Western Fresno County Research Articles

Biological control of water hyacinth, Pontederia crassipes (C. Mart.) Solms (Pontederiaceae), in California: release and re-distribution of biological control agents 1987–2006

Water hyacinth, Pontederia crassipes (C. Mart.) Solms (Pontederiaceae), is a serious aquatic weed in lakes, ponds, and waterways in California and around the world. Three insects, the weevils Neochetina eichhorniae Warner, 1970, Neochetina bruchi Hustache, 1926 (Coleoptera: Brachyceridae), and a leaf moth Niphograpta albiguttalis (Warren, 1889) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) were released at four sites in 1982–1987 for the biological control of water hyacinth in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Here we report on statewide efforts to distribute the biological control agents outside the Delta and subsequent surveys to determine insect establishment. From 1987–2006, the three insects were redistributed to seven locations in five counties (Fresno, Los Angeles, Merced, Sacramento, and Santa Cruz) in California. Surveys in 2018–2020 found both Neochetina weevils at two locations in Merced County and one location in Sacramento County. No weevils were found at release locations in the upper San Joaquin River and associated waterways in western Fresno County or at the release location in Santa Cruz County. Plants at the release locations in Los Angeles County and eastern Fresno County had been eradicated and not sampled in this survey. These recoveries expand the known locations of Neochetina weevils in central California. The hyacinth moth, N. albiguttalis, was not recovered.

Profiles in History

2012 USDA-NRCS Soil Scientist Bry Schmidt (retired), in blue vest, records a soil profile description of Tulare clay while working on the Rapid Assessment of U.S. Soil Carbon (RaCA) in 2012 in the historic Tulare Lakebed of Kings County, California. Dr. Robin Roberts, historian and USDA-NRCS Earth Team Volunteer, photographs the soil profile. RaCA in Kings County, California. Schmidt retired in 2013 after 25 years of federal service, including service in the United States Navy and a tour in Vietnam. During his career with USDA-SCS/NRCS, Schmidt made valuable contributions while working on several soil surveys in California, including the Soil Surveys of Northeast Kern County, Southwest Kern County, Western Tulare County, Western Fresno County, and Yosemite National Park. He is a co-author of the Soil Survey of Kern County, Southwestern Part. During his career with USDA-NRCS, he was highly regarded for his proficiency in working with the NASIS database. Dr. Robin Roberts has served as a USDA-NRCS Earth Team Volunteer since 2005 and authored the “History and Development” sections for the Soil Surveys of Western Fresno County, Southwest Kern County, and Northeast Kern County. Photo courtesy of Kerry Arroues, USDA-NRCS, Hanford, California. 2013–2014 The steppes of the Central Russian Uplands and the U.S. Great Plains both have extensive histories of the use of tree windbreaks to improve the local climate for crop growth. When V.V. Dokuchaev was sent to southern Russia in 1892, tree windbreaks had been used for more than a century to protect crops from hot, dry winds blowing from deserts to the southeast. Dokuchaev recommended an aggressive tree planting campaign, and today the region has an extensive windbreak network. During the Dust Bowl, a similar scenario played out in the United States. In this case, U.S. Forest Service personnel were charged with planting windbreaks to control wind erosion in six drought-stricken plains states. A key figure in the Prairie States Forestry Project (PSFP) was a Russian-born forester, Raphael Zon, who applied knowledge from his experiences in Russia to the PSFP in the Great Plains. Dr. Chendev (in pit) confers with North Dakota State Soil Scientist Wade Bott in a crop field in southern North Dakota. In 2013 and 2014, Yury Chendev of Belgorod State University (BSU) led expeditions to Nebraska, North and South Dakota, and Montana to study soil transformation following windbreak planting. A 1942 PSFP planting near Norfolk, NE was included in this study. Dr. Chendev and colleagues from BSU and Moscow State University were joined by U.S. partner Tom Sauer of the USDA-ARS and colleagues from Iowa State University. This project, funded by the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation found strong similarities in soil organic carbon changes beneath the windbreaks that varied with climate and were consistent with findings from comparable sites in Russia. The results of this study will enable prediction of potential soil carbon sequestration and biomass production with tree planting in semiarid regions of the United States and Russia. Photo courtesy of Yury Chendev. Contributed by Tom Sauer. 2014 Resource Soil Scientist Greg Granger and State Soil Scientist Tony Jenkins analyze depth to bedrock distributions in potato fields of Northern Maine using ground penetrating radar. With the early April snowpack ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 m; snowshoes and a child's sled provide a relatively convenient way to traverse areas normally inaccessible to GPR due to crops and/or mud during warmer weather. The information gathered serves dual purposes: (i) field office assistance with on-site evaluation for planning conservation practices (specifically Subsurface Drainage 606) and (ii) Soil survey map unit evaluation pertinent to MLRA and National Initiative projects. NRCS Maine Soils Staff Use GPR for Bedrock Study. In the photo above, Resource Soil Scientist Greg Granger operates the GPR on a potato field buried under the snowpack. Information and Photo courtesy of Tony Jenkins, State Soil Scientist, USDA-NRCS, Maine.

