Sediment-Water Chemistry in Large River Systems: Biogeochemical, Geomorphic, and Human Controls

The mechanisms that control the composition of river-borne materials are only imperfectly understood, because both erosion and the subsequent transport of material by rivers are mediated by a wide variety of highly-linked chemical, biological, and physical processes. Moreover, in developed river systems, such as those in the United States, these processes are subject to pervasive human- related perturbations. This project studies weathering, erosion, and atmospheric-exchange processes which are the sources of dissolved and particulate material in rivers and trace substances in the atmosphere; studies chemical partitioning of various phases during transport in rivers and estuaries; describes the dispersal pathways of river-borne substances through river systems and estuaries, into and across the coastal marine environment; and evaluates the extent to which human activities, particularly changes in land use, have affected systems being examined, so as to provide data for studies of water-quality trends and climate change. For additional information: see Hydrologic and Erosional Responses of Burned Watersheds for wildfire studies, or see the page for the Boulder Creek Watershed in Colorado.

REPORTS PUBLISHED 1999-2008

Moody, J.A., and Martin, D.A., in press, Forest fire effects on geomorphic processes, in Cerdá, A., and Robichaud, P., eds., Restoration Strategies after Forest Fire, Chapter I.2.1: Science Publishers, Inc, Enfield,New Hampshire, USA.

Moody, J.A., Martin, D. A., Haire, S. L., and Kinner, D. A., in press, Linking runoff response to burn severity after wildfire: Hydrological Processes. (on-line abstract of preprint

Moody, J.A., Martin, D.A., Oakley, T.M., and Blanken, P. D., in press, Temporal and spatial variability of soil temperature and soil moisture after a wildfire: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007-5015.

Moody, J.A., Martin, D.A., and Cannon, S.H., 2008, Post-wildfire erosion response in two geologic terrains in the western USA: Geomorphology, v. 95, p. 103-118. (on-line abstract of journal article)

Barthold, F.K. , Stallard, R.F. , Elsenbeer, H., 2008, Soil nutrient-landscape relationships in a lowland tropical rainforest in Panama: Forest Ecology and Management, v. 255, no. 3-4, p. 1135-1148. (on-line abstract of journal article)

Plumlee, G.S., Martin, D.A., Hoefen, T., Kokaly, R., Hageman, P., Eckberg, A., Meeker, G.P., Adams, M., Anthony, M., and Lamothe, P.J., 2007, Preliminary analytical results for ash and burned soils from the October 2007 southern California wildfires: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1407, 13 p. (on-line overview or on-line report in pdf format, 2 MB)

John, R., James W. Dalling, J.W., Harms, K.E., Yavitt, J.B., Stallard, R.F., Mirabello, M., Hubbell, S.P., Valencia, R., Navarrete, H., Vallejo M., and Foster R.B., 2007, Soil nutrients influence spatial distributions of tropical tree species: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, v. 104, no. 3, p. 864-869. (on-line abstract of journal article)

Barber, L.B., Murphy, S.F., Verplanck, P.L., Sandstrom, M.W., Taylor, H.E., and Furlong, E.T., 2006, Chemical loading into surface water along a hydrological, biogeochemical, and land use gradient: A holistic watershed approach: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 40, p. 475-486. (on-line abstract or on-line report in pdf format, 1784 KB, published by American Chemical Society; not subject to U.S. copyright)

Peters N.E., Shanley, J.B., Aulenbach, B.T., Webb, R.M., Campbell, D.H., Hunt, R., Larsen, M.C., Stallard, R.F., Troester, J., and Walker, J.F., 2006, Water and solute mass balance of five small, relatively undisturbed watersheds in the U.S.: Science of the Total Environment, v. 358, p. 221- 242. (on-line abstract of journal article)

Murphy, S.F., 2006, State of the watershed: Water quality of Boulder Creek, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1284, 34 p. (on-line publication in pdf format, 9.2 MB)

Svenning, P. J.-C., Engelbrecht, B.M.J., Kinner, D.A., Kursar, T.A., Stallard, R.F., and Wright, S.J., 2006, The relative roles of environment, history and local dispersal in controlling the distributions of common tree and shrub species in a tropical forest landscape: Journal of Tropical Ecology, v. 22, no. 05, p. 575-586 doi: 10.1017/S0266467406003348 (on-line abstract of journal article)

Kinner, D.A., Mitasova, H., Stallard, R.F., Harmon, R.S., and Toma, L., 2005, GIS database and stream network analysis for the Chagres River Basin, Republic of Panama, in Harmon, R.S., ed., The Rio Chagres, Panama - A multidisciplinary profile of a tropical watershed: Water, Science and Technology Library, v. 52, p. 83-85.

