Coordinating standards and applications for optical water quality sensor networks
B. Bergamaschi, B. Pellerin
2011, Conference Paper, Eos
Joint USGS-CUAHSI Workshop: In Situ Optical Water Quality Sensor Networks; Shepherdstown, West Virginia, 8-10 June 2011; Advanced in situ optical water quality sensors and new techniques for data analysis hold enormous promise for advancing scientific understanding of aquatic systems through measurements of important biogeochemical parameters at the time scales over...
Approach for environmental baseline water sampling
K. S. Smith
2011, Conference Paper, SME Annual Meeting and Exhibit and CMA 113th National Western Mining Conference 2011
Samples collected during the exploration phase of mining represent baseline conditions at the site. As such, they can be very important in forecasting potential environmental impacts should mining proceed, and can become measurements against which future changes are compared. Constituents in stream water draining mined and mineralized areas tend to...
Wetland vegetation in Manzala lagoon, Nile Delta coast, Egypt: Rapid responses of pollen to altered nile hydrology and land use
C.E. Bernhardt, J.-D. Stanley, B. P. Horton
2011, Journal of Coastal Research (27) 731-737
The pollen record in a sediment core from Manzala lagoon on the Nile delta coastal margin of Egypt, deposited from ca. AD 1860 to 1990, indicates rapid coastal wetland vegetation responses to two primary periods of human activity. These are associated with artificially altered Nile hydrologic regimes in proximal areas and distal...
What is the role of fresh groundwater and recirculated seawater in conveying nutrients to the coastal ocean?
Yishai Weinstein, Yoseph Yechieli, Yehuda Shalem, William C. Burnett, Peter W. Swarzenski, Barak Herut
2011, Environmental Science and Technology (45) 5195-5200
Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is a major process operating at the land-sea interface. Quantifying the SGD nutrient loads and the marine/terrestrial controls of this transport is of high importance, especially in oligotrophic seas such as the eastern Mediterranean. The fluxes of nutrients in groundwater discharging from the seafloor at Dor...
Monitoring duration and extent of storm-surge and flooding in Western Coastal Louisiana marshes with Envisat ASAR data
Elijah Ramsey III, Zhong Lu, Yukihiro Suzuoki, Amina Rangoonwala, Dirk Werle
2011, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (4) 387-399
Inundation maps of coastal marshes in western Louisiana were created with multitemporal Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture (ASAR) scenes collected before and during the three months after Hurricane Rita landfall in September 2005. Corroborated by inland water-levels, 7 days after landfall, 48% of coastal estuarine and palustrine marshes remained inundated by...
Causes of systematic over- or underestimation of low streamflows by use of index-streamgage approaches in the United States
K. Eng, J.E. Kiang, Y.-Y. Chen, D.M. Carlisle, G.E. Granato
2011, Hydrological Processes (25) 2211-2220
Low-flow characteristics can be estimated by multiple linear regressions or the index-streamgage approach. The latter transfers streamflow information from a hydrologically similar, continuously gaged basin ('index streamgage') to one with a very limited streamflow record, but often results in biased estimates. The application of the index-streamgage approach can be generalized...
The high life: Transport of microbes in the atmosphere
D.J. Smith, Dale W. Griffin, D.A. Jaffe
2011, Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union (92) 249-250
Microbes (bacteria, fungi, algae, and viruses) are the most successful types of life on Earth because of their ability to adapt to new environments, reproduce quickly, and disperse globally. Dispersal occurs through a number of vectors, such as migrating animals or the hydrological cycle, but transport by wind may be...
In situ measurements of post-fire debris flows in southern California: Comparisons of the timing and magnitude of 24 debris-flow events with rainfall and soil moisture conditions
J. W. Kean, D.M. Staley, S.H. Cannon
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (116)
Debris flows often occur in burned steeplands of southern California, sometimes causing property damage and loss of life. In an effort to better understand the hydrologic controls on post-fire debris-flow initiation, timing and magnitude, we measured the flow stage, rainfall, channel bed pore fluid pressure and hillslope soil-moisture accompanying 24...
Impacts of past climate and sea level change on Everglades wetlands: placing a century of anthropogenic change into a late-Holocene context
Debra A. Willard, C.E. Bernhardt
2011, Climatic Change (107) 59-80
We synthesize existing evidence on the ecological history of the Florida Everglades since its inception ~7 ka (calibrated kiloannum) and evaluate the relative impacts of sea level rise, climate variability, and human alteration of Everglades hydrology on wetland plant communities. Initial freshwater peat accumulation began between 6 and 7 ka...
