Floodplain biogeochemical processing of floodwaters in the Atchafalaya River Basin during the Mississippi River flood of 2011
Durelle T. Scott, Richard F. Keim, Brandon L. Edwards, C. Nathan Jones, Daniel E. Kroes
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (119) 537-546
The 2011 flood in the Lower Mississippi resulted in the second highest recorded river flow diverted into the Atchafalaya River Basin (ARB). The higher water levels during the flood peak resulted in high hydrologic connectivity between the Atchafalaya River and floodplain, with up to 50% of the Atchafalaya River water...
Applying downscaled global climate model data to a hydrodynamic surface-water and groundwater model
Eric Swain, Lydia Stefanova, Thomas Smith
2014, American Journal of Climate Change (3) 33-49
Precipitation data from Global Climate Models have been downscaled to smaller regions. Adapting this downscaled precipitation data to a coupled hydrodynamic surface-water/groundwater model of southern Florida allows an examination of future conditions and their effect on groundwater levels, inundation patterns, surface-water stage and flows, and salinity. The downscaled rainfall data...
Antecedent flow conditions and nitrate concentrations in the Mississippi River basin
Jennifer C. Murphy, Robert M. Hirsch, Lori A. Sprague
2014, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 967-979
The relationship between antecedent flow conditions and nitrate concentrations was explored at eight sites in the 2.9 million square kilometers (km2) Mississippi River basin, USA. Antecedent flow conditions were quantified as the ratio between the mean daily flow of the previous year and the mean daily flow from the period...
Quality of surface water in Missouri, water year 2012
Miya N. Barr
2014, Data Series 818
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During the 2012 water year (October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2012), data were collected at...
Simulation of groundwater flow pathlines and freshwater/saltwater transition zone movement, Manhasset Neck, Nassau County, New York
Paul Misut, Omkar Aphale
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5201
A density-dependent groundwater flow and solute transport model of Manhasset Neck, Long Island, New York, was used to analyze (1) the effects of seasonal stress on the position of the freshwater/saltwater transition zone and (2) groundwater flowpaths. The following were used in the simulation: 182 transient stress periods, representing the...
Analysis of the present and future winter Pacific-North American teleconnection in the ECHAM5 global and RegCM3 regional climate models
Andrea M. Allan, Steven W. Hostetler, Jay R. Alder
2014, Climate Dynamics (42) 1671-1682
We use the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis (NCEP) and the MPI/ECHAM5 general circulation model to drive the RegCM3 regional climate model to assess the ability of the models to reproduce the spatiotemporal aspects of the Pacific-North American teleconnection (PNA) pattern. Composite anomalies of the NCEP-driven RegCM3 simulations for 1982–2000 indicate that the...
Sampling trace organic compounds in water: a comparison of a continuous active sampler to continuous passive and discrete sampling methods
Alissa L. Coes, Nicholas V. Paretti, William T. Foreman, Jana L. Iverson, David A. Alvarez
2014, Science of the Total Environment (473-474) 731-741
A continuous active sampling method was compared to continuous passive and discrete sampling methods for the sampling of trace organic compounds (TOCs) in water. Results from each method are compared and contrasted in order to provide information for future investigators to use while selecting appropriate sampling methods for their research....
Survival and behaviour of juvenile unionid mussels exposed to thermal stress and dewatering in the presence of a sediment temperature gradient
L. Archambault, W. Gregory Cope, Thomas J. Kwak
2014, Freshwater Biology (59) 601-613
Freshwater mussels (Unionidae) are a highly imperilled faunal group. One critical threat is thermal sensitivity, because global climate change and other anthropogenic activities contribute to increasing stream temperature and altered hydrologic flow that may be detrimental to freshwater mussels. We incorporated four benthic environmental components - temperature, sediment, water...
Toxicity and accumulation of silver nanoparticles during development of the marine polychaete Platynereis dumerilii
Javier Garcia-Alonso, Neus Rodriguez-Sanchez, Superb K. Misra, Eugenia Valsami-Jones, Marie-Noële Croteau, Samuel N. Luoma, Philip S. Rainbow
2014, Science of the Total Environment (476-477) 688-695
Pollutants affecting species at the population level generate ecological instability in natural systems. The success of early life stages, such as those of aquatic invertebrates, is highly affected by adverse environmental conditions. Silver released into the environment from emerging nanotechnology represents such a threat. Sediments are sinks for numerous pollutants,...
