River-aquifer exchanges in the Yakima River basin, Washington
J. J. Vaccaro
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5026
Five categories of data are analyzed to enhance understanding of river-aquifer exchanges-the processes by which water moves between stream channels and the adjacent groundwater system-in the Yakima River basin. The five datasets include (1) results of chemical analyses of water for tritium (3H, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen) and the...
The chronology for the d18O record from Devils Hole, Nevada, extended into the Mid-Holocene
J.M. Landwehr, W.D. Sharp, T.B. Coplen, K.R. Ludwig, I.J. Winograd
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1082
This report presents the numeric values for the chronology of the paleoclimatically relevant mid-to-late Pleistocene record of the ratios of stable oxygen isotope (delta18O) in vein calcite from Devils Hole, Nev., which recently had been extended into the mid-Holocene. Dating was obtained using 230Th-234U-238U thermal ionization mass spectrometry. Devils Hole is...
Magnitude and Frequency of Floods for Urban and Small Rural Streams in Georgia, 2008
Anthony J. Gotvald, Andrew E. Knaak
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5042
A study was conducted that updated methods for estimating the magnitude and frequency of floods in ungaged urban basins in Georgia that are not substantially affected by regulation or tidal fluctuations. Annual peak-flow data for urban streams from September 2008 were analyzed for 50 streamgaging stations (streamgages) in Georgia and...
Analysis of long-term trends in flow from a large spring complex in northern Florida
Jack W. Grubbs
Eve L. Kuniansky, editor(s)
2011, Conference Paper, U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group proceedings
Nonparametric regression analysis of historic flow and rainfall data was used to estimate declining flows in a river draining a large spring complex in northern Florida, USA. The analysis indicated that flow declined by an estimated 23 percent from 1900 to 2009. The rate of decline appeared to increase over...
Sea-floor geology and topography offshore in Eastern Long Island Sound
L. J. Poppe, K. Y. McMullen, S. D. Ackerman, D.S. Blackwood, J. D. Schaer, M.R. Forrest, A.J. Ostapenko, E. F. Doran
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1150
A gridded multibeam bathymetric dataset covers approximately 133.7 square kilometers of sea floor offshore in eastern Long Island Sound. Although originally collected for charting purposes during National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hydrographic survey H11997, these acoustic data, and the sea-floor sampling and photography stations subsequently occupied to verify them during...
WTAQ version 2-A computer program for analysis of aquifer tests in confined and water-table aquifers with alternative representations of drainage from the unsaturated zone
Paul M. Barlow, Allen F. Moench
2011, Techniques and Methods 3-B9
The computer program WTAQ simulates axial-symmetric flow to a well pumping from a confined or unconfined (water-table) aquifer. WTAQ calculates dimensionless or dimensional drawdowns that can be used with measured drawdown data from aquifer tests to estimate aquifer hydraulic properties. Version 2 of the program, which is described in this...
Surficial geology of the sea floor in Long Island Sound offshore of Orient Point, New York
K. Y. McMullen, L. J. Poppe, W. W. Danforth, D.S. Blackwood, J. D. Schaer, M.R. Guberski, D.A. Wood, E. F. Doran
2011, Open-File Report 2010-1100
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CT DEP) are working cooperatively to map and interpret features of the sea floor along the northeastern coast of the United States. This report presents multibeam bathymetry and sidescan-sonar data obtained...
Water Science Programs in Kansas
Andy Ziegler
2011, General Information Product 121
The USGS has collected hydrologic information in Kansas since 1895 with the first USGS Cooperative Water Program funding agreement for 6 streamflow gages with the Kansas Water Board. USGS collects streamflow and gage-height data; reservoir content; water-quality and water-quantity data; suspended-sediment data; and groundwater levels. Hydrologic studies are conducted on...
Stream profile analyses using a step-backwater model for selected reaches in the Chippewa Creek Basin in Medina, Wayne, and Summit Counties, Ohio
David E. Straub, Andrew D. Ebner
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5024
The USGS, in cooperation with the Chippewa Subdistrict of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, performed hydrologic and hydraulic analyses for selected reaches of three streams in Medina, Wayne, Stark, and Summit Counties in northeast Ohio: Chippewa Creek, Little Chippewa Creek, and River Styx. This study was done to facilitate assessment...