Effects of Soil Water Salinity on Field Soil Hydraulic Functions

Unsaturated soil hydraulic parameters and functions used in numerical models to simulate water flow and solute transport in the unsaturated zone are generally considered invariant of soil water salinity levels. This study uses 5 years of field soil water salinity levels at three observation sites from the Land Retirement Demonstration Project (LRDP) (2006) located in western Fresno County, California, to test the hypothesis that field unsaturated soil hydraulic properties are also a function of soil water salinity level. The HYDRUS-1D software package for simulating one-dimensional (1D) movement of water, heat, and multiple solutes in variably saturated media, and Parameter Estimation (PEST), a model-independent parameter optimizer, is used to optimize the soil hydraulic parameters and downward bottom flux corresponding to three different average soil salinity levels at each site. The results show that at the same pressure head, soil water content is less with higher soil water salinity as compared with lower soil water salinity. It is thus concluded that the use of soil water salinity invariant soil water hydraulic parameters in numerical modeling can seriously compromise predictions, especially for a variable soil water salinity environment.

Distribution and Conservation Status ofOmus submetallicusG. Horn and Its Confusion withOmus californicus leconteiG. Horn (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

We conducted studies to determine the distribution, abundance, and conservation status of Omus submetallicus G. Horn. From pitfall traps and visual searches, we found 286 O. submetallicus adults at six sites in far western Fresno County, California where larval burrows were abundant and widespread. The same survey methods produced 975 Omus californicus lecontei G. Horn, mostly from seven sites in San Benito County, but others from two sites, one within 300 m of one of the O. submetallicus sites. Contrary to previous reports, we conclude that O. submetallicus does not occur in Monterey County (including Priest Valley) or in Kings County, but ranges east of the designated Warthan Canyon type locality where the habitat is generally drier and less densely vegetated than most of the rest of the canyon. Omus submetallicus is primarily associated with blue oak woodland and bull (digger) pine, but not with poison oak as previously reported. We predict that the actual range of O. submetallicus extends several miles north and south of the sites where we found it along Hwy. 198 because similar habitat is present in various small canyons there. This area is mostly private property, roadless, and accessible only on foot, so thorough surveys are difficult. All populations were on private lands used for low intensity cattle grazing which does not seem to pose a significant risk to the species. Because this area is unlikely to be developed in the near future, the species does not seem to be in danger of extinction at this time, despite its extremely limited geographic range.

Sustainable Root Zone Salinity and Shallow Water Table in the Context of Land Retirement

This study uses five years of field data from the Land Retirement Demonstration Project located in western Fresno County of California to develop a comprehensive theoretical and numerical modeling framework to evaluate the specific site conditions required for a sustainable land retirement outcome based on natural drainage. Using field data, principles of mass balance in a control volume, the HYDRUS-1D software package for simulating one-dimensional movement of water, heat, and multiple solutes in variably-saturated media, and a model-independent parameter optimizer, the processes of soil water and solute movement in root zone and deep vadose zone were investigated. The optimization of unsaturated soil hydraulic parameters and downward flux (natural drainage) from the control volume against observed vadose zone salinity levels and shallow groundwater levels yield difficult to obtain natural drainage rate as a function of water table height within the control volume. The results show that the unsaturated s...

