Publications
The following list of California Water Science Center publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists.
Filter Total Items: 1734
Resolving structural influences on water-retention properties of alluvial deposits
With the goal of improving property-transfer model (PTM) predictions of unsaturated hydraulic properties, we investigated the influence of sedimentary structure, defined as particle arrangement during deposition, on laboratory-measured water retention (water content vs. potential [θ(ψ)]) of 10 undisturbed core samples from alluvial deposits in the western Mojave Desert, California. The samples wer
Authors
K.A. Winfield, J. R. Nimmo, J. A. Izbicki, P. M. Martin
Characterization of unsaturated zone hydrogeologic units using matrix properties and depositional history in a complex volcanic environment
Characterization of the physical and unsaturated hydrologic properties of subsurface materials is necessary to calculate flow and transport for land use practices and to evaluate subsurface processes such as perched water or lateral diversion of water, which are influenced by features such as faults, fractures, and abrupt changes in lithology. Input for numerical flow models typically includes par
Authors
Lorraine E. Flint, David C. Buesch, Alan L. Flint
Diversity, composition, and geographical distribution of microbial communities in California salt marsh sediments
The Pacific Estuarine Ecosystem Indicators Research Consortium seeks to develop bioindicators of toxicant-induced stress and bioavailability for wetland biota. Within this framework, the effects of environmental and pollutant variables on microbial communities were studied at different spatial scales over a 2-year period. Six salt marshes along the California coastline were characterized using pho
Authors
A. L. Cordova-Kreylos, Y. Cao, P.G. Green, H.-M. Hwang, K.M. Kuivila, M.G. LaMontagne, L. C. Van De Werfhorst, P.A. Holden, K.M. Scow
Carbon dioxide emissions from vegetation-kill zones around the resurgent dome of Long Valley caldera, eastern California, USA
A survey of diffuse CO2 efflux, soil temperature and soil-gas chemistry over areas of localized vegetation-kill on and around the resurgent dome of Long Valley caldera California was performed to evaluate the premise that gaseous and thermal anomalies are related to renewed intrusion of magma. Some kill sites are long-lived features and others have developed in the past few years. Total anomalous
Authors
Deborah Bergfeld, William C. Evans, James F. Howle, Christopher D. Farrar
Alteration of soil microbial communities and water quality in restored wetlands
Land usage is a strong determinant of soil microbial community composition and activity, which in turn determine organic matter decomposition rates and decomposition products in soils. Microbial communities in permanently flooded wetlands, such as those created by wetland restoration on Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta islands in California, function under restricted aeration conditions that result in
Authors
D.A. Bossio, J.A. Fleck, K.M. Scow, R. Fujii
Reconstructing depositional processes and history from reservoir stratigraphy: Englebright Lake, Yuba River, northern California
Reservoirs provide the opportunity to link watershed history with its stratigraphic record. We analyze sediment cores from a northern California reservoir in the context of hydrologic history, watershed management, and depositional processes. Observations of recent depositional patterns, sediment‐transport calculations, and 137Cs geochronology support a conceptual model in which the reservoir delt
Authors
N.P. Snyder, S.A. Wright, Charles N. Alpers, L. E. Flint, C. W. Holmes, D. M. Rubin
Annual sediment flux estimates in a tidal strait using surrogate measurements
Annual suspended-sediment flux estimates through Carquinez Strait (the seaward boundary of Suisun Bay, California) are provided based on surrogate measurements for advective, dispersive, and Stokes drift flux. The surrogates are landward watershed discharge, suspended-sediment concentration at one location in the Strait, and the longitudinal salinity gradient. The first two surrogates substitute f
Authors
N. K. Ganju, D. H. Schoellhamer
Flow convergence caused by a salinity minimum in a tidal channel
Residence times of dissolved substances and sedimentation rates in tidal channels are affected by residual (tidally averaged) circulation patterns. One influence on these circulation patterns is the longitudinal density gradient. In most estuaries the longitudinal density gradient typically maintains a constant direction. However, a junction of tidal channels can create a local reversal (change in
Authors
John C. Warner, David H. Schoellhamer, Jon R. Burau, S. Geoffrey Schladow
Trophic structure and avian communities across a salinity gradient in evaporation ponds of the San Francisco Bay estuary
Commercial salt evaporation ponds comprise a large proportion of baylands adjacent to the San Francisco Bay, a highly urbanized estuary. In the past two centuries, more than 79% of the historic tidal wetlands in this estuary have been lost. Resource management agencies have acquired more than 10 000 ha of commercial salt ponds with plans to undertake one of the largest wetland restoration projects
Authors
John Y. Takekawa, A.K. Miles, D. H. Schoellhamer, N.D. Athearn, M. K. Saiki, W.D. Duffy, S. Kleinschmidt, G.G. Shellenbarger, C.A. Jannusch
Evaluation of the factors controlling the time-dependent inactivation rate coefficients of bacteriophage MS2 and PRD1
Static and dynamic batch experiments were conducted to study the effects of temperature and the presence of sand on the inactivation of bacteriophage MS2 and PRD1. The experimental data suggested that the inactivation process can be satisfactorily represented by a pseudo-first-order expression with time-dependent rate coefficients. The time-dependent rate coefficients were used to determine pertin
Authors
R. Anders, C.V. Chrysikopoulos
Ecological values of shallow-water habitats: Implications for the restoration of disturbed ecosystems
A presumed value of shallow-habitat enhanced pelagic productivity derives from the principle that in nutrient-rich aquatic systems phytoplankton growth rate is controlled by light availability, which varies inversely with habitat depth. We measured a set of biological indicators across the gradient of habitat depth within the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta (California) to test the hypothesis t
Authors
C.B. Lopez, J. E. Cloern, T.S. Schraga, A.J. Little, L.V. Lucas, J.K. Thompson, J.R. Burau
Thermodynamic properties and crystal structure refinement of ferricopiapite, coquimbite, rhomboclase, and Fe2(SO4)3(H2O)5
Enthalpies of formation of ferricopiapite [nominally Fe4.67(SO4)6(OH)2 (H2O)20]. coquimbite [Fe2(SO4)3(H2O)9], rhomboclase [(H3O)Fe(SO4)2 (H2O)3], and Fe2(SO4)3(H2O)5 were measured by acid (5 N HCl) solution calorimetry. The samples were characterized by wet chemical analyses and synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). The refinement of XRD patterns gave lattice parameters, atomic positions, t
Authors
J. Majzlan, A. Navrotsky, R. Blaine McCleskey, Charles N. Alpers