Biomonitoring in the Boulder River watershed, Montana, USA: metal concentrations in biofilm and macroinvertebrates, and relations with macroinvertebrate assemblage
D.T. Rhea, D.D. Harper, A.M. Farag, W. G. Brumbaugh
2006, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (115) 381-393
Portions of the Boulder River watershed contain elevated concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc in water, sediment, and biota. We measured concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in biofilm and macroinvertebrates, and assessed macroinvertebrate assemblage and aquatic habitat with the objective of monitoring planned remediation...
A genetic algorithm to reduce stream channel cross section data
C. Berenbrock
2006, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (42) 387-394
A genetic algorithm (GA) was used to reduce cross section data for a hypothetical example consisting of 41 data points and for 10 cross sections on the Kootenai River. The number of data points for the Kootenai River cross sections ranged from about 500 to more than 2,500. The GA...
The impact of runoff generation mechanisms on the location of critical source areas
S. W. Lyon, M.R. McHale, M. Walter, T.S. Steenhuis
2006, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (42) 793-804
Identifying phosphorus (P) source areas and transport pathways is a key step in decreasing P loading to natural water systems. This study compared the effects of two modeled runoff generation processes - saturation excess and infiltration excess - on total phosphorus (TP) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations in 10...
Interpretation of transmissivity estimates from single-well pumping aquifer tests
K. J. Halford, W.D. Weight, R.P. Schreiber
2006, Ground Water (44) 467-471
Interpretation of single-well tests with the Cooper-Jacob method remains more reasonable than most alternatives. Drawdowns from 628 simulated single-well tests where transmissivity was specified were interpreted with the Cooper-Jacob straight-line method to estimate transmissivity. Error and bias as a function of vertical anisotropy, partial penetration, specific yield, and interpretive technique...
Response of surface water chemistry to reduced levels of acid precipitation: Comparison of trends in two regions of New York, USA
Douglas A. Burns, M.R. McHale, C. T. Driscoll, K. M. Roy
2006, Hydrological Processes (20) 1611-1627
In light of recent reductions in sulphur (S) and nitrogen (N) emissions mandated by Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, temporal trends and trend coherence in precipitation (1984-2001 and 1992-2001) and surface water chemistry (1992-2001) were determined in two of the most acid-sensitive regions of North...
A method for mapping corn using the US Geological Survey 1992 National Land Cover Dataset
S.K. Maxwell, J.R. Nuckols, M.H. Ward
2006, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture (51) 54-65
Long-term exposure to elevated nitrate levels in community drinking water supplies has been associated with an elevated risk of several cancers including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, colon cancer, and bladder cancer. To estimate human exposure to nitrate, specific crop type information is needed as fertilizer application rates vary widely by crop type....
Water and solute mass balance of five small, relatively undisturbed watersheds in the U.S.
N.E. Peters, J. B. Shanley, Brent T. Aulenbach, R. M. Webb, K. Campbell, R. Hunt, M. C. Larsen, R.F. Stallard, J. Troester, J.F. Walker
2006, Science of the Total Environment (358) 221-242
Geochemical mass balances were computed for water years 1992-1997 (October 1991 through September 1997) for the five watersheds of the U.S. Geological Survey Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB) Program to determine the primary regional controls on yields of the major dissolved inorganic solutes. The sites, which vary markedly with...
Nitrogen loads to estuaries from waste water plumes: Modeling and isotopic approaches
K.D. Kroeger, Marci L. Cole, J.K. York, I. Valiela
2006, Ground Water (44) 188-200
We developed, and applied in two sites, novel methods to measure ground water-borne nitrogen loads to receiving estuaries from plumes resulting from land disposal of waste water treatment plant (WWTP) effluent. In addition, we quantified nitrogen losses from WWTP effluent during transport through watersheds. WWTP load to receiving water was...
Subsurface imaging of an abandoned solid waste landfill site in Norman, Oklahoma
J.T. Zume, A. Tarhule, S. Christenson
2006, Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation (26) 62-69
Leachate plume emanating from an old unlined municipal landfill site near the city of Norman, Oklahoma, is discharging into the underlying alluvial aquifer. Subsurface imaging techniques, electrical resistivity tomography and electrical conductivity (EC) logging, were used on the site to detect and map the position of...
