WASHINGTON GEOLOGIC NEWSLETTER
Volume 14 Number 3 August 1986
The Basalt Waste I so lat ion Project site, Hanford Reservation, Washington. The drill Is situated at the proposed shaft site on the Cold Creek syncline. The hills in the background are the Rattlesnake Mountains, wells on which produced 1 .3 billion cubic; feet of natural gas between 1929 and 1941. See related articles in this newsfetter. ( Photograph courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy)
WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF Natural Resources
--- 8rio.n Boyle • Commissioner ot Public Lands •• Ari Stearns • Superv1sor Divlslon 01 Geology one! 5or1h Resources Raymond Losmanis. State Geologist Mortin Woy
1-5
__ To p0,,1ond Exit 108 ··: GEOLOGY ANO / t N South ~ Sound ···~·~g: il'.-L.LL.L.L..~ Moll Arctic cf: ~: ·--0 Poulton,' So Mortin~ Circle .•.. .•• Par k,n9 • •.••• • ••.•..•• .. . .• . • •.. • ••. • •. • • f D Collt9~ ~ ...... 0. . . . 4224 6th Ave. S.E., Lacey, Washington Ill Albtrt,ons
MAILING ADDRESS
Main office: Field Office:
Department of Natural Resources Department of Natural Resources Division of Geology and Earth Resources Division of Geology and Earth Resources Mail Stop PY-1 2 Spokane County Agricultural Center Olympia, WA 98504 N . 222 Havana Spokane, WA 99202 (206) 459-6372 (509) 456-3255
DIVISION GEOLOGISTS
Olympia Spokane Raymond Lasmanis, State Geologist Nancy L. Joseph J. Eric Schuster , Ass I t . State Geologist Keith L . Stoffel Bonnie B. Bunning We Idon W. Rau Michael A. Korosec Henry W. Schasse William S. Lingley Gerald W. Thorsen Robert L. (Josh) Logan Timothy J. Walsh Wi lliam M. Phillips
The Washington Geologic Newsletter is published quarterly by the Division of Geology and Earth Resources, Department of Natural Resources. The newsletter is free upon request.
The Division also publishes bulletins, information circulars, reports of investigations, and geologic maps. A list of these publications will be sent upon request. Geologists reviewing the Hanford area from Gable Mountain during a groundwater survey of the area in October 1921 • The White Bluff-Hanford area was then being developed for farming as part of the Soldier Settlement Project• under which soldiers returning from World War I could obtain farm lands. Gable Mountain later became the site of the 'Near Surface Test Facility". At that location• an under ground test site In the Pomona Flow was set up to test rock mechanics for a high level nuclear waste repository at Hanford. Gable Mountain has religious significance to the Yakima Nation. {Photograph by Olaf P. Jenkins)
HIGH-LEVEL NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY CONCEPT: DEEP GEOLOGIC DISPOSAL
( Modified by Raymond Lasmanis from information supplied by the Washington State Nuclear Wa ste Board and Advisory Counc i I)
The federal Nuclear Waste Po licy Act of characterization. The Hanford reservation in 1982 sets forth a schedule and plan for pe r Benton County was selected, along with Yucca manent disposal of the nation's spent fuel Mountain, Nevada, and Deaf Smith County, and highly radioactive wastes by the end of Texas. Also, on May 28, the USDOE the century. Under the Act, the U.S. announced that they would discontinue eval Department of Energy (USDOE) is responsible uating granite sites for a second repository in for construction of two deep repositories. the eastern U.S. This unilateral action has USDOE has been examining potential repository forced the State of Washington to seek relief sites across the country in a variety of in the courts. The Governor and the Wash- geologic media, including salt, basalt, tuff ington State Nuclear Waste Board have (hard volcanic ash), and granite. During requested Congress to halt the USDOE repos February 1983, the USDOE identified nine itory program until such time that all sites potential sites in six states to be studied for can be included in the program, including the the first repository. eastern granite sites. On May 28, 1986, the USDOE nominated This article provides information about five of the nine sites as candidate sites for nuclear waste and the Hanford site, as well more extensive study. On the same day, as references to sources of detailed President Reagan selected three of these five descriptions of both the waste materials and recommended locations for additional, more the site. detailed federal evaluation, called site
3 WHAT IS NUCLEAR WASTE? icate glass has received the most atten tion as a medium for immobilizing The Washington State Nuclear Waste Board nuclear waste. About 600,000 gallons and Advisory Council offer these (modified) of commercial liquid high-level waste definitions of high~level nuclear and other exist in storage today at West Va lley 1 wastes: New York. No commercial reprocessing has been conducted in this country since Commeroial spent fuel: Spent fuel con 1972. A 1981 Presidential statement sists of material that has been used in supported commercial reprocessing by the nuclear power plants to generate private sector ; however. no proposa Is electricity. Spent fuel has exhausted its have been received from industry to "useful life.'' This material contains date. most of its original uranium, as well as additional radioactive elements such as Defense Waste: Defense wastes are strontium • cesium, and plutonium . pro generated by U .s. government activities duced during its use in the powe r plant. such as nuclear research and weapons Each year a typical nuclear reactor production. These can be high-level or c r eates about 30 tons of commercial low-level waste, About 48 million spent fuel, The original, fresh fuel gallons of high-level defense wastes are consists of pellets of uranium oxide, in storage at Hanford . The Nuclear which are loaded into zirconium or Waste Policy Act calls for a study on the stainless steel alloy tubes and bundled commingling of high-level defense waste together into assemblies about 12 feet in the repositories. Comm ingling would I ong . When the spent fue I is removed combine defense waste with commercial from the reactors, these assemblies are reprocessed high-level waste and spent both extremely hot and highly radioac fuel for disposal. In January 1985, the tive. Much of the heat and radiation President decided that commingling of decays after about 5 years of storage 1 defense waste can take place. Th is but the spent fuel remains potentially option would significantly increase the hazardous for a long period of time. amount of high-level waste in a geologic Storage pools consist of about 40 feet of repository. water in basins of reinforced concrete, with wal Is approximately 6 feet thick and lined with stainless steel. The water Spent fuel and high-level reprocessed cools the spent fuel and shields against waste should not be confused with low-level its penetrating radiation, Currently, the radioactive wastes, which are disposed of in utilities are responsible for the tem shallow land burial sites. Low-level wastes porary onsite storage of spent fuel are produced by researc.h, medical proce generated by their power plants until dures, hospitals, and industry, as well as permanent facilities are ava ilable. The nuclear power plants. There are larger USDOE has developed a contract with volumes of low-level wastes, compared to nuclear power utilities to accept the high-level waste, but they contain lower spent fuel by 1998 for more permanent levels of radiation. Hanford is the site of a storage. Spent fuel is classified as low- level disposal facility managed in acco r high-level nuclear waste . dance with the recently passed federa l Reprocessed high-level nuclear waste: Low-Level Waste Pol icy Act. High-level waste technically results when The Washington State Department of spent fuel assemblies are reprocessed in Ecology is the operator of the site under the hot nitric acid, dissolving the fuel Northwest Interstate Compact. Waste gener pellets and removing the unused uranium ated outside the Northwest Interstate Compact and plutonium. The liquid high-level area has had a surcharge levied against tt waste generated from reprocessing must since March 1 1 1986. The vo lume of ship be solidified to glass or a similar sol id ments is down by 50 percent for the first before shipment a.od . disposal . Borosil- quarter of 1986.
4 WHAT WILL THE WASTE STORAGE FACILITY BE LIKE? complex of surface facilities including waste handling and storage buildings, a concrete High~level waste poses risks to health, plant, offices, parking lots , and a visitors safety, and the environment if not properly center, in addition to the deep subsurface managed. Congress has concluded that plac storage areas. Un loading areas will accom ing packaged spent fuel and solidified waste modate waste brought to the repository by in stable rock formations, deep underground, train or truck. A total of about 2,000 will meet long-term health and safety cri acres will be needed for the repositoty. teria. About 400 acres of that total will be The Hanford site is on the Columbia required for surface facilities, and the Plate au. a region underlain by a thick 2 ,000-acre controlled area will have an sequence of strata deposited between 8. 5 and 800-foot buffer zone surrounding it. Fences 16.1 million years ago,. in Miocene time. a nd security systems will be needed to control The lower strata consist entirely of basalt access to the repository fac i I itie s. "flows" (o riginally lava , now sol id layers of At Hanford a major part of the reposi
rock), and the upper strata include increasing tory would be 2 1 970 to 3, 21 3 feet ( about amounts of sedimentary deposits interbedded l , 000 meters) vertically underground. It with the basalt. Semiconsolidated sediments will be a large rectangular area, with about over I ie the basalt sequence and attain 2,000 acres of space taken up with drifts thicknesses of as much as 525 meters (1,200 (tunnels), shafts, and work areas. Indivi feet). Approximate ly 50 basalt flows, with dual underground rooms will be used for a total thickness of about 5,000 meters waste containers. Each room wil I be about (16,000 feet) have been identified in the 10 feet high. Workers will reach the Pasco Basin where the Hanford site is located underground areas via a personnel and equip (Fig. 1 ) • One of these basalt flows, the ment e levator shaft; a separate shaft will be Cohassett Flow of the Grand Ronde Formation used to lower canisters of high-level waste. (Fig. 1 ) , has been identified as the can Ventilation shafts will also be needed. didate flow for the repository. Geologic When waste packages arrive at the re structures at the Hanford site consist of pository, they will be inspected and long, narrow anticlines and broad synclines transferred underground through the waste ( trough-like fo lds) that trend roughly east shaft . Specialized vehicles, shielded to pro west. Faults associated with anticlinal fold tect workers from radiation exposure, will axes probably developed concurrently with t ransport the waste to the disposal rooms. folding. Once in the rooms , waste canisters wi II be Prior to the construction of a repository, placed in holes drilled in the rock and the three sites selected by the President will covered with a rock, bentonite, or concrete undergo a 5-year site characterization phase cap . A rnultiple-barrier scheme is intended estimated to cost $1 billion each. During to protect people and the environment from this phase, exploratory shafts will be drilled the wastes. These barriers include immobi to access the Cohassett Flow so that it can llzation of the high-level waste in glass. a be tested for mechanical strength and hydro d isposal container for glass or spent fuel, logic characteristics. A drill rig (Fig. 2) is back fl II in the hole, and the mass of sur on the site, but exploratory shaft drilling has rounding rock. Both radiation and tem not begun, pending resolution of litigation perature effects are important, as the waste filed by Washington, Nevada, Texas, other ts both highly radioactive and produces high states, and environmental groups. A sketch heat. The repository must also be designed of a possible configuration of underground to be safe in extreme conditions such as facilities for testing hydrologic, rock sta earthquakes , floods, or volcanic eruptions. bility, and other repository characteristics of The USDOE plans extensive monitoring to make the Cohassett Flow is shown in Figure 3. sure that the repository operates as designed. But what does permanent disposal of Environmental monitoring, surface measure high-level nuclear waste in a deep geologic ments, and hydrologic monitoring will all be repository mean? A "repository," according part of the ongoing program to become aware to the USDOE' s conceptual design, will be a of any problems.
5 ~ .o~ &~ Member Sediment .._o .::: ~..,. or Sequence Stratigraphy ; ;JQ ~ ~ .; .,.o. or Basalt Flows tD,
FIGURE 1 .-Stratigraphic units In ttle Pasco Basin. Arrow lndlutes position of the Cohassett Flow. ( From USDOE, 1986, Disposal of Hanford Defense High-Level, Transuranic and Tank Wastes, p. O .3 )
6 FIGURE 3 .--Sketch of the design for an exploratory shaft to determine the suita bility of geologic conditions for high-level nuclear waste storage at the Hanford site. The Cohassett Flow of the Grand Ronde Basalt has been selected for testing; it Is FIGURE 2 .--Drill rig purchased by the approximately 250 feet thick and 3,000 Department of Energy for drilling the test feet below the surface. Geologic and shaft during site characterization work hydrologic characteristics of the site are mandated by President Reagan on May 28, described in the Draft Environmental 1986. ( Photograph courtesy of the Impact Statement. Testing of the flow' s Washington Department of Ecology, Nuclear characteristics is expected to take at Waste Management Office) least 5 years.
Other questions about the repository the federal government evaluates potential characteristics remain to be answered in later sites. phases of investigation and design. Current At the present time, a large amount preliminary estimates of construction and (440,000 cubic yards) of high-level defense operating employment range from 1 , 700 to waste is at Hanford. Th is waste is in tank 5,000 workers during 6 years of construc farms at the surface ( Fig. 4 ) • Th ese tion, with 870 to 1 , 100 persons employed farms are surrounded by earthen berms. during 30 years of operation. A basalt Another 60,000 cubic yards of high-level site, such as Hanford, would require the defense waste will be generated during the higher end of the employment range. Impacts next 12 year s at Hanford. of the development on local communities and Comments are presently being solicited regional economics will be explored in later from the public by the USDOE on their "Draft phases of site investigation. Analysis of Env ironmental Impact Statement, Disposal of potential risks, planning for transportation, Hanford Defense High-Level Transuranic and health effects, security plans, and other Tank Wastes, Hanford Site", dated March important issues continue to be examined as 1986.
