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: 18470
The design of sampling transects for characterizing water quality in estuaries
The high spatial variability of estuaries poses a challenge for characterizing estuarine water quality. This problem was examined by conducting monthly high-resolution transects for several water quality variables (chlorophyll a, suspended particulate matter and salinity) in San Francisco Bay (California, U.S.A.). Using these data, six different ways of choosing station locations along a transect,
Authors
A.D. Jassby, B.E. Cole, J. E. Cloern
The relationship between land use and organochlorine compounds in streambed sediment and fish in the Central Columbia Plateau, Washington and Idaho, USA
We analyzeds streambed sediment and fish in the Central Columbia Plateau in eastern Washington and Idaho for or ganochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (ΣPCB). Our objective was to assess the effects of land use on the occurrence and distribution of these compounds; land uses in the study area included forest, dryland and irrigated farming, and urban. We detected 16 organochlorine co
Authors
M.D. Munn, S.J. Gruber
Boron contents and isotopic compositions of hog manure, selected fertilizers, and water in Minnesota
Boron-isotope (δ11B) values may be useful as surrogate tracers of contaminants and indicators of water mixing in agricultural settings. This paper characterizes the B contents and isotopic compositions of hog manure and selected fertilizers, and presents δ11B data for ground and surface water from two agricultural areas. Boron concentrations in dry hog manure averaged 61 mg/kg and in commercial fe
Authors
S.C. Komor
Soluble trace elements and total mercury in Arctic Alaskan snow
Ultraclean field and laboratory procedures were used to examine trace element concentrations in northern Alaskan snow. Sixteen soluble trace elements and total mercury were determined in snow core samples representing the annual snowfall deposited during the 1993-94 season at two sites in the Prudhoe Bay oil field and nine sites in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Arctic NWR). Results indicate
Authors
E. Snyder-Conn, John R. Garbarino, Gerald L. Hoffman, A. Oelkers
Mercury accumulation in Devils Lake, North Dakota effects of environmental variation in closed-basin lakes on mercury chronologies
Sediment cores were collected from lakes in the Devils Lake Basin in North Dakota to determine if mercury (Hg) accumulation chronologies from sediment-core data are good indicators of variations in Hg accumulation rates in saline lakes. Sediment cores from Creel Bay and Main Bay, Devils Lake were selected for detailed analysis and interpretation. The maximum Hg concentration in the Creel Bay core
Authors
R.M. Lent, C. R. Alexander
Transport and degradation of semivolatile hydrocarbons in a petroleum-contaminated aquifer, Bemidji, Minnesota
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were used as probes to identify the processes controlling the transport and fate of aqueous semivolatile hydrocarbons (SVHCs) in a petroleum-contaminated aquifer near Bemidji, Minnesota. PAH and other SVHCs were isolated from ground water by field solid-phase extraction and analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Close to the oil body, aqueous al
Authors
E. T. Furlong, J. C. Koleis, G. R. Aiken
Unnatural isotopic composition of lithium reagents
Isotopic analysis of 39 lithium reagents from several manufacturers indicates that seven were artificially depleted in 6Li significantly in excess of the variation found in terrestrial materials. The atomic weight of lithium in analyzed reagents ranged from 6.939 to 6.996, and δ7Li, reported relative to L-SVEC lithium carbonate, ranged from −11 to +3013‰. This investigation indicates that 6Li-depl
Authors
H. P. Qi, Tyler B. Coplen, Q. Zh Wang, Y. -H. Wang
Molecular markers and environmental organic geochemistry: An overview
No abstract available.
Authors
Robert P. Eganhouse
Methods for predicting peak discharge of floods caused by failure of natural and constructed earthen dams
Floods from failures of natural and constructed dams constitute a widespread hazard to people and property. Expeditious means of assessing flood hazards are necessary, particularly in the case of natural dams, which may form suddenly and unexpectedly. We revise statistical relations (derived from data for past constructed and natural dam failures) between peak discharge (Qp) and water volume relea
Authors
Joseph S. Walder, Jim E. O'Connor
Predicting the probability of elevated nitrate concentrations in the Puget Sound Basin: Implications for aquifer susceptibility and vulnerability
The occurrence and distribution of elevated nitrate concentrations (≥ 3 mg/l) in ground water in the Puget Sound Basin, Washington, were determined by examining existing data from more than 3000 wells. Models that estimate the probability that a well has an elevated nitrate concentration were constructed by relating the occurrence of elevated nitrate concentrations to both natural and anthropogeni
Authors
A. J. Tesoriero, F.D. Voss
Hydraulic modeling for lahar hazards at cascades volcanoes
The National Weather Service flood routing model DAMBRK is able to closely replicate field-documented stages of historic and prehistoric lahars from Mt. Rainier, Washington, and Mt. Hood, Oregon. Modeled time-of-travel of flow waves are generally consistent with documented lahar travel-times from other volcanoes around the world. The model adequately replicates a range of lahars and debris flows,
Authors
J. E. Costa
Predicting landslide vegetation in patches on landscape gradients in Puerto Rico
We explored the predictive value of common landscape characteristics for landslide vegetative stages in the Luquillo Experimental Forest of Puerto Rico using four different analyses. Maximum likelihood logistic regression showed that aspect, age, and substrate type could be used to predict vegetative structural stage. In addition it showed that the structural complexity of the vegetation was great
Authors
R.W. Myster, J.R. Thomlinson, M. C. Larsen