The quality of our Nation's waters: factors affecting public-supply-well vulnerability to contamination: understanding observed water quality and anticipating future water quality
Sandra M. Eberts, Mary Ann Thomas, Martha L. Jagucki
2013, Circular 1385
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program, a study was conducted from 2001 to 2011 to shed light on factors that affect the vulnerability of water from public-supply wells to contamination (referred to hereafter as “public-supply-well vulnerability”). The study was designed as a follow-up to...
Continuous resistivity profiling data from Great South Bay, Long Island, New York
V.A. Cross, J.F. Bratton, K.D. Kroeger, John Crusius, C.R. Worley
2013, Open-File Report 2011-1040
An investigation of submarine aquifers adjacent to the Fire Island National Seashore and Long Island, New York was conducted to assess the importance of submarine groundwater discharge as a potential nonpoint source of nitrogen delivery to Great South Bay. Over 200 kilometers of continuous resistivity profiling data were collected to...
We speak for the data
Michael N. Fienen
2013, Ground Water (51) 157
No abstract available....
Nitrous oxide emissions from cropland: a procedure for calibrating the DayCent biogeochemical model using inverse modelling
Rashad Rafique, Michael N. Fienen, Timothy B. Parkin, Robert P. Anex
2013, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution (224) 1-15
DayCent is a biogeochemical model of intermediate complexity widely used to simulate greenhouse gases (GHG), soil organic carbon and nutrients in crop, grassland, forest and savannah ecosystems. Although this model has been applied to a wide range of ecosystems, it is still typically parameterized through a traditional “trial and error”...
Bridging groundwater models and decision support with a Bayesian network
Michael N. Fienen, John P. Masterson, Nathaniel G. Plant, Benjamin T. Gutierrez, E. Robert Thieler
2013, Water Resources Research (49) 6459-6473
Resource managers need to make decisions to plan for future environmental conditions, particularly sea level rise, in the face of substantial uncertainty. Many interacting processes factor in to the decisions they face. Advances in process models and the quantification of uncertainty have made models a valuable tool for this purpose....
Sediment geochemistry of Corte Madera Marsh, San Francisco Bay, California: have local inputs changed, 1830-2010?
Renee K. Takesue, Bruce E. Jaffe
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1042
Large perturbations since the mid-1800s to the supply and source of sediment entering San Francisco Bay have disturbed natural processes for more than 150 years. Only recently have sediment inputs through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the Delta) decreased to what might be considered pre-disturbance levels. Declining sediment inputs to San...
Late Quaternary stream piracy and strath terrace formation along the Belle Fourche and lower Cheyenne Rivers, South Dakota and Wyoming
John F. Stamm, Robert R. Hendricks, J. Foster Sawyer, Shannon Mahan, Brent J. Zaprowski, Nicholas M. Geibel, David C. Azzolini
2013, Geomorphology (197) 10-20
Stream piracy substantially affected the geomorphic evolution of the Missouri River watershed and drainages within, including the Little Missouri, Cheyenne, Belle Fourche, Bad, and White Rivers. The ancestral Cheyenne River eroded headward in an annular pattern around the eastern and southern Black Hills and pirated the headwaters of the ancestral...
A conceptual framework for Lake Michigan coastal/nearshore ecosystems, with application to Lake Michigan Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP) objectives
Paul W. Seelbach, Lisa R. Fogarty, David Bo Bunnell, Sheridan K. Haack, Mark W. Rogers
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1138
The Lakewide Management Plans (LaMPs) within the Great Lakes region are examples of broad-scale, collaborative resource-management efforts that require a sound ecosystems approach. Yet, the LaMP process is lacking a holistic framework that allows these individual actions to be planned and understood within the broader context of the Great Lakes...
Springs, streams, and gas vent on and near Mount Adams volcano, Washington
Manuel Nathenson, Robert H. Mariner
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5097
Springs and some streams on Mount Adams volcano have been sampled for chemistry and light stable isotopes of water. Spring temperatures are generally cooler than air temperatures from weather stations at the same elevation. Spring chemistry generally reflects weathering of volcanic rock from dissolved carbon dioxide. Water in some springs...
