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Publications

This list of Water Resources Mission Area publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists. A searchable database of all USGS publications can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.

Filter Total Items: 18422

Effectiveness of the addition of alkaline materials at surface coal mines in preventing or abating acid mine drainage--Part 1. Geochemical considerations

The addition of alkaline materials to supplement deficient "neutralization potential" (NP) of mine spoil, and thus to prevent or abate acid mine drainage, has riot been successful at most surface coal mines in Pennsylvania. A basic problem may have been improper accounting for acid‐production potential and thus inadequate addition rates of calcium carbonate (CaCO3 ), calcium oxide (CaO) , or calci
Authors
Charles A. Cravotta, Keith Brady, Michael W. Smith, Richard L. Beam

Effectiveness of the addition of alkaline materials at surface coal mines in preventing or abating acid mine drainage--Part 2. Mine site case studies

The effectiveness of preventing or ameliorating acid mine drainage (AMD) through the application of alkaline additives is evaluated for eight surface coal mines in Pennsylvania. Many of the mine sites had overburden characteristics that made prediction of post‐mining water quality uncertain. Alkaline materials were applied at rates ranging from 42 to greater than 1,000 tons as calcium carbonate pe
Authors
Keith Brady, Michael W. Smith, Richard L. Beam, Charles A. Cravotta

Reevaluation of large-scale dispersivities for a waste chloride plume: Effects of transient flow

This paper investigates the effects of transient groundwater flow on dispersion of a waste chloride plume in the basaltic aquifer beneath the Idaho (USA) National Engineering Laboratory. In an early application of numerical modeling techniques to the two-dimensional simulation of field-scale plumes, previous investigators identified longitudinal and transverse dispersivities using an independently
Authors
Daniel J. Goode, Leonard F. Konikow

Preliminary delineation of contaminated water-bearing fractures intersected by open-hole bedrock wells

Contaminated water‐bearing fractures intersected by open‐hole bedrock wells were preliminarily delineated through a combination of geophysical logging, vertical‐flow measurements, and downhole water sampling as part of remedial site investigations in southeastern New York. The wells investigated range from 100 to 450 feet in depth, have only shallow surface casing, and intersect multiple water‐bea
Authors
John H. Williams, Randall W. Conger

Field methods for measurement of ground water redox chemical parameters

An inexpensive, versatile, and portable system is presented, which facilitates rapid field determinations of redox potentials, pH, conductivity, ferrous and total iron, nitrite, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and temperature. Accuracy is facilitated by on‐site measurements of most parameters using specially constructed flow‐through cells and, for several analyses, sealed reagent ampoules,
Authors
Katherine Walton-Day, Donald L. Macalady, Myron H. Brooks, Vernon T. Tate

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

In situ retention-transport response to nitrate loading and storm discharge in a third-order stream

Nitrate retention was assayed in a 264-m reach of a third-order stream, Little Lost Man Creek, Humboldt County, California, USA. Nitrate budgets (24-48 hours) were calculated under background conditions, and during four other intervals of modified nitrate concentration caused by nutrient amendment or storm-enhanced discharge. Under background, low-flow conditions, the reach was a source of nitrate
Authors
Frank J. Triska, Vance C. Kennedy, Ronald J. Avanzino, Gary W. Zellweger, Kenneth E. Bencala

Selenium and other elements in juvenile striped bass from the San Joaquin Valley and San Francisco Estuary, California

Concentrations of selenium and other trace elements were determined in 55 whole body samples of juvenile anadromous striped bass (Morone saxatilis) from the San Joaquin Valley and San Francisco Estuary, California. The fish (≤1 yr old—the predominant life stage in the San Joaquin Valley) were collected in September–December 1986 from 19 sites in the Valley and 3 sites in the Estuary, and analyzed
Authors
Michael K. Saiki, Donald U. Palawski

The Yucca Mountain project: Another perspective

No abstract available.
Authors
Isaac J. Winograd

Variations in suspended sediment and associated trace element concentrations in selected riverine cross sections

Detailed sampling and subsequent analyses of riverine suspended sediment obtained from six rivers in the United States indicate substantial differences in suspended sediment concentrations and possibly in some associated trace elements, depending on whether depth- and width-integrated, point, or pumping samples are used. In addition, the data from time-series, depth-integrated sampling indicate th
Authors
Arthur J. Horowitz, Frank A. Rinella, Paul J. Lamothe, Timothy L. Miller, Thomas K. Edwards, Richard L. Roche, David A. Rickert