Total dissolved gas and water temperature in the lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, water year 2010: Quality-assurance data and comparison to water-quality standards
Dwight Q. Tanner, Heather M. Bragg, Matthew W. Johnston
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1293
Significant Findings When water is released through the spillways of dams, air is entrained in the water, increasing the downstream concentration of dissolved gases. Excess dissolved-gas concentrations can have adverse effects on freshwater aquatic life. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, collected...
The effects of sediment and mercury mobilization in the South Yuba River and Humbug Creek confluence area, Nevada County, California: Concentrations, speciation, and environmental fate – Part 1: Field characterization
Jacob A. Fleck, Charles N. Alpers, Mark Marvin-DiPasquale, Roger L. Hothem, Scott Wright, Kevin Ellett, Elizabeth Beaulieu, Jennifer L. Agee, Evangelos Kakouros, Le H. Kieu, Dennis D. Eberl, Alex E. Blum, Jason T. May
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1325-A
Millions of pounds of mercury (Hg) were deposited in the river and stream channels of the Sierra Nevada from placer and hard-rock mining operations in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The resulting contaminated sediments are relatively harmless when buried and isolated from the overlying aquatic environment. The entrained Hg...
PQLX: A seismic data quality control system description, applications, and users manual
Daniel E. McNamara, Richard I. Boaz
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1292
We present a detailed description and users manual for a new tool to evaluate seismic station performance and characteristics by providing quick and easy transitions between visualizations of the frequency and time domains. The software is based on the probability density functions (PDF) of power spectral densities (PSD) (McNamara and...
Resolving structural uncertainty in natural resources management using POMDP approaches
B. Kenneth Williams
2011, Ecological Modelling (222) 1092-1102
In recent years there has been a growing focus on the uncertainties of natural resources management, and the importance of accounting for uncertainty in assessing management effectiveness. This paper focuses on uncertainty in resource management in terms of discrete-state Markov decision processes (MDP) under structural uncertainty and partial observability. It...
Simulation of streamflow in the Pleasant, Narraguagus, Sheepscot, and Royal Rivers, Maine, using watershed models
Robert W. Dudley, Martha G. Nielsen
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5221
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a study in 2008 to investigate anticipated changes in summer streamflows and stream temperatures in four coastal Maine river basins and the potential effects of those changes on populations of endangered Atlantic salmon. To achieve this purpose, it was necessary to characterize the quantity...
Zinc-The key to preventing corrosion
S.J. Kropschot, Jeff L. Doebrich
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3016
Centuries before it was identified as an element, zinc was used to make brass (an alloy of zinc and copper) and for medicinal purposes. Metallic zinc and zinc oxide were produced in India sometime between the 11th and 14th centuries and in China in the 17th century, although the discovery...
Effects of groundwater flow on the distribution of biogenic gas in parts of the northern Great Plains of Canada and United States
Lawrence O. Anna
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5251
Parts of the northern Great Plains in eastern Montana and western North Dakota and southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada, were studied as part of an assessment of shallow biogenic gas in Upper Cretaceous rocks.Parts of the northern Great Plains in eastern Montana and western North Dakota and southeastern Alberta...
Geology for a changing world 2010-2020-Implementing the U.S. Geological Survey science strategy
Linda C.S. Gundersen, Jayne Belnap, Martin Goldhaber, Arthur Goldstein, Peter J. Haeussler, S. E. Ingebritsen, John W. Jones, Geoffrey S. Plumlee, E. Robert Thieler, Robert S. Thompson, Judith M. Back
2011, Circular 1369
This report describes a science strategy for the geologic activities of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the years 2010-2020. It presents six goals with accompanying strategic actions and products that implement the science directions of USGS Circular 1309, 'Facing Tomorrow's Challenges-U.S. Geological Survey Science in the Decade 2007-2017.' These...
