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Publications

The USGS publishes peer-reviewed reports and journal articles which are used by Chesapeake Bay Program resource managers and policy makers to make science-based decisions for ecosystem conservation and restoration. Use the Search box below to find publications on selected topics.

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Filter Total Items: 901

Quantitative polymerase chain reaction for transforming growth factor-β applied to a field study of fish health in Chesapeake Bay tributaries

Fish morbidity and mortality events in Chesapeake Bay tributaries have aroused concern over the health of this important aquatic ecosystem. We applied a recently described method for quantifying mRNA of an immunosuppressive cytokine, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), by reverse transcription quantitative-competitive polymerase chain reaction to a field study of fish health in the Chesapeake Ba
Authors
Craig A. Harms, Christopher A. Ottinger, Vicki S. Blazer, Christine L. Densmore, Laurence H. Pieper, Suzanne Kennedy-Stoskopf

Osmium isotopes demonstrate distal transport of contaminated sediments in Chesapeake Bay

Because the isotopic composition of anthropogenic Os is normally distinctive in comparison to continental crust and is precisely measurable, this platinum-group element is attractive as a tracer of transport pathways for contaminated sediments in estuaries. Evidence herein and elsewhere suggest that biomedical research institutions are the chief source of anthropogenic Os. In the Chesapeake Bay re
Authors
G.R. Helz, J.M. Adelson, C.V. Miller, J.C. Cornwell, J. M. Hill, M. Horan, R.J. Walker

Hydrogeomorphic Regions of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed: HGMR

Generalized lithology (rock type) and physiography based on geologic formations were used to characterize hydrgeomorphic regions (HGMR) within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. These HGMRs were used in conjunction with existing data to assess the significance of ground-water discharge as a source of nitrate load to nontidal streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed (Bachman and others, 1998). This work
Authors
John W. Brakebill, S.K. Kelley

Historical trends in Chesapeake Bay dissolved oxygen based on benthic foraminifera from sediment cores

Environmentally sensitive benthic foraminifera (protists) from Chesapeake Bay were used as bioindicators to estimate the timing and degree of changes in dissolved oxygen (DO) over the past five centuries. Living foraminifers from 19 surface samples and fossil assemblages from 11 sediment cores dated by210Pb,137Cs,14C, and pollen stratigraphy were analyzed from the tidal portions of the Patuxent, P
Authors
A.W. Karlsen, T. M. Cronin, S.E. Ishmans, D. A. Willard, R. Kerhin, C. W. Holmes, M. Marot

Seasonal concentrations of organic contaminants at the fall line of the Susquehanna River basin and estimated fluxes to northern Chesapeake Bay, USA

Riverine fluxes of several pesticides and other organic contaminants from above the fall line of the Susquehanna River basin to northern Chesapeake Bay, USA, were quantified in 1994. Base flow and storm flow samples collected at the fall line of the river from February to December 1994 were analyzed for both dissolved and particulate phase contaminants. Measured concentrations of the organonitroge
Authors
G.D. Foster, K.A. Lippa, C.V. Miller

Water-quality data collected at Lake Anne, Reston, Virginia, 1997-1999

Samples from the Lake Anne watershed were collected and analyzed to assess the water quality from December 1997 through January 1999. Lake Anne is a stream impoundment in suburban Northern Virginia and its outflow is a sub-tributary of the Potomac River. Samples of wet deposition (precipitation), lake water, and streamwater that drain into and from Lake Anne were collected and analyzed. Trace-elem
Authors
Kathryn M. Conko, Margaret M. Kennedy, Karen C. Rice

Factors affecting nutrient trends in major rivers of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Trends in nutrient loads and flow-adjusted concentrations in the major rivers entering Chesapeake Bay were computed on the basis of water-quality data collected between 1985 and 1998 at 29 monitoring stations in the Susquehanna, Potomac, James, Rappahannock, York, Patuxent, and Choptank River Basins. Two computer models?the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Model (WSM) and the U.S. Geological Survey?s 'Spa
Authors
Lori A. Sprague, M. J. Langland, S.E. Yochum, R. E. Edwards, J. D. Blomquist, S.W. Phillips, G.W. Shenk, S. D. Preston

Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends (BEST) Program: Selected methods for monitoring chemical contaminants and their effects in aquatic ecosystems

This document describes the suite of biological methods of the U.S. Geological Survey- Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends program for monitoring chemical contaminants and their effects on fish. The methods, which were selected by panels of experts, are being field-tested in rivers of the Mississippi River, Columbia River, and Rio Grande basins. General health biomarkers include a hea
Authors
Vicki S. Blazer, Nancy D. Denslow, Gail M. Dethloff, Timothy S. Gross, Kelly K. McDonald, Christopher J. Schmitt, Donald E. Tillitt, Jeffrey J. Whyte

Chesapeake Bay habitat criteria scores and the distribution of submersed aquatic vegetation in the tidal Potomac River and Potomac Estuary, 1983-1997

The Chesapeake Bay Program has identified habitat requirements for the restoration of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) in the Chesapeake Bay estuary and tidal reaches of contributing river systems conditioned on the salinity regime of a specific location. The tidal Potomac River and Potomac Estuary is an important component of the Chesapeake Bay system to which these requirements can be applied.
Authors
J.M. Landwehr, J. T. Reel, N. B. Rybicki, H. Ruhl, Virginia Carter

Digital data used to relate nutrient inputs to water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed

Digital data sets were compiled by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) and used as input for a collection of Spatially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes for the Chesapeake Bay region. These regressions relate streamwater loads to nutrient sources and the factors that affect the transport of these nutrients throughout the watershed. A digital segmented network based on watershed boundar
Authors
John W. Brakebill, Stephen D. Preston

Processing of single channel air and water gun data for imaging an impact structure at the Chesapeake Bay

Processing of 20 seismic profiles acquired in the Chesapeake Bay area aided in analysis of the details of an impact structure and allowed more accurate mapping of the depression caused by a bolide impact. Particular emphasis was placed on enhancement of seismic reflections from the basement. Application of wavelet deconvolution after a second zero-crossing predictive deconvolution improved the res
Authors
Myung W. Lee