Comparison of turbidity to multi-frequency sideways-looking acoustic-Doppler data and suspended-sediment data in the Colorado River in Grand Canyon
Nicholas Voichick, David J. Topping
2010, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the Joint Federal Interagency Conference 2010: Hydrology and sedimentation for a changing future: existing and emerging issues
Water clarity is important to biologists when studying fish and other fluvial fauna and flora. Turbidity is an indicator of the cloudiness of water, or reduced water clarity, and is commonly measured using nephelometric sensors that record the scattering and absorption of light by particles in the water. Unfortunately, nephelometric...
A comparison of methods for estimating open-water evaporation in small wetlands
Jason R. Masoner, David I. Stannard
2010, Wetlands (30) 513-524
We compared evaporation measurements from a floating pan, land pan, chamber, and the Priestley-Taylor (PT) equation. Floating pan, land pan, and meteorological data were collected from June 6 to July 21, 2005, at a small wetland in the Canadian River alluvium in central Oklahoma, USA. Evaporation measured with the floating...
Source and fate of inorganic solutes in the Gibbon River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA: I. Low-flow discharge and major solute chemistry
R. Blaine McCleskey, D. Kirk Nordstrom, David D. Susong, James W. Ball, JoAnn M. Holloway
2010, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (193) 189-202
The Gibbon River in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) is an important natural resource and habitat for fisheries and wildlife. However, the Gibbon River differs from most other mountain rivers because its chemistry is affected by several geothermal sources including Norris Geyser Basin, Chocolate Pots, Gibbon Geyser Basin, Beryl Spring, and...
USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program, 2010
Herbert T. Buxton
2010, Fact Sheet 2010-3011
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Toxic Substances Hydrology Program adapts research priorities to address the most important contamination issues facing the Nation and to identify new threats to environmental health. The Program investigates two major types of contamination problems: * Subsurface Point-Source Contamination, and * Watershed and Regional Contamination. Research...
Changes in groundwater flow and volatile organic compound concentrations at the Fischer and Porter Superfund Site, Warminster Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1993-2009
Ronald A. Sloto
2010, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5054
The 38-acre Fischer and Porter Company Superfund Site is in Warminster Township, Bucks County, Pa. Historically, as part of the manufacturing process, trichloroethylene (TCE) degreasers were used for parts cleaning. In 1979, the Bucks County Health Department detected TCE and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in water from the Fischer...
Flood hazard awareness and hydrologic modelling at Ambos Nogales, United States–Mexico border
Laura M. Norman, H. Huth, L. Levick, I. Shea Burns, D. Phillip Guertin, Francisco Lara-Valencia, Darius J. Semmens
2010, Journal of Flood Risk Management (3) 151-165
Appropriate land‐use, watershed‐management, and flood‐attenuation plans are critical in the cross‐border urban environment known collectively as Ambos Nogales. This paper summarizes methodologies for predicting the watershed response associated with land‐use change within a spatial and temporal context through the use of a hydrological model in a cross‐border setting. The KINEROS2...
Application of AFINCH as a tool for evaluating the effects of streamflow-gaging-network size and composition on the accuracy and precision of streamflow estimates at ungaged locations in the southeast Lake Michigan hydrologic subregion
G. F. Koltun, David J. Holtschlag
2010, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5020
Bootstrapping techniques employing random subsampling were used with the AFINCH (Analysis of Flows In Networks of CHannels) model to gain insights into the effects of variation in streamflow-gaging-network size and composition on the accuracy and precision of streamflow estimates at ungaged locations in the 0405 (Southeast Lake Michigan) hydrologic subregion....
Model Refinement and Simulation of Groundwater Flow in Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties, Michigan
Carol L. Luukkonen
2010, Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5244
A groundwater-flow model that was constructed in 1996 of the Saginaw aquifer was refined to better represent the regional hydrologic system in the Tri-County region, which consists of Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties, Michigan. With increasing demand for groundwater, the need to manage withdrawals from the Saginaw aquifer has become...
