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1.
The Cretaceous Mancos Shale (MS) is a known nonpoint source for a significant portion of the salinity and selenium (Se) loads in the Colorado River in the southwestern United States and northwestern corner of Mexico. These two contaminants pose a serious threat to rivers in these arid regions where water supplies are especially critical. Tuttle et al. (companion paper) investigates the cycling of contaminants in a Colorado River tributary watershed (Uncompahgre River, southwestern Colorado) where the MS weathers under natural conditions. This paper builds on those results and uses regional soil data in the same watershed to investigate the impact of MS geology, weathering intensity, land use, and climate on salt and Se storage in and flux from soils on the natural landscape, irrigated agriculture fields, areas undergoing urban development, and wetlands. The size of salinity and Se reservoirs in the MS soils is quantified. Flux calculations show that during modern weathering, natural landscapes cycle salt and Se; however, little of it is released for transport to the Uncompahgre River (10% of the annual salinity and 6% of the annual Se river loads). When irrigated, salinity and Se loads from the MS soil increase (26% and 57% of the river load, respectively), causing the river to be out of compliance with Federal and State Se standards. During 100 years of irrigation, seven times more Se has been removed from agricultural soil than what was lost from natural landscapes during the entire period of pedogenesis. Under more arid conditions, even less salt and Se are expected to be transported from the natural landscape. However, if wetter climates prevail, transport could increase dramatically due to storage of soluble phases in the non-irrigated soil. These results are critical input for water-resource and land-use managers who must decide whether or not the salinity and Se in a watershed can be managed, what sustainable mitigation strategies are possible, and what landscapes should be targeted. The broader implications include providing a reliable approach for quantifying nonpoint-source contamination from MS and other rock units elsewhere that weather under similar conditions and, together with results from our companion paper, address the complex interplay of geology, weathering, climate, and land use on contaminant cycling in the arid Southwest.  相似文献   

2.
Sand supply to the Algodones dunefield, south-eastern California, USA   总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1  
In an effort to gain a better understanding of the relationship between climate, sand supply and aeolian sand deposition, an investigation was undertaken in the Algodones dunefield of south-eastern California to determine: (1) the source of the sand and (2) the mode of sand supply to the Algodones dunefield. Textural, geochemical and mineralogical analyses show that the dune sands were mainly derived from Colorado River sands during episodes when the Colorado River drained west to the Salton Basin instead of south to the Gulf of California. A model is presented which relates episodic aeolian deposition in the Algodones dunefield to the growth of the resulting lake under a persistent, intense north-westerly wind regime and to subsequent desiccation of the lake following diversion of the Colorado River to the Gulf of California. Late Holocene radiocarbon ages for relict lake shoreline deposits correlate with documented episodes of extreme flooding and increased winter storminess across the south-western United States. These conditions are likely to have been the cause of intensified north-westerly winds which coincided with high stands of Lake Cahuilla. Although diversion of the Colorado River to the Salton Basin occurred at least three times during the late Holocene, it is evident that the river did not change its course in response to the majority of the floods. It appears that the critical control on diversion of the river was the difference in gradient between courses leading to the Salton Basin and Gulf of California, which in turn was influenced by fluvial deposition and tectonic activity. Flooding was able to cause diversion of the Colorado River to the Salton Basin only when the difference in gradient between the two courses was relatively small.  相似文献   

3.
Isotope and trace element geochemistry of Colorado Plateau volcanics   总被引:5,自引:0,他引:5  
Basalts from the San Francisco Peaks and North Rim of Grand Canyon, nephelinites from the Hopi Buttes and Navajo minettes (Colorado Plateau) have been analyzed for trace element contents and Sr, Nd, Pb isotope compositions. The ages increase eastward from the Quaternary (basalt) to 5 Ma (nephelinite) and 30 Ma (minette) as does the depth of melt generation inferred from xenolith mineralogy and major element geochemistry.

The three rock types present an enrichment of incompatible elements (although minettes present negative concentration spikes for Nb, Zr, Ti, Ba, Sr) relative to other magma types. The chondrite-normalized Ce/Yb ratio changes from 8–22 (basalt) to 25–30 (nephelinite) and 33–60 (minette) and reflects small degrees of partial melting of a mantle source with a garnet/clinopyroxene ratio increasing with depth. The negative Eu anomaly present in minette, the low Sr/Nd and high Pb/Ce suggest the presence of a recycled continental crust component in their mantle source.

