Constraints on Lake Agassiz discharge through the late-glacial Champlain Sea (St. Lawrence Lowlands, Canada) using salinity proxies and an estuarine circulation model
Brian Katz, R.G. Najjar, T. Cronin, J. Rayburn, M. E. Mann
2011, Quaternary Science Reviews (30) 3248-3257
During the last deglaciation, abrupt freshwater discharge events from proglacial lakes in North America, such as glacial Lake Agassiz, are believed to have drained into the North Atlantic Ocean, causing large shifts in climate by weakening the formation of North Atlantic Deep Water and decreasing ocean heat transport to high...
Interactions between natural-occurring landscape conditions and land use influencing the abundance of riverine smallmouth bass, micropterus dolomieu
S.K. Brewer, C.F. Rabeni
2011, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (68) 1922-1933
This study examined how interactions between natural landscape features and land use influenced the abundance of smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu, in Missouri, USA, streams. Stream segments were placed into one of four groups based on natural-occurring watershed characteristics (soil texture and soil permeability) predicted to relate to smallmouth bass abundance....
Assessing the detail needed to capture rainfall-runoff dynamics with physics-based hydrologic response simulation
B.B. Mirus, B.A. Ebel, C.S. Heppner, K. Loague
2011, Water Resources Research (47)
Concept development simulation with distributed, physics-based models provides a quantitative approach for investigating runoff generation processes across environmental conditions. Disparities within data sets employed to design and parameterize boundary value problems used in heuristic simulation inevitably introduce various levels of bias. The objective was to evaluate the impact of boundary...
Integration of Palmer Drought Severity Index and remote sensing data to simulate wetland water surface from 1910 to 2009 in Cottonwood Lake area, North Dakota
Shengli Huang, Devendra Dahal, Claudia Young, Gyanesh Chander, Shuguang Liu
2011, Remote Sensing of Environment (115) 3377-3389
Spatiotemporal variations of wetland water in the Prairie Pothole Region are controlled by many factors; two of them are temperature and precipitation that form the basis of the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). Taking the 196 km2 Cottonwood Lake area in North Dakota as our pilot study site, we integrated PDSI, Landsat...
Quantifying the hydrological responses to climate change in an intact forested small watershed in Southern China
G. Zhou, X. Wei, Y. Wu, Y. Huang, J. Yan, Dongxiao Zhang, Q. Zhang, J. Liu, Z. Meng, C. Wang, G. Chu, S. Liu, X. Tang, Xiuying Liu
2011, Global Change Biology (17) 3736-3746
Responses of hydrological processes to climate change are key components in the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) assessment. Understanding these responses is critical for developing appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies for sustainable water resources management and protection of public safety. However, these responses are not well understood and little...
Fishes and tetrapods in the upper pennsylvanian (kasimovian) cohn coal member of the mattoon formation of illinois, United States: Systematics, paleoecology, and paleoenvironments
D. Carpenter, H. J. Falcon-Lang, M.J. Benton, W.J. Nelson
2011, Palaios (26) 639-657
A newly discovered vertebrate assemblage is reported from the Upper Pennsylvanian (mid- to upper Kasimovian) Cohn Coal Member of the Mattoon Formation of southeast Illinois, United States. Teeth, scales, and spines of xenacanth (Dicentrodus, Orthacanthus, Triodus, Xenacanthus) and euselachian (Sphenacanthus) sharks dominate the assemblage. Less common are the teeth, scales,...
Wave-current interaction in Willapa Bay
Maitane Olabarrieta, John C. Warner, Nirnimesh Kumar
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans (116)
This paper describes the importance of wave-current interaction in an inlet-estuary system. The three-dimensional, fully coupled, Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system was applied in Willapa Bay (Washington State) from 22 to 29 October 1998 that included a large storm event. To represent the interaction between waves and currents, the...
Pore morphology effect in microlog for porosity prediction in a mature field
W.J. Teh, G.P. Willhite, J.H. Doveton, J.S. Tsau
2011, Conference Paper, SPE Eastern Regional Meeting
In an matured field, developed during the 1950s, no porosity logs were available from sources other than invaded zone resistivity Rxo . The microresistivity porosity is calibrated with the core porosity to yield an accurate estimate of the porosity. However, the procedure of calibrating the porosity with Rxo for a...