Methods for estimating flow-duration and annual mean-flow statistics for ungaged streams in Oklahoma
Rachel A. Esralew, S. Jerrod Smith
2010, Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5267
Flow statistics can be used to provide decision makers with surface-water information needed for activities such as water-supply permitting, flow regulation, and other water rights issues. Flow statistics could be needed at any location along a stream. Most often, streamflow statistics are needed at ungaged sites, where no flow data...
Bioaccumulation and trophic transfer of selenium
A. Robin Stewart, M. Grosell, David B. Buchwalter, Nicholas S. Fisher, S. N. Luoma, T. Matthews, P. Orr, W.-X. Wang
P. M. Chapman, William J. Adams, Marjorie L. Brooks, Samuel N. Luoma, Harry M. Ohlendorf, Theresa S. Presser, P. Shaw, editor(s)
2010, Book chapter, Ecological assessment of selenium in the aquatic environment
No abstract available. ...
California's BAY-DELTA: USGS Science Supports Decision Making
James Nickles, Kimberly Taylor, Roger Fujii
2010, Fact Sheet 2010-3032
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are in the forefront of the effort to understand what causes changes in the hydrology, the ecology and the water quality of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and the San Francisco Bay estuary. Their scientific findings play a crucial role in how agencies manage the...
Summary of Hydrologic Data for the Tuscarawas River Basin, Ohio, with an Annotated Bibliography
Ralph J. Haefner, Laura A. Simonson
2010, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5010
The Tuscarawas River Basin drains approximately 2,600 square miles in eastern Ohio and is home to 600,000 residents that rely on the water resources of the basin. This report summarizes the hydrologic conditions in the basin, describes over 400 publications related to the many factors that affect the groundwater and...
Landscape-scale analyses suggest both nutrient and antipredator advantages to Serengeti herbivore hotspots
T. Michael Anderson, J. Grant C. Hopcraft, Stephanie Eby, Mark Ritchie, James B. Grace, Han Olff
2010, Ecology (91) 1519-1529
Mechanistic explanations of herbivore spatial distribution have focused largely on either resource‐related (bottom‐up) or predation‐related (top‐down) factors. We studied direct and indirect influences on the spatial distributions of Serengeti herbivore hotspots, defined as temporally stable areas inhabited by mixed herds of resident grazers. Remote sensing and variation...
Evaluating the behavior of gadolinium and other rare earth elements through large metropolitan sewage treatment plants
Philip L. Verplanck, Edward T. Furlong, James L. Gray, Patrick J. Phillips, Ruth E. Wolf, Kathleen Esposito
2010, Environmental Science & Technology (44) 3876-3882
A primary pathway for emerging contaminants (pharmaceuticals, personal care products, steroids, and hormones) to enter aquatic ecosystems is effluent from sewage treatment plants (STP), and identifying technologies to minimize the amount of these contaminants released is important. Quantifying the flux of these contaminants through STPs is difficult. This study evaluates...
Evaluating remediation alternatives for mine drainage, Little Cottonwood Creek, Utah, USA
Briant A. Kimball, Robert L. Runkel
2010, Environmental Earth Sciences (60) 1021-1036
The vast occurrence of mine drainage worldwide, documented in descriptive studies, presents a staggering challenge for remediation. Any tool that can move beyond descriptive study and helps to evaluate options for remediation in a way that maximizes improvements to the water quality of streams and minimizes cost of remediation could...
Permeability of the continental crust: Dynamic variations inferred from seismicity and metamorphism
Steven E. Ingebritsen, C. E. Manning
2010, Geofluids (10) 193-205
The variation of permeability with depth can be probed indirectly by various means, including hydrologic models that use geothermal data as constraints and the progress of metamorphic reactions driven by fluid flow. Geothermal and metamorphic data combine to indicate that mean permeability (k) of tectonically active continental crust decreases with...
