Survey Water Resources Research Articles

A geomorphological based banded (`tiger') vegetation pattern related to former dune fields in Sokoto (Northern Nigeria)

A banded vegetation pattern has been observed on aerial photographs of Sokoto province in Northern Nigeria. It was successfully used as a land mapping characteristic in the soil and vegetation (land unit) reconnaissance survey see FAO (1969) [FAO, 1969. Soils Survey and Land Classification, Soils and Water Resources Survey of the Sokoto Valley (Nigeria). Final report Vol. V, FAO/SF:67/Nr3.], Zonneveld et al. (1971) [Zonneveld, I.S., de Leeuw, P.N., Sombroek, W.G., 1971. An ecological interpretation of aerial photographs in a savanna region in northern Nigeria. Publication of the International Institute for Aerial Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC) Enschede, The Netherlands, 41 pp.]. The banded pattern is visible through vegetation density related to differences in surface hydrology. The latter are caused by variation in soil sealing that is connected with a by sheet erosion (pediplanisation) levelled former early Holocene to late Pleistocene dune landscape (Sangiwa coversand landscape). The difference in sealing is related to a (very small) difference in silt content between the levelled former dunes and the filled in valleys in combination with extreme low organic matter content. The lower silt content in the valley filling is connected with the re-sedimentation process, a feature well known in coversand formation. The sealing is a present day process. Fresh loosened soil material (by ploughing and soil pit digging) is after one rain shower already covered with a sealed crust of several millimetres through which no water penetrates. The orientation of the bands (about NNW–SSE) is perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction (ENE–WSW) during the period of formation of the former dunes. The genesis of this pattern of regional scale appears to be quite different from local scale banded patterns known to us in dry zones in Africa and Asia and described, in the same period of our study as `Brousse tigrée', being moving vegetation arcs related to sheet runoff and by consequence oriented perpendicular to that water flow.

Pleistocene morphology and Holocene emergence of Christmas (Kiritimati) Island, Pacific Ocean

Christmas (Kiritimati) Island is an unusually large coral atoll, of which a large proportion of the surface is presently subaerial. Extensive outcrops of in situ branching Acropora corals, together with Porites microatolls, Tridacna, and other shallow marine biota, indicate that the present low-lying area of interconnecting lakes in the island interior formed as a reticulate lagoon. Radiocarbon dating indicates that these lagoonal reefs flourished between 4500 and 1500 radiocarbon years BP, and surveying confirms that sea level was 0.5–1.0 m above present at that time, with subaerial exposure resulting from Late Holocene emergence. Boreholes undertaken for a water resources survey of the island penetrated near-surface Pleistocene limestones on the northern, southern, and eastern sides of the island. These are highly weathered and fractured, and although aragonitic clasts are preserved, U-series dating indicates a Middle Pleistocene or older age. At one location flanking the Bay of Wrecks, an outcrop of limestone, with an erosional notch, 1–2 m above present sea level, yielded a U-series age of 130 ka, and is interpreted as Last Interglacial in age. In contrast to previous interpretations which have suggested that Christmas Island comprised an atoll superstructure that is entirely Holocene, or the layer-cake interpretation appropriate for many mid-ocean atolls, Christmas Island appears to have had a form similar to its present in the Middle Pleistocene or earlier. It has undergone karstification during lowstands. Interglacials, particularly the Last Interglacial and the Holocene, appear to have resulted in only a minor veneer of coral over older limestone surfaces. Christmas Island is considered characteristic of an atoll that has not experienced significant subsidence through the Late Quaternary.

