Anthropocene streams and base-level controls from historic dams in the unglaciated mid-Atlantic region, USA
Dorothy Merritts, Robert Walter, Michael Rahnis, Jeff Hartranft, Scott Cox, Allen Gellis, Noel Potter, William Hilgartner, Michael J. Langland, Lauren Manion, Caitlin Lippincott, Sauleh Siddiqui, Zain Rehman, Chris Scheid, Laura Kratz, Andrea Shilling, Matthew Jenschke, Katherine Datin, Elizabeth Cranmer, Austin Reed, Derek Matuszewski, Mark Voli, Erik Ohlson, Ali Neugebauer, Aakash Ahamed, Conor Neal, Allison Winter, Steven Becker
2011, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences (369) 976-1009
Recently, widespread valley-bottom damming for water power was identified as a primary control on valley sedimentation in the mid-Atlantic US during the late seventeenth to early twentieth century. The timing of damming coincided with that of accelerated upland erosion during post-European settlement land-use change. In this paper, we examine the...
Assessment of selected contaminants in streambed- and suspended-sediment samples collected in Bexar County, Texas, 2007-09
Jennifer T. Wilson
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5097
Elevated concentrations of sediment-associated contaminants are typically associated with urban areas such as San Antonio, Texas, in Bexar County, the seventh most populous city in the United States. This report describes an assessment of selected sediment-associated contaminants in samples collected in Bexar County from sites on the following streams: Medio...
Carbon dioxide fluid-flow modeling and injectivity calculations
Lauri Burke
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5083
At present, the literature lacks a geologic-based assessment methodology for numerically estimating injectivity, lateral migration, and subsequent long-term containment of supercritical carbon dioxide that has undergone geologic sequestration into subsurface formations. This study provides a method for and quantification of first-order approximations for the time scale of supercritical carbon dioxide...
MODPATH-LGR; documentation of a computer program for particle tracking in shared-node locally refined grids by using MODFLOW-LGR
Jesse E. Dickinson, R. T. Hanson, Steffen W. Mehl, Mary C. Hill
2011, Techniques and Methods 6-A38
The computer program described in this report, MODPATH-LGR, is designed to allow simulation of particle tracking in locally refined grids. The locally refined grids are simulated by using MODFLOW-LGR, which is based on MODFLOW-2005, the three-dimensional groundwater-flow model published by the U.S. Geological Survey. The documentation includes brief descriptions of...
Precipitation and runoff simulations of select perennial and ephemeral watersheds in the middle Carson River basin, Eagle, Dayton, and Churchill Valleys, west-central Nevada
Anne E. Jeton, Douglas K. Maurer
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5066
The effect that land use may have on streamflow in the Carson River, and ultimately its impact on downstream users can be evaluated by simulating precipitation-runoff processes and estimating groundwater inflow in the middle Carson River in west-central Nevada. To address these concerns, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with...
Hypolimnetic dissolved-oxygen dynamics within selected White River reservoirs, northern Arkansas-southern Missouri, 1974-2008
Jeanne L. De Lanois, W. Reed Green
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5090
Dissolved oxygen is a critical constituent in reservoirs and lakes because it is essential for metabolism by all aerobic aquatic organisms. In general, hypolimnetic temperature and dissolved-oxygen concentrations vary from summer to summer in reservoirs, more so than in natural lakes, largely in response to the magnitude of flow into...
Development of a high-resolution binational vegetation map of the Santa Cruz River riparian corridor and surrounding watershed, southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico
Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1143
This report summarizes the development of a binational vegetation map developed for the Santa Cruz Watershed, which straddles the southern border of Arizona and the northern border of Sonora, Mexico. The map was created as an environmental input to the Santa Cruz Watershed Ecosystem Portfolio Model (SCWEPM) that is being...
Water-level changes in the High Plains aquifer, predevelopment to 2009, 2007-08, and 2008-09, and change in water in storage, predevelopment to 2009
V. L. McGuire
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5089
The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.8 million acres (175,000 square miles) in parts of eight States - Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Water-level declines began in parts of the High Plains aquifer soon after the beginning of substantial irrigation with groundwater in the aquifer...
