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Item Land resource overview of the Capital Area Planning Council region, Texas : a nontechnical guide(University of Texas at Austin. Bureau of Economic Geology, 1979) Woodruff, C. M.Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lee, Llano, Travis, and Williamson Counties make up the Capital Area Planning Council (CAPCO) region in Central Texas (fig. 1). The region covers 8,427 square miles (21,826 km) and includes land of great physical diversity. It contains five geographic provinces with elevations ranging from 187 to 1,904 feet (57 to 581 m) above sea level. Parts of four river systems cross the area. Six major categories of soils as well as six natural vegetation assemblages are present. The region is underlain by a complex variety of rock types and sediments representing all four eras of geologic time. Prominent geologic features include a major fault zone and a granitic upland area. The characteristics of the land differ from place to place, and different kinds of land sustain different uses. Early settlers understood the natural constraints of the land. They recognized floodplains and built on high ground; they planted crops on fertile bottomlands instead of clearing less productive uplands. Inhabitants have always planned their homes and communities around a water supply and, with some exceptions, have avoided contamination of this water for the sake of health and hygiene. Now, however, increased population and related economic pressures have forced the land to sustain uses for which it may not be best suited. Thus, urban sprawl encroaches onto prime agricultural land, hazardous flood-prone areas, and sensitive aquifer-recharge zones. Likewise, rocky highlands and woodlands, heretofore considered unsatisfactory for intensive agricultural endeavors, have been overgrazed by livestock or have been cleared, fertilized, and planted. Additionally, rural and urban populations demand more and more water and mineral commodities and concurrently produce increasing amounts of wastes. Excavations for mining and landfills for waste disposal result from these demands, yet few people want a strip mine or a landfill as a next-door neighbor. It is clear that the land's natural capacity to support these activities is often strained. Land is a basic and sometimes fragile resource and must be recognized as such. Proper care of this resource depends upon the user's understanding that the earth consists of diverse landforms and materials which are subject to a variety of natural processes. Given some understanding of the specific nature of earth materials, landforms, and processes, inhabitants can properly develop the land. The need for an informative overview of the varied aspects of the land in the CAPCO region has prompted this study.Item Land resources of Texas(University of Texas at Austin. Bureau of Economic Geology, 1977) Kier, R. S.Texas is endowed with an enormous variety of natural land resources that vary from the humid forest lands of East Texas to the vast desert lands of Trans-Pecos, from the swamps and marshes of the Texas Coastal Zone to the arid plains of the Panhandle, and from the rich farmland of Central Texas to the sparsely vegetated sand plain of the south Texas coast. Almost 270,000 square miles of land, including plains, plateaus, mountains, hill country, beaches, river valleys, badlands, and many other types of terrain, comprise the natural land wealth of the State. Large enough to span many climatic zones, geologic provinces, and botanical realms, Texas encompasses some of the most diverse regions of North America. As part of this great diversity, Texas exhibits a natural variability in energy and mineral resources, agricultural capacity, water supplies, environmental sensitivity, and recreational potential that attracts a broad spectrum of industry and people. The Land Resources of Texas map classifies and describes the variety of lands in the State and depicts their distribution and interrelationships. Texas citizens and various government agencies can use the map to understand and appreciate better the State's natural land endowment and to have a basis for evaluating natural considerations that are important in the use of the State's natural resources. The map provides the basic facts about the land resources of Texas.Item Type invertebrate fossils of North America(University of Texas at Austin. Bureau of Economic Geology, 1943) Stenzel, H. B. (Henryk Bronislaw), 1899-This catalog is prepared in a manner similar to the "Catalog of North American Devonian Fossils" published by the Wagner Free Institute of Science in Philadelphia. The Early Tertiary catalog will contain descriptions and illustrations of the fossil invertebrates from the Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain of the United States. Each species will be described and illustrated on a card of heavy paper 8 by 11 inches in size, fitting a letter file. The text of the cards will be printed; the figures will be printed by full-tone collotype process. Type specimens will be figured if available; if not, photographs of topotypes will be used wherever feasible. Photographs of topotypes will be used extensively as supplementary illustrations. Original descriptions will be quoted in every case. Additional remarks or complete redescriptions will be given where necessary. Type localities and stratigraphic data have been checked in the field by specialists in nearly all cases and will be given explicitly and in an up-to-date manner. Therefore, the cards will contain much more information than is available in the literature today.Item Land and water resources : Houston-Galveston area council(University of Texas at Austin. Bureau of Economic Geology, 1975) St. Clair, Anne E.The Houston-Galveston Area Council of Governments (HGAC) encompasses over 12,000 square miles of southeast Texas (fig. 1). It is an area undergoing rapid development and population growth due to the presence of vast agricultural, mineral, and energy resources, expanding industrial activity, and diverse recreational areas. Planning is particularly critical in the HGAC to ensure orderly development. Consideration of natural environments, in addition to economic, social, and