MATCHING NATURAL WATER COLORS TO MUNSELL STANDARDS1

ABSTRACT: Color of natural waters strongly influences their aesthetic appeal, suitability for recreational use, and aquatic habitat, but methods for routine specification of color have been lacking. An improved method has been developed for specifying water colors in the field. The water color, seen through an underwater viewer, is matched directly to Munsell standard patches observed simultaneously. The Munsell color‐matching method was verified versus measurements of the underwater light field, made with a submersible spectroradiometer in 20 different natural waters in New Zealand (mainly lakes), which varied widely in color and other optical characteristics. Hue, the most important color attribute of natural waters, could be matched accurately; the saturation and brightness less so. Color standard patches are not available covering the full range of typically dark water colors, but fortunately, brightness can be measured with simple submersible light sensors. The Munsell color matching method seems suitable for routine water resources survey and monitoring.

The National Resources Inventory: a long-term multi-resource monitoring programme

Interest in natural resources and the environment has led to the development of new federal monitoring efforts, the expansion of existing federal inventory programmes, and discussions of inter-agency collaboration for natural resource assessment data collection. As federal programmes evolve, knowledge gained from existing long-term survey programmes can provide valuable contributions to statistical and operational aspects of survey efforts. This paper describes the National Resources Inventory (NRI), which has been conducted by the US Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service in cooperation with the Iowa State University Statistical Laboratory for several decades. The current NRI is a longitudinal survey of soil, water, and related environmental resources designed to assess conditions and trends every five years on non-federal US lands. An historical overview is provided highlighting the development of the survey programme. Sample design, data collection, and estimation procedures used in the 1992 NRI are described, and statistical issues related to long-term monitoring are discussed.

Perception of water clarity and colour in terms of suitability for recreational use

Undoubtedly, the clarity and colour of waters can strongly influence their use for recreation, so it is surprising that few attempts to relate suitability-for-use to these aspects of visual water quality have been published. In New Zealand, visual clarity of river waters in a national water quality network is routinely measured by 15 Water Resources Survey field parties who have become expert in the black disk visibility technique. The Water Resources Survey officers were surveyed using a Delphi technique for their opinions regarding the position of curves (response or sub-index curves) relating suitability-for-use of waters for bathing and aesthetics to black disk visibility and to water hue on the Munsell scale. The consensus curve for clarity showed that suitability for bathing changed from “marginally suitable” above 1·1 m to “suitable” above 1·6 m black disk visibility. This consensus curve agrees closely with the findings of an earlier study using a completely different method (interviews of recreational users at beaches of water-bodies having different measured clarity). The clarity curve for aesthetics was very similar to that for bathing. The consensus curve for colour shows that yellow-hued waters are poorly regarded for aesthetic reasons, whilst green-yellow waters are “marginal”; the preferred colours being green to blue (“suitable” or better).

More on the landslide at Mingechaurskoe Reservoir

The deformations of the right-bank slope that have occurred in the vicinity of the AzSREGS and Verkhne-Karabakh Irrigation Canal (VKC) intakes have already been described in this journal [1]. The Verkhne-Karabakh Canal supplies water to irrigated lands in the republic, and the AzSREGS, with a capacity of three million kW, is the largest generating facility of the Transcaucasus. Landslides have long been known to occur on the right-bank slope of the Kura Valley, in the vicinity of the Mingechaur Gap. They gave rise to concern regarding the ability of a planned dam to survive, and a detailed study of these and other physical-geological processes leading to deformation of the slope was therefore carried out over several decades. Preliminary plans for construction of a dam 7-8 m high in the Mingechaur Gap were begun in 1915. In 1925, a scientific commission established to survey water resources in Azerbaidzhan raised the question of building a large reservoir with a dam 20-25 m high at the site. Exploratory studies made in 1926 enabled geologists to conclude that construction of a high dam could not be recommended, because of the complex geological conditions (low-strength, easily weathered porous gypsiferous rocks, and extensive "clay karst" bordering the valley, and land slippage). As a result of the exceptionally favorable location of the gap tbr irrigation of large areas and the possibility of cheap electric power, it was decided to make a more thorough geological study, which was carried out in 1927-1928 by the geologist V. A. Strakhov. His report pointed out that engineering-geological conditions would permit construction of a high dam, were the various geological features to be fully taken into consideration. The Administration for Water Resources Utilization in the Kura-Araksin Basin (Zakvodproiz) completed a draft plan for a Mingechaur Dam 38 m high in 1930. The engineering specifications adopted by the Zakvodproiz in 1931 set the dam height at 64 m. Preliminary work was continued in 1932-1934. Special attention was paid to the tectonics of the rock mass and the com~ection between it and the "clay karst." These studies confirmed that a high dana could be built in the Mingechaur Basin. A 1938 request for proposals provided for a dam 66 m high. The height of the dam finally built was 80 m. The main cause of landslides in the area under natural conditions was undercutting by the river of the clay and sandstone strata, which dipped toward the riverbed [2]. Smaller slides occurred on the sides of gullies. The topography was complicated in places by pits, sinkholes, and other manifestations of the so-called "clay karst," which were considered to be of decisive significance in assessing slope stability. However, it was found during the initial stages of research on the engineering-geological conditions for construction of the Mingechaur Dam that the "clay karst" encompassed only the zone of active weathering and was nowhere detected below 20 m from the surface in the unnaodified country rock. The main factor responsible for its creation was mechanical erosion of the weathered rocks by the water in temporary streams that penetrated the rock in concentrated flows along cracks. Leaching out of water-soluble salts, which were originally considered to be the main factor responsible for development of the "clay karst," apparently facilitated this process but played a subordinate role, since the gypsum content in the weathering zone did not exceed 2-3 %. The salinity of the country rock was even lower. It