Liquefaction and other ground failures in Imperial County, California, from the April 4, 2010, El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake
Timothy P. McCrink, Cynthia L. Pridmore, John C. Tinsley III, Robert R. Sickler, Scott J. Brandenberg, Jonathan P. Stewart
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1071
The Colorado River Delta region of southern Imperial Valley, California, and Mexicali Valley, Baja California, is a tectonically dynamic area characterized by numerous active faults and frequent large seismic events. Significant earthquakes that have been accompanied by surface fault rupture and/or soil liquefaction occurred in this region in 1892 (M7.1),...
Development of a precipitation-runoff model to simulate unregulated streamflow in the South Fork Flathead River Basin, Montana
K.J. Chase
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5095
This report documents the development of a precipitation-runoff model for the South Fork Flathead River Basin, Mont. The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System model, developed in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation, can be used to simulate daily mean unregulated streamflow upstream and downstream from Hungry Horse Reservoir for water-resources planning. Two...
Changes in water levels and storage in the High Plains Aquifer, predevelopment to 2009
V. L. McGuire
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3069
The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.8 million acres (175,000 square miles) in parts of eight States - Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. The area overlying the High Plains aquifer is one of the primary agricultural regions in the Nation. Water-level declines began in parts...
Development of industrial minerals in Colorado
Belinda F. Arbogast, Daniel H. Knepper, William H. Langer, James A. Cappa, John W. Keller, Beth L. Widmann, Karl J. Ellefsen, Terry L. Klein, Jeffrey E. Lucius, John S. Dersch
2011, Circular 1368
Technology and engineering have helped make mining safer and cleaner for both humans and the environment. Inevitably, mineral development entails costs as well as benefits. Developing a mine is an environmental, engineering, and planning challenge that must conform to many Federal, State, and local regulations. Community collaboration, creative design, and...
Habitat diversity in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico: Selected video clips from the Gulfstream Natural Gas Pipeline digital archive
Ellen A. Raabe, Robert D’Anjou, Domonique K. Pope, Lisa L. Robbins
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1172
This project combines underwater video with maps and descriptions to illustrate diverse seafloor habitats from Tampa Bay, Florida, to Mobile Bay, Alabama. A swath of seafloor was surveyed with underwater video to 100 meters (m) water depth in 1999 and 2000 as part of the Gulfstream Natural Gas System Survey....
Inter-laboratory comparison of wave velocity measures.
William F. Waite, J.C. Santamarina, M. Rydzy, S.H. Chong, J.L.H. Grozic, K. Hester, J. Howard, T.J. Kneafsey, J.Y. Lee, S. Nakagawa, J. Priest, E. Reese, H. Koh, E. D. Sloan, A. Sultaniya
2011, Book, Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Gas Hydrates (ICGH 2011)
This paper presents an eight-laboratory comparison of compressional and shear wave velocities measured in F110 Ottawa sand. The study was run to quantify the physical property variations one should expect in heterogeneous, multiphase porous materials by separately quantifying the variability inherent in the measurement techniques themselves. Comparative tests were run...
Laboratory formation of non-cementing, methane hydrate-bearing sands
William F. Waite, Peter M. Bratton, David H. Mason
2011, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Gas Hydrates (ICGH 2011)
Naturally occurring hydrate-bearing sands often behave as though methane hydrate is acting as a load-bearing member of the sediment. Mimicking this behavior in laboratory samples with methane hydrate likely requires forming hydrate from methane dissolved in water. To hasten this formation process, we initially form hydrate in a free-gas-limited system,...
Design of forest bird monitoring for strategic habitat conservation on Kaua'i Island, Hawai'i
Richard J. Camp, P. Marcos Gorresen
2011, Technical Report HCSU-022
This report was commissioned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The purpose was to develop a monitoring program for Kaua`i forest birds in the USFWS Strategic Habitat Conservation and adaptive management frameworks. Monitoring within those frameworks is a tool to assess resource responses to management and conservation actions,...
