Plans for Coal-Fired Power Plant Loom Over Black Rock Desert
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Our Arctic Nation a U.S
Connecting the United States to the Arctic OUR ARCTIC NATION A U.S. Arctic Council Chairmanship Initiative Cover Photo: Cover Photo: Hosting Arctic Council meetings during the U.S. Chairmanship gave the United States an opportunity to share the beauty of America’s Arctic state, Alaska—including this glacier ice cave near Juneau—with thousands of international visitors. Photo: David Lienemann, www. davidlienemann.com OUR ARCTIC NATION Connecting the United States to the Arctic A U.S. Arctic Council Chairmanship Initiative TABLE OF CONTENTS 01 Alabama . .2 14 Illinois . 32 02 Alaska . .4 15 Indiana . 34 03 Arizona. 10 16 Iowa . 36 04 Arkansas . 12 17 Kansas . 38 05 California. 14 18 Kentucky . 40 06 Colorado . 16 19 Louisiana. 42 07 Connecticut. 18 20 Maine . 44 08 Delaware . 20 21 Maryland. 46 09 District of Columbia . 22 22 Massachusetts . 48 10 Florida . 24 23 Michigan . 50 11 Georgia. 26 24 Minnesota . 52 12 Hawai‘i. 28 25 Mississippi . 54 Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska. Photo: iStock.com 13 Idaho . 30 26 Missouri . 56 27 Montana . 58 40 Rhode Island . 84 28 Nebraska . 60 41 South Carolina . 86 29 Nevada. 62 42 South Dakota . 88 30 New Hampshire . 64 43 Tennessee . 90 31 New Jersey . 66 44 Texas. 92 32 New Mexico . 68 45 Utah . 94 33 New York . 70 46 Vermont . 96 34 North Carolina . 72 47 Virginia . 98 35 North Dakota . 74 48 Washington. .100 36 Ohio . 76 49 West Virginia . .102 37 Oklahoma . 78 50 Wisconsin . .104 38 Oregon. 80 51 Wyoming. .106 39 Pennsylvania . 82 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN ARCTIC NATION? oday, the Arctic region commands the world’s attention as never before. -
Ecoregions of Nevada Ecoregion 5 Is a Mountainous, Deeply Dissected, and Westerly Tilting Fault Block
5 . S i e r r a N e v a d a Ecoregions of Nevada Ecoregion 5 is a mountainous, deeply dissected, and westerly tilting fault block. It is largely composed of granitic rocks that are lithologically distinct from the sedimentary rocks of the Klamath Mountains (78) and the volcanic rocks of the Cascades (4). A Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, Vegas, Reno, and Carson City areas. Most of the state is internally drained and lies Literature Cited: high fault scarp divides the Sierra Nevada (5) from the Northern Basin and Range (80) and Central Basin and Range (13) to the 2 2 . A r i z o n a / N e w M e x i c o P l a t e a u east. Near this eastern fault scarp, the Sierra Nevada (5) reaches its highest elevations. Here, moraines, cirques, and small lakes and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial within the Great Basin; rivers in the southeast are part of the Colorado River system Bailey, R.G., Avers, P.E., King, T., and McNab, W.H., eds., 1994, Ecoregions and subregions of the Ecoregion 22 is a high dissected plateau underlain by horizontal beds of limestone, sandstone, and shale, cut by canyons, and United States (map): Washington, D.C., USFS, scale 1:7,500,000. are especially common and are products of Pleistocene alpine glaciation. Large areas are above timberline, including Mt. Whitney framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and those in the northeast drain to the Snake River. -
Burning Man Geology Black Rock Desert.Pdf
GEOLOGY OF THE BLACK ROCK DESERT By Cathy Busby Professor of Geology University of California Santa Barbara http://www.geol.ucsb.edu/faculty/busby BURNING MAN EARTH GUARDIANS PAVILION 2012 LEAVE NO TRACE Please come find me and Iʼll give you a personal tour of the posters! You are here! In one of the most amazing geologic wonderlands in the world! Fantastic rock exposure, spectacular geomorphic features, and a long history, including: 1. PreCambrian loss of our Australian neighbors by continental rifting, * 2. Paleozoic accretion of island volcanic chains like Japan (twice!), 3. Mesozoic compression and emplacement of a batholith, 4. Cenozoic stretching and volcanism, plus a mantle plume torching the base of the continent! Let’s start with what you can see on the playa and from the playa: the Neogene to Recent geology, which is the past ~23 million years (= Ma). Note: Recent = past 15,000 