Extraordinary flood response of a small urban watershed to short-duration convective rainfall
J. A. Smith, A.J. Miller, M.L. Baeck, P.A. Nelson, G. T. Fisher, K.L. Meierdiercks
2005, Journal of Hydrometeorology (6) 599-617
The 9.1 km2 Moores Run watershed in Baltimore, Maryland, experiences floods with unit discharge peaks exceeding 1 m3 s-1 km-2 12 times yr-1, on average. Few, if any, drainage basins in the continental United States have a higher frequency. A thunderstorm system on 13 June 2003 produced the record flood...
Comparison of Bacteroides-Prevotella 16S rRNA genetic markers for fecal samples from different animal species
L.R. Fogarty, M.A. Voytek
2005, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (71) 5999-6007
To effectively manage surface and ground waters it is necessary to improve our ability to detect and identify sources of fecal contamination. We evaluated the use of the anaerobic bacterial group Bacteroides-Prevotella as a potential fecal indicator. Terminal restriction length polymorphism (T-RFLP) of the 16S rRNA genes from this group...
Combined use of 15N and 18O of nitrate and 11B to evaluate nitrate contamination in groundwater
R. L. Seiler
2005, Applied Geochemistry (20) 1626-1636
Isotopic composition of NO3 (??15NNO3 and ??18ONO3) and B (??11B) were used to evaluate NO3 contamination and identify geochemical processes occurring in a hydrologically complex Basin and Range valley in northern Nevada with multiple potential sources of NO3. Combined use of these isotopes may be a useful tool in identifying...
Use of relational databases to evaluate regional petroleum accumulation, groundwater flow, and CO2 sequestration in Kansas
T.R. Carr, D. F. Merriam, J.D. Bartley
2005, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin (89) 1607-1627
Large-scale relational databases and geographic information system tools are used to integrate temperature, pressure, and water geo-chemistry data from numerous wells to better understand regional-scale geothermal and hydrogeological regimes of the lower Paleozoic aquifer systems in the mid-continent and to evaluate their potential for geologic CO2 sequestration. The lower Paleozoic...
Nitrogen and carbon flow from rock to water: Regulation through soil biogeochemical processes, Mokelumne River watershed, California, and Grand Valley, Colorado
J.M. Holloway, R. L. Smith
2005, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (110)
Soil denitrification is an ecologically important nitrogen removal mechanism that releases to the atmosphere the greenhouse gas N2O, an intermediate product from the reduction of NO3- to N 2. In this study we evaluate the relationship between soil carbon and denitrification potential in watersheds with bedrock acting as a nonpoint...
Palaeohydrology of the Southwest Yukon Territory, Canada, based on multiproxy analyses of lake sediment cores from a depth transect
L. Anderson, M.B. Abbott, B. P. Finney, M. E. Edwards
2005, Holocene (15) 1172-1183
Lake-level variations at Marcella Lake, a small, hydrologically closed lake in the southwestern Yukon Territory, document changes in effective moisture since the early Holocene. Former water levels, driven by regional palaeohydrology, were reconstructed by multiproxy analyses of sediment cores from four sites spanning shallow to deep water. Marcella Lake today...
Part 1: Vadose-zone column studies of toluene (enhanced bioremediation) in a shallow unconfined aquifer
J.A. Tindall, M.J. Friedel, R.J. Szmajter, S.M. Cuffin
2005, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution (168) 325-357
The objectives of the laboratory study described in this paper were (1) to determine the effectiveness of four nutrient solutions and a control in stimulating the microbial degradation of toluene in the unsaturated zone as an alternative to bioremediation methodologies such as air sparging, in situ vitrification, or others...
Repeated surveys by acoustic Doppler current profiler for flow and sediment dynamics in a tidal river
R.L. Dinehart, J.R. Burau
2005, Journal of Hydrology (314) 1-21
A strategy of repeated surveys by acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) was applied in a tidal river to map velocity vectors and suspended-sediment indicators. The Sacramento River at the junction with the Delta Cross Channel at Walnut Grove, California, was surveyed over several tidal cycles in the Fall of 2000...
