River size and fish assemblages in southwestern South Dakota
C.W. Hoagstrom, S.S. Wall, J.P. Duehr, C. R. Berry Jr.
2006, Great Plains Research (16) 117-126
We studied relations between river size, fish species diversity, and fish species composition along four major rivers in the Great Plains of southwestern South Dakota to assess patterns of species diversity and composition. We expected diversity to increase with river size and fish composition to change via species addition downstream....
Modeling the probability of arsenic in groundwater in New England as a tool for exposure assessment
J. D. Ayotte, B. T. Nolan, J.R. Nuckols, K.P. Cantor, G.R. Robinson Jr., D. Baris, L. Hayes, M. Karagas, W. Bress, D.T. Silverman, J.H. Lubin
2006, Environmental Science & Technology (40) 3578-3585
We developed a process-based model to predict the probability of arsenic exceeding 5 ??g/L in drinking water wells in New England bedrock aquifers. The model is being used for exposure assessment in an epidemiologic study of bladder cancer. One important study hypothesis that may explain increased bladder cancer risk is...
The chemical quality of self-supplied domestic well water in the United States
Michael J. Focazio, D. Tipton, Stephanie Dunkle Shapiro, Linda H. Geiger
2006, Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation (26) 92-104
Existing water quality data collected from domestic wells were summarized to develop the first national‐scale retrospective of self‐supplied drinking water sources. The contaminants evaluated represent a range of inorganic and organic compounds, and although the data set was not originally designed to be a statistical representation...
Groundwater flow and velocity in a 500 ka pre-Illinoian till, eastern Iowa
K. E. Schilling, S. Tassier-Surine
2006, Environmental Geology (50) 1255-1264
Few hydrology studies have investigated glacial till older than Illinoian time (> 300,000 BP) despite these older tills overlying a large portion of North America. An 8- and 6-well monitoring well nest installed into a 31 m thick pre-Illinoian till sequence near Cedar Rapids, Iowa was characterized using traditional hydrologic...
Modeling regional initiation of rainfall-induced shallow landslides in the eastern Umbria Region of central Italy
D. Salciarini, J. W. Godt, W. Z. Savage, P. Conversini, R.L. Baum, J. A. Michael
2006, Landslides (3) 181-194
We model the rainfall-induced initiation of shallow landslides over a broad region using a deterministic approach, the Transient Rainfall Infiltration and Grid-based Slope-stability (TRIGRS) model that couples an infinite-slope stability analysis with a one-dimensional analytical solution for transient pore pressure response to rainfall infiltration. This model permits the evaluation of...
Temporal and spatial variability of fecal indicator bacteria in the surf zone off Huntington Beach, CA
L.K. Rosenfeld, C.D. McGee, G.L. Robertson, M.A. Noble, B.H. Jones
2006, Marine Environmental Research (61) 471-493
Fecal indicator bacteria concentrations measured in the surf zone off Huntington Beach, CA from July 1998-December 2001 were analyzed with respect to their spatial patterns along 23 km of beach, and temporal variability on time scales from hourly to fortnightly. The majority of samples had bacterial concentrations less than, or...
Overview of investigations into mercury in ground water, soils, and septage, New Jersey coastal plain
J. L. Barringer, Zoltan Szabo
2006, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution (175) 193-221
Since the early 1980s, investigations by health departments of eight counties in southern New Jersey, by the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), and subsequently by the US Geological Survey (USGS), have shown that Hg concentrations in water tapped by about 600 domestic wells exceed the maximum contaminant level (MCL)...
A 16-year time series of 1 km AVHRR satellite data of the conterminous United States and Alaska
Jeff Eidenshink
2006, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (72) 1027-1035
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed a 16-year time series of vegetation condition information for the conterminous United States and Alaska using 1 km Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data. The AVHRR data have been processed using consistent methods that account for radiometric variability due to calibration uncertainty,...
Determination of bromine, chlorine and iodine in environmental aqueous samples by epithermal neutron activation analysis and Compton suppression
S. Landsberger, D. J. O’Kelly, J. Braisted, S. Panno
2006, Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry (269) 697-702
Halides, particularly Br- and Cl-, have been used as indicators of potential sources of Na+ and Cl- in surface water and groundwater with limited success. Contamination of groundwater and surface water by Na+ and Cl- is a common occurrence in growing urban areas and adversely affects municipal and private water...