Potential effects of deepening the St. Johns River navigation channel on saltwater intrusion in the surficial aquifer system, Jacksonville, Florida
Jason C. Bellino, Rick M. Spechler
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5146
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has proposed dredging a 13-mile reach of the St. Johns River navigation channel in Jacksonville, Florida, deepening it to depths between 50 and 54 feet below North American Vertical Datum of 1988. The dredging operation will remove about 10 feet of sediments from...
Fatty acid composition at the base of aquatic food webs is influenced by habitat type and watershed land use
James H. Larson, William B. Richardson, Brent C. Knights, Lynn Bartsch, Michelle Bartsch, J. C. Nelson, Jason A. Veldboom, Jonathan M. Vallazza
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Spatial variation in food resources strongly influences many aspects of aquatic consumer ecology. Although large-scale controls over spatial variation in many aspects of food resources are well known, others have received little study. Here we investigated variation in the fatty acid (FA) composition of seston and primary consumers within (i.e.,...
Refinement of late-Early and Middle Miocene diatom biostratigraphy for the east coast of the United States
John A. Barron, James Browning, Peter Sugarman, Kenneth G. Miller
2013, Geosphere (9) 1286-1302
Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 313 continuously cored Lower to Middle Miocene sequences at three continental shelf sites off New Jersey, USA. The most seaward of these, Site M29, contains a well-preserved Early and Middle Miocene succession of planktonic diatoms that have been independently correlated with the geomagnetic polarity...
A wetting and drying scheme for ROMS
John C. Warner, Zafer Defne, Kevin Haas, Hernan G. Arango
2013, Computers & Geosciences (58) 54-61
The processes of wetting and drying have many important physical and biological impacts on shallow water systems. Inundation and dewatering effects on coastal mud flats and beaches occur on various time scales ranging from storm surge, periodic rise and fall of the tide, to infragravity wave motions. To correctly simulate...
Lidar-derived estimate and uncertainty of carbon sink in successional phases of woody encroachment
Temuulen Sankey, Rupesh Shrestha, Joel B. Sankey, Stuart Hardgree, Eva Strand
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (118) 1144-1155
Woody encroachment is a globally occurring phenomenon that contributes to the global carbon sink. The magnitude of this contribution needs to be estimated at regional and local scales to address uncertainties present in the global- and continental-scale estimates, and guide regional policy and management in balancing restoration activities, including removal...
Key landscape ecology metrics for assessing climate change adaptation options: Rate of change and patchiness of impacts
Laura López-Hoffman, David D. Breshears, Craig D. Allen, Marc L. Miller
2013, Ecosphere (4)
Under a changing climate, devising strategies to help stakeholders adapt to alterations to ecosystems and their services is of utmost importance. In western North America, diminished snowpack and river flows are causing relatively gradual, homogeneous (system-wide) changes in ecosystems and services. In addition, increased climate variability is also accelerating the...
Updated methodology for nuclear magnetic resonance characterization of shales
Kathryn E. Washburn, Justin E. Birdwell
2013, Journal of Magnetic Resonance (233) 17-28
Unconventional petroleum resources, particularly in shales, are expected to play an increasingly important role in the world’s energy portfolio in the coming years. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), particularly at low-field, provides important information in the evaluation of shale resources. Most of the low-field NMR analyses performed on shale samples rely...
Mapping risk of avian influenza transmission at the interface of domestic poultry and wild birds
Diann J. Prosser, Laura L. Hungerford, R. Michael Erwin, Mary Ann Ottinger, John Y. Takekawa, Erle C. Ellis
2013, Frontiers in Public Health (1)
Emergence of avian influenza viruses with high lethality to humans, such as the currently circulating highly pathogenic A(H5N1) (emerged in 1996) and A(H7N9) cause serious concern for the global economic and public health sectors. Understanding the spatial and temporal interface between wild and domestic populations, from which these viruses emerge,...
