Subsurface transport of orthophosphate in five agricultural watersheds, USA
Joseph L. Domagalski, Henry M. Johnson
2011, Journal of Hydrology (409) 157-171
Concentrations of dissolved orthophosphate (ortho P) in the unsaturated zone, groundwater, tile drains, and groundwater/stream water interfaces were assessed in five agricultural watersheds to determine the potential for subsurface transport. Concentrations of iron oxides were measured in the aquifer material and adsorption of ortho P on oxide surfaces was assessed...
Taking the pulse of snowmelt: in situ sensors reveal seasonal, event and diurnal patterns of nitrate and dissolved organic matter variability in an upland forest stream
Brian A. Pellerin, John Franco Saraceno, James B. Shanley, Stephen D. Sebestyen, George R. Aiken, Wilfred M. Wollheim, Brian A. Bergamaschi
2011, Biogeochemistry (108) 183-198
Highly resolved time series data are useful to accurately identify the timing, rate, and magnitude of solute transport in streams during hydrologically dynamic periods such as snowmelt. We used in situ optical sensors for nitrate (NO3-) and chromophoric dissolved organic matter fluorescence (FDOM) to measure surface water concentrations at 30...
Hydrology, phosphorus, and suspended solids in five agricultural streams in the Lower Fox River and Green Bay Watersheds, Wisconsin, Water Years 2004-06
David J. Graczyk, Dale M. Robertson, Paul D. Baumgart, Kevin Fermanich
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5111
A 3-year study was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to characterize water quality in agricultural streams in the Fox/Wolf watershed in northeastern Wisconsin and provide information to assist in the calibration of a watershed model for the area. Streamflow, phosphorus, and suspended solids...
What makes a natural clay antibacterial?
Lynda B. Williams, David W. Metge, Dennis D. Eberl, Ronald W. Harvey, Amanda G. Turner, Panjai Prapaipong, Amisha T. Port-Peterson
2011, Environmental Science & Technology (45) 3768-3773
Natural clays have been used in ancient and modern medicine, but the mechanism(s) that make certain clays lethal against bacterial pathogens has not been identified. We have compared the depositional environments, mineralogies, and chemistries of clays that exhibit antibacterial effects on a broad spectrum of human pathogens including antibiotic resistant...
An exploratory investigation of polar organic compounds in waters from a lead–zinc mine and mill complex
Colleen E. Rostad, Christopher J. Schmitt, John G. Schumacher, Thomas J. Leiker
2011, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution (217) 431-443
Surface water samples were collected in 2006 from a lead mine-mill complex in Missouri to investigate possible organic compounds coming from the milling process. Water samples contained relatively high concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC; greater than 20 mg/l) for surface waters but were colorless, implying a lack of naturally...
Using digital photography to examine grazing in montane meadows
Susan K. McIlroy, Barbara H. Allen-Diaz, Alexander C. Berg
2011, Rangeland Ecology and Management (64) 187-195
Cattle (Bos taurus) numbers on national forests are allocated based on allotment grazing capacity, but spatial patterns of timing and density at smaller scales are difficult to assess. However, it is often in meadows or riparian areas that grazing may affect hydrology, biodiversity, and other important ecosystem characteristics. To explore...
Improvement in precipitation-runoff model simulations by recalibration with basin-specific data, and subsequent model applications, Onondaga Lake Basin, Onondaga County, New York
William F. Coon
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5203
Water-resource managers in Onondaga County, New York, are faced with the challenge of improving the water quality of Onondaga Lake, which has the distinction of being one of the most contaminated lakes in the United States. To assist in this endeavor, during 2003-07 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation...
Transient groundwater chemistry near a river: Effects on U(VI) transport in laboratory column experiments
Jun Yin, Roy Haggerty, Deborah L. Stoliker, Douglas B. Kent, Jonathan D. Istok, Janek Greskowiak, John M. Zachara
2011, Water Resources Research (47)
In the 300 Area of a U(VI)-contaminated aquifer at Hanford, Washington, USA, inorganic carbon and major cations, which have large impacts on U(VI) transport, change on an hourly and seasonal basis near the Columbia River. Batch and column experiments were conducted to investigate the factors controlling U(VI) adsorption/desorption by changing...