Biogeochemistry of a temperate forest nitrogen gradient
Steven S. Perakis, Emily R. Sinkhorn
2011, Ecology (92) 1481-1491
Wide natural gradients of soil nitrogen (N) can be used to examine fundamental relationships between plant–soil–microbial N cycling and hydrologic N loss, and to test N-saturation theory as a general framework for understanding ecosystem N dynamics. We characterized plant production, N uptake and return in litterfall, soil gross and net...
Modern thermokarst lake dynamics in the continuous permafrost zone, northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska
Benjamin M. Jones, G. Grosse, C.D. Arp, M.C. Jones, Anthony K.M. Walter, V.E. Romanovsky
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (116)
Quantifying changes in thermokarst lake extent is of importance for understanding the permafrost-related carbon budget, including the potential release of carbon via lake expansion or sequestration as peat in drained lake basins. We used high spatial resolution remotely sensed imagery from 1950/51, 1978, and 2006/07 to quantify changes in thermokarst...
Comparative mobility of sulfonamides and bromide tracer in three soils
S.T. Kurwadkar, C.D. Adams, Michael T. Meyer, Dana W. Kolpin
2011, Journal of Environmental Management (92) 1874-1881
In animal agriculture, sulfonamides are one of the routinely used groups of antimicrobials for therapeutic and sub-therapeutic purposes. It is observed that, the animals when administered the antimicrobials, often do not completely metabolize them; and excrete the partially metabolized forms into the environment. Due to the continued use of antimicrobials...
Groundwater chemistry near an impoundment for produced water, Powder River Basin, Wyoming, USA
R. W. Healy, T.T. Bartos, C. A. Rice, M.P. McKinley, B. D. Smith
2011, Journal of Hydrology (403) 37-48
The Powder River Basin is one of the largest producers of coal-bed natural gas (CBNG) in the United States. An important environmental concern in the Basin is the fate of the large amounts of groundwater extracted during CBNG production. Most of this produced water is disposed of in unlined surface...
Hydrogeomorphic processes of thermokarst lakes with grounded-ice and floating-ice regimes on the Arctic coastal plain, Alaska
C.D. Arp, Benjamin M. Jones, F.E. Urban, G. Grosse
2011, Hydrological Processes (25) 2422-2438
Thermokarst lakes cover > 20% of the landscape throughout much of the Alaskan Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) with shallow lakes freezing solid (grounded ice) and deeper lakes maintaining perennial liquid water (floating ice). Thus, lake depth relative to maximum ice thickness (1·5–2·0 m) represents an important threshold that impacts permafrost,...
Evaluating the effects of future climate change and elevated CO2 on the water use efficiency in terrestrial ecosystems of China
Q. Zhu, H. Jiang, C. Peng, J. Liu, X. Wei, X. Fang, S. Liu, G. Zhou, S. Yu
2011, Ecological Modelling (222) 2414-2429
Water use efficiency (WUE) is an important variable used in climate change and hydrological studies in relation to how it links ecosystem carbon cycles and hydrological cycles together. However, obtaining reliable WUE results based on site-level flux data remains a great challenge when scaling up to larger regional zones. Biophysical,...
Quantification of a greenhouse hydrologic cycle from equatorial to polar latitudes: The mid-Cretaceous water bearer revisited
M.B. Suarez, Luis A. Gonzalez, Greg A. Ludvigson
2011, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (307) 301-312
This study aims to investigate the global hydrologic cycle during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse by utilizing the oxygen isotopic composition of pedogenic carbonates (calcite and siderite) as proxies for the oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation. The data set builds on the Aptian–Albian sphaerosiderite δ18O data set presented by Ufnar et...
Simulating adsorption of U(VI) under transient groundwater flow and hydrochemistry: Physical versus chemical nonequilibrium model
J. Greskowiak, M.B. Hay, H. Prommer, C. Liu, V.E.A. Post, R. Ma, J.A. Davis, C. Zheng, J.M. Zachara
2011, Water Resources Research (47)
Coupled intragrain diffusional mass transfer and nonlinear surface complexation processes play an important role in the transport behavior of U(VI) in contaminated aquifers. Two alternative model approaches for simulating these coupled processes were analyzed and compared: (1) the physical nonequilibrium approach that explicitly accounts for aqueous speciation and instantaneous surface...
Evaluation of TRIGRS (transient rainfall infiltration and grid-based regional slope-stability analysis)'s predictive skill for hurricane-triggered landslides: A case study in Macon County, North Carolina
Z. Liao, Y. Hong, D. Kirschbaum, R.F. Adler, J.J. Gourley, R. Wooten
2011, Natural Hazards (58) 325-339
The key to advancing the predictability of rainfall-triggered landslides is to use physically based slope-stability models that simulate the transient dynamical response of the subsurface moisture to spatiotemporal variability of rainfall in complex terrains. TRIGRS (transient rainfall infiltration and grid-based regional slope-stability analysis) is a USGS landslide prediction model, coded...
