Geological Studies

Throughout the years, the Survey has studied many types of geologic hazards in Oklahoma, including earthquakes, abandoned mines, and sometimes localized events where gas or oil found a surface outlet in a pond or stream. The OGS has examined hazardous waste, water issues, industrial minerals, and many other topics important to Oklahoma. Below are some highlights of that work.

Geologic Hazards, including Picher,
and theTar Creek Superfund Site

Picher, Tar Creek

Dr. Kenneth V. Luza, OGS engineering geologist, has worked in the Picher Field area of northeastern Oklahoma for more than 20 years, providing valuable information as the area was declared part of the EPA Superfund in 1983.  Problems identified in the area included contaminated water from acid mine drainage, lead-laden dust from the chat piles in the area, and mine-shaft hazards created as the tunnels collapsed.

Dr. Luza has continued to work with various agencies in the Tar Creek area, and some of his photos and maps are available on this web site at URL.

OGS Circular 88, Stability Problems Associated with Abandoned Underground Mines in the Picher Field, Northeastern Oklahoma.  Circular 88 can be purchased from the OGS publication sales office, or downloaded from the link above.

Other related OGS projects and publications include:

Circular 82.Chemical Quality of Water in Abandoned Zinc Mines in Northeastern Oklahoma and Southeastern Kansas, by S. J. Playton, R. E. David, and R. G. McClaflin.  49 pages, 13 figures, 19 tables. 1981.  Clothbound. $9; paperbound, $5.

Industrial Minerals

Links

Mineral Information Institute (MII) - Mineral Information Institute provides K-12 teachers with free geological, mineralogical, earth science, lesson plans and classroom materials about the Earth's ecology and natural resources.

Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) - the Society of Manufacturing Engineers is the world's leading professional society supporting manufacturing education.

Mineral Uses

Download the Mineral Resources Poster

Waste Disposal

Circular 80.Disposal of Industrial Wastes in Oklahoma, Part I, Introduction, by Kenneth S. Johnson, Kenneth V. Luza, and John F. Roberts.  Part II, Surface disposal of Industrial Wastes in Oklahoma, by Kenneth S. Johnson and Kenneth V. Luza. Part III, Subsurface Disposal of Industrial Wastes in Oklahoma, by Kenneth S. Johnson and John F. Roberts. 82 pages, 32 figures, 1 plate, 16 tables.  1980.  Paperbound, $5.

Special Publication 90-3.  Hazardous-Waste Disposal in Oklahoma—A Symposium (Kenneth S. Johnson, editor).  Proceedings of a Symposium Held November 9, 1989, in Conjunction with the Annual Technical Meeting of the Oklahoma Academy of Science.  87 pages, 13 papers, 22 figures, 14 tables. 1990.  $5.

Water Studies

Hydrologic Investigations Atlases: See Available Publications list.