and is confined to sedimentary basins. The USGS Continental Scientific Drilling Program strives to reach much 

greater depths where earthquakes and volcanoes originate and where mineral and energy 

deposits actually form. Cutting-edge technology is being systematically developed domestically and internationally to allow drilling at 

elevated temperatures and pressures through 

dense rocks and corrosive fluids. The increased industrial competitiveness provided 

by this new technology is a major benefit of 

continental scientific drilling that is particularly critical for natural resource industries, 

which are being forced to drill deeper in 

order to replenish their declining reserves. 

An important cost-effective way the 

United States and the USGS contribute to and 

benefit from continental scientific drilling is 

through the sharing of information and the 

pooling of expertise and resources with international and foreign geoscience agencies. Collaborative projects between USGS and foreign 

scientists at international drilling sites provide 

access to "holes of opportunity" where experiments and deep-earth measurements can be 

carried out without having to bear the high 

costs of drilling. 

The USGS conducts several cooperative 

projects with countries such as Germany and 

Russia, which have strong drilling programs. 

Germany's Kontinentales Tiefbohrprogramme 

der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (KTB) is 

drilling a very deep borehole (about 10 kilometers (33,000 feet)) by using a specially 

designed, highly automated drill rig with 

state-of-the-art laboratory facilities for analyzing borehole data, core samples, and drilling 

records. 

A joint study of thermal conductivity 

by USGS and KTB scientists was recently 

expanded to include measurements at elevated temperatures. Thermal conductivity 

measurements are necessary for determining 

heat flow in the crust but are difficult to make 

at high temperatures. This cooperative study 

is providing critical information on the most 

efficient, accurate, and cost-effective methods 

for investigating deep thermal processes. 

In addition, high-temperature downhole 

fluid samplers were recently deployed cooperatively in the KTB deep hole at depths 

greater than 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) where 

temperatures are greater than 150 °C (302 °F). 

Hydrothermal and isotopic data from these 

analyses, coupled with rock-composition and 

geochemical analyses, are providing previously unattainable information on rock-fluid 

interactions in a deep crustal environment 

that has experienced intense pressure. 

Russia is the world leader in deep drilling of the continental crust in the number of 

research wells cored, the great depths reached 

in the boreholes, and new and innovative 

technology developed for drilling. At Russia's 

deep well site in the Caucasus Mountains, the 

USGS is working to improve the procedures 

to measure deep earth stresses and to learn 

how these stresses relate to the generation of 

earthquakes, the production of heat for geothermal energy, and the processes that drive 

the motion of the Earth's crustal plates. 

The USGS also has a cooperative project 

with Russia at the deep-hole site in northwestern Russia near Finland. At approximately 13 

kilometers (8 miles) depth, the Kola well in 

northwestern Russia is the deepest drill hole 

in the world; it was drilled to learn more 

about ore-forming processes and to test subsurface geophysical models. The USGS has 

been studying subsurface stress and fluid 

migration pathways in the Kola well to 

improve understanding of fluid behavior in 

the deep crust. This information is important 

to modeling the formation of mineral deposits, to determining mechanisms of oil and gas 

origin and migration, and to understanding 

the processes that initiate and control fault 

rupture and earthquakes. 

The basic information on the subsurface 

of the Earth's continents gained through these 

cooperative drilling efforts yields important 

economic, technological, and societal benefits 

through applications in other ongoing efforts, 

such as mitigating earthquake and volcanic 

hazards, responsibly managing radioactive 

and other hazardous wastes, ensuring adequate supplies of natural resources, and 

expanding educational opportunities in 

science and engineering. 

Cooperation with Hungary 

By Paul Teleki 

At the request of the Hungarian Government, bureaus of the U.S. Department of 

the Interior (DOI), led by the USGS, have 

been providing technical assistance since the 

autumn of 1990 to the Hungarian Ministry of 

Industry and Trade. Mining, geology, and 

energy resources are the main concerns of the 

Continental 

scientific drilling 

greatly expands 

our knowledge of 

the Earth's 

crust.. . 

Russia is the 

world leader in 

deep drilling of 

the continental 

crust. . . 

International Activities 83 
Tyrrhenian 


Sea 


assistance, which is part of U.S. efforts to revitalize the economies and sponsor increased 

scientific cooperation in Eastern Europe. 

The USGS and other DOI bureaus 

have provided advice and assistance in 

restructuring the legal and regulatory framework for the mining and energy sector in 

Hungary. They have developed new regulations and defined regulatory oversight functions related to mining and energy development and production. In addition, experts of 

the USGS and the British and Swedish Geological Surveys provided review and advice in 

the reorganization of Hungary's geological 

and geophysical institutions; that reorganization is still in progress. 

A new mining law was written with the 

participation of DOI's Office of Policy Analysis, the Solicitor's Office, the USGS, the 

Bureau of Land Management, the Minerals 

Management Service, and the U.S. Bureau of 

Mines along with Hungarian, Canadian, and 

Norwegian Government counterparts. The 

legislation covers concession-based exploration, development, and production of oil and 

gas, minerals, and geothermal energy, as well 

as pipelines, surface and subsurface storage, 

and the utilization of abandoned mines. It 

also sets royalty rates and prescribes occupational health, safety, and environmental protection. This bill also established the Hungarian Mining Office as the regulatory agency of 

the mining sector with minerals management 

inspection and enforcement responsibilities as 

well as royalty collection and management. 

The bill is being debated in the Hungarian 

Parliament. 

Under a separate agreement between the 

U.S. Department of Energy and the Hungarian Ministry of Industry and Trade, the 

USGS has provided technical assistance to the 

Hungarian Atomic Energy Commission in 

reviewing disposal options for radioactive 

waste in Hungary. The goal of this program 

is to find suitable disposal locations, including 

geologically and hydrologically acceptable 

deep disposal sites for high- to low-level 

wastes from Hungary's nuclear powerplant. 

The project is one aspect of a broader set of 

cooperative activities between the U.S. Department of Energy and Hungary that includes 

assistance in preparing new legislation for 

electricity, devising a regulatory framework 

for the electricity sector, and developing 

energy information systems. The USGS has 

provided in-country technical support to the 

Hungarian Government to coordinate and 

administer the agreements with the Ministry 

of Industry and Trade. 

EXPOMIN '92 

By A.T. Ovenshine 

A new exhibit by the Department of the 

Interior debuted at EXPOMIN '92, a 

major South American mining exposition held 

in Santiago, Chile, May 12-15, 1992. Organized by the Minerals Management Service, 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and 

USGS, the exhibit focused on the search for 

84 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
and management of minerals on lands in the 

national domain. 

At the meeting, Spanish-speaking officials from BLM and USGS greeted thousands 

of interested visitors, collected hundreds of 

requests for more information, and explained 

the exhibits, which included interactive computer files from BLM and USGS. Public officials from Bolivia asked the USGS to display 

the exhibit at a similar exhibition in Santa 

Cruz, Bolivia, in September 1992. 

Major International 

Mapping Meetings 

Held in Washington, D.C. 

By Alan R. Stevens 

More than 10,000 participants from 85 

nations attended the American Society 

for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 

17th International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) Congress, 

and the concurrent 27th International Geographical Congress (IGC) in Washington, 

D.C., August 2-14, 1992. A joint scientific 

and commercial exhibit was also open 

throughout the 2 weeks. 

"Visual Geography," a new traveling, 

museum-quality exhibit produced by the 

USGS with cooperation from the National 

Geographic Society, made its debut at the 

ISPRS—IGC exhibits. The exhibit features 

more than 400 images showing the diversity 

and beauty of cartographic products. Topics 

range from "Charting the Heavens" and 

"Moments in Mapping," to "Beyond Geography." Presently, the exhibit is on a 5-year tour 

in the United States monitored by the Association of Science-Technology Centers. 

Additionally, other domestic and international organizations such as Resource Technology '92, the International Cartographic 

Association, the International Union of Surveying and Mapping Organizations, the 

United Nations, and the U.S. Agency for 

International Development held meetings in 

conjunction with ISPRS. 

The opening address was presented by 

Mr. Daniel S. Goldin, the Administrator of 

NASA, and the keynote address was presented by Dr. Roy Gibson, former Director 

General of the European Space Agency. Dallas Peck, the Director of the USGS, moderated a plenary session entitled "The Challenge 

of Global Change," and Doyle Frederick, the 

Associate Director, moderated a session entitled "Federal Geographic Data Committee 

Activities." The Congress included over 1,500 

technical papers, 160 exhibitors, 5 workshops, 

and 26 technical tours. Committee volunteers 

included many scientists and technicians, from 

the USGS, who assisted with translating, interpreting, monitoring technical sessions, and 

scheduling tours. 

The technical program of the concurrent 

meetings focused on the mapping and geographic sciences with special issues such as 

automated cartography, computer vision, 

geographic data coordination and standards, 

geographic information systems, education 

and training, robot vision and navigation, 

expert systems and artificial intelligence, 

image analysis, extraterrestrial mapping, and 

many more. 

Mexico and U.S. Sign 

Cooperative Mapping 

Agreement 

By Alan R. Stevens 

The joint meeting of the ISPRS—IGC was 

also the venue for the signing of an 

agreement for cooperation in mapping and 

earth sciences between the United States and 

Mexico. 

The agreement was signed by Dr. Carlos 

Jarque, Director of Mexico's National Institute 

of Statistics, Geography, and Information 

(INEGI) and Dallas L. Peck, Director, USGS. 

The INEGI promotes the development and 

coordination of Mexico's National System of 

Geographic Information. 

The agreement allows for cooperation 

among the two agencies in cartography, geographic information systems, remote sensing, 

and related fields. Activities under the agreement may include cooperative projects among 

technicians, engineers, and scientists, as well 

as technical information exchanges. One area 

of cooperation will be border map revision 

implementation and data base generation 

pilot projects in the El Paso, Texas, and 

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, areas. 

Since 1974, the USGS and agencies of 

the Mexican government have cooperated in 

several mapping activities, many of them in 

border areas. All of these activities were in 

keeping with the 1972 Scientific and Technical Cooperation Treaty between the United 

States and Mexico. 

International Activities 85 
wars for independence that culminated in the 

founding of Bolivia in 1823, interrupted production of silver in the area. After independence, interest in mining was renewed, and tin 

began to gain importance on world markets. 

Today, mining continues to be a mainstay of 

the Bolivian economy. 

For more than 50 years, the USGS has 

worked with Bolivian earth science agencies 

in a series of cooperative projects. The USGS 

recently completed a study of the mineral 

resources of the Altiplano and Cordillera 

Occidental, in cooperation with the U.S. 

Bureau of Mines (USBM) and the Servicio 

Geologico de Bolivia (GEOBOL). The project 

resulted from Bolivian requests for USGS 

technical assistance in the revitalization and 

redirection of Bolivia's national mining industry, which had fallen into sharp decline by 

1987. 

In early 1989, the two countries agreed 

to initiate a national mineral-resource assessment by beginning with the mineral-rich Altiplano and Cordillera Occidental. In July 

1989, the U.S. Trade and Development Program signed an agreement with the Ministerio 

de Minas y Metalurgia to help strengthen the 

mining industry of Bolivia. The agreement 

provided for a USGS—GEOBOL cooperative 

assessment of the known and undiscovered 

mineral resources of the Bolivian Altiplano 

and the adjoining Cordillera Occidental. The 

joint assessment began in January 1990 and 

concluded 2 years later with the publication 

of USGS Bulletin 1975, Geology and Mineral 

tal, 

Resources of the Altiplano and Cordillera OccidenBolivia. 

Important results of the joint assessment 

include (1) new descriptions of the sedimenthosted copper deposits in the Corocoro and 

other areas, (2) a detailed description of the 

La Joya gold-bearing polymetallic district, (3) 

descriptions of the relatively unexplored polymetallic deposits in the southernmost part of 

the Altiplano, in the Sud Lipez area, and (4) 

first descriptions of many saline, alkaline lakes 

on the southern Altiplano that may contain 

undiscovered resources of lithium, potassium, 

boron, zeolites, diatomite, and other materials. 

The Altiplano is a series of high basins in 

the Andes Mountains formed by folding and 

thrusting. Beginning about 30 million years 

ago, a wide variety of volcanic and intrusive 

rocks was deposited in the Altiplano. Many 

of these volcanic-rock complexes are associated with deposits of metallic minerals. During the last great ice age, most of the Altiplano was covered by large glacial lakes. The 

Cordillera Occidental consists of volcanic 

rocks that have erupted during the last 15 

million years as the Nazca tectonic plate 

plunges beneath the continent of South 

America. Several of the volcanoes that form 

Simplified geologic map of 

southwestern Bolivia, including the 

Cordillera Occidental and Altiplano. 

T-Q (Tertiary and Quaternary) 

rocks were deposited in the last 65 

million years; C-K (Cambrian to 

Cretaceous) rocks were deposited 

between 570 and 65 million years 

ago. 

BOLIVIA 

La Paz 

Map 

area 

SPA RA N NA 

Mineral Resource Studies 

in Bolivia 

By Steve Ludington 

Bolivia has been famous for its mineral 

wealth since prehistoric times. The Quechua, Aymara, and other Native American 

peoples had been mining precious metals for 

hundreds of years when Spanish explorers 

first arrived in the 16th century. Unparalleled 

production of precious metals from the New 

World, including the silver mines of Bolivia, 

supported the Spanish Empire for the next 

200 years. Native uprising, followed by the 

EXPLANATION 

Salars and lakes 

T-Q volcanic rocks 

T-Q sedimentary rocks 

and alluvium 

C-K sedimentary rocks 

A Volcanic domes 

associated with 

precious- and basemetal deposits 

Potosi 

Cerro Rico 

50 100 MILES 

50 100 KILOMETERS 

86 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
the crest of the Andes and mark the international border with Chile are presently active. 

In addition to studies in the field, a new 

1:500,000-scale geologic map was compiled 

from Bolivian sources; the map units were 

chosen specifically to support the delineation 

of areas that may contain mineral deposits. 

The team analyzed Thematic Mapper 

satellite images and identified more than 130 

areas of hydrothermally altered rocks, which 

typically accompany metallic mineral deposits. 

Many of the identified altered areas are 

clearly related to known mining districts, but 

others are in remote and poorly mapped 

The Panizos caldera is the result of a large volcanic eruption on the Bolivia-Argentina border, in 

the southern part of the study area. The circular sheet of volcanic rocks is nearly 35 kilometers 

(22 miles) across. The extremely well preserved volcanic landforms of this area are a testament to 

the aridity of the region and the slow rate of erosion, for the eruptions that formed this feature 

happened more than 8 million years ago. The area is especially interesting because it contains some 

unusual gold occurrences. According to studies by GEOBOL geologists, gold is found widely 

distributed in drainage sediment throughout the volcanic field. Microscopic study of the gold 

particles, recovered by panning of sediment, revealed many textural features that suggest that the 

particles have not been transported a great distance; indeed, much of the gold may be nearly in 

place. To find gold like this in volcanic rocks is extremely unusual, and continuing studies are 

underway to determine the origin of the gold. 

International Activities 87 
locations and may indicate undiscovered mineral deposits. 

Existing data on the magnetic properties 

of rocks in the area enabled researchers to 

create an aeromagnetic map. The map shows 

that much of the western part of the area has 

a distinctive, high-relief magnetic signature 

that is similar to magnetic signatures in many 

mineralized areas throughout the world. 

Mineral deposits were classified according to deposit type, and, because of the 

unique geologic character of the central 

Andes in Bolivia, some new deposit types 

were devised. Twenty-eight specific mineral 

deposit types were identified, and the geologic 

factors that control their occurrence and distribution were outlined. All identified mineral 

occurrences were plotted on a map, and areas 

that may contain many of the deposit types 

delineated. USGS geologists made probabilistic estimates of numbers of undiscovered 

deposits for several selected deposit types to 

quantify our knowledge about the mineral 

resources of the study area. 

Sediment-hosted copper deposits are the 

most widespread deposit type in the study 

area, although the Bolivian deposits are 

smaller than those in other parts of the world. 

Gold may occur in the study area in a wide 

variety of types of mineral deposits, including 

sediment-hosted gold deposits, antimony 

deposits, and low-sulfide gold-quartz vein 

deposits. 

Bolivian polymetallic vein deposits have 

provided most of the mineral resources of the 

study area in the past. Silver and tin were the 

principal commodities, but copper, lead, zinc, 

antimony, bismuth, and tungsten also were 

mined. These deposits are closely related to 

volcanic-rock complexes. In the future, gold 

may be an increasingly important product of 

these deposits, as exemplified by the newly 

developed Kori Kollo deposit in the La Joya 

CHARLES G. CUNNINGHAM 

Cerro Rico de Potosi, the conical hill shown in the photograph, is the world's largest silver deposit. district. The brown, silicified summit of this volcanic dome is seen here from the city of Potosi, Bolivia. The 

light-colored mine dumps in the middle distance are the result of centuries of mining silver and tin. The study area contains large areas that 

exhibit geologic characteristics associated with Mining of rich veins containing as much as 40 percent silver began before 1545 and has resulted 

in production of an estimated 30,000 to 60,000 metric tons (33,000 to 66,000 short tons) of fine other types of precious-metal deposits, similar 

silver. In the 20th century, tin production became dominant when the high-grade silver ores were to those found in the western part of the 

largely mined out. The deposit is currently being evaluated as a bulk minable source of low-grade 

silver and tin ores. It is estimated that the amount of silver remaining in low-grade ore is equal to 

all the silver produced to date. 

United States. The present level of exploration is insufficient, however, to differentiate 

the specific environments, but the remotesensing study revealed many areas that may 

represent the upper parts of any of these 

deposits. 

The study area also contains an environment that may host very large evaporite 

deposits of lithium and boron. Two great salars (salt flats) on the Altiplano, Uyuni and 

Coipasa, and many smaller ones may contain 

large resources of these materials, as well as 

sodium carbonate, sodium sulfate, and potash. 

Zeolites, diatomite, and other materials also 

may be important. 

88 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
29th International 

Geological Congress 

Meets in Kyoto, Japan 

By John R. Keith and A.T. Ovenshine 

Almost 5,000 earth scientists, exhibitors, and guests from 90 countries around 

the world met in Kyoto, Japan, August 24 

through September 3, 1992, for the 29th 

International Geological Congress (IGC). The 

Congress was sponsored by more than 50 

Japanese institutions, including the Japanese 

Ministry of International Trade and Industry, 

the Japan National Oil Company, the Metal 

Mining Agency of Japan, and the Geological 

Survey of Japan in cooperation with numerous other scientific societies, governmental 

bodies, universities, industrial organizations, 

and individuals. 

Since its first meeting in 1878, the Congress has been held every 4 years on the average, and the location is rotated among different member countries. The most recent 

meeting was held in Washington, D.C., in 

1989, and the USGS was a major sponsor of 

that event. The Congress is one of the largest 

regularly scheduled international meetings of 

scientists. 

This year's IGC in Kyoto featured more 

than 3,800 oral and poster presentations at 

the Kyoto International Conference Center. 

In addition, 12 workshops and short courses 

were offered to participants. Over 50 field 

trips rounded out a very full menu of scientific activities. The field trips, as well as many 

of the papers, dealt with the geologic processes and history of island arcs. 

The principal theme of the Congress 

stressed the strong relation between the earth 

sciences and human survival. Crown Prince 

Naruhito, in his opening address as Honorary 

President, stressed the obligation of earth scientists to provide governments with essential 

scientific data on which to base wise decisions 

about resource management, natural hazards, 

and global environmental problems. The 

scientific program of the meeting expanded 

on this principal theme. A major symposium 

was devoted to frontier earth science research 

related to the environment, and numerous 

papers dealt with global climate change, natural hazards, energy use, and environmental 

aspects of mineral resource extraction. USGS 

researchers presented papers and convened 

symposia on a wide range of topics, including 

mineral and energy resources in the 21st century, heat and mass transport of magma in 

areas of active volcanism, climate and paleogeography of the Pacific region, and volcanic 

calderas and their tectonic setting. 

In addition to the scientific program, the 

Congress included business meetings of more 

than 85 associated societies and specialty 

groups, a major program of scientific exhibits, 

a youth congress, a science theater, and cultural programs for those accompanying members. The Organizing Committee was pleased 

with the number of registrants from outside 

Japan (57 percent). About 300 delegates 

attended from the states of the former Soviet 

Union. Of 400 U.S. attendees, about 40 were 

from the USGS. Director Dallas Peck led the 

U.S. delegation. The overall effect of the 

Congress was well summarized by a Japanese 

newspaper, which gave the meeting a banner 

headline: "IGC is the Olympics of Earth 

Science!" 

The General Information booth. 

Crown Prince Naruhito (center), 

Honorary President of the IGC, 

visits the USGS booth. 

USGS Director Dallas Peck 

(holding pen) and Office of 

International Geology Chief 

A.T. Ovenshine sign a new 

Memorandum of Understanding 

O with Russian scientists. 