Stallard, R.F., and Kinner, D.A., 2005, Estimation of landslide importance in hillslope erosion within the Panama Canal watershed, in Harmon, R.S., ed., The Rio Chagres, Panama - A multidisciplinary profile of a tropical watershed: Water, Science and Technology Library, v. 52, p. 281-295.

Godsey, S., Elsenbeer, H., and Stallard, R., 2004, Overland flow generation in two lithologically distinct rainforest catchments: Journal of Hydrology, v. 295, no. 14, p. 276-290. (on-line abstract)

Kinner, D.A., and Stallard, R.F., 2004, Identifying storm flow pathways in a rainforest catchment using hydrological and geochemical modeling: Hydrological Processes, v. 18, no. 15, p. 2851-2876. (on-line abstract or on-line article in pdf format, a U.S. Government work published by the Hydrological Processes, in the public domain in the USA)

Moody, J.A., and Martin, D.A., 2004, Wildfire impacts on reservoir sedimentation in the western United States, in Hu, C.-h, and Tan, Y., eds., Proceedings of the Ninth International Symposium on River Sedimentation, October 18-21, 2004, Yichang, China: Beijing, Tsinghua University Press, p. 1095-1102.

Svenning, J-C., Kinner, D.A., Stallard, R.F., Engelbrecht, B.M., and Wright, S.J., 2004, Ecological determinism in plant community structure across a tropical forest landscape: Ecology, v. 85, no. 9, p. 2526-2538. (on-line abstract)

Kinner, D.A., 2003, Delineation of the Boulder Creek watershed and its subwatersheds, in Murphy, S.F., Verplanck, P.L., and Barber, L.B., eds., Comprehensive water quality of the Boulder Creek Watershed, Colorado, during high-flow and low-flow conditions, 2000: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4045, chapt. 2, p. 27-39.

Martin, D.A., 2003, Post-wildfire hydrology - effects of wildfire in New Mexico ecosystems and hydrological response of burned watershed, in Johnson, P.S., Land, L.A., Price, L.G., and Titus, F., eds., Water Resources of the Lower Pecos Region, New Mexico, Science, Policy, and a Look to the Future, Decision-Makers field Conference 2003, Socorro, New Mexico: New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, p. 80-82.

Murphy, S.F., Barber, L.B., Verplanck, P.L., and Kinner, D.A., 2003, Environmental setting and hydrology of the Boulder Creek Watershed, Chapter 1 in Murphy, S.F., Verplanck, P.L., and Barber, L.B., eds., Comprehensive water quality of the Boulder Creek Watershed, Colorado, during high-flow and low-flow conditions, 2000: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4045, p. 5-26. (on line chapter in pdf format)

Murphy, S.F., Shelley, J.J., Stout, J.A., and Mead, E.P., 2003, Basic water quality in the Boulder Creek Watershed, Colorado, during high-flow and low-flow conditions, 2000, Chapter 3 in Murphy, S.F., Verplanck, P.L., and Barber, L.B., eds., Comprehensive water quality of the Boulder Creek Watershed, Colorado, during high-flow and low-flow conditions, 2000: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4045, p. 41-70. (on-line chapter in pdf format)

Murphy, S.F., Verplanck, P.L., and Barber, L.B., eds., 2003, Comprehensive water quality of the Boulder Creek Watershed, Colorado, during high-flow and low-flow conditions, 2000: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4045, 198 p. (on-line report)

Stallard, R.F., 2003, Erosion and sediment yield, in Middleton, G., ed., Encyclopedia of Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks: Dordrecht, Holland, Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 254-256.

Turner, B.F,. Stallard, R.F., and Brantley, S.L., 2003, Investigation of in situ weathering of quartz diorite bedrock in the Rio Icacos basin, Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico: Chemical Geology, v. 202, no.3-4, pp.313-341. (on-line abstract)

Verplanck, P.L., Murphy, S.F., and Barber, L.B., 2003, Water quality of the Boulder Creek Watershed, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 043-03. (on-line fact sheet)

Ibáñez D.R., Condit, R., Angehr, G.R., Aguilar, S., García, T., Martínez, R., Sanjur, A., Stallard R.F., Wright S.J., Rand A.S., Heckadon Moreno S., 2002, An ecosystem report on the Panama Canal: Monitoring the status of the forest communities and the watershed: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, v. 80, p. 65-95. (on-line abstract)

Stallard, R.F., 2002, The biogeochemistry of the Amazon Basin: too little mud, and perhaps too much water: Hydrological Processes, v. 16, p. 2047-2049.

