Borehole geophysical, fluid, and hydraulic properties within and surrounding the freshwater/saline-water transition zone, San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer, south-central Texas, 2010-11
Jonathan V. Thomas, Gregory P. Stanton, Rebecca B. Lambert
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5285
The freshwater zone of the San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer is used by residents of San Antonio and numerous other rapidly growing communities in south-central Texas as their primary water supply source. This freshwater zone is bounded to the south and southeast by a saline-water zone with an...
Assessing potential effects of changes in water use with a numerical groundwater-flow model of Carson Valley, Douglas County, Nevada, and Alpine County, California
Richard M. Yager, Douglas K. Maurer, C.J. Mayers
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5262
Rapid growth and development within Carson Valley in Douglas County, Nevada, and Alpine County, California, has caused concern over the continued availability of groundwater, and whether the increased municipal demand could either impact the availability of water or result in decreased flow in the Carson River. Annual pumpage of groundwater...
Availability and distribution of low flow in Anahola Stream, Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi
Chui Ling Cheng, Reuben H. Wolff
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5264
Anahola Stream is a perennial stream in northeast Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi, that supports agricultural, domestic, and cultural uses within its drainage basin. Beginning in the late 19th century, Anahola streamflow was diverted by Makee Sugar Company at altitudes of 840 feet (upper intake) and 280 feet (lower intake) for irrigating sugarcane...
Using spatially detailed water-quality data and solute-transport modeling to improve support total maximum daily load development
Katherine Walton-Day, Robert L. Runkel, Briant A. Kimball
2012, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (48) 949-969
Spatially detailed mass-loading studies and solute-transport modeling using OTIS (One-dimensional Transport with Inflow and Storage) demonstrate how natural attenuation and loading from distinct and diffuse sources control stream water quality and affect load reductions predicted in total maximum daily loads (TMDLs). Mass-loading data collected during low-flow from Cement Creek (a...
Timing of large earthquakes during the past 500 years along the Santa Cruz Mountains segment of the San Andreas fault at Mill Canyon, near Watsonville, California
Thomas E. Fumal
2012, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (102) 1099-1119
A paleoseismic investigation across the Santa Cruz Mountains section of the San Andreas fault at Mill Canyon indicates that four surface‐rupturing earthquakes have occurred there during the past ~500 years. At this site, right‐lateral fault slip has moved a low shutter ridge across the mouth of the canyon, ponding latest Holocene...
Characterizing invertebrate traits in wadeable streams of the contiguous US: differences among ecoregions and land uses
Robert E. Zuellig, Travis S. Schmidt
2012, Freshwater Science (31) 1042-1056
Much is known about invertebrate community traits in basins across Europe, but no comprehensive description of traits exists for the continental US. Little is known about the trait composition of invertebrates in reference or least-disturbed basins of the US, how trait composition varies among ecoregions, or how consistently traits respond...
A vectorial capacity product to monitor changing malaria transmission potential in epidemic regions of Africa
Pietro Ceccato, Christelle Vancutsem, Robert Klaver, James Rowland, Stephen J. Connor
2012, Journal of Tropical Medicine (2012) 1-6
Rainfall and temperature are two of the major factors triggering malaria epidemics in warm semi-arid (desert-fringe) and high altitude (highland-fringe) epidemic risk areas. The ability of the mosquitoes to transmit Plasmodium spp. is dependent upon a series of biological features generally referred to as vectorial capacity. In this study, the...
Advanced methods for modeling water-levels and estimating drawdowns with SeriesSEE, an Excel add-in
Keith Halford, C. Amanda Garcia, Joe Fenelon, Benjamin B. Mirus
2012, Techniques and Methods 4-F4
Water-level modeling is used for multiple-well aquifer tests to reliably differentiate pumping responses from natural water-level changes in wells, or “environmental fluctuations.” Synthetic water levels are created during water-level modeling and represent the summation of multiple component fluctuations, including those caused by environmental forcing and pumping. Pumping signals are modeled...