International Activities 89 
International Agreements of the U.S. Geological Survey 


[Bold type denotes agreements that began during fiscal year 1992] 

Countryr 

Argentina 

Bolivia 

Bolivia 

Botswana 

Brazil 

Cameroon 

Canada 

Central African Republic 

China, People's Republic of 

China, People's Republic of 

China, People's Republic of 

China, People's Republic of 

Cote D'Ivoire 

Czechoslovakia 

Finland 

France 

Honduras 

Iceland 

Israel 

Italy 

Italy 

Italyr 

Japan 

Counterpart organizationr 

Instituto Nacional de Prevenclon 

Sismica 

Ministry of Mines and Metallurgy 

Academia Nacional de Ciencias de 

Bolivia/Observatorio San Calixto 

Geological Survey of Botswana 

University of Brasilia 

Institute for Geology and Mining 

Research 

Canadian Surveys, Mapping, & Remote 

Sensing Sector of the Department of 

Energy, Mines and Resources 

French Office of Scientific and 

Technical Research Overseas 

State Seismological Bureau 

Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences 

Bureau of Hydrology of the Ministry of 

Water Resources 

Bureau of Surveying and Mapping 

Cote D'Ivoire Lamto Geophysical 

Station 

Geological Surveys of Czech and 

Slovak Federal Republic 

Geological Survey of Finland 

Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et 

Minieres 

Ministry of Natural Resources 

Icelandic Council of Science 

Earth Science Research Administration 

Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica 

Osservatorio Geofisico Sperimentale 

Ministry of Universities and Scientific 

Research 

Description 

Establish global telemetered seismic network station. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in the earth 


sciences. 


Establish global telemetered seismic network station. 

Establish global telemetered seismic network station. 

Establish global telemetered seismic network station. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in the earth 

sciences. 

Cooperation in surveys, mapping, and remote 

sensing activities in the areas of international 

border mapping and the accessing of global 

change data. 

Seismic research observatory station in Bangui. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in earthquake 

studies. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in earth 

sciences. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in surface-water 

hydrology. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in surveying 

and mapping studies in the development of 

geographic information systems, the application of 

remote-sensing information, and the development 

of map-production management systems. 

Establish global telemetered seismic network station. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in the earth 

sciences. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in the earth 

sciences. 

Cooperation in the geological sciences. 

Scientific, technical, and policy cooperation in the 

earth and mapping sciences. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in the earth 

sciences. 

Establish global telemetered seismic network station. 

Regional digital seismic studies. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in the earth 

sciences. 

Istituto Sperimentale Modelli e Cooperation in the geological sciences. 

Strutture 

Public Works Research Institute, Cooperation in hydrology, water resources, and 

Ministry of Construction global climate change. 

90 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
International Agreements of the U.S. Geological Survey Continued 


[Bold type denotes agreements that began during fiscal year 1992] 

Countryr 

Kuwait 

Mexico 

Mexico 

New Zealand 

Norway 

Norway 

Norway 

Paraguay 

Peru 

Poland 

Saudi Arabia 

South Africa 

former Soviet Union 

former Soviet Union 

United Arab Emirates 

United Kingdom 

Venezuela 

Worldwide 

Worldwide 

Counterpart organizationr Description 

Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research 

Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas 

Institute of Statistics, Geography, and 

Information 

Department of Lands and Surveys 

Norwegian Institute of Technology 

Geological Survey of Norway 

University of Bergen 

Comision Nacional de Desarrollo 

Regional Integrado del Chaco and the 

National University of Asuncion 

Ministry of Energy and Mines 

Ministry of Environmental Protection 

and Natural Resources 

Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral 

Resources 

Department of Mineral and Energy 

Affairs 

Committee on Geology of Russian 

Federation and Russian Academy of 

Sciences 

Russian Committee of Geodesy and 

Cartography of the Ministry of 

Ecology and Natural Resources 

National Drilling Company 

Natural Environmental Research 

Council 

Ministry of Energy and Mines 

Unesco (United Nations Educational, 

Scientific, and Cultural Organization) 

United Nations Environmental Program 

and U.S. National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration 

Cooperation in the earth sciences. 

Cooperation in geothermal and related volcanic 

investigations. 

Technical cooperation in cartography, geographic 

information systems, and remote sensing. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in topographic 

mapping of parts of Antarctica. 

Cooperation in the geological sciences. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in the earth 

sciences. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in the earth 

sciences. 

Establish global telemetered seismic network station. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in the earth and 

mapping sciences. 

Cooperation in geoscience research. 

Tenth extension work agreement related to 

geology, geophysics, and mineral resources. 

Installation and operation of an integrated realtime 

system to acquire global seismic data. 

Cooperation in geoscience (studies in energy, 

mineral, and water resources, mapping science, 

global climate change, marine geology, deep 

scientific drilling, and earthquake research). 

Cooperation in the mapping sciences. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in the earth 

sciences. 

Cooperation in earth sciences and environmental 

studies. 

Scientific and technical cooperation in the earth 

and mapping sciences. 

Cooperation in the International Decade for 

Natural Disaster Reduction. 

Establishment and operation of a global resource 

data base facility. 

International Activities 91 
INFORMATION SYSTEMS 


ACTIVITIES 


EARTH-


QUAKES 


Earth Forces 

Earthquakes occur when energy 


is released in the Earth's crust. 


This energy can be caused by a 


sudden movement or dislocation 


of segments of the Earth's crust 


(plates) beneath the ground 


surface. When the stress and 


strain of forces deep within 


the Earth are greater than the 


strength of the crust, it breaks 


along a fault. 


Click Orr the text above for more 


in 


MISSION 

The Information Systems Division provides support and 

services to the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, to 

major programs in each division of the USGS, the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, and to other government 

agencies on information technology and automated 

data processing (ADP). The Division operates the USGS 

mainframe computer located in Reston, Va., and 

Technology Information Centers and minicomputers in 

four ADP service centers nationwide. 

The Division assists users in acquiring ADP and 

telecommunications hardware, software, and services; 

coordinates and improves information systems through 

systems analysis and design; provides user education and 

assistance; and conducts research into better ways to use 

computer technology to solve mission-related problems. 

The Division manages and operates voice, data, and 

video communications for the USGS, including GEONET, 

the data communications network of the Interior 

Department, from which gateways provide access to other 

national networks and supercomputer systems. 
Message from the Assistant Director for 

Information Systems 

artnerships. Networking. Teamwork. Nearly every noteworthy USGS

paccomplishment in computing involves two or more people, computers, networks, 

organizations, or locations joining forces in a partnership. Working together, we use 

information resources technology to meet important earth science objectives that are 

beyond the resources or talents of a single individual or computer. 

The ground motion from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, for example, which 

was felt so strongly at USGS offices in Menlo Park, Calif., reminded people about 

the importance and vulnerability of our own telecommunications. Realizing that the 

USGS provides crucial earthquake information to the world, we joined forces with 

local and regional disaster-relief organizations to develop a recovery plan that would 

quickly and reliably reconnect our voice and data networks with the "outside world." 

In other examples, several dozen USGS earth and computer scientists 

collaborated with colleagues at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to share 

experiences and techniques in the new field of scientific visualization to create 

animations that allow scientists to simulate earth science processes and envision 

solutions. The exchange of ideas and products from computer-generated visuals is 

already stimulating a new generation of applications that raise the understanding of 

earth processes to a new level. 

With leadership from the USGS, Wide Area Information Servers are being 

adopted throughout the earth science and library communities as an easy and 

inexpensive way to share access to data and information located in many agencies 

and countries. In the field of education, GeoMedia builds on a partnership with 

teachers, scientists, and students to give students an understanding of fundamental 

earth science processes through the use of multimedia. 

Clearly, the USGS is committed to joining forces with other organizations to 

share in the fast-changing world of earth science computing. After all, it helps us, 

and it helps our partners. Information resources technology provides an innovative 

arena to capitalize on the creativity and growth fostered by partnerships. 

J.E. Biesecker 

Telecommunications and 

Emergency Response 

By Carol Lawson and Carl Mortensen 

I 

4

ocated in the heart of the San Francisco 

Bay region, the USGS Western Region 

headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., is susceptible to the effects of a damaging earthquake 

along one or more of the many faults that 

traverse the area. The Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989, served as a reminder to USGS 

employees, both as scientists and as members 

of the local community, of the need for effective emergency planning in the wake of a natural disaster. 

Responding to an emergency, which 

affects people as employees, as scientists, and 

as providers of vital earth science information, 

is an important part of ongoing planning at 

the Menlo Park facility. While emergency 

response has long been a reality for the 

USGS, the Loma Prieta earthquake made the 

bureau realize that its own facility in Menlo 

Park needed to refine its existing plans into a 

more coordinated approach to deal with 

effective communications in the event of inevitable earthquakes and other disasters in the 

area that would hamper or severely curtail 

conventional telecommunications. With over 

1,700 local employees, the USGS must be prepared to address the safety and welfare of its 

employees during a crisis. Seismologists and 

geologists must be ready to provide scientific 

information to Federal, State, and local emergency services agencies to help ensure that 

emergency response plans are effective. That 

information must also be made available 

quickly and in an understandable format for 

the news media to transmit to the public. To 

support these functions, telecommunications 

systems have been developed that serve to 

coordinate the management, scientific, and 

public outreach components of USGS emergency response plans. 

Management Response Plan.—An effective communications network enables local 

USGS officials to easily coordinate with one 

another across the Western Region's Headquarter's 25-acre, campuslike facility. Command centers have been established in each of 

the division level managers' offices that offer 

INFORMATION SYSTEMS ACTIVITIES 


93 
three independent methods of communication: the internal telephone system, a backup 

telephone system, and walkie-talkies. The 

internal telephone system has a backup power 

provision designed to maintain continuity of 

service in the event of a major power outage. 

It also provides outgoing trunk lines that have 

been elevated to essential service status by the 

local telephone carrier, which guarantees the 

USGS priority access to available lines, under 

most circumstances. Also in emergency circumstances, the telephone system services 

contractor recognizes the USGS as a priority 

customer. Should the Menlo Park facility's 

telephone system experience an equipment 

failure during an emergency, the contractor's 

service department is instructed to offer 

immediate support. 

In the event that the internal telephone 

system experiences an unforeseen problem 

that disrupts service, a backup telephone 

capability has been installed in each of the 

command centers and in the offices of key 

scientists. This backup capability is provided 

by a major telephone carrier's switch located 

off-site with facilities designed to withstand a 

magnitude 8.5 earthquake. The phones tying 

and scientists to effectively communicate with 

vice status 

into this off-site switch also carry 

including intercom, conferencing, and foreach other and with others off-site. 

warding capabilities that enable management 

tion of the office buildings, each manager also 

talkies are used outside to allow for continued 

has a walkie-talkie. These portable walkieShould a disaster necessitate the evacuaand have several useful features 

essential sercommunications among the widespread buildings. All three of these communication systems exist to ensure effective coordination 

during the execution of the management 

response plan. Additionally, public telephones 

having essential service status have been strategically located throughout the facility. These 

telephones enable 911 emergency calls to be 

placed in the event other telephone systems 

experience circuit overload. These essential 

service pay telephones carry the highest possible priority of all of the established telephone 

services; therefore, they have the greatest likelihood of being able to access a dial tone during a disaster or emergency. 

Scientific Response Plan.— USGS scientists 

are key players in the Federal Response Plan 

in the event of a catastrophic earthquake. 

Authority for actions taken under this 

plan derives from Public Law 93-288 (as 

amended), also known as the Robert T. 

Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 

Assistance Act. USGS scientists provide continuously updated information, hazard warnings, and technical advice (including the 

extent, distribution, and nature of shaking, 

ground failure, and damage and estimates of 

risk from aftershocks and progressive ground 

failure) to State and Federal response organizations immediately following a major earthquake. In the event of a Bay Area earthquake, the USGS can provide initial estimates 

of shaking intensities and likely damage distribution, as well as the likely distribution of surface faulting, liquefaction, and landslides. The 

accuracy and speed of these initial estimates 

can assist State and Federal authorities in 

directing local and regional response actions 

such as establishing staging areas and deploying resources. The USGS plan for the Bay 

Area will establish channels for effectively and 

rapidly transferring technical and scientific 

estimates, data, hazard warnings, and other 

information to help formulate and guide State 

and Federal responses. This plan serves as a 

model for the development of similar plans 

for USGS response to earthquakes in other 

regions. 

Telecommunications Response Plan.— 

Telecommunications requirements for this 

plan are largely met by a communications 

command center that is designed to provide 

easy-to-use telephone based communications 

with access to the California State Office of 

Emergency Services (OES), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and 

USGS officials. Five different phone-based 

systems are available—the internal phone system, the backup external phone system, a 

microwave-based telephone system, a very 

high frequency (VHF) radio telephone system, and a satellite telephone system. The 

internal and external backup phone systems 

are the same as those used by managers in the 

center management response plan. Both systems allow scientists and managers to easily 

and conveniently communicate with each 

other, as well as with individuals off-site. The 

microwave-based system enables telephone 

access to area codes outside of the immediately affected area by passing the call through 

a series of microwave stations shared with the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A typical 

requirement of this system would be the need 

to directly access a dial tone in the 916 area 

code, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) from 

the Menlo Park Center and where State emergency offices are located. This capability is 

important because telephone lines into and 

out of an area that has experienced a widespread disaster typically experience a severe 

overload, hence access to local telephone services commonly results in the receipt of a 

busy signal. The VHF radio phone systems 

allow the scientists to use radio capabilities 

to establish an independent access link to a 

916 area code telephone using a series of 

relay stations (different than those used by 

94 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
microwave). In compliance with established 

radio regulations, this capability is used only 

by USGS scientists. In the event that a large 

enough earthquake (or other disaster) strikes 

and renders conventional, microwave, and 

radio communications inoperable (for example, telephone company, central offices, 

microwave towers, and repeater stations are 

brought down), the command center can use 

its satellite telephone system. This system ties 

into the global International Maritime Satellite 

Organization (Inmarsat) satellite network, 

which operates a system of satellites in geostationary orbit over the Atlantic, Pacific, and 

Indian Oceans. It provides worldwide land, 

air, and sea coverage with access to land stations providing international telephone networking. The USGS's satellite telephone system is fully portable and can be deployed in 

clear locations outside of the communications 

command center building in the event conditions are severe enough to require the evacuation of buildings. This is the same technology 

that was deployed extensively during Operation Desert Storm. Each of these communication systems is available to facilitate the USGS 

role in the Federal Response Plan and to 

enable communications with key personnel 

within the USGS. These systems are available 

to help the USGS support the improved effectiveness of the Federal, State, and local emergency response and recovery plans, and to 

also benefit earth science investigators by 

incorporating immediate reconnaissance and 

other postearthquake investigations into the 

total Federal effort. 

Public Outreach Plan. — During an earthquake, a joint information center is set up at 

the Menlo Park facility, using the facilities of 

the communications command center and 

staffed by public affairs professionals from 

the USGS and other agencies, along with scientific personnel. This joint information center disseminates information that can help 

response agencies and the public address what 

has happened, as well as the unknown and 

unexpected. Using first-hand field and instrumental information, the USGS can release factual information to the public, through the 

news media, in an orderly and understandable fashion. The communications command 

center adjacent to the joint information center 

is available to continuously provide information and updates on conditions to the public 

through news media sources throughout the 

State and country. 

With managers, scientists, telecommunications personnel, and public affairs specialists 

working in concert, the USGS is prepared to 

serve the public and the Government and its 

employees in the event of a major earthquake 

in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through the 

use of effective communications links, they 

will be able to furnish information that can 

play a vital role in the response and recovery 

processes outlined in State and regional emergency plans. 

Video Aspects of Scientific 

Visualization 

By Richard A. MacDonald and 

Carmelo F. Ferrigno 

By adding a visual dimension, the USGS is marketing its earth science data to new 

users and showcasing exciting new applications in land use-land cover planning, natural 

hazard forecasting, and natural resources 

management. This new arena of scientific 

visualization is making it possible to produce 

and disseminate USGS data more effectively. 

Increasing volumes of data demand new 

techniques for such applications as pattern 

detection and analysis. With the added clarity 

of a visual component, scientists can discover 

meaning in data patterns that would not otherwise be apparent or easily detected. An 

example is the detection of ocean currents 

through the use of time-dependent models 

where changes can be observed by animation. 

Interactive modeling and simulations using 

visualizations enable scientists to alter models 

if their first attempts do not validate these 

hypotheses. Animations are yet another way 

in which visualization can provide additional 

insights to existing data. 

Scientific visualization also makes it easier 

to present and distribute research results. 

Quality audiovisual products of scientific visualizations provide a universal medium for disseminating earth science applications at reasonable cost, thereby enhancing presentations 

for professional and educational users. 

Recording computer-generated animations on videotape requires specialized computer hardware because the signals used to 

generate the images on computer monitors 

and television monitors are very different. 

To convert between these signal types, a 

special video graphics adapter is used in the 

computer. This special adapter performs 

two functions: First, to record a computergenerated animation to videotape, this 

adapter converts the computer signal (called 

RGB for Red-Green-Blue) to a television signal (called National Television Standard Code 

or NTSC). Second, the opposite process, 

called frame grabbing, stores frames from a 

videotape in the computer. Once stored in the 

computer, these video frames can be manipulated as if they were originally created on the 

computer. 

. . .scientific 

visualization is 

making it 

possible to 

produce and 

disseminate 

USGS data more 

effectively. 

Information Systems Activities 95 
A mechanism is also needed to control 

the video cassette recorder (VCR) from the 

computer. VCR's used to record scientific animations are usually higher quality than the 

typical consumer VCR. Typically, the VCR is 

connected to the computer in the same way 

that a printer is connected to a computer. 

The VCR controller may be a combination of 

hardware (for example, an adapter in the 

computer) and software or software only, all 

of which enable the operator to control standard functions of the VCR (stop, rewind, 

record, and so forth.) by using the computer 

display and keyboard or mouse. 

Two basic methods are used to record 

computer-based animations: realtime and 

frame-by-frame recording. In realtime recording, the animated sequence of images is 

recorded to videotape as the images appear. 

If an animation displayed on the computer 

monitor correctly portrays the information to 

the viewer, it can be recorded in realtime. 

However, depending on the power of the 

computer and the complexity of the images in 

the animation, there are situations where the 

computer will be unable to generate the video 

frames in realtime because each image can 

take up to several minutes to be displayed on 

the monitor, which is too slow to be properly 

recorded to videotape. In this case, the computer generates one animation frame, that 

frame is recorded to videotape, and this process continues until all frames have been 

recorded. This is called frame-by-frame 

recording. 

The recording of the animation is only 

the first step. Video editing, adding sound, 

narration, titles, and word overlap, requires 

additional computer software and hardware. 

The USGS is evaluating various 

computer-based video recording and editing 

systems for scientific visualization applications, 

including small desktop computers and UNIX 

workstations. A Macintosh-based video production system is currently being tested, and 

videos have been produced using a PC-based 

system. 

One of the problems with both PC- and 

Macintosh-based video systems is that the 

computers do not have sufficient processing 

power to produce animations for many complicated earth science processes. Because of 

this, the USGS is planning several pilot 

projects to produce and record animations 

created on high performance UNIX workstations. 

The USGS is working with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., 

to test and use software developed at JPL. 

This software will be used to generate animated sequences, such as terrain fly-bys, 

which are used by scientists to analyze data 

that can be overlaid on a terrain surface 

such as geophysical, geographic, and hydrologic data. Some of the animations created 

in this testing will be recorded to tape by 

using VCR's directly controlled from the 

workstation. 

Plans for pilot projects that would provide visualization of earth science data are 

underway. One project is a study of the 

potential contamination of a bay, located near 

a major metropolitan area, from a discharge 

pipe for a sewage treatment plant. In developing other projects, USGS and other computer specialists and scientists are working 

together to target pressing environmental 

issues that can be solved more readily through 

the use of scientific visualization. 

GeoMedia — Teaching 

Earth Science Through 

New Technology 

By Denise A. Wiltshire and 

Mary E. Powell 

GeoMedia is an earth science educational 

system that uses multimedia technology 

to teach middle-school students about the 

hydrologic cycle, earthquakes, and maps. 

Multimedia computer technology offers students exciting new possibilities for navigating 

through multiple layers of information. GeoMedia is based on a newly emerging software 

programming technology known as hypermedia. Hypermedia techniques are used in GeoMedia to create a computer system that allows 

students to make associations between a mix 

of information, such as graphics, text, animations, and sound. 

GeoMedia was originally designed for 

use by USGS personnel when making presentations to students visiting USGS offices. However, to fulfill the many requests made by 

teachers to obtain copies of the software, the 

USGS decided to distribute the multimedia 

system on digital compact disc (CD-ROM) for 

use in the classroom. An accompanying package, the Teachers' Developer Version, is 

designed to give teachers and students the 

ability to create additional educational material for the earth sciences. 

GeoMedia contains animations that show 

natural processes such as the hydrologic cycle 

and plate tectonics. The three subject modules 

also include color images and sounds to further illustrate the topics. Glossaries and reading lists are included for each of the modules. 

96 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Tour Selections.—The basic metaphor of 

GeoMedia is essentially a tour through earthscience topics—browsing through the multimedia system is like taking a journey through 

information. The GeoMedia graphical user 

interface allows students to navigate through 

the information by "clicking" icons, or symbols, with the computer mouse. The icons are 

located on a portion of the screen that resembles a control panel of an imaginary moving 

vehicle. The tour selections section is the main 

table of contents. The student is given the 

option to select one of three earth science topics: water cycle, earthquakes, or understanding maps. By clicking icons in the shapes of 

diamonds, triangles, and squares, students can 

navigate through the GeoMedia tour. 

