Uncertainty in simulated groundwater-quality trends in transient flow
J. Jeffrey Starn, Amvrossios Bagtzoglou, Gary A. Robbins
2013, Hydrogeology Journal (21) 813-827
In numerical modeling of groundwater flow, the result of a given solution method is affected by the way in which transient flow conditions and geologic heterogeneity are simulated. An algorithm is demonstrated that simulates breakthrough curves at a pumping well by convolution-based particle tracking in a transient flow field for...
A long-term comparison of carbon sequestration rates in impounded and naturally tidal freshwater marshes along the lower Waccamaw River, South Carolina
Judith Z. Drexler, Ken W. Krauss, M. Craig Sasser, Christopher C. Fuller, Christopher M. Swarzenski, Amber Powell, Kathleen M. Swanson, James L. Orlando
2013, Wetlands
Carbon storage was compared between impounded and naturally tidal freshwater marshes along the Lower Waccamaw River in South Carolina, USA. Soil cores were collected in (1) naturally tidal, (2) moist soil (impounded, seasonally drained since ~1970), and (3) deeply flooded “treatments” (impounded, flooded to ~90 cm since ~2002). Cores were...
Impacts on groundwater recharge areas of megacity pumping: analysis of potential contamination of Kolkata, India, water supply
Paulami Sahu, Holly A. Michael, Clifford I. Voss, Pradip K. Sikdar
2013, Hydrological Sciences Journal (58) 1340-1360
Water supply to the world's megacities is a problem of quantity and quality that will be a priority in the coming decades. Heavy pumping of groundwater beneath these urban centres, particularly in regions with low natural topographic gradients, such as deltas and floodplains, can fundamentally alter the hydrological system. These...
Rivermouth alteration of agricultural impacts on consumer tissue δ15N
James H. Larson, William B. Richardson, Jonathan M. Vallazza, J. C. Nelson
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Terrestrial agricultural activities strongly influence riverine nitrogen (N) dynamics, which is reflected in the δ15N of riverine consumer tissues. However, processes within aquatic ecosystems also influence consumer tissue δ15N. As aquatic processes become more important terrestrial inputs may become a weaker predictor of consumer tissue δ15N. In a previous study,...
Optimal placement of off-stream water sources for ephemeral stream recovery
Matthew B. Rigge, Alexander Smart, Bruce Wylie
2013, Rangeland Ecology and Management (66) 479-486
Uneven and/or inefficient livestock distribution is often a product of an inadequate number and distribution of watering points. Placement of off-stream water practices (OSWP) in pastures is a key consideration in rangeland management plans and is critical to achieving riparian recovery by improving grazing evenness, while improving livestock performance. Effective...
Movements and habitat-use of loggerhead sea turtles in the northern Gulf of Mexico during the reproductive period
Kristen M. Hart, Margaret M. Lamont, Autumn R. Sartain-Iverson, Ikuko Fujisaki, Brail S. Stephens
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Nesting strategies and use of important in-water habitats for far-ranging marine turtles can be determined using satellite telemetry. Because of a lack of information on habitat-use by marine turtles in the northern Gulf of Mexico, we used satellite transmitters in 2010 through 2012 to track movements of 39 adult female...
Potential climate change impacts on temperate forest ecosystem processes
Emily B. Peters, Kirk R. Wythers, Shuxia Zhang, John B. Bradford, Peter B. Reich
2013, Canadian Journal of Forest Research
Large changes in atmospheric CO2, temperature and precipitation are predicted by 2100, yet the long-term consequences for carbon, water, and nitrogen cycling in forests are poorly understood. We applied the PnET-CN ecosystem model to compare the long-term effects of changing climate and atmospheric CO2 on productivity, evapotranspiration, runoff, and net...
Rapid fluctuations in flow and water-column properties in Asan Bay, Guam: implications for selective resilience of coral reefs in warming seas
Curt D. Storlazzi, Michael E. Field, Olivia M. Cheriton, M.K. Presto, J.B. Logan
2013, Coral Reefs (32) 949-961
Hydrodynamics and water-column properties were investigated off west-central Guam from July 2007 through January 2008. Rapid fluctuations, on time scales of 10s of min, in currents, temperature, salinity, and acoustic backscatter were observed to occur on sub-diurnal frequencies along more than 2 km of the fore reef but not at...
