USGS Zebra Mussel Monitoring Program for north Texas
Christopher J. Churchill, Stanley Baldys
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3077
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Zebra Mussel Monitoring Program for north Texas provides early detection and monitoring of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) by using a holistic suite of detection methods. The program is designed to assess zebra mussel occurrence, distribution, and densities in north Texas waters by using four approaches:...
Modeling of depth to base of Last Glacial Maximum and seafloor sediment thickness for the California State Waters Map Series, eastern Santa Barbara Channel, California
Florence L. Wong, Eleyne L. Phillips, Samuel Y. Johnson, Ray W. Sliter
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1161
Models of the depth to the base of Last Glacial Maximum and sediment thickness over the base of Last Glacial Maximum for the eastern Santa Barbara Channel are a key part of the maps of shallow subsurface geology and structure for offshore Refugio to Hueneme Canyon, California, in the California...
Sea-floor geology in central Rhode Island Sound south of Sakonnet Point, Rhode Island
K.Y. McMullen, L.J. Poppe, S.D. Ackerman, C.R. Worley, M.A. Nadeau, M. V. Van Hoy
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1004
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are working together to study the sea floor along the northeastern coast of the United States. NOAA collected multibeam-echosounder data during hydrographic survey H11995 in a 63-square-kilometer area in central Rhode Island Sound, south of Sakonnet Point,...
Flood-inundation maps for Sweetwater Creek from above the confluence of Powder Springs Creek to the Interstate 20 bridge, Cobb and Douglas Counties, Georgia
Jonathan W. Musser
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3220
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 10.5-mile reach of Sweetwater Creek, from about 1,800 feet above the confluence of Powder Springs Creek to about 160 feet below the Interstate 20 bridge, were developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with Cobb County, Georgia. The inundation maps, which can be...
Global prediction of continuous hydrocarbon accumulations in self-sourced reservoirs
Jennifer D. Eoff
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1091
This report was first presented as an abstract in poster format at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) 2012 Annual Convention and Exhibition, April 22-25, Long Beach, Calif., as Search and Discovery Article no. 90142. Shale resource plays occur in predictable tectonic settings within similar orders of magnitude of...
Determination of the δ2H and δ18O of soil water and water in plant matter; RSIL lab code 1700
Kinga M. Revesz, Bryan Buck, Tyler B. Coplen
2012, Techniques and Methods 10-C19
The purpose of the Reston Stable Isotope Laboratory lab code 1700 is to determine the δ2H/1H), abbreviated as δ2H, and the δ18O/16O), abbreviated as δ18O, of soil water and water in plant matter. This method is based on the observation that water and toluene form an azeotropic mixture at 84.1...
Estimates of tracer-based piston-flow ages of groundwater from selected sites: National Water-Quality Assessment Program, 2006-2010
Stephanie D. Shapiro, Niel Plummer, Eurybiades Busenberg, Peggy K. Widman, Gerolamo C. Casile, Julian E. Wayland, Donna L. Runkle
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5141
Piston-flow age dates were interpreted from measured concentrations of environmental tracers from 812 National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program groundwater sites from 27 Study Units across the United States. The tracers of interest include chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and tritium/helium-3 (3H/3He). Tracer data compiled for this analysis were collected from...
Regression modeling of particle size distributions in urban stormwater: Advancements through improved sample collection methods
William R. Selbig, Michael N. Fienen
2012, Journal of Environmental Engineering (138) 1186-1193
A new sample collection system was developed to improve the representation of sediment entrained in urban storm water by integrating water quality samples from the entire water column. The depth-integrated sampler arm (DISA) was able to mitigate sediment stratification bias in storm water, thereby improving the characterization...
Control-structure ratings on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near Lockport, Illinois
Timothy D. Straub, Kevin K. Johnson, Jon Hortness, James J. Duncker
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5131
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago regulate flows through control structures along the Lake Michigan lakefront and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) for Lake Michigan diversion accounting, flood control, sanitary, and navigation purposes. This report documents the measurement and...