The "help" option is always available as 

students navigate through GeoMedia by 

selecting the question mark from the control 

panel. The help screen also contains audible 

instructions. The audible instructions describe 

how to move forward and backward through 

GeoMedia and how to find definitions of 

words or additional earth science facts. 

Each of the three tour selections contains 

four sections: animation, elements, glossary, 

and further reading. Links between these sections allow students to plot their personal 

paths through the information. A description 

of each of the tour selections is given below. 

Water Cycle. —The water cycle is shown 

as a motion picture or animation. It explains 

the relation between the water-cycle elements 

such as evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and runoff. 

The animation section is composed of 

the components of the water cycle. As noted 

above, links exist between the animation and 

the elements sections of the water cycle tour 

selection. For example, if students click the 

cloud icon at any point during the animation, 

they will link to a more detailed description of 

clouds in the elements section. 

The elements section contains text and 

images that describe the components of the 

water cycle in further detail than in the animation section. The selections available on the 

GeoMedia control panel offer options for 

additional information on water facts and the 

geographic location of the photographic 

images that appear on the screen. 

Earthquakes. — After selecting earthquakes from the tour selections screen, the 

introductory scene for the earthquakes module appears accompanied by the roar of an 

earthquake sound. 

The animation section of this module 

presents a series of images showing the Earth 

forces that cause earthquakes. The image and 

audio portions of the system explain the relaT UR 


SELECTIONS 


On a Journey 

GeoAledia is a multimedia tour 

of science topics, By using the 

computer mouse, you can explore 

earth science concepft through a 

series of images. GerpMedio is 

both fun and easy to use, 

Have you ever wondered 

about the movement of water on 

Earth through an unending cycle? 

Do you know how to read a map? 

Do you know why there are earthquakes? The answers to these 

questions are at your fingertips. 

Select a Tour Dne 

the H-hree flashing 

WATER 


CYCLE 


Animation 

This part of the tour shows the 

water cycle as a moving picture 

or animation. The animation explains the relationship between 

the water cycle elements such 

as evaporation, condensation, 

and precipitation. 

Start Animation — Click on 

flashing red triangle. 

More Information — Click on 

animation elements. GeoMedio 

him': click on svn or ocean. 

Forward and Reverse — Click 

on red Wangles. 

Computer screens from the GeoMedia educational system showing table of contents (top) and 

illustration from the water cycle animation (bottom). MacroMind® Director (version 3.1), 

produced by Macromedia, Inc., was the primary software package used to develop GeoMedia. 

tion between plate tectonics and earthquake 

activity. 

The animation is composed of some of 

the same elements discussed in more detail 

within the elements section of the earthquakes 

module. Links exist between the animation 

and the elements sections of the earthquakes 

tour selection. For example, by clicking on the 

images of the dip-slip or strike-slip faults at 

any point during the animation, students are 

Information Systems Activities 97 
Creating Your Own 

GeoMedia Modules 

The GeoMedia Teachers' 

Developer Version is comprised 

of a HyperCard® Program 

named GeoDeveloper. It provides sample art work for 

screen designs and navigation 

buttons for creating a new 

GeoMedia educational system. 

The control panel icons have 

associated HyperCard scripts 

and programming instructions 

for navigation. GeoDeveloper 

is a base to build upon when 

designing a hypermedia system. 

Scanned images, text, and 

sounds may be added to 

present additional information 

on the earth sciences. 

linked to a more detailed description of these 

faults in the elements section. 

The elements section contains text and 

images that describe the components of earthquakes in further detail than in the animation 

section. In this section, students learn more 

about earth forces, plate tectonics, and monitoring seismic activity. Disaster photographs 

that show the destruction earthquakes can 

cause are part of the element on Pacific epicenters. Additional information on earthquake facts is available by clicking the plus 

symbol icon on the GeoMedia control panel. 

Understanding Maps.—This part of the 

tour presents a series of animations that 

explain the concept of elevation and the use 

of contour lines as map symbols. An animated 

three-dimensional model of a map explains 

the relation between contour lines and elevation. A link exists between the threedimensional map model of a mountainous 

region in Southern California and a series of 

satellite images shown in a perspective view 

near the same area. 

The elements section contains text and 

images that further describe map scale and 

the types of maps produced by the USGS. 

Examples of planimetric, topographic, and 

thematic (geologic, hydrologic, and land use) 

maps are presented in this section. Also 

shown are scanned images of aerial photographs and satellite imagery. 

Glossaries and Further Reading Lists.— 

Throughout GeoMedia, the gray diamond 

icons embedded in the text link the reader to 

the glossary for the definition of the marked 

word. Each module contains a glossary. The 

glossary for each module can also be viewed 

by selecting it directly from the table of 

contents. 

Each of the three modules contains a 

further reading section to encourage students 

to learn more about the given topic by visiting 

their school or public libraries. The reading 

lists include references to periodicals, books, 

posters, and maps. 

Summary.—The USGS plans to continue 

developing prototype computer systems to 

promote earth science literacy among the 

Nation's schoolchildren. Through the use of 

computer technology, we hope to inspire children who might not necessarily respond to 

traditional teaching methods. In addition, 

computer technology continues to play an 

important role in most scientific research. 

Teaching earth science through computer 

technology offers new opportunities to give 

students a better understanding of scientific 

methods and investigative techniques, including data analysis. 

WAIS—Improved Access 

to Information 

By Eliot J. Christian and 

Timothy L. Gauslin 

I n many instances, scientists, policy makers, and educators —as well as the general 

public—would make better use of computerized information if it were easier to access. 

What can be done to simplify access to data 

and information? 

In the late 1980's, the library and information services community reached consensus 

on an access standard. This open standard, 

known in the United States as the Information Retrieval Service Definition and Protocol 

Specification (Z39.50), defines a uniform 

method for access to data and information. 

The idea is that an open standard permits 

data and information to be stored on computer systems having very different hardware 

and software, yet a user can retrieve information from any computer in the same way. 

The USGS is working with a consortium 

including several major corporations and 

about 150 universities to develop a version of 

Z39.50 that is available as public domain software, known as Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS). WAIS is targeted to users who 

have limited computer skills and need a powerful search and retrieval mechanism. This 

approach is already being used extensively in 

the USGS and is gaining wide acceptance in 

the Federal Government as a whole. 

In a typical WAIS search, the user selects 

information servers or searches directories of 

servers, using familiar English words. That 

search is formatted to the Z39.50 standard, 

and the information servers match the search 

words to the server contents. The user sees a 

list of titles found and then views those of 

interest. 

Since users do not know which words 

would be key to finding everything that may 

be relevant, WAIS provides an approach 

known as "relevance feedback." When a user 

designates any retrieved text as relevance 

feedback, WAIS uses the words in that portion as another search request. 

The USGS began its involvement with 

WAIS through an initiative to enhance the 

Earth Science Data Directory (ESDD). ESDD 

is a useful source for references to earth 

science data, including many at the State level, 

and is also a comprehensive list of data holdings relevant to Arctic research. WAIS is especially appropriate for ESDD because the 

ESDD user community ranges from local citizens to international global change researchers. The ability of WAIS to place the ESDD in 

the context of other information sources is 

98 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
especially powerful for these users. WAIS is 

also expected to be used by the USGS and 

others for directories of spatial data and for 

information related to water and geologic 

data. 

The USGS has added features to WAIS 

that are useful for ESDD users (for example, 

location searching, phrase searching, and keyword searching within fields) in a manner 

compliant with the Z39.50 standard and in 

concert with the network of WAIS developers. 

In fact, the WAIS software has many examples of contributed parts from hundreds of 

developers worldwide. By maintaining compliance with the standard, users of the USGS/WAIS software can access any Z39.50 server 

but have additional capabilities when accessing 

the USGS server. Conversely, the USGS information servers are accessible to all users of 

Z39.50, whether they received software from 

USGS or not. 

For the location searching feature, the 

USGS developed the software to map the 

latitude/longitude referenced in the text and 

to allow a user to search by drawing a polygon on a map. The University of North 

Carolina developed the server software that 

accepts the polygon vertices and matches 

them to source entries. 

As WAIS becomes widely used, opportunities arise to simplify interaction with data 

and information repositories. For example, 

Apple Computers created a dynamic version 

of WAIS that periodically retrieves requested 

information automatically and prepares a 

"personalized newspaper" showing updated 

information that the user requested. The 

USGS has also added a simple way for a user 

to suspend the WAIS session and access an 

existing data system such as the USGS Global 

Land Information System. Another idea is to 

give the WAIS user an option to contribute 

data and information products online. WAIS 

would help the contributor to document the 

product appropriately and would then route 

the document and product electronically 

through peer review. 

Versions of WAIS are already available 

for most computers, and there are hundreds 

of information servers freely accessible. WAIS 

is being used not only for bibliographic information but also for providing online access to 

data. As an integrating technology, WAIS 

promises to vastly simplify the problems of 

access to scientific and technical data and 

information. 

WAIS Sources 

Sources Included in current searches: 

ESDD Earth Science Data Directory 

NOAA National Environmental Data Referral Service 

GCMD Global Change Data Directory 

DOE Climate Data 

Sources available for searching:

ESDD Earth Science Data Directory 

i 

DofS Directory of Servers

WTHR weather Ma s 

NOAA National Environmental Data Referral Service 

GCMD Global Change Data Directory 

GCMD Global Change Data Centers 

PICS Sample pictures 

GCMD Global Change Projects 

GCMD Global Change Sensors 

Multiple sources can be selected for searching, regardless 

of their different formats. 

WAIS Queryr CI 

File Setup Aids Help 

Tell me about: 

toxic metals ROWE 

Similar to: 

•::::oi ­

Score Size iiSrc Titlei Resulting Documents 

**** 1.8K ESDD OFFICE OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS DATA MGMT. TOXIC CHEMICAL 1114.   1.7K DOE effects of sewage sludge and toxic metals upon vesicular,, ** ** 6.9K NOAA Toxicants in the Chesapeake Bay water column--TOXIC.WATE' *OM 3.911 NOAA Toxicants in the Chesapeake Bay finfish and shellfish--TI **** 4.0K NOAA Heavy metals and pesticides in stream bottom sediments is 6.8K NOAA Toxicants in the Chesapeake Bay sediment--TOXIC.SEDIMENT,

Cree* 2.7K NOAA Trace metals in sediments of Raritan Bay. 

***a .9K ESDD REUIEW OF POTENTIAL TOXIC PITS CLEANUP ACT FACILITIES 

*OM

****

 


.9K ESDD SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DHS TOXIC SUBSTANCES SECTION FILES

Cra** 1.8K ESDD TOXIC CHEMICALS IN GROUNDWATER PROGRAM FILES   3.4K NOAA Distribution of five metals in sediments from the New Yor

OM .9K ESDD NORTH COAST CALIFORNIA DHS TOXIC SUBSTANCES SECTION FILE! ** * 1.2K ESDD OFFICE OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS DATA MANAGEMENT GUIDE TO TI ';. *** 1.0K ESDD NORTHERN CALIFORNIA DHS TOXIC SUBSTANCES SECTION FILES

Xrea 3.1K NOAA Trace metals quality control analysis (Mississippi, Alabii. 

2.8K NOAA Trace metals in marine biota and sediments collected fror 

Mea 3.6K NOAA Metals in interstitial waters of the New York Bight dredr *** 


3.4K NOAA Distribution of metals in Elizabeth River sediments. Uir, 

Mea 2.1K NOAA Distribution of metals in Baltimore Harbor sediments. WJ *** 


Found 20 references in Status: 

Querying lusdoptiwaisidbinedres at 131111A8.107 * 

Document titles found on a search for "toxic metals," 

showing examples from multiple sources. 

Information Systems Activities 99 
ADMINISTRATION 


MISSION 

The Administrative Division provides 

administrative direction and coordination 

in support of the scientific and technical 

programs of the U.S. Geological Survey. 

This support includes policy guidance and 

program direction and provides leadership 

and authority for various administrative 

management and technical support 

functions, including personnel, manpower 

utilization, finance, administrative management systems, management analysis, 

records management, procurement and 

contract negotiation, property and facilities 

management, security, safety, and motor 

vehicle management. 

The Division also manages the development, maintenance, and operation of the 

financial management system for the entire 

U.S. Department of the Interior. These 

functions are carried out at the National 

Center in Reston, Va., and through 

Regional Management Offices in Denver, 

Colo., and Menlo Park, Calif. 
Message from the Assistant Director for Administration 

Through enhanced use of new technology, automation, and innovative 

administrative programs in fiscal year 1992, we continued to provide the 

USGS with cost-effective and responsive administrative support. Examples of new 

technologies and automation activities included replacing microfilm storage of 

financial records with electronic archival, retrieval, and research technology for 

records management and adding electronic bulletin board and a toll free telephone 

number to our automated vacancy announcement system. An innovative personnel 

program implemented this past year includes the use of On-the-Spot Awards, to 

enable supervisors to grant immediate small-amount financial awards to deserving 

employees. Other innovations include conversion to a direct accountability mail 

system, remote input of financial transactions, and streamlining of fiscal data 

processing through expanded use of alternative payment mechanisms. 

Effective partnerships include internal bureau committees that ensure that 

recommendations of managers and the workforce are considered in decisions 

affecting administrative programs, as well as departmental committees and task 

forces, where bureau concerns are considered in the formulation of departmental 

administrative policies. Continued representation on intergovernmental committees 

and working groups also provides opportunities to exchange viewpoints on personnel 

and on financial, facilities, and property management. Finally, partnerships with the 

educational community and public service groups paved the way for increased 

participation in the Volunteer for Science Program, as well as a greater number of 

women and minorities employed under student and other appointment authorities. 

Looking to the future, the competition for scarce financial resources will 

continue to be a challenge that the Administrative Division will address through 

state-of-the-art tools, technology, and innovative ideas to ensure that the 

administrative support that we provide is both cost effective and responsive to 

bureau needs. 

Jack J. Stassi 

Highlights of 

Administrative Activities 

Highlights of administrative direction and coordination in support of USGS scientific and technical programs for fiscal year 

1992 include 

Financial Management.— In fiscal year 

1992, improvements in the bureau's management of fiscal resources included expansion of 

the use of Automatic Teller Machines for 

travel advances and extension of remote data 

entry to 88 sites, thereby expediting fiscal 

transactions. 

Facilities and Management Services. — 

Accomplishments in fiscal year 1992 included 

the start of construction for the new Reston 

mapping facility, clearance for construction at 

the EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, S. Dak., 

completion of the new rock processing facility 

at the Menlo Park, Calif., facility, and smooth 

conversion to the U.S. Postal Service direct 

accountability system, which achieved economies in postal costs. Numerous proactive 

safety management initiatives earned the 

USGS the Secretary of the Interior's annual 

award for the best departmental safety 

program. 

Procurement and Contracts. — F or the 

fifth year, procurement transactions grew substantially. The bureau's commitment to the 

goals and objectives of the Department's 

Minority Business Enterprise Programs was 

reflected in the USGS receipt of the Secretary's Award for Excellence, the second award 

the USGS has won in this area in the past 3 

years. 

Personnel. —In fiscal year 1992, the 

USGS expanded participation in minorityorganization-sponsored career fairs and 

recruitment visits to targeted minority schools 

and universities, which resulted in increased 

USGS employment of women and minorities 

(see p. 105). Issuance of a Career Planning 

Manual for clerical, administrative, and secretarial employees provided enhanced career 

development opportunities. Implementation 

of an innovative On-the-Spot Award program 

provided a vehicle to give employees immediate financial recognition for their accomplishments. 

Administrative Systems Management.— 

Fiscal year 1992 administrative system 

improvements included a new property management system; software to electronically 

101 

NOIIVIIISININCEV 

report excess property; automated tracking 

of performance standards and appraisals, 

supervisory/managerial training, and volunteer activities; and production of new and 

enhanced automated financial reports tailored 

to the needs of USGS financial managers. 

Systems Partnerships 

By Kory K. Lee 

Building upon its success with the Depart-

-LP ment of the Interior's (DOI) standard 

financial management system—the Federal 

Financial System (FFS)—the USGS is now 

leading the effort to acquire and implement a 

DOI standard procurement system—the Interior Department Electronic Acquisition System (IDEAS)—and has developed and coordinated the implementation of a departmentwide job vacancy announcement system, 

known as the Automated Vacancy Announcement and Distribution System (AVADS). In a 

partnership outside the Department of the 

Interior, the USGS provided support to 

implement and service the Department of 

Education's use of the USGS automated Personnel Actions System. 

Federal Financial System.—In fiscal year 

1992, the USGS Washington Administrative 

Service Center (WASC) coordinated the 

implementation of the FFS in two organizations. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) 

presented DOI's most challenging FFS implementation to date. Complicating factors of 

this implementation included B IA's decentralized approach to financial management and a 

variety of challenging accounting and reconciliation issues. BIA successfully converted to 

the FFS in October of 1991, and the WASC 

assisted BIA in stabilizing operations and 

reducing financial-document backlogs during 

its first few months of production under the 

new system. With BIA now onboard, 7 of the 

10 DOI bureaus are now using FFS. This represents over 97 percent of the 20 million 

annual financial transactions within the DOI, 

as the three bureaus yet to use FFS are comparatively small in terms of accounting volume. Also in fiscal year 1992, a non-DOI 

organization, the Patent and Trademark 

Office (PTO) of the Department of Commerce, also began use of the FFS. The PTO 

sought and received special authority from 

the Department of Commerce to replace its 

existing financial system with FFS. The WASC 

worked extensively with PTO during fiscal 

year 1991 to prepare the organization for its 

FFS implementation. These efforts paid off as 

PTO began FFS production in October of 

1991. This was a significant accomplishment 

in many respects. PTO was the largest nonDOI organization ($282 million in budget 

authority and 3,900 full-time employees) to 

implement the DOI version of FFS, and PTO 

used many FFS features that were not being 

used by any DOI bureau, such as printing of 

purchase orders and travel orders in FFS, 

requisition approvals on-line, and commodity 

orders. 

The WASC continues to maintain the 

DOI version of the FFS software, which is 

used by seven DOI bureaus and four nonDOI bureaus. Weekly meetings or conference 

calls are conducted by the WASC with all the 

DOI FFS customers to coordinate issues associated with the FFS and its operation at these 

organizations. The National Park Service, 

USGS, BIA, and PTO process their FFS 

transactions on the mainframe computer at 

the USGS in Reston, Va. In addition, the 

WASC also services the Administrative Office 

of the U.S. Courts on its version of FFS. The 

Denver Administrative Service Center (DASC) 

provides FFS computer services to the DOI 

bureaus and cross-serviced agencies located in 

the Denver, Colo., area. 

Interior Department Electronic Acquisition 

System.—The USGS is also managing the 

departmentwide implementation and maintenance of the Department of the Interior's 

standardized automated procurement system, 

IDEAS. The IDEAS project, which began in 

FY 1991, is a major component of the Department's overall efforts to streamline administrative systems and to eliminate costly and 

duplicative systems development and maintenance, and will also serve to improve DOI 

management controls over procurement data. 

Implementation of IDEAS throughout the 

Department will proceed on an incremental 

basis over a multiyear period. 

During fiscal year 1992, the WASC 

implemented the first module of this multiphase project. The Interior Procurement Data 

System (IPDS) was placed in production and 

made available to all bureaus as the first portion of IDEAS. The IPDS provides both the 

capability for all of the bureaus to input and 

retrieve individual and summary contract 

action information, as well as the capability 

for the Department to examine and aggregate 

all contractual actions and report them to the 

Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). 

Reporting requirements for both IPDS and 

FPDS are legislatively mandated. 

The WASC and other USGS staff, 

assisted by representatives of the Department 

and bureaus, also continued its efforts to competitively acquire the balance of the IDEAS 

software. A market review identified commercially available software as providing a significant portion of DOI's requirements. The 

acquisition of an existing commercially 

102 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
available system and customizing it to meet 

the remaining functionality requirements was 

validated through a benefit/cost analysis. A 

Request For Comment was circulated for 

Department and industry review and comment, and led to the issuance by the USGS of 

a Request For Proposal for IDEAS. Proposals 

were received, and the evaluation process 

began prior to the end of fiscal year 1992. 

Award of the IDEAS contract and initial 

implementation at the USGS's Office of Procurement and Contracts is anticipated during 

fiscal year 1993. 

Automated Personnel Processing for the 

Department of Education. —This year, the 

USGS and the Department of Education (ED) 

worked together to implement a modified 

version of the USGS Automated Personnel 

Actions System throughout the ED. Since 

both agencies are customers of the DOI payroll/personnel (Pay/Pers) system, many similar 

information processes simplified the modification effort. 

In use at USGS for a number of years, 

the system completely automates processing of 

the Government's Standard Form (SF) 52, the 

Request for Personnel Action. The application 

features two main subsystems: Requesting 

Office Subsystem (SF-52) and the Personnel 

Processing Subsystem (PERS). Users of SF-52 

may initiate requests for personnel actions, 

track the progress of the action as it is routed 

through the appropriate levels of approval, 

and then print reports of pending and completed actions. Users of PERS are within the 

personnel office. They process the requests 

by routing the action through the appropriate 

section (Classification, Recruitment and Placement, and Processing). The entire system 

provides for electronic paperless routing— 

ranging from the signature of the approving 

official to the circulation through proper 

channels of the personnel office. 