Joseph F. Poland, 1908–1991

On June 4, 1991, AGU Fellow Joseph Fairfield Poland died in a Sacramento, Calif., hospital at the age of 83 after a long fight with Parkinson's Disease. A recognized expert on land subsidence and a retiree from the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Resources Division, his death occurred only 2 weeks after the end of the 4th International Symposium on Land Subsidence, held in Houston, Tex. Frequently known as “Mr. Land Subsidence,” it was appropriate that the proceedings of that symposium had been dedicated to him. Born in Boston, Poland earned a bachelor's degree in geology from Harvard University in 1929. He was resident geologist for Tropical Oil Company in Colombia from 1929 to 1931. After returning to the United States, Poland earned his master's degree in geology from Stanford University in 1935, taught groundwater hydrology, and consulted on groundwater and geophysical problems in the West and Southwest.

Joseph F. Poland (1908–1991)

On June 4, 1991, AGU Fellow Joseph Fairfield Poland died in a Sacramento, Calif., hospital at the age of 83 after a long fight with Parkinson's Disease. A recognized expert on land subsidence and a retiree from the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Resources Division, his death occurred only 2 weeks after the end of the 4th International Symposium on Land Subsidence, held in Houston, Tex. Frequently known as “Mr. Land Subsidence,” it was appropriate that the proceedings of that symposium had been dedicated to him.Born in Boston, Poland earned a bachelor's degree in geology from Harvard University in 1929. He was resident geologist for Tropical Oil Company in Colombia from 1929 to 1931. After returning to the United States, Poland earned his master's degree in geology from Stanford University in 1935, taught groundwater hydrology, and consulted on groundwater and geophysical problems in the West and Southwest.

Groundwater hydrology

The international conference on Advances in Ground‐Water Hydrology was held November 16–19, 1988, in Tampa, Fla. More than 320 scientists and engineers attended the conference, which was dedicated to the memory of the late C. V. Theis, formerly with the U.S. Geological Survey, an AGU Fellow, holder of the Robert E. Horton Medal, and member of the AGU Hydrology Section since 1934. The 3‐day meeting had presentations by more than 100 speakers from Canada, Europe, and the U.S. The conference was organized to review advances in hydrology in the past 10 years. Discussions were held on the need for research and practical applications in groundwater hydrology for the 1990s. The conference was sponsored by the American Institute of Hydrology, in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, Environmental Protection Agency, Universities Council on Water Resources, Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, American Geological Institute, American Society of Agricultural Engineers, American Water Resources Association, Geological Society of America, and International Association of Hydrogeologists.