New Cretaceous and Tertiary Pholadidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia) from California

Cretaceous and early Tertiary Pholadidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia) from the Pacific Slope of North America are rare and only poorly known. Three new species, each the earliest known Pacific Slope representative of its respective genus, are described:Barnea(Anchomasa)saulaen. sp. (Pholadinae) from the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian and Santonian) Redding Formation near Redding, uppermost Sacramento Valley, Shasta County, northern California;Chaceia fulcheraen. sp. (Martesiinae) from three widely separated areas of outcrop represented by 1) the middle Miocene (“Temblor”) Temblor Formation near Oil City and in Jasper Canyon, western Fresno County, central California, 2) the middle Miocene (“Temblor”) Topanga(?) Group in the northern Santa Ana Mountains, Orange County, southern California, and 3) the upper Miocene (Wishkahan) Montesano Formation on the Middle Fork of the Satsop River, Mason County, western Washington; andNetastoma squiresin. sp. (Jouannetiinae) from the lowest Eocene (uppermost “Meganos”) part of the Santa Susana Formation north of Simi Valley in the Santa Susana Mountains, Ventura County, southern California.

Depositional Control of Aquifer Characteristics in Alluvial Fans, Fresno County, California

Research Article| August 01, 1979 Depositional Control of Aquifer Characteristics in Alluvial Fans, Fresno County, California David Cehrs David Cehrs 1U.S. Department of Agriculture, Science and Education Administration, Agricultural Research, Water Management Research, Fresno, California 93726 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information David Cehrs 1U.S. Department of Agriculture, Science and Education Administration, Agricultural Research, Water Management Research, Fresno, California 93726 Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 20 Oct 1978 Revision Received: 04 Apr 1979 Accepted: 18 Apr 1979 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online Issn: 1943-2674 Print Issn: 0016-7606 © 1979 The Geological Society of America, Inc. GSA Bulletin (1979) 90 (8_Part_II): 1282–1309. https://doi.org/10.1130/GSAB-P2-90-1282 Article history Received: 20 Oct 1978 Revision Received: 04 Apr 1979 Accepted: 18 Apr 1979 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation David Cehrs; Depositional Control of Aquifer Characteristics in Alluvial Fans, Fresno County, California. GSA Bulletin 1979;; 90 (8_Part_II): 1282–1309. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/GSAB-P2-90-1282 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Three coalescing alluvial fans, the high alluvial fans of the San Joaquin and Kings Rivers and the intervening compound alluvial fan of intermittent streams (Page and LeBlanc, 1969), and their distal flood plains from the surficial and shallow subsurface deposits (100 m thick) of central Fresno County (Fig. 1). These deposits extend from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada to the axis of the San Joaquin Valley 58 km away. Physically they resemble the smaller, semiarid-region alluvial fans found in western Fresno County (Bull, 1964a, 1964b), but they lack the extensive debris-flow (mud-flow) deposits found in the western fans. The central Fresno County alluvial fans consist of vertical and lateral accretion deposits derived from meandering streams. Within these fan—flood-plain deposits, aquifer properties change in a specific downfan sequence. From available data on sediment in surface exposures, cores and well logs, and ground-water information, a description of the relationship between the observed aquifer characteristics and the depositional system of the fans is given here.GEOLOGIC SETTINGThe Fresno alluvial fans are part of a continuum of fans along the east side of the San Joaquin Valley. The present fans are the most recent of a sequence of Cenozoic sedimentary deposits that in the axis of the San Joaquin Valley are more than 4,000 m thick (Hackel, 1966). They contain Pleistocene and Holocene deposits of lacustrine, marsh, and fluvial origins. Much of the sedimentary and depositional history of this sequence is the result of the Pleistocene climate and associated glaciations. These valley-fill sediments provide a record of tectonism and erosion of the Sierra Nevada during Late Cretaceous to Paleocene time and during renewed uplift in late Miocene—early Pliocene time. This renewed uplift was responsible for the present elevation and tilting of the Sierra Nevada and for the depth of incision of the major rivers into the batholith (Bateman and Wahrhaftig, 1966). This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.

