This study compares the results of two regional steady-state U.S. Geological Survey Modular Three-Dimensional Finite-Difference Ground-Water Flow (MODFLOW) models constructed to quantify the hydrologic changes in the St. Louis River Basin from iron mining on the Mesabi Iron Range in northeastern Minnesota. The U.S. Geological Survey collaborated in this study with bands of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to inform management decisions about aquatic resources in the St. Louis River Basin. A model constructed and calibrated to represent average 1995–2015 mining conditions produced regional groundwater heads and flows. A pre-mining scenario model was constructed from this mining model but had the land and bedrock surfaces restored to pre-mining topographies and had modeled mining features (mine pits, tailings basins, waste-rock piles, and mining-disturbed areas) eliminated to represent general pre-mining stratigraphy and hydrogeology. Many of the features important to the hydrology of this mining area (like individual mine pits) are difficult to represent in groundwater models and required the use of modeling tools to indirectly account for their effects. The difference between the results of these two models represents mining’s effects on the hydrology in the Mesabi Iron Range area of the St Louis River Basin. The mining and pre-mining regional models also can provide boundary conditions and initial properties for future local or site-specific groundwater-flow models in the area.
Total groundwater flow through the mining model is 171 million cubic feet per day. Areal recharge is the largest source of groundwater (78 and 81 percent of total groundwater flow in the mining and pre-mining scenario models, respectively). Seepage from streams and lakes provides another 17 percent of the total groundwater flow through both models. Water leaves aquifers through seepage to streams (discharge as base flow, 43 percent in both models) and areal seepage to the land surface (surface seepage), for example to wetlands (45 and 49 percent, mining and pre-mining scenario models respectively).
Comparison of the results from the mining and pre-mining scenario models shows that iron mining has produced measurable hydrologic changes in the St. Louis River Basin, but that most of those changes and the highest magnitude changes occur near the mining features. Flow changes to and from surface-water bodies like streams and wetlands were analyzed in detail because of their importance in sustaining surface waters and aquatic life. Overall, groundwater flow in the mining model was 3.62 million cubic feet per day (2.2 percent) greater than total pre-mining model groundwater flow. This was caused by an increase in recharge from tailings basins and a decrease in discharge from surface seepage. Groundwater discharge to mine pits was the largest change in groundwater flows between the models (a change representing 2.8 percent of total pre-mining model groundwater flow). Net recharge to groundwater from tailings basins (2.4 percent), net decrease in surface seepage from groundwater (2.7 percent), and net increase in seepage to streams (1.0 percent) were all in this same range of total pre-mining model groundwater flow. Groundwater lost through mine-pit withdrawals was nearly offset by groundwater gained through recharge from tailings basins. However, because losses and gains occurred in different areas, the effect of mining can have more substantial effects on local areas than the model-wide averages represent.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, Va.","doi":"10.3133/sir20225124","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with bands of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency","usgsCitation":"Cowdery, T.K., Baker, A.C., Haserodt, M.J., Feinstein, D.T., and Hunt, R.J., 2023, Hydrologic change in the St. Louis River Basin from iron mining on the Mesabi Iron Range, northeastern Minnesota: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2022–5124, 59 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20225124.","productDescription":"Report: viii, 59 p.; 2 Data Releases","numberOfPages":"72","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-122102","costCenters":[{"id":37947,"text":"Upper Midwest Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":412380,"rank":6,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2022/5124/sir20225124.XML","text":"Report","linkFileType":{"id":8,"text":"xml"}},{"id":412376,"rank":3,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2022/5124/images"},{"id":412373,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2022/5124/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":412374,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2022/5124/sir20225124.pdf","text":"Report","size":"18.2 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"SIR 2022–5124"},{"id":500466,"rank":8,"type":{"id":36,"text":"NGMDB Index Page"},"url":"https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_114303.htm","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"}},{"id":412504,"rank":7,"type":{"id":39,"text":"HTML Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/sir20225124/full","text":"Report","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"}},{"id":412378,"rank":5,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/F7Z60MJ0","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"Soil-water-balance model data sets for the St. Louis River drainage basin, northeast Minnesota, 1995–2010"},{"id":412377,"rank":4,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9U6KSBJ","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"MODFLOW–NWT simulations of regional groundwater flow under mining and pre-mining scenarios near the Mesabi Iron Range within the St. Louis River Basin, northeastern Minnesota"}],"country":"United States","state":"Minnesota","otherGeospatial":"Mesabi Iron Range, St Louis River basin","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -93.333,\n 48\n ],\n [\n -93.3333,\n 47\n ],\n [\n -91.666,\n 47\n ],\n [\n -91.666,\n 48\n ],\n [\n -93.333,\n 48\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Upper Midwest Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
1 Gifford Pinchot Drive
Madison, WI 53726
Improvements in timber harvest practices and reductions in harvest volumes over the past half century are commonly presumed to have reduced sediment loads in many western US rivers. However, direct assessments in larger watersheds are relatively sparse. Here, we compare 2019–21 sediment concentrations against those of the late 1970s in the Bogachiel and Calawah River watersheds, adjacent and similarly sized (~300 km2) basins in the western Olympic Mountains of Washington State. The Calawah River watershed has experienced significant land-cover disturbance, including a large 1951 fire, extensive post-fire salvage logging, and relatively high rates of timber harvest through the 1990s. In contrast, the Bogachiel River watershed did not burn, and experienced only modest timber harvest that largely post-dated 1970s sediment monitoring. Channel-width trends suggest the Calawah River was still recovering from 1950s disturbances in the late 1970s. We found that 2019–21 suspended-sediment loads in the Calawah River were 2.3–2.6 times lower than would have been expected based on 1970s sediment rating curves, while recent loads in the Bogachiel River were a factor of 1.4 ± 1.0 lower. We consider the plausibility and possible explanations of declining concentrations in the less-disturbed Bogachiel River. Suspended-sediment yields in the Bogachiel River were two times higher than yields in the Calawah River, which is attributed to a combination of modestly higher precipitation, more efficient runoff generation, and more extensive and erodible Quaternary valley fills in the Bogachiel River. Regional shifts in flood hydrology have also influenced suspended-sediment loads in both watersheds. Our results then document a significant decline in suspended-sediment concentrations in the Calawah River over the past half century. Reduced land-cover disturbance provides the simplest and most likely explanation for this decline, though the wide range of possible concentration changes in the Bogachiel River leaves open possibilities that other processes (human, natural, or methodologic) could be a factor.
