Groundwater quality in the Rio Grande aquifer system, southwestern United States
MaryLynn Musgrove, Laura M. Bexfield
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3047
Groundwater provides nearly 50 percent of the Nation’s drinking water. To help protect this vital resource, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project assesses groundwater quality in aquifers that are important sources of drinking water (Burow and Belitz, 2014). The Rio Grande aquifer system constitutes one of the...
Groundwater, surface-water, and water-chemistry data, Black Mesa area, northeastern Arizona—2013–2015
Jamie P. Macy, Jon P. Mason
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1127
The Navajo (N) aquifer is an extensive aquifer and the primary source of groundwater in the 5,400-square-mile Black Mesa area in northeastern Arizona. Availability of water is an important issue in northeastern Arizona because of continued water requirements for industrial and municipal use by a growing population and because of...
Groundwater quality in the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system, midwestern United States
Paul E. Stackelberg
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3056
Groundwater provides nearly 50 percent of the Nation’s drinking water. To help protect this vital resource, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project assesses groundwater quality in aquifers that are important sources of drinking water (Burow and Belitz, 2014). The Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer system constitutes one of the...
Groundwater quality in the glacial aquifer system, United States
Paul E. Stackelberg
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3055
Groundwater provides nearly 50 percent of the Nation’s drinking water. To help protect this vital resource, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project assesses groundwater quality in aquifers that are important sources of drinking water (Burow and Belitz, 2014). The glacial aquifer system constitutes one of the...
Groundwater quality in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge crystalline-rock aquifers, eastern United States
Bruce D. Lindsey
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3040
Groundwater provides nearly 50 percent of the Nation’s drinking water. To help protect this vital resource, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project assesses groundwater quality in aquifers that are important sources of drinking water (Burow and Belitz, 2014). The Piedmont and Blue Ridge crystalline-rock aquifers constitute...
Contaminant gradients in trees: Directional tree coring reveals boundaries of soil and soil-gas contamination with potential applications in vapor intrusion assessment
Jordan L. Wilson, V.A. Samaranayake, Matthew A. Limmer, John G. Schumacher, Joel G. Burken
2017, Environmental Science & Technology (51) 14055-14064
Contaminated sites pose ecological and human-health risks through exposure to contaminated soil and groundwater. Whereas we can readily locate, monitor, and track contaminants in groundwater, it is harder to perform these tasks in the vadose zone. In this study, tree-core samples were collected at a Superfund site to determine if...
Cooperative science to inform Lake Ontario management: Research from the 2013 Lake Ontario CSMI program
James M. Watkins, Brian Weidel, Aaron T. Fisk, Lars G. Rudstam
2017, Journal of Great Lakes Research (43) 779-781
Since the mid-1970s, successful Lake Ontario management actions including nutrient load and pollution reductions, habitat restoration, and fish stocking have improved Lake Ontario. However, several new obstacles to maintenance and restoration have emerged. This special issue presents management-relevant research from multiple agency surveys in 2011 and 2012 and the 2013...
Detection of microcystin and other cyanotoxins in lakes at Isle Royale National Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, northern Michigan, 2012–13
Lori M. Fuller, Angela K. Brennan, Lisa R. Fogarty, Keith A. Loftin, Heather E. Johnson, David D. VanderMeulen, Brenda Moraska Lafrancois
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5122
Although cyanotoxins released during algal blooms have become an increasing concern in surface waters across the United States, the presence of cyanotoxins in northern Michigan lakes had not been evaluated in detail. The U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service (NPS) led a 2-year study (2012 and 2013) to determine...
Colloid mobilization and seasonal variability in a semiarid headwater stream
Taylor J. Mills, Suzanne P. Ancerson, Carleton R. Bern, Arnulfo Aguirre, Louis A. Derry
2017, Journal of Environmental Quality (46) 88-95
Colloids can be important vectors for the transport of contaminants in the environment, but little is known about colloid mobilization at the watershed scale. We present colloid concentration, composition, and flux data over a large range of hydrologic conditions from a small watershed (Gordon Gulch) in the foothills of the...
