Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

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

Bathymetry and selected perspective views of central San Francisco Bay, California

No abstract available. 
Authors
J.V. Gardner, Peter Dartnell, L. A. Mayer, J.E. Hughes, J.C. Stone

Metal exposure in a benthic macroinvertebrate, Hydropsyche californica, related to mine drainage in the Sacramento River

A biomonitoring technique was employed to complement studies of metal transport in the upper Sacramento River affected by acid mine drainage. Metals (Al, Cd, Cu, Fe, Hg, Pb, and Zn) were determined in a resident invertebrate, Hydropsyche californica (Insecta: Trichoptera), and streambed sediments (<62 µm) to assess metal contamination within a 111-km section of the river downstream of the mining a
Authors
Daniel J. Cain, James L. Carter, Steven V. Fend, Samuel N. Luoma, Charles N. Alpers, Howard E. Taylor

Distributions of uronic acids and O-methyl sugars in sinking and sedimentary particles in two coastal marine environments

Although recent research has indicated that bacteria may contribute an important fraction of biochemical residues in terrestrial and marine environments, it is difficult for geochemists to identify contributions from these ubiquitous and biochemically diverse organisms. Previous studies have suggested uronic acids and O-methyl sugars may be useful indicators of microbial abundance and activity, bu
Authors
Brian A. Bergamaschi, Jeffrey S. Walters, J. I. Hedges

Accumulation of butyltins in sediments and lipid tissues of the Asian clam, Potamocorbula amurensis, near Mare Island Naval Shipyard, San Francisco Bay

Studies of butyltin compounds in soil, benthic sediments and the Asian clam Potamocorbula amurensis were conducted at the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard, and nearby Mare Island and Carquinez Straits in San Francisco Bay, California. Soils from a sandblast abrasives dump site at the shipyard contained low concentrations of mono-, di- and tributyltin (0.3-52 ng/g, total butyltin). Similarly, conc
Authors
W. E. Pereira, T.L. Wade, F. D. Hostettler, F. Parchaso

Processes governing phytoplankton blooms in estuaries. II: The role of horizontal transport

The development and distribution of phytoplankton blooms in estuaries are functions of both local conditions (i.e. the production-loss balance for a water column at a particular spatial location) and large-scale horizontal transport. In this study, the second of a 2-paper series, we use a depth-averaged hydrodynamic-biological model to identify transport-related mechanisms impacting phytoplankton
Authors
L.V. Lucas, Jeffrey R. Koseff, Stephen G. Monismith, J. E. Cloern, J.K. Thompson

Observations of turbulence in a partially stratified estuary

The authors present a field study of estuarine turbulence in which profiles of Reynolds stresses were directly measured using an ADCP throughout a 25-h tidal day. The dataset that is discussed quantifies turbulent mixing for a water column in northern San Francisco Bay that experiences a sequence of states that includes a weak ebb and flood that are stratified, followed by a strong, and eventually
Authors
M.T. Stagey, Stephen G. Monismith, J.R. Burau

Use of nitrogen isotopes to determine sources of nitrate contamination in two desert basins in California

Nitrogen-15/14 isotope ratios (δ15N) were measured in groundwater, infiltrating wastewater, and natural uncontaminated soil to determine the source of high NO3- concentrations in two desert basins at Fort Irwin National Training Center in the Mojave Desert. The abundance and isotopic composition of dissolved nitrogen gas were measured in some of the groundwater samples to determine the effects of
Authors
J.N. Densmore, John K. Böhlke

Negative pH, efflorescent mineralogy, and consequences for environmental restoration at the iron mountain superfund site, California

The Richmond Mine of the Iron Mountain copper deposit contains some of the most acid mine waters ever reported. Values of pH have been measured as low as -3.6, combined metal concentrations as high as 200 g/liter, and sulfate concentrations as high as 760 g/liter. Copious quantities of soluble metal sulfate salts such as melanterite, chalcanthite, coquimbite, rhomboclase, voltaite, copiapite, and
Authors
D. Kirk Nordstrom, Charles N. Alpers