Diatoms from Streams in Ellis and Russell Counties, Kansas

Ninety-one taxa of diatoms are reported from four streams in Ellis and Russell counties in west-central Kansas. A survey of diatoms from west-central Kansas was initiated in 1979 with collections made at several localities on an irregular basis. A list of taxa from benthic samples collected in Big Creek, Saline River, Salt Creek, and Smoky Hill River in Ellis and Russell counties has been compiled. The only known report published previously that includes diatoms from streams in this study area is that of Czarnecki and Reinke (1981) who identified nine taxa from Salt Creek. McFarland (1959) included six taxa of diatoms in his thesis on the algae of Trego and Ellis counties, and some of the samples collected at that time were examined during this study. In the study area, Big Creek, Saline River, and Smoky Hill River are similar physically and chemically. The pH is between 7.0 and 8.5, and specific conductance is between 500 and 3000 micromhos per centimeter. Salt Creek has a similar pH, but is unique among the four streams surveyed because of its greater specific conductance which has been as high as 20,000 micromhos per centimeter on collection dates. METHODS AND MATERIALS Diatoms were collected from stream substrates of rock, concrete, mud, and submerged plant material. Hard surfaces were scraped and vacuumed with disposable pipettes. Disposable pipettes also were used to collect diatoms from the surface of mud and submerged plant material. Samples were cleaned with hot sulfuric acid as described by Lind (1979). Part of each sample was mounted permanently with Hyrax (Custom Research and Development, Inc., Auburn, California) for study with a light microscope. Some samples were mounted on coverslips for examination with an International Scientific Instruments SX-30 scanning electron microscope. Material from this survey is housed at Fort Hays State University. References by Patrick and Reimer (1966, 1975), Hustedt (1927-1966, This content downloaded from 207.46.13.187 on Sun, 15 May 2016 04:31:52 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms VOLUME 89, NUMBERS 3-4 163 1930), Schmidt et al. (1874-1959), and slides in the herbarium at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia were used to identify most of the taxa. Drs. Ruth Patrick and Charles Reimer from the Academy of Natural Sciences confirmed some identifications. Hydrogen ion concentration was determined with a Beckman Electromate pH meter and specific conductance was tested with a Yellow Springs Instruments Model 33 S-C-T meter at 25 degrees C. Values obtained on collection dates and unpublished data collected previously were used in conjunction with data published in U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Data for Kansas (1964-1983) to delimit the general ranges given for pH and specific conductance. The six localities from which diatom samples were collected for this survey are described below, as is the locality cited by Czarnecki and Reinke (1981). The site numbers listed with the collection localities are used in the list of taxa (Table 1) to indicate where each taxon was collected. Reference slides of each habitat sampled at a collection site are listed with the localities. Saline Basin, Saline River; Ellis Co., Kansas, 16 mi N and 5 mi E of Hays, 4th bridge E of U.S. 183 on FAS 235 (NW1/4 Sec. 17, Ti IS, R17W); 30 Jun 1979. Site Number 1. Slides 19 through 23--silt substrate in small, isolated pool along edge of stream, surface debris behind (upstream of) fallen branches, and muddy stream bottom. Saline Basin, Saline River; Ellis Co., Kansas, 15.5 mi N and 1 mi E of Hays, U.S. 183 bridge (Sec. 15, TllS, R18W); 27 Feb 1980. Site Number 2. Slides 29 and 30-backwater around concrete bridge support; diatoms collected from concrete. Saline Basin, Salt Creek; Russell Co., Kansas, 4.5 mi N and 3.25 mi W of Russell (NE/4 Sec. 6, T13S, R14W); 13 Jul 1979. Site Number 3. Compiled from Czarnecki and Reinke (1981). Saline Basin, Salt Creek; Russell Co., Kansas, 4.5 mi N and 3.5 mi W of Russell (SE4 Sec. 6, T13S, R14W); 12 Jun 1980. Site Number 4. Slides 147 through 152-backwater at concrete bridge support; diatoms collected from fallen, submerged vegetation. Smoky Hill Basin, Big Creek; Ellis Co., Kansas, Fort Hays State University campus (SE1/4 Sec. 32, T13S, R18W); 21 Feb 1980 and 12 Mar 1980. Site Number 5. Slides 24 and 25 standing water of original channel of Big Creek at old boat landing between Custer Hall and Sheridan Coliseum; diatoms collected from concrete surface in water below 1-2 inches of ice cover (21