7 FIGURE 4 .--Storage tanks during the construction phase at Hanford. These tanks are used to store high-level defense waste on a temporary basis. Deep geologic disposal is one of the alternative methods of storage under consideration for such waste in the Ora ft Environmenta I Impact Statement for this facility... ( Photograph courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy)
The problem of safe disposa I of nuclear state body that monitors Hanford activities waste has to be addressed. As each day has become the Nuclear Waste Board. passes, additional amounts of high-level waste Commissioner Brian J. Boyle is a member of are generated by nuclear power plants and the the Board, and Raymond Lasmanis serves as a Defense Department . This waste will be designee. The flow of information to the dangerous for more than 10,000 years, and Nuclear Waste Board and the routing of con only geological repositories that can guarantee cerns to the USDOE is out I ined below in a isolation of the waste from the biosphere chart supplied by the Board. The work of should be considered.
NUCLEAR WASTE iii WASHINGTOI.BOARD... II[_ U.S. DIVISION OF GEOLOGY STATE LEGISLATORS ,...... _DEPARTMENT AND EARTH RESOURCES INVOLVEMENT DEPARTMENT STATE ~ICIALS OF ENERGY OF ECOLOGY NUCLEAR WASTE The Geology and Earth Resources Division HIGH-LEVEL--- .,ADVIS~RY COUNCIL NUCLEAR WASTE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS has taken an active role in deliberations con MANAGEMENT CITIZENS cerning permanent disposal of high-level OFFICE I nuclear waste on the Hanford Reservation in PUBLIC I Benton County. The state geologist, Raymond Lasmanis, began serving on the state I s evaluating federal documents and serving with High-Level Nuclear Waste Management Task the Nuclear Waste Board and related commit Force in October 1982. Since that time, and tees has required a considerable commitment through several name changes, the official of time by the state geologist. During the
8 last 12- month period, more than 55 days To get on the mailing list fo r more have been spent on this activity. Each docu information from Washington State write or ment describing the site and storage plan has call:
been reviewed I and the state geologist has s ent his comments to the USDOE. The Office of Nuclear Waste The USDOE I s response to the Division 1 s Management concerns and issues raised in response to the Department of Ecology, PV-11 Draft Environmental Assessment are listed Olympia, WA 98504 under Lasmanis, Raymond, on pages C. 10,...2 34 (206) 459-6670 through C .10-236, Volume 3, of the Final Environmental Assessment, released on May To obtain copies of the final 28. 1986. A total of 54 individual issues n Environmental Assessment, Reference we re identified; each is sue in the list is Repository Location, Hanford, Washington, indexed to a page in the statement. May 1986" (3 vo lumes), write to: If the state's litigative efforts to halt construction are not successful, site charac U .s. Department of Energy terization will proceed. The staff of the Attention: EA Division will have to increase its vigilance in 1000 Independence Ave., SW monitoring the tests and in reviewing the data Washington, D. C. 20585 generated by the USDOE and its contractors. To obtain copies of the 11 Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Disposal of Hanford Defense High Level, Transuranic and Tank Wastes, Hanford site. Richland, Wash WHERE TO GET INFORMATION ington, Ma r ch 1986" (3 volumes), write or ABOUT NUCLEAR WASTE AND HANFORD call: Steve H. Leroy, Director, These documents provide detailed infor Communications Div. mation about the site and plans for waste U . S. Department of Energy storage : Richland Oper ations Office Richland, WA 993 52 Site Characterization Report for the (509) 376-7378 Basalt Waste Isolation Project ( November 1982) GET INVOLVED l Draft Environmental Assessment, Refer ence Repository Location, Hanford S ite , Four public hearings on the Department Washing\on (December 1984) of Energy I s Defense Waste Draft Envir on mental Impact Statement were held during July Mission Plan for Civilian Radioactive In Washington cities and Portland, Oregon. Wa ste Management Program (June 1985) Information on future hearings can be obtained from Marta Wi Ider, Washington De Draft Environmental Impact Statement partment of Ecology, MS: PV-11, Olympia, Disposal of Hanford Defense High-Level, WA 98504. Transuranic and Tank Wastes ( March 1986) The public is welcome to attend the Washington State Nuclear Waste Board Environmental Assessment, Reference Re meetings . They are held at 1 :30 p.m., the pository location, Hanford Washington third Friday of each month at: {May 1986) Energy Facility Site These documents are available for Evaluation Council inspection at the Divlson' s office on Sixth EFSEC Hearings Room Avenue in Lacey, the Office of Nuclear Waste 4224 Sixth Ave . , SE Management on Pacific Avenue in Lacey, and Building 1 in major public and university l ibraries. Lacey, Washington
9 ISSUES RELATING TO PETROLEUM DRILLING NEAR THE PROPOSED HIGH-LEVEL NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY AT HANFORD by
William S. Lingley, Jr. and Timothy J. Walsh
In February 1986, the Office of Nuclear is covered with a thick section of Columbia Waste Management of the Washington State River basalt which is relatively unprospective Department of Ecology requested that the for oil and gas and given that petroleum is Division of Geology and Earth Resources assist not presently produced in Washington State. in a study of future petroleum activities in ( ''Prospective" is used as in the industry the vicinity of the proposed high-level nuclear id iom to indicate favorable possibilities for waste repository at Hanford. The objective oil or gas accumulation ( s) at a given loca of this study is to determine the probability tion. "Petroleum" is used here in the legal that the repository could be accidentally sense and includes oil• gas• and gas conden breached as the result of drilling for oil or sate) • gas. If significant probability for such ar1 However, Shell Western Exploration and accident exists, then Hanford will not meet Production, Inc. , and others have undertaken the U.S. minimum qualifying conditions for a relatively aggressive exploration program in nuclear waste repository siting ( 10 CFR the basin . During 1986 alone, the Division 960-4-8-la) • Our prellm inary findings sug of Geology and Earth Resources has received gest that the probability of such an accident permit applications for acquisition of more is low. These findings were presented to the than 250 line miles of seismic data and for Northwest Petroleum Association during their drilling a 15 ,000-foot wildcat well , the 1986 annual meeting (Lingley and Walsh, Boylston Mountains Unit No . 2-1. This well 1986). This article discusses the issues and wi II be located 40 miles northwest of the describes some ongoing studies designed to proposed waste repository site (Fig. 1) . reach a more conclusive decision on the This exp loration program, undertaken during a breaching issue. severe recession for the petroleum industry 1 Th e U.S. Nuc lear Regulatory Commission suggests that this part of the Columbi a Basin is conce med that, in the distant future, is prospective . accidental breaching may occur at the repos A central question is whether the pro itory despite proh ibition of access to the posed repository site is sufficiently prospec Hanford Reservation and despite the elaborate tive to attract dri lie rs to those areas having hazard warning system planned for the repos hydrologic continuity with the repository. In itory. The min imum effective life span of order to answer this question, we have com the repository must exceed the 10 000 years 1 menced studies of the petroleum potential of necessary for the waste to decay to minimum the repository pr oper and of the northwestern acceptable radiation levels (Brewer and Columbia Basin. Previous work by Leam ing Lasmanis, 1986). Consequently I it is prob and Davis ( 1983) dealt only with the petro able that the repository will outlast present leum potential of the basalt, and work by political institutions I and it might also outlast Campbell and Banning ( 1985 ) concentrated on written record of the presence and dangers of regional stratigraphy. the radioactive nuclides stored in the reposi tory chambers. Petroleum Potential at the Accidental breaching could result from Proposed Repository Site drilling directly into the repository or from drilling nearby and, as a result, exposin g The first step in assessing the probability rocks contiguous with the repository to for of accidental penetration of the repository is mation fluids or dri fling fluids capable of to find obvious prospects for petroleum accu leaching fracture-filling minerals in the mulations at or near the proposed repository chamber walls. The apparent probability of site. Prospects are usually delineated by either type of breach is low, given that the mapping anticlines or faulted anticlines having Columbia Basin, in which Hanford is located , _potential to trap oil and/or gas migrating out
10 120° 117°
CHCJ.,AN - NUMEROUS GAS ZONES - 8 DST's • 12976 • 13568: 570 MCFGPD and 5400 BWPD, 3250psi FTP on 24/64'" CHOKE
-9: BASALT EXPLORER N/S 0 MOSES LAKE· I N/S • 12 GAS ZONES - 4 DST's STON 2·1 , •• • 12694-12699: 2.4 MMCFGP.D and 134 * ~~-...1-9 BWPD. 985psl Fl'P on 20/64" CHOKE MINERALS 1 y.,, \ · 13372-13388: 3.1 MMCFGPD, 6 BCPD, ~~i~~ JF. \ l_,__ I ;"' L 3965 i FTP on 10/64" CHOKE - ·-·' . : RSH-1 1 RSH GAS FIEL • 3 DST's N/~-~ !~3 BCF PHI.OR TO 1941
- 5360-5397: P.,1eo 25-50 MCFGPD ' "'-·-·-·-·-·- ft
Pendleton# YAKIMA INDIAN RESERVATION
II YAKIMA FIRING RANGE L_I.--, : : HANFORD flESERVE ~ KIRKPATRICK !,._ - .I N/S 0 km. 50 6 ml. 30
Figure 1. Index map showing locations of Important northern Columbia Basin wildcat wells with data on relevant petroleum shows and drillstem tests {0ST 1 s). BWPD. barrels of water per day; BCPD. barrels of condensate per day; FTP. flowing tube pressure; N/S • no shows; BCF. billion cubic feet; MCFGPD • thouund cub Jc feet of gas per day. All depths in feet referenced to the ke lly bushing. of petroleum source rocks. In some parts of Columbia Basin anticlines fo ld only Paleogene the Columbia Basin, structural geometry at strata and have no manifestation in the basalt depth can be deduced by extrapolation of or at the surface. There is no definitive, structure as mapped at the surface downward yet inexpensive means of mapping these to the most prospective horizons. These deeper structures in the Columbia Basin with horizons comprise Paleogene sandstones, which present technology. Relatively inexpensive generally lie at depths of 5,000 to 14,000 prospecting techniques, including interpreta feet. However, it is likely that some tion of gravity, magnetic, and electromag-