A landscape-scale model of yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii) habitat preferences in northern alaska
Susan L. Earnst, Robert Platte, Laura Bond
2006, Hydrobiologia (567) 227-236
We modeled yellow-billed loon (Gavia adamsii) habitat preferences in a 23,500 km2 area of northern Alaska using intensive aerial surveys and landscape-scale habitat descriptors. Of the 757 lakes censused, yellow-billed loons occupied 15% and Pacific loons (G. pacifica) 42%. Lake area, depth, proportion of shoreline in aquatic vegetation,...
Modeling the effect of varying swim speeds on fish passage through velocity barriers
T. Castro-Santos
2006, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (135) 1230-1237
The distance fish can swim through zones of high-velocity flow is an important factor limiting the distribution and conservation of riverine and diadromous fishes. Often, these barriers are characterized by nonuniform flow conditions, and it is likely that fish will swim at varying speeds to traverse them. Existing models used...
Arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury in surface soils, Pueblo, Colorado: Implications for population health risk
D.M. Diawara, J.S. Litt, D. Unis, N. Alfonso, L.A. Martinez, J.G. Crock, D. B. Smith, J. Carsella
2006, Environmental Geochemistry and Health (28) 297-315
Decades of intensive industrial and agricultural practices as well as rapid urbanization have left communities like Pueblo, Colorado facing potential health threats from pollution of its soils, air, water and food supply. To address such concerns about environmental contamination, we conducted an urban geochemical study of the city of Pueblo...
Can basin-scale recharge be estimated reasonably with water-balance models?
A.E. Faust, T.P.A. Ferre, M.G. Schaap, A.C. Hinnell, Gordon E. Brown Jr.
2006, Vadose Zone Journal (5) 850-855
We examine in-place recharge as an example of the complex, basin-scale hydrologic processes that are being represented with simplified numerical models. The rate and distribution of recharge depend on local meteorological conditions and hydrogeologic properties. The pattern of recharge is defined predominantly by the distribution of net precipitation (precipitation less...
Distribution of spawning activity by anadromous fishes in an atlantic slope drainage after removal of a low-head dam
S. M. Burdick, J.E. Hightower
2006, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (135) 1290-1300
In 1998, the Quaker Neck Dam was removed from the Neuse River near Goldsboro, North Carolina, restoring access to more than 120 km of potential main-stem spawning habitat and 1,488 km of potential tributary spawning habitat to anadromous fishes. We used plankton sampling and standardized electrofishing to examine the extent...
Estimated sand and gravel resources of the South Merrimack, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, 7.5-minute quadrangle
D. M. Sutphin, L.J. Drew, B.K. Fowler
2006, Natural Resources Research (15) 183-203
A computer methodology is presented that allows natural aggregate producers, local governmental, and nongovernmental planners to define specific locations that may have sand and gravel deposits meeting user-specified minimum size, thickness, and geographic and geologic criteria, in areas where the surficial geology has been mapped. As an example, the surficial...
Assimilation of snow covered area information into hydrologic and land-surface models
M.P. Clark, A.G. Slater, A.P. Barrett, L.E. Hay, G.J. McCabe, B. Rajagopalan, G.H. Leavesley
2006, Advances in Water Resources (29) 1209-1221
This paper describes a data assimilation method that uses observations of snow covered area (SCA) to update hydrologic model states in a mountainous catchment in Colorado. The assimilation method uses SCA information as part of an ensemble Kalman filter to alter the sub-basin distribution of snow as well as the...
Mobilization of lead and other trace elements following shock chlorination of wells
R. L. Seiler
2006, Science of the Total Environment (367) 757-768
Many owners of domestic wells shock chlorinate their wells to treat for bacterial contamination or control bad odors from sulfides. Analysis of well water with four wells from Fallon, Nevada, showed that following recommended procedures for shock chlorinating wells can cause large, short-lasting increases in trace-element concentrations in ground water,...
