Publications

Invasive plants have long been recognized for altering ecosystem properties, but their long-term impacts on ecosystem processes remain largely unknown. In this study, we determined the impact of Egeria densa Planch, a globally invasive freshwater macrophyte, on sedimentation processes in a large tidal freshwater region. We measured carbon accumulation (CARs) and inorganic sedimentation rates in su

The Pleistocene- and Cretaceous-age sediments underlying Long Island, New York, compose an important sole-source aquifer system that is nearly 2,000 feet thick in some areas. Sediment characteristics of importance for water supply include water-transmitting properties—horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivity—and the distribution of lignite, which provides an important control on oxygen-reduc

Groundwater discharge zones connect aquifers to surface water, generating baseflow and serving as ecosystem control points across aquatic ecosystems. The influence of groundwater discharge on surface flow connectivity, fate and transport of contaminants and nutrients, and thermal habitat depends strongly on hydrologic characteristics such as the spatial distribution, age, and depth of source groun

A long history of mining and widespread metals contamination in the Coeur d’Alene River watershed and downstream into the Spokane River has led to the area’s designation as a Superfund site and to extensive, ongoing (as of 2020) remedial actions. Long-term water-quality and streamflow data, collected by the U.S. Geological Survey for up to 29 years at 20 sampling sites in the Coeur d’Alene, Spokan

Quantifying channel and floodplain geomorphic characteristics is essential for understanding and modeling sediment and nutrient dynamics in fluvial systems. The increased availability of high-resolution elevation data from light detection and ranging (lidar) has helped improve methods for extracting these metrics at a greater accuracy across regional scales. The Floodplain and Channel Evaluation T

Canal seepage losses affect the ability of water conveyance structures to maximize efficiency and can be a precursor to canal failure. Identification and quantification of canal seepage out of unlined canals is a complex interaction affected by geology, canal stage, operations, embankment geometry, siltation, animal burrows, structures, and other physical characteristics. Seepage out of unlined ca

Land use in Panama has changed dramatically with ongoing deforestation and conversion to cropland and cattle pastures, potentially altering the soil properties that drive the hydrological processes of infiltration and overland flow. We compared plot-scale overland flow generation between hillslopes in forested and actively cattle-grazed watersheds in Central Panama. Soil physical and hydraulic pro

In this article, we describe the use of diagnostic timescales as simple tools for illuminating how aquatic ecosystems work, with a focus on coastal systems such as estuaries, lagoons, tidal rivers, reefs, deltas, gulfs, and continental shelves. Intending this as a tutorial as well as a review, we discuss relevant fundamental concepts (e.g., Lagrangian and Eulerian perspectives and methods, parcels

This report presents data obtained through the EcoSystem Indicator Partnership (ESIP) which was established in 2006 to improve understanding and to inform researchers, managers, and citizens about the status and trends of ecosystem health in the Gulf of Maine (http://www.gulfofmaine.org/2/esip-homepage/). In its efforts to compile information on contaminant indicators in the Gulf of Maine, ESIP id

The Darcy–Buckingham (DB) law, critical to the prediction of unsaturated flow, is widely used but has rarely been experimentally tested, and therefore may not be adequate in certain conditions. Failure of this law would imply that the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity is not constant for a given water content, as assumed in nearly all subsurface flow models. This study aims to test the DB law on

During winter 2017–18 coastal areas of New England were impacted by the January 4, and March 2–4, 2018, nor’easters. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), under an interagency agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), collected total water level data (the combination of tide, storm surge, wave runup and setup, and freshwater input) using the North American Vertical Datum of 1988

Slightly brackish groundwater contaminated by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at a Superfund site in the Central Valley of California was pumped from 250 feet below land surface to a water storage tank using solar power and then gravity‐fed into 18, 330‐gallon intermediate bulk containers (totes) as follows:(1)Five totes contained planting medium with three salt‐tolerant hybrid poplar tree