Publications
Scientific reports, journal articles, or general interest publications by USGS scientists in the Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center are listed below. Publications span from 1898 to the present.
Filter Total Items: 1517
Origin and characteristics of discharge at San Marcos Springs based on hydrologic and geochemical data (2008-10), Bexar, Comal, and Hays Counties, Texas
The Edwards aquifer in south-central Texas is a productive and important water resource. Several large springs issuing from the aquifer are major discharge points, popular locations for recreational activities, and habitat for threatened and endangered species. Discharges from Comal and San Marcos Springs, the first and second largest spring complexes in Texas, are used as thresholds in groundwate
Authors
MaryLynn Musgrove, Cassi L. Crow
Effects of brush management on the hydrologic budget and water quality in and adjacent to Honey Creek State Natural Area, Comal County, Texas, 2001--10
Woody vegetation, including ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei), has encroached on some areas in central Texas that were historically oak grassland savannah. Encroachment of woody vegetation is generally attributed to overgrazing and fire suppression. Removing the ashe juniper and allowing native grasses to reestablish in the area as a brush management conservation practice (hereinafter referred to as
Authors
J. Ryan Banta, Richard N. Slattery
USGS Zebra Mussel Monitoring Program for north Texas
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Zebra Mussel Monitoring Program for north Texas provides early detection and monitoring of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) by using a holistic suite of detection methods. The program is designed to assess zebra mussel occurrence, distribution, and densities in north Texas waters by using four approaches: (1) SCUBA diving, (2) water-sample collection with plan
Authors
Christopher J. Churchill, Stanley Baldys
Volatilization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from coal-tar-sealed pavement
Coal-tar-based pavement sealants, a major source of PAHs to urban water bodies, are a potential source of volatile PAHs to the atmosphere. An initial assessment of volatilization of PAHs from coal-tar-sealed pavement is presented here in which we measured summertime gas-phase PAH concentrations 0.03 m and 1.28 m above the pavement surface of seven sealed (six with coal-tar-based sealant and one wi
Authors
Peter C. Van Metre, Michael S. Majewski, Barbara Mahler, William T. Foreman, Christopher L. Braun, Jennifer T. Wilson, Teresa L. Burbank
PAH volatilization following application of coal-tar-based pavement sealant
Coal-tar-based pavement sealants, a major source of PAHs to urban water bodies, have recently been identified as a source of volatile PAHs to the atmosphere. We tracked the volatilization of PAHs for 1 year after application of a coal-tar-based pavement sealant by measuring gas-phase PAH concentrations above the pavement surface and solid-phase PAH concentrations in sealant scraped from the surfac
Authors
Peter C. Van Metre, Michael S. Majewski, Barbara Mahler, William T. Foreman, Christopher L. Braun, Jennifer T. Wilson, Teresa L. Burbank
Coal-tar pavement sealants might substantially increase children's PAH exposures
Dietary ingestion has been identified repeatedly as the primary route of human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), seven of which are classified as probable human carcinogens (B2 PAHs) by the U.S. EPA. Humans are exposed to PAHs through ingestion of cooked and uncooked foods, incidental ingestion of soil and dust, inhalation of ambient air, and absorption through skin. Although PA
Authors
E. Spencer Williams, Barbara Mahler, Peter C. Van Metre
Hydrogeology and simulation of groundwater flow and land-surface subsidence in the northern part of the Gulf Coast aquifer system, Texas, 1891-2009
In cooperation with the Harris–Galveston Subsidence District, Fort Bend Subsidence District, and Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District, the U.S. Geological Survey developed and calibrated the Houston Area Groundwater Model (HAGM), which simulates groundwater flow and land-surface subsidence in the northern part of the Gulf Coast aquifer system in Texas from predevelopment (before 1891) throu
Authors
Mark C. Kasmarek
Coal-tar-based pavement sealcoat and PAHs: implications for the environment, human health, and stormwater management
Coal-tar-based sealcoat products, widely used in the central and eastern U.S. on parking lots, driveways, and even playgrounds, are typically 20−35% coal-tar pitch, a known human carcinogen that contains about 200 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds. Research continues to identify environmental compartments—including stormwater runoff, lake sediment, soil, house dust, and most recently
Authors
Barbara Mahler, Peter C. Van Metre, Judy L. Crane, Alison W. Watts, Mateo Scoggins, E. Spencer Williams
Floods in Central Texas, September 7-14, 2010
Severe flooding occurred near the Austin metropolitan area in central Texas September 7–14, 2010, because of heavy rainfall associated with Tropical Storm Hermine. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Upper Brushy Creek Water Control and Improvement District, determined rainfall amounts and annual exceedance probabilities for rainfall resulting in flooding in Bell, Williamson, and T
Authors
Karl E. Winters
Simulation of streamflow, evapotranspiration, and groundwater recharge in the middle Nueces River watershed, south Texas, 1961-2008
The U.S. Geological Survey—in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District; City of Corpus Christi; Guadalupe–Blanco River Authority; San Antonio River Authority; and San Antonio Water System— configured, calibrated, and tested a watershed model for a study area consisting of about 7,726 square miles of the middle Nueces River watershed in south Texas. The purpose of the
Authors
Benjamin J. Dietsch, Loren L. Wehmeyer
Streamflow gains and losses and selected water-quality observations in five subreaches of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo del Norte from near Presidio to Langtry, Texas, Big Bend area, United States and Mexico, 2006
Few historical streamflow and water-quality data are available to characterize the segment of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo del Norte (hereinafter Rio Grande) extending from near Presidio to near Langtry, Texas. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, collected water-quality and streamflow data from the Rio Grande from
Authors
Timothy H. Raines, Michael J. Turco, Patrick J. Connor, Jeffery B. Bennett
A conceptual model of the hydrogeologic framework, geochemistry, and groundwater-flow system of the Edwards-Trinity and related aquifers in the Pecos County region, Texas
A conceptual model of the hydrogeologic framework, geochemistry, and groundwater-flow system of the Edwards-Trinity and related aquifers, which include the Pecos Valley, Igneous, Dockum, Rustler, and Capitan Reef aquifers, was developed as the second phase of a groundwater availability study in the Pecos County region in west Texas. The first phase of the study was to collect and compile groundwat
Authors
Johnathan R. Bumgarner, Gregory P. Stanton, Andrew Teeple, Jonathan V. Thomas, Natalie A. Houston, Jason Payne, MaryLynn Musgrove