Streamflow of 2013: water year summary
Xiaodong Jian, David M. Wolock, Harry F. Lins, Steve Brady
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3030
The maps and graphs in this summary describe streamflow conditions for water year 2013 (October 1, 2012, to September 30, 2013) in the context of the 84-year period from 1930 through 2013, unless otherwise noted. The illustrations are based on observed data from the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Water...
Assessment of dissolved-solids loading to the Colorado River in the Paradox Basin between the Dolores River and Gypsum Canyon, Utah
Christopher L. Shope, Steven J. Gerner
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5031
Salinity loads throughout the Colorado River Basin have been a concern over recent decades due to adverse impacts on population, natural resources, and regional economics. With substantial financial resources and various reclamation projects, the salt loading to Lake Powell and associated total dissolved-solids concentrations in the Lower Colorado River Basin...
A synthesis of methane emissions from 71 northern, temperate, and subtropical wetlands
Merritt R. Turetsky, Agnieszka Kotowska, Jill Bubier, Nancy B. Dise, Patrick Crill, Ed R.C. Hornibrook, Kari Minkkinen, Tim R. Moore, Isla H. Myers-Smith, Hannu Nykanen, David Olefeldt, Janne Rinne, Sanna Saarnio, Narasinha Shurpali, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, J. Michael Waddington, Jeffrey R. White, Kimberly P. Wickland, Martin Wilmking
2014, Global Change Biology (20) 2183-2197
Wetlands are the largest natural source of atmospheric methane. Here, we assess controls on methane flux using a database of approximately 19 000 instantaneous measurements from 71 wetland sites located across subtropical, temperate, and northern high latitude regions. Our analyses confirm general controls on wetland methane emissions from soil temperature, water...
Characterization of the structure, clean-sand percentage, dissolved-solids concentrations, and estimated quantity of groundwater in the Upper Cretaceous Nacatoch Sand and Tokio Formation, Arkansas
Jonathan A. Gillip
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5068
The West Gulf Coastal Plain, Mississippi embayment, and underlying Cretaceous aquifers are rich in water resources; however, large parts of the aquifers are largely unusable because of large concentrations of dissolved solids. Cretaceous aquifers are known to have large concentrations of salinity in some parts of Arkansas. The Nacatoch Sand...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for New Mexico
William J. Carswell Jr.
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3041
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of New Mexico, elevation data are critical for infrastructure and construction management, natural resources conservation, flood risk management, agriculture and precision farming, geologic...
Multi-elemental analysis of aqueous geological samples by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry
Todor I. Todorov, Ruth E. Wolf, Monique Adams
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1067
Typically, 27 major, minor, and trace elements are determined in natural waters, acid mine drainage, extraction fluids, and leachates of geological and environmental samples by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). At the discretion of the analyst, additional elements may be determined after suitable method modifications and performance data are...
Groundwater and surface-water resources in the Bureau of Land Management Moab Master Leasing Plan area and adjacent areas, Grand and San Juan Counties, Utah, and Mesa and Montrose Counties, Colorado
Melissa D. Masbruch, Christopher L. Shope
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1062
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Canyon Country District Office is preparing a leasing plan known as the Moab Master Leasing Plan (Moab MLP) for oil, gas, and potash mineral rights in an area encompassing 946,469 acres in southeastern Utah. The BLM has identified water resources as being potentially affected...
Shear velocity criterion for incipient motion of sediment
Francisco J. Simoes
2014, Water Science and Engineering (7) 183-193
The prediction of incipient motion has had great importance to the theory of sediment transport. The most commonly used methods are based on the concept of critical shear stress and employ an approach similar, or identical, to the Shields diagram. An alternative method that uses the movability number, defined as...
