Title: ANALYSIS OF CRUSTAL CHANGES IN THE COLUMBIA PLATEAU AREA FROM CONTEMPORARY LEVELING AND TRIANGULATION MEASUREMENTS.

An analysis of geodetic data in the Columbia Plateau area of southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon was made to obtain historical changes in the first order benchmark and triangulation network in the area, and to relate such changes to regional geologic structure, as part of a continuing effort to establish the seismicity for the Hanford area. Using this information, nuclear processes and facilities can be analyzed for response to predicted seismic disturbance, and any needed steps taken to modify the system to satisfy required safety standards. (auth)

This report provides a general but comprehensive characterization of hydrogeologic and hydrogeochemical baseline conditions for the Creston area located along the northern rim of the Columbia Plateau physiographic province. Historical as well as recent data and other available information from previous studies and alternative sources have been considered in this baseline hydrological characterization. These include data and information on water levels, aquifer characteristics, and water quality for shallow basalt units comprising the Wanapum Formation and the Grande Ronde Formation in the Creston study area and for the general region surrounding this study area. The overall goal of this hydrologic characterizationmore » was to provide useful information leading to the selection of the Roza Member of the Wanapum Formation as the study's basalt horizon and for other related, subsequent study components of In-Situ's research project. 110 refs., 52 figs., 25 tabs.« less

Irrigation wells in a 41,000-square mile area located in Washington and northern Oregon were the subject of this study. Approximately 30,000 square miles of the area were mapped within the boundary of the Columbia Plateau, which covers some 48,200 square miles in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Advanced state-of-the-art computer analysis techniques for processing Landsat digital multispectral data were used for mapping the area into ten land-use classes. Specially designed computer programs were used for mapping the locations of 1476 irrigation wells located in 13 counties. Six thematic color-encoded maps were prepared which show additional land-use types andmore » relative areal distribution. Three maps depict the location of irrigation wells.« less

The report presents the results of an investigation to provide insight into the sensitivity of recharge estimates to historical and synthetic climate variability and projected climate change. In the study, the climatic variability in the 87-year Ellensburg historical record (1901-87) was first analyzed, and then ground-water recharge for the Ellensburg basin was simulated using the DPM model for the 22-year period (1956-77) and the 87-year period. Previously, data from three weather stations were used to interpolate daily temperature and precipitation to the cells of the basin (Bauer and Vaccaro, 1990). Because data from only one station were going to bemore » used in the study, the previous results were compared with the results of the 22-year single-station simulation and results using a 22-year synthetic generated climate record. The object of comparing results of the one-station and three-station simulations was not to examine the effects of spatial climate variability. The comparison was done to determine the potential error in the estimated recharge caused by the loss of information on spatial climate variability when using climatological data from only one station. The results of 87-year simulations incorporating projected climatic change derived from three general circulation models were then compared with the 87-year results calculated using the historical record.« less