The Riverton Processing site was a uranium mill 4 kilometers southwest of Riverton, Wyoming, that prepared uranium ore for nuclear reactors and weapons from 1958 to 1963. The U.S. Department of Energy completed surface remediation of the uranium tailings in 1989; however, groundwater below and downgradient from the tailings site and nearby Little Wind River was not remediated. Beginning in 2010, a series of floods along the Little Wind River began to mobilize contaminants in the unsaturated zone, resulting in substantial increases of uranium and other contaminants of concern in monitoring wells completed inside the contaminant plume. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy started a series of university and Government agency retrospective and field investigations to understand the processes controlling contaminant increases in the groundwater plume. The goals of the field investigations described in this report were to (1) identify and quantify the contaminant flux and potential associated biological effects from groundwater associated with the legacy plume as it enters a perennial stream reach, and (2) assess chemical exposure and potential effects to biological receptors from the interaction of the contaminant plume and the river.
Field investigations along the Little Wind River were completed by the U.S. Geological Survey during 2015–17 in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management to characterize: (1) seepage areas and seepage rates; (2) pore-water and bed sediment chemistry and hyporheic exchange and reactive loss; and (3) exposure pathways and biological receptors. All data collected during the study are contained in two U.S. Geological Survey data releases, available at https://doi.org/10.5066/F7BR8QX4 and https://doi.org/10.5066/P9J9VJBR. A variety of tools and methods were used during the field characterizations. Streambed temperature mapping, electrical resistivity tomography, electromagnetic induction, fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing, tube seepage meters, vertical thermal sensor arrays, and an environmental tracer (radon) were used to identify areas of groundwater seepage and associated seepage rates along specific sections of the study reach of the river. Drive points, minipiezometers, diffusive equilibrium in thin-film/diffusive gradients in thin-film probes, bed-sediment samples, and equal discharge increment sampling methods were used to characterize pore-water chemistry, estimate hyporheic exchange and reactive loss of selected chemical constituents, and quantify contaminant loadings entering the study reach. Sampling and analysis of surface sediments, filamentous algae, periphytic algae, and macroinvertebrates were used to characterize biological exposure pathways, metal uptake, and receptors.
Areas of focused groundwater discharge identified by the fiber-optic distributed temperature sensing surveys corresponded closely with areas of elevated electrical conductivity identified by the electromagnetic induction survey results in the top 5 meters of sediment. During three monitoring periods in 2016, the mean vertical seepage rate measured with tube seepage meters was 0.45 meter per day, ranging from −0.02 to 1.55 meters per day. Five of the 11 locations where vertical thermal profile data were collected along the study reach during August 2017 indicated mean upwelling values ranging from 0.11 to 0.23 meter per day. Radon data collected from the Little Wind River during June, July, and August 2016 indicated a consistent inflow of groundwater to the central part of the study reach, in the area congruous with the center of the previously mapped groundwater plume discharge zone. During August 2017, the greatest attenuation of uranium from reactive loss in pore-water samples was observed at three locations along the study reach, at depths between 6 and 15 centimeters, and similar trends in molybdenum attenuation were also observed. Bed-sediment concentration profiles collected during 2017 also indicated attenuation of uranium and molybdenum from groundwater during hyporheic mixing of surface water with the legacy plume during groundwater upwelling into the river. Streamflow measurements combined with equal discharge increment water sampling along the study reach indicated an increase in dissolved uranium concentrations in the downstream direction during 2016 and 2017. Net uranium load entering the Little Wind River study reach was about 290 and 435 grams per day during 2016 and 2017, respectively. Biological samples indicated that low levels of uranium and molybdenum exposure were confined to the benthos in the Little Wind River within and immediately downstream from the perimeter of the groundwater plume. Concentrations of molybdenum and uranium in filamentous algae were consistently low at all sites in the study reach with no indication of increased exposure of dissolved bioavailable molybdenum or uranium at sites next to or downstream from the groundwater plume.
Comparison of the August 2017 results from electromagnetic induction, tube seepage meters, vertical thermal profiling, and pore-water chemistry surveys were in general agreement in identifying areas with upwelling groundwater conditions along the study reach. However, the electroconductivity values measured with electromagnetic induction in the top 100 centimeters of sediment did not agree with sodium concentrations measured in pore-water samples collected at similar streambed depths. Differences and similarities between multiple methods can result in additional insights into hydrologic and biogeochemical processes that may be occurring along a reach of a river system interacting with shallow groundwater inputs. It may be advantageous to apply a variety of geophysical, geochemical, hydrologic, and biological tools at other Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/10/f19/UMTRCA.pdf) sites during the investigation of legacy contaminant plume interactions with surface-water systems.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, Va.","doi":"10.3133/sir20225089","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy","usgsCitation":"Naftz, D.L., Fuller, C.C., Runkel, R.L., Solder, J., Gardner, W.P., Terry, N., Briggs, M.A., Short, T.M., Cain, D.J., Dam, W.L., Byrne, P.A., and Campbell, J.R., 2023, Interaction of a legacy groundwater contaminant plume with the Little Wind River from 2015 through 2017, Riverton Processing site, Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2022–5089, 66 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20225089.","productDescription":"Report: xi, 66 p.; 3 Datasets; 2 Data Releases","numberOfPages":"82","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-123760","costCenters":[{"id":685,"text":"Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center","active":false,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":412328,"rank":5,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/F7BR8QX4","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"Hydrologic, biogeochemical, and radon data collected within and adjacent to the Little Wind River near Riverton, Wyoming (ver. 1.1, January 2019)"},{"id":412329,"rank":6,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9J9VJBR","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"Geophysical data collected within and adjacent to the Little Wind River near Riverton, Wyoming"},{"id":412324,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2022/5089/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":412325,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2022/5089/sir20225089.pdf","text":"Report","size":"16.1 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"SIR 2022–5089"},{"id":412330,"rank":7,"type":{"id":28,"text":"Dataset"},"url":"https://gems.lm.doe.gov/","text":"U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management Geospatial Environmental Mapping System database","linkHelpText":"—Riverton, WY, Processing site"},{"id":412331,"rank":8,"type":{"id":28,"text":"Dataset"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/F7P55KJN","text":"USGS National Water Information System database","linkHelpText":"—USGS water data for the Nation"},{"id":412332,"rank":9,"type":{"id":28,"text":"Dataset"},"url":"https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/","text":"USGS database","linkHelpText":"—EarthExplorer"},{"id":500452,"rank":10,"type":{"id":36,"text":"NGMDB Index Page"},"url":"https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_114285.htm","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"}},{"id":412327,"rank":4,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2022/5089/images"},{"id":412326,"rank":3,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2022/5089/sir20225089.XML"}],"country":"United States","state":"Wyoming","city":"Riverton","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -109,\n 43.5\n ],\n [\n -109,\n 42.5\n ],\n [\n -107.5,\n 42.5\n ],\n [\n -107.5,\n 43.5\n ],\n [\n -109,\n 43.5\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Wyoming-Montana Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
3162 Bozeman Avenue
Helena, MT 59601
A three-dimensional numerical model of groundwater flow was developed and calibrated for the unconsolidated New Jersey Coastal Plain aquifers underlying Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL) and vicinity, New Jersey, to evaluate groundwater flow pathways of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination associated with use of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) at the base. The regional subsurface flow model spans an area of approximately 518 square miles around JBMDL and is based on a previously developed hydrogeologic framework of the area. Steady-state flow in the unconsolidated aquifers was simulated using the MODFLOW 6 groundwater flow model, which is able to account for hydrostratigraphic pinchouts and discontinuities in the Coastal Plain aquifers underlying JBMDL. To account for local patterns of fluid flow driving advective subsurface migration of PFAS, the grid was refined using quadtree meshes spanning 21 areas where historical AFFF use was identified, five off-site reconnaissance areas identified by AFCEC as areas in which the occurrence of PFAS is most likely to pose a potential danger to local drinking water supplies, and along streams that behave as drains in the base-flow-dominated Coastal Plain.