Watershed-scale modeling of streamflow change in incised montane meadows
Hedeff I. Essaid, Barry R. Hill
2014, Water Resources Research (50) 2657-2678
Land use practices have caused stream channel incision and water table decline in many montane meadows of the Western United States. Incision changes the magnitude and timing of streamflow in water supply source watersheds, a concern to resource managers and downstream water users. The hydrology of montane meadows under natural...
Wildland fire ash: Production, composition and eco-hydro-geomorphic effects
Merche B. Bodi, Deborah A. Martin, Victoria N. Balfour, Cristina Santin, Stefan H. Doerr, Paulo Pereira, Artemi Cerda, Jorge Mataix-Solera
2014, Earth-Science Reviews (130) 103-127
Fire transforms fuels (i.e. biomass, necromass, soil organic matter) into materials with different chemical and physical properties. One of these materials is ash, which is the particulate residue remaining or deposited on the ground that consists of mineral materials and charred organic components. The quantity and characteristics of ash...
Optical sensors for water quality
Brian A. Pellerin, Brian A. Bergamaschi
2014, Lakeline 13-17
Shifts in land use, population, and climate have altered hydrologic systems in the United States in ways that affect water quality and ecosystem function. Water diversions, detention in reservoirs, increased channelization, and changes in rainfall and snowmelt are major causes, but there are also more subtle causes such as changes...
Groundwater quality at Alabama Plating and Vincent Spring, Vincent, Alabama, 2007–2008
Mike Bradley, Amy C. Gill
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1298
The former Alabama Plating site in Vincent, Alabama, includes the location where the Alabama Plating Company operated an electroplating facility from 1956 until 1986. The operation of the facility generated waste containing cyanide, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, zinc, and other heavy metals. Contamination resulting from the site operations was...
In vivo retention of ingested Au NPs by Daphnia magna: No evidence for trans-epithelial alimentary uptake
Farhan R. Khan, Gabrielle M. Kennaway, Marie-Noële Croteau, Agnieszka Dybowska, Brian D. Smith, Antonio J.A. Nogueira, Philip S. Rainbow, Samuel N. Luoma, Eugenia Valsami-Jones
2014, Chemosphere (100) 97-104
In vivo studies with Daphnia magna remain inconclusive as to whether engineered nanoparticles (NPs) are internalized into tissues after ingestion. Here we used a three-pronged approach to study the in vivo retention and efflux kinetics of 20 nm citrate stabilized Au NPs ingested by this key aquatic species. Daphnids were...
Mercury cycling in agricultural and managed wetlands: a synthesis of methylmercury production, hydrologic export, and bioaccumulation from an integrated field study
Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Jacob A. Fleck, Joshua T. Ackerman, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Craig A. Stricker, Wesley A. Heim, Philip Bachand, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Gary Gill, Mark Stephenson, Charles N. Alpers
2014, Science of the Total Environment (484) 221-231
With seasonal wetting and drying, and high biological productivity, agricultural wetlands (rice paddies) may enhance the conversion of inorganic mercury (Hg(II)) to methylmercury (MeHg), the more toxic, organic form that biomagnifies through food webs. Yet, the net balance of MeHg sources and sinks in seasonal wetland environments is poorly understood...
Potentiometric surface of the Ozark aquifer in northern Arkansas, 2010
John B. Czarnecki, Aaron L. Pugh, Joshua M. Blackstock
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5013
The Ozark aquifer in northern Arkansas is composed of dolomite, limestone, sandstone, and shale of Late Cambrian to Middle Devonian age and ranges in thickness from approximately 1,100 feet to more than 4,000 feet. Hydrologically, the aquifer is complex, characterized by discrete and discontinuous flow components with large variations in...
Hydrogeologic framework and geologic structure of the Floridan aquifer system and intermediate confining unit in the Lake Okeechobee area, Florida
Ronald S. Reese
2014, Scientific Investigations Map 3288
The successful implementation of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) as a water-management tool requires detailed information on the hydrologic and hydraulic properties of the potential water storage zones. This report presents stratigraphic and hydrogeologic sections of the upper part of the Floridan aquifer system and the overlying confining unit or...
Metolachlor metabolite (MESA) reveals agricultural nitrate-N fate and transport in Choptank River watershed
Gregory W. McCarty, Cathleen J. Hapeman, Clifford P. Rice, W. Dean Hively, Laura L. McConnell, Ali M. Sadeghi, Megan W. Lang, David R. Whitall, Krystyna Bialek, Peter Downey
2014, Science of the Total Environment (473-474) 473-482
Over 50% of streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed have been rated as poor or very poor based on the index of biological integrity. The Choptank River estuary, a Bay tributary on the eastern shore, is one such waterway, where corn and soybean production in upland areas of the watershed...