years http://www.terragalleria.com Then we’ll “build” the terrane you are standing on, beginning with a BILLION years ago, moving through the Paleozoic (old life, ~540-253 Ma), Mesozoic (age of dinosaurs, ~253-65 Ma)) and Cenozoic (age of mammals, ~65 -0 Ma). Neogene to Recent geology Black Rock Playa extends 100 miles, from Gerlach to the Jackson Mountains. The Black Rock Desert is divided into two arms by the Black Rock Range, and covers 1,000 square miles. Empire (south of Gerlach)has the U.S. Gypsum mine and drywall factory (brand name “Sheetrock”), and thereʼs an opal mine at base of Calico Mtns. Neogene to Recent geology BRP = The largest playa in North America “Playa” = a flat-bottomed depression, usually a dry lake bed 3,500ʼ asl in SW, 4,000ʼ asl in N Land speed record: 1997 - supersonic car, 766 MPH Runoff mainly from the Quinn River, which heads in Oregon ~150 miles north. -
North American Deserts Chihuahuan - Great Basin Desert - Sonoran – Mojave
North American Deserts Chihuahuan - Great Basin Desert - Sonoran – Mojave http://www.desertusa.com/desert.html In most modern classifications, the deserts of the United States and northern Mexico are grouped into four distinct categories. These distinctions are made on the basis of floristic composition and distribution -- the species of plants growing in a particular desert region. Plant communities, in turn, are determined by the geologic history of a region, the soil and mineral conditions, the elevation and the patterns of precipitation. Three of these deserts -- the Chihuahuan, the Sonoran and the Mojave -- are called "hot deserts," because of their high temperatures during the long summer and because the evolutionary affinities of their plant life are largely with the subtropical plant communities to the south. The Great Basin Desert is called a "cold desert" because it is generally cooler and its dominant plant life is not subtropical in origin. Chihuahuan Desert: A small area of southeastern New Mexico and extreme western Texas, extending south into a vast area of Mexico. Great Basin Desert: The northern three-quarters of Nevada, western and southern Utah, to the southern third of Idaho and the southeastern corner of Oregon. According to some, it also includes small portions of western Colorado and southwestern Wyoming. Bordered on the south by the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Mojave Desert: A portion of southern Nevada, extreme southwestern Utah and of eastern California, north of the Sonoran Desert. Sonoran Desert: A relatively small region of extreme south-central California and most of the southern half of Arizona, east to almost the New Mexico line. -
Rose-Marcella-Thesis-2020.Pdf
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Nebkha Morphology, Distribution and Stability Black Rock Playa, Nevada A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Arts in Geography By Marcella Rose December 2019 The thesis of Marcella Rose is approved: _______________________________________ _____________ Dr. Julie Laity Date _______________________________________ _____________ Dr. Thomas Farr Date _______________________________________ _____________ Dr. Amalie Orme, Chair Date California State University, Northridge ii Acknowledgements Dr. Orme, I really don’t think that there is a sufficient combination of words that exist to properly express the immense amount of gratitude I feel for everything that you have done for me. This college education changed my life for the better and I hope you realize what a significant role you were within that experience. I am thankful that not only did I get a great professor, but also a friend. Dr. Laity, thank you so much for having faith in me and for taking me on as one of your last students to advise. But most of all, thank you for pushing me to be better – I needed that. Dr. Farr, I was so excited during DEVELOP that you accepted to be a part of my committee. It was a pleasure to work with you within the Black Rock Playa research team but then to also take our research a step further for this graduate thesis. I would also like to thank the staff at the Bureau of Land Management, Winnemucca: Dr. Mark E. Hall, Field Manager of the Black Rock Field Office; Shane Garside, Black Rock Station Manager/ Outdoor Recreation Planner; Brian McMillan, Rangeland Management Technician; and Braydon Gaard, Interim Outdoor Recreation Planner. -
