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
A critical review of the postulated role of the non-essential amino acid, β-N-methylamino-L-alanine, in neurodegenerative disease in humans
The compound BMAA (β-N-methylamino-L-alanine) has been postulated to play a significant role in four serious neurological human diseases: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/Parkinsonism Dementia Complex (ALS/PDC) found on Guam, and ALS, Parkinsonism, and dementia that occur globally. ALS/PDC with symptoms of all three diseases first came to the attention of the scientific community during and after Wor
Authors
Neil Chernoff, D. J. Hill, D. L. Diggs, B. D. Faison, B. M. Francis, J. R. Lang, M. M. Larue, T.-T. Le, Keith A. Loftin, J. N. Lugo, J. E. Schmid, W. W. Winnik
Aquatic ecosystems in a changing climate
Extreme climate events (ECEs) such as tropical storms and hurricanes, thunderstorms, heat waves, droughts, ice storms, and snow storms have increased and are projected to further increase in intensity and frequency across the world. These events are expected to have significant consequences for aquatic ecosystems with the potential for large changes in ecosystem processes, responses, and functions
Authors
Shreeram Inamdar, James B. Shanley, William H. McDowell
Sources and ages of fine-grained sediment to streams using fallout radionuclides in the Midwestern United States
Fallout radionuclides, 7Be and 210Pbex, sampled in bed sediment for 99 watersheds in the Midwestern region of the United States and in 15 samples of suspended sediment from 3 of these watersheds were used to partition upland from channel sources and to estimate the age or the time since the surface-derived portion of sediment was on the land surface (0–∼1 year). Channel sources dominate: 78 of the
Authors
Allen C. Gellis, Christopher C. Fuller, Peter C. Van Metre
Analyzing cloud base at local and regional scales to understand tropical montane cloud forest vulnerability to climate change
The degree to which cloud immersion provides water in addition to rainfall, suppresses transpiration, and sustains tropical montane cloud forests (TMCFs) during rainless periods is not well understood. Climate and land use changes represent a threat to these forests if cloud base altitude rises as a result of regional warming or deforestation. To establish a baseline for quantifying future changes
Authors
Ashley E. Van Beusekom, Grizelle González, Martha A. Scholl
Reexamining ultrafiltration and solute transport in groundwater
Geologic ultrafiltration—slowing of solutes with respect to flowing groundwater—poses a conundrum: it is consistently observed experimentally in clay-rich lithologies, but has been difficult to identify in subsurface data. Resolving this could be important for clarifying clay and shale transport properties at large scales as well as interpreting solute and isotope patterns for applications ranging
Authors
Christopher E. Neuzil, Mark Person
Calculation of in situ acoustic sediment attenuation using off-the-shelf horizontal ADCPs in low concentration settings
The use of “off-the-shelf” acoustic Doppler velocity profilers (ADCPs) to estimate suspended sediment concentration and grain-size in rivers requires robust methods to estimate sound attenuation by suspended sediment. Theoretical estimates of sediment attenuation require a priori knowledge of the concentration and grain-size distribution (GSD), making the method impractical to apply in routine mon
Authors
Dan Haught, Jeremy G. Venditti, Scott A. Wright
Sediment source fingerprinting as an aid to catchment management: A review of the current state of knowledge and a methodological decision-tree for end-users
The growing awareness of the environmental significance of fine-grained sediment fluxes through catchment systems continues to underscore the need for reliable information on the principal sources of this material. Source estimates are difficult to obtain using traditional monitoring techniques, but sediment source fingerprinting or tracing procedures, have emerged as a potentially valuable altern
Authors
A.L Collins, S. Pulley, I.D.L Foster, Allen C. Gellis, P. Porto, A.J. Horowitz
Amphibians, pesticides, and the amphibian chytrid fungus in restored wetlands in agricultural landscapes
Information on interactions between pesticide exposure and disease prevalence in amphibian populations is limited, especially from field data. Exposure to certain herbicides and insecticides has the potential to decrease the immune response in frogs, which can potentially lead to increased abundance of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) zoospores on individuals and in the wetlands. In contrast, e
Authors
Rebecca A. Reeves, Clay Pierce, Mark W. Vandever, Erin L. Muths, Kelly L. Smalling
Erosion characteristics and horizontal variability for small erosion depths in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, California, USA
Erodibility of cohesive sediment in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta) was investigated with an erosion microcosm. Erosion depths in the Delta and in the microcosm were estimated to be about one floc diameter over a range of shear stresses and times comparable to half of a typical tidal cycle. Using the conventional assumption of horizontally homogeneous bed sediment, data from 27 of 3
Authors
David H. Schoellhamer, Andrew J. Manning, Paul A. Work
Complex mixtures of Pesticides in Midwest U.S. streams indicated by POCIS time-integrating samplers
The Midwest United States is an intensely agricultural region where pesticides in streams pose risks to aquatic biota, but temporal variability in pesticide concentrations makes characterization of their exposure to organisms challenging. To compensate for the effects of temporal variability, we deployed polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) in 100 small streams across the Midwest fo
Authors
Peter C. Van Metre, David Alvarez, Barbara Mahler, Lisa H. Nowell, Mark W. Sandstrom, Patrick W. Moran
Water-level and recoverable water in storage changes, High Plains aquifer, predevelopment to 2015 and 2013–15
The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.8 million acres (about 175,000 square miles) in parts of eight States—Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Water-level declines began in parts of the High Plains aquifer soon after the beginning of substantial irrigation with groundwater in the aquifer area (about 1950). This report presents water-level changes an
Authors
Virginia L. McGuire
Water temperature effects from simulated changes to dam operations and structures in the Middle and South Santiam Rivers, Oregon
Green Peter and Foster Dams on the Middle and South Santiam Rivers, Oregon, have altered the annual downstream water temperature profile (cycle). Operation of the dams has resulted in cooler summer releases and warmer autumn releases relative to pre-dam conditions, and that alteration can hinder recovery of various life stages of threatened spring-run Chinook salmon (Oncorhyncus tshawytscha) and w
Authors
Norman L. Buccola