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: 18347
Hyperspectral (VNIR-SWIR) analysis of roll front uranium host rocks and industrial minerals from Karnes and Live Oak Counties, Texas Coastal Plain
VNIR-SWIR (400–2500 nm) reflectance measurements were made on the surfaces of various cores, cuttings and sample splits of sedimentary rocks from the Tertiary Jackson Group, and Catahoula, Oakville and Goliad Formations. These rocks vary in composition and texture from mudstone and claystone to sandstone and are known host rocks for roll front uranium occurrences in Karnes and Live Oak Counties, T
Authors
Bernard E. Hubbard, Tanya J. Gallegos, Victoria G. Stengel, Todd M. Hoefen, Raymond F. Kokaly, Brent Elliott
Groundwater flow model investigation of the vulnerability of water resources at Chaco Culture National Historical Park related to unconventional oil and gas development
Chaco Culture National Historical Park (CCNHP), located in northwestern New Mexico, protects the greatest concentration of Chacoan historical sites in the American Southwest. Geologically, CCNHP is located within the San Juan structural basin, which consists in part of complex Cretaceous stratigraphy and hosts a variety of energy resources. As part of a larger study to investigate the vulnerabilit
Authors
Zachary M. Shephard, Andre B. Ritchie, Benjamin S. Linhoff, John Joseph Lunzer
Long-term mercury loading and trapping dynamics in a Western North America reservoir
Study RegionThe Carson River including Lahontan Reservoir in Northwestern Nevada, USAStudy FocusThe discovery, mining, and processing of silver and gold from the Comstock Lode in northwestern Nevada heavily contaminated the Carson River system with mercury (Hg). The river now contains some of the highest recorded water column and bed sediment Hg concentrations reported in peer-reviewed literature.
Authors
Eric D. Morway, Robert M. Hirsch, Angela Paul, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Carl E Thodal
A simple approach to modeling light attenuation in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta using commonly available data
The diffuse attenuation coefficient of photosynthetically active radiation (KdPAR) is commonly used to predict light attenuation in aquatic productivity models, but obtaining measurements of PAR to compute KdPAR is difficult. In situ calculations of KdPAR require multiple measurements of PAR through the water column, and these measurements are infeasible for real-time recording. Instead, predictiv
Authors
Emily T. Richardson, Keith Bouma-Gregson, Katy O'Donnell, Brian A. Bergamaschi
Etiology of a fish kill, Including the endangered Tidewater Goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi), in a northeastern pacific coastal lagoon
Ecological disturbances such as fish kills can negatively impact ecosystem processes in coastal lagoons. To gain an understanding of factors causing fish kills, we examined conditions associated with a summertime fish kill in a northeastern Pacific coastal lagoon (Rodeo Lagoon, CA, USA). Examination of available data indicated the fish kill was likely caused by hypoxia involving the following etio
Authors
Frederick V. Feyrer, Matthew J. Young, Tamara E. C. Kraus, Elizabeth B. Stumpner, Darren Fong, Kurt D. Carpenter
New England Water Science Center—Bringing quality and reliable water science to New England
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) New England Water Science Center provides timely and reliable information to Federal, State, Tribal, and local stakeholders on the water resources of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. This information product broadly describes the center’s research priorities and monitoring network and how its work benefits the public and
Authors
Katrina Rossos
Practical guide to measuring wetland carbon pools and fluxes
Wetlands cover a small portion of the world, but have disproportionate influence on global carbon (C) sequestration, carbon dioxide and methane emissions, and aquatic C fluxes. However, the underlying biogeochemical processes that affect wetland C pools and fluxes are complex and dynamic, making measurements of wetland C challenging. Over decades of research, many observational, experimental, and
