Research needed relative to radiological Assessment of the dumping of radioactive wastes in the oceans

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, the paper provides a historical review of international activities regarding radiation in the sea. Secondly, the paper provides some recommendations for future research needed for realistic dose assessment of the present and potential impact of ocean disposal and dumping operations.     

Volcano hazards program in the United States

Volcano monitoring and volcanic-hazards studies have received greatly increased attention in the United States in the past few years. Before 1980, the Volcanic Hazards Program was primarily focused on the active volcanoes of Kilauea and Mauna Loa, Hawaii, which have been monitored continuously since 1912 by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. After the reawakening and catastrophic eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, the program was substantially expanded as the government and general public became aware of the potential for eruptions and associated hazards within the conterminous United States. Integrated components of the expanded program include: volcanic-hazards assessment; volcano monitoring; fundamental research; and, in concert with federal, state, and local authorities, emergency-response planning.In 1980 the David A. Johnston Cascades Volcano Observatory was established in Vancouver, Washington, to systematically monitor the continuing activity of Mount St. Helens, and to acquire baseline data for monitoring the other, presently quiescent, but potentially dangerous Cascade volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest. Since June 1980, all of the eruptions of Mount St. Helens have been predicted successfully on the basis of seismic and geodetic monitoring.The largest volcanic eruptions, but the least probable statistically, that pose a threat to western conterminous United States are those from the large Pleistocene-Holocene volcanic systems, such as Long Valley caldera (California) and Yellowstone caldera (Wyoming), which are underlain by large magma chambers still potentially capable of producing catastrophic caldera-forming eruptions. In order to become better prepared for possible future hazards associated with such historically unpecedented events, detailed studies of these, and similar, large volcanic systems should be intensified to gain better insight into caldera-forming processes and to recognize, if possible, the precursors of caldera-forming eruptions.     

Geothermal resource assessment of the United States

Geothermal resource assessment is the broadly based appraisal of the quantities of heat that might be extracted from the earth and used economically at some reasonable future time. In the United States, the Geological Survey is responsible for preparing geothermal assessments based on the best available data and interpretations. Updates are required every few years owing to increasing knowledge, enlarging data base, improving technology, and changing economics. Because geothermal understanding is incomplete and rapidly evolving, the USGS complements its assessments with a broad program of geothermal research that includes (1) study of geothermal processes on crustal and local scales, (2) regional evaluations, (3) intensive study of type systems before and during exploitation (4) improvement of exploration techniques, and (5) investigation of geoenvironmental constraints.     

The United States and the Mekong Project

The United States has historically been a strong supporter of coordinated, international water resources studies and planning in Southeast Asia's Lower Mekong River Basin. Since 1975, however, the United States has not contributed to the Mekong Project. Nonetheless, the United States may benefit in several ways by supporting the Mekong River Commission. This paper describes a rationale for renewed US participation in the Mekong Project and identifies several Mekong River Commission Secretariat programs to which the United States could contribute.     

Secondary Hydrogeologic Regions of the Conterminous United States

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) previously identified and mapped 62 Principal Aquifers (PAs) in the U.S., with 57 located in the conterminous states. Areas outside of PAs, which account for about 40% of the conterminous U.S., were collectively identified as “other rocks.” This paper, for the first time, subdivides this large area into internally-consistent features, defined here as Secondary Hydrogeologic Regions (SHRs). SHRs are areas of other rock within which the rocks or deposits are of comparable age, lithology, geologic or physiographic setting, and relationship to the presence or absence of underling PAs or overlying glacial deposits. A total of 69 SHRs were identified. The number and size of SHRs identified in this paper are comparable to the number and size of PAs previously identified by the USGS. From a two-dimensional perspective, SHRs are complementary to PAs, mapped only where the PAs were not identified on the USGS PA map and not mapped where the PAs were identified. SHRs generally consist of low permeability rocks or deposits, but can include locally productive aquifers. The two maps, taken together, provide a comprehensive, national-scale hydrogeologic framework for assessing and understanding groundwater systems.     