1 , netic data, have failed to yield casing. Under this unpleasant but possible prospect-scale information owing to limited scenario, the well drilled for the very pur resolution. pose of deciding if it is necessary to keep In order to locate possible prospects, we future explorers out of the repository area recommend that mapping of surface structure would have precisely the opposite effect be augmented with state-of-the-art, regional (unless a carefully reasoned plugging program reflection seismograph traverses across the for this 15 ,000-foot test and for the site. These new traverses should be Included numerous shallower wells already dri lled by in the ongoing petroleum assessment that is USDOE is developed) • part of the Hanford site characterization study. The traverses should be planned so as Regional Petroleum Potential of the to avoid interference from known faults and Columbl.a Basin so a.s to decrease accoustical noise by having the line laid out on alluvium rather than on It is reasonable to assume that some basalt. We believe that a. meaningful as form of direct petroleum detection technology sessment cannot be accomplished without may be developed during the life span of the acquisition of these seismic iuta. repository and that use of this technology An alternative to seismic traverses being may result in successful exploration in areas considered by the U .s. Department of Energy such as Hanford where no obvious manifesta (USDOE) and the Nuclear Regulatory tions of petroleum potential exist today. Commission is drilling a well at the reposi Direct detection or other new exploration tory site through the basalt and into the more technology could be applied to the greatest prospective Paleogene rocks to a total depth advantage in unexplored basins that have of approximately 15,000 feet. The estimated significant theoretical but untested potential cost of this drilling program exceeds $10 to produce hydrocarbons. Historically , million. We oppose this proposal because the petroleum has been discovered by dri !ling at results of such drilling may be equivocal, locations proven by mapping to be analogous providing information for only one point, and to existing oi l or gas fields. Some smal I therefore may not justify the high cost to accumulations, trapped by structure, hydro utility ratepayers. Shell Is experience gained dynamics, or stratigraphic pinchouts too by dri I ling and testing three sub-commercial subtle to map using existing techno logy, have discoveries in the vicinity of Hanford indi been discovered accidentally by drilling in cates that numerous gas zones are likely to thoroughly explored basins. However , closely be penetrated if a well is drilled at Hanford. spaced drilling in almost all onshore basins in In order to determine the magnitude of gas the United States diminishes the probability of reserves in these zones I many will have to be large new oi I or gas discoveries from stimulated a.nd tested at additional expense. anticlinal or subtler types of traps because The probable result of this testing program the remaining unexplored area is insufficient wi II be that none of these zones is commer for typical large petroleum fields. For cial under present-day economic constraints. example, the Powder River Basin, a produc However, it is not difficult to envision a tive basin in northeastern Wyoming rough ly wel Ihead gas price many times greater than equal in size to the Columbia Buin, has had the present $1 • 50 per thousand cubic feet, more than 27,000 wells drilled for oil and considering the non-renewable nature of gas. On the other hand, the Columbia Basin, petroleum resources and the likely demand for where only nine wells have been dri lled to natural gas to be used as a petrochemical da.te, is the least explored, large onshor e feedstock in the future. It is likely that a basin in the United States. Consequently, it future wildcatter would find a greatly is likely to have more intensive exp loration in increased gas price to be a strong incentive the future if reasonable hope for a commer for re-entering a well already drilled and cial discovery exists. cased through the basalt. Hundreds of wells The basic ingredients of a petroleum originally abandoned as dry holes were re generative province are present in the entered for just this reason during the Columbia Basin. For example, sedimentary 1970s. If public records should cease to rocks in excess of 10,000 feet thic:.k were exist, the plugged we II cou Id be located penetrated in the Yakima Minerals 1-29 well because of the magnetic: signature of the (Figs. 1 and 2). Gas shows were logged in
12 BISSA NORCO 1-33
' 0 t "- s.. "\ &,._ r- .. ( u ' s
0
iu.. !_-~ 8,000- t CD 0 ...... +.· ...... · · ···•....· '"·'... 10 Miles ...... ····· ·········' ········...... · ...... ~ ...... ······ ~ ..... ··•·... ' 16,000- ...... ~ ... . -,-...... ~ ...... ' EXPLANATION ··. . ······.. ... , ·...··· _, [1:] W Columbia River Basalt II Teanaway D Wildcat Creek/OhanapecoshtWenatc:hee . Manastash/SWauk LJ Naches/Roslyn/Chumstick (h1 Crystalline Basement
Figure 2. Correlation diagram for selected Columbia Basin wells. Interpretation is from Campbell and Banning, 1985; N. E. Campbell, personal communication, 1986; and J. E. Evans, University of Washington, written communication, 1985. all wildcat wells dril led into the sedim entary "Why aren't hydrocarbons be ing produced at section and in numerous water wells drilled present, and why haven't more exploratory into the Columbia River basal t. We calculate wells been drilled if the Columbia Bas1n is moderately high geothermal gradients ( + / - such a good place to search for petroleum ? 11 400C /kilometer), which are optimally con Three obstacle s have impeded successful ducive to generation and preservation of exploration in the Columbia Basin : ( 1) the p etroleum. The reflectance of vitrinite, a difficulty in drilling through the basalt (2) coal maceral, is considered to be a maximum the difficulty of obtaining seismic data, and r eading paleo-thermometer. We have ( 3) the gas-generative nature of the source rneasured vitrinite reflectance values between rocks. 0 .5 and 1 .O which also demonstrate that Basalt is difficult to drill because of its much o f the sedimentary section is thermally hardness and because of the problems of mature for petroleum generation (Fig. 3 , maintaining drilling-mud circulation while Table 1). Large, doubly-plunging or faulted penetrating num e rous, highly permeable frac a ntlc lines are common (Fig. 4) and provide ture zones that characterize these rocks. abundant traps. Furthermore, 1 .3 billion The Shell BN 1-9 well located directly north cubic feet of natural gas were produced from of the repository and the Standard Oil of the Rattlesnake Hills gas field prior to its California Rattlesnake Hills No. 1 well abandonment in 194 1 (McFarland, 1983). located within the Hanford Reservation both This field, located in a subsidiary fold on the drilled through more than 10,000 feet of north flank of the Rattlesnake Hills anticline, basalt (Figs. 1 and 2); these were unusually lies within the Hanford Reservation a few expensive projects, and neither penetrated m iles from the proposed repository (Fig. 1 ) . commercial gas zones. The obvious questions many laypersons It is particularly difficult to acquire ask when presented with th is information are , high-quality seismic data in basalt because of
13 low signal-to-noise ratios and because of poor shows logged to date give an indication of the coupling between the se ismic signal receivers general nature of the source potential of the and basalt outcrops. Complex fault in g, which northern part of the basin. These shows is common in the vicin ity of the proposed suggest that the source rocks in this part of repository, also diminishes the quality of the basin will probably generate natural gas seismic records and hinders interpretation. only. Gas or gas-condensate shows have been However, a future explorationist may regard recorded throughout the sedimentary section this complexity as an advantage because of the northwestern part of the bas in, but no complex faulting generally results in numerous oi I shows have been logged to date . Much of potentia I petroleum traps. the sedimentary section in the basin lies wi thin the oil-generative thermal window Intemity of Oil and Gu Generation (Fig. 3), and therefore, we infer that if in kg/cum of Organic Matter(OM) areally extensive oi l-prone source rocks were present in the basin, o il shows should have been observed. Although we expect most future wi Idea ts wi 11 penetrate some gas zones, the possibi I ity for an oi I discovery 0.25 cannot be ruled out because few holes have been dr i tied th rough the bas a It. On the 0.53 other hand, gas sour ce-rocks a re evidently present in abundance in the basin. Gas shows are so ubiquitous that few 100 percent 0.65 water-bearing reservoirs are present in the Paleogene section. Water-bearing zones are 0.85 critical fo r normallz.ing the responses of sondes used to determine such petrophysical 1.20 characteri sties as porosity and water satura tion ( the percentage of water that pa rt ially fills most po r e space be low the water tab le) • Nevertheless, natural gas is a less attractive product than oil because of traditionally soft 2.0 markets and because of high transportation costs. Gas pipeline constr uct ion can cost $40 per linear foot, and gas gathering and compression generally cost in excess of a > 3.5 mi Ilion dollars per field. Because only small ~ r-;:i, markets exist nearby, gas would have to be L.,;J L:.:...:-:..J transported large distances to users. OIL METHANE ETHANE· • PENTANE Even if these three technological problems related to exploring this basalt Figure 3. Suggested correlation between covered basin are solved, there rema ins a witrinlte reflecum;e and hydrocarbon gen question as to whether the potential petroleum erative potential ( from Kontorovich, reserves in the bas in are sufficient to 1984.) encourage further exploration. In order to answer this question, it is necessary to No public data , except those herein and determine why tests drilled through the basalt in Lingley and Walsh (1986), are available to into prospective rocks have been sub characterize the quality of the petroleum commerc ial discoveries at best. The Yak ima source-rocks. The USDOE and the Washington Minerals 1-29, located 45 mi les west State Office of Nuclear Waste Management northwest of the proposed repository, tested plan to evaluate the source potential and 500 thousand cubic feet of gas per day maturation levels of selected intervals in the ( MCFGPO) , and the BN 1-9 tested 3,100 Shell wells and in the Norco well (Fig. 1) MCFGPD. These rates are commercial for during the site char acterization study. typical wells, but not for wells in the Despite the paucity of data, petroleum Co lumbia Basin where the development wells
14 Table 1. Mean random vitrinite reflectance measurements on coals from selected wells in the Columbia Basin
Oepth Wei I interval Ro Standard Nunber of name (feet) (mean) deviat ion Measurements
Shel I BN 1- 9 11 280-11290 0 . 54 0.02 50 G rant County 11990-12000 0.63 U. 03 50 965' FM .. , 1869' FNL 15110-15120 1.13 0.09 50 sec . 9, T. 15 N., R. 25 L 15160-15170 1 .15 0.11 31 15810-15820 1.32 0 . 12 SU
Shel I n issa 1- 29 4620- 4630 0.43 0.05 50 Ki ttitas County 5150- 51b0 0.39 0.04 38 1318' FEL, 1928' FSL 5820- 5830 0.45 0.05 75 sec. 29, T . 18, IC 21 E. 6480- 6490 0.51 0.05 77 T.D. = 14,965 ft. 6890- 6900 o.so 0.05 75 7600- 7610 0.53 0 . 06 75 8560- 8570 0.57 0.06 100 9210- 9220 0.53 0.06 79 9590- 9600 0.47 0.08 41 10070-10080 0.57 0.05 53
She l I Yakima Minerals 1-33 9840- 9850 0.86 0.11 76 Kittitas County 10070-10080 0.91 0.07 74 925.5 ' FNL, 1445.6' FWL 10370-10380 1.08 0 . 08 75 sec. 3 3, T. 15 N. , R. 19 E. 10805-10810 1.11 O.OY 61 T.D. = 16,199 ft. 11010-11020 1.20 0.13 75 11860-11870 1.38 0.12 75
Norco No. 1 1751 - 1760 0.39 0.03 54 Che lan County 1920- 1930 0.39 0.03 7 NW1/4 NW1/4 SW1/4 sec • 2 6 , 2253- 2260 o.51 0.05 51 T. 22 N. , K. 20 E. 2400- 2410 0.49 0 . 08 53 2535 - 2540 0.48 0.06 24 2690- 2700 0.32 0.02 45 2785- 2790 0.42 0.17 4 2~Hi5- 2890 0.28 0.03 25 3144- 3150 0 . 35 0.03 51 3305- 3310 0.47 0 . 04 48 3444- 3450 0.42 0.06 26 3692- 3700 0.51 u.os 50 3Y72- 3980 0.50 0.06 24 4208- 4220 o.n U.07 11 4671- 4680 0.66 0.07 57 4~40- 4850 0.51 0.06 69
necessary to establ ish commercial production many of the sandstones are composed mostly may cost $8 to 14 mi II ion each. Flow-test of volcanogenic detritus. This detritus tends data indicate that the reservoir sandstones to break down to form clays or other penetrated by the Yakima Minerals 1-29 and m inerals that reduce porosity and/or perme the BN 1-9 we lls are not sufficiently exten ability within the reservoir. The alteration sive to sustain production. Furthermore , appears to be a function of depth of burial.
1 5 A 15 E 20 26 30 A36 E ~---.------.---.---,.----...---....------.------T~NMethow Graben-- -- -
20
• Moses Lake
15
~ --f.--. Rattlesnalce Hills ~-- Gas Field
'~, 10 ~
Washln91on Oregon TSN 0 50 km 0 30 mi
EXPLANATION + Anticline ~ Show of gas A 1·33 YAKIMA -...... Thrust fault B 1-29 BISSA Gas I -ll-.. Normal fault * C 1-9 BUAUNGTOO N. p Proposed well location 0 NORCO No. 1 E BOYLSTON MTN. UNIT 2·1
Figure 4. Structure map of the Yakima fold belt and adjacent basins to the north ( from Montgomery. 1985) •
We determined that mean sandstone porosity, sandstone present at this depth (Fig. 5). expressed as a percentage of the bulk volume Generally, petroleum cannot flow at high of the rock, is 18 percent at 6,000 feet rates through rocks having 8-percent porosity dri !led-depth. Mean sandstone porosity is unless expensive and risky mechanical frac reduced to only 8 percent at 14,000 feet, turing of the strata is performed to artifi regardless of the age or composition of the cially in c rease permeability.