Ground-Water Resources-Reconnaissance Series Report 20
- STATE OF NEVADA ~~~..._.....,.,.~.:RVA=rl~ AND NA.I...U~ a:~~::~...... _ __,_ Carson City_ GROUND-WATER RESOURCES-RECONNAISSANCE SERIES REPORT 20 GROUND- WATER APPRAISAL OF THE BLACK ROCK DESERT AREA NORTHWESTERN NEVADA By WILLIAM C. SINCLAIR Geologist Price $1.00 PLEASE DO NOT REMO V~ f ROM T. ':'I S OFFICE ;:: '· '. ~- GROUND-WATER RESOURCES--RECONNAISSANCE SERIES .... Report 20 =· ... GROUND-WATER APPRAISAL OF THE BLACK ROCK OESER T AREA NORTHWESTERN NEVADA by William C. Sinclair Geologist ~··· ··. Prepared cooperatively by the Geological SUrvey, U. S. Department of Interior October, 1963 FOREWORD This reconnaissance apprais;;l of the ground~water resources of the Black Rock Desert area in northwestern Nevada is the ZOth in this series of reports. Under this program, which was initiated following legislative action • in 1960, reports on the ground-water resources of some 23 Nevada valleys have been made. The present report, entitled, "Ground-Water Appraisal of the Black Rock Desert Area, Northwe$tern Nevada", was prepared by William C. Sinclair, Geologist, U. s. Geological Survey. The Black Rock Desert area, as defined in this report, differs some~ what from the valleys discussed in previous reports. The area is very large with some 9 tributary basins adjoining the extensive playa of Black Rock Desert. The estimated combined annual recharge of all the tributary basins amounts to nearly 44,000 acre-feet, but recovery of much of this total may be difficult. Water which enters into the ground water under the central playa probably will be of poor quality for irrigation. The development of good produci1>g wells in the old lake sediments underlying the central playa appears doubtful. -
Crd Title P1.Ai
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS 4. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS This chapter describes the potential environmental impacts of constructing and operating a railroad along the Caliente rail alignment or the Mina rail alignment. An impact would be any change, positive or negative, from the existing (baseline) conditions described in Chapter 3 for each environmental resource area. The No-Action Alternative represents a continuation of baseline conditions. Glossary terms are shown in bold italics. DOE/EIS-0369D 4-1 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS 4.1 Introduction This chapter begins with a description of impacts associated with the No-Action Alternative (Section 4.1.1). As Proposed Action: To determine a described in Section 2.3, under the No-Action Alternative, rail alignment within a rail corridor in which to construct and operate a the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) railroad to transport spent nuclear would not select a rail alignment or build a railroad within fuel, high-level radioactive waste, the Caliente rail corridor or the Mina rail corridor and and other materials from an existing would relinquish public lands withdrawn or segregated from railroad in Nevada to a repository at surface and mineral entry. The description of impacts Yucca Mountain, Nye County, associated with the No-Action Alternative applies to both Nevada. The Proposed Action rail corridors and all rail line alternative segments and includes the construction of railroad common segments. Section 4.1.2 introduces descriptions of construction and operations support impacts associated with the Proposed Action. facilities. This Rail Alignment EIS analyzes two Sections 4.2 and 4.3 describe potential impacts associated alternatives that would implement the with construction and operation of the proposed railroad Proposed Action: the Caliente rail along the Caliente rail alignment and the Mina rail alignment alignment and the Mina rail under the Proposed Action, including a Shared-Use Option. -
Dry Lake Valley North SEZ Analysis