The 87Sr/86Sr ratio varies from 0.7032-0.7045 (basalt and nephelinite) to 0.7052-0.7071 (minette), while εNd is remarkably more constant at +0.8 to +3.7 (nephelinite) and −2.6 to +2.2 (basalt and minette). Good linear correlations are observed in both 207Pb/204Pb and 208Pb/204Pb vs. 206Pb/204Pb diagrams with basalt being the least and nephelinite the most radiogenic and indicate a 2.3 ±0.1 Ga age and a Th/U of 3.4.

Three lithospheric source components are indicated: a) an OIB-type depleted mantle source, b) an end-member with unradiogenic Sr, Nd and Pb for basalt and nephelinite and c) a recycled crustal component for minette.  相似文献   


4.
Soils derived from black shale can accumulate high concentrations of elements of environmental concern, especially in regions with semiarid to arid climates. One such region is the Colorado River basin in the southwestern United States where contaminants pose a threat to agriculture, municipal water supplies, endangered aquatic species, and water-quality commitments to Mexico. Exposures of Cretaceous Mancos Shale (MS) in the upper basin are a major contributor of salinity and selenium in the Colorado River. Here, we examine the roles of geology, climate, and alluviation on contaminant cycling (emphasis on salinity and Se) during weathering of MS in a Colorado River tributary watershed. Stage I (incipient weathering) began perhaps as long ago as 20 ka when lowering of groundwater resulted in oxidation of pyrite and organic matter. This process formed gypsum and soluble organic matter that persist in the unsaturated, weathered shale today. Enrichment of Se observed in laterally persistent ferric oxide layers likely is due to selenite adsorption onto the oxides that formed during fluctuating redox conditions at the water table. Stage II weathering (pedogenesis) is marked by a significant decrease in bulk density and increase in porosity as shale disaggregates to soil. Rainfall dissolves calcite and thenardite (Na2SO4) at the surface, infiltrates to about 1 m, and precipitates gypsum during evaporation. Gypsum formation (estimated 390 kg m−2) enriches soil moisture in Na and residual SO4. Transpiration of this moisture to the surface or exposure of subsurface soil (slumping) produces more thenardite. Most Se remains in the soil as selenite adsorbed to ferric oxides, however, some oxidizes to selenate and, during wetter conditions is transported with soil moisture to depths below 3 m. Coupled with little rainfall, relatively insoluble gypsum, and the translocation of soluble Se downward, MS landscapes will be a significant nonpoint source of salinity and Se to the Colorado River well into the future. Other trace elements weathering from MS that are often of environmental concern include U and Mo, which mimic Se in their behavior; As, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, and Pb, which show little redistribution; and Cd, Sb, V, and Zn, which accumulate in Stage I shale, but are lost to varying degrees from upper soil intervals. None of these trace elements have been reported previously as contaminants in the study area.  相似文献   

5.
Initial Sr87/Sr86 ratios and rubidium and strontium contents have been measured in 83 specimens from 8 suites of alkalic and ultrabasic rocks. The range of initial Sr87/Sr86 ratio observed and the number of specimens (in parentheses) analysed for each suite are: West Kimberley, Australia (8), 0.7125–0.7215; Jumilla, Spain (6), 0.7136–0.7158; Bearpaw Mountains, Montana (9), 0.7062–0.7086; Highwood Mountains, Montana (10), 0.7072–0.7087; Hopi Buttes, Arizona (8), 0.7038–0.7094; Leucite Hills, Wyoming (17), 0.7055–0.7070; Montana diatremes (13), 0.7034–0.7073; Navajo Province, Arizona and New Mexico (12), 0.7052–0.7099.The initial Sr87/Sr86 ratios of the West Kimberley and Jumilla rocks are the highest yet found in strontium-rich basic rocks. Some of the individual specimens from West Kimberley have initial ratios as high as some estimates of the present Sr87/Sr86 ratio of average crustal material. This is interpreted to mean that the West Kimberley and Jumilla rocks contain substantial amounts of radiogenic strontium, and possibly other elements, from a crustal source.  相似文献   

