US Migrating
type: Agent

Original Metadata
type: Distribution
access URL: https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/metadata/USGS.96bcef07-918f-4cf8-b032-4fb7e860c9ea.xml
media type: text/xml
description: The metadata original format
format: XML
issued: 2022-08-06T15:05:03.222257
modified: 2025-11-20T02:50:14.871050

Digital Data
type: Distribution
access URL: https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/of03-320/htmldocs/datacatalog.htm
media type: application/http
description: Landing page for access to the data
format: XML
issued: 2022-08-06T15:05:03.222264
modified: 2025-11-20T02:50:14.871460

Shapefile of the postimpoundment sediment limits in Lake Mead
type: Dataset
contact point: Organization
  fn: David C. Twichell
keyword: amerigeo
keyword: geoscientificinformation
keyword: las-vegas-wash
keyword: lakebed-characteristics
keyword: open-file-report
keyword: amerigeoss
keyword: arcview
keyword: iceberg-canyon
keyword: mojave-desert
keyword: woods-hole-field-center
keyword: scientific-interpretation
keyword: arizona
keyword: nevada
keyword: geospatial-datasets
keyword: hoover-dam
keyword: colorado-river
keyword: inlandwaters
keyword: las-vegas-bay
keyword: u-s-geological-survey
keyword: lake
keyword: ofr03-320
keyword: usgs
keyword: bounds
keyword: national
keyword: polygon
keyword: virgin-basin
keyword: geoss
keyword: north-america
keyword: geology
keyword: interpretation
keyword: reservoir
keyword: geo
keyword: gregg-basin
keyword: black-canyon
keyword: sediment
keyword: united-states
keyword: overton-arm
keyword: boulder-basin
keyword: ckan
keyword: las-vegas
keyword: lake-mead
theme: {geospatial}
description: Lake Mead is a large interstate reservoir located in the Mojave Desert of southeastern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. It was impounded in 1935 by the construction of Hoover Dam and is one of a series of multi-purpose reservoirs on the Colorado River. The lake extends 183 km from the mouth of the Grand Canyon to Black Canyon, the site of Hoover Dam, and provides water for residential, commercial, industrial, recreational, and other non-agricultural users in communities across the southwestern United States. Extensive research has been conducted on Lake Mead, but a majority of the studies have involved determining levels of anthropogenic contaminants such as synthetic organic compounds, heavy metals and dissolved ions, furans/dioxins, and nutrient loading in lake water, sediment, and biota (Preissler, et al., 1998; Bevans et al, 1996; Bevans et al., 1998; Covay and Leiker, 1998; LaBounty and Horn, 1997; Paulson, 1981). By contrast, little work has focused on the sediments in the lake and the processes of deposition (Gould, 1951). To address these questions, sidescan-sonar imagery and high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles were collected throughout Lake Mead by the USGS in cooperation with researchers from University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). These data allow a detailed mapping of the surficial geology and the distribution and thickness of sediment that has accumulated in the lake since the completion of Hoover Dam. Results indicate that the accumulation of post-impoundment sediment is primarily restricted to former river and stream beds that are now submerged below the lake while the margins of the lake appear to be devoid of post-impoundment sediment. The sediment cover along the original Colorado River bed is continuous and is typically greater than 10 m thick through much of its length. Sediment thickness in some areas exceeds 35 m while the smaller tributary valleys typically are filled with less than 4 m of sediment. Away from the river beds that are now…
issued: 2025-11-20T02:50:14.890865
modified: 20200908
spatial: Location