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
Natural heat storage in a brine-filled solar pond in the Tully Valley of central New York
The Tully Valley, located in southern Onondaga County, New York, has a long history of unusual natural hydrogeologic phenomena including mudboils (Kappel, 2009), landslides (Tamulonis and others, 2009; Pair and others, 2000), landsurface subsidence (Hackett and others, 2009; Kappel, 2009), and a brine-filled sinkhole or “Solar pond” (fig. 1), which is documented in this report. A solar pond is a p
Authors
Brett Hayhurst, William M. Kappel
A GIS-based vulnerability assessment of brine contamination to aquatic resources from oil and gas development in eastern Sheridan County, Montana
Water (brine) co-produced with oil in the Williston Basin is some of the most saline in the nation. The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), characterized by glacial sediments and numerous wetlands, covers the northern and eastern portion of the Williston Basin. Sheridan County, Montana, lies within the PPR and has a documented history of brine contamination. Surface water and shallow groundwater in the
Authors
Todd M. Preston, Tara L. Chesley-Preston, Joanna N. Thamke
11.12 - Volatile hydrocarbons and fuel oxygenates
Petroleum hydrocarbons and fuel oxygenates are among the most commonly occurring and widely distributed contaminants in the environment. This chapter presents a summary of the sources, transport, fate, and remediation of volatile fuel hydrocarbons and fuel additives in the environment. Much research has focused on the transport and transformation processes of petroleum hydrocarbons and fuel oxygen
Authors
Isabelle M. Cozzarelli
Sustainability of water-supply at military installations, Kabul Basin, Afghanistan
The Kabul Basin, including the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, is host to several military installations of Afghanistan, the United States, and other nations that depend on groundwater resources for water supply. These installations are within or close to the city of Kabul. Groundwater also is the potable supply for the approximately four million residents of Kabul. The sustainability of water resourc
Authors
Thomas J. Mack, Michael P. Chornack, Ingrid M. Verstraeten
Use of natural and applied tracers to guide targeted remediation efforts in an acid mine drainage system, Colorado Rockies, USA
Stream water quality in areas of the western United States continues to be degraded by acid mine drainage (AMD), a legacy of hard-rock mining. The Rico-Argentine Mine in southwestern Colorado consists of complex multiple-level mine workings connected to a drainage tunnel discharging AMD to passive treatment ponds that discharge to the Dolores River. The mine workings are excavated into the hillslo
Authors
Rory Cowie, Mark W. Williams, Mike Wireman, Robert L. Runkel
“Our vanishing glaciers”: One hundred years of glacier retreat in Three Sisters Area, Oregon Cascade Range
In August 1910, thirty-nine members of the Mazamas Mountaineering Club ascended the peaks of the Three Sisters in central Oregon. While climbing, geologist Ira A. Williams photographed the surrounding scenery, including images of Collier Glacier. One hundred years later, U.S. Geological Survey research hydrologist Jim E. O’Connor matched those documented photographs with present day images — the r
Authors
James E. O'Connor
Effects of climate change and urban development on the distribution and conservation of vegetation in a Mediterranean type ecosystem
Climate and land-use changes are projected to threaten biodiversity over this century. However, few studies have considered the spatial and temporal overlap of these threats to evaluate how ongoing land-use change could affect species ranges projected to shift outside conservation areas. We evaluated climate change and urban development effects on vegetation distribution in the Southwest ecoregion
Authors
Bray Beltran, Janet Franklin, Alexandra D. Syphard, Helen M. Regan, Lorraine E. Flint, Alan L. Flint
Uncertainty and extreme events in future climate and hydrologic projections for the Pacific Northwest: providing a basis for vulnerability and core/corridor assessments
The purpose of this project was to (1) provide an internally-consistent set of downscaled projections across the Western U.S., (2) include information about projection uncertainty, and (3) assess projected changes of hydrologic extremes. These objectives were designed to address decision support needs for climate adaptation and resource management actions. Specifically, understanding of uncertaint
Authors
Jeremy S. Littell, Guillaume S. Mauger, Eric P. Salathe, Alan F. Hamlet, Se-Yeun Lee, Matt R. Stumbaugh, Marketa Elsner, Robert Norheim, Eric R. Lutz, Nathan J. Mantua
Processes of zinc attenuation by biogenic manganese oxides forming in the hyporheic zone of Pinal Creek, Arizona
The distribution and speciation of Zn sorbed to biogenic Mn oxides forming in the hyporheic zone of Pinal Creek, AZ, was investigated using extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and microfocused synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (μSXRF) mapping, and chemical extraction. μSXRF and chemical extractions show that contaminant Zn co-varied with Mn in streambed sediment grain coatings. Bulk and
Authors
Christopher C. Fuller, John R. Bargar
Rhynchelmis subgenus Sutroa Eisen new rank, with two new species from western North America (Annelida, Clitellata, Lumbriculidae)
The lumbriculid Rhynchelmis subgenus Sutroa Eisen, 1888 new rank is defined for a group of Nearctic species having multiple diverticula originating at the spermathecal ducts and eversible penial bulbs. Characters are confirmed in specimens of the type species, Rhynchelmis (Sutroa) rostrata (Eisen, 1888), collected from the type locality. Rhynchelmis (Sutroa) klamathensis Fend n. sp. is described f
Authors
Steven V. Fend, James L. Carter
2012 monitoring and tracking wet nitrogen deposition at Rocky Mountain National Park
No abstract available.
Authors
Kristi Morris, Alisa Mast, Gregory Wetherbee, Jill Baron, Curt Taipale, Tamara Blett, David Gay, Jared Heath
Linking channel hydrology with riparian wetland accretion in tidal rivers
The hydrologic processes by which tide affects river channel and riparian morphology within the tidal freshwater zone are poorly understood, yet are fundamental to predicting the fate of coastal rivers and wetlands as sea level rises. We investigated patterns of sediment accretion in riparian wetlands along the non-tidal through oligohaline portion of two coastal plain rivers in Maryland, U.S.A.,
Authors
Scott H. Ensign, Gregory B. Noe, Cliff R. Hupp