Towards identifying the next generation of superfund and hazardous waste site contaminants
Wendell P. Ela, David L. Sedlak, Morton A. Barlaz, Heather F. Henry, Derek C.G. Muir, Deborah L. Swackhamer, Eric J. Weber, Robert G. Arnold, P. Lee Ferguson, Jennifer A. Field, Edward T. Furlong, John P. Giesy, Rolf U. Halden, Tala Henry, Ronald A. Hites, Keri C. Hornbuckle, Philip H. Howard, Richard G. Luthy, Anita K. Meyer, A. Eduardo Saez, Frederick S. vom Saal, Chris D. Vulpe, Mark R. Wiesner
2011, Environmental Health Perspectives (119) 6-10
Background This commentary evolved from a workshop sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences titled "Superfund Contaminants: The Next Generation" held in Tucson, Arizona, in August 2009. All the authors were workshop participants. Objectives Our aim was to initiate a dynamic, adaptable process for identifying contaminants of emerging concern...
Effects of brush management on the hydrologic budget and water quality in and adjacent to Honey Creek State Natural Area, Comal County, Texas, 2001-10
J. Ryan Banta, Richard N. Slattery
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5226
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Edwards Region Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, the San Antonio River Authority, the Edwards Aquifer Authority, Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority, and...
Nest survival of American Coots relative to grazing, burning, and water depths
Jane E. Austin, Deborah A. Buhl
2011, Avian Conservation and Ecology (6) 1-14
Water and emergent vegetation are key features influencing nest site selection and success for many marsh-nesting waterbirds. Wetland management practices such as grazing, burning, and water-level manipulations directly affect these features and can influence nest survival. We used model selection and before-after-control-impact approaches to evaluate the effects of water depth...
Pathogenic bacteria and microbial-source tracking markers in Brandywine Creek Basin, Pennsylvania and Delaware, 2009-10
Joseph W. Duris, Andrew G. Reif, Leif E. Olson, Heather E. Johnson
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5164
The City of Wilmington, Delaware, is in the downstream part of the Brandywine Creek Basin, on the main stem of Brandywine Creek. Wilmington uses this stream, which drains a mixed-land-use area upstream, for its main drinking-water supply. Because the stream is used for drinking water, Wilmington is in need of...
Potential climate change effects on water tables and pyrite oxidation in headwater catchments in Colorado
Richard M. Webb, M. Alisa Mast, Andrew H. Manning, David W. Clow, Donald H. Campbell
C. Nicholas Medley, Glenn Patterson, Melanie J. Parker, editor(s)
2011, Conference Paper, Observing, studying, and managing for change - Proceedings of the Fourth Interagency Conference on Research in the Watersheds: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2011–5169
A water, energy, and biogeochemical model (WEBMOD) was constructed to simulate hydrology and pyrite oxidation for the period October 1992 through September 1997. The hydrologic model simulates processes in Loch Vale, a 6.6-km² granitic watershed that drains the east side of the Continental Divide. Parameters describing pyrite oxidation were derived...
Editor’s message: Groundwater modeling fantasies - Part 2, down to earth
Clifford I. Voss
2011, Hydrogeology Journal (19) 1455-1458
Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art. (Frédéric Chopin, a musician and composer, quoted in If Not God, Then What? by Fost 2007)Despite the dubious developments...
Editor’s message: Groundwater modeling fantasies - Part 1, adrift in the details
Clifford I. Voss
2011, Hydrogeology Journal (19) 1281-1284
Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it. …Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it. (Epigrams in Programming by Alan Perlis, a computer scientist; Perlis 1982).A doctoral student creating a groundwater model of a regional aquifer put individual...
Quality of our groundwater resources: Arsenic and fluoride
D. Kirk Nordstrom
2011, Geosciences (13) 82-87
Groundwater often contains arsenic or fluoride concentrations too high for drinking or cooking. These constituents, often naturally occurring, are not easy to remove. The right combination of natural or manmade conditions can lead to elevated arsenic or fluoride which includes continental source rocks, high alkalinity and pH, reducing conditions for...
The human dimension of fire regimes on Earth
David M. J. S. Bowman, Jennifer Balch, Paulo Artaxo, William J. Bond, Mark A. Cochrane, Carla M. D'Antonio, Fay H. Johnston, Ruth DeFries, Jon E. Keeley, Meg A. Krawchuk, Christian A. Kull, Michelle Mack, Max A. Moritz, Stephen Pyne, Christopher I. Roos, Andrew C. Scott, Navjot S. Sodhi, Thomas W. Swetnam
2011, Journal of Biogeography (38) 2223-2236
Humans and their ancestors are unique in being a fire‐making species, but ‘natural’ (i.e. independent of humans) fires have an ancient, geological history on Earth. Natural fires have influenced biological evolution and global biogeochemical cycles, making fire integral to the functioning of some biomes. Globally, debate rages about the impact...