Water quality and sources of fecal coliform bacteria in the Meduxnekeag River, Houlton, Maine
Charles W. Culbertson, Thomas G. Huntington, Donald M. Stoeckel, James M. Caldwell, Cara O’Donnell
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5144
In response to bacterial contamination in the Meduxnekeag River and the desire to manage the watershed to reduce contaminant sources, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians (HBMI) and the U.S. Geological Survey began a cooperative effort to establish a baseline of water-quality data that can be used in future studies...
Scaling coastal dune elevation changes across storm-impact regimes
Joseph W. Long, Anouk T. M. de Bakker, Nathaniel G. Plant
2014, Geophysical Research Letters (41) 2899-2906
Extreme storms drive change in coastal areas, including destruction of dune systems that protect coastal populations. Data from four extreme storms impacting four geomorphically diverse barrier islands are used to quantify dune elevation change. This change is compared to storm characteristics to identify variability in dune response, improve understanding of...
Use of satellite imagery to identify vegetation cover changes following the Waldo Canyon Fire event, Colorado, 2012-2013
Christopher J. Cole, Beverly A. Friesen, Earl M. Wilson
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1078
The Waldo Canyon Fire of 2012 was one of the most destructive wildfire events in Colorado history. The fire burned a total of 18,247 acres, claimed 2 lives, and destroyed 347 homes. The Waldo Canyon Fire continues to pose challenges to nearby communities. In a preliminary emergency assessment conducted in...
Utilizing dimensional analysis with observed data to determine the significance of hydrodynamic solutions in coastal hydrology
Eric D. Swain, Jeremy D. Decker, Joseph D. Hughes
2014, Computational Water, Energy, and Environmental Engineering (3) 57-77
In this paper, the authors present an analysis of the magnitude of the temporal and spatial acceleration (inertial) terms in the surface-water flow equations and determine the conditions under which these inertial terms have sufficient magnitude to be required in the computations. Data from two South Florida field sites are...
Assessment of the quality of groundwater and the Little Wind River in the area of a former uranium processing facility on the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, 1987 through 2010
Anthony J. Ranalli, David L. Naftz
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5218
In 2010, the U.S Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Wind River Environmental Quality Commission (WREQC), began an assessment of the effectiveness of the existing monitoring network at the Riverton, Wyoming, Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) site. The USGS used existing data supplied by the U.S. Department of...
Bathymetry of the waters surrounding the Elizabeth Islands, Massachusetts
Elizabeth A. Pendleton, Brian D. Andrews, Seth D. Ackerman, Dave Twichell
2014, Scientific Investigations Map 3286
The Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts that separate Vineyard Sound from Buzzards Bay are the remnants of a moraine (unconsolidated glacial sediment deposited at an ice sheet margin; Oldale and O’Hara, 1984). The most recent glacial ice retreat in this region occurred between 25,000 and 20,000 years ago, and the subsequent...
Placing prairie pothole wetlands along spatial and temporal continua to improve integration of wetland function in ecological investigations
Ned H. Euliss Jr., David M. Mushet, Wesley E. Newton, Clint R.V. Otto, Richard D. Nelson, James W. LaBaugh, Eric J. Scherff, Donald O. Rosenberry
2014, Journal of Hydrology (513) 490-503
We evaluated the efficacy of using chemical characteristics to rank wetland relation to surface and groundwater along a hydrologic continuum ranging from groundwater recharge to groundwater discharge. We used 27 years (1974–2002) of water chemistry data from 15 prairie pothole wetlands and known hydrologic connections of these wetlands to groundwater...
Sediment characteristics in the San Antonio River Basin downstream from San Antonio, Texas, and at a site on the Guadalupe River downstream from the San Antonio River Basin, 1966-2013
Cassi L. Crow, J. Ryan Banta, Stephen P. Opsahl
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5048
San Antonio and surrounding municipalities in Bexar County, Texas, are in a rapidly urbanizing region in the San Antonio River Basin. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Antonio River Authority and the Texas Water Development Board, compiled historical sediment data collected between 1996 and 2004 and collected...