Habitat use by a Midwestern U.S.A. riverine fish assemblage: effects of season, water temperature and river discharge
D.P. Gillette, J.S. Tiemann, D.R. Edds, M. L. Wildhaber
2006, Journal of Fish Biology (68) 1494-1512
The hypothesis that temperate stream fishes alter habitat use in response to changing water temperature and stream discharge was evaluated over a 1 year period in the Neosho River, Kansas, U.S.A. at two spatial scales. Winter patterns differed from those of all other seasons, with shallower water used less frequently,...
Bias and uncertainty in regression-calibrated models of groundwater flow in heterogeneous media
R.L. Cooley, S. Christensen
2006, Advances in Water Resources (29) 639-656
Groundwater models need to account for detailed but generally unknown spatial variability (heterogeneity) of the hydrogeologic model inputs. To address this problem we replace the large, m-dimensional stochastic vector ?? that reflects both small and large scales of heterogeneity in the inputs by a lumped or smoothed m-dimensional approximation ????*,...
Ground-water surface-water interactions and long-term change in riverine riparian vegetation in the southwestern United States
R. H. Webb, S. A. Leake
2006, Conference Paper, Journal of Hydrology
Riverine riparian vegetation has changed throughout the southwestern United States, prompting concern about losses of habitat and biodiversity. Woody riparian vegetation grows in a variety of geomorphic settings ranging from bedrock-lined channels to perennial streams crossing deep alluvium and is dependent on interaction between ground-water and surface-water resources. Historically, few...
Explicit use of the Biot coefficient in predicting shear-wave velocity of water-saturated sediments
Myung W. Lee
2006, Geophysical Prospecting (54) 177-185
Predicting the shear-wave (S-wave) velocity is important in seismic modelling, amplitude analysis with offset, and other exploration and engineering applications. Under the low-frequency approximation, the classical Biot-Gassmann theory relates the Biot coefficient to the bulk modulus of water-saturated sediments. If the Biot coefficient under in situ conditions can be estimated,...
Spatial and temporal dynamics of microcystin in a Missouri reservoir
J.L. Graham, J.R. Jones, S.B. Jones, T.E. Clevenger
2006, Lake and Reservoir Management (22) 59-68
Environmental factors associated with spatiotemporal variation of microcystin (MC) in Mozingo Lake, a Missouri reservoir, were studied during summer 2001, and annual MC trends were characterized from May 2001-May 2002. MC increased during summer, ranging from 20 to 1220 ng/L. Seasonal patterns in MC corresponded with chlorophyll>35 ??m (Net Chl)...
Geophysical monitoring of a field-scale biostimulation pilot project
J.W. Lane Jr., F. D. Day-Lewis, C.C. Casey
2006, Ground Water (44) 430-443
The USGS conducted a geophysical investigation in support of a U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southern Division field‐scale biostimulation pilot project at Anoka County Riverfront Park (ACP), downgradient of the Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant, Fridley, Minnesota. The goal of the pilot project is to evaluate...
Regional patterns in the isotopic composition of natural and anthropogenic nitrate in groundwater, High Plains, U.S.A.
P.B. McMahon, J.K. Böhlke
2006, Environmental Science & Technology (40) 2965-2970
Mobilization of natural nitrate (NO3-) deposits in the subsoil by irrigation water in arid and semiarid regions has the potential to produce large groundwater NO3- concentrations. The use of isotopes to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic NO3- sources in these settings could be complicated by the wide range in δ15N...
Nature and characteristics of the flows that carved the Simud and Tiu outflow channels, Mars
J.A.P. Rodriguez, K. L. Tanaka, H. Miyamoto, S. Sasaki
2006, Geophysical Research Letters (33)
Geomorphic and topographic relations of higher and lower levels of dissection within the Simud and Tiu Valles outflow channels on Mars reveal new insights into their formational histories. We find that the water floods that carved the higher channel floors were primarily sourced from Hydaspis Chaos. The floods apparently branched...
