Data compilation and assessment for water resources in Pennsylvania state forest and park lands
Daniel G. Galeone
2011, Data Series 327
As a result of a cooperative study between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (PaDCNR), available electronic data were compiled for Pennsylvania state lands (state forests and parks) to allow PaDCNR to initially determine if data exist to make an objective evaluation of...
USGS science for the Nation's changing coasts: Shoreline change research
Cheryl J. Hapke, E. Robert Thieler
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3073
The demands of increasing human population in the coastal zone create competition with coastal habitat preservation and with recreational and commercial uses of the coast and nearshore waters. As climate changes over the coming century, these problems facing coastal communities will likely worsen. Good management and policy decision-making require baseline...
Depositional setting and geochemistry of phosphorites and metalliferous black shales in the Carboniferous-Permian Lisburne Group, Northern Alaska
Julie A. Dumoulin, John F. Slack, Michael T. Whalen, Anita G. Harris
2011, Professional Paper 1776-C
Phosphatic rocks are distributed widely in the Lisburne Group, a mainly Carboniferous carbonate succession that occurs throughout northern Alaska. New sedimentologic, paleontologic, and geochemical data presented here constrain the geographic and stratigraphic extent of these strata and their depositional and paleogeographic settings. Our findings support models that propose very high...
Bird mercury concentrations change rapidly as chicks age: Toxicological risk is highest at hatching and fledging
Joshua T. Ackerman, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Mark P. Herzog
2011, Environmental Science & Technology (45) 5418-5425
Toxicological risk of methylmercury exposure to juvenile birds is complex due to the highly transient nature of mercury concentrations as chicks age. We examined total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in blood, liver, kidney, muscle, and feathers of 111 Forster's tern (Sterna forsteri), 69 black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), and 43 American...
Availability of groundwater data for California, water year 2010
Mary Ray, Patricia Orlando
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3060
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Federal, State, and local agencies, obtains a large amount of data pertaining to the groundwater resources of California each water year (October 1-September 30). These data constitute a valuable database for developing an improved understanding of the water resources of the State. This...
Loch Vale watershed long-term ecological research and monitoring program quality assurance report, 2003-09
Eric E. Richer, Jill S. Baron
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1137
The Loch Vale watershed project is a long-term research and monitoring program located in Rocky Mountain National Park that addresses watershed-scale ecosystem processes, particularly as they respond to atmospheric deposition and climate variability. Measurements of precipitation depth, precipitation chemistry, discharge, and surface-water quality are made within the watershed and elsewhere...
Hydrologic assessment of three drainage basins in the Pinelands of southern New Jersey, 2004-06
Richard L. Walker, Robert S. Nicholson, Donald A. Storck
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5056
The New Jersey Pinelands is an ecologically diverse area in the southern New Jersey Coastal Plain, most of which overlies the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system. The demand for groundwater from this aquifer system is increasing as local development increases. Because any increase in groundwater withdrawals has the potential to affect streamflows...
Geologic map of Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska
William W. Patton Jr., Frederic H. Wilson, Theresa A. Taylor
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 3146
Saint Lawrence Island is located in the northern Bering Sea, 190 km southwest of the tip of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska, and 75 km southeast of the Chukotsk Peninsula, Russia (see index map, map sheet). It lies on a broad, shallow-water continental shelf that extends from western Alaska to northeastern...
The aquatic real-time monitoring network; in-situ optical sensors for monitoring the nation's water quality
Brian A. Pellerin, Brian A. Bergamaschi, Peter S. Murdoch, Bryan D. Downing, John Franco Saraceno, George R. Aiken, Robert G. Striegl
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3061
Floods, hurricanes, and longer-term changes in climate and land use can have profound effects on water quality due to shifts in hydrologic flow paths, water residence time, precipitation patterns, connectivity between rivers and uplands, and many other factors. In order to understand and respond to changes in hydrology and water...
Potential effects of roadside dry wells on groundwater quality on the Island of Hawai'i — Assessment using numerical groundwater models
Scot K. Izuka
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5072
Widespread use of dry wells to dispose of roadside runoff has raised concern about the potential effects on the quality of groundwater on the Island of Hawai‘i. This study used semi-generic numerical models of groundwater flow and contaminant transport to assess the potential effect of dry wells on groundwater quality...
Groundwater withdrawals and associated well descriptions for the Nevada National Security Site, Nye County, Nevada, 1951-2008
Peggy E. Elliott, Michael T. Moreo
2011, Data Series 567
From 1951 to 2008, groundwater withdrawals totaled more than 25,000 million gallons from wells on and directly adjacent to the Nevada National Security Site. Total annual groundwater withdrawals ranged from about 30 million gallons in 1951 to as much as 1,100 million gallons in 1989. Annual withdrawals from individual wells...
A program for the conversion of The National Map data from proprietary format to resource description framework (RDF)
Andrew Bulen, Jonathan J. Carter, Dalia E. Varanka
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1142
To expand data functionality and capabilities for users of The National Map of the U.S. Geological Survey, data sets for six watersheds and three urban areas were converted from the Best Practices vector data model formats to Semantic Web data formats. This report describes and documents the conver-sion process. The...
Preliminary assessment of channel stability and bed-material transport along Hunter Creek, southwestern Oregon
Krista L. Jones, J. Rose Wallick, Jim E. O'Connor, Mackenzie K. Keith, Joseph F. Mangano, John C. Risley
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1160
This preliminary assessment of (1) bed-material transport in the Hunter Creek basin, (2) historical changes in channel condition, and (3) supplementary data needed to inform permitting decisions regarding instream gravel extraction revealed the following: Along the lower 12.4 km (kilometers) of Hunter Creek from its confluence with the Little South...