Modeling and measuring the nocturnal drainage flow in a high-elevation, subalpine forest with complex terrain
C. Yi, Russell K. Monson, Z. Zhai, D.E. Anderson, B. Lamb, G. Allwine, A.A. Turnipseed, Sean P. Burns
2005, Journal of Geophysical Research D: Atmospheres (110) 1-13
The nocturnal drainage flow of air causes significant uncertainty in ecosystem CO2, H2O, and energy budgets determined with the eddy covariance measurement approach. In this study, we examined the magnitude, nature, and dynamics of the nocturnal drainage flow in a subalpine forest ecosystem with complex terrain. We used an experimental...
Decadal-scale change of infiltration characteristics of a tephra-mantled hillslope at Mount St Helens, Washington
J. J. Major, T. Yamakoshi
2005, Hydrological Processes (19) 3621-3630
The cataclysmic 1980 eruption of Mount St Helens radically reduced the infiltration characteristics of ∼60 000 ha of rugged terrain and dramatically altered landscape hydrology. Two decades of erosional, biogenic, cryogenic, and anthropogenic activity have modified the infiltration characteristics of much of that devastated landscape and modulated the hydrological impact...
Variations in climate and ephemeral channel recharge in southeastern Arizona, United States
D. R. Pool
2005, Water Resources Research (41)
Significant variations in interannual and decadal recharge rates are likely in alluvial basins of the semiarid southwestern United States on the basis of decadal variations in climate and precipitation and correlation of El Niño with high rates of winter precipitation and streamflow. A better understanding of the magnitude of recharge...
Assessing the potential for re-emission of mercury deposited in precipitation from arid soils using a stable isotope
J.A. Ericksen, M.S. Gustin, S.E. Lindberg, S.D. Olund, D. P. Krabbenhoft
2005, Environmental Science & Technology (39) 8001-8007
A solution containing 198Hg in the form of HgCl2 was added to a 4 m2 area of desert soils in Nevada, and soil Hg fluxes were measured using three dynamic flux chambers. There was an immediate release of 198Hg after it was applied, and then emissions decreased exponentially. Within the first...
Herbicide and degradate flux in the Yazoo River Basin
R.H. Coupe, H.L. Welch, A.B. Pell, E.M. Thurman
2005, International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry (85) 1127-1140
During 1996-1997, water samples were collected from five sites in the Yazoo River Basin and analysed for 14 herbicides and nine degradates. These included acetochlor, alachlor, atrazine, cyanazine, fluometuron, metolachlor, metribuzin, molinate, norflurazon, prometryn, propanil, propazine, simazine, trifluralin, three degradates of fluometuron, two degradates of atrazine,...
Spatial and temporal variability in the amount and source of dissolved organic carbon: Implications for ultraviolet exposure in amphibian habitats
P. D. Brooks, C. M. O’Reilly, S. A. Diamond, K. Campbell, R. Knapp, D. Bradford, P.S. Corn, B. Hossack, K. Tonnessen
2005, Ecosystems (8) 478-487
The amount, chemical composition, and source of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), together with in situ ultraviolet (UV-B) attenuation, were measured at 1–2 week intervals throughout the summers of 1999, 2000, and 2001 at four sites in Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado). Eight additional sites, four in Sequoia and Kings Canyon...
Assessment of regional management strategies for controlling seawater intrusion
E.G. Reichard, T.A. Johnson
2005, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management (131) 280-291
Simulation-optimization methods, applied with adequate sensitivity tests, can provide useful quantitative guidance for controlling seawater intrusion. This is demonstrated in an application to the West Coast Basin of coastal Los Angeles that considers two management options for improving hydraulic control of seawater intrusion: increased injection into barrier wells and in...
2004 annual progress report: Stratton Sagebrush Hydrology Study Area: Establishment of a long-term research site in a high-elevation sagebrush steppe
Kate Schoenecker, Bob Lange, Mike Calton
2005, Open-File Report 2005-1426
In 2004 the U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center (FORT) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Rawlins Field Office (RFO), began a cooperative effort to reestablish the Stratton Sagebrush Hydrology Study Area (Stratton) as a research location, with the goal of making it a site for long-term research...
Biology and invasive species in the western U.S
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2005, Fact Sheet 2005-3006
The diversity of environments that characterizes the West is responsible for the region's rich biological heritage. This ecological diversity also means that opportunities for invasive species are many, varied, and complex. Island ecosystems are notoriously vulnerable to invaders as demonstrated in Hawaii and West Coast offshore islands. Aquatic invaders impose...