16 reserves are present in order to justify expenditure of considerable amounts of risk 0 0 0 capital. To simulate the arguments that 0 these explorationists might invoice, we have I oO • 0 estimated the range of possible reserves in gO volume is a function of porosity of the rock, 0 a gO thickness of the reservoir, areal extent of 8 • ai the trap, and percentage of the reservoir that ... • • .: .0 is actually fi lied with petroleum. The amount lli • ••• of petroleum that can be held in a unit LI.. x• X )C volume of pore space within a reservoir rock ~ 12,000 X is a function of pressure, temperature, ~ xx • petroleum composition, and water saturation. Q •X I( Normally, the most significant variable is )( .-o----, ERROR the size of the petroleum trap. The proposed o BISSA nuclear waste repository lies within the Yakima fold belt where large anticlines, x BN 1·9 • X • YAKIMA MINERALS xx~ Including the Rattlesnake Hills, the Yakima X Ridge• and Umtanum anticlines, impinge on 18,000 x the Hanford Reservation (Fig. 4) , These complex folds are mostly asymmetric, com monly verge to the north, range from 3 to 6 miles across strike, and are from 7 5 to more 30 20 10 POROSITY than 100 miles long as measured along trend. The surface expression of these folds is similar in size and morphology to folds that Figure 5. Interpreted porosity versus entrap the giant oil and gas fields of I ran, drilled depth referenced to the kelly Rumania • western Alberta, and western bushing for three Columbia Basin wells. Wyoming. Our analysis of mapping by Bentley Schlumberger ( 1984) charts Por-14b ilnd (1980) and Swanson and others (1979) Por-15 were used to determine the bore suggests that trap areas within the fold belt hole environmental corrections and chart could range from 3,000 to 25,000 acres. CP-1 d was used to calculate porosity. The average area of potential anticlinal The error bar shows the uncertainty In petroleum traps at the Paleogene sandstone each porosity interpretation . horizons, as interpreted herein, is signifi These problems relating to the porosity cantly less than the area of these same and permeability may not exist elsewhere in anticlines as mapped at the surface. This is the Columbia Basin, where the reservoir because the antic lines are thought to plunge sandstones may have been derived from a less more steeply towards the center of the basin volcanogenic and more quartz-rich source and at depth owing to basinward thickening of the where prospective Paleogene rocks lie at a basalt. Ttie thickness of the basalt cannot shallower depth. One area having potential be determined with precision, but Interpre for better porosity is located in the east tation of well and geophysical data suggests central part of the basin , directly east of that the basalt thickens toward a depocenter Hanford. Shell is presently concentrating in the Pasco subbasin directly north of the their seismic acquisition program In this repository. However, no data are available area. to indicate whether the Yakima fold belt If future explorationists wish to under anticlines maintain antic linal morphology take further investigations in the basin , they within the sedimentary rocks underlying the rnay have to convince management that major basalt at the repository. 17 We predict that fault traps are more late that the volume of typical Columbia Basin likely than anticlinal t raps at depth in the natural gas that can be contained in one basin . cubic foot of pore space at the predicted The aver age po,osity of the Paleogene reservoir pressur e and temperature at 5,000 sandstones known to contain gas in the feet drilled-depth is approximately 150 stan Columbia Basin ranges from less than 6 to dard cubic feet of gas. At 14,000 feet approximately 18 percent (Fig. 5). Our dril led-depth, approximately 350 standard work shows that the average th fckness- of cubic feet of gas can be contained in one sandstone rese rvoirs logged in the BN 1-9, cubic foot of pore space because gas is Yakima Minerals 1-33, and Bissa 1-29 wells highly compressible. ihat have greater than 6 percent porosity is These data and interpretations suggest to approximatety 26 feet (Fig. 6) . We ca,Jcu- us that possible petroleum reserves in the vicinity of the proposed repository site range from 40 bl Ilion to 1 tri Ilion cubic feet of gas initially in place per trap. The larger volume estimate is based on assumptions of 0 0 • • 0 good reservoir characteristics and three 0 stacked pay zones; less conservative gas 8 0 reserve estimates determined by using these 0 c90 same data wi II be much greater. Typical 0 a° 8 0 0 recovery currently achieved from gas reser 8,000 o' voirs is 60 percent of the gas initially in $ $ place in the trap. A giant gas field, that $ is, a field with sufficient reserves to have & ~ & o& major favor ab le economic impact, is de fined $ • $ ~ "°" as one in whicll 1 trillion cubi'C feet of gas • • .. • • can be produced. The potential for reserves • • of this magnitude is the reason why Shell and Oe• • others persist with difficult and expensive • ,I • •• exploration in the Co lumbia Basin . It is also the reason why the potential for accidental ct breaching of a high-level nuclear waste repo -<>- ERROR 0 sitory, if sited at Hanford, requires thorough o UPPER RQSLY_N BIS~ l·a9 a $ MIDOL!i ROstYl'I • investigation before it will be known wtrether e LOWl?II ROSUN 18',000 ct S111AUK this site will meet the minimum Federal' • CMUNSTICK BN 1•9 a RQSL:'(Nt NA Bentley, R. D., 1980, Structure contour figure 6. Thickness-es of sandstone hav maps on the top of the Grand Ronde, ing greater thAn six per~ent poroslty ve,r eastern Washington and nor.them Idaho: sus drl lied depth referenced to the kelly [Privately published by the author], 1 bushing for three Columbia Basin welh. sheet, scale 1 : 250,000 Porosity was determ£ned using the tech Brewer, W. A.; Lasmanis, Ray, 1986, Nuc- nique given in Figure 5. The. tfticlmesses lear waste debated: Geot imes, v. 31 , given repre-sent only ttlo.se sandstones no. 1 , p. 2 hav-fng rdatively uniform porosity; thick Campbell, N. P . ; Banning , D. L., 1985, siltstone or dayston-e rnterbects ue con Stratigraphy and hydrocairbon potential of sidered to segreg~te a unit into two or the northwestern Columbia Bas.in based on more sandston•s for the purpose-s of this recent drilling a.ctivities: Rockwel l fl'gure. Error bar indicates the unc:e-r Hanford Ope-rations. SD-BWI-Tl-265, U-inty for each thl'Gkness measurement. 55 p. 18 Kontorovich, A. E., 1984, Geochemical Association Symposium, May 16, 1986, methods for the quantitative evaluation of 1 P• the petroleum potential of sedimentary McFarlahd, C. R., 1983, Oil and gas basins. In Demaison, Gerard; Murris, exploration in Washington, 1900-1982: R. J. , editors, Petroleum geochemistry Washington Division of Geology and Earth and basin evaluation: American Resources Information Circular 75, Association of Petroleum Geologists 119 p. Memoir 35, p. 79-109. Montgomery, S. L., editor, 1985, Investi gating the potential of the Pacific Learn in g, G. F.; Davis, J. D., 1983, Min Northwest: Petroleum Frontiers, v. eral resource analysis of the proposed 2, no. 4 83 p. site for underground storage of high-level 1 Sch lumberger, 1984, Log interpretation commercial nuclear waste , Hanford, charts: Schlumberger Well Services: Washington. In Post, R. G.; Wacks, Houston, p. 106. M. E., editors, 1983 , Waste Manage Swanson, D. A.; Brown, Anderson, ment 1 83; Proceedings of the symposium J. C.; J. L.; Bentley, R. D.; Byerly, G. on waste management : University of R.; Gardner, J. N.; Wright, T . L., Arizona, v. 2, p. 235-241 1979, Preliminary structure contour maps Lingley, W. S., Jr.; Walsh, T. J., 1986, on the top of the Grande Ronde and Some comments on the petroleum poten- Wanapum basa Its, eastern Washington and tial of the proposed Hanford, northern Idaho: U.S. Geological Survey Washington, high- level nuclear waste Open-Fi le Report 79-1364, 3 sheets, repository (abs.): Northwest Petroleum scale 1:80,000. INDOOR RADON ANO ITS SOURCES IN THE GROUND by Al Ian B. Tanner (This article Is taken verbat im from U .s. Geological Survey Open-File Report 86-222) Introduction What causes soi I air to move into a house? Radon is a radioactive element that is produced by the radioactive decay of radium, Soil air moves into a house when the air which itself Is derived indirectly from ura pressure inside the house is lower--even if nium. When radon disintegrates, it produces only a hundredth of a percent lower--than the radioactive decay products that are now atmospheric (barometric) pressure outdoors. recognized as an important cause of lung Wind blowing by the house can reduce the air cancer . Uranium, radium, and radon are pressure in the house, depending upon the naturally present in very small concentrations positions of open windows and other openings. in nearly all soils and rocks. There are If the air in the house is warmer than the typically only a few radon atoms among the outdoor air, it is more buoyant, can leak out 10,000,000,000,000,000 molecules of air In at the upper levels of the house, and "draw" a pore space in the soi I. The radon atoms cooler air in from below, just as a fireplace do not combine with other elements but can does. In effect, lowered air pressure makes diffuse or can be carried along with air from the house a large vacuum cleaner, sucking the soi I into a house through openings such as some air from the soil and some air from the cracks, joints, surnps, and utility penetra outdoors near ground level. tions in basement foundations and walls or If an ice or clay apron, or concrete through floor openings from crawl spaces deck outside offers resistance to the move above the soil. ment of air from the soi f to the atmosphere, 19 and the pathway through the house offers less radiometric maps of Ohio are currently resistance, then falling barometric pressure available. Because the flight strips of the can ca.use soi I air to move into the house. NURE program left gaps in the coverage, the Heavy rainfall also can increase the movement fnforma.tion is not satisfactory for detail in of soi I air Into the house. ueas smaller than about six miles in diameter. No matter how accurate and What deurmines how much ra-don detailed a radon map may be, it represents can get into the house 7 only one of the four major factors that determine whether an indoor radon hazard First there has to be radium in the soil. exists in a house. At present, we expect Some radium is almost always present in soi I, that some localities having potential for but its concentration ranges over about a excessive indoor radon exposure exist in all hctor of ten. Other things being equal, the States. sol ls with higher concentrations of radium ue potentially more hazardous. What controls radon movement Second, the radon, which is constantly in the ground 7 being created by disintegration of radium, has to be able to get Into the soi I pores and Radium in rock and soil contributes radon move fairly quickly into the house. Ninety to the soil air only if the radium is very percent of a given a.mount of radon will decay close to the surfaces of the rock and soi I in 13 days en route. If the sol I fl breathes" grains. In many rocks, on ly a few percent easily, t'1e radon can mo..,e; conversely, If of the radium disintegrations produce radon the soil does not "bre.tthe", the radon decays that can get into the pore spaces. In most before it can move more th.tn a foot or so. soils, a fifth to ha If of the radon can get Third, there must be porous building into pore spaces. In extremely dry soil, material or openings below ground level to however, most radon stays in the solid permit radon or radon-bearing soil air to material. move into the house. If a house is well Once radon is in the rock or soi I pores, sealed below ground level, much of the radon the amount of water in the ground is very decays before it can pass through most important. If the pores are filled with building materials. water, radon can move only a few inches Fourth, it is likely that reduced air before it decays . if only a sma II amount of pressure indoors, which forces air to flow water is present, radon may move a hundred into the house, is needed to produce a times further. The distance the radon can serious indoor radon problem. Some radon move tends to be greater in fractured rocks may enter without movemenl. of a.Ir by a pro and coarse soils and gravels, and much less cess known as diffusion, but it is thought to in fine-grained soi Is like si It and clay, which be less important for entry of radon into a also tend to hold water. Air and water building than air flow driven by p-ressure carry radon by flow much more easily through difference. coarse and fractured material than through flne-gra ined soil. Are there maps showing radon distribution in the soil? What types of ground favor indoor radon problems 7 Direct measurements of radon in soi I a.re not often made. However, radiations from Remember that it takes a combination of one of the radon decay products can be factors to cause an indoor radon problem: measured from aircraft and provide an ( 1 ) radium in the ground, ( 2) ease of radon approximate measurement of the radon in the movement in the ground, ( 3) porous building top foot of an area of the ground be low. materials or · openings below grade, and Such measurements were made in strips generally ( 4) lowered atmospheric pressure in covering much of the uea of the 48 States the building. Few of the measurements of and some of Alaska as part of the National indoor radon ma.de to date have been carefully Uranium Resource Evaluation ( NURE) program. related to the soil and underlying rock types Complex processing of the measurements is on which the houses are sited. The criteria required to make accurate m.tps, and only the given below are based on scientific prin- 20 ciples, rather than on proven correlations Sealing foundation crack s and openings between certain rock and soil types and radon around basement drains and utility pipes concentrations in houses built on them. or cables with caulk Ing compounds or Rock types to suspect: Granites, many epoxy sealants. gneisses, phosphatic rocks, and dark marine crawl spaces or underfloor shales typically contain higher than normal • Ventilating as sumps or other drain levels of radium; if these rocks are frac areas such tured, they can he important sources of systems. radon. When limestones and dolomites Ventilating the inner hollow spaces of recrystallize , they exclude uranium and concrete blocks in basement walls. radium from the new crystals and concentrate them in the pores and along surfaces that Covering earth inside or under the fracture eHily, so that radon can be picked a tightly up and carried by air or water moving along building by using concrete or sealed polymeric vapor barrier. the fractures . Sandstone is not usually enriched in radium, but it is the host rock Ventilating the area