Depositional control of aquifer characteristics in alluvial fans, Fresno County, California: Summary

Three coalescing alluvial fans, the high alluvial fans of the San Joaquin and Kings Rivers and the intervening compound alluvial fan of intermittent streams (Page and LeBlanc, 1969), and their distal flood plains from the surficial and shallow subsurface deposits (100 m thick) of central Fresno County (Fig. 1). These deposits extend from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada to the axis of the San Joaquin Valley 58 km away. Physically they resemble the smaller, semiarid-region alluvial fans found in western Fresno County (Bull, 1964a, 1964b), but they lack the extensive debris-flow (mud-flow) deposits found in the western fans. The central Fresno County alluvial fans consist of vertical and lateral accretion deposits derived from meandering streams. Within these fan—flood-plain deposits, aquifer properties change in a specific downfan sequence. From available data on sediment in surface exposures, cores and well logs, and ground-water information, a description of the relationship between the observed aquifer characteristics and the depositional system of the fans is given here. GEOLOGIC SETTING The Fresno alluvial fans are part of a continuum of fans along the east side of the San Joaquin Valley. The present fans are the most recent of a sequence of Cenozoic sedimentary deposits that in the axis of the San Joaquin Valley are more than 4,000 m thick (Hackel, 1966). They contain Pleistocene and Holocene deposits of lacustrine, marsh, and fluvial origins. Much of the sedimentary and depositional history of this sequence is the result of the Pleistocene climate and associated glaciations. These valley-fill sediments provide a record of tectonism and erosion of the Sierra Nevada during Late Cretaceous to Paleocene time and during renewed uplift in late Miocene—early Pliocene time. This renewed uplift was responsible for the present elevation and tilting of the Sierra Nevada and for the depth of incision of the major rivers into the batholith (Bateman and Wahrhaftig, 1966).

New tritium data on movement of groundwater in western Fresno County, California

Well waters along two traverse lines were sampled in 1963 and tested for tritium concentration. Haskell et al. [1966] estimated from the apparent thermonuclear tritium concentrations that groundwater had moved westward in the lower water‐bearing zone at a maximum velocity of 14–16.5 mi (23–27 km) in 9 yr. The maximum velocities and permeabilities estimated from the 1963 sampling were about an order of magnitude greater than the velocities and permeabilities suggested by prior hydrologic and geologic evidence. Consequently, in 1966–1970 the U.S. Geological Survey sampled and tested the tritium concentrations of well waters along the same two traverses but also extended the sampling eastward. On the basis of these analyses it is concluded that (1) thermonuclear tritium had not invaded the lower zone by 1970 within the extent of the 1963 sampling and (2) although the maximum westward movement of groundwater in the lower zone from 1955 to 1970 is indeterminate, it has been less than 4 mi (6.5 km) from the recharge area in 15 yr.

Serpentinite Flows on Joaquin Ridge, Southern Coast Ranges, California

Flows of serpentinite extend downslope more than 1.5 km from the northeastern margin of a large source body of serpentinite exposed on Joaquin Ridge in western Fresno County, California. The parent body, oval in plan, consists of almost completely serpentinized peridotite and dunite in fault contact with surrounding Franciscan metamorphic rocks and upturned strata of the Upper Cretaceous Panoche Group. The serpentinite flows have an external form which strikingly resembles the forms of debris-flow deposits and solidified lava flows. On the basis of topographic position and surface morphology, flows of several ages can be recognized. Remnants of older flows cap ridges or are perched above valley floors, whereas younger flows respect modern topography and fill present-day canyons which extend into the main serpentinite body. The flows consist of rounded blocks of serpentinized peridotite and dunite enclosed in a matrix of flaky, intensely sheared serpentine. Shear surfaces locally define a weak foliation that diverges around large, un-sheared residual blocks. These internal features are strikingly similar to those encountered in the parent serpentinite body. The lower parts of flows of all ages unconformably overlie sandstones and shales of the Panoche Group. The geometric form of the Joaquin Ridge flows approximates the theoretical form of a rigid-plastic substance in critical equilibrium. Calculations involving the flow dimensions and the density of serpentine indicate that the sheared serpentinite comprising the flows had a shear strength on the order of 10 6 dynes cm −2 (1 bar) at atmospheric confining pressure and normal surface temperature. This relatively low value of strength contrasts significantly with much higher values determined experimentally by Raleigh and Paterson (1965) on solid, unsheared serpentinite. The low values indicate that tabular masses of sheared serpentinite found along thrusts in the California Coast Ranges and Klamath Mountains could have been tectonically emplaced by plastic flow at modest stresses and temperatures that were much lower than hitherto suspected. Surface flows similar to those on Joaquin Ridge may have contributed to the formation of some enigmatic “sedimentary” or “detrital” serpentinites of Cretaceous and Miocene age found in the Coast Ranges.