Multiple injected and natural conservative tracers quantify mixing in a stream confluence affected by acid mine drainage near Silverton, Colorado
L. E. Schemel, M.H. Cox, R.L. Runkel, B. A. Kimball
2006, Hydrological Processes (20) 2727-2743
The acidic discharge from Cement Creek, containing elevated concentrations of dissolved metals and sulphate, mixed with the circumneutral-pH Animas River over a several hundred metre reach (mixing zone) near Silverton, CO, during this study. Differences in concentrations of Ca, Mg, Si, Sr, and SO42- between the creek and the river...
Electrical resistance sensors record spring flow timing, Grand Canyon, Arizona
E.A. Adams, S. A. Monroe, Abraham E. Springer, K.W. Blasch, D. J. Bills
2006, Ground Water (44) 630-641
Springs along the south rim of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, are important ecological and cultural resources in Grand Canyon National Park and are discharge points for regional and local aquifers of the Coconino Plateau. This study evaluated the applicability of electrical resistance (ER) sensors for measuring diffuse, low-stage (<1.0 cm)...
Recharge processes drive sulfate reduction in an alluvial aquifer contaminated with landfill leachate
M. A. Scholl, I.M. Cozzarelli, S. C. Christenson
2006, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology (86) 239-261
Natural attenuation of contaminants in groundwater depends on an adequate supply of electron acceptors to stimulate biodegradation. In an alluvial aquifer contaminated with leachate from an unlined municipal landfill, the mechanism of recharge infiltration was investigated as a source of electron acceptors. Water samples were collected monthly at closely spaced intervals...
Numerical simulation of tsunami generation by cold volcanic mass flows at Augustine Volcano, Alaska
C. F. Waythomas, P. Watts, J. S. Walder
2006, Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (6) 671-685
Many of the world's active volcanoes are situated on or near coastlines. During eruptions, diverse geophysical mass flows, including pyroclastic flows, debris avalanches, and lahars, can deliver large volumes of unconsolidated debris to the ocean in a short period of time and thereby generate tsunamis. Deposits of both hot and...
Seasonal migration and environmental conditions of Pacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis, elucidated from pop-up archival transmitting (PAT) tags
Timothy Loher, Andrew C. Seitz
2006, Marine Ecology Progress Series (317) 259-271
Pop-up archival transmitting (PAT) tags were used to study the fall migration of halibut in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). We tagged 6 Pacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis on summer feeding grounds in the eastern GOA and another 6 in the western GOA from June 13 to August 6, 2002. The...
The importance of submarine groundwater discharge to the nearshore nutrient supply in the Gulf of Aqaba (Israel)
G.G. Shellenbarger, Stephen G. Monismith, A. Genin, A. Paytan
2006, Limnology and Oceanography (51) 1876-1886
We used two short-lived radium isotopes (223Ra, 224Ra) and a mass balance approach applied to the radium activities to determine the nutrient contribution of saline submarine groundwater discharge to the coastal waters of the northern Gulf of Aqaba (Israel). Radium isotope activities were measured along transects during two seasons at...
Flow-specific trends in river-water quality resulting from the effects of the clean air act in three mesoscale, forested river basins in the northeastern United States through 2002
Peter S. Murdoch, J. B. Shanley
2006, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (120) 1-25
Two new methods for assessing temporal trends in stream-solute concentrations at specific streamflow ranges were applied to long (40 to 50-year) but sparse (bi-weekly to quarterly sampling) stream-water quality data collected at three forested mesoscale basins along an atmospheric deposition gradient in the northeastern United States (one in north-central Pennsylvania,...
Multiphase, multicomponent parameter estimation for liquid and vapor fluxes in deep arid systems using hydrologic data and natural environmental tracers
Edward M. Kwicklis, Andrew V. Wolfsberg, Philip H. Stauffer, Michelle Ann Walvoord, Michael J. Sully
2006, Vadose Zone Journal (5) 934-950
Multiphase, multicomponent numerical models of long-term unsaturated-zone liquid and vapor movement were created for a thick alluvial basin at the Nevada Test Site to predict present-day liquid and vapor fluxes. The numerical models are based on recently developed conceptual models of unsaturated-zone moisture movement in thick alluvium that explain present-day...
