U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group Proceedings, Carlsbad, New Mexico, April 29-May 2, 2014
Eve L. Kuniansky, Lawrence E. Spangler
Eve L. Kuniansky, Lawrence E. Spangler, editor(s)
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5035
Karst aquifer systems are present throughout parts of the United States and some of its territories, and have developed in carbonate rocks (primarily limestone and dolomite) that span an interval of time encompassing more than 550 million years. The depositional environments, diagenetic processes, post-depositional tectonic events, and geochemical weathering processes...
Foodweb transfer, sediment transport, and biological impacts of emerging and legacy organic contaminants in the lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, USA: Contaminants and Habitat (ConHab) Project
Elena B. Nilsen, Jennifer L. Morace
2014, Science of the Total Environment (484) 319-321
No abstract available...
Concentrations of selected constituents in surface-water and streambed-sediment samples collected from streams in and near an area of oil and natural-gas development, south-central Texas, 2011-13
Stephen P. Opsahl, Cassi L. Crow
2014, Data Series 836
During 2011–13, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Antonio River Authority and the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, analyzed surface-water and streambed-sediment samples collected from 10 sites in the San Antonio River Basin to provide data for a broad range of constituents that might be associated with hydraulic fracturing...
Use of main channel and two backwater habitats by larval fishes in the Detroit River
Erik A. McDonald, A. Scott McNaught, Edward F. Roseman
2014, Journal of Great Lakes Research (40) 69-80
Recent investigations in the Detroit River have revealed renewed spawning activity by several important fishes, but little is known about their early life history requirements. We surveyed two main channel and two backwater areas in the lower Detroit River weekly from May to July 2007 to assess habitat use by...
Depletion of eugenol residues from the skin-on fillet tissue of rainbow trout exposed to 14C-labeled eugenol
Jeffery R. Meinertz, Theresa M. Schreier, Scott T. Porcher, Justin R. Smerud, Mark P. Gaikowski
2014, Aquaculture (430) 74-78
The U.S. is lagging in access to an approved immediate-release sedative, i.e. a compound that can be safely and effectively used to sedate fish and has no withdrawal period. AQUI-S® 20E (10% active ingredient, eugenol) is under investigation as an immediate-release sedative for freshwater finfish. Because of its investigational status,...
Thresholds in the response of free-floating plant abundance to variation in hydraulic connectivity, nutrients, and macrophyte abundance in a large floodplain river
Shawn M. Giblin, Jeffrey N. Houser, John F. Sullivan, H.A. Langrehr, James T. Rogala, Benjamin D. Campbell
2014, Wetlands (34) 413-425
Duckweed and other free-floating plants (FFP) can form dense surface mats that affect ecosystem condition and processes, and can impair public use of aquatic resources. FFP obtain their nutrients from the water column, and the formation of dense FFP mats can be a consequence and indicator of river eutrophication. We...
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...
Evaluation of alternative groundwater-management strategies for the Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Project, Oregon and California
Brian J. Wagner, Marshall W. Gannett
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5054
The water resources of the upper Klamath Basin, in southern Oregon and northern California, are managed to achieve various complex and interconnected purposes. Since 2001, irrigators in the Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Irrigation Project (Project) have been required to limit surface-water diversions to protect habitat for endangered freshwater and anadromous...
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...
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...
Automated determination of the stable carbon isotopic composition (δ13C) of total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and total nonpurgeable dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in aqueous samples: RSIL lab codes 1851 and 1852
Kinga M. Revesz, Daniel H. Doctor
2014, Techniques and Methods 10-C20
The purposes of the Reston Stable Isotope Laboratory (RSIL) lab codes 1851 and 1852 are to determine the total carbon mass and the ratio of the stable isotopes of carbon (δ13C) for total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC, lab code 1851) and total nonpurgeable dissolved organic carbon (DOC, lab code 1852)...
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...
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...
Field-scale sulfur hexafluoride tracer experiment to understand long distance gas transport in the deep unsaturated zone
Michelle Ann Walvoord, Brian J. Andraski, Christopher T. Green, David A. Stonestrom, Robert G. Striegl
2014, Vadose Zone Journal (13)
A gas-tracer test in a deep arid unsaturated zone demonstrates that standard estimates of effective diffusivity from sediment properties allow a reasonable first-cut assessment of gas contaminant transport. Apparent anomalies in historic transport behavior at this and other waste disposal sites may result from factors other than nonreactive gas transport...
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...
HiRISE observations of Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL) during southern summer on Mars
Lujendra Ojha, Alfred McEwen, Colin M. Dundas, Shane Byrne, Sarah Mattson, James Wray, Marion Masse, Ethan Schaefer
2014, Icarus (231) 365-376
Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL) are active features on Mars that might require flowing water. Most examples observed through 2011 formed on steep, equator-facing slopes in the southern mid-latitudes. They form and grow during warm seasons and fade and often completely disappear during colder seasons, but recur over multiple Mars years....