6.
The Jagged Rocks complex is the eroded remnant of the plumbing systems of closely spaced monogenetic alkaline volcanic centres in the southern Hopi Buttes Volcanic Field (AZ, USA). It contains different clinopyroxene populations with distinctive textures and geochemical patterns. In the Northwestern part of the complex, which exposes the best developed system of conduits, most of the clinopyroxenes consist of large- to medium-sized resorbed cores overgrown by euhedral rims (type 1), small moderately resorbed greenish cores with the same overgrown rims (type 2), and phlogopite as an accessory phase. By contrast, in the Southern part of the complex the majority of clinopyroxenes are euhedral with oscillatory zonation (type 3) and are accompanied by minor euhedral olivine. The differences between these mineral assemblages indicate a composite history of crystallization and magmatic evolution for the two parts of the complex, governed by different mechanisms and ascent patterns from a single source at ~ 50 km depth (16 kbar). The Northwest system preserves a high-pressure assemblage that cooled rapidly from near-liquidus conditions, suggesting direct ascent from the source to the surface at high-to-moderate transport rates (average ~ 1.25 m/s). By contrast, the Southern system represents magma that advanced upward at much lower overall ascent rates, stalling at times to form small-volume mid-crustal storage zones (e.g., sills or a network of sheeted intrusions); this allowed the re-equilibration of the magma at lower pressure (~ 30 km; 8 kbar), and led to nucleation and growth of euhedral clinopyroxene and olivine phenocrysts.  相似文献   

7.
Spinel lherzolite and harzburgite xenoliths from the Basin and Range and Colorado Plateau Provinces in the southwestern United States (SWUS) show a broad range in incompatible element distributions from depleted to enriched, both within and between sites. The most fertile xenoliths occur in the Basin and Range Province and the most refractory in the Colorado Plateau or Transition Zone. Mass balance calculations indicate that up to 80% of the high field strength (Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, Th, Ti) and rare earth elements (50% for Yb) in these xenoliths occur in phases along grain boundaries (or in microfractures). In lower crustal and eclogite xenoliths, up to 90% of these elements occur in grain-boundary phases. Nb/Ta, Zr/Hf, La/Sm and Nb/Th ratios and Nb-Ta anomalies in both types of xenoliths are also controlled by grain-boundary phases. To interpret these ratios in whole-rock analyses, it is critical to understand the timing and origin of the grain-boundary components in the xenoliths. Most of the enriched mantle xenoliths appear to have been enriched by metasomatic fluids related to silicate magmas and not to carbonatite magmas.Because of a complex multi-event history that affected the composition of the xenoliths, there is no simple geochemical relationship between magmatic or metamorphic history of the lower crust and upper mantle in the SWUS as reflected by the xenolith populations.  相似文献   

8.
Since the turn of the century, a Pliocene-Pleistocene connection between the Death Valley-Owens River pluvial system and the Colorado River drainage basin has been frequently postulated. The two most commonly proposed routes involve (1) a southward overflow from the Death Valley Lake system or (2) southward migration of the Mojave River between its present course and a more southerly route. Under the present topographic regime, a Death Valley Lake capable of overflowing the bedrock saddle at Ludlow, California and discharging southward into the Bristol, Cadiz, and Danby Lake basins (and eventually the Colorado River) would be over 12,000 km2 in size. Few surface and subsurface indicators exist to support either a fluvial or lacustrine connection. Evidence from deep cores and boreholes drilled in Soda, Bristol, Cadiz, and Danby dry lake basins indicate that a hydrologic connection has not occurred during the past 4 myr. No well-documented paleoshoreline features have been located at elevations corresponding to the above hydrologic systems in Death Valley, Silver-Soda, Bristol, or Danby Lake basins. In the Cadiz, Silurian, and Broadwell basins these features have not been found at all. Therefore, we conclude that a hydrologic connection between the Death Valley-Owens River system and the Colorado River has not occurred along either of these routes since the middle Pliocene.  相似文献   

9.
A newly identified tephra in stratified deposits in southwestern Utah, dated 14,000 14C yr B.P., may aid in correlating late Pleistocene deposits across parts of the southern Great Basin and west-central Colorado Plateau. Geochemical analyses of the ash suggest the tephra originated from Mono Craters, California, and most probably correlates with Wilson Creek ash #3. Because the ash is 2 mm thick 550 km from its source, the event may have been larger than others correlated to Mono Craters eruptions.  相似文献   