The collaborative effort to implement the 

system for ED consisted of a three-stage plan: 

preparation, pilot operation, and full production. Under the preparation stage, key personnel specialists worked together to analyze 

ED's flow of information and customize the 

system to meet their needs. At the same time, 

computer specialists identified equipment and 

facilities to support full operations, worked 

out a training plan, and established procedures to quickly answer user's questions (system hotline). Pilot operations, designed to test 

the system before full implementation, began 

in September 1991, and consisted of a successful trial run for 600 employees at ED 

headquarters in Washington, D.C. Scheduled 

to be fully implemented by the end of 1992, 

the system will support over 5,000 personnel 

at ED. 

Departmental AVADS.—During 1992, the 

USGS formally established partnerships with 

all DOI bureaus to develop and implement 

a departmentwide Automated Vacancy 

Announcement and Distribution System 

(AVADS). AVADS provides flexible and widespread electronic access to job information for 

all DOI vacancy announcements, both within 

the Department and for external job applicants. The USGS first implemented its own 

AVADS 4 years ago. This earlier version has 

been modified to meet the general requirements of all DOI bureaus, and the USGS is 

now assisting them in their efforts to bring 

the system into operation. To carry out this 

effort, the USGS has entered into interagency 

agreements with the DOI bureaus, which outline a program for technical assistance, comprehensive hands-on training, registration of 

users, and a coordinated implementation 

schedule. 

AVADS is extremely flexible. Job information can be directly accessed from the 

mainframe computer, distributed through 

automated downloads to personal-computer 

networks, or retrieved from stand-alone personal computers. AVADS consists of components that run on the USGS mainframe computer in Reston, Va., and IBM-compatible 

personal computers. On the mainframe computer, DOI personnel specialists enter vacancy 

announcements into a centralized data base. 

On a weekly basis, the information is electronically transferred across a computer network 

to several hundred personnel offices and designated distribution sites throughout the 

Department, where it can be accessed or further redistributed to employees. 

On the personal computer, a program 

called MicroAVADS provides a method for an 

applicant to search for and print vacancies 

based on bureau, geographical location, job 

series and (or) grade, without the need for 

access to the mainframe computer. The easyto-use program, along with the vacancy information, is distributed to the DOI personnel 

office locations. 

The primary strength of AVADS lies in 

its ability to distribute job vacancy information 

to a large number of potential job applicants. 

During a typical year, an estimated 10,000 

positions are open within the Department. 

The system assists applicants, who have more 

vacancies available to them, and hiring officials who have more applicants to choose 

from. In addition to a more widespread distribution of job information, the process is much 

faster than mailing and reproducing paper 

documents. 

Job opening information through 

AVADS is available to the general public, special interest minority and women's groups, 

The entire system 

provides for 

electronic 

paperless 

routing.. . 

Administration 103 
college placement offices, and campus recruitment centers at Historically Black Colleges 

and Universities (HBCU), Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), 

Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Community Colleges, and other 

schools of higher training. With a personal 

computer and modem, anyone can access the 

AVADS Bulletin Board System by dialing 

1-800-368-3321. This part of AVADS allows 

non-DOI job applicants to view and copy all 

DOI vacancy information, using selection criteria such as organization, location, job title, 

and salary range. 

At present, all USGS vacancies are 

included in the DOI AVADS, and three other 

bureaus have begun entering vacancies into 

the system; the remaining bureaus are at various stages of implementation. By the end of 

calendar 1992, all DOI bureaus are expected 

to have begun use of the system. This system 

is a major improvement in the Department's 

ability to reach its own employees, other 

Federal employees, and other applicants 

with current information on employment 

opportunities. 

Partnerships with Other 

DOI Bureaus 

By Joseph L. Murphy, John Walbert, and 

Deborah L. Burton 

I n its leadership role to implement and 

operate DOI's standard financial management system—the Federal Financial System 

(FFS)—the USGS has created an effective 

partnership with other DOI bureaus through 

the establishment of a departmental users 

group to guide the direction of systems development and implementation efforts for FFS. 

The FFS User Group serves as a communications forum among FFS users, the Washington Administrative Service Center (WASC), 

the Denver Administrative Service Center 

(DASC), and the Department's Office of 

Financial Management (PFM). It provides FFS 

users a means of regularly sharing information and a structure through which they may 

develop agreements on FFS matters. The FFS 

User Group also serves as a forum for users 

to make recommendations to PFM regarding 

FFS policies, and to the WASC, DASC, and 

other DOI bureaus regarding FFS procedures. The goal of the group is to promote 

and coordinate the continued development 

and operational improvement of FFS. Each 

DOI bureau using FFS, the WASC, the 

DASC, and PFM have one User Group member. In addition, any DOI bureau not using 

FFS is invited to attend the meetings. 

The USGS, together with DOI, initiated 

the action to establish a DOI FFS User Group 

during fiscal year 1989, with the initial FFS 

implementations at USGS and the Bureau of 

Reclamation (BOR). Initially, the WASC and 

the departmental Office of Financial Management served as co-chairs of the User Group. 

Beginning in fiscal year 1990, responsibility 

for chairing the group rotates among the DOI 

bureaus. As each bureau prepared for its own 

FFS implementation, they built upon the lessons learned from the experiences of USGS 

and BOR. At this stage, much time was spent 

in dealing with unique needs of individual 

bureaus and directing efforts to incorporate 

their requirements into FFS. As can be 

expected with any major change of this 

nature, the bureaus' primary concerns were to 

ensure that their needs would be adequately 

addressed. The WASC and the DASC worked 

with the other DOI bureaus to accomplish the 

successful implementation of FFS in subsequent fiscal years. As the number of FFS production bureaus has grown, so has the size of 

the User Group. As of fiscal year 1992, 7 of 

the 10 DOI bureaus were in production operations on FFS and active participants in the 

group, as well as one of the three remaining 

DOI bureaus yet to implement FFS. The primary functions of the User Group include 

identifying and prioritizing enhancements 

needed in FFS, determining how available 

enhancement funding should be applied, and 

reviewing proposed enhancement designs in 

terms of the bureaus' needs. The group also 

provides a mechanism for sharing the result 

of new software testing and determines the 

timing for installing each new FFS release. 

As the FFS operational community 

expanded, the agenda of technical issues also 

grew, and a separate group was established to 

act as the technical advisory arm of the User 

Group, the DOI Software Advisory Board 

(SAB). The SAB is composed of representatives from all of the DOI production bureaus, 

the DASC, and the WASC. The SAB provides 

technical support to the User Group in the 

areas of FFS software design development, 

testing, and implementation; develops a 

standard schedule for the installation of new 

releases of FFS software; recommends how 

available funding should be allocated to 

approved software modifications; and prepares consolidated recommendations on FFS 

design documents for approval of the FFS 

User Group. The SAB is also responsible for 

sharing the results of WASC, DASC, and 

bureau testing among the DOI bureaus and 

for quickly notifying all bureaus of a critical 

software problem. A charter for the SAB, 

written by the USGS, established a process for 

dealing with FFS software installations, as well 

as a process for evaluating, prioritizing, and 

104 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
designing enhancements to FFS. The bureaus 

adopted these processes as operating procedures. The SAB chairmanship rotates among 

the bureaus, the DASC, and the WASC. 

In fiscal year 1992, another departmentwide working group—the External Reports 

Committee—was formed to address numerous 

issues pertaining to FFS reports required by 

organizations outside of the DOI, for example, the Department of Treasury and the 

Office of Management and Budget (OMB). 

The External Reports Committee was formed 

with key personnel from each participating 

Interior Department FFS bureau. One of the 

challenges facing the committee was the different interpretations each bureau brought to 

the table regarding the system requirements 

for external reports. The WASC chaired this 

committee and facilitated the effort to reach 

agreement among the bureaus on how to handle all of the issues identified with each external report. Major enhancements were identified for the FFS version of the SF-133 

(Report on Budget Execution) and the SF-225 

(Report on Obligations). The bureaus also 

agreed upon a design to improve the efficiency of all FFS external reporting. All of 

these enhancements are now under development for DOI's FY 1993 release of the FFS. 

The USGS took a lead role in providing input 

and test results to the group on Treasury's 

220-series of annual reports, as well as the 

TFS-2108 Year-End Closing Report. 

The governmentwide FFS User Group 

also formed a similar committee to address 

these issues for all FFS Federal agency users. 

The DOI was represented by the WASC on 

this committee and provided leadership in 

documenting recommended designs for the 

enhancement of the FFS in this area. 

Employment Outreach 

By Richard C. Williams 

I n 1992, the USGS took steps to provide an enhanced and coordinated approach 

to recruitment through development of a 

plan for affirmative outreach to women, 

minorities, and the disabled. In concert with 

Workforce 2000 initiatives, the plan supports 

the formation of recruitment teams made up 

of managers, scientists, personnel specialists 

and role models to attend selected job fairs 

and college career days, visit with faculty and 

placement officials on targeted campuses, 

and host site visits from college and university 

representatives. 

Women, Minorities, and Persons with 

Disabilities.—The USGS continued to show 

progress in attracting women, minorities, and 

persons with disabilities to employment with 

the bureau through expanded outreach programs. The number of minority employees in 

the permanent work force increased 2.9 percent and the number of women increased 2.5 

percent during the year. The number of persons with disabilities in the USGS work force 

increased by 6.1 percent. 

A significant element of the USGS 

recruitment program continues to be its presence at national, regional, and local career 

fairs in support of women, minorities, and 

persons with disabilities. In 1992, USGS representatives attended and presented exhibits 

at numerous conferences including: the High 

Technology Minority and Women's Job Fair 

in Albuquerque, New Mex.; the Environmental Careers Organization Minority Conference 

in Atlanta, Ga.; the Federal Asian Pacific 

American Council (FAPAC) Conference in 

Bethesda, Md.; and the Organization of Chinese Americans National Convention in San 

Jose, Calif., as well as other HBCU and 

HACU sponsored activities. 

The USGS also participated in joint outreach programs with "sister" bureaus in the 

Department of the Interior, including the 

National IMAGE Conference in Albuquerque, 

New Mex.; the National Association for Equal 

Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) 

Conference in Washington, D.C.; and the 

Blacks in Government Conference, also in 

Washington, D.C. These efforts represent the 

beginning of new initiatives designed to 

encourage the "pooling" of shared resources 

by bureaus in conducting recruitment. 

The USGS continued to expand its relations with the Environmental Careers Organization, Inc., a nonprofit organization involved 

with establishing work-study partnerships for 

students pursuing degrees in the environmental and earth sciences. In 1992, the bureau 

used the services of eight women and minority students under this program. 

With the expansion of the USGS Automated Vacancy Announcement Distribution 

System (AVADS) and the addition of its companion feature, the AVADS Bulletin Board 

System (see p. 103), USGS vacancy information may now be accessed by non-Federal 

groups and individuals across the Nation by 

dialing 1-800-368-3321. The telephone number is listed on all recruitment brochures, displays, and literature, and has been distributed 

to special-interest minority and women's 

groups, college placement offices, and campus 

recruitment centers at HBCU's, HACU's, 

Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribally Controlled Community Colleges, and other 

schools of higher learning. 

As Workforce 2000 approaches, the 

USGS recognizes the need for strategic 

recruitment plans and expanded recruiting 

. . .USGS 

vacancy 

information may 

now be accessed 

by non-Federal 

groups and 

individuals 

across the 

Nation.. . 

Administration 105 
. . .USGS 

student 

employment 

programs 

provided 

opportunities 

for over 850 

students.. . 

efforts to attract qualified individuals who 

share a commitment to cultural diversity in 

the work force. 

Specialized Equipment and Services for 

Disabled Employees.— The bureau's Selective 

Placement Program Advisory Committee, 

composed of representatives from each division, identifies and implements initiatives 

designed to meet the equipment and service 

needs of disabled employees within the USGS. 

During the year, the committee approved a 

variety of funding requests in support of disabled employees, including purchase of the 

following: 

• Equipment designed to provide or enhance 

the mobility of individuals at their work 

station; 

• Ergo-arms for use by employees with wrist 

impairments who use computers to perform 

work assignments; 

• Additional Telecommunications Devices for 

the Deaf (TDD), including compact TDD's for 

use by disabled employees while on official 

travel; 

• New software that allows hearing impaired 

employees to utilize their computers as TDD's 

for communication purposes; 

• A computer system with sophisticated 

visual enhancements for visually impaired 

employees; 

• Sign language interpreting services for 

employees attending training courses; 

• "Teacher-aid" equipment for instructors 

who are hearing impaired; and 

• Microcomputer equipment, which allows 

hearing impaired employees to fully participate with hearing employees in training 

courses provided at the National Training 

Center. 

The committee also approved funding in 

support of a Conference on Accessible Technology in October 1992. This conference, the 

first of its kind within the Department of the 

Interior, provided information to managers 

and other attendees on state-of-the-art technology, electronics, and computerization for 

people with disabilities. Guest speakers and 

panelists addressed issues concerning the 

development and use of technology that 

enables persons with disabilities to function, 

compete, and excel in the work place. Vendors showcased a wide variety of equipment 

and computers designed to assist disabled 

employees. Plans are underway to convene 

similar conferences at other USGS centers in 

coming years. 

Students as Partners.—Student employment programs continue to provide highquality temporary staff in support of USGS 

mission requirements. Through cooperative 

education, disadvantaged-youth, and related 

employment programs, students have the 

opportunity to apply their academic skills in 

the real-world setting of scientific laboratories, 

field sites, and offices while earning money to 

continue their studies. 

In 1992, USGS student employment programs provided opportunities for over 850 

students to perform work assignments in a 

wide variety of activities, including the collection of geologic samples at geographically 

remote field locations, obtaining water samples and hydrologic data for laboratory analysis, and gathering other information about 

natural and manmade features, used in making topographic and geologic maps. 

About 300 students participated in the 

Stay-in-School and Federal Junior Fellowship 

Programs, which are designed to provide 

opportunities for financially needy youth to 

work and earn income so that they can continue their education. Over one-third of these 

students are minorities and over one-half are 

women. There were also significant increases 

in the number of individuals, including 

minorities and women, participating in cooperative education and other postsecondary 

student employment programs. Many of these 

students received permanent appointments 

with the USGS upon graduating from high 

school or college. 

In an effort to strengthen student as well 

as faculty employment programs and enhance 

cooperative partnerships in educational initiatives, the USGS has more than 150 partnership agreements with colleges and universities 

located nationwide, including schools which 

belong to the HACU as well as HBCU. 

106 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
ORGANIZATION OF THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

U.S. Department of the Interior 

WATER RESOURCES DIVISION 


Chief Hydrologist 


Associate Chief Hydrologist 


AssisteM Chief Hydrologist Aselatent Chief Hydrologist 

for Operations for Scientific Inform tion 

Ransomer* 

Assistant Chief Hydrologist 

for Research and External Ambient Chief Hydrologist 

Coordination for Program Coordination 

Offices and Technical Support 

Hydrologic Research Offices 

External Research Atmospheric Deposition 

Analysis 

Ground Water 

Surface Water 

AssistaM Chief Hydrologist Water Quality 

for Water Assessment and 
 Data Coordination 


Office 


Water Data Coordination 


Regional Offices 

Northeastern - Reston. VA 

Southeastern -Norcross, GA 

Central - Denver. CO 

Within - Menlo Park. CA 

District Offices 

ASSISTANT DIRECTORS 

Engineering Geology 

Programs 

Administration 

Research 

information Systems 

intergcriernmentml Affairs 

NATIONAL MAPPING DIVISION 

Chief 

Associate Chief 

Assistant Division Chief Assistant Division Chief 

for Program. Budget for Coordination end 

and Administration Requirements 

Offices Offices 


Budget and Program External Coordination 


Development Inlormation Resource 


Strategic Analysis Management 


Administration International Activities 


Fiscal Control 


Assistant Division Chief 

Assistant Division Chief far information and 

for Production Data Service. 

Management Offices 

Office. Earth Science 

Production Planning and Information 

Analysis Product Distribution 

Production and Policy 

Management Systems Publications Liaison and 

Production Contract Review 

Management 

Assistant Dhision Chief 

for Research 

Offices 

Geographic and 

Cartographic Research 


Systems Development 


Technical Management 


Field Centers 

Eastern Mapping - Reston. VA 

Mid-Continent Mapping • Rolle, MO 

Rocky Mountain Mapping - Denver. CO 

Western Mapping - Menlo Park. CA 

EROS Data - Slow Fails, SD 

DIRECTOR 

Associate Director 

STAFF OFFICES 

Washington Liaison 

Equal Employment 

Opportunity 

Congressional Liaison 

Public Affairs 

GEOLOGIC DIVISION 

Chief Geologist 


Associate Chief Geologist 


Assistant Chief Geologist for
 Program 


Office of Scientific Office of international Geology Publications 

Branches 

Eastern Technical Reports 

Central Technical Reports ARM Office of Regional Geology Western Technical Reports 


Library and Information Branches 


Services Eastern Regional Geology 


Visual Services 	 Central Regional Geology 


Western Regional Geology 


Isotope Geology 


Paleontology and Stratigraphy 


Office of Energy end Marine Astrogeology Geology 

Branches 

Coal Geology 

Petroleum Geology Office of Earthquakes. Volcanoes Sedimentary Geology and Engineering 

Pacific Marine Geology Branches Atlantic Marine Geology Tectonophysice 

Engineering Seismology and 

Geology 

Seismology 

Office of Mineral Resources Geologic Risk Assessment 

Branches Global Seismology and 

Geomagnetism Alaskan Geology igneous and Geothermal Eastern Mineral Resources 


Central Mineral Resources 
 Processes 

Western Mineral Resources 


Geochemistry 


Geophysics 


Resource Analysis 


Assistant Chief Geologists 

Eastern Region 

Control Region 

Western Region 

INFORMATION SYSTEMS 

DIVISION 

Chief 


Associate Chit 


Policy. Planning and 

C00r ination Staff 

Offices 

Management Services 

Customer Services 

Computer and 

Communications Services 

...1 

Office el Field Services 

Centers 


Denver, CO 


Menlo Park. CA 


Flagstaff, AZ 


ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION 

Chief 

d

Offices 

Fonanctal Management 

Facades and Management 

Services 

Systems Management 

Personnel 

Procurement end Contracts 

Adminostrative Sen.. Center 

Menegement Offices 

Central • Denver. CO 


Western • Menlo Park. CA 


wq3 

puo!

pz!ueSao O 
Budget Information 


USGS budget authority for fiscal year 1992, by appropriation, for surveys, investigations, and research (SIR) 

[Dollars in thousands] 

Fiscal year 

Activity/Subactivity/Program element 1992 

enacted 

National Mapping, Geography, and Surveys $132,612 

National Map and Digital Data Production 49,647 

Cartographic Data and Map Revision 41,629 

Thematic and Special Data 5,050 

National Map and Digital Data Cooperative Program 2,228 

SLAR (Side-Looking Airborne Radar) 

Information and Data Systems 


National Data Base Management 


Information Dissemination Services 


Global Change Data Systems 


Research and Technology 

Cartographic and Geographic Research 

National Cartographic Requirements, Coordination, 

and Standards 


Geographic and Spatial Information Analysis 


Geologic and Mineral Resource Surveys and Mapping 

Advanced Cartographic Systems r


Geologic Hazards Surveys 

Volcano Hazards 


Earthquake Hazards Reduction 

r


r


Landslide Hazards 


Geologic Framework and Processes 

National Geologic Mapping r


r


Deep Continental Studies 


Geomagnetism 


Coastal and Wetlands Processes 


Global Change Research 


Global Change and Climate History 


Offshore Geologic Surveys 


Mineral Resource Surveys 


Offshore Geologic Framework r


National Mineral Resource Assessment Program 25,914 

Fiscal year 

Activity/Subactivity/Program element 1992 

enacted 

Water Resources Investigations $183,915 

National Water Resources Research and Information 

System-Federal Programr 112,629 

Data Collection and Analysis r 24,355 

National Water Information Clearinghouse 3,251 

Coordination of National Water Data Activities 1,060 

Regional Aquifer System Analysis r 8,593 

Core Program Hydrologic Research r 10,261 

Improved Instrumentation r 1,731 

Water Resources Assessment r 1,652 

Toxic Substances Hydrology r 14,949 

Nuclear Waste Hydrology r 3,594 

Acid Rain r 3,196 

Scientific and Technical Publicationsr 2,346 

National Water-Quality Assessment Program 28,463 

Global Change Hydrology r 7,727 

Truckee-Carson Program r 1,451 

National Water Resources Research and Information 

System-Federal-State Cooperative Program 63,269 

Data Collection and Analysis, Areal Appraisals, and 

Special Studies r 59,210 

Water Use r 4,059 

National Water Resources Research and Information 

System-State Research Institutes and Research 

Grants Program r 8,017 

State Water Resources Research Institutes 5,576 

National Water Resources Research Grants Program 1,765 

Program Administration r 676 

General Administration 23,883 

Executive Direction r 7,184 

Administrative Operations r 14,247 

Reimbursements to the Department of Labor 2,452 

Facilities 20,241 

National Center-Rental Payments to GSA 17,100 

National Center-Facilities Management r 3,141 

Total, SIR $584,194 

740 

19,091 

7,170 

4,427 

7,494 

18,892 

8,557 

4,589 

5,746 

44,982 

223,543 

68,040 

50,336 

15,348 

2,356 

36,006 

21,993 

3,239 

1,828 

8,946 

11,021 

11,021 

28,031 

28,031 

50,296 

Strategic and Critical Minerals 

Development of Assessment Techniques 

Energy Geologic Surveys 

Evolution of Sedimentary Basins 

Coal Investigations 

Oil and Gas Investigations 

Oil Shale Investigations 

Uranium and Radon Investigations 

Geothermal Investigations 

World Energy Resource Assessment 

10,320 

14,062 

30,149 

6,979 

8,397 

6,034 

598 

1,976 

5,336 

829 

108 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
USGS budget for fiscal years 1989 to 1992, by activity and sources of funds' 