Meeting the Science Needs of the Nation in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy-- A U.S. Geological Survey Science Plan for Support of Restoration and Recovery
Herbert T. Buxton, Matthew E. Andersen, Michael J. Focazio, John W. Haines, Robert A. Hainly, Daniel J. Hippe, Larry J. Sugarbaker
2013, Circular 1390
n late October 2012, Hurricane Sandy came ashore during a spring high tide on the New Jersey coastline, delivering hurricane-force winds, storm tides exceeding 19 feet, driving rain, and plummeting temperatures. Hurricane Sandy resulted in 72 direct fatalities in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States, and widespread and substantial physical,...
National assessment of hurricane-induced coastal erosion hazards: Mid-Atlantic Coast
Kara S. Doran, Hilary F. Stockdon, Kristin L. Sopkin, David M. Thompson, Nathaniel G. Plant
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1131
Beaches serve as a natural buffer between the ocean and inland communities, ecosystems, and natural resources. However, these dynamic environments move and change in response to winds, waves, and currents. During extreme storms, changes to beaches can be large, and the results are sometimes catastrophic. Lives may be lost, communities...
National assessment of hurricane-induced coastal erosion hazards: Southeast Atlantic Coast
Hilary F. Stockdon, Kara S. Doran, David M. Thompson, Kristin L. Sopkin, Nathaniel G. Plant
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1130
Beaches serve as a natural barrier between the ocean and inland communities, ecosystems, and natural resources. However, these dynamic environments move and change in response to winds, waves, and currents. During extreme storms, changes to beaches can be large, and the results are sometimes catastrophic. Lives may be lost, communities...
Water use, availability, and net demand in the Tennessee River watershed within Alabama, 2005
Amy C. Gill, Michael J. Harper, Thomas M. Littlepage
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5067
The U.S. Geological Survey worked in cooperation with the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs—Office of Water Resources to estimate water use and water availability for 2005 for the portion of the Tennessee River watershed contained within the borders of the State of Alabama. Estimates of water use and...
Modeling transport of nutrients & sediment loads into Lake Tahoe under climate change
John Riverson, Robert Coats, Mariza Costa-Cabral, Mike Dettinger, John Reuter, Goloka Sahoo, Geoffrey Schladow
2013, Climatic Change (116) 35-50
The outputs from two General Circulation Models (GCMs) with two emissions scenarios were downscaled and bias-corrected to develop regional climate change projections for the Tahoe Basin. For one model—the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory or GFDL model—the daily model results were used to drive a distributed hydrologic model. The watershed model...
Modeled distribution and abundance of a pelagic seabird reveal trends in relation to fisheries
Martin Renner, Julia K. Parrish, John F. Piatt, Kathy J. Kuletz, Ann E. Edwards, George L. Hunt Jr.
2013, Marine Ecology Progress Series (484) 259-277
The northern fulmar Fulmarus glacialis is one of the most visible and widespread seabirds in the eastern Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. However, relatively little is known about its abundance, trends, or the factors that shape its distribution. We used a long-term pelagic dataset to model changes in fulmar at-sea...
Beaver dams maintain fish biodiversity by increasing habitat heterogeneity throughout a low-gradient stream network
Joseph M. Smith, Martha E. Mather
2013, Freshwater Biology (58) 1523-1538
Understanding the relationship between heterogeneity and biodiversity is an active focus of ecological research. Although habitat heterogeneity is conceptually linked to biodiversity, the amount and configuration of heterogeneity that maintains biodiversity within ecosystems is not well understood, especially for an entire stream network. Here, we tested alternative outcomes about...
Carcass analog addition enhances juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) growth and condition
Margaret Q. Guyette, Cynthia S. Loftin, Joseph D. Zydlewski
2013, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (70) 860-870
Our study used historic marine-derived nutrient (MDN) delivery timing to simulate potential effects of restored connectivity on juvenile Atlantic salmon (ATS; Salmo salar) growth and condition. Four headwater streams were stocked with ATS young of the year (YOY) and received carcass analog additions (0.10 kg·m–2 wetted area) in treatment reaches to match...