The effect of multiple stressors on salt marsh end-of-season biomass
J.M. Visser, C.E. Sasser, B.S. Cade
2006, Estuaries and Coasts (29) 328-339
It is becoming more apparent that commonly used statistical methods (e.g., analysis of variance and regression) are not the best methods for estimating limiting relationships or stressor effects. A major challenge of estimating the effects associated with a measured subset of limiting factors is to account for the effects of...
Modeling decadal timescale interactions between surface water and ground water in the central Everglades, Florida, USA
J. W. Harvey, J.T. Newlin, S.L. Krupa
2006, Journal of Hydrology (320) 400-420
Surface-water and ground-water flow are coupled in the central Everglades, although the remoteness of this system has hindered many previous attempts to quantify interactions between surface water and ground water. We modeled flow through a 43,000 ha basin in the central Everglades called Water Conservation Area 2A. The purpose of...
The airborne lava-seawater interaction plume at Kilauea Volcano, Hawai'i
M. Edmonds, T.M. Gerlach
2006, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (244) 83-96
Lava flows into the sea at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaiʻi, and generates an airborne gas and aerosol plume. Water (H2O), hydrogen chloride (HCl), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) gases were quantified in the plume in 2004–2005, using Open Path Fourier Transform infra-red Spectroscopy. The molar abundances...
Increases in desert shrub productivity under elevated carbon dioxide vary with water availability
D.C. Housman, E. Naumburg, T. E. Huxman, T.N. Charlet, R.S. Nowak, S.D. Smith
2006, Ecosystems (9) 374-385
Productivity of aridland plants is predicted to increase substantially with rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations due to enhancement in plant water-use efficiency (WUE). However, to date, there are few detailed analyses of how intact desert vegetation responds to elevated CO2. From 1998 to 2001, we examined aboveground production, photosynthesis,...
Spring migration of Northern Pintails from Texas and New Mexico, USA
D.A. Haukos, M. R. Miller, D.L. Orthmeyer, John Y. Takekawa, J. P. Fleskes, Michael L. Casazza, W.M. Perry, J.A. Moon
2006, Waterbirds (29) 127-136
We used satellite transmitters (platform transmitting terminals or PTTs) during 2002 and 2003 to document spring migration timing, routes, stopover sites, and nesting sites of adult female Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) from major wintering areas of the Gulf Coast (N = 20) and Playa Lakes Regions (PLR, N = 20)...
Estimates of suspended sediment entering San Francisco Bay from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Delta, San Francisco Bay, California
L.J. McKee, N. K. Ganju, D. H. Schoellhamer
2006, Journal of Hydrology (323) 335-352
This study demonstrates the use of suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) data collected at Mallard Island as a means of determining suspended-sediment load entering San Francisco Bay from the Sacramento and San Joaquin River watersheds. Optical backscatter (OBS) data were collected every 15 min during water years (WYs) 1995-2003 and converted to...
Mercury in ground water, septage, leach-field effluent, and soils in residential areas, New Jersey coastal plain
J. L. Barringer, Zoltan Szabo, D. Schneider, W.D. Atkinson, R.A. Gallagher
2006, Science of the Total Environment (361) 144-162
Water samples were collected from domestic wells at an unsewered residential area in Gloucester County, New Jersey where mercury (Hg) concentrations in well water were known to exceed the USEPA maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 2000 ng/L. This residential area (the CSL site) is representative of more than 70 such...
The importance of diverse data types to calibrate a watershed model of the Trout Lake Basin, Northern Wisconsin, USA
R. J. Hunt, D. T. Feinstein, C.D. Pint, Marilyn P. Anderson
2006, Journal of Hydrology (321) 286-296
As part of the USGS Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets project and the NSF Long-Term Ecological Research work, a parameter estimation code was used to calibrate a deterministic groundwater flow model of the Trout Lake Basin in northern Wisconsin. Observations included traditional calibration targets (head, lake stage, and baseflow observations)...