10.
Carbonate rinds have been used for cross-correlation of landforms as well as a quantitative indicator of soil age. Using the measured rind thickness of clasts found within a deposit, whose age has been independently determined, allows the construction of a calibrated surface-age proxy. Measurements were taken at sites within the Mojave Desert, the northwestern Sonoran Desert, the southern Great Basin, and the western Colorado Plateau. These sites are all within about 300 km of the intersection of the borders of the states of California, Arizona, and Nevada. In the study area, elevation varied from 200 to 1200 m, MAP was from 95 to 195 mm, and MAT was from 18.4° to 23.3°C. The calibrated proxy, while not accounting for the effects of parent material or climate on rind development, does show a strong correlation (R2 = 0.74, P < 0.05) between carbonate rind thickness and surface age for deposits of late to middle Pleistocene age. The calibrated chronosequence, rind thickness = 0.0889 + 0.0079 [surface age]), is in general valid over a large region of southwestern United States. This statistical relation suggests that parent material, climate, and elevation may not be as strong a control on carbonate accumulation as is age for younger soils.  相似文献   

11.
Lithospheric geoid anomalies record changes in elevation and potential energy experienced by continental lithosphere. Estimates of local isostatic equilibration and potential energy, in tandem with lithosphere-related geoid anomalies, can be used to estimate paleolithospheric thickness, providing a clearer understanding of how and why continental topography is developed. We employ several simplifying assumptions about the crustal and mantle lithosphere density and structure (and readily acknowledge that our results are therefore first-order approximations) to predict the pre-orogenic structure of the lithosphere. At the outset we emphasize that while this approach does not provide an exhaustive evaluation of the deformation mechanism, it does serve to quantify the relative role played by the variations in the crustal and upper mantle components of the lithosphere. In this way we are able to use independent measurement of lithospheric geoid anomalies, current (post-orogenic) elevation and lithospheric structure, and paleoelevation information to estimate topographic development and structural support over time. Application of this technique to the southwestern United States indicates that the uplift of the Colorado Plateau is the result of processes in both the crust and mantle lithosphere and that the lithosphere of the pre-orogenic Southern Basin and Range was thinned relative to the Northern Basin and Range and Colorado Plateau. Although we use the southwestern U.S. as an example, this method can help constrain uplift mechanisms for any region for which the structure and geoid anomaly of the modern lithosphere is well understood.  相似文献   

12.
Some garnet peridotite nodules from The Thumb, a minette neck on the Colorado Plateau in the southwestern United States, contain zoned minerals. Zoning does not exceed 1.5 wt.% for any oxide, but some relative changes are large: in one garnet TiO2 and Cr2O3 ranges are 0.05–0.65 and 3.5–5.0 wt.%, respectively. In two porphyroclastic nodules, garnet rims are depleted in Mg and enriched in Fe, Ti, and Na compared to cores, and one garnet is irregularly zoned in Ti and Cr. Olivine crystals in these rocks are unzoned, and pyroxene zoning is slight, yet matrix olivine and pyroxene contain more Fe and Ti and less Mg and Cr than inclusions of these phases in garnet. In three coarse nodules, garnet rims are Ti-rich compared to cores, and Ca, Fe, Mg, and Cr zoning patterns are complex. Several nodules appear to have partially equilibrated near 1200° C and 35 kb, and under these conditions cation mobility in pyroxene was greater than in garnet. The zoning partly reflects Fe and Ti metasomatism in the mantle. Calculations indicate that Fe-Mg gradients in garnet could have persisted for only a short time in the mantle, perhaps thousands of years or less, so the metasomatism occurred shortly before eruption. The minette host, a likely source of the Fe and Ti, is rich in light rare earth elements: since the nodules are much poorer in these elements, little or no infiltrated minette was trapped in them. Diffusion is a possible mechanism for nodule metasomatism. Some fertile peridotite nodules from kimberlites may have been affected by similar events. Compositional differences between inclusions in garnet and matrix phases are intriguingly similar to some of the differences between most peridotite inclusions in diamonds and common lherzolite phases.  相似文献   