Moderate-resolution sea surface temperature data for the nearshore North Pacific
Meredith C. Payne, Deborah A. Reusser, Henry Lee II, Cheryl A. Brown
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1251
Coastal sea surface temperature (SST) is an important environmental characteristic in determining the suitability of habitat for nearshore marine and estuarine organisms. This publication describes and provides access to an easy-to-use coastal SST dataset for ecologists, biogeographers, oceanographers, and other scientists conducting research on nearshore marine habitats or processes. The...
Water budgets and groundwater volumes for abandoned underground mines in the Western Middle Anthracite Coalfield, Schuylkill, Columbia, and Northumberland Counties, Pennsylvania: Preliminary estimates with identification of data needs
Daniel J. Goode, Charles A. Cravotta III,, Roger J. Hornberger, Michael A. Hewitt, Robert E. Hughes, Daniel J. Koury, Lee W. Eicholtz
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5261
This report, prepared in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PaDEP), the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, and the Dauphin County Conservation District, provides estimates of water budgets and groundwater volumes stored in abandoned underground mines in the Western Middle Anthracite Coalfield, which encompasses an area...
Rainfall and evapotranspiration data for southwest Medina County, Texas, August 2006-December 2009
Richard N. Slattery, William H. Asquith, Darwin J. Ockerman
2011, Data Series 554
During August 2006-December 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District, collected rainfall and evapotranspiration data to help characterize the hydrology of the Nueces River Basin, Texas. The USGS installed and operated a station to collect continuous (30-minute interval) rainfall...
Chloride control and monitoring program in the Wichita River Basin, Texas, 1996–2009
M. M. Haynie, G. F. Burke, Stanley Baldys
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3018
Water resources of the Wichita River Basin in north-central Texas are vital to the water users in Wichita Falls, Tex., and surrounding areas. The Wichita River Basin includes three major forks of the Wichita River upstream from Lake Kemp, approximately 50 miles southwest of Wichita Falls, Tex. The main stem...
Removal of nonnative slider turtles (Trachemys scripta) and effects on native Sonora mud turtles (Kinosternon sonoriense) at Montezuma Well, Yavapai County, Arizona
Charles A. Drost, Jeffrey E. Lovich, Sheila V. Madrak, A.J. Monatesti
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1177
The National Park Service (NPS) estimates that 234 national parks contain nonnative, invasive animal species that are of management concern (National Park Service, 2004). Understanding and controlling invasive species is thus an important priority within the NPS (National Park Service, 1996). The slider turtle (Trachemys scripta) is one such invasive...
Documentation for the State Variables Package for the Groundwater-Management Process of MODFLOW-2005 (GWM-2005)
David P. Ahlfeld, Paul M. Barlow, Kristine M. Baker
2011, Techniques and Methods 6-A36
Many groundwater-management problems are concerned with the control of one or more variables that reflect the state of a groundwater-flow system or a coupled groundwater/surface-water system. These system state variables include the distribution of heads within an aquifer, streamflow rates within a hydraulically connected stream, and flow rates into or...
2007 Volcanic activity in Alaska, Kamchatka, and the Kurile Islands: Summary of events and response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory
Robert G. McGimsey, Christina A. Neal, James P. Dixon, Nataliya Malik, Marina Chibisova
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5242
The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) responded to eruptions, possible eruptions, and volcanic unrest at or near nine separate volcanic centers in Alaska during 2007. The year was highlighted by the eruption of Pavlof, one of Alaska's most frequently active volcanoes. Glaciated Fourpeaked Mountain, a volcano thought to have been inactive...