Observations and first reports of saprolegniosis in Aanaakłiq, broad whitefish (Coregonus nasus), from the Colville River near Nuiqsut, Alaska
Todd L. Sformo, Billy Adams, John C. Seigle, Jayde A. Ferguson, Maureen K. Purcell, Raphaela Stimmelmayr, Joseph H. Welch, Leah M. Ellis, Jason C. Leppi, John C. George
2017, Polar Science (14) 78-82
We report the first confirmed cases (2013–2016) of saprolegniosis caused by water mold from the genus Saprolegnia in Aanaakłiq, broad whitefish (Coregonus nasus), from the Colville River near Nuiqsut, Alaska. While this mold is known to be worldwide, these instances represent the first cases in Nuiqsut and only the second instance on...
Assessing the global distribution of river fisheries harvest: A systematic map protocol
Chelsie Romulo, Zeenatul Basher, Abigail Lynch, Yu-Chun Kao, William W. Taylor
2017, Environmental Evidence (6)
BackgroundAlthough surface freshwater comprises < 0.01% of the total water volume of earth, freshwater inland capture fisheries and aquaculture represent 40% of the global reported finfish harvest. While the social, economic, and ecological importance of inland fish and fisheries is difficult to overstate, they are often undervalued and underappreciated....
A pesticide paradox: Fungicides indirectly increase fungal infections
Jason R. Rohr, Jenise Brown, William A. Battaglin, Teagan A. McMahon, Rick A. Reylea
2017, Ecological Applications (27) 2290-2302
There are many examples where the use of chemicals have had profound unintended consequences, such as fertilizers reducing crop yields (paradox of enrichment) and insecticides increasing insect pests (by reducing natural biocontrol). Recently, the application of agrochemicals, such as agricultural disinfectants and fungicides, has been explored as an approach to...
Simulated juvenile salmon growth and phenology respond to altered thermal regimes and stream network shape
Aimee H. Fullerton, Brian J. Burke, Joshua J. Lawler, Christian E. Torgersen, Joseph L. Ebersole, Scott G. Leibowitz
2017, Ecosphere (8)
It is generally accepted that climate change will stress coldwater species such as Pacific salmon. However, it is unclear what aspect of altered thermal regimes (e.g., warmer winters, springs, summers, or increased variability) will have the greatest effect, and what role the spatial properties of river networks play. Thermally diverse...
Single-beam bathymetry data collected in 2015 from Grand Bay, Alabama-Mississippi
Nancy T. DeWitt, Chelsea A. Stalk, Christopher G. Smith, Stanley D. Locker, Jake J. Fredericks, Terrence A. McCloskey, Cathryn J. Wheaton
2017, Data Series 1070
As part of the Sea-level and Storm Impacts on Estuarine Environments and Shorelines (SSIEES) project, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted a single-beam bathymetry survey within the estuarine, open-bay, and tidal creek environments of Grand Bay, Alabama-Mississippi, from May to June...
Population trends, extinction risk, and conservation guidelines for ferruginous pygmy-owls in the Sonoran Desert
Aaron Flesch, Pamela L. Nagler, Christopher Jarchow, Richard B. Alexander
2017, Report
Climatic flux together with anthropogenic changes in land use and land cover pose major threats to wildlife, but our understanding of their combined impacts is limited. In arid southwestern North America, ferruginous pygmy-owls (Glaucidium brasilianum) are of major conservation concern due to marked declines in abundance linked to changes in land use...
A paleomagnetic age estimate for the draining of ancient Lake Alamosa, San Luis Valley, south-central Colorado, U.S.A.
Joshua K. Davis, Mark R. Hudson, V. J. S. Grauch
2017, Rocky Mountain Geology (52) 107-117
In September 2009, a 99.4-m (326-ft) deep well was drilled proximal to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve to explore the history and subsurface geology of the San Luis Valley, Colorado. Of particular interest was deciphering the evolution of ancient Lake Alamosa, which filled much of the San Luis...
A diatom voucher flora from selected southeast rivers (USA)
Ian W. Bishop, Rhea R.M. Esposito, Meredith Tyree, Sarah A. Spaulding
2017, Phytotaxa (332) 101-140
This flora is intended to serve as an image voucher for samples analyzed for the U.S. Geological Survey Southeast Stream Quality Assessment (SESQA). The SESQA study included measurement of watershed and water quality parameters to determine the factors that have the greatest potential to alter biotic condition. Algal samples were...