Following grid refinement, four physical processes known to govern subsurface flow were introduced to the model. These included effective precipitation recharge, discharge to streams and stream-connected wetlands, regional inflows and outflows along the model bottom, and withdrawals from wells, each of which were incorporated into the model as either external or internal boundary conditions. To account for effective precipitation recharge, a specified-flow boundary was assigned along the top of the model. Similarly, regional flows predicted using the modified U.S Geological Survey’s New Jersey Coastal Plain Regional Aquifer System Analysis model were treated as specified-flow boundary conditions along the bottom of the model. Base-flow losses were treated as drains along streams delineated using a 10-foot LiDAR dataset. Drains were also assigned to cells falling within stream-connected National Hydrologic Database wetlands. Finally, well-pumpage data mined from the New Jersey Water Transfer database were added to the model to account for extraction of groundwater through pumping from industrial-supply and drinking-water-supply wells. Along model edges established at groundwater divides, where the net flux of water across the boundary is equal to zero, natural no-flow boundary conditions were imposed.
The refined flow model was calibrated using the parameter-estimation (PEST) program, which adjusts model parameters by performing a gradient search over the sum-of-squared-error objective function until the parameter set that produces simulated water levels and base flows most closely matches 544 water levels and 20 estimated base flows and closely adheres to initial parameter estimates. Based on the analysis of calibration residuals, the model did not appear to be affected by significant model structural error.
The MODPATH particle-tracking algorithm was used to estimate advective transport paths of PFAS in the vicinity of JBMDL. Forward tracking was used to determine paths of PFAS away from AFFF source areas to streams, wetlands, pumping wells, and geographic areas that PFAS may contaminate. Additionally, reverse tracking was used to determine particle pathlines away from off-site PFAS reconnaissance areas, or areas within which all sources of PFAS might be advectively transported into subsurface drinking-water supplies, to locations at land surface that may indicate a source of PFAS.
The coupled and calibrated groundwater flow and particle-tracking transport model provide valuable tools for predicting the relative extent of PFAS contamination from onsite legacy source areas. The calibrated model also provides measures of water-level and base-flow observation influence that can help guide future data-collection efforts related to groundwater and surface water sampling for PFAS.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20221112","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force","usgsCitation":"Fiore, A.R., and Colarullo, S.J., 2023, Simulation of regional groundwater flow and advective transport of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and vicinity, New Jersey, 2018: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2022–1112, 41 p., 2 pls., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20221112.","productDescription":"Report: ix, 41 p.; 2 Plates: 35.00 x 45.00 inches and 45.00 x 30.00 inches; Data Release","numberOfPages":"41","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-129806","costCenters":[{"id":470,"text":"New Jersey Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":412124,"rank":4,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/P9EK4CZS","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"MODFLOW6 and MODPATH7 used to simulate regional groundwater flow and advective transport of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and vicinity, New Jersey, 2018"},{"id":412125,"rank":5,"type":{"id":31,"text":"Publication XML"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2022/1112/ofr20221112.XML"},{"id":412123,"rank":3,"type":{"id":39,"text":"HTML Document"},"url":"https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr20221112/full","text":"Report","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"},"description":"OFR 2022-1112"},{"id":412121,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2022/1112/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":412126,"rank":6,"type":{"id":34,"text":"Image Folder"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2022/1112/images/"},{"id":412129,"rank":7,"type":{"id":17,"text":"Plate"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2022/1112/ofr20221112_plate1.pdf","text":"Plate 1","size":"212 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"linkHelpText":"- Forward particle tracks from aqueous film-forming foam source areas 1 to 15 and reverse particle tracks from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances reconnaissance areas 4 and 14, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and vicinity, New Jersey, 2018"},{"id":412122,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2022/1112/ofr20221112.pdf","text":"Report","size":"7.96 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2022-1112"},{"id":412130,"rank":8,"type":{"id":17,"text":"Plate"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2022/1112/ofr20221112_plate2.pdf","text":"Plate 2","size":"200 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"linkHelpText":"- Forward particle tracks from aqueous film-forming foam source areas 16 to 21 and reverse particle tracks from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances reconnaissance areas 16 to 19, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and vicinity, New Jersey, 2018"},{"id":499723,"rank":9,"type":{"id":36,"text":"NGMDB Index Page"},"url":"https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_114286.htm","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"}}],"country":"United States","state":"New Jersey","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -74.77016941849112,\n 40.156458843115274\n ],\n [\n -74.77016941849112,\n 39.93505011875061\n ],\n [\n -74.17559168378837,\n 39.93505011875061\n ],\n [\n -74.17559168378837,\n 40.156458843115274\n ],\n [\n -74.77016941849112,\n 40.156458843115274\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, New Jersey Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
3450 Princeton Pike, Suite 110
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
Deterministic watershed models (DWMs) are used in nearly all hydrologic planning, design, and management activities, yet they cannot generate streamflow ensembles needed for hydrologic risk management (HRM). The stochastic component of DWMs is often ignored in practice, leading to a systematic bias in extreme events. Since traditional stochastic streamflow models used in HRM struggle to account for anthropogenic change, there is a need to convert DWMs into stochastic watershed models (SWMs) to generate ensembles for use in HRM. A DWM can be converted to an SWM using a post-processing (pp) approach to add error to the DWM predictions. Many pp methods advanced in the area of flood forecasting are useful in HRM and for correcting extreme event biases. Selecting a suitable error model for pp is challenging due to nonnormality, skewness, heteroscedasticity, and autocorrelation. We develop a parsimonious pp method based on an autoregressive (AR) model of the logarithm of the ratio of the observations and simulations, which leads to AR model residuals that are approximately symmetric and independent. We document the value of pp for improving flood and low flow frequency analysis and we reintroduce the concepts of verification and validation of stochastic streamflow ensembles to ensure that the SWM can reproduce both statistics it was and was not designed to reproduce, respectively. These concepts are illustrated on a Massachusetts basin using the USGS Precipitation Runoff Modeling System, with an additional analysis indicating the approach may be applicable to 1,225 other sites across the United States.