Avian conservation in the Prairie Pothole Region, Northern Great Plains-Understanding the links between climate, ecosystem processes, wetland management, and bird communities
S. K. Skagen, Cynthia Melcher
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3030
Petroleum hydrocarbons in sediment from the northern Gulf of Mexico shoreline, Texas to Florida
Robert J. Rosenbauer, Pamela L. Campbell, Angela Lam, T.D. Lorenson, Frances D. Hostettler, Burt Thomas, Florence L. Wong
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1014
Petroleum hydrocarbons were extracted and analyzed from shoreline sediment collected from the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) coastline that could potentially be impacted by Macondo-1 (M-1) well oil. Sediment was collected before M-1 well oil made significant local landfall and analyzed for baseline conditions by a suite of diagnostic petroleum...
The concept of geologic carbon sequestration
Douglas W. Duncan, Eric A. Morrissey
2011, Fact Sheet 2010-3122
Implications of community concordance for assessing stream integrity at three nested spatial scales in Minnesota, U.S.A.
Christine L. Dolph, David D. Huff, Christopher J. Chizinski, Bruce C. Vondracek
2011, Freshwater Biology (56) 1652-1669
1. Fish and invertebrate assemblage data collected from 670 stream sites in Minnesota (U.S.A.) were used to calculate concordance across three nested spatial scales (statewide, ecoregion and catchment). Predictive taxa richness models, calibrated using the same data, were used to evaluate whether concordant communities exhibited similar trends in human‐induced taxa...
Predicting spread of invasive exotic plants into dewatered reservoirs after dam removal on the Elwha River, Olympic National Park, Washington
Andrea Woodward, Christian E. Torgersen, Joshua Chenoweth, Katherine Beirne, Steve Acker
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1048
The National Park Service is planning to start the restoration of the Elwha River ecosystem in Olympic National Park by removing two high head dams beginning in 2011. The potential for dispersal of exotic plants into dewatered reservoirs following dam removal, which would inhibit restoration of native vegetation, is of...
Classifying the water table at regional to continental scales
Tom Gleeson, Lars Marklund, Leslie Smith, Andrew H. Manning
2011, Geophysical Research Letters (38)
Water tables at regional to continental scales can be classified into two distinct types: recharge-controlled water tables that are largely disconnected from topography and topography-controlled water tables that are closely tied to topography. We use geomatic synthesis of hydrologic, geologic and topographic data sets to quantify and map water-table type...
Inventory and protection of salt marshes from risks of sea-level rise at Acadia National Park, Maine
Robert W. Dudley, Martha G. Nielsen
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3015
Recent U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) climate studies in the northeastern United States have shown substantial evidence of climate-related changes during the last 100 years, including earlier snowmelt runoff, decreasing occurrence of river ice, and decreasing winter snowpack. These studies related to climate change are being expanded to include investigation of...
A digital terrain model of bathymetry and shallow-zone bottom-substrate classification for Spednic Lake and estimates of lake-level-dependent habitat to support smallmouth bass persistence modeling
Robert W. Dudley, Charles W. Schalk, Nicholas W. Stasulis, Joan G. Trial
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5255
In 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey entered into a cooperative agreement with the International Joint Commission, St. Croix River Board to do an analysis of historical smallmouth bass habitat as a function of lake level for Spednic Lake in an effort to quantify the effects, if any, of historical lake-level...
Effectiveness of catch basins equipped with hoods in retaining gross solids and hydrocarbons in highway runoff, Southeast Expressway, Boston, Massachusetts, 2008-09
Kirk P. Smith
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5182
Stormwater mobilizes litter and other debris along the roadway where it is transported to the highway drainage systems. Initial treatment for stormwater runoff typically is provided by catch basins in highway settings. Modification of catch basins to include hoods that cover the catch-basin outlet is intended to enhance catch-basin performance...
Report of the River Master of the Delaware River for the period December 1, 2004-November 30, 2005
Bruce E. Krejmas, Gary N. Paulachok, Stephen F. Blanchard
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1106
A Decree of the Supreme Court of the United States, entered in 1954, established the position of Delaware River Master within the U.S. Geological Survey. In addition, the Decree authorizes diversions of water from the Delaware River Basin and requires compensating releases from certain reservoirs, owned by New York City,...