[Dollars in thousands; totals may not add because of rounding] 

Budget activity 1989 1990 1991 1992 

Total $670,897 $ 723,137 $802,538 $851,979 

Direct program r 451,988 '501,510 575,044 586,699 

Reimbursable program r 218,909 221,628 227,494 265,280 

States, counties, and municipalities r 69,577 74,113 87,415 89,950 

Miscellaneous non-Federal sources r 14,194 15,151 13,499 14,609 

Other Federal agencies r 135,138 132,363 126,580 160,721 

National Mapping, Geography, and Surveys 126,457 141,069 162,421 164,981 

Direct program r 94,235 111,528 132,395 132,612 

Reimbursable program r 32,222 29,542 30,026 32,369 

States, counties, and municipalities r 1,520 2,132 2,366 3,028 

Miscellaneous non-Federal sources r 10,804 10,278 9,722 10,633 

Other Federal agencies r 19,898 17,131 17,938 18,708 

Geologic and Mineral Resource Surveys and Mapping 215,882 241,739 261,513 267,642 

Direct program r 178,329 200,472 225,112 225,383 

Reimbursable program r 37,553 41,267 36,401 42,259 

States, counties, and municipalities r 961 1,917 2,661 3,077 

Miscellaneous non-Federal sources r 682 2,022 1,260 536 

Other Federal agencies r 35,910 37,328 32,480 38,646 

Water Resources Investigations 287,154 295,128 333,238 363,287 

Direct program r 145,635 152,904 177,969 184,489 

Reimbursable program r 141,520 142,224 155,269 178,798 

States, counties, and municipalities r 67,095 70,064 82,388 83,845 

Miscellaneous non-Federal sources r 2,700 2,839 2,503 3,424 

Other Federal agencies r 71,725 69,321 70,378 91,529 

General Administration 19,059 21,493 21,528 25,028 

Direct program r 16,330 18,081 21,206 23,883 

Reimbursable program r 2,729 3,412 322 1,145 

Miscellaneous non-Federal sources r 0 1 1 1 

Other Federal agencies r 2,729 3,411 321 1,144 

Facilities 17,450 18,502 18,314 20,304 

Direct program r 17,421 18,502 18,314 20,304 

Reimbursable program r 29 0 0 0 

Computer and Administrative Services 4,856 5,183 5,476 10,709 

Reimbursable program r 4,856 5,183 5,476 10,709 

Miscellaneous non-Federal sources r 7 11 13 15 

Other Federal agencies r 4,849 5,172 5,463 10,694 

Operation and Maintenance of Quarters 38 23 48 28 

Direct program r 38 23 48 28 

1 Direct program includes $584,194 for current year, $2,292 for no year, $185 for Contributed Funds, and $28 for Operation and Maintenance of Quarters. 

USGS reimbursable funds from other Federal agencies for fiscal years 1989 to 1992, by agency 

[Dollars in thousands; figures in parentheses are included in Department of the Interior totals] 

Budget activity 1989 1990 1991 1992 

Department of Agriculture r $ 3,638 $ 3,379 $ 3,464 $ 3,714 

Department of Commerce r 0 281 323 9 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration r 5,327 1,448 2,258 5,146 

Department of Defense r 40,478 41,257 42,002 56,461 

Department of Energy r 31,630 29,574 28,521 30,679 

Bonneville Power Administration r 311 358 159 217 

Department of the Interior r 14,076 12,728 12,533 12,451 

Bureau of Indian Affairs r (2,190) (2,018) (1,834) (1,347) 

Bureau of Land Management r (1,317) (1,239) (1,256) (1,508) 

Bureau of Mines r (0) (24) (0) (0) 

Bureau of Reclamation r (5,926) (6,119) (6,259) (5,990) 

Minerals Management Service r (222) (32) (76) (207) 

National Park Service r (1,304) (883) (1,036) (1,107) 

Office of the Secretary r (2,206) (1,343) (1,549) (1,551) 

Office of Surface Mining r (264) (106) (67) (8) 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service r (648) (964) (456) (733) 

Department of State r 10,082 8,144 8,279 10,524 

Department of Transportation r 1,479 362 299 661 

Environmental Protection Agency r 3,096 5,279 4,302 6,414 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration r 4,952 5,607 6,270 9,589 

National Science Foundation r 630 2,328 625 1,838 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission r 1,797 1,917 1,441 539 

Tennessee Valley Authority r 170 217 200 275 

Miscellaneous Federal agencies r 17,472 19,484 15,904 22,204 

Total $135,139 $132,363 $126,580 $160,721 

Budget Information 109 
Guide to Information and Publications 


Earth Science Information 

Centers 

To obtain information on cartographic data 

and on earth science programs, publications, and 

services, or to obtain copies of reports and maps, 

write or visit U.S. Geological Survey Earth Science 

Information Centers at the following addresses: 

Alaska: 

Room 101 


4230 University Dr. 


Anchorage, AK 99508 


Box 12, New Federal Bldg. 


101 12th Ave. 


Fairbanks, AK 99701 


California: 

Bldg. 3, Room 3128 


345 Middlefield Rd., Mail Stop 532 


Menlo Park, CA 94025 


Colorado: 

Bldg. 25, Room 1813 


Box 25046 


Denver Federal Center, Mail Stop 504 


Denver, CO 80225 


District of Columbia: 

Main Interior Bldg., Room 2650 


1849 C St., NW. 


Washington, DC 20240 


(When visiting, use E St. entrance.) 


Mississippi: 

Bldg. 3101 


Stennis Space Center 


Bay St. Louis, MS 39529 


Missouri: 

Room 231 


1400 Independence Rd. 


Rolla, MO 65401 


South Dakota: 

EROS Data Center 


Sioux Falls, SD 57198 


Utah: 

8105 Federal Bldg. 


125 S. State St. 


Salt Lake City, UT 84138 


Virginia: 

Room 1C-402 


507 National Center 


12201 Sunrise Valley Dr. 


Reston, VA 22092 


Washington: 

U.S. Post Office Bldg., Room 135 

W. 904 Riverside Ave. 


Spokane, WA 99201 


USGS Library System 

The USGS Library system is one of the largest 

earth science collections in the world and contains 

more than one million monographs, serial publications, maps, and microforms. The collection covers 

all aspects of the geological sciences and related 

subjects. An online catalog provides public access. 

The library honors the standard interlibrary loan 

request forms as well as requests received online 

from the Interlibrary Loan System of the On-Line 

Computer Library Center. Information and reference services are available from the following 

library locations: 

USGS Library 

950 National Center 

Reston, VA 22092 

USGS Library 

Mail Stop 955 (Bldg. 5, Room 507) 

345 Middlefield Rd. 

Menlo Park, CA 94025 

USGS Library 

2255 N. Gemini Dr. 

Flagstaff, AZ 86001 

USGS Library 

Mail Stop 914, Box 25046 

Denver Federal Center 

Denver, CO 80225 

Water Information 

Sources of Water Data 

To obtain assistance in locating sources of 

water data, identifying sites at which data have been 

collected, and obtaining specific information, write: 

National Water Data Exchange 

U.S. Geological Survey 

421 National Center 

Reston, VA 22092 

Water-Data Aquisition Activities 

To obtain information on ongoing and planned 

water-data acquisition activities of all Federal agencies and many non-Federal organizations, write: 

Office of Water Data Coordination 

U.S. Geological Survey 

417 National Center 

Reston, VA 22092 

Water Resources of Specific Areas 

To obtain information on water resources in 

general and about the water resources of specific 

areas of the United States, write: 

Hydrologic Information Unit 

U.S. Geological Survey 

419 National Center 

Reston, VA 22092 

Geologic Information 

General Geology 

To obtain information on geologic topics such 

as earthquakes and volcanoes, energy and mineral 

resources, the geology of specific areas, and geologic maps and mapping, write: 

Geologic Inquiries Group 

U.S. Geological Survey 

907 National Center 

Reston, VA 22092 

Mineral Resources 

To obtain information on mineral resources, 

write or visit: 

Minerals Information Office* 

Main Interior Bldg., Room 2647 

1849 C St., NW. 

Washington, DC 20240 

*Joint venture of the USGS and the U.S. Bureau 

of Mines. 

Minerals Information Office, USGS 

340 N. 6th Ave. 

Tucson, AZ 85705 

Minerals Information Office, USGS 

do Mackay School of Mines 

University of Nevada, Reno 

Reno, NV 89557-0047 

Minerals Information Office, USGS 

Post Office Bldg., Room 133 

W. 904 Riverside Dr. 

Spokane, WA 99201 

Maps and Books 

To buy topographic and thematic maps of all 

areas of the United States, to request USGS catalogs, pamphlets, leaflets, and circulars (limited 

quantities free), and to buy USGS book publications, write or visit: 

USGS Map Distribution 

Box 25286, Bldg. 810 

Denver Federal Center 

Denver, CO 80225 

To buy Alaska maps, residents of Alaska may 

write or visit: 

Earth Science Information Center 

Box 12, New Federal Bldg. 

101 12th Ave. 

Fairbanks, AK 99701 

Open-File Reports 

To buy USGS open-file reports or to obtain 

information on the availability of microfiche or 

paper-duplicate copies of open-file reports, write: 

ESIC Open-File Report Sales 

Box 25286, Bldg. 810 

Denver Federal Center, Mail Stop 517 

Denver, CO 80225 

Periodicals 

New Publications 

To get on the mailing list for the monthly list 

of New Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey 

(free), write: 

Distribution Support Section 

U.S. Geological Survey 

582 National Center 

Reston, VA 22092 

Earthquakes & Volcanoes 

To subscribe to Earthquakes & Volcanoes, a 

bimonthly, nontechnical digest that provides up-todate information on earthquakes, volcanoes, and 

related natural hazards around the world, write: 

Superintendent of Documents 

Government Printing Office 

Washington, DC 20402 

110 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
U.S. Geological Survey Offices 


[Information current as of April 1993] 

Headquarters Offices Central Region Western Region 

National Center Denver Federal Center 345 Middlefield Rd. 

12201 Sunrise Valley Drive Box 25046 Menlo Park, CA 94025 

Reston, VA 22092 Denver, CO 80225 

Office of the Director 

Director Dallas L. Peck (703) 648-7411 101 National Center 

Associate Director Doyle G. Frederick (703) 648-7412 102 National Center 

Special Assistant (Washington Liaison) and Deputy Jane H. Wallace (202) 343-3888 Rm. 2648, Interior Bldg. 

Ethics Counselor Washington, DC 20240 

Assistant Director for Research Stephen E. Ragone (703) 648-4450 104 National Center 

Assistant Director for Engineering Geology James F. Devine (703) 648-4423 106 National Center 

Assistant Director for Administration Jack J. Stassi (703) 648-7200 201 National Center 

Assistant Director for Programs Peter F. Bermel (703) 648-4430 105 National Center 

Assistant Director for Intergovernmental Affairs John J. Dragonetti (703) 648-4427 109 National Center 

Assistant Director for Information Systems James E. Biesecker (703) 648-7108 801 National Center 

Congressional Liaison Officer Talmadge W. Reed (703) 648-4457 112 National Center 

Chief, Public Affairs Office Donovan B. Kelly (703) 648-4460 119 National Center 

Equal Employment Opportunity Officer Bruce D. Palmer (703) 648-4417 116 National Center 

Special Assistant to the Director for Human Resources J. Lynn Smith (703) 648-7111 115 National Center 

Director's Representative--Central Region Harry A. Tourtelot (303) 236-5438 911 Denver Federal Center 

Director's Representative--Western Region George Gryc (415) 329-4002 Western Region, Stop 144 

Special Assistant to the Director for Alaska Paul D. Brooks (907) 271-4138 4230 University Drive, Suite 120 

Anchorage, AK 99508 

Administrative Division 

Chief Jack J. Stassi (703) 648-7200 201 National Center 

Administrative Officer Louie Pectol (703) 648-7204 203 National Center 

Office of Personnel, Chief Maxine C. Millard (703) 648-7442 215 National Center 

Office of Procurement and Contracts, Chief John K. Peterson (703) 648-7373 205 National Center 

Office of Financial Management, Chief Vacant (703) 648-7604 270 National Center 

Office of Facilities and Management Services, Chief William F. Gossman, Jr. (703) 648-7338 207 National Center 

Office of Systems Management, Chief Phillip L. McKinney (703) 648-7256 206 National Center 

Washington Administrative Service Center, Chief Phillip L. McKinney (703) 648-7256 206 National Center 

Central Regional Management Officer F.B. Sower (303) 236-5900 201 Denver Federal Center 

Western Regional Management Officer George F. Hargrove, Jr. (415) 329-4150 Western Region, Stop 211 

Information Systems Division 

Chief James E. Biesecker (703) 648-7108 801 National Center 

Deputy Chief Wendy A. Budd (703) 648-7103 801 National Center 

Office of Customer Services, Chief Virginia L. Ross (703) 648-7178 805 National Center 

Office of Computer and Communications Services, Charles D. Nethaway (703) 648-7077 807 National Center 

Chief 

Office of Management Services, Chief Eliot Christian (703) 648-7245 802 National Center 

Office of Field Services, Chief Doug R. Posson (303) 236-4944 801 Denver Federal Center 

National Mapping Division 

Chief Allen H. Watkins (703) 648-5748 516 National Center 

Associate Chief Roy R. Mullen (703) 648-5745 516 National Center 

Assistant Division Chief for Research Joel L. Morrison (703) 648-4640 519 National Center 

Assistant Division Chief for Program, Budget and Richard E. Witmer (703) 648-4611 514 National Center 

Administration 

Assistant Division Chief for Information and Data Gary W. North (703) 648-5780 508 National Center 

Services 

Assistant Division Chief for Coordination and Require- Gene A. Thorley (703) 648-5742 590 National Center 

ments 

Assistant Division Chief for Production Management James R. Plasker (703) 648-4146 511 National Center 

Eastern Mapping Center, Chief K. Eric Anderson (703) 648-6002 567 National Center 

U.S. Geological Survey Offices 111 
National Mapping Division—Continued 

Mid-Continent Mapping Center, Chief Merle E. Southern (314) 341-0880 1400 Independence Rd., 

Rolla, MO 65401 

Rocky Mountain Mapping Center, Chief Randle W. Olsen (303) 236-5825 510 Denver Federal Center 

Western Mapping Center, Chief John R. Swinnerton (415) 329-4254 Western Region, Stop 531 

Earth Resources Observation Systems Data Center, Donald T. Lauer (605) 594-6123 EROS Data Center 

Chief Sioux Falls, SD 57198 

Geologic Division 

Chief Geologist Benjamin A. Morgan (703) 648-6600 911 National Center 

Associate Chief Geologist David P. Russ (703) 648-6601 911 National Center 

Assistant Chief Geologist for Program Bonnie McGregor (703) 648-6640 910 National Center 

Administrative Officer Elwood H. Like (703) 648-6611 912 National Center 

Human Resources Officer John D. McGurk (703) 648-6628 911 National Center 

Office of Scientific Publications, Chief John M. Aaron (703) 648-6077 904 National Center 

Office of Regional Geology, Chief Mitchell W. Reynolds (703) 648-6959 908 National Center 

Office of Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Engineering, Robert L. Wesson (703) 648-6714 905 National Center 

Chief 

Office of Energy and Marine Geology, Chief Gary W. Hill (703) 648-6470 915 National Center 

Office of Mineral Resources, Chief, Acting Willis H. White (703) 648-6100 913 National Center 

Office of International Geology, Chief A. Thomas Ovenshine (703) 648-6047 917 National Center 

Assistant Chief Geologist, Eastern Region Nancy Milton (703) 648-6660 953 National Center 

Assistant Chief Geologist, Central Region Harry A. Tourtelot (303) 236-5438 911 Denver Federal Center 

Assistant Chief Geologist, Western Region William R. Normark (415) 329-5101 Western Region, Stop 19 

Water Resources Division 

Chief Hydrologist Philip Cohen (703) 648-5215 409 National Center 

Associate Chief Hydrologist John N. Fischer (703) 648-5216 408 National Center 

Assistant Chief Hydrologist for Scientific Information James F. Daniel (703) 648-5699 440 National Center 

Management 

Assistant Chief Hydrologist for Operations William B. Mann IV (703) 648-5031 441 National Center 

Assistant Chief Hydrologist for Research and External Robert M. Hirsch (703) 648-5041 436 National Center 

Coordination 

Office of Hydrologic Research, Chief Roger G. Wolff (703) 648-5043 436 National Center 

Office of External Research, Chief John E. Schefter (703) 648-6800 424 National Center 

Assistant Chief Hydrologist for Program Coordination Verne R. Schneider (703) 648-5229 414 National Center 

and Technical Support 

Office of Atmospheric Deposition Analysis, Chief Ranard J. Pickering (703) 648-6874 416 National Center 

Office of Ground Water, Chief William M. Alley (703) 648-5001 411 National Center 

Office of Surface Water, Chief Charles W. Boning (703) 648-5301 415 National Center 

Office of Water Quality, Chief David A. Rickert (703) 648-6862 412 National Center 

Assistant Chief Hydrologist for Water Assessment and David W. Moody (703) 648-6856 407 National Center 

Data Coordination 

Office of Water Data Coordination, Chief Nancy C. Lopez (703) 648-5019 417 National Center 

Northeastern Region, Chief Stanley P. Sauer (703) 648-5817 433 National Center 

New England Programs, Chief Ivan C. James II (508) 490-5002 28 Lord Rd., Suite 280 

Marlborough, MA 01752 

Mid-Atlantic Programs, Chief Herbert J. Freiberger (410) 828-1535 208 Carroll Bldg. 

8600 La Salle Rd. 

Towson, MD 21204 

Mid-East Programs, Chief Donald E. Vaupel (609) 771-3902 810 Bear Tavern Rd., Suite 206 

West Trenton, NJ 08628 

Ohio Valley Programs, Chief Catherine L. Hill (317) 290-3333 5957 Lakeside Blvd. 

Indianapolis, IN 46278 

Western Great Lakes Programs, Chief Daniel P. Bauer (608) 274-3535 6417 Normandy Ln. 

Madison, WI 53719 

Southeastern Region, Chief James L. Cook (404) 409-7700 Suite 160 

Spalding Woods Office Park 

Norcross, GA 30092 

Southeast Programs, Chief Michael W. Gaydos (404) 409-7700 Suite 160 

Spalding Woods Office Park 

Norcross, GA 30092 

112 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Water Resources Division—Continued 

Southeastern Region—Continued 

Lower Mississippi Programs, Chief Wanda C. Meeks (501) 378-6391 2301 Federal Office Bldg. 

700 W. Capitol Ave. 

Little Rock, AR 72201 

Florida-Caribbean Programs, Chief Irwin H. Kantrowitz (904) 681-7631 227 N. Bronough St., Suite 3015 

Tallahassee, FL 32301 

Central Region, Chief James F. Blakey (303) 236-5920 406 Denver Federal Center 

Midwest Programs, Chief James E. Kircher (913) 832-3567 4821 Quail Crest Pl. 

Lawrence, KS 66049 

North Central Programs, Chief William J. Herb (612) 783-3107 2280 Woodale Dr. 

Mounds View, MN 55112 

Rocky Mountain Programs, Chief Charles A. Pascale (303) 236-4882 415 Denver Federal Center 

Box 25046 

Denver, CO 80225 

Southwest Programs, Chief Charles R. Burchett (512) 873-3004 8011 Cameron Rd., Bldg. 1 

Austin, TX 78753 

Western Region, Chief T. John Conomos (415) 329-4403 Western Region, Stop 470 

Pacific Northwest Programs, Chief Marvin 0. Fretwell (206) 593-6510 1201 Pacific Ave., Suite 600 

Tacoma, WA 98402 

Great Basin Programs, Chief William J. Carswell, Jr. (702) 887-7600 333 W. Nye Ln., Room 203 

Carson City, NV 89706 

California-Pacific Programs, Chief John M. Klein (916) 978-5529 Rm. W-2234 Federal Bldg. 

2800 Cottage Way 

Sacramento, CA 95825 

District Offices 

Alabama Hillary H. Jeffcoat (205) 752-8104 520 19th Ave. 

Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 

Alaska Philip J. Carpenter (907) 786-7110 4230 University Dr., Suite 201 

Anchorage, AK 99508 

Arizona Robert D. MacNish (602) 670-6671 375 S. Euclid Ave. 

Tucson, AZ 85719 

Arkansas Ector E. Gann (501) 324-6391 2301 Federal Office Bldg. 

700 W. Capitol Ave. 

Little Rock, AR 72201 

California John M. Klein (916) 978-5529 Rm. W-2234 Federal Bldg. 

2800 Cottage Way 

Sacramento, CA 95825 

Colorado David J. Lystrom (303) 236-4882 415 Denver Federal Center 

Box 25046 

Denver, CO 80225 

Connecticut Chester E. Thomas, Jr. (203) 240-3060 Rm. 525 

Abraham A. Ribicoff Federal Bldg. 

450 Main St. 

Hartford, CT 06103 

Delaware (See Maryland) 

District of Columbia (See Maryland) 

Florida John Vecchioli (904) 681-7631 227 N. Bronough St., Suite 3015 

Tallahassee, FL 32301 

Georgia Timothy W. Hale (404) 903-9100 Suite 130, Peachtree Business Center 

3039 Amwiler Rd. 

Atlanta, GA 30360 

Hawaii William Meyer (808) 541-2653 677 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 415 

Honolulu, HI 96813 

Idaho Jerry L. Hughes (208) 334-1750 230 Collins Rd. 

Boise, ID 83702 

Illinois Stephen F. Blanchard (217) 398-5350 102 E. Main St., 4th Floor 

Urbana, IL 61801 

Indiana Jo Ann Macy (317) 290-3333 5957 Lakeside Blvd. 

Indianapolis, IN 46278 

Iowa Norwood B. Melcher (319) 337-4191 P.O. Box 1230 

Rm. 269, Federal Bldg. 

400 S. Clinton St. 

Iowa City, IA 52244 

Kansas Richard A. Herbert (913) 832-3505 4821 Quail Crest Pl. 

Lawrence, KS 66049 

U.S. Geological Survey Offices 113 
Water Resources Division —Continued 

District Offices—Continued 

Kentucky Alfred L. Knight (502) 582-5241 2301 Bradley Ave. 

Louisville, KY 40217 

Louisiana Darwin D. Knochenmus (504) 389-0281 3535 S. Sherwood Blvd., 

Suite 120 

Baton Rouge, LA 70816 

Maine Derrill J. Cowing (207) 622-8201 26 Ganneston Dr. 

Augusta, ME 04330 

Maryland James G. Peters (410) 828-1535 208 Carroll Bldg. 

8600 La Salle Rd. 

Towson, MD 21204 

Massachusetts Michael C. Yurewicz (508) 490-5003 28 Lord Rd., Suite 280 

Marlborough, MA 01752 

Michigan Cynthia Barton (517) 377-1608 6520 Mercantile Way, Suite 5 

Lansing, MI 48911 

Minnesota George Garklays (612) 783-3100 2280 Woodale Dr. 

Mounds View, MN 55112 

Mississippi Gerald L. Ryan (601) 965-4600 Suite 710, Federal Bldg. 

100 W. Capitol St. 

Jackson, MS 39269 

Missouri Marvin G. Sherrill (314) 341-0825 1400 Independence Rd., Stop 200 

Rolla, MO 65401 

Montana Joe A. Moreland (406) 449-5302 Drawer 10076, Rm. 428, Federal Bldg. 

301 S. Park Ave. 

Helena, MT 59626 

Nebraska Michael V. Shulters (402) 437-5082 Rm. 406, Federal Bldg. 

100 Centennial Mall, North 

Lincoln, NE 68508 

Nevada Jon 0. Nowlin (702) 887-7600 333 W. Nye Ln., Rm. 224 

Carson City, NV 89706 

New Hampshire Brian Mrazik (603) 225-1611 525 Clinton St. 

Bow, NH 03304 

New Jersey Janice R. Ward (609) 771-3931 810 Bear Tavern Rd., Suite 206 

West Trenton, NJ 08628 

New Mexico Russell K. Livingston (505) 262-5301 Pinetree Office Park, Suite 200 

4501 Indian School Rd., NE. 

Albuquerque, NM 87110 

New York L. Grady Moore (518) 472-6567 P.O. Box 1669 

343 U.S. Post Office and Courthouse 

Albany, NY 12201 

North Carolina James F. Turner (919) 571-4044 3916 Sunset Rd. 

P.O. Box 30728 

Raleigh, NC 27622 

North Dakota William F. Horak, Jr. (701) 250-4601 821 E. Interstate Ave. 

Bismarck, ND 58501 

Ohio Steven M. Hindall (614) 469-5553 975 W. Third Ave. 

Columbus, OH 43212 

Oklahoma Kathy D. Peter (405) 231-4256 202 N.W. 66th, Bldg. 7 

Oklahoma City, OK 73116 

Oregon Marvin 0. Fretwell (503) 251-3200 10615 S.E. Cherry Blossom Dr. 

Portland, OR 97216 

Pennsylvania David E. Click (717) 730-6910 840 Market St. 

Lemoyne, PA 17043 

Puerto Rico Allen L. Zack (809) 749-4433 P.O. Box 364424 

GSA Center, Bldg. 652 

Hwy. 28, Km. 7.2, Pueblo Viejo 

San Juan, PR 00936 

Rhode Island (See Massachusetts) 

South Carolina Glenn G. Patterson (803) 750-6100 Stephenson Center, Suite 129 

720 Gracern Rd. 

Columbia, SC 29210 

South Dakota Kenneth L. Lindskov (605) 394-1781 1608 Mountain View Rd. 

Rapid City, SD 57702 

Tennessee Ferdinand Quinones­ (615) 736-5424 810 Broadway, Suite 500 

Marquez Nashville, TN 37203 

114 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Water Resources Division — Continued 

District Offices—Continued 

Texas Richard 0. Hawkinson (512) 873-3028 8011 Cameron Rd., Bldg. A 

Austin, TX 78754 

Utah Harvey L. Case III (801) 975-3405 Rm. 1016, Administration Bldg. 

1745 W. 1700 South 

Salt Lake City, UT 84104 

Vermont (See New Hampshire) 

Virginia Gary S. Anderson (804) 771-2427 3600 W. Broad St., Rm. 606 

Richmond, VA 23230 

Washington Carl R. Goodwin (206) 593-6510 1201 Pacific Ave., Suite 600 

Tacoma, WA 98402 

West Virginia David P. Brown (304) 347-5131 603 Morris St. 

Charleston, WV 25301 

Wisconsin Warren A. Gebert (608) 276-3801 6417 Normandy Ln. 

Madison, WI 53719 

Wyoming Barney D. Lewis (307) 772-2728 2617 E. Lincolnway, Suite B 

Cheyenne, WY 82001 

U.S. Geological Survey Offices 115 
Cooperators and Other Financial Contributors 


Cooperators listed are those with whom the 

USGS had a written agreement cosigned by USGS 

officials and officials of the cooperating agency for 

financial cooperation in fiscal year 1992. Parent 

agencies are listed separately from their subdivisions whenever there are separate cooperative 

agreements for different projects with a parent 

agency and with a subdivision of it. Agencies are 

listed in alphabetical order under the State or territory where they have cooperative agreements with 

the USGS. Agencies with whom the USGS has 

research contracts and to whom it supplied research 

funds are not listed. 

Cooperating office of the U.S. Geological Survey 

g—Geologic Division 

n—National Mapping Division 

w—Water Resources Division 

Alabama 

Alabama Department of— 

Economic and Community Affairs (w), 

Emergency Management (w), 

Environmental Management (w), 

Highways, Departments No. 1, 2, and 6 (w); 

Anniston, City of (w); 


Birmingham, City of (w); 


Blountsville, Town of (w); 


Covington, County of (w); 


Geological Survey of Alabama (n,w); 


Huntsville, City of (w); 


Jefferson County Commission (w); 


Mobile, City of (w); 


Montgomery, City of (w); 


Parrish, Town of (w); 


Sumter, County of (w); 


Tuscaloosa, City of (w); 


University of Alabama—Tuscaloosa (w) 


Alaska 

Alaska Department of— 

Fish and Game (w), 

Natural Resources, Division of Water (w), 

Transportation (w); 

Alaska Energy Authority (w); 


Alaska Industrial Development and Export 


Authority (w); 

Alaska Mineral Appraisal Program (g); 

Anchorage, Municipality of (w); 

Annette Islands Reserve Tribal Government (g); 

Cordova, City of (w); 

Juneau, City and Borough of (w); 

Kenai Peninsula Borough (w); 

Sitka, City and Borough of (w); 

University of Alaska, Fairbanks (g,w) 

American Samoa 

Environmental Protection Agency of American 

Samoa (w); 

Power Authority (w) 

Arizona 

Arizona Department of— 

Environmental Quality (w), 

Water Resources (w); 

Arizona State University (g); 


Cochise County Flood Control District (w); 


Gila Valley Irrigation District (w); 


Gila Water Commissioner, Office of (w); 


Hualapai Indian Tribe (w); 


Hopi Tribe Department of Natural Resources (w); 


Maricopa County— 


Flood Control District (w), 

Water District (w); 

Metropolitan Water District of Southern 

California (w); 

Navajo Nation (w); 

Pima County Department of Transportation (w); 

Safford, City of, Water, Gas, and Sewer 

Department (w); 

Salt River Project (w); 

Scottsdale, City of, Water Resources Department 

(w); 

Show Low Irrigation Company (w); 

Tucson, City of (w) 

Arkansas 

Arkansas Department of— 

Parks and Tourism (w), 

Pollution Control and Ecology (w); 

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Fisheries 

Division (w); 

Arkansas Geological Commission (n,w); 

Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation 

Commission (w); 

Arkansas State Highway and Transportation 

Department (w); 

Arkansas-Oklahoma: Arkansas River Compact 

Commission (w); 

Fort Smith, City of (w); 

Independence, County of (w); 

Little Rock— 

Municipal Water Works (w), 

Public Works Department (w); 

Rogers, City of, Water Utilities Department (w); 

Saline County Rural Development Authority (w); 

University of Arkansas— 

at Fayetteville (w), 


at Little Rock (w) 


California 

Adelanto, City of (w); 

Alameda County— 

Flood Control and Water Conservation District 

(Hayward) (w), 

Water District (w); 

Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency (w); 

California Department of— 

Boating and Waterways (w), 


Fish and Game (w), 


Parks and Recreation (w), 


Pesticide Regulation (w), 


Transportation (w), 


Water Resources (w); 


California Water Resources Control Board (w); 


Calleguas Municipal Water District (w); 


Carpinteria County Water District (w); 


Casitas Municipal Water District (w); 


Channel Islands Beach Community Services (w); 


Coachella Valley Water District (w); 


Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water 


Conservation District (w); 

Crestline-Lake Arrowhead Water Agency (w); 

Desert Water Agency (w); 

East Bay Municipal Utility District (w); 

Eastern Municipal Water District (w); 

Georgetown Divide Public Utility District (w); 

Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control 

District (g); 

Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District (w); 

Imperial County Department of Public Works (w); 

Imperial Irrigation District (w); 

Indian Wells Valley Water District (w); 

Los Angeles, County of (w); 

Louisiana State University and A&M College (w); 

Madera Irrigation District (w); 

Marin Municipal Water District (w); 

Mendocino County Water Agency (w); 

Merced, City of (w); 

Merced Irrigation District (w); 

Metropolitan Water District (w); 

Mojave Water Agency (w); 

Mono, County of (w); 


Montecito Water District (w); 


Monterey County Water Resources Agency (w); 


Monterey Peninsula Water Management District 


(w); 

Orange County Water District (w); 

Pala Band of the Mission Indians (w); 

Palmdale, City of (w); 

Palo Alto, City of (w); 

Pechanga Indian Reservation (w); 

Riverside County Flood Control and Water 

Conservation District (w); 

Sacramento Municipal Utility District (w); 

Sacramento County Department of Public Works 

(w); 

San Benito County Water District (w); 

San Bernardino County Flood Control District (w); 

San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water 

District (w); 

San Diego, City of (w); 

San Diego County Department of Public Works 

(w); 

San Francisco, City and County of (w); 

San Francisco Water Department (w); 

San Luis Obispo County Engineering 

Department (w); 

San Mateo County Department of Public 

Works (w); 

Santa Barbara, City of, Department of Public 

Works (w); 

Santa Barbara County— 

Flood Control and Water Conservation 

District (w), 

Water Agency (w); 

Santa Clara Valley Water District (w); 

Santa Cruz, City of (w); 

Santa Cruz County Flood Control and Water 

Conservation District (w); 

Santa Maria Valley Water Conservation District (w); 

Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District (w); 

Scotts Valley Water District (w); 

Sonoma County— 

Planning Department (w), 

Water Agency (w); 

Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (w); 

Tulare County Flood Control District (w); 

Turlock Irrigation District (w); 

United Water Conservation District (w); 

University of California— 

at Berkeley (g), 

at Davis (g), 

at Santa Barbara (g), 

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (g); 

Ventura County Public Works Agency (w); 

Water Master—Santa Margarita (w); 

Water Replenishment District of Southern 

California (w); 

Woodbridge Irrigation District (w); 

Yolo County Flood Control and Water 

Conservation District (w); 

Yuba County Water Agency (w) 

Colorado 

Arapahoe County Water and Wastewater (w); 


Arkansas River Compact Administration (w); 


Aspen, City of (w); 


Aurora, City of (w); 


Bent, County of (w); 


Boulder, City of (w); 


Boulder, County of (w); 


Breckenridge, Town of (w); 


Centennial Water and Sanitation District (w); 


Cherokee Water and Sanitation District (w); 


116 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Colorado Department of— 

Health (w), 

Natural Resources, Oil and Gas Conservation 

Commission (w), 

Transportation (w); 

Colorado Division of— 

Water Resources, Office of the State 

Engineer (w), 

Wildlife (w); 

Colorado River Water Conservation District (w); 

Colorado School of Mines (g); 

Colorado Springs, City of— 

Department of Public Utilities (w), 

Engineering Division (w); 

Colorado Water Conservation Board (w); 

Delta County Board of Commissioners (w); 

Denver Board of Water Commissioners (w); 

Eagle County Board of Commissioners (w); 

East Grand County Water Quality Board (w); 

Englewood, City of (w); 

Evergreen Metropolitan District (w); 

Fort Collins, City of, Water and Wastewater (w); 

Fountain Valley Authority (w); 

Fremont Sanitation District (w); 

Garfield, County of (w); 

Glendale, City of (w); 

Glenwood Springs, City of (w); 

Lakewood, City of (w); 

Lamar, City of (w); 

Las Animas, City of (w); 

Longmont, City of (w); 

Loveland, City of (w); 

Lower Fountain Water-Quality Management 

Association (w); 

Metropolitan Wastewater Reclamation District (w); 

Moffat, County of (w); 

Northern Colorado Water Conservation District (w); 

Pueblo Board of Water Works (w); 

Pueblo, City of, Department of Utilities (w); 

Pueblo County Commissioners (w); 

Pueblo West Metropolitan District (w); 

Rio Blanco, County of (w); 

Rio Blanco Water Conservation District (w); 

Rio Grande Water Conservation District (w); 

Rocky Ford, City of (w); 

St. Charles Mesa Water District (w); 

San Juan Basin Oil and Gas Coordinating 

Committee (g); 

Southern Ute Indian Tribe (g,w); 

Southwestern Colorado Water Conservation 

District (w); 

Steamboat Springs, City of, Public Works 

Department (w); 

Teller-Park Soil Conservation District (w); 

Thornton, City of (w); 

Trinchera Water Conservation District (w); 

Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association (w); 

University of Colorado (g); 

Upper Arkansas Council of Governments (w); 

Upper Arkansas River Water Conservation 

District (w); 

Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority (w); 

Upper Gunnison River (w); 

Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District (w); 

Urban Drainage and Flood Control District (w); 

Ute Mountain Indian Tribe (w); 

Vail Valley Conservation Water District (w); 

Westminster, City of (w); 

Yellow Jacket Water Conservancy District (w) 

Connecticut 

Connecticut Department of— 

Environmental Protection (g,n,w); 

Fairfield, Town of, Conservation Department (w); 

Meriden, City of (w); 

New Britain, City of, Board of Water 

Commissioners (w); 

South Central Connecticut Regional Water 

Authority (w); 

Torrington, City of (w) 

Delaware 

Geological Survey (n,w) 

District of Columbia 

Department of Public Works (w) 

Florida 

Bay County Utilities (w); 


Boca Raton, City of (w); 


Bradenton, City of (w); 


Broward, County of (w); 


Cape Coral, City of (w); 


Cocoa, City of (w); 


Daytona Beach, City of (w); 


Deerfield Beach, City of (w); 


Florida Department of— 


Environmental Regulation (n,w), 

Natural Resources (w)— 

Bureau of Marine Resource and 

Evaluation (w), 

Division of Survey and Mapping (n), 

Transportation (n,w); 

Florida Institute of Phosphate Research (w); 

Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority (w); 

Fort Lauderdale, City of (w); 

Game and Freshwater Fish Commission (w); 

Hallandale, City of (w); 

Highland Beach, Town of (w); 

Hillsborough, County of (w); 

Hollywood, City of (w); 

Jacksonville, City of, Department of Public 

Utilities (w); 

Jacksonville Electric Authority (w); 

Joshua Water Control District (w); 

Lake, County of, Water Authority (w); 

Lake Mary, City of (w); 

Lee, County of (w); 

Manatee County— 

Board of County Commissioners (w), 

Environmental Action Commission (w); 

Metropolitan Dade County (w); 

Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Authority (w); 

Northwest Florida Water Management District (w); 

Perry, City of (w); 

Pinellas, County of (w); 

Polk, County of (w); 

Pompano Beach, City of (w); 

Port Orange, City of (w); 

Quincy, City of (w); 

Reedy Creek Improvement District (w); 

Sarasota, City of (w); 

Sarasota, County of (w); 

South Florida Water Management District, 

Department of Research and Evaluation (w); 

South Indian River Water Control District (w); 

St. Johns River Water Management District (w); 

St. Petersburg, City of (w); 

Stuart, City of (w); 

Suwannee River Water Management District (w); 

Tallahassee, City of— 

Electric Department (w), 

Water Quality Laboratory (w); 

Tampa, City of (w); 

Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council (w); 

Tampa Port Authority (w); 

University of Miami (g); 

University of Florida (g); 

Volusia, County of (w); 

Walton, County of (w); 

West Coast Regional Water Supply Authority (w); 

Winter Park, City of (w) 

Georgia 

Albany, City of (w); 


Albany Water, Gas, and Light Commission (w); 


Attapulgus, City of (w); 


Bibb, County of (w); 


Blairsville, Town of (w); 


Brunswick, City of (w); 


Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning 


Commission (w); 

Chestatee-Chattahoochee Resource Conservation 

and Development Center (w); 

Clayton County Water Authority (w); 

Covington, City of (w); 

De Kalb County Public Works Department (w); 

Georgia Department of— 

Natural Resources— 

Water Quality Support Program (w), 

Geologic Survey (w), 

Transportation (w)— 


at Atlanta (w), 


at Forest Park (w); 


Gwinnett, County of, Preconstruction Division (w); 


Helena, City of (w); 


Macon-Bibb County Water and Sewage 


Authority (w); 

Monroe Water, Light, and Gas Commission (w); 

Moultrie, City of (w); 

Springfield, City of (w); 

Thomaston, City of (w); 

Thomasville, City of (w); 

Tift County Commission (w); 

Tifton, City of (w); 

Valdosta, City of (w); 

Zebulon, City of (w) 

Guam 

Guam, Government of, Environmental Protection 

Agency (w) 

Hawaii 

Hawaii, County of, Department of Water 

Supply (w); 

Hawaii Department of— 

Agriculture, Division of Agriculture Resource 

Management (w), 


Hawaiian Home Lands (w), 


Land and Natural Resources (g)— 


Commission on Water Resources 

Management (w), 

Division of— 

Forestry and Wildlife (n,w), 

Water Resource Management (w), 

Transportation (w); 

Honolulu, City and County of, Department of 

Public Works (g,w); 

Kauai, County of, Department of Water Supply (w); 

Maui, County of, Department of Water Supply (w) 

Idaho 

Bonner County Commissioners (w); 

Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho (w); 

Idaho Department of— 

Health and Welfare (w), 

Water Resources (w); 

Salmon River Canal Co., Ltd. (w); 

Shoshone, County of (w); 

Southwest Irrigation District (w); 

Teton, County of (w); 

Water District No. 01 (Idaho Falls) (w); 

Water District No. 31 (Dubois) (w); 

Water District No. 32D (Dubois) (w) 

Illinois 

Bloomington and Normal Sanitary District (w); 


Cook County Forest Preserve District (w); 


Danville Sanitary District (w); 


Decatur, City of (w); 


DeKalb, City of, Public Works Department (w); 


DuPage County Forest Preserve, Planning and 


Development Section (w); 

DuPage County Department of Environmental 

Concerns (w); 

Cooperators and Other Financial Contributors 117 
Illinois Department of— 

Energy and Natural Resources— 


Geological Survey Division (n), 


State Water Survey (w), 


Transportation— 


Division of Highways (n), 


Division of Water Resources (n,w); 


Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (w); 

Lake County Department of Planning, Zoning, and 

Environmental Quality (w); 

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater 

Chicago (w); 

Northern Illinois University (w); 

Springfield, City of (w); 

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (w) 

Indiana 

Carmel, Town of, Utilities (w); 

Elkhart, City of, Water Works (w); 

Indiana Department of— 

Environmental Management (g,w), 


Natural Resources (n)— 


Division of— 


Transportation (w), 


Water (w); 


Indianapolis, City of, Department of Public 

Works (w); 

Muncie Sanitary District, Bureau of Water 

Quality (w) 

Iowa 

Ames, City of (w); 


Cedar Rapids, City of, Engineering Department 


(w); 

Clinton, City of (w); 

Davenport, City of (w); 

Des Moines, City of (w); 

Fort Dodge, City of (w); 

Iowa Department of— 

Transportation, Highway Division (w), 

Natural Resources, Geological Survey 

Bureau (n,w); 

Iowa State University (w); 

Muscatane Water and Light Board (w); 

University of Iowa— 

Institute of Hydraulic Research (w), 


Hygienic Laboratory (w) 


Kansas 

Arkansas River Compact Administration (w); 


Emporia, City of, Department of Public Works (w); 


Franklin, County of (w); 


Harvey County Conservation Distict (w); 


Hays, City of (w); 


Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska (w); 


Kansas City-Wyandotte County Health 


Department (w); 

Kansas Department of Transportation (w); 

Kansas Geological Survey (n,w); 

Kansas State Board of Agriculture, Division of 

Water Resources (w); 

Kansas State Conservation Commission (w); 

Kansas State University Department of 

Agronomy (w); 

Kansas University Center for Research, Inc. (w); 

Kansas Water Office (w); 

Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas (w); 

Linn, County of (w); 

Olathe, City of (w); 

Prairie Band of Potawatomi Tribe (w); 

Sac and Fox Tribe of Missouri (w); 

Wichita, City of (w) 

Kentucky 

Campbellsville Municipal Water (w); 


Elizabethtown, City of (w); 


Glasgow Water Company (w); 


Kentucky Department of Natural Resources and 


Environmental Protection Cabinet (w); 

Metropolitan Sewer District (w); 

Owensboro, City of (w); 

University of Kentucky, Kentucky Geological 

Survey (n,w); 

University of Louisville (w) 

Louisiana 

Caddo Parish (w); 


Capital-Area Groundwater Conservation 


Commission (w); 

East Baton Rouge Parish (w); 

Jefferson Parish Department of Public Utilities (w); 

Louisiana Department of— 

Environmental Quality (w), 


Justice (w), 


Transportation and Development (w), Office of 


Public Works (n); 

Louisiana Geological Survey (n); 

Minden, City of (w); 

Plaquemines Parish (w); 

Sabine River Compact Administration (w); 

St. John the Baptist Parish (w); 

Terrebonne Parish (w); 

West Monroe, City of (w) 

Maine 

Cobbossee Watershed District (w); 


Greater Portland Council of Governments (w); 


Maine Department of— 


Conservation— 


Geological Survey (w), 


State Forest Service (n); 


North Kennebec Valley Regional Planning 

Commission (w); 

Northern Maine Regional Planning Commission 

(w); 

University of Maine (w) 

Maryland 

Baltimore City of, Water Quality Management (w); 


Delaware Geological Survey (w); 


Delaware River Basin Commission (w); 


Hyndman, Borough of (w); 


Maryland Department of the Environment (w); 


Maryland Geological Survey (n,w); 


Salisbury, City of (w); 


University of Maryland (g) 


Massachusetts 

Cape Cod Commission (w); 


Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (n); 


Massachusetts Department of— 


Environmental Management, Division of 

Resources Conservation (w), 

Environmental Protection— 

Division of Water Pollution Control (w), 

Division of Water Supply (w), 

Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup (w); 

Massachusetts Highway Department (w); 

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (g); 

Metropolitan District Commission — 

Parks, Engineering and Construction 

Division (w), 

Watershed Management Division (w); 

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (g) 

Michigan 

Adrian, City of (w); 


Ann Arbor, City of (w); 


Antrim County Drain Commission (w); 


Battle Creek, City of— 


Board of— 


Public Utilities (w), 


Water and Light (w); 


Beaverton, City of (w); 


Cadillac, City of, Wastewater Treatment Plant (w); 


Clare, City of (w); 


Consumers Power Company (w); 


Elsie, Village of, Department of Public Works (w); 


Flint, City of, Water Plant (w); 


French Paper Company (w); 


Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority (w); 


Imlay, City of (w); 


Indian Lake Property Owners (w); 


Kalamazoo, City of, Department of Public 


Works (w); 


Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (w): 


Macomb, County of (w); 


Mead Paper Company (w); 


Michigan Department of— 


Natural Resources, Office of Budget and 

Federal Aid (w), 

Transportation, Design Division (w); 

Michigan Power Company (w); 

Monroe County Health Department, Environmental 

Health Division (w); 


Negaunee, City of, Water and Wastewater 


Treatment Plant (w); 

Norway, City of (w); 

Oakland County Drainage Commission (w); 

Otsego County Road Commission (w); 

Portage, City of (w); 

Portland, City of (w); 

STS Hydropower, Ltd. (w); 

Tri-County Regional Planning Commission (w); 

Upper Peninsula Power Company (w); 

Wayne, County of, Division of Environmental 

Health (w); 

Wisconsin Electric Power Company (w); 

Wolverine Hydroelectric (w); 

Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative (w); 

Ypsilanti Community Utility Authority (w) 

Minnesota 

Beltrami County SWCD (w); 


Elm Creek Conservation Management and Planning 


Commission (w); 

Grand Portage Reservation Government (w); 

Hubbard County Soil and Water (w); 

Land Management Information Center (n); 

Lower Red River Watershed Management 

Board (w); 

Metropolitan Waste Control Commission (w); 

Mille Lacs Reservation Band Government (w); 

Minnesota Department of— 

Health, Division of Environmental Health (w), 


Natural Resources (g,w), 


Transportation (w); 


Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (w); 

Minnesota State Planning Agency (n); 

Northwest Minnesota Ground Water Steering 

Committee (w); 

University of Minnesota, Department of Soil 

Science (w); 

Whitewater Joint Powers Board (w) 

Mississippi 

Harrison County Development Commission (w); 


Jackson, City of (w); 


Jackson County Port Authority (w); 


Mississippi Department of— 


Agriculture and Commerce (w), 

Environmental Quality— 

Office of Geology (w), 

Office of Land and Water Resources (w), 

Office of Pollution Control (w), 

Transportation (w); 

Pat Harrison Waterway District (w); 

Pearl River Basin Development District (w); 

Pearl River Valley Water Supply District (w); 

Yazoo Mississippi Delta Joint Water Management 

District (w) 

Missouri 

Cape Girardeau, City of (w); 


Cass County SWCD (w); 


Independence, City of (w); 


Jackson County Parks and Recreation (w); 


Mid-America Regional Council (w); 


118 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Missouri Department of— 

Conservation (n,w), 

Health (w), 

Natural Resources— 

Division of Environmental Quality (w), 

Division of Geology and Land 

Survey (n,w); 

Missouri Highway and Transportation 

Commission (w); 

Rolla, City of (w); 

Rolla Municipal Utilities (w); 

Springfield, City of, City Utilities (w); 

St. Francis County Environmental Corporation (w); 

Sullivan, City of (w); 

Watershed Commission of the Ozarks (w); 

University of Missouri-Columbia, Department of 

Geology (w) 

Montana 

Blackfeet Nation (w); 


Chippewa Creek Tribe of Rocky Boy's Reservation 


(g); 

Fort Peck Reservation (w); 

Greenfield Irrigation District (w); 

Helena, City of (w); 

Lower Musselshell Conservation District (w); 

Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology (w); 

Montana Department of— 

Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (w), 


Health and Environmental Sciences (w), 


Natural Resources and Conservation (w), 


Transportation (w); 


Northern Cheyenne Tribe (w); 

Salish and Kootenai Tribes of Flathead 

Reservation (w); 

Wyoming State Engineer (w) 

Nebraska 

Central Platte Natural Resources District (w); 

Kansas-Nebraska Big Blue River Compact 

Administration (w); 

Lincoln, City of (w); 

Little Blue Natural Resources District (w); 

Lower Platte South Natural Resources District (w); 

Lower Republican Natural Resources District (w); 

Middle Republican Natural Resources District (w); 

Nebraska Department of Water Resources (w); 

Nebraska Natural Resources Commission (w); 

Nemaha Natural Resources District (w); 

North Platte Natural Resources District (w); 

Omaha, City of (w); 

Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District (w); 

South Platte Natural Resources District (w); 

University of Nebraska, Conservation and Survey 

Division (w); 

Upper Elkhorn Natural Resources District (w); 

Upper Niobrara-White Natural Resources 

District (w); 

Upper Republican Natural Resources District (w) 

Nevada 

Carson City/County Department of Public 

Works (w); 

Clark County Regional Flood Control District (w); 

Clark County Sanitation District (w); 

Douglas, County of (w); 

Duck Valley Reservation (w); 

Henderson, City of (w); 

Las Vegas, City of (w); 

Las Vegas Valley Water District (g,w); 

Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology (g,n,w); 

Nevada Department of— 

Conservation and Natural Resources— 

Division of Environmental Protection (w), 

Division of Water Resources (w), 

Transportation (w); 

Wildlife (w); 


Summit Lake Paiute Indian Tribe (w); 


Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (w); 


Washoe County Planning Department (n) 


New Hampshire 

New England Interstate Water Pollution Control 

Commission (w); 

New Hampshire Department of— 

Environmental Services (g,w), 

Transportation (n); 

Vermont Department of Environmental 

Conservation (w) 

New Jersey 

Bergen, County of (w); 


Brick Township Municipal Utility Authority (w); 


Gloucester County Planning Commission (w); 


Mercer County Park Commission (w); 


Morris County Municipal Utility Authority (w); 


New Brunswick, City of (w); 


New Jersey Department of Environmental 


Protection (n,w); 

New Jersey Water Supply Authority (w); 

North Jersey District Water Supply 

Commission (w); 

Passaic Valley Water Commission (w); 

Pinelands Commission (w); 

Rutgers State University (w); 

Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders (w); 

Washington Township Municipal Utility 

Authority (w); 

West Windsor, Township of (w) 

New Mexico 

Albuquerque, City of— 

Hydrology Division (w), 

Utility Planning Division (w), 

Waste Water Utility (w); 

Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control 

Authority (w); 

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (w); 

Bernalillo, County of (w); 

Canadian River Municipal Water Authority (w); 

Costilla Creek Compact Commission (w); 

Elephant Butte Irrigation District (w); 

La Cienega Acequia Association (w); 

Las Cruces, City of (w); 

Las Vegas, City of (w); 

Navajo Indian Nation, Department of Environmental Protection (w); 

New Mexico Department of— 

Environment (w), 

Highways (w), 

Transportation (w); 

New Mexico State University, Water Resources 

Research Institute (w); 

Office of the State Engineer (w); 

Pecos River Commission (w); 

Pueblo of Zuni (w); 

Raton, City of (w); 

Rio Grande Compact Commission (w); 

Rio San Jose Flood Control District (w); 

Ruidoso, Village of (w); 

Santa Rosa, City of (w); 

University of New Mexico (n) 

New York 

Amherst, Town of, Engineering Department (w); 


Auburn, City of (w); 


Batavia, City of (w); 


Chautauqua, County of, Department of Planning 


and Development (w); 

Cheektowaga, Town of (w); 

Columbia University (g); 

Cornell University (w); 

Cortland, County of (w); 

Essex, County of, Planning Department (w); 

Hudson-Black River Regulating District (w); 

Kiryas Joel, Village of (w); 

Monroe, County of, Department of Environmental 

Health (w); 

Nassau, County of— 


Department of Health (w), 


Department of Public Works (w); 


New England Interstate Water Pollution (w); 


New York City Department of Environmental 


Protection, Bureau of Water Supply (w); 


New York State Department of— 

Environmental Conservation, Planning and 

Restoration (w), 

Transportation (w); 

New York State Power Authority (w); 

Nyack, Village of, Board of Water 

Commissioners (w); 

Onondaga, County of— 

Department of Drainage and Sanitation (w), 

Water Authority (w); 

Orange County Water Authority (w); 


Saratoga Springs, City of (w); 


Schuyler County Department of Planning and 


Economic Development (w); 

State University of New York, Syracuse (w); 

Suffolk, County of— 

Department of Health Services (w), 

Water Authority (w); 

Tompkins, County of, Department of Planning (w); 

Ulster, County of (w); 

Victor, Village of (w) 

North Carolina 

Asheville, City of (w); 


Bethel, Town of (w); 


Brevard, City of (w); 


Chapel Hill, Town of (w); 


Charlotte, City of (w); 


Danville, City of (w); 


Durham, City of (w); 


Fayetteville, City of (w); 


Greensboro, City of (w); 


Lexington, City of (w); 


Lumber River Council of Governments (w); 


Mecklenburg, County of (w); 


Morganton, City of (w); 


North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service (w); 


North Carolina State Department of— 


Environment, Health, and Natural 


Resources (n,w), 


Transportation (w); 

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (w); 

Orange, County of (w); 

Raleigh, City of (w); 

Rocky Mount, City of (w); 

Triangle Area Water Supply Monitoring, Project 

Steering Committee (w); 

Western Piedmont Council of Governments (w) 

North Dakota 

Devils Lake Sioux Tribe (w); 


Dickinson, City of (w); 


Lower Heart Water Resources District (w); 


Minot, City of (w); 


North Dakota Department of— 


Game and Fish (w), 


Health, Water Supply, and Pollution 


Control (w), 


Parks and Recreation (w), 


Transportation (w); 


North Dakota Geological Survey (n,w); 


State Water Commission (w); 


Three Affiliated Tribes (w) 


Ohio 

Akron, City of (w); 


Canton, City of (w); 


Columbus, City of (w); 


Eastgate Development Company (w); 


Franklin, County of (w); 


Fremont, City of (w); 


Lima, City of (w); 


Madison, County of (w); 


Miami Conservancy District (w); 


N.E. Ohio Regional Sewer District (w); 

Cooperators and Other Financial Contributors 119 
Ohio Department of— 

Natural Resources (w), 

Transportation (n,w); 

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (w); 

Ohio State University, Department of 

Agronomy (w); 

Ross, County of (w); 

Seneca Soil and Water District (w); 

Sumit County Engineers (w); 

Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of 

Governments (w); 

University of Toledo (w) 

Oklahoma 

Ada, City of (w); 


Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes (w); 


McGee Creek Authority (w); 


Oklahoma Conservation Commission (w); 


Oklahoma Department of— 


Agriculture (w), 


Health (w), 


Transportation (n); 


Oklahoma Geological Survey (w); 

Oklahoma Pollution Control Board (w); 

Oklahoma Water Resources Board (w); 

Sac and Fox Nation (w) 

Oregon 

Albany, City of (w); 


Ashland, City of (w); 


Clark County, Wash., Intergovernmental Resources 


Center (w); 

Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 

Reservation (w); 

Coos, County of (w); 

Coos Bay-North Bend Water Board (w); 

Douglas, County of (w); 

Eugene, City of, Water and Electric Board (w); 

Gresham, City of (w); 

Jackson, County of (w); 

Josephine County Department of Public Works (w); 

McMinnville, City of, Water and Light 

Department (w); 

Oregon Department of— 

Environmental Quality (w), 

Human Resources, State Health Division (w), 

Metropolitan Service District (w), 

Transportation, Highway Commission (w), 

Water Resources (w); 

Oregon State University (g); 

Portland, City of— 

Bureau of— 


Environmental Services (w), 


Water Works (w); 


Rogue Valley Council of Governments (w); 


Umatilla Indian Reservation (w); 


United Sewerage Agency (w); 


Washington State Department of— 


Ecology (w), 


Wildlife (w) 


Pennsylvania 

Allentown, City of, Engineering Department (w); 


Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay (w); 


Bethlehem, City of (w); 


Bucks, County of (w); 


Chester, County of, Water Resources Authority (w); 


Delaware County Solid Waste Authority (w); 


Delaware River Basin Commission (w); 


Environmental Quality Board (w); 


Fairfax County Water Authority (w); 


Harrisburg, City of, Department of Public 


Works (w); 

Hazelton City Authority Water Department (w); 

Letort Regional Authority (w); 

Media Borough Water Department (w); 

New York State Department of Environmental 

Conservation (w); 

North Penn Water Authority (w); 

North Wales Water Authority (w); 

Philadelphia, City of, Water Department (w); 

Pennsylvania Department of— 

Environmental Resources— 

Bureau of Community Environmental 

Control (w), 

Bureau of Mining and Reclamation (w), 

Bureau of Soil and Water 

Conservation (w), 

Bureau of Topographic and Geologic 

Survey (n,w), 

Bureau of Water Quality Management (w), 

Bureau of Water Resources 

Management (w); 

Pennsylvania State University (w); 

Pike County Planning Commission (w); 

Reading, City of (w); 

Somerset Conservation District (w); 

Susquehanna River Basin Commission (w); 

Tinicum, Township of (w); 

University Area Joint Authority (w); 

University of Delaware, Geological Survey (w); 

West Bradford, Township of (w); 

Williamsport, City of (w) 

Puerto Rico 

Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (w); 


Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources (w); 


Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (w); 


Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board (w); 


Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (w); 


Puerto Rico Mineral Resources Development 


Corporation (g); 

University of the Virgin Islands (w); 

Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (w) 

Rhode Island 

Providence, City of, Water Supply Board (w); 

Rhode Island State Department of Environmental 

Management, Division of Water Resources (w); 

State Water Resources Board (w) 

South Carolina 

Beaufort-Jasper County Water and Sewer 

Authority (w); 

Camden, City of (w); 

Charleston Harbor Project (w); 

Charleston Public Works (w); 

Clear/Sumter Soil and Water Conservation 

District (w); 

Land Resources Conservation Commission (n); 

Myrtle Beach, City of (w); 

Oconee County Sewer Commission (w); 

Pageland, Town of (w); 

Pickens, County of (w); 

South Carolina State— 

Department of Health and Environmental 

Control (w), 

Department of Highways and Public 

Transportation (w), 


Public Service Authority (w), 


Water Resources Commission (n,w); 


South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium (w); 


Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District (w); 


Spartanburg Water System (w); 


University of South Carolina Department of 


Environmental and Health Services (w); 

Waccamaw Regional Planning and Development 

Council (w); 

West Dakota Water Development District (w); 

Western Carolina Regional Sewer Authority (w) 

South Dakota 

Area II Minnesota River Basin (w); 


Beadle Conservation District (w); 


Belle Fourche Irrigation District (w); 


East Dakota Water Development District (w); 


Lower Brule Sioux Tribe (w); 


Mellette, County of (w); 


Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine Ridge (w); 


Rapid City, City of (w); 


Rosebud Sioux Tribe (w); 


Sioux Falls, City of— 

Utilities Department (w), 

Water Purification Plant (w); 

South Dakota Department of— 

Environment and Natural Resources— 

Geological Survey Division (w), 

Water Resource Management Division (w), 

Water Quality Division (w), 

Water Rights Division (w), 

Game, Fish and Parks (w); 

Transportation (w); 

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (w); 

South Dakota State University (w); 

Spearfish, City of (w); 

Stanley County Conservation District (w); 

Watertown, City of (w); 

West Dakota Water Development District (w); 

West River Water Development District (w); 

Wyoming, State of (w) 

Tennessee 

Alcoa, City of (w); 


Alpha Talbott Utility District (w); 


Bartlett, City of (w); 


Camden, City of (w); 


Chattanooga, City of, Department of Public 


Works (w); 

Clemson University Department of Environmental 

Toxicology (w); 

Crossville, City of (w); 

Dickson, City of (w); 

Eastside Utility District (w); 

Franklin, City of (w); 

Germantown, City of (w); 

Grainger County Government (w); 

Hamilton County Office of Emergency 

Management (w); 

Humphreys, County of (w); 

Johnson City, City of, Public Works Department 

(w); 

Knoxville, City of (w); 

Lawrenceburg, City of (w); 

Lincoln, County of, Board of Public Utilities (w); 

Memphis, City of, Light, Gas, and Water 

Division (w); 

Memphis State University (w); 

Metropolitan Governments, Nashville, City of, and 

Davidson, County of (w); 

Murfreesboro, City of, Water and Sewer 

Department (w); 

Pigeon Forge, City of (w); 

Rogersville, Town of (w); 

Savannah Valley Utility District (w); 

Sevierville, City of (w); 

Shelby County Government (w); 

Tennessee Department of— 

Environment and Conservation, Office of 

Water Programs (w), 

Transportation— 

Division of Planning (w), 

Division of Structures (w); 

Tennessee State Planning Office (w); 

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (w); 

Tullahoma Utilities Board (w); 

Union City, City of (w); 

University of Tennessee (w); 

Wartrace, City of (w) 

Texas 

Abilene, City of (w); 


Alamo Water Reuse/Conservation (w); 


Arlington, City of (w); 


Austin, City of (w); 


Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer (w); 