1 11.4 DRY LAKE VALLEY NORTH 2 3 4 11.4.1 Background and Summary of Impacts 5 6 7 11.4.1.1 General Information 8 9 The proposed Dry Lake Valley North SEZ is located in Lincoln County in southeastern 10 Nevada (Figure 11.4.1.1-1). The SEZ has a total area of 76,874 acres (311 km2). In 2008, the 11 county population was 4,643, while adjacent Clark County to the south had a population 12 of 1,879,093. The closest population centers to the SEZ are Pioche, located about 15 mi (24 km) 13 to the east, and Caliente, located about 15 mi (24 km) to the southeast; both communities have 14 populations of about 1,000. The smaller communities of Caselton and Prince are located about 15 13 mi (21 km) to the east of the SEZ. Las Vegas is located about 110 mi (180 km) to the south. 16 17 The nearest major road to the Dry Lake Valley North SEZ is State Route 318, which is 18 about 7 mi (11 km) to the west of the SEZ, while U.S. 93 is about 8 mi (13 km) to the south. 19 Access to the interior of the SEZ is by dirt roads. The nearest railroad access is approximately 20 25 mi (40 km) away, while nearby airports include Lincoln County Airport in Panaca and Alamo 21 Landing Field in Alamo, which are located about 13 mi (21 km) south–southeast of and 35 mi 22 (56 km) southwest of the SEZ, respectively. -
Stratigraphy and Structure of the Seaman Range and Fox Mountain, Lincoln and Nye Counties, Nevada
Stratigraphy and Structure of the Seaman Range and Fox Mountain, Lincoln and Nye Counties, Nevada U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1988-B I 1 r^Hr-~"r-^S »:-«>'°-;>-.'; '£ '. -"* °-"^^io-'oO;ol!i-..e>L ^? :^~ty-":- o\: s--b>^.'d- .? " ? o..bTvo-r» ?:.-!:.»:-. "o'.-o'-o .- *^-o?.°:.--o : : ° o£\*>: ^-°:* '.« - "o-o- .-o - ^-.o.*'. ^» ' - 1 .". '. O- ' "" "- "* -" no: ^--'*^-o.yvo:»-c)^ - *>- : p.-by :o.;--p-/.-'o."-',c>-( 0 = ?.o'VO -V "±« -* «?'.<?o-oi ^ .. «- .*».-:»: -* ^^»-^ Chapter B Stratigraphy and Structure of the Seaman Range and Fox Mountain, Lincoln and Nye Counties, Nevada By DONLON O. HURTUBISE and EDWARD A. DU BRAY A multidisciplinary approach to research studies of sedimentary rocks and their constituents and the evolution of sedimentary basins, both ancient and modern U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1988 EVOLUTION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS EASTERN GREAT BASIN HARRY E. COOK AND CHRISTOPHER J. POTTER, Project Coordinators U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MANUEL LUJAN, JR., 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 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1992 For sale by Book and Open-File Report Sales U.S. Geological Survey Federal Center, Box 25286 Denver, CO 80225 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hurtubise, D.O. Stratigraphy and structure of the Seaman Range and Fox Mountain, Lincoln and Nye Counties, Nevada / by Donlon O. Hurtubise and Edward A. du Bray, p. cm. (Evolution of sedimentary basins Eastern Great Basin ; ch. B) (U.S. Geological Survey bulletin ; 1988-B) Includes bibliographical references. -
Figure 3-72. Groundwater Usage in Nevada in 2000. (Source: DIRS 175964-Lopes and Evetts 2004, P
AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT – CALIENTE RAIL ALIGNMENT Figure 3-72. Groundwater usage in Nevada in 2000. (Source: DIRS 175964-Lopes and Evetts 2004, p. 7.) There are a number of published estimates of perennial yield for many of the hydrographic areas in Nevada, and those estimates often differ by large amounts. The perennial-yield values listed in Table 3-35 predominantly come from a single source, the Nevada Division of Water Planning (DIRS 103406-Nevada Division of Water Planning 1992, for Hydrographic Regions 10, 13, and 14); therefore, the table does not show a range of values for each hydrographic area. In the Yucca Mountain area, the Nevada Division of Water Planning identifies a combined perennial yield for hydrographic areas 225 through 230. DOE obtained perennial yields from Data Assessment & Water Rights/Resource Analysis of: Hydrographic Region #14 Death Valley Basin (DIRS 147766-Thiel 1999, pp. 6 to 12) to provide estimates for hydrographic areas the Caliente rail alignment would cross: 227A, 228, and 229. That 1999 document presents perennial-yield estimates from several sources. Table 3-35 lists the lowest (that is, the most conservative) values cited in that document, which is consistent with the approach DOE used in the Yucca Mountain FEIS (DIRS 155970-DOE 2002, p. 3-136). DOE/EIS-0369 3-173 AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT – CALIENTE RAIL ALIGNMENT Table 3-35 also summarizes existing annual committed groundwater resources for each hydrographic area along the Caliente rail alignment. However, all committed groundwater resources within a hydrographic area might not be in use at the same time. Table 3-35 also includes information on pending annual duties within each of these hydrographic areas. -