Effect of diet on fecal and urinary estrogenic activity
H.A. Tucker, K.F. Knowlton, Michael T. Meyer, W.O Khunjar, N.G. Love
2010, Journal of Dairy Science (93) 2088-2094
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has identified estrogens from animal feeding operations as a major environmental concern, but few data are available to quantify the excretion of estrogenic compounds by dairy cattle. The objectives of this study were to quantify variation in estrogenic activity in feces and urine due to increased...
Modeling the production, decomposition, and transport of dissolved organic carbon in boreal soils
Zhaosheng Fan, Jason C. Neff, Kimberly P. Wickland
2010, Soil Science (175) 223-232
The movement of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) through boreal ecosystems has drawn increased attention because of its potential impact on the feedback of OC stocks to global environmental change in this region. Few models of boreal DOC exist. Here we present a one-dimensional model with simultaneous production, decomposition, sorption/desorption, and...
Fluvial processes and vegetation - Glimpses of the past, the present, and perhaps the future.
Waite R. Osterkamp, Cliff R. Hupp
2010, Geomorphology (116) 274-285
"Most research before 1960 into interactions among fluvial processes, resulting landforms, and vegetation was descriptive. Since then, however, research has become more detailed and quantitative permitting numerical modeling and applications including agricultural-erosion abatement and rehabilitation of altered bottomlands. Although progress was largely observational, the empiricism increasingly yielded to objective recognition of...
Nitrogen Loads in Groundwater Entering Back Bays and Ocean from Fire Island National Seashore, Long Island, New York
Christopher Schubert, M. Peter deVries, Anne J. Finch
2010, Open-File Report 2010-1081
Fire Island is a barrier island that lies south of central Long Island, N.Y. It is about 60 km (37 mi) long and 0.5 km (1/4 mi) wide and is bounded by the Great South Bay, Narrow Bay, and Moriches Bay estuaries to the north; by the Atlantic Ocean to...
Digital tabulation of geologic and hydrologic data from wells in the northern San Francisco Bay region, northern California
D. S. Sweetkind, E. M. Taylor
2010, Open-File Report 2010-1063
Downhole lithologic information and aquifer pumping test data are reported from 464 wells from a broad area of the northern part of the Coast Ranges in California. These data were originally published in paper form as numerous tables within three USGS Water-Supply Papers describing geology and groundwater conditions in Napa...
Water-the Nation's Fundamental Climate Issue A White Paper on the U.S. Geological Survey Role and Capabilities
Harry F. Lins, Robert M. Hirsch, Julie Kiang
2010, Circular 1347
Of all the potential threats posed by climatic variability and change, those associated with water resources are arguably the most consequential for both society and the environment (Waggoner, 1990). Climatic effects on agriculture, aquatic ecosystems, energy, and industry are strongly influenced by climatic effects on water. Thus, understanding changes in...
Seasonal and Spatial Distribution of Freshwater Flow and Salinity in the Ten Thousand Islands Estuary, Florida, 2007-2009
Lars E. Soderqvist, Eduardo Patino
2010, Data Series 501
The watershed of the Ten Thousand Islands (TTI) estuary has been substantially altered through the construction of canals and roads for the Southern Golden Gate Estates (SGGE), Barron River Canal, and U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail). Two restoration projects designed to improve freshwater delivery to the estuary are the Picayune Strand...
Estimated Withdrawals and Use of Water in Colorado, 2005
Tamara Ivahnenko, Jennifer L. Flynn
2010, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5002
The future health and economic welfare of the people and environment of Colorado depend on a continuous supply of fresh water. Detailed, comprehensive information on the use of water from Colorado's diverse surface-water and groundwater resources is important to water managers and planners by providing information they need to quantify...
Assessment of soil-gas, surface-water, and soil contamination at the Installation Railhead, Fort Gordon, Georgia, 2008-2009
James Landmeyer, Larry G. Harrelson, W. Hagan Ratliff, John B. Wellborn
2010, Open-File Report 2010-1054
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Army Environmental and Natural Resources Management Office of the U.S. Army Signal Center and Fort Gordon, assessed soil gas, surface water, and soil for contaminants at the Installation Railhead (IR) at Fort Gordon, Georgia, from October 2008 to...