Snake River fall Chinook salmon life history investigations, 1/1/2012 - 12/31/2012: Annual report 2002-032-00
Kenneth F. Tiffan, Willam P. Connor, Brian J. Bellgraph, Paul M. Chittaro
2014, Report
Executive Summary a. Fish Population RM&E This annual report describes the data collected and analyses conducted during calendar years 2012-2013 by staff of project 20023200. The USGS contributed only to the predation research and reservoir invertebrate work described in this report and the presentation of their results is consistent with USGS policy...
Disentangling the effects of climate and landscape change on bird population trends in the western U.S. and Canada
Matthew G. Betts, Susan Shirley, Joan Hagar
2014, Report
Changes in climate are often assumed result in changes to species’ ranges, with potential impacts on natural system functioning and ecosystem services. ‘Climate envelope models’, which rely on correlations between climate and species distributions, have been used to predict the future of biodiversity under these assumptions. However, other factors including...
Use of DNA from bite marks can determine species and individual animals that attack humans
Sean Farley, Sandra L. Talbot, George K. Sage, Rick Sinnott, Jessica Coltrane
2014, Wildlife Society Bulletin (38) 370-376
During the summer of 2008, 6 documented attacks and close encounters with brown bears (Ursus arctos) occurred in the greater Anchorage, Alaska (USA) area. We discuss findings from 2 incidents in which people were mauled within 2 km of each other over a 6-week period and in which it was assumed...
Status of groundwater quality in the Borrego Valley, Central Desert, and Low-Use Basins of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts study unit, 2008-2010: California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Mary C. Parsons, Tracy Connell Hancock, Justin T. Kulongoski, Kenneth Belitz
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5001
Groundwater quality in the approximately 963-square-mile Borrego Valley, Central Desert, and Low-Use Basins of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts study unit was investigated as part of the Priority Basin Project of the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The study unit is located in southern California in San Bernardino,...
Network analysis reveals multiscale controls on streamwater chemistry
Kevin J. McGuire, Christian E. Torgersen, Gene E. Likens, Donald C. Buso, Winsor H. Lowe, Scott W. Bailey
2014, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (111) 7030-7035
By coupling synoptic data from a basin-wide assessment of streamwater chemistry with network-based geostatistical analysis, we show that spatial processes differentially affect biogeochemical condition and pattern across a headwater stream network. We analyzed a high-resolution dataset consisting of 664 water samples collected every 100 m throughout 32 tributaries in an...
Integrated synoptic surveys of the hydrodynamics and water-quality distributions in two Lake Michigan rivermouth mixing zones using an autonomous underwater vehicle and a manned boat
P. Ryan Jackson, Paul C. Reneau
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5043
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Monitoring Network for U.S. Coastal Waters and Tributaries, launched a pilot project in 2010 to determine the value of integrated synoptic surveys of rivermouths using autonomous underwater vehicle technology in response to a call for rivermouth research, which includes study...
Subsidence (2004-2009) in and near lakebeds of the Mojave River and Morongo groundwater basins, southwest Mojave Desert, California
Mike Solt, Michelle Sneed
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5011
Subsidence, in the vicinity of dry lakebeds, within the Mojave River and Morongo groundwater basins of the southwest Mojave Desert has been measured by Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). The investigation has focused on determining the location, extent, and magnitude of changes in land-surface elevation. In addition, the relation of...
Visualization of soil-moisture change in response to precipitation within two rain gardens in Ohio
Denise H. Dumouchelle, Robert A. Darner
2014, Data Series 837
Stormwater runoff in urban areas is increasingly being managed by means of a variety of treaments that reduce or delay runoff and promote more natural infiltration. One such treatment is a rain garden, which is built to detain runoff and allow for water infiltration and uptake by plants.Water flow into...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Louisiana
William J. Carswell Jr.
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3037
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Louisiana, elevation data are critical for flood risk management, natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, infrastructure and construction management, water supply...