around entrances to for uranium deposits in some areas of the West. Well water derived from the above the basement ( such as where pipes come in or cracks in the wall or floor) and rock types may contain such high con- then exhausting this air to the outdoors. centrations of radon that a significant amount of radon is liberated from the water In Controlling the building ventilation rate showers and othe r domestic uses, in addition use of air-to-air heat to radon entering from the soi I. through the exchangers, Soi ls to suspect: Some residual soils, particularly those known as terra rossas ( reddish-brown soils sometimes found over How can the radon level be tested? limestone bedrock), have become enriched in radium as other parts of the soil have been Radon measu rements require special leached away. Coarse, well-drained soils instruments or detectors. Radiation protec- a llow radon-bearing air to move easily and t ion bureaus of some States, some local may make radon available to a building e.ven health departments, and some utility com if the soil itself does not contain much panies have facilities or arrangements for radium . Gravels and coarse sands are making indoor radon measurements. The possible troublemakers. At the other references cite some sources of detectors. extreme, clays and muds, particularly if they The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 11 are usually wet and extend to the lowest has established a ''hot line , 1-800-334- foundation level, shou Id not permit much 8571, extension 7131, from which general radon movement into a building even if their information can be obtained; effective in late radium concentration is greater than normal. May 1986, lists will be available of detector Ground that does not pass the percolation test vendors participating in a voluntary quality ( of the suitability of the ground for a septic control program. drain field) should not pass dangerous amounts of radon. References for further reading: Topographic effects: Houses built on 11 hillsides and ridges are apt to be located on 1ndoor Ai r Pollution", in Consumer soi Is that ar e coa rser and be1te r drained than Reports, October~ 1985, includes information soi Is in adjacent valleys. They are also apt about indoor radon and one type of detecto r to be c loser to bedrock which, if fractured, that can be obtained, may yie ld mo re radon than the soil. "Radon Exclusive", in Popular Science, November, 1985, features a lengthy artic le on indoor radon and cites two sources of What can be done radon detectors for homeowner use. to prevent radon entry into bui ldings 7 11 "The Radon Report , in Roda le' s New The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Shelter magazine, January, 1986, is a feature article, Contrary to statements in advises that measures currently being inves tigated in State or Federal projects inc lu de: the article, slab-on-grade houses are less 21 likely to collect radon than houses with conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley basements. The article's map should be used Laboratory, and is the most authoritative of with great caution, because it is based on the popular publications so far. regional occurrences of bedrock that tend to Indoor Air and Human Health, edited by contain greater-than-average radium con R. B. Gammage and S. V. Kaye and centration, which is only one of the factors published by Lewis Publishers, Inc., 121 S . that create indoor radon problems. Parts of Main Street, P.O. Drawer S19, Chelsea, Ml the shaded areas should not have been shaded 48118 (ISBN 0-87371-006-1), is a 1985 because the bedrock is not exposed near the book that contains technical articles on radon surface. Many localities not shaded on the sources, radon dosimetric and risk models, map may have high potential for indoor radon epidemiology of radon decay products as a exposure because of local enrichment of rock cause of lung cancer, and European radon or soi I by radium or because of particularly surveys and risk assessment. low resistance of the rock or soil to move Guidance and information about remedial ment of radon-bearing air. action may become available from the U .$. "The Indoor Radon Story", in Technology Environmental Protection Agency, Radon Review, Janu ary, 1986, was written by Program , 401 M Street , S.W., Washington, Anthony V. Nero, Jr., leader of the exten o.c. 20460. sive program of indoor radon investigations LANDSLIDE DAMS A Potential Geologic Hazard by Ge ra Id W. Thorsen Landslides present a wide spectrum of proximity to Washington State, but also potential prob tern s when they block streams. because of the many geologic and topographic l f the stream and the slide are large enough similarities of that area to the Cascades . and the valley is narrow, subsequent events The paper, by S. G. Evans, reviews 1 8 can happen very fast. Areas upstream of the historic landslide dams. One that breached dam can be flooded in minutes. Usually more suddenly resulted in a flood that devastated serious, however, is the potential for exten the mining village of Brittania Beach just sive property damage and loss of life down north of Vancouver, killing 37 people . Evans stream if the dam breaks or is overtopped concludes (P• 128) that "Quaternary volcanic and then quickly eroded. Thousands of lives centres exhibit the highest potential'' for have been lost in such events. large-scale catastrophic outburst floods. He The subject of landslide dams was deemed also points out (p. 128) that 11 a large important enough to warrant a special session volume damming event and a large impound at the Apri I 7, 1986, convention of the ment volume are not necessarily re lated to American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in the magnitude of a potential disaster, 11 Seattle. The proceedings have just been because other factors come into play. published as Landslide Dams : Processes, Risk, The avoidance of what are termed out and Mitigation (Schuster, 1986; available burst floods is precisely the reason for the from ASCE, 345 East 4 7th St . , New York, emergency responses to damming events such NY 10017-2398, for $17). In addition to as occurred at Thistle, Utah (1983), Spirit papers on slide dams in China, Japan , Lake, Washington (1980), and Hebgen Lake, Pak is tan, and Utah, three papers discuss Montana (1959). In the last instance, a conditions in the Pacific Northwest. Two massive slide dammed the Madison River, and papers deal with the dams formed as a result the water rose so rapidly that some campers of the av:alanche from Mount St. Helens in in the area had to climb trees to escape 1980; the other treats s lide dams in British (Witkind, 1964). Prompt action by the U. S . Co lumbia. Army Corps of Engineers in cutting a spillway The situation in British Columbia is of probably prevented catastrophic failure of the parl'i~ular interest not only because of its dam. 22 In their introductory chapter to the too broad for significant impoundment. volume of papers from the ASCE meeting, Similarly, the slide shown in Figure 1 essen Schuster and Costa ( 1986) report that of the tially diverted rather than dammed the 135 slide dams they studied, 84 of the slides Stillaguamish River; even then, it caused were triggered by rainstorms and snowmelt or considerable damage. Probably our most by earthquakes. They further report that recent significant landslide dam occurred as a half of the slide dams failed within 10 days result of unusually heavy rains in 1983 in a and that overtopping was the commonest mode small remote bedrock canyon in Whatcom of failure. They also stress (p. 17) the County. The site was examined in June 1986 need for more systematic study because by Thorsen and R. L. Schuster. The dam "mitigation must be accomplished quickly" appears to be made up largely of sandstone when needed. bou Ide rs, and thus it is leaking too rapidly to Other than those dams mentioned that impound much water and appears to be very accompanied the eruption of Mount St. stable. Helens, Washington State appears to have had There are many prehistoric slides in the no life-threatening slide dams in historic state, some much larger than the one shown times. The slide triggered by the 1872 in Figure 2 • Some undoubtedly created earthquake that temporarily blocked the significant impoundments, but most of these Columbia River occurred in a section of valley have long ago been drained by downcutting Figure 1 .--This slide, about 1 , 500 feet across, blocked and diverted the North Fork Stillaguamish River through a recreational subdivision (note cabins, lower center). A slide of this size in the canyon cut in sandstone and situated downstream would have blocked the river, possibly for days. {From Pacific Aerial Surveys photo, 1967, for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) 23 probably not much greater than what exists today. In summary, Washington State has many steep-s ided narrow valleys, and much of the region is subject to heavy rains and earth quakes . One of our five Quate rnary volcanic center s has recently confir med Evans I concern for a particular source of slide hazard. Washington State has the ingredients fo r s lide dam hazards discussed in this timely ASCE publication, and the Division can only support Schuster I s and Costa I s plea for systematic data-gathering and resear ch. The resu Its of such studies will aid authorities in deciding what to do when our next potentially life threatening s lide dam occurs. In addition, the factors that contribute to landsl ides will be of concern to land-use p tanners working in slide-prone areas. Figure 2 .--Some slides, such as this pre historic one along the Wh ite Pa ss Highway References cited ( on le ft ) , may have been tr Igge red by an earthquake. The distance from the head Schuster, R. L., editor, 1986, Landslide scarp to the 'landslide lake" (lower left) dams- -Processes, risk , and mit igation: Is about 3,500 feet. Bottom sediments American Society of Civil Engineers from such lakes can sometimes be used to Geotechnical Publication No . 3 , 164 p. determine roughly when the slide oc Schuster , R. L.; Costa, J.E. , 1986, A curred. (Department photo, 1973, view perspective on lands tide dams. In from above the pass to west ) Schuster, R. L., editor, 1986, Landslide dams--Processes, risk, and mitiga through their slide dams. For example, the tion: American Society of Civi l Engineers 6-mi le-wide Clem an Mountain s lide probably Geotechnical Publication No . 3, p. 1-20. b locked the Naches River for some time, but Witkind, I. J. , 1964, Events on the night no r ese rvoir remains today. The ancient of August 17, 1959--The human sto ry . slide shown in Figure 2 is near the head of a In The Hebgen Lake, Montana, Earthquake basin, and the valley walls have relatively of August 1 7, 1959. U. S. Geological gentle slopes. Its initial impoundment was Survey Professional Paper 435, p. 1-4. TWIN RIVER OIL AND GAS. INC. DRILLING NEAR PORT ANGELES by William S . Lingley , Jr. Twin River Oi I and Gas Inc., spudded a sion of Geology and Earth Resources, which new-fie ld wi ldcat, the State No. 1-30 on administers the Oil and Gas Conservation Act August 10, 1986, and the wet I is presently (RCW Chapter 78 . 52) has requi red the drilling below 500 feet. It is located in operator to take special pr ecautions in order sect ion 3 0 , T • 3 l N • , R • 9 W • , W• M • , to protect the adjacent waters . about 20 mi les west of Port Angeles in This well will be a test of the uppe r Clallam County (Fig. l ). The State Oil and Eocene to lower Miocene Twin Rive r G roup on Gas Drilling Permit for th is test is No. the north flank of the Tofino-Fuca Basin. 410. The drillsite lies approximately 1 , 700 Eleven dry holes have been drilled in the feet south of and 150 feet above the Strait onshore part of this northwest-trending basin, of Juan de Fuca on State land administered by which lies mostly offshore between Vancouver the Department of Natural Resources, Division Island and the Olympic Peninsula (McFarland, of Land Leasing and Recreation. Because of 1983) . These wells penetrated a strati- the site I s proximity to the strait, the Divi- graphic section comprising c laystone and 24 siltstone with a few thin sandstone interbeds . coupled with shallow depths to crystalline The operator ant1cipates that the State No. basement near the prospect ( C raig Gagnon, 1-30 will penetrate better reservoir strata personal commun., 1986) suggests that, c onsisting of th icker sandstones in the middle while potential for a natural gas ac cumula tion Twin River Group. Middle Twin River Group exists, oil is less likely to be present. turbidite sandstones are as much as 400 feet However, the geothermal gradient in this area thi ck near Neah Bay but thin eastward toward may have been higher in the past. the dri II site (Snavely and others, 1980). Structures cropping out near the prospect Only one well, the Standard Oil of Califor consist of a local southwest-dipping homocline nia, Dungeness Unit 1-54, located 37 miles that is part of the north limb of a major to the east, is known to have drilled through syncline (Fig. 1). A marked gradient ob the middle Twin River Group. served on Bouguer gra.vity mapping acquired The prospect was initially located during and interpreted by Twin River personnel, 1983 by Craig Gagnon, president of Twin suggests that the faulted hinge of the major River Oi I and Gas, Inc., who observed sev- syncline lies directly south of the prospect e ral significant gas seeps while scuba diving (Ken Koenen, Twin River Oil and Gas, Inc., directly north of the proposed drillsite. One personal commun., 1986). Several geo seep was crudely gauged at a flow rate in morphic anomalies suggest to the operator excess of 20,000 cubic feet of methane per that a complex fault trap could be present at day. Analyses by Twin River Oil and Gas, the prospect. Inc. indicate the petroleum gas is 95 percent This well is a remote wildcat and there methane, with 2 .4 percent ethane and heavier fore one must assume a relatively low proba hydrocarbons; the remainder is nitrogen and bility of a commercial discovery. However, carbon dioxide. Geothermal gradients calcu a significant percentage of oi I and gas fields lated from two wells near the State No . have been discovered by dri I ling adjacent to 1-30 location range from approximately 1 .5 petroleum seeps. t o 2.0°F /100 ft. The relatively low gradient R, 8W. A. 7W. A.SW. STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA ----... ' \• Quaternary deposiu .