13.
New cosmogenic surface-exposure ages of moraine-crest boulders from southwestern Colorado are compared with published surface-exposure ages of boulders from moraine complexes in north-central Colorado and in west-central (Fremont Lake basin) Wyoming. 10Be data sets from the three areas were scaled to a single 10Be production rate of 5.4 at/g/yr at sea level and high latitude (SLHL), which represents the average 10Be production rate for two high-altitude, mid-latitude sites in the western United States (US) and Austria. Multiple nuclide ages on single boulders indicate that this 10Be production rate yields ages comparable to those calculated with a commonly used 36Cl production scheme. The average age and age range of moraine-crest boulders on terminal moraines at the southwestern Colorado and Wyoming sites are similar, indicating a retreat from their positions ∼16.8 36Cl ka (Cosmogenic ages in this paper are labeled 10Be or 36Cl ka or just ka when both 10Be or 36Cl ages are being discussed; radiocarbon ages are labeled 14C ka, calibrated radiocarbon are labeled cal ka, and calendar ages are labeled calendar ka. Errors (±1σ) associated with ages are shown in tables. Radiocarbon ages were calibrated using the data of Hughen et al. (Science 303 (2004) 202). This suggests a near-synchronous retreat of Pinedale glaciers across a 470-km latitudinal range in the Middle and Southern Rocky Mountains. Hypothetical corrections for snow shielding and rock-surface erosion shifts the time of retreat to between 17.2 and 17.5 10Be ka at Pinedale, Wyoming, and between 16.3 and 17.3 36Cl ka at Hogback Mountain, Colorado.  相似文献   

14.
The Silver Creek caldera (southern Black Mountains, western Arizona) is the source of the 18.8 Ma, >700 km3 Peach Spring Tuff (PST) supereruption, the largest eruption generated in the Colorado River Extensional Corridor (CREC) of the southwestern United States. Within and immediately surrounding the caldera is a sequence of volcanics and intrusions ranging in age from ~19 to 17 Ma. These units offer a record of magmatic processes prior to, during, and immediately following the PST eruption. To investigate the thermal evolution of the magmatic center that produced the PST, we applied a combination of Ti-in-zircon thermometry, zircon saturation thermometry, and high-precision U–Pb CA–TIMS zircon dating to representative pre- and post-supereruption volcanic and intrusive units from the caldera and its environs. Similar to intracaldera PST zircons, zircons from a pre-PST trachytic lava (19 Ma) and a post-PST caldera intrusion (18.8 Ma) yield exceptionally high-Ti concentrations (most >20 ppm, some up to nearly 60 ppm), corresponding to calculated temperatures that exceed 900 °C. In these units, Ti-in-zircon temperatures typically surpass zircon saturation temperatures (ZSTs), suggesting the entrainment of zircon that had grown in hotter environments within the magmatic system. Titanium concentrations in younger volcanic and intrusive units (~18.7–17.5 Ma) decline through time, corresponding to an average cooling rate of 10?3.5 °C/year. The ~200 k.y. thermal peak evident at Silver Creek caldera is spatially limited: elsewhere in the Miocene record of the northern CREC, Ti-in-zircon concentrations and ZSTs are much lower, suggesting that felsic magmas were generally substantially cooler.  相似文献   

15.
This paper considers a model of cold and dry full-glacial climates for the southwestern United States in the light of published studies. The evidence from fossil plants is shown to be reconcilable with temperatures some 10°C below their present levels and a concomitant shift of the upper timberline which varied according to regional summer lapse rates. Fossils of “thermophilous” or “mesophytic” plants are cited by some writers as evidence for mild, pluvial conditions although today these plants occur in relatively cold and dry situations. Mean annual and July temperatures for the United States as a whole, derived from the model, are in accord with periglacial and palynological evidence.  相似文献   

16.
Several potential dust sources, including generic sources of sparsely vegetated alluvium, playa deposits, and anthropogenic emissions, as well as the area around Owens Lake, California, affect the composition of modern dust in the southwestern United States. A comparison of geochemical analyses of modern and old (a few thousand years) dust with samples of potential local sources suggests that dusts reflect four primary sources: (1) alluvial sediments (represented by Hf, K, Rb, Zr, and rare-earth elements, (2) playas, most of which produce calcareous dust (Sr, associated with Ca), (3) the area of Owens (dry) Lake, a human-induced playa (As, Ba, Li, Pb, Sb, and Sr), and (4) anthropogenic and/or volcanic emissions (As, Cr, Ni, and Sb). A comparison of dust and source samples with previous analyses shows that Owens (dry) Lake and mining wastes from the adjacent Cerro Gordo mining district are the primary sources of As, Ba, Li, and Pb in dusts from Owens Valley. Decreases in dust contents of As, Ba, and Sb with distance from Owens Valley suggest that dust from southern Owens Valley is being transported at least 400 km to the east. Samples of old dust that accumulated before European settlement are distinctly lower in As, Ba, and Sb abundances relative to modern dust, likely due to modern transport of dust from Owens Valley. Thus, southern Owens Valley appears to be an important, geochemically distinct, point source for regional dust in the southwestern United States.  相似文献   