Bexar-Medina-Atascosa Counties (w); 


Brazos River Authority (w); 


Coastal Water Authority (w); 


Colorado River Municipal Water District (w); 


Corpus Christi, City of (w); 


120 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Dallas, City of (w); 


Dallas, City of, Public Works Department (w); 


Edwards Underground Water District (w); 


El Paso, City of, Public Service Board (w); 


Fort Bend Subsidence District (w); 


Fort Worth, City of, Water Pollution Control (w); 


Gainesville, City of (w); 


Galveston, County of (w); 


Garland, City of, Department of Public Works (w); 


Georgetown, City of (w); 


Graham, City of (w); 


Greenbelt Municipal and Industrial Water 


Authority (w); 

Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (w); 

Harris, County of, Flood Control District (w); 

Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District (w); 

Houston, City of (w); 

Lavaca-Navidad River Authority (w); 

Lower Colorado River Authority (w); 

Lower Neches Valley Authority (w); 

Lubbock, City of (w); 

Nacogdoches, City of (w); 

North Central Texas Council of Governments (w); 

North Central Texas Municipal Water 

Authority (w); 

North Texas Municipal Water District (w); 

Northeast Texas Municipal Water Authority (w); 

Orange, County of (w); 

Pecos River Commission (w); 

Red River Authority (w); 

Sabine River Authority of Texas (w); 

Sabine River Compact Administration (w); 

San Angelo, City of (w); 

San Antonio, City of— 

Public Service Board (w), 

Water Board (w); 

San Antonio River Authority (w); 

San Jacinto River Authority (w); 

Somerville County Water District (w); 

Tarrant, County of, Water Control and 

Improvement District No. 1 (w); 

Texas Soil and Water Conservation Board (w); 

Texas State Department of Highways and 

Transportation (w); 

Texas Water Development Board (n,w); 

Titus, County of, Fresh Water Supply District 

No. 1 (w); 

Trinity River Authority (w); 

Upper Guadalupe River Authority (w); 

Upper Neches River Municipal Water 

Authority (w); 

West Central Texas Municipal Water District (w); 

Wichita, County of, Water Improvement District 

No. 2 (w); 

Wichita Falls, City of (w) 

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands 

Commonwealth Utilities Corp., Saipan (w); 

Northern Mariana Islands, Commonwealth of (g,w), 

Department of Public Health and Environmental Services (w), 

Municipality of Tinian (w); 

Ponape State Government (w); 

Republic of Palau (w) 

Utah 

Bear River Commission (w); 


Central Utah Water Conservation District (w); 


Goshute Tribal Government (g); 


Ogden River Water Users Association (w); 


Salt Lake, County of, Division of Flood Control (w); 


Tooele, City of (w); 


University of Utah (w); 


Utah Department of— 


Health, Division of Environmental Health (w), 

Natural Resources— 

Geological and Mineral Survey (n,w), 

Oil, Gas, and Mining Division (w), 

Water Resources Division (w), 

Water Rights Division (w); 

Weber Basin Water Conservancy District (w); 

Weber River Water Users Association (w) 

Vermont 

Agency of— 

Administration (n), 

Natural Resources (g,n); 

Department of Environmental Conservation (w) 

Virginia 

Accomack-Northampton Planning District 

Commission (w); 

Alexandria, City of (w); 

Delaware Geological Survey (w); 

Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (w); 

James City, County of (w); 

Maryland, Department of— 

Environment (w), 

State Highway Administration (w); 

Newport News, City of (w); 

Northern Virginia Planning District 

Commission (w); 

Prince William Health District (w); 

Roanoke, City of (w); 

Southeastern Public Service Authority of 

Virginia (w); 

University of Virginia, Department of Environmental Sciences (w); 

Virginia Department of— 

Mines, Minerals, and Energy, Division of 

Mineral Resources (n), 

Transportation (w); 

Virginia Beach, City of, Water Resources Division 

(w); 

Virginia Institute of Marine Science (w); 

Virginia State Water Control Board (w); 

York, County of (w) 

Washington 

Aberdeen, City of (w); 


Bellevue, City of (w); 


Chelan, County of, Public Utility District No. 1 (w); 


Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima 


Indian Nation (w); 

Douglas, County of, Public Utility District No. 1 (w); 

Hoh Indian Tribe (w); 

King, County of, Department of Public Works (w); 

Lewis, County of, Board of Commissioners (w); 

Nisqually Indian Tribe (w); 

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (w); 

Pacific, County of (w); 

Pierce, County of (w); 

Quinault Indian Business Committee (w); 

Seattle, City of (w); 

Seattle-King County Department of Health (w); 

Skagit, County of, Department of Public Works (w); 

Skagit Conservation District (w); 

Snohomish, County of— 

Board of Commissioners (w), 

Public Utilities District No. 1 (w); 

Spokane County Commissioners (n); 

Spokane County Engineers Office (w); 

Tacoma, City of, Department of— 

Public Utilities (w), 


Public Works (w); 


Thurston, County of, Department of— 

Health (w), 

Public Works (w); 

Umatilla Indian Nation (w); 


University of Washington (g); 


Washington Department of— 


Ecology (w), 


Fisheries (w), 


Information Services (n), 


Natural Resources (n,w); 


Washington State Community Development (w); 


Whatcom, County of (w) 


West Virginia 

Morgantown, City of, Utility Board (w); 


New Martinsville, City of (w); 


West Virginia Department of— 

Commerce, Tourism and Parks Section (w), 

Highways (w), 

Natural Resources, Office of Water Resources 

(w); 

West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey (w) 

Wisconsin 

Alma/Moon Lake District (w); 

Balsam Lake Protection and Rehabilitation 

District (w); 

Barron, City of (w); 

Bear Lake, Town of (w); 

Beaver Dam, City of (w); 

Big Muskego Lake District (w); 

Brown County Planning Commission (w); 

Dane, County of— 

Department of Public Works (w), 

Lakes and Watershed Management (w), 

Regional Planning Commission (w); 

Darboy Sanitary District (w); 

Delavan, Town of (w); 

Druid Lake Inland Protection and Rehabilitation 

District (w); 

Eagle Springs Lake Sanitary District (w); 

East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning 

Commission (w); 

Fond Du Lac, City of (w); 

Fowler Lake Management District (w); 

Galena, City of (w); 

Geological Survey (w); 

Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District (w); 

Green Lake Sanitary District (w); 

Hillsboro, City of (w); 

Hooker Lake District (w); 

Hubbard, Township of (w); 

Illinois Department of Transportation (w); 

Kaukauna Electric and Water Utilities (w); 

Kimberly Water Works Department (w); 

Lac Du Flambeau Indians (w); 

Lake Nebagamon, Village of (w); 

Little Arbor Vitae Protection and Rehabilitation 

District (w); 

Little Chute, Village of (w); 

Little Green Lake Protection and Rehabilitation 

District (w); 

Little St. Germain Lake District (w); 

Loon Lake/Wescot Management District (w); 

Madison Engineering Department (w); 

Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District (w); 

Marinette County Land Conservation (w); 

Mead, Township of (w); 

Menasha, Town of, Sanitary District No. 4 (w); 

Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (w); 

Merton, Township of (w); 

Muskego, City of (w); 

Norway, Town of (w); 

Oconomowoc Lake, Village of (w); 

Okauchee Lake Management District (w); 

Oneida Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (w); 

Oshkosh, City of (w); 

Peshtigo, City of (w); 

Powers Lake Management District (w); 

Red Cliff Indians (w); 

Rock, County of, Public Works Department (w); 

St. Germain, Town of (w); 

Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning 

Commission (w); 

Sparta, City of (w); 

Stockbridge-Munsee Indians (w); 

Sumit, Town of (w); 

Thorp, City of (w); 

Troy, Town of (w); 

University of Wisconsin (g), Extension, Geological 

and Natural History Survey (n); 

Walworth County Land Conservation Commission 

(w); 

Waupun, City of (w); 

Cooperators and Other Financial Contributors 121 
Whitewater-Rice Lake Management District (w); 

Wind Lake Management District (w); 

Wisconsin Department of— 

Justice (w), 


Natural Resources (w), 


Transportation (w); 


Wittenberg, Village of (w) 

Wyoming 

Cheyenne, City of (w); 


Evanston, City of (w); 


Freemont, County of (w); 


Midvale Irrigation District (w); 


Northern Arapahoe Tribe (w); 


Sheridan Area Water Supply Joint Power Board 


(w); 

Shoshone Tribe (g,w); 

Teton, County of (w); 

Water Development Commission (w); 

Wyoming Department of— 

Agriculture (w), 

Environmental Quality (w), 

Game and Fish (w), 

Highways (w); 

Wyoming State Engineer (w); 

Wyoming Water Research Center (w) 

Federal Cooperators 

Central Intelligence Agency (g) 

Department of Agriculture 

Agricultural Research Service (w); 


Forest Service (g,n,w); 


Soil Conservation Service (n,w) 


Department of the Air Force (w) 


Air Force Academy (w); 


Headquarters, AFTAC/AC (g); 


Headquarters, Third Air Division (SAC) (w); 


Hickham Air Force Base (w); 


Hill Air Force Base (w); 


Kirtland Air Force Base (w); 


MacDill Air Force Base (w); 


Patrick Air Force Base (g); 


Tactical Air Command (w); 


Vandenberg Air Force Base (w) 


Warren Air Force Base (w); 


Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (w) 


Department of the Army (w) 


Aberdeen Proving Ground (g,w); 


Anniston Depot (w); 


Army Construction Engineering Research Lab (w); 


Army Logistics Center (w); 


Army Materiel Command (w); 


Belvoir RD&E Center (g); 


Corps of Engineers (g,n,w); 


Engineer Topographic Laboratory (g,w); 


Fort Bliss Military Reservation (w); 


Fort Bragg Military Reservation (w); 


Fort Carson Military Reservation (w); 


Picatinny Arsenal (w); 


Rocky Mountain Arsenal (w); 


White Sands Missile Range (w) 


Department of Commerce (w) 


Bureau of the Census (n); 


National Institute of Standards and Technology (g); 


National Marine Fish Service (w); 


National Ocean Service (n); 


National Oceanic and Atmospheric 


Administration (g,n,w); 

National Weather Service (w) 

Department of Defense Agencies 

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (g,n); 


Defense Logistics Agency (w); 


D efense Mapping Agency (n); 


Defense Nuclear Agency (g); 


National Guard Bureau (w) 


Department of Energy (g,n,w) 


Alaska Power Administration (w); 


Bonneville Power Administration (w); 


Brookhaven National Laboratory (w); 


Hanford Project (w); 


Health and Environmental Research (g); 


Idaho Falls Operations Office (g,w); 


Los Alamos National Laboratory (w); 


Nevada Operations Office (g,w); 


Oak Ridge Operations Office (g,w); 


Rocky Flats Operations Office (w); 


Savannah River Operations Office (w); 


Test Operations Office, Las Vegas, Nevada (g); 


Yucca Mountain Project (w) 


Department of the Interior 

Bureau of Indian Affairs (g,n,w); 


Bureau of Land Management (g,n,w); 


Bureau of Mines (n); 


Bureau of Reclamation (g,n,w); 


Minerals Management Service (g); 


National Park Service (g,n,w); 


Office of the Secretary (w); 


U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (n,w) 

Department of the Navy (w) 

Naval Facilities Engineering Command (g)— 

Atlantic Division (w), 

Northern Division (w); 

Naval Oceanographic Office (g); 

Naval Surface Warfare Center (w); 

Naval Weapons Center, China Lake (g); 


Navy Engineering and Logistics Office (g); 


Navy Pacific Division (w); 


Northwest Engineering Activity (w); 


Office of Naval Research (g); 


Pacific Missile Test Center (g); 


Southwest Naval Facilities Engineering Command 


(w); 

U.S. Marine Corps (w) 


Department of State (g) 


Agency for International Development (g,n,w); 


Foreign and Nonforeign Governments (g); 


Government of Saudi Arabia (g); 


International Boundary and Water Commission, 


U.S. and Mexico (w); 

International Joint Commission, U.S. and 

Canada (w) 

Department of Transportation 

Federal Highway Administration (w) 


Environmental Protection Agency (g,n,w) 


Corvallis Environmental Research Laboratory (w); 


Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory (g); 


Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances (w); 


Office of Radiation Programs (g); 


Office of Water (w); 


Region IV, Florida Keys (g); 


Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Lab (w) 


Federal Emergency Management Agency (g,w) 


Federal Energy Regulating Commission 


Licensees (w) 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

(g,n,w) 

National Science Foundation (g,n,w) 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (g) 

Tennessee Valley Authority (n,w) 

Veterans Administration (w) 

Other Cooperators and 

Contributors 

American Society for Photogrammetry and 

Remote Sensing (n) 

Boy Scouts of America (n) 

United Arab Emirates (w) 


United Nations (g,w) 


Inter-America Development Bank (g); 


United Nations Development Program (n); 


Unesco (w); 


World Bank (g) 


122 U.S. Geological Survey Yearbook 1992 
Yearbook Staff 


The staff of the USGS Yearbook appreciates comments from readers. If there are features that you particularly enjoy 

reading or information that you would like to have, but is not included, please let us know. Write to Managing Editor, USGS 

Yearbook, 119 National Center, Reston, VA 22092. 

Annette Kulyk National Mapping Division Sunne Rinkus Graphic Designer 

Kathleen Gohn Geologic Division William A. Dize Graphics Photographic Specialist 

Sandye Holmes Water Resources Division Carolyn McQuaig Typographer 

Marti Quigley Information Systems Division Wilma Donald Editor 

Connie Stephenson Administrative Division Gail Wendt Managing Editor 

Rebecca Phipps Associate Editor 

Please call or write to the following 1992 yearbook authors if you have questions or comments about the information in 

specific articles. (See the top of page 111 for full regional addresses.) 

Walter J. Bawiec 

Ronald E. Beck 

(703) 648-6148 

(605) 594-6551 

920 National Center 

EROS Data Center 

Sioux Falls, SD 57198 

David W. Morganwalp 

Carl Mortensen 

Jerry L. Mullins 

(703) 648-5720 

(415) 329-4856 

(703) 648-5144 

412 National Center 

Mail Stop 977 (Menlo Park) 

515 National Center 

Stephen F. Blanchard (217) 398-5350 102 E. Main St. 

Urbana, IL 61801 

Joseph L. Murphy 

Richard O'Leary 

(703) 648-7603 

(303) 236-2493 

270 National Center 

973 Denver Federal Center 

Charles W. Boning 

Mark V. Bonito 

Peter H. Brownell 

Deborah L. Burton 

Eurybiades Busenberg 

Eliot J. Christian 

Jim Crawforth 

Kurt Dodd 

Paul V. Dresler 

Jeff Eidenshink 

(703) 648-5305 

(415) 329-5106 

(703) 648-7209 

(703) 648-7671 

(703) 648-5730 

(703) 648-7245 

(602) 556-7102 

(703) 648-6654 

(703) 648-5020 

(605) 594-6028 

415 National Center 

Mail Stop 106 (Menlo Park) 

206 National Center 

270 National Center 

432 National Center 

802 National Center 

2255 N. Gemini Dr. 

Flagstaff, AZ 86001 

911 National Center 

417 National Center 

EROS Data Center 

Sioux Falls, SD 57198 

Lyndon R. Oleson 

Mary F. Orzech 

A.T. Ovenshine 

L. Niel Plummer 

Mary E. Powell 

Mitchell W. Reynolds 

Bruce M. Richmond 

Susan Roach 

David P. Russ 

Asbury H. Sallenger, Jr. 

(605) 594-6164 

(703) 648-6631 

(703) 648-6047 

(703) 648-5841 

(703) 648-7130 

(703) 648-6960 

(415) 354-3144 

(303) 236-5812 

(703) 648-6640 

(813) 893-3684 

EROS Data Center 

Sioux Falls, SD 57198 

912 National Center 

917 National Center 

432 National Center 

804 National Center 

908 National Center 

Mail Stop 999 (Menlo Park) 

512 Denver Federal Center 

911 National Center 

600 4th St., South 

St. Petersburg, FL 33701 

Gary L. Fairgrieve 

Carmelo F. Ferrigno 

Ellen Findley 

David W. Folger 

(703) 648-4608 

(703) 648-7142 

(703) 648-7182 

(508) 457-2234 

511 National Center 

804 National Center 

801 National Center 

Gosnold Bldg., 

Quissett Campus 

Woods Hole, MA 02540 

Kenneth Sargent 

Arthur R. Schmidt 

William B. Scott 

011-9662-667-4188 

ext. 450 

(217) 398-5376 

(305) 526-2895 

P.O. Box 1488 

Jeddah, 21431 Saudi Arabia 

102 E. Main St. 

Urbana, IL 61801 

9100 NW 36th St., Suite 1070 

Miami, FL 33178 

Timothy L. Gauslin 

Donald L. Gautier 

Kathryn D. Gunderson 

Pixie A. Hamilton 

(703) 648-5980 

(303) 236-5740 

(703) 648-7144 

(804) 771-2427 

802 National Center 

934 Denver Federal Center 

105 National Center 

3600 W. Broad St. 

Richmond, VA 23230 

Mark Shasby 

David B. Smith 

J. Dungan Smith 

Eugene A. Stallings 

(907) 786-7022 

(303) 236-1800 

(303) 541-3004 

(301) 713-0006 

EROS, 4320 University Dr. 

Anchorage, AK 99508 

Mail Stop 973 (Menlo Park) 

458 Denver Federal Center 

National Weather Service 

Robert Hamilton 

Monty A. Hampton 

Trudy P. Harlow 

(703) 648-6550 

(415) 354-3119 

(202) 208-3726 

922 National Center 

Mail Stop 999 (Menlo Park) 

Dept. of the Interior 

1849 C St., MS 5123 Alan R. Stevens (703) 648-5110 

1325 East-West Hwy. 

Room 8144 (SSMC2) 

Silver Spring, MD 20910 

515 National Center 

Wendy Hassibe 

Maxine C. Jefferson 

Susan K. Jenson 

(801) 524-5652 

(703) 648-7439 

(605) 594-6011 

Washington, DC 20240 

125 S. State St. 

Salt Lake City, UT 84138 

215 National Center 

EROS Data Center 

Sioux Falls, SD 57198 

Paul Teleki 

R.J. Thompson 

Stephen J. Vandas 

John Walbert 

Lisa Wald 

(703) 648-4423 

(605) 594-6161 

(303) 236-4932 

(703) 648-6934 

(818) 405-7822 

do 106 National Center 

EROS Data Center 

Sioux Falls, SD 57198 

414 Denver Federal Center 

206 National Center 

525 S. Wilson St. 

Fred Joines 

John R. Keith 

Margo Kingston 

Richard L. Kleckner 

Kevin S. Larson 

(303) 236-5434 

(703) 648-4357 

(703) 648-6369 

(703) 648-5741 

(605) 594-6041 

801 Denver Federal Center 

790 National Center 

927 National Center 

590 National Center 

EROS Data Center 

Sioux Falls, SD 57198 

Laure Wallace 

Jean N. Weaver 

Robert H. Webb 

Susan Wells 

(703) 648-6515 

(303) 236-7765 

(602) 670-6821 

(703) 648-7452 

Pasadena, CA 91106 

912 National Center 

972 Denver Federal Center 

1675 W. Anklam Road 

Tucson, AZ 85701 

215 National Center 

Carol Lawson 

Robert E. Learned 

(415) 329-4030 

(602) 670-5581 

Mail Stop 870 (Menlo Park) 

210 E. 7th Street 

Tucson, AZ 85705 

Steve Wilson 

Richard C. Williams 

Jackie M. Williams 

(303) 236-2454 

(703) 648-4401 

(303) 236-1203 

973 Denver Federal Center 

215 National Center 

964 Denver Federal Center 

Kory K. Lee 

Nancy C. Lopez 

Steve Ludington 

Richard A. MacDonald 

Jill McCarthy 

(703) 648-7241 

(703) 648-5015 

(415) 329-5371 

(703) 648-7120 

(415) 354-3140 

206 National Center 

417 National Center 

Mail Stop 984 (Menlo Park) 

804 National Center 

Mail Stop 999 (Menlo Park) 

S. Jeffress Williams 

Denise A. Wiltshire 

John H. Wittmann 

Kathryn Wortman 

Harry L. Zohn 

(703) 648-6511 

(703) 648-7114 

(703) 648-5117 

(703) 648-4566 

(703) 648-5928 

914 National Center 

801 National Center 

510 National Center 

510 National Center 

507 National Center 

Thomas P. Miller (907) 786-7454 4200 University Drive 

Anchorage, AK 99508 


Editor's note: All photographs are by USGS employees unless otherwise noted. 


Yearbook Staff and Contributors 123 




As the Nation's principal conservation agency, 

the Department of the Interior has responsibility for most of our nationally owned public 

lands and natural and cultural resources. This 

includes fostering wise use of our land and 

water resources, protecting our fish and wildlife, preserving the environmental and cultural 

values of our national parks and historical 

places, and providing for the enjoyment of life 

through outdoor recreation. The Department 

assesses our energy and mineral resources and 

works to assure that their development is in the 

best interests of all our people. The Department also has a major responsibility for 

American Indian reservation communities and 

for people who live in Island Territories under 

U.S. administration.