Establishing water body areal extent trends in interior Alaska from multi-temporal Landsat data
Jennifer R. Rover, Lei Ji, Bruce K. Wylie, Larry L. Tieszen
2012, Remote Sensing Letters (3) 595-604
An accurate approach is needed for monitoring, quantifying and understanding surface water variability due to climate change. Separating inter- and intra-annual variances from longer-term shifts in surface water extents due to contemporary climate warming requires repeat measurements spanning a several-decade period. Here, we show that trends developed from multi-date measurements...
Surface-water quality in the upper San Antonio River Basin, Bexar County, Texas, 1992-98
J. Ryan Banta, Richard N. Slattery, Cassi L. Crow
2012, Data Series 738
The potential effects of chemicals in rivers and streams on human health or the ecology have long been a source of concern to water managers. Chemicals in rivers may result from natural or anthropogenic sources (such as industrial or residential practices) which are commonly associated with urbanized watersheds. The U.S....
Mercury dynamics in a San Francisco estuary tidal wetland: assessing dynamics using in situ measurements
Brian A. Bergamaschi, Jacob A. Fleck, Bryan D. Downing, Emmanuel Boss, Brian A. Pellerin, Neil K. Ganju, David H. Schoellhamer, Amy A. Byington, Wesley A. Heim, Mark Stephenson, Roger Fujii
2012, Estuaries and Coasts (35) 1036-1048
We used high-resolution in situ measurements of turbidity and fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) to quantitatively estimate the tidally driven exchange of mercury (Hg) between the waters of the San Francisco estuary and Browns Island, a tidal wetland. Turbidity and FDOM—representative of particle-associated and filter-passing Hg, respectively—together predicted 94 %...
Groundwater levels and water-quality observations pertaining to the Austin Group, Bexar County, Texas, 2009-11
J.R. Banta, Allan K. Clark
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5278
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Antonio Water System, examined groundwater-level altitudes (groundwater levels) and water-quality data pertaining to the Austin Group in Bexar County, Texas, during 2009–11. Hydrologic data collected included daily mean groundwater levels collected at seven sites in the study area. Water-quality samples were...
Quality of surface-water runoff in selected streams in the San Antonio segment of the Edwards aquifer recharge zone, Bexar County, Texas, 1997-2012
Stephen P. Opsahl
2012, Data Series 740
During 1997–2012, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the San Antonio Water System, collected and analyzed water-quality constituents in surface-water runoff from five ephemeral stream sites near San Antonio in northern Bexar County, Texas. The data were collected to assess the quality of surface water that recharges the Edwards...
Porphyry copper assessment of the Mesozoic of East Asia: China, Vietnam, North Korea, Mongolia, and Russia: Chapter G in Global mineral resource assessment
Steve Ludington, Mark J. Mihalasky, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Gilpin R. Robinson Jr., Thomas P. Frost, Kathleen D. Gans, Thomas D. Light, Robert J. Miller, Dmitriy V. Alexeiev
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-G
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collaborated with the China Geological Survey (CGS) to conduct a mineral resource assessment of Mesozoic porphyry copper deposits in East Asia. This area hosts several very large porphyry deposits, exemplified by the Dexing deposit in eastern China that contains more than 8,000,000 metric tons of...
The Mekong Fish Network: expanding the capacity of the people and institutions of the Mekong River Basin to share information and conduct standardized fisheries monitoring
Harmony C. Patricio, Shaara M. Ainsley, Matthew E. Andersen, John W. Beeman, David A. Hewitt
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1246
The Mekong River is one of the most biologically diverse rivers in the world, and it supports the most productive freshwater fisheries in the world. Millions of people in the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB) countries of the Union of Myanmar (Burma), Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Kingdom of Thailand,...
Multilevel groundwater monitoring of hydraulic head and temperature in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, 2009–10
Brian V. Twining, Jason C. Fisher
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5259
During 2009 and 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Idaho National Laboratory Project Office, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, collected quarterly, depth-discrete measurements of fluid pressure and temperature in nine boreholes located in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer. Each borehole was instrumented with a multilevel monitoring system...
Use of raw materials in the United States from 1900 through 2010
Grecia R. Matos
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3140
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the types and quantities of raw materials used by U.S. manufacturers and consumers have changed over time. This fact sheet quantifies the amounts of those materials (other than food and fuel) that have been input into the U.S. economy annually for a period...