Monitoring temporal change in riparian vegetation of Great Basin National Park
Erik A. Beever, David A. Pyke, Jeanne C. Chambers, Fred Landau, S.D. Smith
2005, Western North American Naturalist (65) 382-402
Disturbance in riparian areas of semiarid ecosystems involves complex interactions of pulsed hydrologic flows, herbivory, fire, climatic effects, and anthropogenic influences. We resampled riparian vegetation within ten 10-m × 100-m plots that were initially sampled in 1992 in 4 watersheds of the Snake Range, east central Nevada. Our finding of...
Control of Tamarix in the western United States: Implications for water salvage, wildlife use, and riparian restoration
P.B. Shafroth, J.R. Cleverly, T.L. Dudley, J.P. Taylor, Charles van Riper III, E.P. Weeks, J.N. Stuart
2005, Environmental Management (35) 231-246
Non-native shrub species in the genus Tamarix (saltcedar, tamarisk) have colonized hundreds of thousands of hectares of floodplains, reservoir margins, and other wetlands in western North America. Many resource managers seek to reduce saltcedar abundance and control its spread to increase the flow of water in streams that...
Seed storage conditions change the germination pattern of clonal growth plants in Mediterranean salt marshes
J. L. Espinar, L. V. Garcia, L. Clemente
2005, American Journal of Botany (92) 1094-1101
The effect of salinity level and extended exposure to different salinity and flooding conditions on germination patterns of three salt‐marsh clonal growth plants (Juncus subulatus, Scirpus litoralis, and S. maritimus) was studied. Seed exposure to extended flooding and saline conditions significantly affected the outcome of the germination process in a different, though...
A method adapting microarray technology for signature tagged mutagenesis of Dusulfovibrio dusulfuricans G20 and Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 in anaerobic sediment survival experiments
Jennifer L. Groh, Qingwei Luo, Jimmy D. Ballard, Lee R. Krumholz
2005, Applied and Environmental Microbiology (71) 7064-7074
Signature-tagged mutagenesis (STM) is a powerful technique that can be used to identify genes expressed by bacteria during exposure to conditions in their natural environments. To date, there have been no reports of studies in which this approach was used to study organisms of environmental, rather than pathogenic, significance. We...
Why is metal bioaccumulation so variable? Biodynamics as a unifying concept
Samuel N. Luoma, Philip S. Rainbow
2005, Environmental Science & Technology (39) 1921-1931
Ecological risks from metal contaminants are difficult to document because responses differ among species, threats differ among metals, and environmental influences are complex. Unifying concepts are needed to better tie together such complexities. Here we suggest that a biologically based conceptualization, the biodynamic model, provides the necessary unification for a...
Microbial biogeochemistry of uranium mill tailings
Edward R. Landa
2005, Advances in Applied Microbiology (57) 113-130
Uranium mill tailings (UMT) are the crushed ore residues from the extraction of uranium (U) from ores. Among the radioactive wastes associated with the nuclear fuel cycle, UMT are unique in terms of their volume and their limited isolation from the surficial environment. For this latter reason, their management and...
Data collection and documentation of flooding downstream of a dam failure in Mississippi
K. Van Wilson Jr.
Moglen G.E., editor(s)
2005, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 2005 Watershed Management Conference - Managing Watersheds for Human and Natural Impacts: Engineering, Ecological, and Economic Challenges
On March 12, 2004, the Big Bay Lake dam failed, releasing water and affecting lives and property downstream in southern Mississippi. The dam is located near Purvis, Mississippi, on Bay Creek, which flows into Lower Little Creek about 1.9 miles downstream from the dam. Lower Little Creek flows into Pearl...
Modeling tritium transport through a deep unsaturated zone in an arid environment
C.J. Mayers, Brian J. Andraski, C.A. Cooper, S.W. Wheatcraft, David A. Stonestrom, R. L. Michel
2005, Vadose Zone Journal (4) 967-976
Understanding transport of tritium (3H) in unsaturated zones is critical to evaluating options for waste isolation. Tritium typically is a large component of low-level radioactive waste (LLRW). Studies at the U.S. Geological Survey's Amargosa Desert Research Site (ADRS) in Nevada investigate 3H transport from a closed LLRW facility. Two boreholes...