Stallard, R.F., 2002, contributor to Goklany, I., and Willey, S., eds., Carbon Sequestration and the Department of the Interior: Washington, D.C., Department of the Interior. (on-line report)

Condit, R., Robinson, W.D., Ibáñez, R., Aguilar, S., Sanjur, A., Martínez, R., Stallard, R.F., García, T., Angehr, G.R., Petit L., Wright, S.J., Robinson, T.R., and Heckadon, S., 2001, The status of the Panama Canal Watershed and its biodiversity at the beginning of the 21st Century: Bioscience, v. 51, no.5, p. 389-398. (on-line article)

Martin, D.A., and Moody, J.A., 2001, The flux and particle size distribution of sediment collected in hillslope traps sfter a Colorado wildfire: Proceedings of the Seventh Interagency Sedimentation Conference, v. 1, p. II-I40 - II-I47.

Martin, D.A., and Moody, J.A., 2001, Comparison of soil infiltration rates in burned and unburned mountainous watersheds: Hydrological Processes, v. 15, no. 15, p. 2893-2903 (on-line abstract)

Moody, J.A., and Martin, D.A., 2001, Initial hydrologic and geomorphic response following a wildfire in the Colorado Front Range: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, v. 26, no. 10, p. 1049-1070 (on-line abstract)

Moody, J.A., and Martin, D.A., 2001, Post-fire, rainfall intensity-peak discharge relations for three mountainous watersheds in the western USA: Hydrological Processes: v. 15, no. 15, p. 2981-2993 (on-line abstract)

Moody, J.A., and Martin, D.A., 2001, Hydrologic and sedimentologic response of two burnded watersheds in Colorado: US Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Reprot 01-4122, 138 p. (and data CD).

Pacala, S.W., Hurtt, G.C., Baker, D., Peylin, P., Houghton, R.A., Birdsey, R.A., Heath, L., Sundquist, E.T., Stallard, R.F., Ciaia, P., Moorcroft, P., Caspersen, J.P., Shelvliakova, E., Moore, B., Kohlmaier, G., Holland, E., Gloor, M., Harmon, M.E., Fan, S.-M., Sarmiento, J.L., Goodale, C.L., Schimel, D., Field, C.B., 2001, Consistent land- and atmosphere-based U.S. carbon sink estimates: Science, v. 292, no. 5525, p. 2316-2320. (on-line abstract)

Stallard, R.F., 2001, Possible environmental factors underlying amphibian decline in eastern Puerto Rico: Analysis of government data archives: Conservation Biology, v. 15, no. 4, p. 943-953. (on-line abstract)

Stallard, R.F., Mixon, D., Kinner, D.A., and Worstell, B., 2001, RESIS-II: Making the reservoir survey system complete and user friendly: Proceedings of the Seventh Interagency Sedimentation Conference, v. 2, p. IX9 - IX11.

Larsen, M.C., and Stallard, R.F., 2000, Luquillo Mountains, Puerto Rico-- A Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets Program site: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 163-99. (on-line fact sheet)

Lee H. MacDonald, L.H., Sampson, R., Brady, D., Juarros, L., Martin, D.A., 2001, Predicting post-fire erosion and sedimentation risk on a landscape scale: A case study from Colorado: Journal of Sustainable Forestry, v. 11, no 1-2, p. 57-87. (on-line abstract)

Stallard, R. F., 2000, Tectonic processes and erosion, in Jacobson, M.C., Charleson, R.J., Rodhe, H., and Orians, G.H., eds., Earth system science--from biogeochemical cycles to global change: San Diego, California, Academic Press, p. 195-229.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PROJECT, CONTACT:
Robert F. Stallard
U.S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine Street (E146), Boulder, CO 80303-1066
Email: stallard@usgs.gov
Telephone: 303-541-3022

Deborah A. Martin
U.S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine Street (E146), Boulder, CO 80303-1066
Email: damartin@usgs.gov
Telephone: 303-541-3024

Sheila F. Murphy
U.S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine Street (E145), Boulder, CO 80303-1066
Email: email sfmurphy@usgs.gov
Telephone 303-541-3023

For information on additional projects in the National Research Program, see Indexes to NRP projects and bibliographies