Comparison of age distributions estimated from environmental tracers by using binary-dilution and numerical models of fractured and folded karst: Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and West Virginia, USA
Richard M. Yager, Niel Plummer, Leon J. Kauffman, Daniel H. Doctor, David L. Nelms, Peter Schlosser
2013, Hydrogeology Journal (21) 1193-1217
Measured concentrations of environmental tracers in spring discharge from a karst aquifer in the Shenandoah Valley, USA, were used to refine a numerical groundwater flow model. The karst aquifer is folded and faulted carbonate bedrock dominated by diffuse flow along fractures. The numerical model represented bedrock structure and discrete features...
Geochemical and isotopic variations in shallow groundwater in areas of the Fayetteville Shale development, north-central Arkansas
Nathaniel R. Warner, Timothy M. Kresse, Phillip D. Hays, Adrian Down, Jonathan D. Karr, R.B. Jackson, Avner Vengosh
2013, Applied Geochemistry (35) 207-220
Exploration of unconventional natural gas reservoirs such as impermeable shale basins through the use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has changed the energy landscape in the USA providing a vast new energy source. The accelerated production of natural gas has triggered a debate concerning the safety and possible environmental...
Blood mineral concentrations in manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris and Trichechus manatus manatus)
J. Siegal-Willott, Kendal E. Harr, Jeffery O. Hall, Lee-Ann C. Hayek, Nicole Auil-Gomez, James A. Powell, Robert K. Bonde, Darryl Heard
2013, Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (44) 285-894
Limited information is available regarding the role of minerals and heavy metals in the morbidity and mortality of manatees. Whole-blood and serum mineral concentrations were evaluated in apparently healthy, free-ranging Florida (Trichechus manatus latirostris, n = 31) and Belize (Trichechus manatus manatus, n = 14) manatees. Toxicologic statuses of the...
Quantifying wetland–aquifer interactions in a humid subtropical climate region: An integrated approach
Itza Mendoza-Sanchez, Mantha S. Phanikumar, Jie Niu, Jason R. Masoner, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Jennifer T. McGuire
2013, Journal of Hydrology (498) 237-253
Wetlands are widely recognized as sentinels of global climate change. Long-term monitoring data combined with process-based modeling has the potential to shed light on key processes and how they change over time. This paper reports the development and application of a simple water balance model based on long-term climate, soil,...
Geologic effects on groundwater salinity and discharge into an estuary
Christopher J. Russonielloa, Cristina Fernandeza, John F. Bratton, Joel F. Banaszakc, David E. Krantzc, Scott Andresd, Leonard F. Konikow, Holly A. Michaela
2013, Journal of Hydrology (498) 1-12
Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) can be an important pathway for transport of nutrients and contaminants to estuaries. A better understanding of the geologic and hydrologic controls on these fluxes is critical for their estimation and management. We examined geologic features, porewater salinity, and SGD rates and patterns at an estuarine...
Foraging habitat for shorebirds in southeastern Missouri and its predicted future availability
Daniel J. Twedt
2013, Wetlands (33) 667-678
Water management to protect agriculture in alluvial floodplains often conflicts with wildlife use of seasonal floodwater. Such is the case along the Mississippi River in southeastern Missouri where migrating shorebirds forage in shallow-flooded fields. I estimated the current availability of habitat for foraging shorebirds within the New Madrid and St....
Wind River watershed restoration. Annual report. November 2011 through October 2012
Ian G. Jezorek, Patrick J. Connolly
2013, Report
Introduction This report summarizes work by U.S. Geological Survey’s Columbia River Research Laboratory (USGS-CRRL) in the Wind River subbasin, from November 2011 through October 2012. Funding was provided by Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) under contract 55275. The primary focus of USGS activities during this time was tagging of parr steelhead Oncorhynchus...
National assessment of geologic carbon dioxide storage resources: Results
U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Carbon Dioxide Storage Resources Assessment Team
2013, Circular 1386
In 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) completed an assessment of the technically accessible storage resources (TASR) for carbon dioxide (CO2) in geologic formations underlying the onshore and State waters area of the United States. The formations assessed are at least 3,000 feet (914 meters) below the ground surface. The...