Wastewater injection has induced earthquakes in Northeastern Colorado since 2014. We apply ambient noise correlation techniques to determine temporal changes in seismic velocities in the region. We find no clear correlation between seismic velocity fluctuations and either injection volumes or seismicity patterns. We do observe apparent annual variations in velocity that may be associated with hydrologic loading or thermoelastic strain. In addition, we model uniform and vertically localized velocity perturbations, and measure the velocity change with 1D synthetic seismograms. Our results indicate that our methods underestimate the known velocity change, especially at shorter station distances and when variations are restricted to a horizontal layer. If injection does cause measurable velocity changes, its effect is likely diluted in cross correlations due to its localized spatial extent around injection wells.
Quantifying seepage losses from unlined irrigation canals is necessary to improve water use and conservation. The use of heat as a tracer is widely used in quantifying seepage rates across the sediment–water interface. In this study, field observations and two-dimensional numerical models were used to simulate seepage losses during the 2018 and 2019 irrigation season in the Truckee Canal system. Nineteen transects were instrumented with temperature probes and stage recording devices for inverse modeling to derive seepage flux and volumetric losses over the 39 km length of canal. The numerical models for each transect were calibrated and validated using the two-year dataset. Soil zones and observation data were used in each numerical model to help guide calibration of vertical and lateral heat and fluid fluxes. Model simulations were used to derive multivariable regression equations that consider stage, temperature, and hydraulic gradient. The results demonstrate the value of long-term datasets that illustrate the seasonality of groundwater levels, siltation, stage, and temperature on seepage rates. Seepage rates estimated by the numerical models range from 0.16 to 4.6 m3/d m−1. Total annual volumetric losses estimated for 2018 and 2019 were 1.6 × 10-2 to 1.2 × 10-2 km3, respectively. The seepage losses estimated by this study account for 32 % to 41 % of the inflow volumes. Regression models were able to reproduce seepage time-series simulated by the numerical models reasonably well. In arid environments, water diverted into irrigation canals may be influenced by seasonal variations in temperature sufficient to influence the water accounting of conveyed surface flows.
In the United States and globally, contaminant exposure in unregulated private-well point-of-use tapwater (TW) is a recognized public-health data gap and an obstacle to both risk-management and homeowner decision making. To help address the lack of data on broad contaminant exposures in private-well TW from hydrologically-vulnerable (alluvial, karst) aquifers in agriculturally-intensive landscapes, samples were collected in 2018–2019 from 47 northeast Iowa farms and analyzed for 35 inorganics, 437 unique organics, 5 in vitro bioassays, and 11 microbial assays. Twenty-six inorganics and 51 organics, dominated by pesticides and related transformation products (35 herbicide-, 5 insecticide-, and 2 fungicide-related), were observed in TW. Heterotrophic bacteria detections were near ubiquitous (94 % of the samples), with detection of total coliform bacteria in 28 % of the samples and growth on at least one putative-pathogen selective media across all TW samples. Health-based hazard index screening levels were exceeded frequently in private-well TW and attributed primarily to inorganics (nitrate, uranium). Results support incorporation of residential treatment systems to protect against contaminant exposure and the need for increased monitoring of rural private-well homes. Continued assessment of unmonitored and unregulated private-supply TW is needed to model contaminant exposures and human-health risks.
Rivers and streams export inorganic and organic carbon derived from contributing landscapes and so downstream carbon fluxes are important quantitative indicators of change in ecosystem function and for the full accounting of terrestrial carbon budgets. Carbon concentration-discharge (C-Q) relationships in rivers provide important information about carbon source and behavior in watersheds and are useful for estimating carbon export. However, C-Q relationships are complex in large river systems because of spatial and temporal heterogeneity in carbon dynamics across the watershed and river networks. We quantified dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) fluxes in the Upper Mississippi River basin and investigated their relationships with land cover and hydrology. The magnitude of dissolved carbon yields ranged widely among stations, 0.6–5.7 g DOC m−2 yr−1 and 2.9–11.8 g DIC m−2 yr−1. Spatial patterns in carbon fluxes were strongly related to land cover, with agricultural sites having high DIC/low DOC exports and forested and wetland areas having the opposite. DIC was always negatively related to discharge (Q), while the DOC-Q relationship varied with land cover. Differential behavior of carbon across the basin resulted in Q having a weak relationship with DOC and DIC at the basin outlet. Hence, there is a need to improve understanding of headwater terrestrial-to-aquatic carbon connections in order to improve basin-to-continental-scale carbon export estimates. Our results demonstrate that quantitative understanding of carbon export by large rivers can be improved by incorporating stream network information, such as the timing, location, and source of constituent flux, rather than relying solely upon relationships between constituent behavior and seasonality or discharge at the basin outlet.
dictors of nesting for snail kites in south Florida. The results of our modeling indicate that hydrology, percent canopy cover, and proximity to recently burned areas were the most important factors associated with nest-site selection for snail kites. Water depths between 75 and 100 cm, water recession rates between 0 and 1.25 cm/day, percent canopy covers <20%, and areas <10 km from recently burned habitat were associated with the greatest likelihood of nest-site selection. KiteNest is applicable to natural resource management decisions in the Everglades and may be useful independently or in conjunction with other ecological models for restoration decision support.
Snow Lake, a glacially dammed lake on the Snow Glacier near Seward, Alaska, drains rapidly every 14 months–3 years, causing flooding along the Snow River. Highway, railroad, and utility infrastructure on the lower Snow River floodplain is vulnerable to flood damage. Historical hydrology, geomorphology, and two-dimensional hydraulic and sediment transport modeling were used to assess the flood risks from Snow Lake outburst floods. Floods have become more frequent, peaked more rapidly, and have had generally higher peaks over the last 20 years as the Snow Glacier has thinned, translating to a greater potential for flood damage. Rapidly shifting channel locations and the occasional introduction of large volumes of debris to the river also threaten infrastructure on the floodplain and in the channel. An assessment of the historical channel planform between 1951 and 2019 showed that there have been more and less stable segments along the lower Snow River and that channel migration has generally been toward the east. An analysis of floodplain elevations using 2008 light detection and ranging (lidar) showed that the main channel is relatively high compared to floodplain channels that carry floodwaters along the railroad grade, so that once the main channel banks are overtopped water rapidly disperses throughout the floodplain. A two-dimensional flow and sediment transport model was developed, and its simulation results were compared to three past outburst floods from 2007, 2017, and 2019. Despite the complex floodplain and channel geometry, coarse resolution of the mesh, and sediment input data, the model successfully simulated areas of observed scour along the railroad grade and at the guidebank to the highway bridge. The modeled water-surface elevations generally replicated peak elevations recorded at a streamgage in the middle of the model domain and at pressure transducers installed on the floodplain and main channel, although there were discrepancies on the rising limb and some locations had a poorer fit than others. A model of a hypothetical check flood, approximately 150 percent of the largest recorded outburst flood, was developed to provide hydraulic variables to use when planning for infrastructure upgrades.