The distribution and abundance of a nuisance native alga, Didymosphen Didymosphenia geminata, in streams of Glacier National Park: Climate drivers and management implications
Schweiger E. William, I.W. Ashton, C.C. Muhlfeld, L.A. Jones, L.L. Bahls
2011, Park Science (28)
Didymosphenia geminata (didymo) is a freshwater alga native to North America, including Glacier National Park, Montana. It has long been considered a cold-water species, but has recently spread to lower latitudes and warmer waters, and increasingly forms large blooms that cover streambeds. We used a comprehensive monitoring data set from...
Spatial variation in transient water table responses: Differences between an upper and lower hillslope zone
D.R.W. Haught, H. J. Van Meerveld
2011, Hydrological Processes (25) 3866-3877
To better understand storage-runoff dynamics, transient groundwater responses were examined in one of the steep watersheds in British Columbia's coastal mountains. Streamflow and piezometric data were collected for 1year to determine the spatial and temporal relations between transient groundwater levels and discharge. Correlations between piezometer responses and lag-time analysis were...
Landslide stability: Role of rainfall-induced, laterally propagating, pore-pressure waves
G. R. Priest, W.H. Schulz, W. L. Ellis, J.A. Allan, A. R. Niem, W. A. Niem
2011, Environmental & Engineering Geoscience (17) 315-335
The Johnson Creek Landslide is a translational slide in seaward-dipping Miocene siltstone and sandstone (Astoria Formation) and an overlying Quaternary marine terrace deposit. The basal slide plane slopes sub-parallel to the dip of the Miocene rocks, except beneath the back-tilted toe block, where it slopes inland. Rainfall events raise pore-water...
Field tracer investigation of unsaturated zone flow paths and mechanisms in agricultural soils of northwestern Mississippi, USA
K. S. Perkins, J. R. Nimmo, C.E. Rose, R.H. Coupe
2011, Journal of Hydrology (396) 1-11
In many farmed areas, intensive application of agricultural chemicals and withdrawal of groundwater for irrigation have led to water quality and supply issues. Unsaturated-zone processes, including preferential flow, play a major role in these effects but are not well understood. In the Bogue Phalia basin, an intensely agricultural area in...
Lead isotopes in soils and groundwaters as tracers of the impact of human activities on the surface environment: The Domizio-Flegreo Littoral (Italy) case study
G. Grezzi, Robert A. Ayuso, B. de Vivo, A. Lima, S. Albanese
2011, Journal of Geochemical Exploration (109) 51-58
The isotopic signature of geogenic and anthropogenic materials, in combination with concentration data for pollutants, can help trace the origin and the extent of contamination in the environment. This approach is particularly effective if naturally occurring and anthropogenically introduced metals have different isotopic ratios. Lead isotope analysis on soils from 7 profiles...
Duration and severity of Medieval drought in the Lake Tahoe Basin
J.A. Kleppe, D.S. Brothers, G.M. Kent, F. Biondi, S. Jensen, N. W. Driscoll
2011, Quaternary Science Reviews (30) 3269-3279
Droughts in the western U.S. in the past 200 years are small compared to several megadroughts that occurred during Medieval times. We reconstruct duration and magnitude of extreme droughts in the northern Sierra Nevada from hydroclimatic conditions in Fallen Leaf Lake, California. Stands of submerged trees rooted in situ below...
Migration delays caused by anthropogenic barriers: Modeling dams, temperature, and success of migrating salmon smolts
E.A. Marschall, M. E. Mather, D.L. Parrish, G.W. Allison, J.R. McMenemy
2011, Ecological Applications (21) 3014-3031
Disruption to migration is a growing problem for conservation and restoration of animal populations. Anthropogenic barriers along migration paths can delay or prolong migrations, which may result in a mismatch with migration-timing adaptations. To understand the interaction of dams (as barriers along a migration path), seasonally changing environmental conditions, timing...
Nearshore Tsunami Inundation Model Validation: Toward Sediment Transport Applications
Alex Apotsos, Mark Buckley, Guy Gelfenbaum, Bruce Jaffe, Deepak Vatvani
2011, Pure and Applied Geophysics (168) 2097-2119
Model predictions from a numerical model, Delft3D, based on the nonlinear shallow water equations are compared with analytical results and laboratory observations from seven tsunami-like benchmark experiments, and with field observations from the 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The model accurately predicts the magnitude and timing of the measured...
