Geochemistry and microbiology of groundwater and solids from extraction and monitoring wells and their relation to well efficiency at a Federally operated confined disposal facility, East Chicago, Indiana
Randall E. Bayless, Travis R. Cole, David C. Lampe, R. E. Travis, Marjorie S. Schulz, Paul M. Buszka
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5073
In cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District, the U.S. Geological Survey investigated the processes affecting water quality, geochemistry, and microbiology in representative extraction and monitoring wells at a confined disposal facility (CDF) in East Chicago, Indiana. The CDF is a 140-acre Federally-managed facility that was the...
Preliminary groundwater salinity mapping near selected oil fields using historical water-sample data, central and southern California
Loren F. Metzger, Matthew K. Landon
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5082
The distribution of groundwater salinity was mapped for 31 oil fields and adjacent aquifers and summarized by 8 subregions across major oil-producing areas of central and southern California. The objectives of this study were to describe the distribution of groundwater near oil fields having total dissolved solids less than 10,000...
Survival, travel time, and utilization of Yolo Bypass, California, by outmigrating acoustic-tagged late-fall Chinook salmon
Adam C. Pope, Russell W. Perry, Dalton J. Hance, Hal C. Hansel
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1118
Juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) migrating through California's Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta toward the Pacific Ocean face numerous challenges to their survival. The Yolo Bypass is a broad floodplain of the Sacramento River that floods in about 70 percent of years in response to large, uncontrolled runoff events. As...
Linking the Ukinrek 1977 maar-eruption observations to the tephra deposits: New insights into maar depositional processes
Michael Ort, Nathalie Lefebvre, Christina A. Neal, Vicki McConnell, Ken Wohletz
2018, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (360) 36-60
The Ukinrek Maars erupted 30 March to 9 April 1977, forming two maars, a line of small pit craters and a tephra blanket extending to ~2 km from the vents. We combine photographic and written observations with stratigraphic analysis to reconstruct the eruption. The eruption began...
Geohydrology, geochemistry, and numerical simulation of groundwater flow and land subsidence in the Bicycle Basin, Fort Irwin National Training Center, California
Jill N. Densmore, Linda R. Woolfenden, Diane L. Rewis, Peter M. Martin, Michelle Sneed, Kevin M. Ellett, Michael Solt, David M. Miller
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5067
Groundwater pumping from Bicycle Groundwater Basin (referred to as Bicycle Basin) in the Fort Irwin National Training Center, California, began in 1967. From 1967 to December 2010, about 46,000 acre-feet of water had been pumped from the basin and transported to the Irwin Basin. During this time, not only did...
Cadmium isotope fractionation during coal combustion: Insights from two U.S. coal-fired power plants
Fotio Fouskas, Ma Lin, Mark A. Engle, Leslie F. Ruppert, Nicholas J. Geboy, Matthew A. Costa
2018, Applied Geochemistry (96) 100-112
Coal combustion, one of the principal energy sources of electricity in the United States, produces over 100 million tons of coal combustion products (CCPs) per year in the U.S. The reuse and disposal of CCPs has the potential to release toxic trace elements, including cadmium (Cd), into the environment. In this study,...
Exploring viable geologic interpretations of gravity models using distance-based global sensitivity analysis and kernel methods
Geoffrey Phelps, Celine Scheidt, Jef Caers
2018, Geophysics (5) G79-G92
We have explored ways to integrate alternative geologic interpretations into the modeling of gravity data. These methods are applied to the Vaca Fault east of Fairfield, California, USA, where the structure across the fault is in question, and the Vaca Fault is used as a case study to demonstrate the...
Controls on submarine canyon head evolution: Monterey Canyon, offshore central California
Katherine L. Maier, Samuel Y. Johnson, Patrick E. Hart
2018, Marine Geology (404) 24-40
The Monterey submarine canyon, incised across the continental shelf in Monterey Bay, California, provides a record of the link between onshore tectonism, fluvial transport, and deep-marine deposition. High-resolution seismic-reflection imaging in Monterey Bay reveals an extensive paleocanyon unit buried below the seafloor of the continental shelf around Monterey and Soquel...
Simulation of potential groundwater recharge for the glacial aquifer system east of the Rocky Mountains, 1980–2011, using the Soil-Water-Balance Model
Jared J. Trost, Jason L. Roth, Stephen M. Westenbroek, Howard W. Reeves
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5080
An understanding of the spatial and temporal extent of groundwater recharge is critical for many types of hydrologic assessments involving water quality, contaminant transport, ecosystem health, and sustainable use of groundwater. Annual potential groundwater recharge was simulated at a 1-kilometer resolution with the Soil-Water-Balance (SWB) model for the glacial aquifer...
