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USGS highlights in the AGU Langbein Lecture

On 11 December 2007, Professor Mary Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Madison presented the Langbein Lecture in at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. The title of her lecture was: Benchmarks in Hydrogeology in the 20th Century—Unexpected Payoffs. Dr. Anderson subtitled her lecture: "The evolution of groundwater hydrology as viewed through a selection of seminal papers". You can see and hear an online video of the lecture at http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm07/. The content of this lecture is part of a forthcoming 'Benchmark Papers in Hydrogeology' book by Dr. Anderson, entitled 'Groundwater Processes'.

Dr. Anderson's presentation was broad-ranging, although she notes that, in the interest of time, her lecture did not attempt to cover all aspects of hydrogeology. (For example, she did not include numerical modeling or isotope hydrology.two areas where the USGS has had a significant role). Those attending the lecture commented that it was a proud moment for them to hear USGS hydrogeologic science accomplishments described. She noted 15 specific USGS-authored publications of great significance over this century of progress including five by scientists who are still active USGS ground-water scientists.

Bartolino, J.R., and Niswonger, R.G., 1999, Numerical simulations of vertical ground-water fluxes of the Rio Grande from ground-water temperature profiles, Central New Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 99-4212, 34 p.

Cooper, H.H., Jr., and C.E. Jacob (1946), A generalized graphical method for evaluating formation constants and summarizing well field history. Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 27 (IV): 526-534.

Hunt, R.J., D.P. Krabbenhoft, and Anderson, M.P., 1996, Groundwater inflow measurements in wetland systems, Water Resources Research 32(3): 495-508.

Jacob, C.E., 1940, On the flow of water in an elastic artesian aquifer. Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 21: 574-586.

Langbein, W.B., Hains, C.H., and Culler, R.C., 1951, Hydrology of stock water reservoirs in Arizona, USGS Circular 110, 18 p.

Lapham, W. W., 1989, Use of temperature profiles beneath streams to determine rates of vertical ground-water flow and vertical hydraulic conductivity. U.S. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 2337: 35.

Meinzer, O.E., 1928, Compressibility and elasticity of artesian aquifers, Economic Geology 23, 263-291.

Skibitzke, H.E. and G.M. Robinson, 1963, Dispersion in ground water flowing through heterogenous material, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 386-B.

Slichter, C.S. ,1899, Theoretical investigations of the motion of ground waters. 19th Report, Part II, U.S. Geological Survey.

Stallman, R. W., 1963, Computation of ground-water velocity from temperature data. Methods of collecting and interpreting ground-water data. R. Bentall, ed., U.S. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 1544-H: 36-46.

Stallman, R.W., 1960, Notes on the use of temperature data for computing ground-water velocity. 6th Assembly on Hydraulics, Rep. 3, Societe de Hydrotechnique, Nancy, France.

Stonestrom, D.A. and J. Constantz, Eds., 2003, Heat as a tool for studying the movement of ground water near streams. U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1260.

Theis, C.V., 1935,The relation between lowering of the piezometric surface and rate and duration of discharge of a well using groundwater storage. Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 16: 519-524.

Wienzel, L.K., 1942, Methods of determining permeability of water-bearing materials, with special reference to discharging-well methods. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 887: 192p.

Winter, T.C., J.W. Harvey, O.L. Franke and W.M. Alley, 1998, Ground water and surface water a single resource, USGS Circular 1139.