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

Chemical, crystallographic and stable isotopic properties of alunite and jarosite from acid-Hypersaline Australian lakes

Chemical, crystallographic and isotopic analyses were made on samples containing alunite and jarosite from the sediments of four acid, hypersaline lakes in southeastern and southwestern Australia. The alunite and jarosite are K-rich with relatively low Na contents based on chemical analysis and determination of unit cell dimensions by powder X-ray diffraction. Correcting the chemical analyses of f
Authors
Charles N. Alpers, R. O. Rye, D. Kirk Nordstrom, L. D. White, B.-S. King

Use of geochemical biomarkers in bottom sediment to track oil from a spill, San Francisco Bay, California

In April 1988, approximately 1500 m3 of a San Joaquin Valley crude oil were accidentally released from a Shell Oil Co. refinery near Martinez, Californa. The oil flowed into Carquinez Strait and Suisun Bay in northern San Francisco Bay Sediment and oil samples were collected within a week and analysed for geochemical marker compounds in order to track the molecular signature of the oil spill in th
Authors
F. D. Hostettler, J. B. Rapp, K. A. Kvenvolden

Seasonal changes in microhabitat selection by rainbow trout in a small stream

Shifts in microhabitat selection by rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss were related to seasonal and ontogenetic factors in a small stream characterized by short riffles, small pools, and boulder substrate. Resource availability did not differ significantly between summer and November sampling dates for most variables related to water velocity, substrate, and cover, although depths were greater and
Authors
Donald M. Baltz, Bruce C. Vondracek, Larry R. Brown, Peter B. Moyle

Selenium mobility and distribution in irrigated and nonirrigated alluvial soils

Dissolution and leaching of soil salts by irrigation water is a primary source of Se to shallow groundwater in the western San Joaquin Valley, California. In this study, the mobility and distribution of selenite and selenate in soils with different irrigation and drainage histories was evaluated using sorption experiments and an advection-dispersion model. The sorption studies showed that selenate
Authors
John L. Fio, Roger Fujii, S. J. Deverel

Groundwater flow and solute movement to drain laterals, western San Joaquin Valley, California: 2. Quantitative hydrologic assessment

Groundwater flow modeling was used to quantitatively assess the hydrologic processes affecting ground water and solute movement to drain laterals. Modeling results were used to calculate the depth distribution of groundwater flowing into drain laterals at 1.8 m (drain lateral 1) and 2.7 m (drain lateral 2) below land surface. The simulations indicated that under nonirrigated conditions about 89% o
Authors
John L. Fio, S. J. Deverel

Groundwater flow and solute movement to drain laterals, western San Joaquin Valley, California: 1. Geochemical assessment

A study was undertaken to quantitatively evaluate the hydrologic processes affecting the chemical and isotopic composition of drain lateral water in a drained agricultural field in the western San Joaquin Valley, California. The results elucidate the process of mixing of deep and shallow groundwater (below and within 6 m from land surface) entering the drain laterals. The deep groundwater was subj
Authors
S. J. Deverel, John L. Fio

Mammal mortality at Arizona, California, and Nevada gold mines using cyanide extraction

Five-hundred nineteen mammals were reported dead at cyanide-extraction gold mines in Arizona [USA], California, and Nevada from 1984 through 1989. Most numerous were rodents (34.9%) and bats (33.7%); 'bat' was the most often reported category among 24 species or species groups. There are an estimated 160 cyanide-extraction gold mines in these three states, and the number is increasing. Ten mammal
Authors
D. R. Clark, R. L. Hothem

Use of the Priestley-Taylor evaporation equation for soil water limited conditions in a small forest clearcut

The Priestley-Taylor equation, a simplification of the Penman equation, was used to allow calculations of evapotranspiration under conditions where soil water supply limits evapotranspiration. The Priestley-Taylor coefficient, α, was calculated to incorporate an exponential decrease in evapotranspiration as soil water content decreases. The method is appropriate for use when detailed meteorologica
Authors
Alan L. Flint, S.W. Childs

Calibration of a texture-based model of a ground-water flow system, western San Joaquin Valley, California

The occurrence of selenium in agricultural drain water from the western San Joaquin Valley, California, has focused concern on the semiconfined ground-water flow system, which is underlain by the Corcoran Clay Member of the Tulare Formation. A two-step procedure is used to calibrate a preliminary model of the system for the purpose of determining the steady-state hydraulic properties. Horizontal a
Authors
Steven P. Phillips, Kenneth Belitz

The Ag-Mn-Pb-Zn vein, replacement, and skarn deposits of Uchucchacua, Peru; studies of structure, mineralogy, metal zoning, Sr isotopes, and fluid inclusions

Uchucchacua is an Ag-Mn-Pb-Zn vein, replacement, and skarn mineral district in the central Andes of Peru. Host rocks are massive Jumasha Formation shelf limestones of Turonian age that have been folded into an asymmetric northeast-verging anticline of Andean trend. Strata near the fold crest are cut by minor dacitic intrusions and have been displaced by a conjugate set of steep wrench faults that
Authors
M. Andrew Bussell