Assessing the effectiveness of riparian restoration projects using Landsat and precipitation data from the cloud-computing application ClimateEngine.org
Mark B. Hausner, Justin L. Huntington, Caroline Nash, Charles Morton, Daniel J. McEvoy, David S. Pilliod, Katherine C. Hegewisch, Britta Daudert, John T. Abatzoglou, Gordon E. Grant
2018, Ecological Engineering (120) 432-440
Riparian vegetation along streams provides a suite of ecosystem services in rangelands and thus is the target of restoration when degraded by over-grazing, erosion, incision, or other disturbances. Assessments of restoration effectiveness depend on defensible monitoring data, which can be both expensive and difficult to collect. We present a method...
Accurate predictions of microscale oxygen barometry in basaltic glasses using V K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy: A multivariate approach
Antonio Lanzirotti, M. Darby Dyar, Steve Sutton, Matthew Newville, Elisabet Head, CJ Carey, Molly McCanta, R. Lopaka Lee, Penelope L. King, John Jones
2018, American Mineralogist (103)
Because magmatic oxygen fugacity (fO2) exerts a primary control on the discrete vanadium (V) valence states that will exist in quenched melts, V valence proxies for fO2, measured using X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES), can provide highly sensitive measurements of the redox conditions in basaltic melts. However, published calibrations for basaltic...
Icebergs in the Nordic Seas throughout the Late Pliocene
Yvonne M. Smith, Daniel Hill, Aisling M Dolan, Alan M Haywood, Harry J. Dowsett, Bjorg Risebrobakken
2018, Paleoceanography (33) 318-335
The Arctic cryosphere is changing and making a significant contribution to sea level rise. The Late Pliocene had similar CO2 levels to the present and a warming comparable to model predictions for the end of this century. However, the state of the Arctic cryosphere during the Pliocene remains poorly constrained....
The flathead catfish invasion of the Great Lakes
Pamela L. Fuller, Gary Whelan
2018, Journal of Great Lakes Research (44) 1081-1092
A detailed review of historical literature and museum data revealed that flathead catfish were not historically native in the Great Lakes Basin, with the possible exception of a relict population in Lake Erie. The species has invaded Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, Lake Huron, nearly all drainages in Michigan, and the...
Reestablishing a host–affiliate relationship: Migratory fish reintroduction increases native mussel recruitment
Heather S. Galbraith, Julie L. Devers, Carrie J. Blakeslee, Jeffrey C. Cole, Barbara St. John White, Steven Minkkinen, William A. Lellis
2018, Ecological Applications (28) 1841-1852
Co‐extirpation among host–affiliate species is thought to be a leading cause of biodiversity loss worldwide. Freshwater mussels (Unionida) are at...
Bat community response to silvicultural treatments in bottomland hardwood forests managed for wildlife in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley
Loraine P. Ketzler, Christopher E. Comer, Daniel J. Twedt
2018, Forest Ecology and Management (417) 40-48
Silvicultural treatments (e.g., selective timber harvests) that are prescribed to promote wildlife habitat are intended to alter the physical structure of forests to achieve conditions deemed beneficial for wildlife. Such treatments have been advocated for management of bottomland hardwood forests on public conservation lands in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Although...
Preliminary evaluation of the hydrogeology and groundwater quality of the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer and Memphis aquifer at the Tennessee Valley Authority Allen Power Plants, Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee
John K. Carmichael, James A. Kingsbury, Daniel Larsen, Scott Schoefernacker
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1097
The hydrogeology, groundwater quality, and potential for hydraulic connection between the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer and the Memphis aquifer in the area of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Allen Combined Cycle and Allen Fossil Plants in southwestern Memphis, Tennessee, were evaluated from September through December 2017. The study was...
Map of recently active traces of the Rodgers Creek Fault, Sonoma County, California
Suzanne Hecker, Carolyn E. Randolph Loar
2018, Scientific Investigations Map 3410
The accompanying map and digital data identify recently active strands of the Rodgers Creek Fault in Sonoma County, California, interpreted primarily from the geomorphic expression of recent faulting on aerial photography and hillshade imagery derived from airborne lidar data. A recently active fault strand is defined here as having evidence...