Alaska Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
4210 University Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99508
Biodiversity conservation under a changing climate is a challenging endeavor. Landscapes are shifting as a result of climate change and sea level rise but plant communities in particular may not keep up with the pace of change. Predictive ecological models can help decision makers understand how species are likely to respond to change and then adjust management actions to align with desired future conditions. Florida’s Everglades is a wetland ecosystem that is host to many species, including a large number of endangered and endemic species. Everglades ecosystem restoration has been ongoing for decades, but consideration of sea level rise impacts in restoration planning is more recent. Incorporating potential impacts from sea level rise into restoration planning should benefit species and their coastal habitats, most notably at the southern Florida peninsula. The endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow (Ammospiza maritima mirabilis) occurs in marl prairie habitat at the southern end of the Everglades. The locations of three of its six subpopulations are proximate to the coast. We used a spatially explicit predictive model, EverSparrow, to estimate probability of sparrow presence considering both hydrologic change from restoration and sea level rise. We found that the probability of sparrow presence decreased with increasing sea level rise. Within approximately 50 years, probability of presence significantly decreased for all three coastal subpopulation areas, with areas above 40% probability increasingly limited. Given the exceptionally low dispersal ability of this species and the geographic restrictions for habitat expansion, our results highlight the importance of freshwater flow into the southern Everglades marl prairie for habitat conservation.
In environments with shallow water tables, vegetation may use groundwater to support transpiration (TG). This process has been carefully studied in some arid climates but rarely in humid climates—even those with severe droughts and seasonal water deficits. As such, the role of TG in humid-catchment hydrology is poorly constrained. We analysed water table fluctuations from nine monitoring wells along three transects in a second-order forested catchment to estimate TG at plot and whole-riparian zone scales. Average TG estimated around all well locations ranged from 1.06 to 4.95 mm d−1 and did not change systematically as a function of distance from stream channel or with plot-scale tree basal area. Counter to some previous studies, we found that TG was greater when the water table depth was deeper. Furthermore, the pattern of TG with water table depth was not monotonic at all locations. The ratio of TG to potential evapotranspiration tended to increase over the growing season, reflecting the progressive decrease in soil moisture storage and a greater reliance by vegetation on groundwater. Due to the lack of consistent spatial patterns in TG, we explored the number of monitoring wells needed to consistently estimate average TG within the 95% confidence bounds of the true mean. Based on this analysis, six or more wells were needed to consistently fall within the 95% confidence interval of the true mean. While this is based on the observed variability at a single site, it provides information for others considering this approach in similar upland forested catchments in humid regions.
Rising temperatures in the Arctic and subarctic are driving the rapid thaw of permafrost by reducing permafrost cooling, increasing active layer thickness, and promoting talik formation. In this study, the cyrohydrogeology of a permafrost mound located within the discontinuous permafrost zone near Umiujaq (Nunavik, Québec, Canada) is characterized through the analysis of a dataset covering more than two decades of monitoring. This dataset captures a high degree of interannual variability in air temperature and ground thermal conditions, as well as the formation and closure of a supra-permafrost talik. Data indicate that variable saturation and advective heat transport directly contribute to the expansion and contraction of the talik. Data further indicate the presence of two distinct thermo-hydrologic settings resulting from differences in surface conditions, as well as subsurface thermal and flow regimes. The first, found at the top of the mound feature, is characterized by very low moisture contents (< 0.05 m3/m3), while the second, found at the side of the mound feature, shows higher annual moisture contents that strongly influence the dynamics of heat and groundwater flow. The data were synthesized into a detailed conceptual model of the cyrohydrogeological dynamics that highlights the important role of hydrogeological characterization and long-term datasets in understanding the effects of groundwater flow on seasonal frost and permafrost dynamics. Specifically, the results presented here show that in the absence of long-term datasets, longer-period transient phenomena such as talik opening and closure may be misrepresented as uni-directional feedback loops, as opposed to highly-dynamic temporary phenomena.
Groundwater in northwestern Louisiana is a valuable resource needed for expanding public-supply needs as well as possible energy development needs arising from Haynesville Formation natural-gas production. The Red River alluvial and the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifers are two of the most important and heavily pumped aquifers in northwestern Louisiana; however, little documentation of the regional hydrogeologic framework is available. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development have consolidated information from, and built upon, previous studies of the Red River alluvial and the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifers to characterize and document the regional hydrogeologic framework of northwestern Louisiana.
The study area has been tectonically modified and includes abundant structural features such as salt domes and areally extensive faulting in addition to minor folding related to these features, all of which impact the sedimentological and hydraulic characteristics of the freshwater-bearing strata. The hydrogeologic framework of northwestern Louisiana comprises a sequence of structurally modifi ed, complexly interbedded, varyingly interconnected, clayey, sandy, and gravelly alluvial sediments. The important freshwater hydrogeologic units include the Quaternary Red River alluvial and upland terrace aquifers, and the underlying Tertiary Sparta, Cane River, and Carrizo-Wilcox aquifers. The Midway confining unit underlies the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer throughout the study area. No freshwater is present in or below the Midway Group.
Tertiary-age formations exposed at land surface in the study area have been incised by the Red River and are hydraulically connected to the Quaternary Red River alluvium in the Red River valley. In 2010, 7.73 million gallons per day (Mgal/d) of water were withdrawn from the Red River alluvial aquifer in the study area, representing an increase of 2.00 Mgal/d, or about 35 percent, over 2005 withdrawal rates.
The Tertiary Carrizo Sand and Wilcox Group crop out across much of the study area. The two units are hydraulically connected and function as a single hydrologic unit referred to as the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer. In 2010, 19.33 Mgal/d of water were withdrawn from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer in the study area, representing an increase of nearly 1.8 Mgal/d, or about 10 percent, over 2005 withdrawal rates. Any expansion in energy development, as well as water needs of an increasing population, could result in an increased demand on groundwater in northwestern Louisiana.