Ontology patterns for complex topographic feature types
Dalia E. Varanka
2011, Cartography and Geographic Information Science (38) 126-136
Complex feature types are defined as integrated relations between basic features for a shared meaning or concept. The shared semantic concept is difficult to define in commonly used geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing technologies. The role of spatial relations between complex feature parts was recognized in early GIS...
Predicting community responses to perturbations in the face of imperfect knowledge and network complexity
Mark Novak, J. Timothy Wootton, Daniel F. Doak, Mark Emmerson, James A. Estes, M. Timothy Tinker
2011, Ecology (92) 836-846
How best to predict the effects of perturbations to ecological communities has been a long-standing goal for both applied and basic ecology. This quest has recently been revived by new empirical data, new analysis methods, and increased computing speed, with the promise that ecologically important insights may be obtainable from...
Development of a depth-integrated sample arm to reduce solids stratification bias in stormwater sampling
William R. Selbig, Roger T. Bannerman
2011, Water Environment Research (83) 347-357
A new depth-integrated sample arm (DISA) was developed to improve the representation of solids in stormwater, both organic and inorganic, by collecting a water quality sample from multiple points in the water column. Data from this study demonstrate the idea of vertical stratification of solids in storm sewer runoff. Concentrations...
ATV magnetometer systems for efficient ground magnetic surveying
Noah D. Athens, Jonathan M. G. Glen, Robert L. Morin, Simon L. Klemperer
2011, The Leading Edge (30) 394-398
Ground magnetic data contain information, not pre-sent in aeromagnetic data, which may be useful for precisely mapping near-surface faults and contacts, as well as constraining or aiding interpretation of other geophysical methods. However, collecting ground magnetic data on foot is labor-intensive and is therefore limited to small surveys. In this...
A paleoseismic study along the central Denali Fault, Chistochina Glacier area, south-central Alaska
R. D. Koehler, Stephen Personius, David P. Schwartz, Peter J. Haeussler, G. G. Seitz
2011, Report of Investigations of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys 2011-1
In the Chistochina Glacier area of south-central Alaska, the active trace of the Denali fault is well defined by prominent tectonic geomorphology, including scarps, grabens, and mole tracks associated with the 2002 Mw=7.9 Denali fault earthquake. Interpretation of a trench excavated across the 2002 rupture trace places a constraint on...
Use of instantaneous streamflow measurements to improve regression estimates of index flow for the summer month of lowest streamflow in Michigan
David J. Holtschlag
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5236
In Michigan, index flow Q50 is a streamflow characteristic defined as the minimum of median flows for July, August, and September. The state of Michigan uses index flow estimates to help regulate large (greater than 100,000 gallons per day) water withdrawals to prevent adverse effects on characteristic fish populations. At...
Buffelgrass-Integrated modeling of an invasive plant
Tracy R. Holcombe
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3022
Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) poses a problem in the deserts of the United States, growing in dense stands and introducing a wildfire risk in an ecosystem not adapted to fire. The Invasive Species Science Branch of the Fort Collins Science Center has worked with many partners to develop a decision support...
Seafloor erosional processes offshore of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana
David C. Twichell, John Brock
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3026
The Chandeleur Islands are a chain of barrier islands that lies along the eastern side of the modern Mississippi River Delta plain. The island chain is located near the seaward edge of the relict St. Bernard Delta, the part of the Mississippi Delta that formed between approximately 4,000 and 2,000...
Fluctuations in groundwater levels related to regional and local withdrawals in the fractured-bedrock groundwater system in northern Wake County, North Carolina, March 2008-February 2009
Melinda J. Chapman, Naser Almanaseer, Bryce McClenney, Natalie Hinton
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5219
A study of dewatering of the fractured-bedrock aquifer in a localized area of east-central North Carolina was conducted from March 2008 through February 2009 to gain an understanding of why some privately owned wells and monitoring wells were intermittently dry. Although the study itself was localized in nature, the resulting...