Salt lake at record levels

Utah's Great Salt Lake rose 1.6 m between September 1982 and June 1983, the greatest seasonal rise measured in 136 years of record, according to a report published by Ted Arnow, chief of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Resources District Office in Salt Lake City. The lake, which continued to rise after Arnow wrote his report, rose 25 cm in December, a record for a 1‐month period. On January 1 the lake's height was measured at 1282.03 m above sea level, the highest since 1887.The combined effects of above average rainfall in 1982, above average snowfall in the autumn of 1982 and the spring of 1983, and unseasonably cool weather during the spring of 1983 led to the record rise.

Joint study of water problems and needs in the northeast

A group of seven Northeastern organizations have issued a major study which documents the region's water problems and needs, saying it would help them chart a course of political action to assist in addressing water policy throughout the 11 states in the region. The three basic goals: to identify water resource priorities for the Northeast, to compile an inventory of major water projects and plans proposed for the region, and to assess the job‐creating impact of public works and water projects. They said it was the most comprehensive survey of the region's water resources and problems ever conducted.The joint study estimated that the total price tag for ‘high‐priority’ water resource projects in the Northeast might exceed $25 billion.

Flood frequency curves available

Flood frequency curves for all gaged sites in the United States that have at least 10 years of recorded natural (unregulated) streamflow discharges are available for inspection at district offices of the U.S. Geological Survey's Water Resources Division. Over 11,000 sites on streams and rivers in all 50 states are available through the program.By establishing how frequently a particular flood flow is likely to be equaled or exceeded at least once on the long‐term average, flood frequency curves are used by public and private agencies for design purposes and to determine, for example, insurance rates and flood zone regulations.

First meeting of USNC/SH

United States participation in the International Hydrological Program (IHP) took a major step forward with the establishment of the U.S. National Committee on Scientific Hydrology (USNC/SH) in the U.S. Geological Survey of the Department of the Interior.The committee is to serve as a national committee for the IHP, and also as an advisory committee on scientific hydrology for the Survey's Water Resources Division (WRD). It was established at the request of the U.S. State Department, and with the understanding that it would have the cooperation and support of other federal agencies involved in water activities relevant to the IHP.

THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION'S ROLE IN AMERICA'S GROWTH1

ABSTRACT. The Bureau of Reclamation was created to implement the Reclamation Act of 1902 and subsequent legislation to conserve and develop the water resources of the western states for maximum efficient use. This has been accomplished by the planning and construction of major multiple use projects which now supply water to approximately eight million acres of land which annually produce 52 million tons of food and fiber with a gross crop value of approximately $2 billion.Fifteen million people are served with municipal and industrial water supplies and hydroelectric power from Bureau projects now returns $160 million annually to the Treasury.Flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife enhancement are other major benefits. The Bureau of Reclamation is now undertaking a Westwide Survey of water resources and of the needs of the future which is more far‐reaching than anything heretofore accomplished. The information accumulated during this ten‐year survey will determine whether there is a necessity for consideration of major interbasin transfer of water supply.

Arkæologiske undersøgelser på Oman halvøen

Arkæologiske undersøgelser på Oman halvøen

Some Problems of the Multi-Purpose Utilization of Natural Resources for the National Development of African Countries

A survey of water and mineral resources of the African continent and their problems of development. The author suggests that African states, with their relatively small population and economic capabilities, should collaborate in the construction of major water projects and in the exploitation of large mineral deposits.