","language":"English","publisher":"Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development","usgsCitation":"Hays, P.D., Nottmeier, A.M., Fendick, R.B., Daugherty, W.J., and Carter, K., 2023, Hydrogeologic framework of the Red River alluvial aquifer and Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer in northwestern Louisiana: Water Resources Technical Report of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Office of Public Works 82, 35 p.","productDescription":"35 p.","ipdsId":"IP-122443","costCenters":[{"id":24708,"text":"Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":427146,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"},{"id":427145,"rank":1,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://wise.er.usgs.gov/dp/pdfs/USGSDOTD_WRTR82.pdf","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}}],"country":"United States","state":"Louisiana","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -94.04836792990136,\n 33.02200760162475\n ],\n [\n -94.04836792990136,\n 31.205735114403552\n ],\n [\n -91.87339632735423,\n 31.205735114403552\n ],\n [\n -91.87339632735423,\n 33.02200760162475\n ],\n [\n -94.04836792990136,\n 33.02200760162475\n ]\n ]\n ],\n \"type\": \"Polygon\"\n }\n }\n ]\n}","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Hays, Phillip D. 0000-0001-5491-9272 pdhays@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5491-9272","contributorId":4145,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Hays","given":"Phillip","email":"pdhays@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"D.","affiliations":[{"id":24708,"text":"Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":369,"text":"Louisiana Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":129,"text":"Arkansas Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":836782,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Nottmeier, Anna M. 0000-0002-0205-0955 anottmeier@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0205-0955","contributorId":5283,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Nottmeier","given":"Anna","email":"anottmeier@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"M.","affiliations":[{"id":24708,"text":"Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":836783,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Fendick, Robert B.","contributorId":287472,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Fendick","given":"Robert","email":"","middleInitial":"B.","affiliations":[{"id":37374,"text":"Retired USGS","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":836784,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Daugherty, William J.","contributorId":287473,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Daugherty","given":"William","email":"","middleInitial":"J.","affiliations":[{"id":37814,"text":"Former USGS","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":897434,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4},{"text":"Carter, Kayla kcarter@usgs.gov","contributorId":5681,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Carter","given":"Kayla","email":"kcarter@usgs.gov","affiliations":[{"id":369,"text":"Louisiana Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":false,"id":897435,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":5}]}} ,{"id":70239356,"text":"70239356 - 2023 - Improving the operational simplified surface energy balance evapotranspiration model using the forcing and normalizing operation","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2023-01-10T13:18:25.464452","indexId":"70239356","displayToPublicDate":"2023-01-01T07:17:05","publicationYear":"2023","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":3250,"text":"Remote Sensing","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"Improving the operational simplified surface energy balance evapotranspiration model using the forcing and normalizing operation","docAbstract":"Watershed resilience is the ability of a watershed to maintain its characteristic system state while concurrently resisting, adapting to, and reorganizing after hydrological (for example, drought, flooding) or biogeochemical (for example, excessive nutrient) disturbances. Vulnerable waters include non-floodplain wetlands and headwater streams, abundant watershed components representing the most distal extent of the freshwater aquatic network. Vulnerable waters are hydrologically dynamic and biogeochemically reactive aquatic systems, storing, processing, and releasing water and entrained (that is, dissolved and particulate) materials along expanding and contracting aquatic networks. The hydrological and biogeochemical functions emerging from these processes affect the magnitude, frequency, timing, duration, storage, and rate of change of material and energy fluxes among watershed components and to downstream waters, thereby maintaining watershed states and imparting watershed resilience. We present here a conceptual framework for understanding how vulnerable waters confer watershed resilience. We demonstrate how individual and cumulative vulnerable-water modifications (for example, reduced extent, altered connectivity) affect watershed-scale hydrological and biogeochemical disturbance response and recovery, which decreases watershed resilience and can trigger transitions across thresholds to alternative watershed states (for example, states conducive to increased flood frequency or nutrient concentrations). We subsequently describe how resilient watersheds require spatial heterogeneity and temporal variability in hydrological and biogeochemical interactions between terrestrial systems and down-gradient waters, which necessitates attention to the conservation and restoration of vulnerable waters and their downstream connectivity gradients. To conclude, we provide actionable principles for resilient watersheds and articulate research needs to further watershed resilience science and vulnerable-water management.
Running Reelfoot Bayou (RRB) is the outlet canal of Reelfoot Lake, the largest natural lake in Tennessee. RRB is not able to contain discharge from Reelfoot Lake greater than the bankfull discharge of 28 m3/s (1000 ft3/s), which typically occurs at the beginning of the growing season (April–June). Historically, the planting of crops has been delayed until flooding subsides and cropland has drained. The objective of this study is a preliminary quantification of cropland inundation to determine its spatial distribution in the RRB floodplain. Inundated croplands in the RRB floodplain were delineated over a range of spillway discharges from 2 to 57 m3/s (70–2000 ft3/s), using one-dimensional–two-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling and multispectral satellite images (Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2). The composite maps made by combining the simulated and image-derived flood maps were overlaid on the United States Department of Agriculture CropScape layer to determine the inundation of individual summer crops during the growing season. About 25% of the inundated croplands are flooded at discharges of RRB less than 28 m3/s, implying wetland hydrology. The results of this analysis can be used to inform operational management of the Reelfoot Lake spillway.
Nutrient pollution causing harmful algal blooms and eutrophication is a major threat to aquatic systems. Throughout North America, agricultural activities are the largest source of excess nutrients entering these systems. Agricultural intensification has also been a driver in the historical removal of depressional wetlands, contributing to increased hydrological connectivity across watersheds, and moving more nutrient runoff into terminal waterbodies such as the Laurentian Great Lakes and Gulf of Mexico. The Prairie Pothole Region of North America (PPR) supports grassland, cropland, wetland, and riverine systems that connect to the Missouri, Mississippi, and Red River Basins. There is a need to synthesize scientific understanding to guide more targeted conservation efforts and better understand knowledge gaps. We reviewed 200 empirical studies and synthesized results from across a minimum of 9 and maximum of 43 wetland basins (depending on the variable data available). We found an average wetland removal rate of nitrate and phosphate of 53% and 68%, respectively. Literature also showed sedimentation rates to be twice as high in wetland basins situated within croplands compared to grasslands. Our synthesis enhances understanding of nutrient processing in wetlands of the PPR and highlights the need for more empirical field-based studies throughout the region.
Northern high-latitude lakes are hotspots for cycling dissolved organic carbon (DOC) inputs from allochthonous sources to the atmosphere. However, the spatial distribution of lake dissolved organic matter (DOM) is largely unknown across Arctic-boreal regions with respect to the surrounding landscape. We expand on regional studies of northern high-latitude DOM composition by integrating DOC concentrations, optical properties, and molecular-level characterization from lakes spanning the Canadian Taiga to the Alaskan Tundra. Lakes were sampled during the summer from July to early September to capture the growing season. DOM became more optically processed and molecular-level aromaticity increased northward across the Canadian Shield to the southern Arctic and from interior Alaska to the Tundra, suggesting relatively greater DOM incorporation from allochthonous sources. Using water isotopes (δ18O-H2O), we report a weak overall trend of increasing DOC and decreasing aromaticity in lakes that were hydrologically isolated from the landscape and enriched in δ18O-H2O, while within-region trends were stronger and varied depending on the landscape. Finally, DOC correlated weakly with chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) across the study sites, suggesting that autochthonous and photobleached DOM were a major component of the DOC in these regions; however, some of the northernmost and wetland-dominated lakes followed pan-Arctic riverine DOC-CDOM relationships, indicating strong contributions from allochthonous inputs. As many lakes across the North American Arctic are experiencing changes in temperature and precipitation, we expect the proportions of allochthonous and autochthonous DOM to respond with aquatic optical browning with greater landscape connectivity and more internally produced DOM in hydrologically isolated lakes.