Differences in macroinvertebrate community structure in streams and rivers with different hydrologic regimes in the semi-arid Colorado Plateau
Matthew P. Miller, Anne M.D. Brasher
2011, River Systems (19) 225-238
Aquatic macroinvertebrates are sensitive to changes in their chemical and physical environment, and as such, serve as excellent indicators of overall ecosystem health. Moreover, temporal and spatial differences in macroinvertebrate community structure can be used to investigate broad issues in aquatic science, such as the hypothesis that changes in climate...
A multi-year comparison of IPCI scores for prairie pothole wetlands: implications of temporal and spatial variation
Ned H. Euliss Jr., David M. Mushet
2011, Wetlands (31) 713-723
In the prairie pothole region of North America, development of Indices of Biotic Integrity (IBIs) to detect anthropogenic impacts on wetlands has been hampered by naturally dynamic inter-annual climate fluctuations. Of multiple efforts to develop IBIs for prairie pothole wetlands, only one, the Index of Plant Community Integrity (IPCI), has...
Carbon gas fluxes in re-established wetlands on organic soils differ relative to plant community and hydrology
Robin L. Miller
2011, Wetlands (31) 1055-1066
We measured CO2 and CH4 fluxes for 6 years following permanent flooding of an agriculturally managed organic soil at two water depths (~25 and ~55 cm standing water) in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California, as part of research studying C dynamics in re-established wetlands. Flooding rapidly reduced gaseous C losses,...
Role of biofilms in sorptive removal of steroidal hormones and 4-nonylphenol compounds from streams
Jeffrey H. Writer, Joseph N. Ryan, Larry B. Barber
2011, Environmental Science & Technology (45) 7275-7283
Stream biofilms play an important role in geochemical processing of organic matter and nutrients, however, the significance of this matrix in sorbing trace organic contaminants is less understood. This study focused on the role of stream biofilms in sorbing steroidal hormones and 4-nonylphenol compounds from surface waters using biofilms colonized...
Response in the trophic state of stratified lakes to changes in hydrology and water level: potential effects of climate change
Dale M. Robertson, William J. Rose
2011, Journal of Water and Climate Change (2) 1-18
To determine how climate-induced changes in hydrology and water level may affect the trophic state (productivity) of stratified lakes, two relatively pristine dimictic temperate lakes in Wisconsin, USA, were examined. Both are closed-basin lakes that experience changes in water level and degradation in water quality during periods of high water....
Chronology, sedimentology, and microfauna of groundwater discharge deposits in the central Mojave Desert, Valley Wells, California
Jeffrey S. Pigati, David M. Miller, Jordon E. Bright, Shannon Mahan, Jeffrey C. Nekola, James B. Paces
2011, Geological Society of America Bulletin (123) 2224-2239
During the late Pleistocene, emergent groundwater supported persistent and long-lived desert wetlands in many broad valleys and basins in the American Southwest. When active, these systems provided important food and water sources for local fauna, supported hydrophilic and phreatophytic vegetation, and acted as catchments for eolian and alluvial sediments. Desert...
SICS: the Southern Inland and Coastal System interdisciplinary project of the USGS South Florida Ecosystem Program
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2011, Report
State and Federal agencies are working jointly on structural modifications and improved water-delivery strategies to reestablish more natural surface-water flows through the Everglades wetlands and into Florida Bay. Changes in the magnitude, duration, timing, and distribution of inflows from the headwaters of the Taylor Slough and canal C-111 drainage basins...
Characterization of the intragranular water regime within subsurface sediments: pore volume, surface area, and mass transfer limitations
Michael B. Hay, Deborah L. Stoliker, James A. Davis, John M. Zachara
2011, Water Resources Research (47)
Although "intragranular" pore space within grain aggregates, grain fractures, and mineral surface coatings may contain a relatively small fraction of the total porosity within a porous medium, it often contains a significant fraction of the reactive surface area, and can thus strongly affect the transport of sorbing solutes. In this...
