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: 18468
A microbial arsenic cycle in sediments of an acidic mine impoundment: Herman Pit, Clear Lake, California
The involvement of prokaryotes in the redox reactions of arsenic occurring between its +5 [arsenate; As(V)] and +3 [arsenite; As(III)] oxidation states has been well established. Most research to date has focused upon circum-neutral pH environments (e.g., freshwater or estuarine sediments) or arsenic-rich “extreme” environments like hot springs and soda lakes. In contrast, relatively little work h
Authors
Jodi S. Blum, Shelley McCann, S. Bennett, Laurence G. Miller, J. R. Stolz, B. Stoneburner, C. Saltikov, Ronald S. Oremland
Feasibility and potential effects of the proposed Amargosa Creek Recharge Project, Palmdale, California
Historically, the city of Palmdale and vicinity have relied on groundwater as the primary source of water, owing, in large part, to the scarcity of surface water in the region. Despite recent importing of surface water, groundwater withdrawal for municipal, industrial, and agricultural use has resulted in groundwater-level declines near the city of Palmdale in excess of 200 feet since the early 19
Authors
Allen H. Christensen, Adam J. Siade, Peter Martin, Victoria E. Langenheim, Rufus D. Catchings, Matthew K. Burgess
Importance of the colmation layer in the transport and removal of cyanobacteria, viruses, and dissolved organic carbon during natural lake-bank filtration
This study focused on the importance of the colmation layer in the removal of cyanobacteria, viruses, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) during natural bank filtration. Injection-and-recovery studies were performed at two shallow (0.5 m deep), sandy, near-shore sites at the southern end of Ashumet Pond, a waste-impacted, kettle pond on Cape Cod, MA, that is subject to periodic blooms of cyanobacte
Authors
Ronald W. Harvey, David W. Metge, Denis R. LeBlanc, Jennifer C. Underwood, George R. Aiken, Kenna D. Butler, Timothy D. McCobb, Jay Jasperse
Trace-metal and organic constituent concentrations in bed sediment at Big Base and Little Base Lakes, Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas—Comparisons to sediment-quality guidelines and indications for timing of exposure
This report compares concentrations for a wide range of inorganic and organic constituents in bed sediment from Big Base Lake and Little Base Lake, which are located on Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, to sediment-quality guidelines. This report also compares trace-metal concentrations in a bed-sediment core sample to sediment age to determine when the highest concentrations of trace metals w
Authors
B. G. Justus, Phillip D. Hays, Rheannon M. Hart
Tracing chlorine sources of thermal and mineral springs along and across the Cascade Range using halogen and chlorine isotope compositions
In order to provide constraints on the sources of chlorine in spring waters associated with arc volcanism, the major/minor element concentrations and stable isotope compositions of chlorine, oxygen, and hydrogen were measured in 28 thermal and mineral springs along the Cascade Range in northwestern USA. Chloride concentrations in the springs range from 64 to 19,000 mg/L and View the MathML source
Authors
Jeffrey T. Cullen, Jaime D. Barnes, Shaul Hurwitz, William P. Leeman
Integrated thermal infrared imaging and Structure-from-Motion photogrametry to map apparent temperature and radiant hydrothermal heat flux at Mammoth Mountain, CA USA
This work presents a method to create high-resolution (cm-scale) orthorectified and georeferenced maps of apparent surface temperature and radiant hydrothermal heat flux and estimate the radiant hydrothermal heat emission rate from a study area. A ground-based thermal infrared (TIR) camera was used to collect (1) a set of overlapping and offset visible imagery around the study area during the dayt
Authors
Aaron Lewis, George Hilley, Jennifer L. Lewicki
U.S. conterminous wall-to-wall anthropogenic land use trends (NWALT), 1974–2012
This dataset provides a U.S. national 60-meter, 19-class mapping of anthropogenic land uses for five time periods: 1974, 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2012. The 2012 dataset is based on a slightly modified version of the National Land Cover Database 2011 (NLCD 2011) that was recoded to a schema of land uses, and mapped back in time to develop datasets for the four earlier eras. The time periods coincide w
Authors
James A. Falcone
A case study demonstrating analysis of stormflows, concentrations, and loads of nutrients in highway runoff and swale discharge with the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM)
Decisionmakers need information about the quality and quantity of stormwater runoff, the risk for adverse effects of runoff on receiving waters, and the potential effectiveness of mitigation measures to reduce these risks. The Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM) uses Monte Carlo methods to generate stormflows, concentrations, and loads from a highway site and an upstream basin
Authors
Gregory E. Granato, Susan C. Jones
Hydrogeology and simulation of groundwater flow in fractured-rock aquifers of the Piedmont and Blue Ridge Physiographic Provinces, Bedford County, Virginia
An annual groundwater budget was computed as part of a hydrogeologic characterization and monitoring effort of fractured-rock aquifers in Bedford County, Virginia, a growing 764-square-mile (mi2) rural area between the cities of Roanoke and Lynchburg, Virginia. Data collection in Bedford County began in the 1930s when continuous stream gages were installed on Goose Creek and Big Otter River, the t
Authors
Kurt J. McCoy, Bradley A. White, Richard M. Yager, George E. Harlow
Chemical and ancillary data associated with bed sediment, young of year Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) tissue, and mussel (Mytilus edulis and Geukensia demissa) tissue collected after Hurricane Sandy in bays and estuaries of New
This report describes the methods and data associated with a reconnaissance study of young of year bluefish and mussel tissue samples as well as bed sediment collected as bluefish habitat indicators during August 2013–April 2014 in New Jersey and New York following Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. This study was funded by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 (PL 113-2) and was conducted
Authors
Kelly L. Smalling, Ashok D. Deshpande, Vicki Blazer, Heather S. Galbraith, Bruce W. Dockum, Kristin M. Romanok, Kaitlyn Colella, Anna C. Deetz, Irene J. Fisher, Thomas E. Imbrigiotta, Beth Sharack, Lisa Summer, DeMond Timmons, John J. Trainor, Daniel Wieczorek, Jennifer Samson, Timothy J. Reilly, Michael J. Focazio
Paleolimnological records of nitrogen deposition in shallow, high-elevation lakes of Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA
Reactive nitrogen (Nr) from anthropogenic sources has been altering ecosystem function in lakes of the Rocky Mountains, other regions of western North America, and the Arctic over recent decades. The response of biota in shallow lakes to atmospheric deposition of Nr, however, has not been considered. Benthic algae are dominant in shallow, high-elevation lakes and are less sensitive to nutrient inp
Authors
Sarah A. Spaulding, Megan K. Otu, Alexander P. Wolfe, Jill Baron
Methods for evaluating potential sources of chloride in surface waters and groundwaters of the conterminous United States
Chloride exists as a major ion in most natural waters, but many anthropogenic sources are increasing concentrations of chloride in many receiving waters. Although natural concentrations in continental waters can be as high as 200,000 milligrams per liter, chloride concentrations that are suitable for freshwater ecology, human consumption, and agricultural and industrial water uses commonly are on
Authors
Gregory E. Granato, Leslie A. DeSimone, Jeffrey R. Barbaro, Lillian C. Jeznach