Sinuous ridges are an important yet understudied component of Mars' hydrologic history. We have produced a map of sinuous ridges, valleys and channels, and tectonic ridges across southeastern Terra Sabaea and into northern Hellas Planitia (10°-45° S, 35°-80° E) using a CTX mosaic. Although we mapped different types of ridges and negative relief features, the focus of this paper are the sinuous ridges. We present here a new dataset of sinuous ridges that includes basic morphometry (e.g., length, width, sinuosity), morphology, and the types of terrains they are located on. We chose our region of interest because it includes surface ages spanning Mars' geologic history, with emphasis on Noachian and Hesperian terrains. The shift from either a warm and wet or a cold and icy environment to our modern cold and dry climate occurred towards the end of the Noachian and into the Hesperian, a critical temporal window to characterize fluvial landforms.
Our CTX-based mapping significantly improved the documentation of fluvial landforms within the study region, with over an order of magnitude increase in the number of valley networks and channels, and nearly 1700 sinuous ridges. Sinuous ridges are found in concentrated settings, with the majority (∼80%) located within impact craters and relatively few (∼20%) on the intercrater plains. Fluvial features are prevalent on Early and Middle Noachian-aged terrain but are relatively rare in the Late Noachian, signifying a shift in fluvial activity that likely led to a decrease in channel incision and subsequent inversion of relief. A subset of sinuous ridges—radial ridges in high-elevation, degraded craters— are possible records of ancient proglacial lakes. The youngest sinuous ridges are associated with intracrater alluvial fans in a narrow zone (∼12°S to 30°S and ∼ 62°E to 77°E). These formed in the Late Hesperian into the Amazonian, reflecting a later epoch of punctuated fluvial events driven by pre-existing topography and solar insolation.
","language":"English","publisher":"Elsevier","doi":"10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115399","usgsCitation":"Gullikson, A.L., Anderson, R.B., and Williams, R.M., 2023, Spatial and temporal distribution of sinuous ridges in southeastern Terra Sabaea and the northern region of Hellas Planitia, Mars: Icarus, v. 394, 115399, 14 p., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115399.","productDescription":"115399, 14 p.","ipdsId":"IP-129949","costCenters":[{"id":131,"text":"Astrogeology Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":445100,"rank":2,"type":{"id":40,"text":"Open Access Publisher Index Page"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115399","text":"Publisher Index Page"},{"id":412941,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"otherGeospatial":"Hellas Plantia, Mars, Terra Sabaea","volume":"394","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Gullikson, Amber L. 0000-0002-1505-3151","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1505-3151","contributorId":208679,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Gullikson","given":"Amber","email":"","middleInitial":"L.","affiliations":[{"id":131,"text":"Astrogeology Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":864024,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Anderson, Ryan B. 0000-0003-4465-2871 rbanderson@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4465-2871","contributorId":170054,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Anderson","given":"Ryan","email":"rbanderson@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"B.","affiliations":[{"id":131,"text":"Astrogeology Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":864025,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Williams, Rebecca M.E.","contributorId":302332,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Williams","given":"Rebecca","email":"","middleInitial":"M.E.","affiliations":[{"id":13179,"text":"Planetary Science Institute","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":864026,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3}]}} ,{"id":70239220,"text":"70239220 - 2023 - Quantifying connectivity and its effects on sediment budgeting for an agricultural basin, Chesapeake Bay Watershed, United States","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2023-01-04T12:38:17.863489","indexId":"70239220","displayToPublicDate":"2022-12-14T06:35:51","publicationYear":"2023","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":1924,"text":"Hydrological Processes","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"Quantifying connectivity and its effects on sediment budgeting for an agricultural basin, Chesapeake Bay Watershed, United States","docAbstract":"Excessive sediment runoff as a result of anthropogenic activities is a major concern for watershed ecologic health. This study sought to determine the sources, storage, and delivery of sediment using a sediment budget approach for the predominantly pasture and forested Smith Creek watershed, Virginia United States, a tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. Utilizing a novel combination of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) model and an index of connectivity along with field surveys of channels, this study indicated that streambanks and pastures were major sources of sediment. Overestimation of fine-grained sediment flux exported from the watershed according to this study's models (3811 Mg/year) compared to export measured at the outlet (2918 Mg/year) most likely indicates underestimation of storage in the watershed from unaccounted for geomorphic features (ponds, toe slopes, and colluvial slopes). Sediment budget results indicating that streambanks are a major source of sediment in the watershed support previous sediment fingerprinting results and provide a framework for managers to address the sediment problem in Smith Creek and similar tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay.
Rivers that do not flow year-round are the predominant type of running waters on Earth. Despite a burgeoning literature on natural flow intermittence (NFI), knowledge about the hydrological causes and ecological effects of human-induced, anthropogenic flow intermittence (AFI) remains limited. NFI and AFI could generate contrasting hydrological and biological responses in rivers because of distinct underlying causes of drying and evolutionary adaptations of their biota. We first review the causes of AFI and show how different anthropogenic drivers alter the timing, frequency and duration of drying, compared with NFI. Second, we evaluate the possible differences in biodiversity responses, ecological functions, and ecosystem services between NFI and AFI. Last, we outline knowledge gaps and management needs related to AFI. Because of the distinct hydrologic characteristics and ecological impacts of AFI, ignoring the distinction between NFI and AFI could undermine management of intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams and exacerbate risks to the ecosystems and societies downstream.