Methane oxidation in a crude oil contaminated aquifer: Delineation of aerobic reactions at the plume fringes
R.T. Amos, Barbara A. Bekins, Geoffrey N. Delin, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, D.W. Blowes, J. D. Kirshtein
2011, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology (125) 13-25
High resolution direct-push profiling over short vertical distances was used to investigate CH4 attenuation in a petroleum contaminated aquifer near Bemidji, Minnesota. The contaminant plume was delineated using dissolved gases, redox sensitive components, major ions, carbon isotope ratios in CH4 and CO2, and the presence of methanotrophic bacteria. Sharp redox gradients were observed near the...
Scale-dependent factors affecting North American river otter distribution in the midwest
Mackenzie R. Jeffress, Craig P. Paukert, Joanna B. Whittier, B. K. Sandercock, P. S. Gipson
2011, American Midland Naturalist (166) 177-193
The North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) is recovering from near extirpation throughout much of its range. Although reintroductions, trapping regulations and habitat improvements have led to the reestablishment of river otters in the Midwest, little is known about how their distribution is influenced by local- and landscape-scale habitat....
The dynamical core, physical parameterizations, and basic simulation characteristics of the atmospheric component AM3 of the GFDL global coupled model CM3
L.J. Donner, B.L. Wyman, R.S. Hemler, L.W. Horowitz, Y. Ming, M. Zhao, J.-C. Golaz, P. Ginoux, S.-J. Lin, M.D. Schwarzkopf, J. Austin, G. Alaka, W.F. Cooke, T.L. Delworth, S.M. Freidenreich, C.T. Gordon, S.M. Griffies, I.M. Held, W.J. Hurlin, S.A. Klein, T.R. Knutson, A.R. Langenhorst, H.-C. Lee, Y. Lin, B.I. Magi, S.L. Malyshev, Paul Milly, V. Naik, M.J. Nath, R. Pincus, J.J. Ploshay, V. Ramaswamy, C.J. Seman, E. Shevliakova, J.J. Sirutis, W.F. Stern, R.J. Stouffer, R.J. Wilson, M. Winton, A.T. Wittenberg, F. Zeng
2011, Journal of Climate (24) 3484-3519
The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) has developed a coupled general circulation model (CM3) for the atmosphere, oceans, land, and sea ice. The goal of CM3 is to address emerging issues in climate change, including aerosol–cloud interactions, chemistry–climate interactions, and coupling between the troposphere and stratosphere. The model is also...
Long-term patterns and short-term dynamics of stream solutes and suspended sediment in a rapidly weathering tropical watershed
James B. Shanley, W. H. McDowell, Robert F. Stallard
2011, Water Resources Research (47)
The 326 ha Río Icacos watershed in the tropical wet forest of the Luquillo Mountains, northeastern Puerto Rico, is underlain by granodiorite bedrock with weathering rates among the highest in the world. We pooled stream chemistry and total suspended sediment (TSS) data sets from three discrete periods: 1983–1987, 1991–1997, and...
Occurrence of azoxystrobin, propiconazole, and selected other fungicides in US streams, 2005-2006
William A. Battaglin, Mark W. Sandstrom, Kathryn Kuivila, Dana W. Kolpin, Michael T. Meyer
2011, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution (218) 307-322
Fungicides are used to prevent foliar diseases on a wide range of vegetable, field, fruit, and ornamental crops. They are generally more effective as protective rather than curative treatments, and hence tend to be applied before infections take place. Less than 1% of US soybeans were treated with a fungicide...
Estimating trends in alligator populations from nightlight survey data
Ikuko Fujisaki, F.J. Mazzotti, R.M. Dorazio, Kenneth G. Rice, M. Cherkiss, B. Jeffery
2011, Wetlands (31) 147-155
Nightlight surveys are commonly used to evaluate status and trends of crocodilian populations, but imperfect detection caused by survey- and location-specific factors makes it difficult to draw population inferences accurately from uncorrected data. We used a two-stage hierarchical model comprising population abundance and detection probability to examine recent abundance trends...
Sulfur in the South Florida ecosystem: Distribution, sources, biogeochemistry, impacts, and management for restoration
William H. Orem, C. Gilmour, D. Axelrad, David P. Krabbenhoft, D. Scheidt, P. Kalla, P. McCormick, M. Gabriel, George Aiken
2011, Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology (41) 249-288
Sulfur is broadly recognized as a water quality issue of significance for the freshwater Florida Everglades. Roughly 60% of the remnant Everglades has surface water sulfate concentrations above 1 mg l-1, a restoration performance measure based on present sulfate levels in unenriched areas. Highly enriched marshes in the northern Everglades...
