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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

Historical decline and current status of coho salmon in California

The southernmost populations of coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch occur in California where native coho stocks have declined or disappeared from all streams in which they were historically recorded. Coho salmon previously occurred in as many as 582 streams, from the Smith River near the Oregon border to the San Lorenzo River on the central coast. Information on the recent presence or absence of coh
Authors
Larry R. Brown, Peter B. Moyle, Ronald M. Yoshiyama

Contaminants in eggs of aquatic birds from the grasslands of central California

Eggs were collected from the Grasslands of western Merced County, California, during 1986 and 1987, and at the Mendota Wildlife Area in Fresno County in 1987, as part of a reproductive study of nesting ducks and shorebirds. The eggs were analyzed to evaluate the effects of contaminants in agricultural drainwater on avian reproduction. Agricultural drainwater was the major source of water for irrig
Authors
R. L. Hothem, D. Welsh

Use of long-term tritium records from the Colorado River to determine timescales for hydrologic processes associated with irrigation in the Imperial Valley, California

Tritium records were used to study hydrologic processes associated with irrigation and drainage in the Imperial Valley, a 2000-km2 agricultural area in the southeastern California desert. Tritium was analyzed in surface water, ground water, soil-pore water and drain water, and the results were compared to the historical record of tritium in the Colorado River. The Colorado River record was reconst
Authors
Robert L. Michel, R.A. Schoeder

Seasonal variations of Zn/Cu ratios in acid mine water from Iron Mountain, California

Time-series data on Zn/Cu weight ratios from portal effluent compositions [(Zn/Cu)water] at Iron Mountain, California, show seasonal variations that can be related to the precipitation and dissolution of melanterite [(FeII,Zn,Cu)SO4·7H2O]. Mine water and actively forming melanterite were collected from underground mine workings and chemically analyzed. The temperature-dependent solubility of Zn-Cu
Authors
Charles N. Alpers, D. Kirk Nordstrom, J. Michael Thompson

Transport and natural attenuation of Cu, Zn, As, and Fe in the acid mine drainage of Leviathan and Bryant Creeks

The Leviathan and Bryant Creek (LBC) drainage system, on the border of California and Nevada, flows through overburden and waste from a former open-pit sulfur mine. The drainage contains acid mine waters with high concentrations of several trace elements, including Cu, Zn, and As, derived from oxidative weathering of sulfides in the wastes and altered bedrock. In June and October, 1982, the mainst
Authors
Jenny G. Webster, D. Kirk Nordstrom, Kathleen S. Smith

Helium isotope and gas discharge variations associated with crustal unrest in Long Valley Caldera, California, 1989-1992

The onset of anomalous seismic activity in 1989 beneath Mammoth Mountain on the southwestern rim of the Long Valley caldera, California, was followed within ∼4 months by a large increase in 3He/4He in vapor discharged from a fumarole on the north side of the mountain. The helium isotopic ratio at this vent rose to a maximum of 6.7 RA in July 1990 and subsequently declined to values near 5 RA. Pote
Authors
M. L. Sorey, B. M. Kennedy, W.C. Evans, C. D. Farrar, G.A. Suemnicht

Multivariate geostatistical analysis of ground-water contamination: A case history

A case history is presented for the application of multivariate geostatistical methods to the problem of estimating pesticide concentrations in ground water from measured concentrations of nitrate and pesticide, when pesticide is under‐sampled. The shallow, poorly confined, sand and gravel aquifer underlying the lower Malheur River basin near Ontario, Oregon is contaminated by nitrate and metaboli
Authors
Jonathan D. Istok, Jeffrey D. Smyth, Alan L. Flint

An improved method for quantifying soil macroporosity

Quantitative information on macroporosity is needed to predict water flow and solute transport in field soils. A method was developed for determining the number, shape, and size distribution of soil macropores. Horizontal serial sections sawed from paraffin-impregnated soil cores were photographed under ultraviolet (UV) light. Anthracene, mixed with the paraffin, fluoresces a bright bluish white u
Authors
V. R. Vermeul, J.D. Istok, A. L. Flint, J.L. Pikul Jr.

Modelling within the stream-catchment continuum

No abstract available.
Authors
Kenneth E. Bencala, John H. Duff, Judson W. Harvey, A. P. Jackman, F.J. Triska

Tidal, Residual, Intertidal Mudflat (TRIM) Model and its Applications to San Francisco Bay, California

A numerical model using a semi-implicit finite-difference method for solving the two-dimensional shallow-water equations is presented. The gradient of the water surface elevation in the momentum equations and the velocity divergence in the continuity equation are finite-differenced implicitly, the remaining terms are finite-differenced explicitly. The convective terms are treated using an Eulerian
Authors
R. T. Cheng, V. Casulli, J. W. Gartner

Distributions of pesticides and organic contaminants between water and suspended sediment, San Francisco Bay, California

Suspended-sediment and water samples were collected from San Francisco Bay in 1991 during low river discharge and after spring rains. All samples were analyzed for organophosphate, carbamate, and organochlorine pesticides; petroleum hydrocarbons; biomarkers; and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. The objectives were to determine the concentrations of these contaminants in water and suspended sedim
Authors
Joseph L. Domagalski, K.M. Kuivila