Reconstructing disturbances and their biogeochemical consequences over multiple timescales
Kendra K. McLauchlan, Philip E. Higuera, Daniel G. Gavin, Steven S. Perakis, Michelle C. Mack, Heather Alexander, John Battles, Franco Biondi, Brian Buma, Daniele Colombaroli, Sara K. Enders, Daniel R. Engstrom, Feng Sheng Hu, Jennifer R. Marlon, John Marshall, Matt McGlone, Jesse L. Morris, Lucas E. Nave, Bryan Shuman, Erica A.H. Smithwick, Dunia H. Urrego, David A. Wardle, Christopher J. Williams, Joseph J. Williams
2014, BioScience (64) 105-116
Ongoing changes in disturbance regimes are predicted to cause acute changes in ecosystem structure and function in the coming decades, but many aspects of these predictions are uncertain. A key challenge is to improve the predictability of postdisturbance biogeochemical trajectories at the ecosystem level. Ecosystem ecologists and paleoecologists have generated...
Assessing effects of native forest restoration on soil moisture dynamics and potential aquifer recharge, Auwahi, Maui
Kim S. Perkins, John R. Nimmo, Arthur C. Medeiros, Daphne J. Szutu, Erica von Allmen
2014, Ecohydrology (7) 1437-1451
Understanding the role of soils in regulating water flow through the unsaturated zone is critical in assessing the influence of vegetation on soil moisture dynamics and aquifer recharge. Because of fire, introduced ungulates and landscape-level invasion of non-native grasses, less than 10% of original dry forest (~730 mm precipitation annually) still...
Nitrate fate and transport through current and former depressional wetlands in an agricultural landscape, Choptank Watershed, Maryland, United States
J. M. Denver, S.W. Ator, M.W. Lang, T.R. Fisher, A.B. Gustafson, R. Fox, J.W. Clune, G.W. McCarty
2014, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (69) 1-16
Understanding local groundwater hydrology and geochemistry is critical for evaluating the effectiveness of wetlands at mitigating agricultural impacts on surface waters. The effectiveness of depressional wetlands at mitigating nitrate (NO3) transport from fertilized row crops, through groundwater, to local streams was examined in the watershed of the upper Choptank River,...
Decadal oscillation of lakes and aquifers in the upper Great Lakes region of North America: hydroclimatic implications
C.J. Watras, J.S. Read, K.D. Holman, Z. Liu, Y.-Y. Song, A.J. Watras, S. Morgan, E.H. Stanley
2014, Geophysical Research Letters (41) 456-462
We report a unique hydrologic time-series which indicates that water levels in lakes and aquifers across the upper Great Lakes region of North America have been dominated by a climatically-driven, near-decadal oscillation for at least 70 years. The historical oscillation (~13y) is remarkably consistent among small seepage lakes, groundwater tables and...
Evaluation of wastewater contaminant transport in surface waters using verified Lagrangian sampling
Ronald C. Antweiler, Jeffrey H. Writer, Sheila F. Murphy
2014, Science of the Total Environment (470-471) 551-558
Contaminants released from wastewater treatment plants can persist in surface waters for substantial distances. Much research has gone into evaluating the fate and transport of these contaminants, but this work has often assumed constant flow from wastewater treatment plants. However, effluent discharge commonly varies widely over a 24-hour period, and...
Africa-wide monitoring of small surface water bodies using multisource satellite data: A monitoring system for FEWS NET
Naga Manohar Velpuri, Gabriel B. Senay, James Rowland, James P. Verdin, Henok Alemu
Assefa M. Melesse, Wossenu Abtew, Shimelis G. Setegn, editor(s)
2014, Book chapter, Nile River Basin
Continental Africa has the highest volume of water stored in wetlands, large lakes, reservoirs, and rivers, yet it suffers from problems such as water availability and access. With climate change intensifying the hydrologic cycle and altering the distribution and frequency of rainfall, the problem of water availability and access will...
Coupled hydrological and biogeochemical processes controlling variability of nitrogen species in streamflow during autumn in an upland forest
Stephen D. Sebestyen, James B. Shanley, Elizabeth W. Boyer, Carol Kendall, Daniel H. Doctor
2014, Water Resources Research (50) 1569-1591
Autumn is a season of dynamic change in forest streams of the northeastern United States due to effects of leaf fall on both hydrology and biogeochemistry. Few studies have explored how interactions of biogeochemical transformations, various nitrogen sources, and catchment flow paths affect stream nitrogen variation during autumn. To provide...