Modeling the distributions of tegu lizards in native and potential invasive ranges
Catherine S. Jarnevich, Mark Hayes, Lee A. Fitzgerald, Amy Yackel, Bryan Falk, Michelle Collier, Lea Bonewell, Page Klug, Sergio Naretto, Robert Reed
2018, Scientific Reports (8)
Invasive reptilian predators can have substantial impacts on native species and ecosystems. Tegu lizards are widely distributed in South America east of the Andes, and are popular in the international live animal trade. Two species are established in Florida (U.S.A.) - Salvator merianae (Argentine black and white tegu) and Tupinambis...
Characterization of peak streamflows and flood inundation of selected areas in southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana from the August and September 2017 flood resulting from Hurricane Harvey
Kara M. Watson, Glenn R. Harwell, David S. Wallace, Toby L. Welborn, Victoria G. Stengel, Jeremy S. McDowell
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5070
Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Rockport, Texas, on August 25, 2017, as a Category 4 hurricane with wind gusts exceeding 150 miles per hour. As Harvey moved inland, the forward motion of the storm slowed down and produced tremendous rainfall amounts over southeastern Texas, with 8-day rainfall amounts exceeding 60...
River response to large‐dam removal in a Mediterranean hydroclimatic setting: Carmel River, California, USA
Lee R. Harrison, Amy E. East, Douglas P. Smith, Joshua B. Logan, Rosealea Bond, Colin L. Nicol, Thomas H. Williams, David A. Boughton, Kaitlyn Chow, Lauren Luna
2018, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (43) 3009-3021
Dam removal provides a valuable opportunity to measure the fluvial response to changes in both sediment supply and the processes that shape channel morphology. We present the first study of river response to the removal of a large (32‐m‐high) dam in a Mediterranean hydroclimatic setting, on the Carmel River, coastal...
An evaluation of the toxicity of potassium chloride, active compound in the molluscicide potash, on salmonid fish and their forage base
Christine L. Densmore, Luke R. Iwanowicz, Anne P. Henderson, Vicki S. Blazer, Baileigh M. Reed-Grimmett, Lakyn R. Sanders
2018, Open-File Report 2018-1080
Potash, with the active ingredient potassium chloride (KCl) is a chemical that is currently being evaluated for potential use as a molluscicide to combat invasive zebra mussels and quagga mussels in Western United States waters. Although data available for other freshwater fishes indicate that recommended treatment levels of potash as...
Why aftershock duration matters for probabilistic seismic hazard assessment
Shinji Toda, Ross S. Stein
2018, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (108) 1414-1426
Most hazard assessments assume that high background seismicity rates indicate a higher probability of large shocks and, therefore, of strong shaking. However, in slowly deforming regions, such as eastern North America, Australia, and inner Honshu, this assumption breaks down if the seismicity clusters are instead aftershocks of historic and prehistoric...
Extraction and development of inset models in support of groundwater age calculations for glacial aquifers
Daniel T. Feinstein, Leon J. Kauffman, Megan J. Haserodt, Brian R. Clark, Paul F. Juckem
2018, Scientific Investigations Report 2018-5038
The U.S. Geological Survey developed a regional model of Lake Michigan Basin (LMB). This report describes the construction of five MODFLOW inset models extracted from the LMB regional model and their application using the particle-tracking code MODPATH to simulate the groundwater age distribution of discharge to wells pumping from glacial...
Reductive dechlorination rates of 4,4′-DDE (1-chloro-4-[2,2-dichloro-1-(4-chlorophenyl)ethenyl]benzene) in sediments of the Palos Verdes Shelf, CA
Robert P. Eganhouse, Christopher R. Sherwood, James Pontolillo, Brian Edwards, Patrick J. Dickhudt
2018, Marine Chemistry (203) 10-21
Wastes from the world's largest manufacturer of DDT (1-chloro-4-[2,2,2-trichloro-1-(4-chlorophenyl)ethyl]benzene) were released into the Los Angeles County municipal sewer system from 1947 to 1971. Following primary treatment, the effluent was discharged through a submarine outfall system whereupon a portion of the DDT and associated degradation products were deposited in sediments of...
DDT and related compounds in pore water of shallow sediments on the Palos Verdes Shelf, California, USA
Robert P. Eganhouse, Erica L. DiFilippo, James Pontolillo, William H. Orem, Paul C. Hackley, Brian Edwards
2018, Marine Chemistry (203) 78-90
For nearly two and a half decades following World War II, production wastes from the world's largest manufacturer of technical DDT (1-chloro-4-[2,2,2-trichloro-1-(4-chlorophenyl)ethyl]benzene) were discharged into sewers of Los Angeles County. Following treatment, the wastes were released via a submarine outfall system to nearshore coastal waters where a portion accumulated in...
