USGS has recently published: “Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas”. Data is available by state in MS Excel files.
The-Vug.com has an impressive listing of mineral clubs organized by state. You might be surprised at how many clubs are listed and there is probably one that meets within a short drive of your home.
The folks at MyTopo.com are now printing supersized topo maps – large enough make a huge 5′ x 8′ (or 8′ x 5′) map that will look fantastic on the wall of your office, conference room, lobby, cabin or den. These maps are custom-centered on any location that you pick using their online map-making tool. Lots of smaller sizes are also available.
We are affiliates of MyTopo.com and receive a commission on sales.
Raven Maps are beautiful examples of shaded-relief wall maps that display the elevation of a state in vibrant colors. These large maps look great in a classroom, den or office. Use one to mark the locations of your work or company.
The Energy Information Administration has an interactive map that displays energy infrastructure features in the Gulf of Mexico region. It includes power plants, transmission lines, LNG terminals, natural gas hubs, pipelines, oil ports, refineries, active platforms and more.
The Marshall University Center for Business and Economic Research has prepared: Taxation of Natural Gas: A Comparative Analysis. This publication reviews the many methods of taxing natural gas 19 different states. You might be surprised at how many ways natural gas is being taxed.
First noticed in 2002, crazy ants are an invasive species of ants that have been causing increasing problems in the southern United States. They are called “crazy” because they move rapidly when they swarm. They also seem to be attracted to electrical equipment over which they can swarm and shut down.
Hear a podcast from the Texas Department of Agriculture.
Archaeologists working with cleanup workers after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill discovered dozens of new archaeological sites. Public Radio International has a podcast interview with Chip McGimsey, Louisiana State Archaeologist.
Tropical Storm Lee has been dumping heavy rain on the Gulf Coast and while many areas are experiencing heavy floods, New Orleans, so far (Sunday evening), has not had severe problems. Some of the most up-to-date information is on the NOLA.com website (the site is very busy because so many people are using it and can be unresponsive).
Tropical Storm Lee is moving very slowly over southern Louisiana. That slow rate of movement will allow it to drop very large amounts of rain on New Orleans and surrounding areas.
“TROPICAL STORM LEE IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAIN ACCUMULATIONS OF 10 TO 15 INCHES OVER SOUTHERN LOUISIANA…SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI…AND SOUTHERN ALABAMA THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT…WITH POSSIBLE ISOLATED MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 20 INCHES. THESE RAINS ARE EXPECTED TO CAUSE EXTENSIVE FLOODING.” Quote from the National Hurricane Center.
“Several of the largest historical earthquakes to strike the continental United States occurred in the winter of 1811-1812 along the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which stretches from just west of Memphis, Tennessee into southern Illinois. These earthquakes produced at least three temblors between magnitude 7-8, and hundreds of aftershocks.”
“Nearly 12 percent of the contiguous United States fell into the “exceptional” classification during the month, peaking at 11.96 percent on July 12. That level of exceptional drought had never before been seen in the monitor’s 12-year history, said Brian Fuchs, UNL assistant geoscientist and climatologist at the NDMC.” Quoted from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln news release.
The U.S. Geological Survey [...] has taken a number of actions to prepare for monitoring floods arising from hurricanes and other tropical storms. Activities include hardening of streamgages along the Gulf Coast; implementing rapidly deployable, mobile streamgages; installing an emergency satellite-communications and data-distribution system; and developing storm-surge monitoring capabilities. Quoted from the USGS Fact Sheet.
“This map summarizes two centuries of earthquake activity in Mississippi. [...] In addition to earthquake locations, other materials include seismic hazard and isoseismal maps and related text. [...] Mississippi has undergone a number of felt earthquakes since 1811. At least two of these events caused property damage: a magnitude 4.7 earthquake in 1931, and a magnitude 4.3 earthquake in 1967.” Quote from the USGS publication announcement.
A slide on an important levee along the Mississippi River threatens flooding of over a million acres and several Mississippi towns. The Army Corps of Engineers is working quickly to repair the slide.
“U.S. Geological Survey crews are measuring flooding along the Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers, including the Morganza and Bonnet Carre Spillways. Several USGS streamgages located on the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers are expected to reach the highest levels recorded since 1927.”
The USGSLouisianaWater Science Center has links to webcams and United States Geological Survey stream gages that are monitoring flooding on the Mississippi River and other important bodies of water. NOTE: There are a lot of items on this landing page. Be sure to scroll down to see everything.
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