Fish population and habitat analysis in Buck Creek, Washington, prior to recolonization by anadromous salmonids after the removal of Condit Dam
M. Brady Allen, Jeanette Burkhardt, Carrie Munz, Patrick J. Connolly
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1270
We assessed the physical and biotic conditions in the part of Buck Creek, Washington, potentially accessible to anadromous fishes. This creek is a major tributary to the White Salmon River upstream of Condit Dam, which was breached in October 2011. Habitat and fish populations were characterized in four stream reaches....
Sources and sinks of filtered total mercury and concentrations of total mercury of solids and of filtered methylmercury, Sinclair Inlet, Kitsap County, Washington, 2007-10
Anthony J. Paulson, Richard S. Dinicola, Marlene A. Noble, Richard J. Wagner, Raegan L. Huffman, Patrick W. Moran, John F. DeWild
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5223
The majority of filtered total mercury in the marine water of Sinclair Inlet originates from salt water flowing from Puget Sound. About 420 grams of filtered total mercury are added to Sinclair Inlet each year from atmospheric, terrestrial, and sedimentary sources, which has increased filtered total mercury concentrations in Sinclair...
Distribution of regional pressure in the onshore and offshore Gulf of Mexico basin, USA
Lauri A. Burke, Scott A. Kinney, Russell F. Dubiel, Janet K. Pitman
2012, Report
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has created a comprehensive geopressure-gradient model of the regional pressure system spanning the onshore and offshore portions of the Gulf of Mexico, USA. The model was used to generate ten maps: five contour maps (Maps 1A - 5A) characterize the depth to the surface defined...
Numerical model simulations of nitrate concentrations in groundwater using various nitrogen input scenarios, mid-Snake region, south-central Idaho
Kenneth D. Skinner, Michael G. Rupert
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5237
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program nitrate transport in groundwater was modeled in the mid-Snake River region in south-central Idaho to project future concentrations of nitrate. Model simulation results indicated that nitrate concentrations would continue to increase over time, eventually exceeding the U.S....
Genetic structure of lake whitefish, Coregonus clupeaformis, populations in the northern main basin of Lake Huron
Wendylee Stott, Mark P. Ebener, Lloyd Mohr, Jeff Schaeffer, Edward F. Roseman, William J. Harford, James E. Johnson, Cherie-Lee Fietsch
2012, Advances in Limnology (63) 241-260
Genetic analysis of spawning lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) from six sites in the main basin of Lake Huron was conducted to determine population structure. Samples from fisheryindependent assessment surveys in the northwest main basin were analyzed to determine the relative contributions of lake whitefish genetic populations. Genetic population structure was...
Chemicals of emerging concern in water and bottom sediment in Great Lakes areas of concern, 2010 to 2011-Collection methods, analyses methods, quality assurance, and data
Kathy Lee, Susan K. Langer, Michael A. Menheer, William T. Foreman, Edward T. Furlong, Steven G. Smith
2012, Data Series 723
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) cooperated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a study to identify the occurrence of chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) in water and bottom-sediment samples collected during 2010–11 at sites in seven areas of concern (AOCs) throughout the...
Use of classes based on redox and groundwater age to characterize the susceptibility of principal aquifers to changes in nitrate concentrations, 1991 to 2010
P.B. McMahon
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5220
The National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey is using multiple approaches to measure and explain trends in concentrations of nitrate in principal aquifers of the United States. Near decadal sampling of selected well networks is providing information on where long-term changes in nitrate concentrations have occurred....
Approaches in highly parameterized inversion: TSPROC, a general time-series processor to assist in model calibration and result summarization
Stephen M. Westenbroek, John Doherty, John F. Walker, Victor A. Kelson, Randall J. Hunt, Timothy B. Cera
2012, Techniques and Methods 7-C7
The TSPROC (Time Series PROCessor) computer software uses a simple scripting language to process and analyze time series. It was developed primarily to assist in the calibration of environmental models. The software is designed to perform calculations on time-series data commonly associated with surface-water models, including calculation of flow volumes,...