Structure and Devonian Stratigraphy of the Timpahute Range, Nevada
STRUCTURE AND DEVONIAN STRATIGRAPHY OF THE TIMPAHUTE RANGE, NEVADA Volume I by Alan K. Chamberlain © Copyright, 1999 A thesis submitted to the Faculty and Board of Trustees of the Colorado School of Mines in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Geology). Golden, Colorado Date____________ Signed:__________________________ Alan K. Chamberlain Approved:__________________________ Dr. John E. Warme Professor and Thesis Advisor Golden, Colorado Date____________ ____________________________________ Dr. Roger Slatt, Professor and Head, Department of Geology and Geological Engineering ii ABSTRACT Sequences of Devonian rocks are advantageously exposed along a unique 40- mile-long east-west traverse in the greater Timpahute Range, southeastern Nevada. Study of these rocks casts light upon Devonian paleogeography, the Devonian Antler orogeny, an Upper Devonian cosmolite impact basin, this part of the Cretaceous Sevier fold-and- thrust belt, and the effects of Cenozoic extension. The greater Timpahute Range lies within the Timpahute Range 30' X 60' quadrangle and includes the region from Tempiute Mountain on the west to the Pahroc Range on the east. Concealed major north-south trending normal faults caused by Cenozoic extension have been proposed to disrupt the Paleozoic rocks of the region. However, a structural interpretation using a new geologic map of the quadrangle requires no major north-south striking normal faults. Furthermore, the greater Timpahute Range is interpreted as a salient of stacked thrust sheets within the Sevier fold-and-thrust belt. The range is bounded on the north and south by thrust tear faults that may be related to basement fractures caused by the cosmolite impact. Evidence for the Late Devonian cosmolite impact includes shocked quartz, iridium anomalies, ejecta spherules, and disturbed shallowing-upward sequences exhibiting intrasequence folding, brecciation, carbonate liquefaction, and graded bedding. -
Carbonate Deposition, Pyramid Lake Subbasin, Nevada: 2
University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln USGS Staff -- ubP lished Research US Geological Survey 1995 Carbonate deposition, Pyramid Lake subbasin, Nevada: 2. Lake levels and polar jet stream positions reconstructed from radiocarbon ages and elevations of carbonates (tufas) deposited in the Lahontan basin Larry Benson U.S. Geological Survey, [email protected] Michaele Kashgarian Lawrence Livemore National Laboratory Meyer Rubin U.S. Geological Survey Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub Part of the Geology Commons, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons, Other Earth Sciences Commons, and the Other Environmental Sciences Commons Benson, Larry; Kashgarian, Michaele; and Rubin, Meyer, "Carbonate deposition, Pyramid Lake subbasin, Nevada: 2. Lake levels and polar jet stream positions reconstructed from radiocarbon ages and elevations of carbonates (tufas) deposited in the Lahontan basin" (1995). USGS Staff -- Published Research. 1014. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/1014 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the US Geological Survey at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in USGS Staff -- ubP lished Research by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. PhJ.d @ ELSEVIER Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,Palaeoecology 117 (1995) 1-30 Carbonate deposition, Pyramid Lake subbasin, Nevada: 2. Lake levels and polar jet stream positions reconstructed from radiocarbon ages and elevations of carbonates (tufas) deposited in the Lahontan basin Larry Benson a, Michaele Kashgarian b, Meyer Rubin c a U.S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine St., Boulder, CO 80303, USA b Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O.