Simulation of the shallow groundwater-flow system near Mole Lake, Forest County, Wisconsin
Michael N. Fienen, Paul F. Juckem, Randall J. Hunt
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5080
The shallow groundwater system near Mole Lake, Forest County, Wis. was simulated using a previously calibrated regional model. The previous model was updated using newly collected water-level measurements and refinements to surface-water features. The updated model was then used to calculate the area contributing recharge for one existing and two...
Environmental flow allocation and statistics calculator
Christopher P. Konrad
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1166
The Environmental Flow Allocation and Statistics Calculator (EFASC) is a computer program that calculates hydrologic statistics based on a time series of daily streamflow values. EFASC will calculate statistics for daily streamflow in an input file or will generate synthetic daily flow series from an input file based on rules...
Application of a watershed model (HSPF) for evaluating sources and transport of pathogen indicators in the Chino Basin drainage area, San Bernardino County, California
Joseph Hevesi, Lorraine E. Flint, Clinton D. Church, Gregory O. Mendez
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2009-5219
A watershed model using Hydrologic Simulation Program-FORTRAN (HSPF) was developed for the urbanized Chino Basin in southern California to simulate the transport of pathogen indicator bacteria, evaluate the flow-component and land-use contributions to bacteria contamination and water-quality degradation throughout the basin, and develop a better understanding of the potential effects...
Geochemistry of hydrothermal fluids from the PACMANUS, Northeast Pual and Vienna Woods hydrothermal fields, Manus Basin, Papua New Guinea
Eoghan P. Reeves, Jeffrey S. Seewald, Peter Saccocia, Wolfgang Bach, Paul R. Craddock, Wayne C Shanks, Sean P. Sylva, Emily Walsh, Thomas Pichler, Martin Rosner
2011, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (75) 1088-1123
Processes controlling the composition of seafloor hydrothermal fluids in silicic back-arc or near-arc crustal settings remain poorly constrained despite growing evidence for extensive magmatic–hydrothermal activity in such environments. We conducted a survey of vent fluid compositions from two contrasting sites in the Manus back-arc basin, Papua New Guinea, to examine...
Direction of unsaturated flow in a homogeneous and isotropic hillslope
Ning Lu, Basak Sener Kaya, Jonathan W. Godt
2011, Water Resources Research (47)
The distribution of soil moisture in a homogeneous and isotropic hillslope is a transient, variably saturated physical process controlled by rainfall characteristics, hillslope geometry, and the hydrological properties of the hillslope materials. The major driving mechanisms for moisture movement are gravity and gradients in matric potential. The latter is solely...
Diel biogeochemical processes and their effect on the aqueous chemistry of streams: A review
David A. Nimick, Christopher H. Gammons, Stephen R. Parker
2011, Chemical Geology (283) 3-17
This review summarizes biogeochemical processes that operate on diel, or 24-h, time scales in streams and the changes in aqueous chemistry that are associated with these processes. Some biogeochemical processes, such as those producing diel cycles of dissolved O2 and pH, were the first to be studied, whereas processes producing...
Analysis of watersheds monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging station network in the Upper Colorado River Basin
Terry A. Kenney, Susan G. Buto, David D. Susong
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5081
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has operated streamflow-gaging stations in 1,053 watersheds in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB) since 1894. Currently, 223 of these streamgages are active. This report presents selected watershed characteristics for 10,338 watersheds in the UCRB. These watersheds are compared to the watersheds upstream of USGS...
Diel biogeochemical processes in terrestrial waters
David A. Nimick, Chris Gammons
2011, Chemical Geology (283) 1-2
Many biogeochemical processes in rivers and lakes respond to the solar photocycle and produce persistent patterns of measureable phenomena that exhibit a day–night, or 24-h, cycle. Despite a large body of recent literature, the mechanisms responsible for these diel fluctuations are widely debated, with a growing consensus that combinations...
Three types of gas hydrate reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico identified in LWD data
Myung Woong Lee, Timothy S. Collett
2011, Book, Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Gas Hydrates
High quality logging-while-drilling (LWD) well logs were acquired in seven wells drilled during the Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Joint Industry Project Leg II in the spring of 2009. These data help to identify three distinct types of gas hydrate reservoirs: isotropic reservoirs in sands, vertical fractured reservoirs in shale,...