17.
Radon buildup in homes is now recognized throughout the world as a potentially major health hazard. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimate 8,000–30,000 fatalities per year in the United States due to indoor radon. The Albuquerque, New Mexico area was chosen for study because it is representative of metropolitan areas in the southwestern United States where slightly uraniferous source rocks (Sandia granite) have provided the very immature soil for much of the area. The granite contains 4.7 ppm U, and limestone capping the granite 5.7 ppm U. Soils in the area average 4.24 ppm U, and Th/U ratios average 3.2. These data suggest some removal of U from the source rocks, but fixation of the U in the soils (that is, as opposed to widespread removal of the U by solution), thus providing a ready source for soil radon. A pilot study of soil radon in the area in winter of 1983–1984 shows high values, 180 pCi/l, relative to the U.S. average (about 100 pCi/l). In the winter of 1986–1987, 180 dwellings were surveyed for their indoor radon levels, including 20 that had been surveyed in summer of 1986. Twenty-eight percent of those in the winter study yielded indoor radon above the EPA suggested maximum permissible level of 4 pCi/l air, well above the EPA estimate of 10–15 dwellings for the U.S. The indoor radon levels show positive correlation with closeness to the Sandia Mountains, to soil radon, to excess insulation, to homes with solar capacities, and other factors. Building materials may provide a very minor source of some indoor radon. Summer readings are lower than winter readings except when the houses possess refrigerated air conditioning.  相似文献   

18.
Analyses of a sediment core from Little Pond, located in the town of Bolton, Massachusetts, provide new insights into the history of environmental and ecological changes in southern New England during the late Holocene. Declines in organic content and peaks in the abundance of Isoetes spores indicate reduced water depth at 2900–2600, 2200–1800, and 1200–800 calibrated years before present (cal yr BP), generally consistent with the timing of dry conditions in records from elsewhere in the northeastern United States. The Little Pond pollen record features little change over the last 3000 yr, indicating that the surrounding vegetation was relatively insensitive to these periods of drought. The 1200–800 cal yr BP dry interval, however, coincides with increased abundance of Castanea pollen, suggesting that the expansion of Castanea in southern New England may have been influenced by late-Holocene climatic variability.  相似文献   

19.
《Applied Geochemistry》1994,9(4):387-401
Tritium records were used to study hydrologic processes associated with irrigation and drainage in the Imperial Valley, a 2000-km2 agricultural area in the southeastern California desert. Tritium was analyzed in surface water, ground water, soil-pore water and drain water, and the results were compared to the historical record of tritium in the Colorado River. The Colorado River record was reconstructed using a simple reservoir model and precipitation data in the Colorado River Basin for the period prior to 1965, and from continuous measurements in the river for 1965–1988. This historical record is especially useful in the arid Imperial Valley because recent agricultural development has been entirely dependent on irrigation water diverted from the Colorado River and local recharge is negligible.Results indicate that it takes about 5 a for irrigation drainage to move through the soil to a depth of 2–3 m. Drainwaters have a wide range in tritium concentrations because of varying degrees of influence from ground-water intrusion, and from rapid percolation of irrigation through preferred pathways. The net result is that drainwater from about 40 fields had a range in tritium concentration similar to that of the Colorado River over the last 9 a (1980–1988), a period during which tritium concentration was declining about 15% annually in the river.  相似文献   

20.
Subsidence from sinkhole collapse is a common occurrence in areas underlain by water-soluble rocks such as carbonate and evaporite rocks, typical of karst terrain. Almost all 50 States within the United States (excluding Delaware and Rhode Island) have karst areas, with sinkhole damage highest in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. A conservative estimate of losses to all types of ground subsidence was $125 million per year in 1997. This estimate may now be low, as review of cost reports from the last 15 years indicates that the cost of karst collapses in the United States averages more than $300 million per year. Knowing when a catastrophic event will occur is not possible; however, understanding where such occurrences are likely is possible. The US Geological Survey has developed and maintains national-scale maps of karst areas and areas prone to sinkhole formation. Several States provide additional resources for their citizens; Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania maintain databases of sinkholes or karst features, with Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, and Ohio providing sinkhole reporting mechanisms for the public.  相似文献   

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