Effects of sediment transport and seepage direction on hydraulic properties at the sediment-water interface of hyporheic settings
D.O. Rosenberry, J. Pitlick
2009, Journal of Hydrology (373) 377-391
Relations between seepage flux and hydraulic properties are difficult to quantify in fluvial settings because of the difficulty in measuring these variables in situ. Tests conducted in a 1.5-m diameter by 1.5-m tall sediment-filled tank indicate that hydraulic gradient increased and hydraulic conductivity (K) decreased following the onset of downward...
Isotopic composition of low-latitude paleoprecipitation during the Early Cretaceous
M.B. Suarez, Luis A. Gonzalez, Greg A. Ludvigson, F.J. Vega, J. Alvarado-Ortega
2009, Geological Society of America Bulletin (121) 1584-1595
The response of the hydrologic cycle in global greenhouse conditions is important to our understanding of future climate change and to the calibration of global climate models. Past greenhouse conditions, such as those of the Cretaceous, can be used to provide empirical data with which to evaluate climate models. Recent...
Late Quaternary sedimentary features of Bear Lake, Utah and Idaho
J. P. Smoot
2009, Special Paper of the Geological Society of America 49-104
Bear Lake sediments were predominantly aragonite for most of the Holocene, reflecting a hydrologically closed lake fed by groundwater and small streams. During the late Pleistocene, the Bear River flowed into Bear Lake and the lake waters spilled back into the Bear River drainage. At that time, sediment deposition was...
First-order exchange coefficient coupling for simulating surface water-groundwater interactions: Parameter sensitivity and consistency with a physics-based approach
B.A. Ebel, B.B. Mirus, C.S. Heppner, J.E. VanderKwaak, K. Loague
2009, Hydrological Processes (23) 1949-1959
Distributed hydrologic models capable of simulating fully-coupled surface water and groundwater flow are increasingly used to examine problems in the hydrologic sciences. Several techniques are currently available to couple the surface and subsurface; the two most frequently employed approaches are first-order exchange coefficients (a.k.a., the surface conductance method) and enforced...
Assigning land use to supply wells for the statistical characterization of regional groundwater quality: Correlating urban land use and VOC occurrence
T.D. Johnson, K. Belitz
2009, Journal of Hydrology (370) 100-108
Many national and regional groundwater studies have correlated land use "near" a well, often using a 500 m radius circle, with water quality. However, the use of a 500 m circle may seem counterintuitive given that contributing areas are expected to extend up-gradient from wells, and not be circular in...
Trends in concentrations and use of agricultural herbicides for Corn Belt rivers, 1996-2006
Aldo V. Vecchia, Robert J. Gilliom, Daniel J. Sullivan, David L. Lorenz, Jeffrey D. Martin
2009, Environmental Science & Technology (43) 9096-9102
Trends in the concentrations and agricultural use of four herbicides (atrazine, acetochlor, metolachlor, and alachlor) were evaluated for major rivers of the Corn Belt for two partially overlapping time periods: 1996-2002 and 2000-2006. Trends were analyzed for 11 sites on the mainstems and selected tributaries in the Ohio, Upper Mississippi,...
Shallow water processes govern system-wide phytoplankton bloom dynamics: A modeling study
L.V. Lucas, Jeffrey R. Koseff, Stephen G. Monismith, J.K. Thompson
2009, Journal of Marine Systems (75) 70-86
A pseudo-two-dimensional numerical model of estuarine phytoplankton growth and consumption, vertical turbulent mixing, and idealized cross-estuary transport was developed and applied to South San Francisco Bay. This estuary has two bathymetrically distinct habitat types (deep channel, shallow shoal) and associated differences in local net rates of phytoplankton growth and consumption,...
Two statistics for evaluating parameter identifiability and error reduction
John Doherty, Randall J. Hunt
2009, Journal of Hydrology (366) 119-127
Two statistics are presented that can be used to rank input parameters utilized by a model in terms of their relative identifiability based on a given or possible future calibration dataset. Identifiability is defined here as the capability of model calibration to constrain parameters used by a model. Both statistics...
