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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: 18428

Selenium in aquatic organisms from subsurface agricultural drainage water, San Joaquin Valley, California

Concentrations of total selenium were high in 1983 in water, sediment, organic detritus, aquatic plants and invertebrates, and mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) from Kesterson Reservoir (San Joaquin Valley, California) and the San Luis Drain. Selenium concentrations in biota from the Reservoir and Drain (referred to here collectively as “Kesterson”) exceeded 300 (μg/g dry weight in some samples of a
Authors
Michael K. Saiki, T. Peter Lowe

Movement and fate of crude-oil in contaminants in the subsurface environment at Bemidji, Minnesota: Chapter C in U.S. Geological Survey program on toxic waste--ground-water contamination: Proceedings of the Third technical meeting, Pensacola, Florida,

On August 20, 1979, a pipeline break in a remote area near Bemidji, Minn. (fig. C-l), resulted in the release of 1.5x105 L (liters) of crude oil. Although about 1.1x105 L were removed from the site as part of the cleanup, some crude oil infiltrated the ground and percolated to the water table. The spill occurred in the recharge area of a local flow system that discharges to a small lake 300 m (met
Authors
Marc F. Hult

Selenium adsorption by goethite

The adsorption of Se by goethite was studied as a function of time (10 min–24 h), temperature (295.5 and 303.5 K), pH (4–11), particle concentration (3–300 mg/L), total Se concentration (0.02–5 × 10−5 M), oxidation state [Se(IV) and Se(VI)], and competing anion concentration [(anion)/(Se(IV) = 0.25 to 50 000] in order to assess the influence of these factors on Se mobility. The data indicate that
Authors
Laurie S. Balistrieri, T. T. Chao

Selenium contamination of the Grasslands, a major California waterfowl area

In a recent study at Kesterson Reservoir in California, selenium was shown to cause mortality and deformities in embryos of aquatic birds. The present study was conducted to determine if selenium or other contaminants in agricultural drainwater used for marsh management were likely to cause similar adverse effects in the nearby Grasslands area. Selenium concentrations were elevated (greater than 1
Authors
H. M. Ohlendorf, R. L. Hothem, T. W. Aldrich, A. J. Krynitsky

The relation between human presence and occurrence of Giardia Cysts in streams in the Sierra Nevada, California

A portable apparatus was used to filter large quantities of water from streams in California's Sierra Nevada. Samples were processed and examined for Giardia spp. Cysts of Giardia were detected in 22 of 49 (44.9 percent) samples collected at sites downstream from areas of high recreational use and in 5 of 29 (17.2 percent) samples collected at sites downstream from areas of low recreational use. T
Authors
Thomas J. Suk, Stephen K. Sorenson, Peter D. Dileanis

Developing a state water plan: Ground-water conditions in Utah, spring of 1987

This is the twenty-fourth in a Series of annual reports that describe ground-water Conditions in Utah. Reports in the series, prepared cooperatively by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Utah Division of Water Resources, provide data to enable interested parties to keep abreast of changing ground-water conditions.This report, like the others in the series, contains information on well Constructio
Authors
Dale E. Wilberg, G. J. Smith, D. Michael Roark, Patrick M. Lambert, V.L. Jensen, Gail E. Cordy, Carole B. Burden, Michael Enright, D. C. Emett, Susan A. Thiros, G. W. Sandberg, R. W Puchta, L. R. Herbert

Bibliography of U.S. Geological Survey water-resources reports for Utah

This bibliography contains a complete listing to December 31, 1986, of reports relating to the water resources of Utah prepared by personnel of the U.S. Geological Survey. Discussions of the related subjects of geology, hydrology, and chemical quality of the water are included in many of the reports. The reports were, for the most part, prepared by personnel assigned to the Water Resources Divisio

Base of moderately saline ground water in the Uinta Basin, Utah, with an introductory section describing the methods used in determining its position

The base of the moderately saline water (water that contains from 3,000 to 10,000 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids) was mapped by using available water-quality data and by determining formation-water resistivities from geophysical well logs based on the resistivity-porosity, spontaneous potential, and resistivity-ratio methods. The contour map developed from these data showed a mound of ve
Authors
Lewis Howells, M.S. Longson, Gilbert L. Hunt