Trends in nutrient concentrations, loads, and yields in streams in the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Santa Ana Basins, California, 1975-2004
Charles R. Kratzer, Robert Kent, Dina K. Seleh, Donna L. Knifong, Peter D. Dileanis, James L. Orlando
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5228
A comprehensive database was assembled for the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Santa Ana Basins in California on nutrient concentrations, flows, and point and nonpoint sources of nutrients for 1975-2004. Most of the data on nutrient concentrations (nitrate, ammonia, total nitrogen, orthophosphate, and total phosphorus) were from the U.S. Geological Survey's...
Mines and mineral processing facilities in the vicinity of the March 11, 2011, earthquake in northern Honshu, Japan
W. David Menzie, Michael S. Baker, Donald I. Bleiwas, Chin Kuo
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1069
U.S. Geological Survey data indicate that the area affected by the March 11, 2011, magnitude 9.0 earthquake and associated tsunami is home to nine cement plants, eight iodine plants, four iron and steel plants, four limestone mines, three copper refineries, two gold refineries, two lead refineries, two zinc refineries, one...
Tillage practices in the conterminous United States, 1989-2004: Datasets aggregated by watershed
Nancy T. Baker
2011, Data Series 573
This report documents the methods used to aggregate county-level tillage practices to the 8-digit hydrologic unit (HU) watershed. The original county-level data were collected by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC). The CTIC collects tillage data by conducting surveys about tillage systems for all counties in the United States. Tillage...
Baseline ecological risk assessment of the Calcasieu Estuary, Louisiana: Part 2. An evaluation of the predictive ability of effects-based sediment-quality guidelines
Donald D. MacDonald, Christopher G. Ingersoll, Dawn Smorong, Jesse A. Sinclair, Rebekka Lindskoog, Ning Wang, Corrine Severn, Ron Gouguet, John Meyer, Jay Field
2011, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (61) 14-28
Three sets of effects-based sediment-quality guidelines (SQGs) were evaluated to support the selection of sediment-quality benchmarks for assessing risks to benthic invertebrates in the Calcasieu Estuary, Louisiana. These SQGs included probable effect concentrations (PECs), effects range median values (ERMs), and logistic regression model (LRMs)-based T50 values. The results of this...
Three-dimensional geologic model of the southeastern Espanola Basin, Santa Fe County, New Mexico
Michael P. Pantea, Mark R. Hudson, V. J. S. Grauch, Scott A. Minor
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5025
This multimedia model and report show and describe digital three-dimensional faulted surfaces and volumes of lithologic units that confine and constrain the basin-fill aquifers within the Espanola Basin of north-central New Mexico. These aquifers are the primary groundwater resource for the cities of Santa Fe and Espanola, six Pueblo nations,...
Endocrine active chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals of concern in surface water, wastewater-treatment plant effluent, and bed sediment, and biological characteristics in selected streams, Minnesota: Design, methods, and data, 2009
Kathy Lee, Susan K. Langer, Larry B. Barber, Jeff H. Writer, Mark L. Ferrey, Heiko L. Schoenfuss, Edward T. Furlong, William T. Foreman, James L. Gray, Rhiannon C. ReVello, Dalma Martinovic, Olivia R. Woodruff, Steffanie H. Keefe, Greg K. Brown, Howard E. Taylor, Imma Ferrer, E. Michael Thurman
2011, Data Series 575
This report presents the study design, environmental data, and quality-assurance data for an integrated chemical and biological study of selected streams or lakes that receive wastewater-treatment plant effluent in Minnesota. This study was a cooperative effort of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, St. Cloud State University,...
Regional skew for California, and flood frequency for selected sites in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin, based on data through water year 2006
Charles Parrett, Andrea Veilleux, J.R. Stedinger, N.A. Barth, Donna L. Knifong, J.C. Ferris
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5260
Improved flood-frequency information is important throughout California in general and in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin in particular, because of an extensive network of flood-control levees and the risk of catastrophic flooding. A key first step in updating flood-frequency information is determining regional skew. A Bayesian generalized least squares (GLS)...