A conceptual framework for dryland aeolian sediment transport along the grassland–forest continuum: Effects of woody plant canopy cover and disturbance
D.D. Breshears, J.J. Whicker, C.B. Zou, J.P. Field, Craig D. Allen
2009, Geomorphology (105) 28-38
Aeolian processes are of particular importance in dryland ecosystems where ground cover is inherently sparse because of limited precipitation. Dryland ecosystems include grassland, shrubland, savanna, woodland, and forest, and can be viewed collectively as a continuum of woody plant cover spanning from grasslands with no woody plant cover up...
An empirical method for estimating instream pre-mining pH and dissolved Cu concentration in catchments with acidic drainage and ferricrete
D. A. Nimick, J.T. Gurrieri, G. Furniss
2009, Applied Geochemistry (24) 106-119
Methods for assessing natural background water quality of streams affected by historical mining are vigorously debated. An empirical method is proposed in which stream-specific estimation equations are generated from relationships between either pH or dissolved Cu concentration in stream water and the Fe/Cu concentration ratio in Fe-precipitates presently forming in...
Geochemical evolution of a high arsenic, alkaline pit-lake in the Mother Lode Gold District, California
Kaye S. Savage, Roger P. Ashley, Dennis K. Bird
2009, Economic Geology (104) 1171-1211
The Harvard orebody at the Jamestown gold mine, located along the Melones fault zone in the southern Mother Lode gold district, California, was mined in an open-pit operation from 1987 to 1994. Dewatering during mining produced a hydrologic cone of depression; recovery toward the premining ground-water configuration produced a...
Assessing the impact of land use change on hydrology by ensemble modelling (LUCHEM) II: Ensemble combinations and predictions
N.R. Viney, H. Bormann, L. Breuer, A. Bronstert, B.F.W. Croke, H. Frede, T. Graff, L. Hubrechts, J. A. Huisman, A.J. Jakeman, G.W. Kite, J. Lanini, G. Leavesley, D.P. Lettenmaier, G. Lindstrom, J. Seibert, M. Sivapalan, P. Willems
2009, Advances in Water Resources (32) 147-158
This paper reports on a project to compare predictions from a range of catchment models applied to a mesoscale river basin in central Germany and to assess various ensemble predictions of catchment streamflow. The models encompass a large range in inherent complexity and input requirements. In approximate order of decreasing...
Investigating local variation in groundwater recharge along a topographic gradient, Walnut Creek, Iowa, USA
K. E. Schilling
2009, Hydrogeology Journal (17) 397-407
Groundwater recharge is an important component to hydrologic studies but is known to vary considerably across the landscape. The purpose of this study was to examine 4 years of water-level behavior in a transect of four water-table wells installed at Walnut Creek, Iowa, USA to evaluate how groundwater recharge varied...
Occurrence of transformation products in the environment
Dana W. Kolpin, William A. Battaglin, Kathleen E. Conn, Edward T. Furlong, Susan T. Glassmeyer, Stephen J. Kalkhoff, Michael T. Meyer, Douglas J. Schnoebelen
Alistair B.A. Boxall, editor(s)
2009, Book chapter, Transformation products of synthetic chemicals in the environment
Historically, most environmental occurrence research has focused on the parent compounds of organic contaminants. Research, however, has documented that the environmental transport of chemicals, such as pesticides and emerging contaminants, are substantially underestimated if transformation products are not considered. Although most examples described herein were drawn from research conducted by...
Estimating selected streamflow statistics representative of 1930–2002 in West Virginia
Jeffrey B. Wiley
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5105
Regional equations and procedures were developed for estimating 1-, 3-, 7-, 14-, and 30-day 2-year; 1-, 3-, 7-, 14-, and 30-day 5-year; and 1-, 3-, 7-, 14-, and 30-day 10-year hydrologically based low-flow frequency values for unregulated streams in West Virginia. Regional equations and procedures also were developed for estimating...
Basin characteristics for selected streamflow-gaging stations in and near West Virginia
Katherine S. Paybins
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1087
Basin characteristics have long been used to develop equations describing streamflow. In the past, flow equations used in West Virginia were based on a few hand-calculated basin characteristics. More recently, the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) to generate basin characteristics from existing datasets has refined the process for...
