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Publications

Dive into our publications and explore the science from the Environmental Health Program (Toxic Substances Hydrology and Contaminant Biology).

Filter Total Items: 3746

Water year 2004: Western water managers feel the heat

This spring, a rare combination of exceptionally warm temperatures and near-record lack of precipitation in the western United States caused a rapid change in hydrologic conditions and an unexpectedly early onset of spring conditions. With much of the western U.S. already in its fifth year of drought, an above-average western snowpack on 1 March 2004 provided hope for much-needed abundant runoff.
Authors
Thomas Pagano, Phil Pasteris, Michael D. Dettinger, Daniel Cayan, Kelly Redmond

A walk through the hydroclimate network in Yosemite National Park: River chemistry

Visitors to Yosemite National Park (YNP) are fully aware of the weather, snowmelt, waterfalls (Photo 1), and river discharge and river and lake water temperature. They are not, however, thinking about river chemistry because you can’t see, hear, or feel it. So a river chemistry article in Nature Notes needs a familiar background before we break out the instruments.
Authors
Dave Peterson, Richard Smith, Stephen Hager

Simulated hydrologic responses to climate variations and change in the Merced, Carson, and American River basins, Sierra Nevada, California, 1900-2099

Hydrologic responses of river basins in the Sierra Nevada of California to historical and future climate variations and changes are assessed by simulating daily streamflow and water-balance responses to simulated climate variations over a continuous 200-yr period. The coupled atmosphere-ocean-ice-land Parallel Climate Model provides the simulated climate histories, and existing hydrologic models o
Authors
M. D. Dettinger, D.R. Cayan, M.K. Meyer, A. Jeton

Use of an electromagnetic seepage meter to investigate temporal variability in lake seepage

A commercially available electromagnetic flowmeter is attached to a seepage cylinder to create an electromagnetic seepage meter (ESM) for automating measurement of fluxes across the sediment/water interface between ground water and surface water. The ESM is evaluated through its application at two lakes in New England, one where water seeps into the lake and one where water seeps out of the lake.
Authors
D. O. Rosenberry, R. H. Morin

Transient Analysis of the Source of Water to Wells: Cape Cod, Massachusetts

A transient flow modeling analysis for potential public-supply wells on western Cape Cod, Massachusetts, demonstrates the difference between transient and steady-state recharge areas can have important implications for wellhead protection. An example of a single pumping well illustrates that commonly, used steady-state time-related capture areas do not represent the recharge area and travel times
Authors
John P. Masterson, D. A. Walter, D.R. LeBlanc

Importance of equilibration time in the partitioning and toxicity of zinc in spiked sediment bioassays

The influences of spiked Zn concentrations (1–40 μmol/g) and equilibration time (˜ 95 d) on the partitioning of Zn between pore water (PW) and sediment were evaluated with estuarine sediments containing two levels (5 and 15 μmol/g) of acid volatile sulfides (AVS). Their influence on Zn bioavailability was also evaluated by a parallel, 10‐d amphipod (Leptocheirus plumulosus) mortality test at 5, 20
Authors
J.-S. Lee, B.-G. Lee, S. N. Luoma, H. Yoo

Acoustic and optical borehole-wall imaging for fractured-rock aquifer studies

Imaging with acoustic and optical televiewers results in continuous and oriented 360° views of the borehole wall from which the character, relation, and orientation of lithologic and structural planar features can be defined for studies of fractured-rock aquifers. Fractures are more clearly defined under a wider range of conditions on acoustic images than on optical images including dark-colored r
Authors
J.H. Williams, C. D. Johnson

Changes in snowmelt runoff timing in western North America under a 'business as usual' climate change scenario

Spring snowmelt is the most important contribution of many rivers in western North America. If climate changes, this contribution may change. A shift in the timing of springtime snowmelt towards earlier in the year already is observed during 1948-2000 in many western rivers. Streamflow timing changes for the 1995-2099 period are projected using regression relations between observed streamflow-timi
Authors
I.T. Stewart, Daniel Cayan, Michael D. Dettinger

Importance of the Vadose Zone in analyses of unconfined aquifer tests

Analytical models commonly used to interpret unconfined aquifer tests have been based on upper-boundary (water table) conditions that do not adequately address effects of time-varying drainage from the vadose zone. As a result, measured and simulated drawdown data may not agree and hydraulic parameters may be inaccurately estimated. A 72-hour aquifer test conducted in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in a
Authors
A.F. Moench