Spatial scaling properties of annual streamflow in the United States

Abstract

The spatial scaling properties of annual average streamflow is examined using records from 1 433 river basins across the continental United States. The log-linear relationship ln(E[Q^r _i]) = a + b_r ln(A_i) is representative throughout the United States, where E[Q^r _i] represents the expectation of the rth moment of annual streamflow at site i, and A_i represents drainage area. The scaling model parameters a_r and b_r follow nearly perfect linear relationships a_r = rα and b_r = rβ throughout the continental United States. We conclude that the probability distribution of annual streamflow follows simple scaling relationships in all regions of the United States. In temperate regions where climate is relatively homogeneous, scale alone describes most of the variability in the moments of annual streamflow. In the more climatically heterogeneous regions, such as in the Upper Colorado and Missouri river basins, scale alone is a poor predictor of the moments of annual flow.     

Devonian tioga tuff in Northeastern United States

The Tioga Bentonite ranges from a coarse crystal tuff to a tuffaceous shale enclosed in marine strata. It originally was deposited over the entire northeastern United States during the Middle Devonian. Trends in grain size, thickness, and numbers of preserved ash layers indicate a source volcano in west-central or central Virginia.     

Interannual variability of United States cloudiness

United States cloudiness data for 1950–1992 show quasi-biennial (QBO) and quasi-triennial (QTO) oscillations which match partly with the QBO and QTO of the Southern Oscillation (SO) index (the Tahiti minus Darwin pressure), but not with the QBO of the 50-mb equatorial zonal wind. Cloudiness also shows significant periodicities near 4.2 and 7.5 years, and probably a sunspot cycle effect (periodicities 11–14 years), with minimum cloudiness at or soon after sunspot minima, though this could also be due to periodicities of 10 and 17 years observed in the SO index. During 1955-1970, cloudiness increased by about 1%. Thereafter, it remained almost steady for the eastern and central parts of the USA, but continued to rise until about 1980 for the western USA.     

Changes in snowmelt runoff timing in the contiguous United States

Changes in timing of snowmelt-fed streamflow have great importance for water supply, flood management, and ecological processes, as well as being a common indicator of climate change. In this study, snowmelt runoff timing change in the contiguous United States between 1957 and 2016 was investigated by analysing data from 97 streamflow gages. The annual snowmelt runoff timing shift was identified using ‘Center Time (CT)’ and ‘Spring Pulse Onset (SPO)’ methods, jointly with the monthly fractional streamflow (MFS) analysis, conducted between January and June. Since snowmelt-derived streamflow timing change is mainly induced by regional meteorological factors, such as air temperature and precipitation, their trends and relationship with CT were also examined. Shifts toward earlier snowmelt runoff timing were found by both methods, CT (8.3 days on average) and SPO (8.5 days on average). Although the results of the CT change are stronger than the SPO change, both outcomes are mostly correlated, particularly in the central and northwestern parts of the country. MFS trends support the outcomes of CT and SPO. In January, February, and especially March, a higher number of the stations indicated increasing trends in MFS. In April, May, and June, their number decreased and the number of gages with diminishing trends rose sharply. The timing difference is highly related to temperature change. Annual average temperature and temperature in the melting period increase considerably. The annual average temperature is significantly negatively correlated with CT in the vast majority of the regions. Although precipitation is not as effective as the temperature, its trends have impacts on snowmelt runoff timing change depending on the region and elevation. These results demonstrate the importance of the impacts of snowmelt runoff timing changes due to global warming on the regional and large-scale hydrology in the contiguous United States.     

Variations of bromide in potable ground water in the United States

Concentrations of bromide in potable ground water that has <10 mg/L chloride range from 0.0032 to 0.058 mg/L with a median value of 0.016 mg/L. The chloride/bromide mass ratio for the same water ranges from 43 to 285 with a median value of 101. The ratios, which resulted from screening approximately 165 analyses of water from 32 locations in 24 states in the United States, show a distinct geographic variation with highest values near the coast and trending toward a value of approximately 50 in the continental interior.     

美国西部地震烈度衰减规律

在国家和地区地震动区划和重大工程的地震安全性评价工作中，区域地震动衰减规律的确定是重要环节，而借用法是目前常用的建立区域地震动衰减的方法。我国借用法通常都把美国西部作为参考地区，但一般都采用调整美国学者已有烈度衰减规律的办法确定美国西部烈度衰减规律。本文讨论美国西部已有烈度衰减规律，并直接采用美国西部烈度调查资料建立烈度衰减规律，结果可供我国工程地震工作者参考。