• • T Twln River Gp. - lower Miocene '--.... C t ..... to upper Eocene;clavstone, ..... -- I $i ltstone, and sandstone T, To - ...... L li1.J11 ------29 - ..... --r---... _li/cA fl] lyre Fm. - upper to middle Eocene: ,;:-.:' -~N~ conglomerate and sandstone N . ',,fillOG E. FAULT 0 Smiles [!] Aldwell Fm. - middle Eocene; siltstone, ------5andstone and conglomerate, with To minor volcanics EXPLANATION + u ~ Crescent Fm./Blue Mountain unit • middle -r-- ···· D ----•••• to lower Eocene; volcanic rocks and sedimenu SYNCLINE FAULT ~ Olympic core assemblages · Oligocene axial surface. dashed where dashed where inferred, to Eocene; low,grade motasedimentary and inferred, dotted where concealed dotted Where concealed metavolcanic rocks Figure 1 • Simplified geologic map of pa.rt of the northern Olympic Peninsula near Port Angeles showing the Twin River Oil and Gas, State No. 1-30 location. (Geology after Tabor and Cady, 1978) • 25 References cited: deep-marginal-basin sedimentary sequence of late Eocene and Oligocene age in the McFarland, C. R., 1 983, Oi I and gas ex northwestern Olympic Peninsula, Wash ploration in Washington, 1900-1982: ington ; U .s. Geology Survey Profes Washington Division of Geology and Earth sional Paper 1162- B, 28 p1 Resources Information C ircular 75. 119 Tabor, R. W.; Cady, W. M., 1978,Geolog- p., 43 maps. ic map of the Olympic Peninsula, Snavely, P. D., Jr.; Niem, A. R.; Mac. Washington: U.S . Geological Su rvey leod, N. S.; Pearl, J. E.; Rau, Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map W.W., 1980 1 Ma~ah Formation--A 1-994, 2 sheets, scale 1 :125,000. GEOLOGIC MAP OF WASHINGTON the southwest quadrant is now in peer review. A Progress Report Geologists in the Division I s Spokane office, meanwhile, have completed geo logic by compilations for four 1: 100 ,000-scale J. Eric Schuster quadrangles ( Robinson Mountain, Oroville, Colville, and Chewelah) in the northeast Geologic maps of Washington were quadrant and are working on several more. published in 1936 and 1961 by predeces·sors Fieldwork this summer in the northeast to the present Divison of Geology and Earth quadrant is concentrating on areas in which Resources. Both maps were at 1 :500 ,000 little mapping has been done and where there scale. Additional mapping in Washington and are significant geologic problems. Division significant changes in concepts of tectonics geologists from the Olympia office are make this an opportune time to be revising assisting. Additional geologic mapping is this map. The new state geologic map will being done by graduate students with Division be published in four quadrants at a scale of support. 1 :250 ,000. A common color and pattern The Division is investlgat in,g a possible scheme will be used on all four quadrants. cooperative effort with the USGS, through Preparatioh of the southwest quadrant their COGEOMAP program, to complete will be completed this year. The quadrant's 1 : 100, 000-scale geologic maps in the north north and east boundaries are 47° 15' north Cascades (Concrete 1 :250,000 sheet) . l.atitude and 120° 30' west longitude. The Division's schedule calls for publication of the northeast qua_drant in 1988, the southeast in 1990, and the northwest in 1992. NEW MINERAL INVENTORY IN PROGRESS Division cartographers are preparing a new base map for the state geologic map, by using U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Bonnie B. Bunning 1 :100,000-scale topographic maps as sources of data. We plan to print the base map for The Washington Division of Geology and each quadrant as a separate topographic map. Earth Resources has begun a revision of its five Division geologists began geologic Bulletin 37, "Inventory of Wash in gton Min er 11 compilation at 1 :100,000 scale in the south als, Parts I and 11 , which was published in west quadrant more than two years ago. 1960. The new bulletin will be compiled Significant reconnaissance mapping, field from unpubl ished data in the Division's files Lihecking, and some detailed mapping were and field notes, published maps and reports done as part of compiling the maps at that and non-confidential explor ation or mine data SCAie.. These compilations have been drafted, from private sources. sent out for peer review, and revised as Property descriptions in the new inven necessary. The 1: 100 ,000-scale geologic tory will emphasize geology, tectonic setting, m;t_p,5 wil l be either open-filed or published and deposit type and will include basic pros beginning in late 1986 or early 1987. pect identification data such as name ( s) , The 1 : 100, 000-scale geology has been location, commodity, and past production. reduc,ed to 1 :250 ,000 scale and somewhat The properties will be plotted on s.implifie.d for the state map. The map of 1 :250 ,000-scale maps included in the report. 26 Data wi II be completely referenced and ex DEPARTMENT OF NATU RAL RESOURCES SUSPENDS MI NERAL LEASING tensively indexed. As presently planned, the data will be c ompiled on an IBM PC XT computer, using the REVaATION data base manager program On April 14, 1986, Commissioner of to implement GS-MODS , a Mi ne ral Occu r rence Pub lic Lands Br ian Boyle issued an order to Qata ~ystem written by Br;-ce John7on of the suspend issuance of all new state mining U.S. Geological Survey. GS-MODS consists contracts and prospecting leases for about of four interrelated data bases: user data, 3.6 mi llion acres of state-managed land . text data, bibliographic data, and location The order affects about 180 prospecting data--linked with a digitizer and plotter leases and about 20 mine rat contracts . Most capable of producing map overlays to accom of the contracts and le ases involve state pany a report. Data entry will begin in the managed lands in northeast and northwest fall of 1986. Wash lngton. In advance of the bulletin I s pub lication, The purpose of the suspension is to al low it will be possible to request a sear ch of the the Department of Natural Resources to dat3 by any of the 30 fields in the system. c larify Its authority regarding the issuance of The inventory can easily be kept up to date, prospecting leases and to better protect the arid the Division wi ll be able to provide the interests of state trust land beneficiaries . most recent data to the public. The Commissioner• s order fol lowed an audit The Division of Geology and Earth of existing state mining leases and a review Resources requests your suggestions for of the state's 1965 mining law and 1968 Imp r oving the inventory as it currently exists royalty regulations. in Bulletin 37, as well as corrections to the Provisions of the order are as follows : informa tion there. If you can contribute • Ap plications received prior to April 14, non-confidential exp loration data for prospects 1986, for new mining contracts and for con to be included in the revised bul letin , please versions of existing prospecting leases to contact Bonnie Bunning of the Division office mining contracts will be processed under new at PY-12, Olympia, WA 98504, o r te lephone r egu lations. The new regulations change the (206) 459-6372. royalty provisions to read "royalties shall be payable to the department upon production from lands held under any lease or mining CLARIFICATIONS contract on the basis of 3% of the gross value . " In the January/April 1986 issue of this • Applications for new prospecting teases or new sletter, the artic le "High-calcium lime mining contracts on state lands will not be 11 stones te sted for brightness listed sample processed until after the 1987 Legislature has L-81-1 58 as being from the J~E Sherve considered revisions to the state I s mining Property in eastern Washington . This prop laws. erty is also known as the Janni Blue limestone • Applications for new prospecting leases or quarry. Surface rights are held by the mining contracts sent to the DNR after April Sherve family, while the Janni family owns 14 wi II receive a "first in time" right for the minerals. issuance when the Department again grants In the lead article of the same issue, new permits. 11 11 Washington' s Mineral Industry, 1985 , The department I s proposal for revisions prospect 37 in Table 1 is owned by Co lumbi a to the state I s mining laws is available for River Carbonates , a joint venture of Bleeck public review and comment. If you are ~1anagement, Inc., and Gens tar Stone interested in reviewing the proposed changes, P r oducts Co . please contact the Department of Natural Resources, Land Leasing and Recreation Division, John A. Cherberg Building, Room 202, Olympia, WA 98504; or telephone (206) 753-2989. 27 FEDERAL MAPPERS AT WORK IN WASHINGTON MEETt NG ANNOUNCEMENTS Field mapping crews from the U .s. The following meetings will be held tn Geological Survey are working in Okanogan the Pacific Northwest m September: County, Washington, this summer gathering and field-checking data that will be used in American Geophysical Union, 33,.d Pa_cific produ-cing 12 new topographic maps cover ing Northwest Regional Meeting, September 4-5, about 600 square mil~s of the state. University of Washington, Seattle Two c.rews of cartographers and field aHistants from the USGS Mid-Continent Field trip: Mount St . He lens, September Mapping Center in Rolla, Mo., are working to 5-6, 1986 locate USGS benchmarks, determine ele Registration information: PNAGU, Un i vations, measure distances, and verify versity of Washington, GH-25, Seattle, occupied and abandoned structures and civil WA 98195 (206) 543-2300. boundaries. Mapping is being conducted on federal, state, and state-leased land, but Friends of Mineralogy, 12th annual sympo private property is also included and is being sium. Pacific Northwest Chap ter, September traversed when necessary, according to USGS 26-28, Doric Tacoma Motor Hotel, Tacoma District Cartographer Dave Bennett of Rolla. The surveyors are using modern elec Topic: Minerals of Mexico; speakers: tronic distanc.e-measuring instruments and Bill Panczer, Miguel Romero. theodolites, as well as the traditional sur Information: Mike Groben, 1 590 01 ive ¥eyor' s alidade and stadia rod to measure Barber Road, Coos Bay, OR 97402. horizontal distances and determine elevations . Registration: Robert Smith, Bo " 197, The distance-measuring insuuments use Mail Room, Seattle Univers ity, Seattle, microwaves to determine distances, making it WA 98122. possible to obtain fast, accurate measure ments in areas where it would take days or weeks to obtain such measurements on foot INJUNCTION HAL TS BLM LAND ACTIONS with transit, rod, and chain. This wi II be the first time this area of More than l 00 pending land act ions in Washington has been mapped at a scale of Oregon and Washington, rangi ng from legiti 1:24,000 (that is , one inch on a map mizing home site sales to prnviding land for a represents 2,000 feet on the ground) , high school football field are indefinitely although it was mapped at a less-detailed halted by an injunction placed against the scale in the 1950s and 1960s. Each of the Bureau of Land Management as a result of a new mai,s will cover an area of 7 .5 minutes lawsuit by the National Wildlife Feder.ation. of l.atitude by 7.5 minutes of longitude, or The injunction, which became effecti ve about 50 square miles. The new maps will nationally last February 15, has varying be available in about three years. degrees of effect on approximately 10 mi I lion acres of federal land in Oregon and Washing ton, and it prevents opening other federal ROCK HOUNDS: A REMINDER lands currently closed by fo rmal withdrawals or classifications . A regulation put out by the Washington Al I new mining claim filings must be State Game Department in 1981 makes it checked to determine if they are in conflict unlawful to remove any materials from lands with the injunction. Some filed since administe.red by that department without a February 1 5 on areas that were closed to permit issued by Hs director. Please be m ining and on the lands subject to the lawsuit ,ar-eful not to trespass on lands under the could be declared null and void, according to department I s management while collecting Bi II Luscher, BLM Oregon-Washington state mtnerals, fossils, or petrified wood. And director. please respect private property during your The status of approx imately 160 min ing excursions. claims filed prior to the injunction may also be encumbered. Miners whose claims might 28 b e nullified will be contacted by BLM to determine the types of minerals being mined RECENTLY RELEASED PUBLICATIONS and other facts required for a decision. OF THE DIVISION OF GEOLOGY Luscher said that title conveyances AND EARTH RESOURCES completed before the injunction are not affected. However, many pending land Pub I ications I isted below can be ordered exchanges and land sales, including land from the Division, PY- 12, Olympia , WA transfers involving schools and land fill sites, 98504. All orders must be prepaid; add $1 wildlife projects, and other activities are to each order for postage and handling . stopped . Checks must be payable to the Department of The legal controversy stems from a Natural Resources. lawsuit filed in July, 1985 by the National Wi ldlife Foundation concerning public lands Barnett, Brent, 1986, The 1985 geothermal that have been opened by the Secretary of the gradient drilling project for the State of Interior for sale, transfer to other govern Washington: Washington Division of mental units, mining, and other uses. BLM Geology and Earth Resources Open-File opened these "withdrawn" and classified Report 86-2, 34 p. Price $1.00. lands because it was determined that Rau, W.W., 1986, Geologic map o f the restrictive closures we re outdated, no longer Humptulips quadrangle and adjacent appropriate, and the lands were needed for areas, G rays Harbor County, Washington: other important public purposes. Washington Division of Geology and Earth The injunction has slowed BLM 's program Resources Geologic Map GM-33, 1 sheet, to stream I ine its land management through scale 1:62,500. Price $3.00. exchange and sale of lands uneconomic to \l{agner, H. C.; Batatian, L. D.; Lambert, manage. BLM had planned to sell 2,228 T. M.; Tomson, J. H., 1986, Prelim acres of land this year, but was able to inary geologic framework studies showing offer only 415 acres. Several land exchanges bathymetry, locations of geophysical with the State of Washington that would have tracklines and exploratory wells, sea faci I itated land management for both parties floor geology and deeper geologic struc have been stopped. tures, magnetic contours, and inferred Several actions to solve problems of a thickness of Tertiary rocks on the con m istaken private land survey which would have tinental shelf and upper continental slope provided titles to buyers of homesites are off southwestern Washington between 1 halted, a lthough BLM had already accepted latitudes 46°N. and 48°30 N. and from money for down payments on the property. the Washington coast to 125° 20 r W: Another act ion was a proposal to furnish Washington Division of Geology and Earth five acres of land for a football field and Resources Open-Fi le Report 86- 1, 8 p . , parking lot for a high school in south central 6 pl. Price $4.00. Or egon. The sale had been scheduled for SELECTED REPORTS ADDED TO THE last March but has been suspended pending the outcome of the suit. WASHINGTON DIVISION OF GEOLOGY AND EARTH RESOURCES LIBRARY ( Reprinted from a Bureau of Land