political aspects of planning, is essential because, as development proceeds, concentration of residential, urban, and industrial land uses tends to intensify the pressures on the environment and magnify the effects of natural conditions on human activities. The HGAC includes a diversity of natural environments. Identification of these areas and evaluation of the variations in their capacity for use are valuable planning tools.Item Statement of progress of investigation at Odessa meteor craters(University of Texas at Austin. Bureau of Economic Geology, 1941) Sellards, E. H. (Elias Howard), 1875-1961The principal crater has been known for several years. In 1922 Merrill described a fragment of octahedral meteoric iron of coarse crystallization brought to his attention by A. C. Bibbins, of Baltimore, who stated that it was found by a ranchman at the west side of a "blow out" about 9 miles southwest of Odessa, Ector County, Texas. An analysis of this meteorite by Merrill is as follows: iron, 90.69 per cent; nickel, 7.25 per cent; cobalt, 0.74 per cent; copper, 0.02 per cent; carbon, 0.35 per cent; phosphorus, 0.23 per cent; sulphur, 0.03 per cent; chromium, trace; platinum and manganese, none. Merrill did not see the locality. Bibbins described the depression but, notwithstanding the title given to his paper, probably by the editors, apparently did not suspect its being a crater. Sellards proposed several hypotheses, one of which was a meteor crater. Barringer described the depression as a meteor crater.Item Historical changes and related coastal processes, Gulf and mainland shorelines, Matagorda Bay area, Texas(University of Texas at Austin. Bureau of Economic Geology, 1975) McGowen, J. H.Change, both natural and man-induced, is a significant and defining element of the Coastal Zone. Man-induced change, by definition, can be controlled if desired. The work of nature, however, is altered and modified with much more difficulty, if at all, and attempts to do so commonly lead to unintended results. Prudent use and adequate management of the Coastal Zone must consider natural changes. These changes are expressed primarily in changes of natural boundaries' changes in the position of shorelines, changes in the position of lines of vegetation, and changes in boundaries of wetlands, among others. These changes assume particular significance when an eroding (and changing) shoreline transgresses coastal structures or when natural boundaries that are also legal boundaries, such as those marking lines of vegetation or boundaries between fresh and tidal wetlands, change. The best assessment of change is over the long term. In such a manner, distinctions can be made between temporary variations and long-term change. In this report, the technique of historical monitoring has been specifically developed. Through mapping of specific, significant boundaries on vintage photographs and charts, taken at varying periods over the past 125 years, long-term direction, amount, and extent of change are determined. Through comparable historical monitoring or mapping of land use and land use activities, man-induced changes can be determined and, importantly, distinguished from natural change. A more accurate evaluation of man's impact can be made. In 1971, the Texas General Land Office and the Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, initiated on a cooperative basis a comprehensive pilot study of Matagorda Bay and environs. The first phase of that study was an analysis of historical changes and the related coastal processes, herein reported. Techniques of historical monitoring developed in this study have been utilized by the Bureau of Economic Geology to determine long-term changes of the entire Texas Gulf Coast. The second part of the Matagorda pilot study addressed in detail the biologic, physical, and chemical characteristics of sediments in Matagorda Bay. We believe that this project, historical in its orientation, gives us a better ability to make intelligent decisions for the future.Item Natural hazards of the Texas coastal zone : distribution and occurrence processes and causes, impacts, mitigation and reduction(University of Texas at Austin. Bureau of Economic Geology, 1974) Brown, L. F. (Leonard Franklin), 1928-The Texas Coastal Zone is marked by diversity in geography, resources, climate, and industry. It is richly endowed with extensive petroleum reserves, sulfur, and salt, seaports, intracoastal waterways, a mild climate, good water supplies, abundant wildlife, rich agricultural lands, commercial fishing resources, unusual recreational potential, and large tracts of uncrowded land. The Coastal Zone, as herein defined, is a vast area of about 18,000 square miles, including approximately 2,075 square miles of bays and estuaries, 367 miles of Gulf coastline, and 1,100 miles of bay, estuary, and lagoon shoreline (table 1). About a quarter of the state's population and a third of its economic resources are concentrated in the Coastal Zone, an area including about 6 percent of the total area of the state.Item Bituminous coal in Texas(University of Texas at Austin. Bureau of Economic Geology, 1974) Evans, Thomas J.Coal is found in six areas in Texas, including the large North-Central Texas field, a distinctive cannel coalfield in Webb County, and Late Cretaceous-age coals near Eagle Pass. Throughout the state coal occurs in thin beds (rarely more than 3 ft thick) under overburden of varying thickness and degrees of consolidation and is generally high-volatile C bituminous coal. This handbook compiles the history of bituminous coal production, discusses the geologic setting, characteristics, and quality of the coal, lists all known chemical analyses, and briefly considers the potential for developing Texas bituminous coal into a contributing energy resource.Item Fluorspar in Texas(University of Texas at Austin. Bureau of Economic Geology, 1974) McAnulty, William Noel, 1913-Fluorspar is a basic raw material used in the chemical, metallurgical, and ceramic industries. This handbook describes the occurrence, grades, geology, uses, and prospects for development of fluorspar in Texas.Item Handbook for logging carbonate rocks(University of Texas at Austin. Bureau of Economic Geology, 1984) Bebout, Don G.