Seasonal timing of first rain storms affects rare plant population dynamics
J.M. Levine, A. K. McEachern, C. Cowan
2011, Ecology (92) 2236-2247
A major challenge in forecasting the ecological consequences of climate change is understanding the relative importance of changes to mean conditions vs. changes to discrete climatic events, such as storms, frosts, or droughts. Here we show that the first major storm of the growing season strongly influences the population dynamics...
A heuristic simulation model of Lake Ontario circulation and mass balance transport
J.E. McKenna Jr., M.A. Chalupnicki
2011, Journal of Freshwater Ecology (26) 123-132
The redistribution of suspended organisms and materials by large-scale currents is part of natural ecological processes in large aquatic systems but can contribute to ecosystem disruption when exotic elements are introduced into the system. Toxic compounds and planktonic organisms spend various lengths of time in suspension before settling to the...
Simulating the potential effects of climate change in two Colorado basins and at two Colorado ski areas
William Battaglin, Lauren E. Hay, Steve Markstrom
2011, Earth Interactions (15) 1-23
The mountainous areas of Colorado are used for tourism and recreation, and they provide water storage and supply for municipalities, industries, and agriculture. Recent studies suggest that water supply and tourist industries such as skiing are at risk from climate change. In this study, a distributed-parameter watershed model, the Precipitation-Runoff...
Expansion rate and geometry of floating vegetation mats on the margins of thermokarst lakes, northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, USA
A.D. Parsekian, Benjamin M. Jones, M. Jones, G. Grosse, Anthony K.M. Walter, L. Slater
2011, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (36) 1889-1897
Investigations on the northern Seward Peninsula in Alaska identified zones of recent (<50 years) permafrost collapse that led to the formation of floating vegetation mats along thermokarst lake margins. The occurrence of floating vegetation mat features indicates rapid degradation of near‐surface permafrost and lake expansion. This paper reports on the recent...
An open-water electrical geophysical tool for mapping sub-seafloor heavy placer minerals in 3D and migrating hydrocarbon plumes in 4D
J. Wynn, M. Williamson, S. Urquhart, J. Fleming
2011, Conference Paper, OCEANS'11 - MTS/IEEE Kona, Program Book
A towed-streamer technology has been developed for mapping placer heavy minerals and dispersed hydrocarbon plumes in the open ocean. The approach uses induced polarization (IP), an electrical measurement that encompasses several different surface-reactive capacitive and electrochemical phenomena, and thus is ideally suited for mapping dispersed or disseminated targets. The application...
Shortnose sturgeon use small coastal rivers: The importance of habitat connectivity
Gayle B. Zydlewski, M.T. Kinnison, P.E. Dionne, Joseph D. Zydlewski, Gail S. Wippelhauser
2011, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (27) 41-44
Contrary to conventional wisdom for shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum), we document shortnose sturgeon use of habitats beyond large rivers. Telemetry data from 2008 to 2010 in the Gulf of Maine demonstrates that adult shortnose sturgeon (up to 70%) frequently move between Maine’s two largest rivers, the Kennebec and Penobscot Rivers....
Ratios of total suspended solids to suspended sediment concentrations by particle size
W.R. Selbig, R.T. Bannerman
2011, Journal of Environmental Engineering (137) 1075-1081
Wet-sieving sand-sized particles from a whole storm-water sample before splitting the sample into laboratory-prepared containers can reduce bias and improve the precision of suspended-sediment concentrations (SSC). Wet-sieving, however, may alter concentrations of total suspended solids (TSS) because the analytical method used to determine TSS may not have included the sediment...
Looking beyond fertilizer: Assessing the contribution of nitrogen from hydrologic inputs and organic matter to plant growth in the cranberry agroecosystem
S.M. Stackpoole, K.R. Kosola, B.A.A. Workmaster, N.M. Guldan, B.A. Browne, R. D. Jackson
2011, Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems (91) 41-54
Even though nitrogen (N) is a key nutrient for successful cranberry production, N cycling in cranberry agroecosystems is not completely understood. Prior research has focused mainly on timing and uptake of ammonium fertilizer, but the objective of our study was to evaluate the potential for additional N contributions from hydrologic...
The GeoClaw software for depth-averaged flows with adaptive refinement
M.J. Berger, D.L. George, R.J. LeVeque, Kyle T. Mandli
2011, Advances in Water Resources (34) 1195-1206
Many geophysical flow or wave propagation problems can be modeled with two-dimensional depth-averaged equations, of which the shallow water equations are the simplest example. We describe the GeoClaw software that has been designed to solve problems of this nature, consisting of open source Fortran programs together with Python tools for...
