Publications
This list of Upper Midwest Water Science Center publications spans from 1899 to present. It includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists. To access the full, searchable catalog of USGS publications, please visit the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 2247
A regional assessment of chemicals of concern in surface waters of four Midwestern United States national parks
Anthropogenic chemicals and their potential for adverse biological effects raise concern for aquatic ecosystem health in protected areas. During 2013–15, surface waters of four Midwestern United States national parks were sampled and analyzed for wastewater indicators, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and pesticides. More chemicals and higher concentrations were detected at the two parks w
Authors
Sarah M. Elliott, David VanderMeulen
Prior knowledge-based approach for associating contaminants with biological effects: A case study in the St. Croix River basin, MN, WI, USA
Evaluating potential adverse effects of complex chemical mixtures in the environment is challenging. One way to address that challenge is through more integrated analysis of chemical monitoring and biological effects data. In the present study, water samples from five locations near two municipal wastewater treatment plants in the St. Croix River basin, on the border of MN and WI, USA, were analyz
Authors
Anthony L. Schroeder, Dalma Martinovic-Weigelt, Gerald T. Ankley, Kathy Lee, Natalia Garcia-Reyero, Edward J. Perkins, Heiko L. Schoenfuss, Daniel L. Villeneuve
smwrGraphs—An R package for graphing hydrologic data, version 1.1.2
This report describes an R package called smwrGraphs, which consists of a collection of graphing functions for hydrologic data within R, a programming language and software environment for statistical computing. The functions in the package have been developed by the U.S. Geological Survey to create high-quality graphs for publication or presentation of hydrologic data that meet U.S. Geological Su
Authors
David L. Lorenz, Aliesha L. Diekoff
Mobilization of mercury and arsenic from a carbonate-hosted ore deposit, central Idaho, U.S.A.
The Cinnabar and Fern mine sites in central Idaho are primary source areas for elevated mercury and arsenic entering the South
Fork of the Salmon River, which provides critical spawning habitat for bull trout and Chinook salmon. Mercury mineralization is
hosted by carbonate rocks, which generate waters dominated by Ca2+ and HCO3
- at pH 7 to 9. A synoptic sampling was
conducted on headwater tribut
Authors
JoAnn M. Holloway, Michael Pribil, R. Blaine McCleskey, Alexandra B. Etheridge, David P. Krabbenhoft, George R. Aiken
Lake levels and water quality in comparison to fish mercury body burdens, Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, 2013–15
Within Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, lake levels are controlled by a series of dams to support a variety of uses. Previous research indicates a link between these artificially maintained water levels, referred to as rule curves, and mercury concentrations in fish owing to the drying and rewetting of wetlands and other nearshore areas, which may release methylmercury into the water when inu
Authors
Victoria G. Christensen, James H. Larson, Ryan P. Maki, Mark B. Sandheinrich, Mark E. Brigham, Claire Kissane, Jamie F. LeDuc
Pathogen transport in groundwater systems: Contrasts with traditional solute transport
Water quality affects many aspects of water availability, from precluding use to societal perceptions of fit-for-purpose. Pathogen source and transport processes are drivers of water quality because they have been responsible for numerous outbreaks resulting in large economic losses due to illness and, in some cases, loss of life. Outbreaks result from very small exposure (e.g., less than 20 virus
Authors
Randall J. Hunt, William P. Johnson
State of Great Lakes 2017 Technical Report: Indicators to assess the status and trends of the Great Lakes ecosystem
No abstract available.
Authors
Dale Van Stempvoort, George Zhang, Christopher J. Hoard, John Spoelstra, Norman Granneman, Scott MacRitchie, Stacey Cherwaty
Suspended-sediment concentrations, bedload, particle sizes, surrogate measurements, and annual sediment loads for selected sites in the lower Minnesota River Basin, water years 2011 through 2016
Accurate measurements of fluvial sediment are important for assessing stream ecological health, calculating flood levels, computing sediment budgets, and managing and protecting water resources. Sediment-enriched rivers in Minnesota are a concern among Federal, State, and local governments because turbidity and sediment-laden waters are the leading impairments and affect more than 6,000 miles of r
Authors
Joel T. Groten, Christopher A. Ellison, Jon S. Hendrickson
Identification of Marbon in the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal
Marbon is isomeric with Dechlorane Plus (DP). Both are produced by the Diels−
Alder condensation of hexachlorocyclopentadiene with cyclic dienes, and both have elemental
compositions of C18H12Cl12. Dechlorane Plus is commonly found in the environment throughout
the world, but Marbon has, so far, only been detected at low levels in one sediment core collected
near the mouth of the Niagara River in
Authors
Jiehong Guo, Marta Venier, Kevin Romanak, Stephen M. Westenbroek, Ronald A. Hites
Occurrence and effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the St. Croix River
The St. Croix River is one of the last undisturbed, large floodplain rivers in the upper Mississippi River System. The Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway encompasses 255 river miles from the St. Croix Flowage and Namekagon River to the confluence of the St. Croix River with the Mississippi River at Prescott, Wisconsin. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 includes protection of the “outstandin
Authors
Sarah M. Elliott, Kathy Lee
The 2016 groundwater flow model for Dane County, Wisconsin
A new groundwater flow model for Dane County, Wisconsin, replaces an earlier model developed in the 1990s by the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (WGNHS) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). This modeling study was conducted cooperatively by the WGNHS and the USGS with funding from the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission (CARPC). Although the overall conceptual model of the
Authors
Michael J. Parsen, Kenneth R. Bradbury, Randall J. Hunt, Daniel T. Feinstein
Shifting currents: Progress, setbacks, and shifts in policy and practice
The Wisconsin Academy’s initial Waters of Wisconsin project (WOW I) facilitated a statewide conversation between 2000 and 2003 around one main question: How can we ensure healthy aquatic ecosystems and clean, abundant water supplies for tomorrow’s Wisconsin? Robust participation in this conversation underscored the important role citizens have in the stewardship of our waters, and we found enthusi
Authors
Charles Dunning, Dale M. Robertson