Iron isotope systematics of shale-derived soils as potentially influenced by small mineral particle loss
Carleton R. Bern, Tiffany Yesavage, Michael J. Pribil
2017, Conference Paper
Loss of small mineral particles from soil has been suggested as a process that can produce net isotopic fractionation in the remaining soil. We extracted water dispersible colloids (WDCs) from bulk soil collected at the Susquehanna/Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory (SSHO) and measured their Fe isotopic composition for comparison to...
Evidence that recent warming is reducing upper Colorado River flows
Gregory J. McCabe, David M. Wolock, Gregory T. Pederson, Connie A. Woodhouse, Stephanie A. McAfee
2017, Earth Interactions (21) 1-14
The upper Colorado River basin (UCRB) is one of the primary sources of water for the western United States, and increasing temperatures likely will elevate the risk of reduced water supply in the basin. Although variability in water-year precipitation explains more of the variability in water-year UCRB streamflow than water-year...
USGS assessment of water and proppant requirements and water production associated with undiscovered petroleum in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations
Seth S. Haines, Brian A. Varela, Sarah J. Hawkins, Nicholas J. Gianoutsos, Marilyn E. Tennyson
2017, Conference Paper, SPE/AAPG/SEG Unconventional Resources Technology Conference
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has conducted an assessment of water and proppant requirements, and water production volumes, associated with possible future production of undiscovered petroleum resources in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations, Williston Basin, USA. This water and proppant assessment builds directly from the 2013 USGS petroleum assessment...
Thermal tolerances of fishes occupying groundwater and surface-water dominated streams
Nicole Farless, Shannon K. Brewer
2017, Freshwater Science (36) 866-876
A thermal tolerance study mimicking different stream environments could improve our ecological understanding of how increasing water temperatures affect stream ectotherms and improve our ability to predict organism responses based on river classification schemes. Our objective was to compare the thermal tolerances of stream fishes of different habitat guilds among...
Metabarcoding of environmental DNA samples to explore the use of uranium mine containment ponds as a water source for wildlife
Katy E. Klymus, Catherine A. Richter, Nathan Thompson, Jo Ellen Hinck
2017, Diversity (9)
Understanding how anthropogenic impacts on the landscape affect wildlife requires a knowledge of community assemblages. Species surveys are the first step in assessing community structure, and recent molecular applications such as metabarcoding and environmental DNA analyses have been proposed as an additional and complementary wildlife survey method. Here, we test...
Energetic requirements of green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) feeding on burrowing shrimp (Neotrypaea californiensis) in estuaries: importance of temperature, reproductive investment, and residence time
Joshua M. Borin, Mary L. Moser, Adam G. Hansen, David A. Beauchamp, Stephen C. Corbett, Brett R. Dumbauld, Casey Pruitt, Jennifer L. Ruesink, Cinde Donoghue
2017, Environmental Biology of Fishes (100) 1561-1573
Habitat use can be complex, as tradeoffs among physiology, resource abundance, and predator avoidance affect the suitability of different environments for different species. Green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris), an imperiled species along the west coast of North America, undertake extensive coastal migrations and occupy estuaries during the summer and...
Using carbon dioxide in fisheries and aquatic invasive species management
Hilary B. Treanor, Andrew M. Ray, Megan J. Layhee, Barnaby J. Watten, Jason A. Gross, Robert E. Gresswell, Molly A. H. Webb
2017, Fisheries (42) 621-628
To restore native fish populations, fisheries programs often depend on active removal of aquatic invasive species. Chemical removal can be an effective method of eliminating aquatic invasive species, but chemicals can induce mortality in nontarget organisms and persist in the environment. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an emerging alternative to traditional...
Interactive effects of water temperature and salinity on growth and mortality of eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica: A meta-analysis using 40 years of monitoring data
Michael R. Lowe, Troy Sehlinger, Thomas M. Soniat, Megan K. LaPeyre
2017, Journal of Shellfish Research (36) 683-697
Despite nearly a century of exploitation and scientific study, predicting growth and mortality rates of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) as a means to inform local harvest and management activities remains difficult. Ensuring that models reflect local population responses to varying salinity and temperature combinations requires locally appropriate models. Using...