The Hydrologic and Geologic Aspects of a Perching Layer‐San Joaquin Valley, Western Fresno County, Californiaa

ABSTRACTA shallow, wide spread perching layer was isolated in the alluvial profiles of western Fresno County, California. Geologic and hydrologic interpretations are given, based on field and laboratory measurements of the physical properties of this layer. Some of the approaches investigated included using existing electrical logs from irrigation wells, head loss observations in wells and piezometers, core drilling, and core analysis. Differences in alluvial profile permeabilities are shown which result in perched water under the existing field flow conditions. The quantity of vertical flow through the layer is estimated using core permeabilities and hydraulic gradients observed in the field.Hydraulic properties and descriptions for the perched zone are presened which can be used to delineate profile flow limitations at other locations in the San Joaquin Valley. The study may be used in estimating the rate at which this perched water table could rise If, in the future, imported water and changes in irrigation patterns cause a large quantity of water to flow vertically.

The use of tritium to measure the movement of groundwater toward irrigation wells in western Fresno County, California

The tritium content of water from irrigation wells along two east-west traverse lines was used in estimating groundwater velocities in the San Joaquin Valley. Tritium peaks due to nuclear weapons tests were identified within the groundwater body. The estimated velocities were comparable with velocities expected in the coarse parts of the aquifers. The ratio of tritium in the well water to that in the rain was inconsistent with predicted recharge, indicating that recharge was localized and that water flowed to the sampled wells through the coarse aquifers.

History and causes of channel trenching in western Fresno County, California

The channel trenching has been accelerated in two different periods, in 1875-95 and in 1935-45. Deepening has been of the order of 25 to 40 feet. The amount and rate are shown to have been influenced by increased rainfall.--H.C.W.S

Alluvial-Fan Deposits in Western Fresno County, California

Deposition on alluvial fans is caused mainly by decrease in depth and velocity of flow, which results from increase in width as a flow spreads out on a fan. The alluvial-fan deposits of western Fresno County, California, are mudflows, water-laid sediments, and intermediate types. Common voids in the deposits are intergranular openings between grains that are held in place by a clay bond, bubble cavities, interlaminar openings in thinly laminated sediments, and buried, but unfilled, polygonal cracks.

Relation of Textural (CM) Patterns to Depositional Environment of Alluvial-fan Deposits

ABSTRACT Logarithmic plots of the coarsest 1-percentile grain size (C) and the median grain size (M) of alluvial-fan deposits make distinctive patterns for samples from western Fresno County, Calif. The CM pattern for the tractive-current sediments parallels the limiting line C = M and swings upward where C is about 1500 microns. The mudflow CM pattern is rectilinear and approximately parallels the line C = M. C is about 40 to 80 times M along the axis of the mudflow pattern.

Subsidence of the land surface in the Tulare‐Wasco (Delano) and Los Banos‐Kettleman City area, San Joaquin Valley, California

Releveling of bench marks in 1953 and 1954 by the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey indicates that subsidence of the land surface has now exceeded ten feet in two areas of the San Joaquin Valley. In the Tulare‐Wasco (or Delano) area of Tulare County, subsidence which was as much as rive feet in 1940 now has about doubled. The maximum rate of subsidence in recent years has been about 0.8 foot a year. In the Los Banos‐Kettleman City area of western Fresno County, major subsidence extends from Ora Loma on the north beyond Huron on the south, a distance of 70 miles or more. The maximum rate there approaches one foot a year. Plots of subsidence against decline in artesian pressure suggest that pressure decline is a major cause of the subsidence. Compaction of the soil after irrigation is known to have caused substantial local subsidence in the Los Banos‐Kettleman City area, and tectonic adjustment and other causes also may have contributed to the subsidence.

Tumey Sandstone (Tertiary), Fresno County, California

In the Ciervo Hills of western Fresno County, California, the Kreyenhagen formation in outcrop contains three members: the lower Kreyenhagen shale, the Tumey sandstone lentil, and the Tumey or upper Kreyenhagen shale. The Tumey sandstone crops out as a lens about 9 miles long and up to ½ mile wide in the shales of the Kreyenhagen formation. The major conclusions of this investigation are that the Tumey sandstone is conformable with both superjacent and subjacent members, that the sediments are of Sierran provenance coming from a land mass of high relief with abundant rainfall, and that the sands were deposited in warm-temperate, marine waters of the neritic zone of the current-swept Vallecitos channel during a part of Refugian (early Oligocene and late Eocene) time.