Simulation of climate change in San Francisco Bay Basins, California: Case studies in the Russian River Valley and Santa Cruz Mountains
Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5132
As a result of ongoing changes in climate, hydrologic and ecologic effects are being seen across the western United States. A regional study of how climate change affects water resources and habitats in the San Francisco Bay area relied on historical climate data and future projections of climate, which were...
Groundwater quality in the Genesee River Basin, New York, 2010
James E. Reddy
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1135
Water samples collected from eight production wells and eight private residential wells in the Genesee River Basin from September through December 2010 were analyzed to characterize the groundwater quality in the basin. Eight of the wells were completed in sand and gravel aquifers, and eight were finished in bedrock aquifers....
Emergence of fatal avian influenza in New England harbor seals
S.J. Anthony, J. A. St. Leger, K. Pugliares, Hon S. Ip, J.M. Chan, Z.W. Carpenter, I. Navarrete-Macias, M. Sanchez-Leon, J.T. Saliki, J. Pedersen, W. Karesh, P. Daszak, R. Rabadan, T. Rowles, W.I. Lipkin
2012, mBio (3)
From September to December 2011, 162 New England harbor seals died in an outbreak of pneumonia. Sequence analysis of postmortem samples revealed the presence of an avian H3N8 influenza A virus, similar to a virus circulating in North American waterfowl since at least 2002 but with mutations that indicate recent...
Waterbird nest monitoring program in San Francisco Bay (2005-10)
Joshua T. Ackerman, Mark P. Herzog
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1145
Historically, Forster’s Terns (Sterna forsteri), American Avocets (Recurvirostra americana), and Black-necked Stilts (Himantopus mexicanus) were uncommon residents of San Francisco Bay, California (Grinnell and others, 1918; Grinnell and Wythe, 1927; Sibley, 1952). Presently, however, avocets and stilts are the two most abundant breeding shorebirds in San Francisco Bay (Stenzel and...
Selected historic agricultural data important to environmental quality in the United States
Katia M. Grey, Paul D. Capel, Nancy T. Baker, Gail P. Thelin
2012, Data Series 689
This report and the accompanying tables summarize some of the important changes in American agriculture in the form of a timeline and a compilation of selected annual time-series data that can be broadly related to environmental quality. Although these changes have been beneficial for increasing agricultural production, some of them...
Occurrence of pharmaceuticals, hormones, and organic wastewater compounds in Pennsylvania waters, 2006-09
Andrew G. Reif, J. Kent Crawford, Connie A. Loper, Arianne Proctor, Rhonda Manning, Robert Titler
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5106
Concern over the presence of contaminants of emerging concern, such as pharmaceutical compounds, hormones, and organic wastewater compounds (OWCs), in waters of the United States and elsewhere is growing. Laboratory techniques developed within the last decade or new techniques currently under development within the U.S. Geological Survey now allow these...
An at-grade stabilization structure impact on runoff and suspended sediment
Kyle R. Minks, Birl Lowery, Fred W. Madison, Matthew Ruark, Dennis R. Frame, Todd D. Stuntebeck, Matthew J. Komiskey
2012, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (67) 237-248
In recent years, agricultural runoff has received more attention as a major contributor to surface water pollution. This is especially true for the unglaciated area of Wisconsin, given this area's steep topography, which makes it highly susceptible to runoff and soil loss. We evaluated the ability of an at-grade stabilization...
Updating the debate on model complexity
Craig T. Simmons, Randall J. Hunt
2012, GSA Today (22) 28-29
As scientists who are trying to understand a complex natural world that cannot be fully characterized in the field, how can we best inform the society in which we live? This founding context was addressed in a special session, “Complexity in Modeling: How Much is Too Much?” convened at the...
