Fire History at the Eastern Great Plains Margin, Missouri River Loess Hills

The purpose of this paper is to provide quantitative fire history information for a geographically unique region, the Loess Hills of northwest Missouri. We sampled 33 bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa Michx.), chinkapin oak (Q. muehlenbergii Engelm.), and black oak (Q. velutina Lam.) trees from the Brickyard Hill Conservation Area in northwest Missouri. The period of tree-ring record ranged in calendar years from 1671 to 2004 and fire-scar dates (n = 97) ranged from 1672 to 1980. Fire intervals for individual trees ranged from 1 to 87 years. The mean fire interval was 6.6 years for the pre-Euro-American settlement period (1672-1820), and 5.2 years for the entire record (1672-1980). A period of more frequent fire (mean fire interval = 1.6 for 1825 to 1850) coincided with Euro-American settlement of the area. The average percentage of trees scarred at the site was 16.8%, or about 1 in 7 trees sampled per fire. No significant relationship between fire years and drought conditions was found; however, events prior to 1820 may have been associated with wet to dry mode transitions.

Simulation of Ground-Water Flow in the Cedar River Alluvial Aquifer Flow System, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Scientific

The Cedar River alluvial aquifer is the primary source of municipal water in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, area. Since 1992, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Cedar Rapids, has investigated the hydrogeology and water quality of the Cedar River alluvial aquifer. This report describes a detailed analysis of the ground-water flow system in the alluvial aquifer, particularly near well field areas. The ground-water flow system in the Cedar Rapids area consists of two main components, the unconsolidated Quaternary deposits and the underlying carbonate bedrock that has a variable fracture density. Quaternary deposits consist of eolian sand, loess, alluvium, and glacial till. Devonian and Silurian bedrock aquifers overlie the Maquoketa Shale (Formation) of Ordovician age, a regional confining unit. Ground-water and surface-water data were collected during the study to better define the hydrogeology of the Cedar River alluvial aquifer and Devonian and Silurian aquifers. Stream stage and discharge, ground-water levels, and estimates of aquifer hydraulic properties were used to develop a conceptual ground-water flow model and to construct and calibrate a model of the flow system. This model was used to quantify the movement of water between the various components of the alluvial aquifer flow system and provide an improved understanding of the hydrology of the alluvial aquifer.