Simulation of specific conductance and chloride concentration in Abercorn Creek, Georgia, 2000-2009
Paul Conrads, Edwin A. Roehl Jr., Steven R. Davie
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5074
The City of Savannah operates an industrial and domestic water-supply intake on Abercorn Creek approximately 2 miles from the confluence with the Savannah River upstream from the Interstate 95 bridge. Chloride concentrations are a major concern for the city because industrial customers require water with low chloride concentrations, and elevated...
Biosolids, crop, and groundwater data for a biosolids-application area near Deer Trail, Colorado, 2007 and 2008
Tracy J.B. Yager, David B. Smith, James G. Crock
2011, Data Series 589
During 2007 and 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey monitored the chemical composition of biosolids, crops, and groundwater related to biosolids applications near Deer Trail, Colorado, in cooperation with the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District. This monitoring effort was a continuation of the monitoring program begun in 1999 in cooperation with the...
Geohydrology, simulation of regional groundwater flow, and assessment of water-management strategies, Twentynine Palms area, California
Zhen Li, Peter Martin
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5249
The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) Twentynine Palms, California, overlies the Surprise Spring, Deadman, Mesquite, and Mainside subbasins of the Morongo groundwater basin in the southern Mojave Desert. Historically, the MCAGCC has relied on groundwater pumped from the Surprise Spring subbasin to provide all of its potable water...
Relative abundance and distribution of fishes within an established Area of Critical Environmental Concern, of the Amargosa River Canyon and Willow Creek, Inyo and San Bernardino Counties, California
G. Gary Scoppettone, Mark E. Hereford, Peter H. Rissler, Danielle M. Johnson, Antonio Salgado
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1161
The Amargosa River Canyon of San Bernardino and Inyo County, California, has been designated by the Bureau of Land Management as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern, due in part to its unique flora and fauna. As a task of the Area of Critical Environmental Concern implementation plan, a survey...
Development and application of indices to assess the condition of benthic algal communities in U.S. streams and rivers
Marina Potapova, Daren M. Carlisle
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1126
Multi-metric indices (MMIs) are a measure of a combination of characteristics of biological communities and are used as indicators of water quality and ecological health. Although MMIs for algal communities have been developed for specific regions of the United States, none of the indices have national applicability. The MMIs described...
Projected status of the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) in the twenty-first century
Chadwick V. Jay, Bruce G. Marcot, David C. Douglas
2011, Polar Biology (34) 1065-1084
Extensive and rapid losses of sea ice in the Arctic have raised conservation concerns for the Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens), a large pinniped inhabiting arctic and subarctic continental shelf waters of the Chukchi and Bering seas. We developed a Bayesian network model to integrate potential effects of...
Avian influenza shedding patterns in waterfowl: implications for surveillance, environmental transmission, and disease spread
Viviane Henaux, Michael D. Samuel
2011, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (47) 566-578
Despite the recognized importance of fecal/oral transmission of low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) via contaminated wetlands, little is known about the length, quantity, or route of AI virus shed by wild waterfowl. We used published laboratory challenge studies to evaluate the length and quantity of low pathogenic (LP) and highly...
Isotopic tracing of perchlorate in the environment
Neil C. Sturchio, J.K. Bohlke, Baohua Gu, Paul B. Hatzinger, W. Andrew Jackson
Mark Baskaran, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Handbook of environmental isotope geochemistry
Isotopic measurements can be used for tracing the sources and behavior of environmental contaminants. Perchlorate (ClO 4 − ) has been detected widely in groundwater, soils, fertilizers, plants, milk, and human urine since 1997, when improved analytical methods for analyzing ClO 4 −concentration became available for routine use....
Characterizing contaminant concentrations with depth by using the USGS well profiler in Oklahoma, 2003-9
S. Jerrod Smith, Carol Becker
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3054
Since 2003, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Oklahoma Water Science Center has been using the USGS well profiler to characterize changes in water contribution and contaminant concentrations with depth in pumping public-supply wells in selected aquifers. The tools and methods associated with the well profiler, which were first developed by...
Estimation of annual suspended-sediment fluxes, 1931-95, and evaluation of geomorphic changes, 1950-2010, in the Arkansas River near Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jason M. Lewis, S. Jerrod Smith, Stephanie D. Buck, Scott A. Strong
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5091
An understanding of fluvial sediment transport and changing channel morphology can assist planners in making responsible decisions with future riverine development or restoration projects. Sediment rating curves can serve as simple models and can provide predictive tools to estimate annual sediment fluxes. Sediment flux models can aid in the design...
Discharge and sediment concentration in the Bill Williams River and turbidity in Lake Havasu during and following high releases from Alamo Dam, Arizona, in March and April 2010
Stephen M. Wiele, Jamie P. Macy, Hugh L. Darling, Robert J. Hart, Andrew B. Hautzinger
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1129
Discharges higher than are typically released from Alamo Dam in west-central Arizona were planned and released in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010 to study the effects of these releases on the Bill Williams River. The Bill Williams River Wildlife Refuge is located above the mouth of the Bill Williams...
Watershed regressions for pesticides (WARP) for predicting atrazine concentration in Corn Belt streams
Wesley W. Stone, Robert J. Gilliom
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1141
Watershed Regressions for Pesticides (WARP) models, previously developed for atrazine at the national scale, can be improved for application to the U.S. Corn Belt region by developing region-specific models that include important watershed characteristics that are influential in predicting atrazine concentration statistics within the Corn Belt. WARP models for the...