Management news release of August 13, February - July 1986 1986. For more information contact Bill Ke il, £3LM, Oregon State office, 825 N.E. THESES Multnomah St., P.O. Box 2965, Portland, OR 97208; phone number (503) 231-6276) Grady, Michael, 1985, Stratigraphy, sedi mento lo gy, and hydrocarbon potential of the Hoh turbidite sequence (Miocene) western Olympic Peninsula, Washington: University of Idaho Master of Science thesis, 226 p. Gray, John E., 1982, Petrology and geo chemistry of the eastern portion of the Ingalls Complex, central Washington 29 Cascades: University of Kansas Master Washington: Western Washington Univer- of Science thesis, 63 p. sity Master of Science thesis, 102 p. Holder, Grace A. Mccarley, 1985, Geology Ridgway, Eric Robert , 1986, Mineralogy of and petrology of the intrusive rocks east the Steel Creek manganese deposit, of the Republic graben in the Republic Olympic Peninsula, Washington: Eastern quadrangle, Ferry County, Washington: Washington University Master of Science Washington State University Master of thesis, 70 p. Science thesis, 87 p. Roberts, James Warren, 1985, Stratigraphy, Jett , Guy A., 1986, Sedimentary petrology sedimentology I and structur e of the of the western melange belt, north Cas Swau~ Formation along Tronsen Ridge, cade Range, Washington: University of centr al Cascades, Wash ington: Washington Wyoming Master of Science thesis , 85 p. State University Master of Science the Koesters, Donna Baird , 1984, A structura l sis, 188 p., 2 pl. and hydrocarbon analysis of the central Ritger, Scott D., 1985, Methane-derived Cascade Range, Washington: Texas authigenic carbonates formed in sub Christian University Master of Sc ience duction induced po re water expulsion thesis, 120 p., 4 pl. along the Oregon-Washin gton margin: Krafft, Alison Davison, 1984, Mineral Lehigh University Master of Science the and chemical composition of suspended sis, 66 p. and bottom sediments, Quinault submarine Silverberg, David Scott, 1985, Structure canyon: Lehigh University Master of and petrology of the Whitchuck Moun, Science thesis , 62 p. taln-Mount Pugh area I north Cascade Mohl, Grego ry Blaine, 1985, Bouguer Range, Washington: Western Washington gra.vlty investigation of the cratonfc mar University Master of Science thesis, 173 g in--southeastern Wash ington: Wash ington p. , 3 pl. State University Master of Science the Smith, Moira T., 1986, Structure and petro sis, 67 p. logy of the Grandy ridge- Lake Shannon Orr, Kristin El izabeth, 1985, Structural area, north Cascades, Washington: features along the margins of Okanogan Western Washington University Master of and Kettle domes, northeastern Washing Science thesis, 156 p., 2 pl. ton and southern British Columbia: Uni versity of Washington Doctor of Snyder, Geoffrey William, 1984, Size Philosophy thesis, 109 p., 4 pl. distributions of suspended and bottom sediments in and around Quinault sub Parsons, Michael Raymond , 1985, Spatial and temporal changes in stream topo marine canyon--1 mpl ications for modern logy--Post-erupt ion drainage, Mount St. sediment transport and accumulation off Helens: Oregon State University Docto r the Washington coast: Lehigh University of Philosophy thesis, 179 p. Master of Science thesis, 90 p . Pine, Ke Ith A., 1985, Glacial geology of Vanderwal, Kathy Sue, 1985, Compositional the Tonasket-Spectacle Lake area , Okan and textural variations in the Vashon Til l ogan County, Washington: Western Wash and underlying drifts in the northern and ington University Master of Science central Puget Lowland, Washington: thesis, 130 p., 1 pl. University of Washington Master of Sci Quintana, Carlos Wesson, 1983, Ice structure ence thesis, 110 p. in a vertical core at the margin of South White, Patricia J., 1986, Geology of the Cascade Glacier, Washington: Univer sity Is land Mount a in area , Okanogan Count y, of Washington Master of Science thesis, Washington: University of Washington 120 p., l pl. Master of Science thesis, 80 p., 1 pl . Rauch, William E., 1985 1 Sedimentary pe Ziegler, Charles B., 1985 , The structure trology, depositional environment and and petrology of the Swift Cr eek ar ea, tectonic imp I ications of the upper Eocene western north Cascades, Washington : Quimper Sandstone and Marrow stone Western Washington University Master of Shale, northeastern Olympic Peninsula, Science thesis, 191 p., 5 pl. 30 GEOLOGY AND RELATED TOPICS Miller, R. D.; Safioles, S. A.; Pessl, Ft:DERAL AGENCIES Fred, Jr., 1985, Map showing relative slope stability in the Port Townsend 30' Publications of the x 60 1 quadrangle, Puget Sound region, U.S. Geological Survey Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map Atwater, B. F., 1986, Pleistocene gla 1-1198-C, 1 sheet, scale 1 :100,000. cial-lake deposits of the Sanpoil River Jacobson, M. L. ; Rodriguez, T. R., compil Valley, northeastern Washington: U.S. ers, 1985 , National Earthquake Hazards Geological Survey Bulletin 1661, 39 P•, Reduction Program, summaries of tech 3 pl. nical reports Volume XXI, prepared by Gough, L. P.; Shacklette, H. T.; Peard, participants in National Earthquake J. L.; Papp, C. S. E., 1986, The Hazards Reduction Program : U.S. Geo chemistry of fruits and vegetables, logical Survey Open-File Report 86-31, Yakima River Val ley, Washington, and the 653 p. influence of the 1980 Mount St. Helens Baker, G. E., 1986, Three component long ash-fall episodes: U.S . Geological Sur period data for the 1949 South Puget vey Bulletin 1640, 13 p. Sound, Wash ington earthquake: U.S. Ba uer, H. H.; Vaccaro, J. J.; Lane, R.C., Geological Survey Open-File Report 1985, Maps showing groundwater levels 8 5-61 3, 8 p. in the Columbia River basalt and over Laird, L. B.; Taylor, H. I:.; Lombard , lying materials, spring 1983, south R. E., 1986, Data on snow chemistry of eastern Washington: U .s. Geological the Cascade-Sierra Nevada Mountains: Su rvey Water-Resources Investigations Re U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report port 84-4360, 4 pl., scale 1 :500,000. 86-61, 25 p. Hearn, P. P.; Steinkampf, W. S.; Bortle Hays, W.W.; Gori, P. L., editors, 1986, son, G. C.; Drost, B. W., 1985, Proceedings of Conference XXXI 11, a Geochemical controls on dissolved sodium workshop on "Earthquake hazards in the in basalt aquifers of the Columbia Puget Sound, Washington area, 11 October Plateau, Washington: U.S. Geological 29-31, 1985 : U.S. Geological Survey Survey Water-Resources In vestigations Open-File Report 86-253, 261 P• Report 84-4304, 38 p. U.S. Geological Survey, 1986, Washington- Jones, M. A., 1985, Occurrence of ground Geographic Names Information System al water and potential of seawater intru phabetical finding list: u.s. Geological sion, Island County, Washington: U.S. Survey, 469 p. Geological Survey Water-Resources In vestigations Report 85-4046, 6 sheets, Publications of the scale 1 :31 ,680. U .S Bureau of Mines Turney, G. L,, 1986, Quality of groundwater in the Puget Sound region, Washington, Chaney, R. E., 1985, Strategic and critical 1981: U.S. Geological Survey Water materials program annual report: U.S. Resources Investigations Report 84-4258, Bureau of Mines Minerals and Materials 1 70 p. , 2 pl. Research Contract Report, 125 P• Vaccaro, J. J., 1 986, Plan of study for Rice, W. L.; Bunning, B. B., 1986, The the regional aquifer-system analysis , mineral industry of Washington; preprint Col umbia Plateau, Washington, northern from the 1984 Bureau of Mines Minerals Oregon , and northwestern Idaho: U. S . Yearbook: U.S. Bureau of Mines, 11 p. Geological Survey Water-Resources In vestigations Report 85- 4151, 24 P• Church, S. E.; Frisken, J. G.; Mosier , Publications of Other Federal Agencies E. L.; Willson, W. R., 1985, Geochem ical maps of the Eagle Rock and Glacier Hagmod, M. C., 1986, St ructure and evolu Peak roadless areas, Snohomish and King tion of the Horse Heaven Hills in south Counties, Washington: U.S. Geological central Washington: Rock we I I Hanford Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map Operations RHO-BWSA-344 P, 190 p., 1 MF-1380-D, 2 sheets, scale 1 :100;000 . pl. 31 U.S. Department of Energy, 1985, Draft Geographic Names environmenta I impact statement, d isposa I of Hanford defense high-level, trans Hilman, Robert, 1985, Place names of Wash uranic and tank wastes, Hanford site, ington: Washington State Historical Soci Richland , Washington: U.S. National ety, 340 p . Technical Information Service, 3 v. Phlllips, J. w., 1971, Washington State place names: University of Washington U.S. Department of Energy, 1986, Environ mental as.sessment--Re ference repository Press, 167 p. location , Hanford sit-e, Washington: Geology Departments U.S. Department of Energy J 3 v. American Geological Institute, 1985, Skelly and Loy, 1986, Coal Creek abandoned Directory of geoscience departments , coal mine recLamation, King County, United States and Canada, fal I 1985; Washington, final specifications: Skelly 24th ed . : American Geological Insti and Loy under contract to U.S. Office tute, 221 p. of Surface Mining, 1 v., 6 pl. U.S. Federal Energy Management Agency, Mining law 1 985, Guidebook for developing a school earthquake safety program: U.S. Maley, T. 5 . , 1984, Mineral title exami Government Printing Office, 184 p. nation; Minera l Land Pub I ications, 396 p . ( includes 1986 cumulated supplement). Potyondy, J. P. ; Me gaham, W. F.; Bengey Maley, T. S., 1985, Mining law from loc f ie Id, Pete, 1 979, rev. 1981, Technical ation to patent: Mineral Land Pub I ica guide for erosion prevention and control t ions, 597 p. ( Includes 1986 cumulated on timber sale areas: U.S. Fo rest supplement) • Service (Ogden], 1 v. Webster, F. L., 1985, Pacific OCS lease Petroleum sale, October 1, 1964, Oregon and Wash ington: U. S. Minerals Management Mo ntgomery, S. L. , editor, 1985 , Investi- Service Report 85-101 , 36 p. gatin g the potential of the Pacific Northwest: Petroleum Information Cor- LenfestyJ C. D.; Reedy, T. E., 1 985, Soil poration Petroleum Frontiers, v. 2, no. s urvey of Yakima County area, Wash 4, 83 p. ington: U.S . Soil Conservation Se rvice, Northwest Petroleum Assoc iation, 1986, NWPA 345p.,15pl. Symposium, May 16, 1986 [ P rogram and Abstracts]: Northwest Petroleum A55_oci ation, 10 p. Petroleum Publishers, In c., 1986, Pacific. GEOLOGY AND RELATED TOPICS coast oil d irectory 1986: Petroleum Pub NONFEDERAL ORGAN IZATIONS lishers, Inc., 384 p. Seismology Biography of General Interest Ihnen, S. M.; Hadley, D. M., 1986, Rosen, Shirley, 1981, Truman of St. Helens~ Seismic risk maps for Puget Sound, The man and his mountain: Madrona Washington; Sierra Geophysics, Inc. Publishers [Seattle], 163 p. [Redmond], 37 P• Environmental Radiation Structural Geology Peterson, D. S.; Mooney, R. R., 1984, Drummond, K. J., Chairman; and others, State of Washington environmental 1984, Geodynamic map of the circum radiation progr.am, 22nd annual report , Pacific region, northeast quadrant: July 1 982-December 1983: Washington American Assoc iation of Petroleum Geol Department of Social and Health Ser ogists Northeast Quadrant Panel, 1 pl., vices, 1 v. scale 1 : 10,000,000, with 1 2-p. text. 32 GEOLOGIC RESEARCH PROJECTS eastern Washington ( E. P. K1ver) ACTIVE IN 1986 Geology of the national parks ( E. P. Kiver) Quaternary map of northeastern Washington Student and faculty research projects at east of the Okanogan River (E. P. col leges and universities in Washington State Ki ver) under way in 1986 are listed below. (Not Major and trace element chemistry of "por- all institutions responded in time to meet this phyry" molybdenum, tin-tungsten, and ne wsletter's deadline.) copper systems ( F. E . Mutschler) Compilation of computer data base of whole CENTRAL WASHINGTON UN IVERSITY rock chemical analyses of igneous rocks (F. E. Mutschler) Faculty Research Projects Styolites in ore deposits (J. R . Snook) Thrust faulting in northeastern Washington Yakima Firing Range--Geologic map, Black (J. R. Snook) Rock Springs quadrangle ( R . D. Bentley) Petrology of the Qua rtz Hi II molybdenum de Structural analysis of Leavenworth fau lt posit, Alaska (J. R . Snook) zone (R. D. Bentley) Paleomagnetic investigations of glacial lake Evolution of the Hog Ranch anticline and Missoula flood deposits (W. K. Steele) the Yakima River in Neogene time (R . Use of remanent magnetization direction to D. Bentley) correlate air-fall ash deposits from Stratigraphy of Frenchman Sp rings Basalt Cascade vo lcanoes ( W. K. Steele) (R. D. Bentley) Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and paleontol Correlation of deep wells in Yakima fold ogy of the Cambrian System of the Great belt (R. D. Bentley) Basin (L B. McCollum) Major and trace elements in Wanapum Basalt Paleozoic paleoecology and the Lower to by m icroprobe methods ( J. R. Hin tho me) Midd le Cambrian extinctional event (L . B. Hardware a nd software modification to Geo Mccollum) graphic Information Computer System at Paleozoic continental margin sedimentation C 'MJ (J • R. Hinthorne) ( L. B. Mc Co II urn) Analysis of Li, B, Be, and F in coexisting Mesozoic transcurrent faulting and suspect metamorphic minerals (J. R. Hinthorne) terranes in the Great Basin (L. B. Mccollum) EASTERN WASH I NG TON UNIVERSITY Mineralogy of the Golden Horn batholith, North Cascades, Washington (R. C. Faculty Research Projects Boggs) Mineralogy of the Wind Mountain laccolith, Geochemistr y of iranitic rocks of northeast New Mexico (R. C . Boggs) ern Washington (M . lkramuddin) N itrate contamination of groundwater in Deer Geochem istry of volcanic rocks and its re- Park vicinity, northeastern Washington (J. lationship to gold-silver mine ralization P. Buchanan) ( M. lk ramuddin) Sedimentation in sand-bed braided rivers Hydrogeochem ica l methods of exploration for (J. P. Buchanan) gold and si Iver ( M. lkramuddin) Sedimentology of Cretaceous-age coarse- Thallium--A potential guide to mineral de c lastic deposits in Washington and Nevada posits ( M. lkramuddin ) (J • P. Buchanan) Geochemistry of platinum-group elements Geochemistry of sediment-hosted precious (M. lkramuddin) metals deposits ( M. lkramuddin) Permian bryozoans of the carbonate units of Development of new analytical methods by in- the Mission Argillite, northeastern Wash ductively coupled argon plasma and ington (E. H. Gilmour) electrothermal atomic absorption ( M. Biostratigraphic studies of Pennsylvanian and lkramuddin) Permian bryozoans in North America and Rare earth elements geochemistry of gold de Pakistan (E. H. Gilmour) posits ( M. lkramuddin) Fumarole and geothermal ice cave monitoring, Geochemistry of gallium (M. lkramuddin) Mounts Rainier and Baker ( E . P. K iver) Alka line igneous rocks and related precious Glacial and catastrophic flood history of metal deposits (F . E. Mutschler) 33 Mineralogy of the Sawtooth batholith I Idaho County, Idaho ( T. Michael S weeney) ( R . C. Boggs) G eology of the Gold Hill-Mica \1ountain area, Epithermal precious metal depo si ts ( F. E. Latah County, Idaho ( Gary D . Walker) Mutschler) Sedimentology