Identifying the decision to be supported: a review of papers from environmental modelling and software
Richard S. Sojda, Serena H. Chen, Sondoss Elsawah, Joseph H.A. Guillaume, A.J. Jakeman, Sven Lautenbach, Brian S. McIntosh, A.E. Rizzoli, Ralf Seppelt, Peter Struss, Alexey Voinov, Martin Volk
2012, Conference Paper, International Environmental Modelling and Software Society (iEMSs) 2012 International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software. Managing resources of a limited planet: pathways and visions under uncertainty, sixth biennial meeting, Leipzig, Germany
Two of the basic tenets of decision support system efforts are to help identify and structure the decisions to be supported, and to then provide analysis in how those decisions might be best made. One example from wetland management would be that wildlife biologists must decide when to draw down...
Toxicity of elevated partial pressures of carbon dioxide to invasive New Zealand mudsnails
R. Jordan Nielson, Christine M. Moffitt, Barnaby J. Watten
2012, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (31) 1838-1842
The authors tested the efficacy of elevated partial pressures of CO2 to kill invasive New Zealand mudsnails. The New Zealand mudsnails were exposed to 100 kPa at three water temperatures, and the survival was modeled versus dose as cumulative °C-h. We estimated an LD50 of 59.4°C-h for adult and juvenile...
Relative value of managed wetlands and tidal marshlands for wintering northern pintails
Peter S. Coates, Michael L. Casazza, Brian J. Halstead, Joseph P. Fleskes
2012, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (3) 98-109
Northern pintail Anas acuta (hereafter, pintail) populations have declined substantially throughout the western US since the 1970s, largely as a result of converting wetlands to cropland. Managed wetlands have been developed throughout the San Francisco Bay estuaries to provide wildlife habitat, particularly for waterfowl. Many of these areas were historically...
The early bird gets the shrimp: Confronting assumptions of isotopic equilibrium and homogeneity in a wild bird population
Michael B. Wunder, Joseph R. Jehl Jr., Craig A. Stricker
2012, Journal of Animal Ecology (81) 1223-1232
1. Because stable isotope distributions in organic material vary systematically across energy gradients that exist in ecosystems, community and population structures, and in individual physiological systems, isotope values in animal tissues have helped address a broad range of questions in animal ecology. It follows that every tissue sample provides an...
Transport of biologically important nutrients by wind in an eroding cold desert
Joel B. Sankey, Matthew J. Germino, Shawn G. Benner, Nancy F. Glenn, Amber N. Hoover
2012, Aeolian Research (7) 17-27
Wind erosion following fire is an important landscape process that can result in the redistribution of ecologically important soil resources. In this study we evaluated the potential for a fire patch in a desert shrubland to serve as a source of biologically important nutrients to the adjacent, downwind, unburned ecosystem....
PAH volatilization following application of coal-tar-based pavement sealant
Peter C. Van Metre, Michael S. Majewski, Barbara Mahler, William T. Foreman, Christopher L. Braun, Jennifer T. Wilson, Teresa L. Burbank
2012, Atmospheric Environment (51) 108-115
Coal-tar-based pavement sealants, a major source of PAHs to urban water bodies, have recently been identified as a source of volatile PAHs to the atmosphere. We tracked the volatilization of PAHs for 1 year after application of a coal-tar-based pavement sealant by measuring gas-phase PAH concentrations above the pavement surface...
Coal-tar pavement sealants might substantially increase children's PAH exposures
E. Spencer Williams, Barbara Mahler, Peter C. Van Metre
2012, Environmental Pollution (164) 40-41
Dietary ingestion has been identified repeatedly as the primary route of human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), seven of which are classified as probable human carcinogens (B2 PAHs) by the U.S. EPA. Humans are exposed to PAHs through ingestion of cooked and uncooked foods, incidental ingestion of soil and...
Threshold amounts of organic carbon needed to initiate reductive dechlorination in groundwater systems
Francis H. Chapelle, Lashun K. Thomas, Paul M. Bradley, Heather V. Rectanus, Mark A. Widdowson
2012, Remediation Journal (22) 19-28
Aquifer sediment and groundwater chemistry data from 15 Department of Defense facilities located throughout the United States were collected and analyzed with the goal of estimating the amount of natural organic carbon needed to initiate reductive dechlorination in groundwater systems. Aquifer sediments were analyzed for hydroxylamine and NaOH-extractable organic carbon,...