Authors
Sheel Bansal, Irena F. Creed, Brian Tangen, Scott D. Bridgham, Ankur R. Desai, Ken Krauss, Scott C Neubauer, Gregory B. Noe, Donald O. Rosenberry, Carl C. Trettin, Kimberly Wickland, Scott T. Allen, Ariane Arias-Ortiz, Anna R. Armitage, Dennis Baldocchi, Kakoli Banerjee, David Bastviken, Peter Berg, Matthew J. Bogard, Alex T. Chow, William H. Conner, Christopher Craft, Courtney Creamer, Tonya Delsontro, Jamie Duberstein, Meagan J. Eagle, M. Siobhan Fennessey, Sarah A. Finkelstein, Mathias Goeckede, Sabine Grunwald, Meghan Halibisky, Ellen R. Herbert, Mohammad Jahangir, Olivia Johnson, Miriam C. Jones, Jeffrey Kelleway, Sarah Knox, Kevin D. Kroeger, Kevin Kuehn, David Lobb, Amanda Loder, Shizhou Ma, Damien Maher, Gavin McNicol, Jacob Meier, Beth A. Middleton, Christopher T. Mills, Purbasha Mistry, Abhijith Mitra, Courtney Mobilian, Amanda M. Nahlik, Sue Newman, Jessica O'Connell, Patty Oikawa, Max Post van der Burg, Charles A Schutte, Chanchung Song, Camille Stagg, Jessica Turner, Rodrigo Vargas, Mark Waldrop, Markus Wallin, Zhaohui Aleck Wang, Eric Ward, Debra A. Willard, Stephanie A. Yarwood, Xiaoyan Zhu
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center , Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center
Where the past meets the present: Connecting nitrogen from watersheds to streams through groundwater flowpaths
Groundwater discharge to streams is a nonpoint source of nitrogen (N) that confounds N mitigation efforts and represents a significant portion of the annual N loading to watersheds. However, we lack an understanding of where and how much groundwater N enters streams and watersheds. Nitrogen concentrations at the end of groundwater flowpaths are the culmination of biogeochemical and physical proces
Authors
Eric M. Moore, Janet R. Barclay, Adam B. Haynes, Kevin E. Jackson, Alaina M. Bisson, Martin Briggs, Ashley M. Helton
Sediment sources and connectivity linked to hydrologic pathways and geomorphic processes: A conceptual model to specify sediment sources and pathways through space and time
Sediment connectivity is a conceptualization for the transfer and storage of sediment among different geomorphic compartments across upland landscapes and channel networks. Sediment connectivity and dysconnectivity are linked to the water cycle and hydrologic systems with the associated multiscale interactions with climate, soil, topography, ecology, and landuse/landcover under natural variability
Authors
Se Jong Cho, Diana Karwan, Katherine Skalak, James Pizzuto, Max Huffman
Arizona Groundwater Explorer: Interactive maps for evaluating the historical and current groundwater conditions in wells in Arizona, USA
Groundwater is an important water source in Arizona, accounting for about 41% of water use in this mostly arid-to-semiarid state in the southwestern United States, and the availability of groundwater resources in the state is a concern. To provide accessible information from depth-to-groundwater data, a series of web-based interactive maps were developed, called the Arizona Groundwater Explorer (A
Authors
Fred D. Tillman, Marilyn E. Flynn
Conserved grasslands support similar pollinator diversity as pollinator-specific practice regardless of proximal cropland and pesticide exposure
Pollinator diversity and abundance are declining globally. Cropland agriculture and the corresponding use of agricultural pesticides may contribute to these declines, while increased pollinator habitat (flowering plants) can help mitigate them. Here we tested whether the relative effect of wildflower plantings on pollinator diversity and counts were modified by proportion of nearby agricultural la
Authors
Johanna M. Kraus, Kelly Smalling, Mark W. Vandever, Carrie E Givens, Cassandra Smith, Dana W. Kolpin, Michelle Hladik
Updates to the regional groundwater-flow model of the New Jersey Coastal Plain, 1980–2013
A 21-layer three-dimensional transient groundwater-flow model of the New Jersey Coastal Plain was developed and calibrated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to simulate groundwater-flow conditions during 1980–2013, incorporating average annual groundwater withdrawals and average annual groundwater recharge. This model is
Authors
Alison D. Gordon, Glen B. Carleton