of the Harts Pass Formation, north- central Washington ( Robert L. Rau) Student Research Projects Sedimentology of the Puget Group, western Washington ( Charles C . Cacek) A mineralogical and chemical study of man Paleomagnetism of Lake Missoula flood depos ganese-bearing and associated rocks of the its in the Sanpoil River valley of north C rescent Formation, Olympic Peninsula, eastern Washington ( Russell G. Mi tchel I) Washington (Eric R. Ridgway) Biogeochemical methods of exploration for Geology of the Clayton si Iver mine, Custe r base-metal su l fides (Richard 8. Lestina) County, Idaho (Robert L. Hillman) The geochemistry of precious metal min Hydrogeochemistry of platinum and palladium eralization in post-emplacement ophiolitic in southwestern Oregon (Daniel W. terrains, Ingalls ophiol ite complex, Fears) Washington (Phillip C. Nisbet) Geology of the southwest 1 / 4 of the Aeneas Pegmatites in northeastern Washington (John Valley 1 5 1 quadrangle, Okanogan County, W. Aiken) Washington (Charles W. Gulick) Paleoecology of the Ferdelferd fossils beds, Geology of the southeast 1 / 4 of the Twin Diamond Peak Formation (Mississippian), Lakes quadrangle, Washington (Corey Y. Elko County, Nevada ( W. G regory Good Fullmer) win) Study of the metal lie mineral deposits of the Geologic map of the Boulder Mountain 7-1 /2 1 Shawangunk and Kittatiny Mountains, New quadrangle, northeastern Utah ( Andrew R. York-New Jersey ( J. Scott Wilber) Mork) Thallium compared to As and Sb as pathfind Biostratigraphy of the Peronopsis bonneren ers for Au in soi I and rock surveys at the sis zone fauna ( Middle Cambrian), Horse Mayflower mine I Howard Mining District, Thief Canyon region, California (Mark W. Crook County, Oregon ( Thomas J. An se II) Cammarata) Carbonate petrogrdphy o f the Garden Va lley Ferros--A computerized database for Precam Formation in north-central Nevada (Scott brian auriferous banded iron formations E. Morrison) and related rocks (G len R. Carter) Depositional processes in the magnetization Geochemical characteristics of tin-bearing of air-fa I I ash (James E. Garman) granites ( Fred T. Langston) C lay formation of rocks under humid tropi Gold deposits associated with alkal ine plu cal climatic conditio ns in east Jiwo Hills , tons and volcanics--Selected trace element Java (Aryono S. Salehdanu) geochemistry (Robbin W. Finch) Depositional model of catastrophic flood Reconnaissance trace element geochemistry bars in the Pine Creek channel, eastern of the Loon Lake batholith, northeastern Washington ( Robert A. Pinotti) Washington (Ado lphus A. Afemari) The geochemical characterization of a part Ve rtical geochemical variations in granodi of the Stillwater Complex, Montana, with orite associated with the molybdenum particular reference to the pla tinum-group copper porphyry deposit at Mount Tolman, elements ( Michael W. Knoper) Ferry County, Washington (Danelle D. Geochemistry and petrography of veins and Elder ) wall rocks associated with gold-si Iver Granite molybdenite systems--North American mineralization in the Republic district, Cordillera (Curtis A. Hughes) Ferry County, Washington (Walter M. Petrography of Carboniferous dolomites, Martin) Sp ringdale a rea, Washington (Mehemed S. Geology of the McCullough C reek area, Doug Gheddida ) las County, Oregon (Allen V . Ambrose) Contact aureole geochemistry of the Bay- Geochemistry of granitic rocks from Newport view granodiorite, northern Idaho quadrangle, northeastern Washington ( Abe ( Clarence E. Chase) be Kassaye) Economic geology and production cost anal Geochemistry and petrology of the San Poil ysis of the Golden Sceptre mine. Boundary volcanics and associated granitic rocks of 34 a part of the Colville Indian Reservation, Crust and upper mantle structure from broad Washington (Sharon J.M. Digby) band and short-period network measure Bryozoan biostratigraphy of the Phosphoria ments ( Robert S. Crosson) Formation, southeastern Idaho ( Robert C. Inversion of seismic data (Robert S . Wa Iker) Crosson) Induced polarization-direct current resistiv Source mechanisms of volcanic earthquakes ity methods in the exploration for paleo (Robert S • Crosson) drainage channels (John S. McBeth) Earthquake hazards of the Pacific Northwest Petrology and mineralization of the William ( Robert S. Crosson) Henry Bay z inc prospect (Stanley A. Geophysical aspects of cosmic radiation; Ellison) cosmic radiation at Earth (John T. A. Econom ic geology of the Sherman molybdenum Ely) prospect, Okanogan County, Washington Experimental investigation of electrical (Grant R. Newport) parameters in the Earth's e nvironment Geochemistry of alaskite and quartz rnonzon ( Robert H. Holz worth, 11 ) i te of Mount Spokane, northeastern Wash Marine seismology using deep-towed reflec ington, and its relation to uranlum tion and ocean bottom refraction methods mineralization {Roy Bongiovanni) and the study of seismicity at ocean Stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Cre ridges and transforms (Brian T. R. taceous Newark Canyon Formation in the Lewis) Co rt ez Mountains area, north-central Ne Cool ing processes in the Earth ( and other vada ( Cr ague C . Bi glow) rocky planets): convection processes, The sedimentology and stratigraphy of the conduction processes, thermodynamics, glaciogenic deposits nea r Kettle Falls, volcanic processes (Clive R. 8. Lister) Washington ( Roger W. Doak) Geophysical investigations of Mount St. Nitrate contamination of the Deer Park aq Helens (Stephen D. Malone) uifer ( Randall L. Anderson) Geomagnetism, paleomagnetism, and rock Biostratigraphy and lithostratigraphy of the magnetism (Ronald T. Merrill) Late Devonian-Early Mississippian Pilot Characteristics of earthquakes produced by Shale of eastern Nevada and western Utah the Mount St. Helens volcano {Anthony (Mark E. Jones) Geochemistry of the Eureka-Excelsior gold Qamar) Research in sliding of glaciers, water be lode deposit and associated metasediments and greens tones, Cracker Creek District, havior in and at the bed of glaciers, and Baker County, Oregon (Craig P. Calder) surge behavior o f glaciers ( Charles F. Sedim entation and mineralogical composition Raymond) I of the Latah Formation (Miocene), eastern Mineralogy of the Earth s mantle (Yosiko Wash ington (John D . Robinson) Sato Sorenson) Study of density-stratified turbulent flows: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON mixing of momentum, heat, and salt across sharp density interfaces and related Faculty Research Projects topics (J. Dungan Smith) New methods of utilizing se ismic first- Geomagnetic induction in the Ea rth revealed motion data to infer tectonic stress by a study of deep electrical structure of orientation from both compressional and the Juan de Fuca plate and adjacent con-. shea r waves at the tectonic plate boundary tinent ( John R. Booker) between the Juan de Fuca plate and the Reconciliation of geoldal maps supplied No rth American plate (Stewart W. Smith) by NASA with large-scale tectonic features Application of finite element and finite dif ( Robert C . Bostrom) ference models to understand the flow Mine ral physics at elevated pressure and and thermal history in regions of ice temperature (J. Michael Brown) sheets and glaciers ( Edwin D. Waddington) Modeling drainage trees found during desal Radiation processes in climate and the role ination of sea ice (Wi lliam O. Criminale, of snow and ice in climate {Stephen G. Jr. ) Warren) 35 WASHING TON STATE UNIVERSITY Student Research Projects Faculty Research Projects Thrust geometries in the footwall of the Diversion thrust, Teton County, Montana Remote sensing and geologic spatial analysis (Diane Johnson) of satell ite images, digital terrain Fission track age of tephras in the Palouse models, earthquake foci, and other data Loess ( Kevin Nelstead) bases--ln conjunction with Batelle PNL Petrogenesis of the Picture Gorge Basalt (Richard L. Thiessen) ( Michael M. Bailey) Refold analysis of the Ba lmat fl2 zinc mine Geology, geochemistry, and hydrology of the in northern New York State ( Richard L. thermal springs areas west of Lowman, Thiessen) Idaho (John Reed) Geophysical studies of southeastern Washing- Structural analysis and kinematic interpret ton and adjacent Oregon and Idaho ation of rocks in the southern portion of ( Richard L. Thi'essen) the Okanogan gneiss dome, north-central Refold study of the Loch Monar, Scotland, Washington (Jeffrey Volk) area ( Richard L. Thiessen) Crystal chemistry of a lkaline-defective tour ma line ( Prawit Towatana) Remote sensing studies of a portion of the Estimating groundwater travel times in het Nevada test site ( Richard L. Thiessen ) erogeneous media-·-A study of the effects Structural and tectonic models of no rtheast of using average hydraulic properties in Washington (A. J. Watkinson, with Mike calculating groundwater travel times and Ellis) flow paths for heter ogeneous media 11 llte--Composition, stability, and re la- (Sharon Hunt) t ion ship to muscovite and phengite (Ph ilip Carbonate petrology and conodcmt biostr.atii E. Rosenberg and J. A. Kittrick, Pro graphy of the West Canyon Lim~stone and fessor, Dept. of Agronomy and Soils) equivalents, southeaster n Idaho and Sedimentology, stratigraphy, and tectonic northern Utah (Larry E. Davis) evolution of the Republic graben, north Re-evaluation of the Lodgepole Formation (Lo central Wash ington (David R. Gaylord) wer Mississippian), southeastern Idaho and Quaternary airflow-terrain interactions in northern Utah (Larry E. Davis) Wyoming (David R. Gay lo rd) On the occurrence of Nautilus scrobiculatus in Papua, New Guinea (Larry E. Davis) Determination of the free energy of forma Post-mortem distribution of Nautilus in the t ion of searlesite, Na8Si205(0H)2, and southwestern Paci fie Ocean (Larry E . its imp I ications regarding other borosi li cates (Philip E. Rosenberg and J. A . Davis) Kittriok, Professor, Dept. of Ag r onomy Petrology and geochemistry of gold-bearing and Soi Is) sJ 36 1lli te stability relationships (Stephen U. Aja) tion (Late Mississippian ) , south-central Petr ogenesis of volcanic rock s in the Baker Idaho (Kate Lofland) area, northeast Oregon (David G. Bailey) Origin , provenance , and sedimentary environ F low stratigraphy, c hemical variation a nd ments of the basalt interbeds exposed near petrogenesis of Deccan flood basalts from Lewiston, Idaho, and Clarkston , Washing t he western Ghats, India (John E . Beane) ton ( John H. Lundquist) Geo logy and genesis of the Mizpah depos it , G ravity definition o f the cratonlc margin Latah County, Idaho (Kenneth A . in west-central Idaho and adjacent Wash Be idler) ington ( Gregory B. Moh I) Slope stability analysis (David R. Black) S tructura l control of min eralizing fluids in a Geo logy and geochemistry of the precious and portion of the Chloride Mining District , base metal quartz veins in the Mineral New Mexico (Wi lliam S . Neal) Po int District, San Juan County, Colorado Burial diagenesis of the Mission Canyon (John G. Bloom) Limestone (Mississippian ) of south-central Geology, mineralogy, and geochemistry of Montana (Dan ie l C . Qu igley) t he Iron C rown calc ic iron skarn deposit , The hydro logy and hydrochemistry of the Pa Vancouver Island, British Columbia (Gal l hasapa (Madison ) Limestone in Wind Cave E . Bloomer) Nationa l Park, South Dakota (John A . Go ld mineralization in low-ang le fau lts, Rohde) Cargo Muchacho Mo untains, California Alka line rocks in northern Idaho (Diane K. {A lan D . Branham) Schalck ) A mine ralogica l, fluid in clusion, and oxygen Carbonate petrology and sedimentology of an isotope s tudy of the Mammoth Revenue undifferentiated limestone unit, southern vein, P latoro Ca Ider a, San Juan Moun Pahranagat Range, Linco ln County, Nevada tains, Colorado (Jeffrey W. Brooks) (Caroline S. Singler ) A comparative study of high Cascade volcan Sedimentology and diagenetic history of the ism, with emphasis on the Mt. Jefferson , Jefferson Formation, southwest Mo ntana Oregon, area (Richard M. Conrey ) (Tad M. Smith) Geology , hydrology, and geochemistry of the Refolds in ductile deformation zones ( Bart A . geothermal area east of Lowman, Idaho Stryhas) ( Brad E. Dingee ) G eology, mineralization, and sedime ntary Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and structure environments o f the Atlas Mine area, o f the Upper Proterozoic Three Sisters Coeur d I Alene Mining District, Shoshone Formation and the Lower Cambrian Gypsy County, Idaho ( Brion D . Theriau It) Quartzite , northeast Washington (Louis H . S un River Canyon , northwest Montana, str uc Groffman) tural mappin g (E rik D. Weberg) Magmatic sulfide minerals in the Ferrar Dol- The geochemical cycle o f boron--An experi erlte , south Vic toria Land, Antarctica mental study (Wen Yang) (Kat hryn H. Bailey) Control s on gold mineralization in the epi Computer analysis of remote sensing and geo the rma I environment (Brian S. Zimmerman ) logic data sets (Lisa K. Johnson) Emplacement and geochemical evo lution of Eo Hyd rogeo logic investigation of the upper cene plutonic rocks in the Colville batho Long Va lley, Idaho (George L. Landle) l ith (R. Wade Holder) Pa leomagnetic trend of the Pomona basalt f low from central Washington to west CLARK COLLEGE central Idaho (Jose B. L1m) Stratigraphy, sedimentology, a nd petro logy Faculty Research Project o f the Lower Cambrian Addy and Gypsy Quartzites , Stevens and Pend Or eille Evolution of Mount St. Helens dome with em Counties , northeas t e rn Washington ( Kev in phasis on flow morphology: deve lopment A. Lindsey) of 17 geo logic maps of the dome from Stratigraphy, petrology, and depositional October 1980 to present at a scale of environment of the Middle Canyon Forma- 1 :2 ,000 ( Wayne Colony ) 37 GRAYS HARBOR WHITMAN COLLEGE Faculty Research Project Faculty Research Projects Holocene history of the Grays Harbor estu ary (James Phipps ) Textural and grain-size characteristics of sand from coastal and inland dune fields PACIFIC LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY in the Pacific Northwest ( Patrick Spencer Facu lty Research Project a nd David Rossman (student]) Origin of vivianite in Pleistocene outwash deposits (Steve Benham) Occurrence and origin of Washington copro lites ( Patrick Spencer) TACOMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE Foraminiferal paleoecology and biostrati- Faculty Research Project graphy, northeastern Olympic Peninsula Field trip guide, Mount Rainier (Jack Hyde) ( Patrick Spencer) 38 --·------, E:9Z l!W J8d vOS86 'vM 'VldlAJA 10 UOJ6u!4Sl?M 'l?!dWAfO S3:H::lnOS3H HJ.H\f3 GN\f A8010 3 8 ::10 NOISl /\10 0 1'1d 39'1J.SOd ·s·n S3J!::lnOS3H l'vH(Uv'N .::10 J.N3lAIJ.H\fd30 3J.'11:j >nna WASHINGTON GEOLOGIC NEWSLETTER HIGHLIGHTS . . .. Nuclcdl' wa ste disposal 3 Petro leum drilling near Hanford I 0 Indoor rado n 19 l.:1ndslid c dams 22 Drilling near Pon Angell'~ 24 Geo logic m,tp ri1 t1g1 c~~ 26 Rccl'nl ly rclr,t~cd public.1Lions 29 Addition<, to OGLR lihr,iry 29 Geologic rc~cJrch projctts 33