Relating carbon monoxide photoproduction to dissolved organic matter functionality
Aron Stubbins, Vesper Hubbard, Guenther Uher, Cliff S. Law, Robert C. Upstill-Goddard, George Aiken, K. Mopper
2008, Environmental Science and Technology (42) 3271-3276
Aqueous solutions of humic substances (HSs) and pure monomeric aromatics were irradiated to investigate the chemical controls upon carbon monoxide (CO) photoproduction from dissolved organic matter (DOM). HSs were isolated from lakes, rivers, marsh, and ocean. Inclusion of humic, fulvic, hydrophobic...
Riparian plant community structure in a managed hydrological regime
Sabine Mellman-Brown, Dave Roberts, Bruce H. Pugesek
2008, Book chapter, University of Wyoming National Park Service Research Center annual report
The hydrology of the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park is partly determined by releases from Jackson Lake Dam. The dam was first built in 1908 and became part of the National Park system when GTNP was expanded to include most of Jackson Hole. Completion of the present structure...
Landslides and engineering geology of the Seattle, Washington, area
Rex L. Baum, Jonathan W. Godt, Lynn M. Highland
2008, Book
This volume brings together case studies and summary papers describing the application of state-of-the-art engineering geologic methods to landslide hazard analysis for the Seattle, Washington, area. An introductory chapter provides a thorough description of the Quaternary and bedrock geology of Seattle. Nine additional chapters review the history of landslide mapping...
Framework for Understanding Structural Errors (FUSE): A modular framework to diagnose differences between hydrological models
Martyn P. Clark, Andrew G. Slater, David E. Rupp, Ross A. Woods, Jasper A. Vrugt, Hoshin V. Gupta, Thorsten Wagener, Lauren E. Hay
2008, Water Resources Research (44)
The problems of identifying the most appropriate model structure for a given problem and quantifying the uncertainty in model structure remain outstanding research challenges for the discipline of hydrology. Progress on these problems requires understanding of the nature of differences between models. This paper presents a methodology to diagnose differences...
Metals fate and transport modelling in streams and watersheds: state of the science and USEPA workshop review
B.S. Caruso, T.J. Cox, Robert L. Runkel, M.L. Velleux, Kenneth E. Bencala, D. Kirk Nordstrom, P.Y. Julien, B. A. Butler, Charles N. Alpers, A. Marion, Kathleen S. Smith
2008, Hydrological Processes (22) 4011-4021
Metals pollution in surface waters from point and non-point sources (NPS) is a widespread problem in the United States and worldwide (Lofts et al., 2007; USEPA, 2007). In the western United States, metals associated with acid mine drainage (AMD) from hardrock mines in mountainous areas impact aquatic ecosystems and human...
Challenges to hydrological observations
H.F. Lins
2008, WMO Bulletin (57) 55-58
Co-precipitation of dissolved organic matter by calcium carbonate in Pyramid Lake, Nevada
Jerry A. Leenheer, Michael M. Reddy
2008, Annals of Environmental Science (2) 11-25
Our previous research has demonstrated that dissolved organic matter (DOM) influences calcium carbonate mineral formation in surface and ground water. To better understand DOM mediation of carbonate precipitation and DOM co-precipitation and/or incorporation with carbonate minerals, we characterized the content and speciation of DOM in carbonate minerals and in the...
Modeling landslide recurrence in Seattle, Washington, USA
Diana Salciarini, Jonathan W. Godt, William Z. Savage, Rex L. Baum, Pietro Conversini
2008, Engineering Geology (102) 227-237
To manage the hazard associated with shallow landslides, decision makers need an understanding of where and when landslides may occur. A variety of approaches have been used to estimate the hazard from shallow, rainfall-triggered landslides, such as empirical rainfall threshold methods or probabilistic methods based on historical records. The wide...
Hydrologic connections and dynamics of water movement in the classical Karst (Kras) aquifer: Evidence from frequent chemical and stable isotope sampling
Daniel H. Doctor
2008, Acta Carsologica (37) 101-123
A review of past researchon the hydrogeology of the Classical Karst (Kras) region and new information obtained from a two-year study using environmental tracers are presented in this paper. The main problems addressed are 1) the sources of water to the Kras aquifer resurgence zone—including the famous Timavo springs—under changing...