","language":"English","publisher":"Oxford Academic","doi":"10.1093/biosci/biac098","usgsCitation":"Thibault Datry, Truchy, A., Julian D. Olden, Michelle H. Busch, Rachel Stubbington, Walter K. Dodds, Sam Zipper, Songyan Yu, Mathis L. Messager, Tonkin, J.D., Kaiser, K.E., Hammond, J., Moody, E., Burrows, R., Sarremejane, R., DelVecchia, A., Fork, M.L., Little, C., Walker, R.H., Walters, A.W., and Allen, D., 2023, Causes, responses, and implications of anthropogenic versus natural flow intermittence in river networks: BioScience, v. 73, no. 1, p. 9-22, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biac098.","productDescription":"14 p.","startPage":"9","endPage":"22","ipdsId":"IP-141490","costCenters":[{"id":200,"text":"Coop Res Unit Seattle","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":445153,"rank":2,"type":{"id":41,"text":"Open Access External Repository Page"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biac098","text":"External Repository"},{"id":429654,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"volume":"73","issue":"1","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationDate":"2022-12-07","publicationStatus":"PW","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Thibault Datry","contributorId":337346,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Thibault Datry","affiliations":[{"id":81018,"text":"INRAE, UR RiverLy","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":902366,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Truchy, Amelie","contributorId":337347,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Truchy","given":"Amelie","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":81018,"text":"INRAE, UR RiverLy","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":902367,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Julian D. Olden","contributorId":337348,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Julian D. Olden","affiliations":[{"id":6934,"text":"University of Washington","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":902368,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Michelle H. Busch","contributorId":337349,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Michelle H. Busch","affiliations":[{"id":7062,"text":"University of Oklahoma","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":902369,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4},{"text":"Rachel Stubbington","contributorId":337350,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Rachel Stubbington","affiliations":[{"id":81020,"text":"Nottingham Trent University","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":902370,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":5},{"text":"Walter K. Dodds","contributorId":337351,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Walter K. Dodds","affiliations":[{"id":12661,"text":"Kansas State University","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":902371,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":6},{"text":"Sam Zipper","contributorId":337352,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Sam Zipper","affiliations":[{"id":6773,"text":"University of Kansas","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":902372,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":7},{"text":"Songyan Yu","contributorId":337353,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Songyan Yu","affiliations":[{"id":7117,"text":"Griffith University","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":902373,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":8},{"text":"Mathis L. Messager","contributorId":337354,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Mathis L. Messager","affiliations":[{"id":6646,"text":"McGill University","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":902374,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":9},{"text":"Tonkin, Jonathan D.","contributorId":260624,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Tonkin","given":"Jonathan","email":"","middleInitial":"D.","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":902568,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":10},{"text":"Kaiser, Kendra E. 0000-0003-1773-6236","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1773-6236","contributorId":211475,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Kaiser","given":"Kendra","email":"","middleInitial":"E.","affiliations":[{"id":38255,"text":"Boise State Unviersity","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":902569,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":11},{"text":"Hammond, John C. 0000-0002-4935-0736","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4935-0736","contributorId":223108,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Hammond","given":"John C.","affiliations":[{"id":41514,"text":"Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":902570,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":12},{"text":"Moody, E.K.","contributorId":12713,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Moody","given":"E.K.","email":"","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":902571,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":13},{"text":"Burrows, Ryan","contributorId":295995,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Burrows","given":"Ryan","affiliations":[{"id":13336,"text":"University of Melbourne","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":902572,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":14},{"text":"Sarremejane, Romain","contributorId":337617,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Sarremejane","given":"Romain","email":"","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":902573,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":15},{"text":"DelVecchia, Amanda 0000-0003-4252-5991","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4252-5991","contributorId":225165,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"DelVecchia","given":"Amanda","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":41061,"text":"Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana, Polson, MT 59860","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":902574,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":16},{"text":"Fork, Megan L.","contributorId":139659,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Fork","given":"Megan","email":"","middleInitial":"L.","affiliations":[{"id":12868,"text":"Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":902575,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":17},{"text":"Little, Chelsea","contributorId":337618,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Little","given":"Chelsea","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":902576,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":18},{"text":"Walker, Richard H 0000-0001-9167-5326","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9167-5326","contributorId":258781,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Walker","given":"Richard","email":"","middleInitial":"H","affiliations":[{"id":50464,"text":"Eastern Ecological Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":902577,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":19},{"text":"Walters, Annika W. 0000-0002-8638-6682 awalters@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8638-6682","contributorId":4190,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Walters","given":"Annika","email":"awalters@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"W.","affiliations":[{"id":200,"text":"Coop Res Unit Seattle","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":902375,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":20},{"text":"Allen, Daniel C. 0000-0002-0451-0564","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0451-0564","contributorId":225169,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Allen","given":"Daniel","middleInitial":"C.","affiliations":[{"id":41064,"text":"Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman OK, 73019","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":902578,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":21}]}} ,{"id":70238758,"text":"70238758 - 2023 - Modeling the dynamic penetration depth of post-1950s water in unconfined aquifers using environmental tracers: Central Valley, California","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2022-12-07T13:11:33.679909","indexId":"70238758","displayToPublicDate":"2022-12-05T07:09:26","publicationYear":"2023","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":2342,"text":"Journal of Hydrology","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"Modeling the dynamic penetration depth of post-1950s water in unconfined aquifers using environmental tracers: Central Valley, California","docAbstract":"The penetration depth of post-1950s recharge (D-1950) in aquifers is a marker that is frequently used to identify groundwater that is susceptible to anthropogenic contamination. Here, we compute D-1950 values at wells, interpolate them in space, and project them across time to map the moving front of modern recharge in four dimensions in the Central Valley aquifer system, California, USA. Tracers of groundwater age (tritium, carbon-14, noble gases, sulfur hexafluoride, and chlorofluorocarbons) were collected at 650 wells spatially distributed throughout the Central Valley and were fit to a lumped-parameter model that assumes a logarithmic age-depth profile in the aquifer. For samples where tritium was present (>0.3 tritium units), the model was used to predict D-1950 at wells screened above or across the modern-premodern interface (n = 484). Wells with samples where tritium was absent (≤0.3 tritium units) were used to define the depth beyond which groundwater is completely premodern (n = 166). Predicted D-1950 values were below the depth of screen bottoms for wells where groundwater is completely modern, and above the depth of screen tops for wells where groundwater is completely premodern. The interpolated surface of D-1950 is dynamic, less prone to extreme values, and produces maps with lower interpolation errors due to a higher spatial density of wells than maps based on the depth of premodern groundwater. Between 2005 and 2025, D-1950 is expected to deepen by 11 and 12 m in the northern and southern parts of the Central Valley, respectively. Areas where D-1950 increases rapidly are likely to see increases in nitrate and other anthropogenic contaminants associated with the downward moving front of modern water.
The hydrology and aquatic ecology of arid environments has long been understudied relative to temperate regions. Yet spatially and temporally intermittent and ephemeral waters characterized by flashy hydrographs typify arid regions that comprise a substantial proportion of the Earth. Additionally, drought, intense storms, and human modification of landscapes increasingly affect many temperate regions, resulting in hydrologic regimes more similar to aridlands. Here we review the contributions of Dr. Nancy Grimm to aridland hydrology and ecology, and applications of these insights to urban ecosystems and resilience of social-ecological-technological systems. Grimm catalyzed study of nitrogen cycling in streams and characterized feedbacks between surface water-groundwater exchange, nitrogen transformations, and aquatic biota. In aridlands, outcomes of these interactions depend on short- and long-term variation in the hydrologic regime. Grimm and colleagues applied hydrological and biogeochemical insights gained from study of aridland streams to urban ecosystems, integrating engineering, social and behavioral sciences, and geography. These studies evolved from characterizing the spatial heterogeneity of urban systems (i.e., watersheds, novel aquatic systems) and its influence on nutrient dynamics to an approach that evaluated human decision-making as a driver of disturbance regimes and changes in ecosystem function. Finally, Grimm and colleagues have applied principles of urban ecology to look toward the future of cities, considering scenarios of sustainable and resilient futures. We identify cross-cutting themes and approaches that have motivated discoveries across Grimm’s multi-decadal career, including spatial and temporal heterogeneity, hydrologic connectivity and regime, disturbance, systems thinking, and resilience. Finally, we emphasize Grimm’s broad contributions to science via support of long-term research, dedication to mentoring, and extensive collaborations that facilitated transdisciplinary research.