Protocol for analysis of volcanic ash samples for assessment of hazards from leachable elements
C. Stewart, C. Horwell, Geoffrey S. Plumlee, Shane Cronin, P. Delmelle, P. Baxter, J. Calkins, David Damby, Suzette A. Morman, Clive Oppenheimer
2013, Report
Volcanic eruptions can produce a wide range of hazards. Although phenomena such as pyroclastic density currents and surges, sector collapses, lahars and ballistic blocks are the most destructive and dangerous, volcanic ash is by far the most widely distributed eruption product1 and the most likely to be encountered by the...
Framing scenarios of binational water policy with a tool to visualize, quantify and valuate changes in ecosystem services
Laura M. Norman, Miguel L. Villarreal, Rewati Niraula, Thomas Meixner, George Frisvold, William Labiosa
2013, Water (5) 852-874
In the Santa Cruz Watershed, located on the Arizona-Sonora portion of the U.S.-Mexico border, an international wastewater treatment plant treats wastewater from cities on both sides of the border, before discharging it into the river in Arizona. These artificial flows often subsidize important perennial surface water ecosystems in the region....
Conceptual and numerical models of groundwater flow in the Ogallala aquifer in Gregory and Tripp Counties, South Dakota, water years 1985--2009
Kyle W. Davis, Larry D. Putnam
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5069
The Ogallala aquifer is an important water resource for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in Gregory and Tripp Counties in south-central South Dakota and is used for irrigation, public supply, domestic, and stock water supplies. To better understand groundwater flow in the Ogallala aquifer, conceptual and numerical models of groundwater flow...
Landscape influences on climate-related lake shrinkage at high latitudes
Jennifer K. Roach, Brad Griffith, David Verbyla
2013, Global Change Biology (19) 2276-2284
Climate-related declines in lake area have been identified across circumpolar regions and have been characterized by substantial spatial heterogeneity. An improved understanding of the mechanisms underlying lake area trends is necessary to predict where change is most likely to occur and to identify implications for high latitude reservoirs of carbon....
Assessing the use of existing data to compare plains fish assemblages collected from random and fixed sites in Colorado
Robert E. Zuellig, Harry J. Crockett
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1115
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, assessed the potential use of combining recently (2007 to 2010) and formerly (1992 to 1996) collected data to compare plains fish assemblages sampled from random and fixed sites located in the South Platte and Arkansas River Basins in Colorado....
Brookian sequence well log correlation sections and occurrence of gas hydrates, north-central North Slope, Alaska
Kristen A. Lewis, Timothy S. Collett
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5050
Gas hydrates are naturally occurring crystalline, ice-like substances that consist of natural gas molecules trapped in a solid-water lattice. Because of the compact nature of their structure, hydrates can effectively store large volumes of gas and, consequently, have been identified as a potential unconventional energy source. First recognized to exist...
Estimates of the volume of water in five coal aquifers, Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, southeastern Montana
L.K. Tuck, Daniel K. Pearson, M. R. Cannon, DeAnn M. Dutton
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5209
The Tongue River Member of the Tertiary Fort Union Formation is the primary source of groundwater in the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana. Coal beds within this formation generally contain the most laterally extensive aquifers in much of the reservation. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the...
Marine radiocarbon reservoir age variation in Donax obesulus shells from northern Peru: Late Holocene evidence for extended El Niño
Miguel F. Etayo-Cadavid, C. Fred T. Andrus, Kevin B. Jones, Gregory W. L. Hodgins, Daniel H. Sandweiss, Sandiago Uceda-Castillo, Jeffrey Quilter
2013, Geology (41) 599-602
For at least 6 m.y., El Niño events have posed the greatest environmental risk on the Peruvian coast. A better understanding of El Niño is essential for predicting future risk and growth in this tropical desert. To achieve this we analyzed archaeological and modern pre-bomb shells from the surf clam Donax for...
Geophysical logging and geologic mapping data in the vicinity of the GMH Electronics Superfund site near Roxboro, North Carolina
Melinda J. Chapman, Timothy W. Clark, John H. Williams
2013, Data Series 762
Geologic mapping, the collection of borehole geophysical logs and images, and passive diffusion bag sampling were conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey North Carolina Water Science Center in the vicinity of the GMH Electronics Superfund site near Roxboro, North Carolina, during March through October 2011. The study purpose was to...
