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At least 1,351 records · Page 75Linked to original sources

USGS2005

Snow-fed streamflow timing at different basin scales: Case study of the Tuolumne River above Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite, California

Diurnal cycles in snow‐fed streams provide a useful technique for measuring the time it takes water to travel from the top of the snowpack, where snowmelt typically peaks in the afternoon, to the river gauge, where the daily maximum flows may arrive many hours later. Hourly stage measurements in nested subbasins (6‐775 km 2 ) of the Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park illustrate travel time delays at different basin scales during the spring 2002 and 2003 melt seasons. Travel times increase with longer percolation times through deeper snowpacks, increase with longer travel times over land and along longer stream channels, and increase with slower in‐stream flow velocities. In basins smaller than 30 km 2 , travel times through the snowpack dominate streamflow timing. In particular, daily peak flows shift to earlier in the day as snowpacks thin and mean discharges increase. In basins larger than 200 km 2 , snowpack heterogeneity causes the hour of peak flow to be highly consistent, with little or no variation as the snowpack thins. Basins with areas in between 30 and 200 km 2 exhibit different sequences of diurnal streamflow timing in different years, sometimes acting like small basins and other times like large basins. From the start of the melt season until the day of peak snowmelt discharge, increasing travel distances in channels as the snow line retreats to higher elevations do not cause long enough travel delays to offset the observed decrease in mean travel times through the snowpack. A model that couples porous medium flow through thinning snowpacks with free surface flow in stream channels can reproduce the observed patterns, provided that the model incorporates snowpack heterogeneity.

California↗

USGS2008

Mantle structure beneath the western edge of the Colorado Plateau

Teleseismic traveltime data are inverted for mantle Vp and Vs variations beneath a 1400 km long line of broadband seismometers extending from eastern New Mexico to western Utah. The model spans 600 km beneath the moho with resolution of ~50 km. Inversions show a sharp, large-magnitude velocity contrast across the Colorado Plateau-Great Basin transition extending ~200 km below the crust. Also imaged is a fast anomaly 300 to 600 km beneath the NW portion of the array. Very slow velocities beneath the Great Basin imply partial melting and/or anomalously wet mantle. We propose that the sharp contrast in mantle velocities across the western edge of the Plateau corresponds to differential lithospheric modification, during and following Farallon subduction, across a boundary defining the western extent of unmodified Proterozoic mantle lithosphere. The deep fast anomaly corresponds to thickened Farallon plate or detached continental lithosphere at transition zone depths. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.

Geophysical Research Letters↗

USGS1998

Evaluating the source and residence times of groundwater seepage to streams, New Jersey Coastal Plain

A conceptual model of the patterns and residence times of groundwater seepage to gaining streams indicates that groundwater seepage originates from sources that are both near and far from the stream. Consequently, the age of groundwater seepage across a stream-channel transect increases from its banks to its center and becomes progressively older with distance downstream. A groundwater flow model and particle-tracking analysis of the Cohansey River Basin in the New Jersey Coastal Plain supports this conceptual model and demonstrates that the orientation of the stream channels with respect to the regional groundwater flow direction, and the heterogeneities of the aquifer and stream-channel patterns, can shift source area locations and distributions of groundwater residence time from those expected. Groundwater samples collected from stream transects were analyzed for nitrogen, representative of widespread agricultural land use in the basin in recent decades, and for chlorofluorocarbons, used to estimate groundwater ages. The patterns of nitrogen concentration and the age of groundwater entering the stream channel corroborate model inferences. The conceptual model of groundwater seepage to streams presented herein is relevant to unconfined aquifer systems with gaining streams and demonstrates how nonpoint-source contaminants are transported to streams by groundwater. Results are useful for the design of programs needed to monitor stream-water quality.

New Jersey↗

USGS1999

Factors related to probability of joint flooding on paired streams in Ohio

Factors related to the probability of joint flooding on paired streams were investigated. Stream pairs were considered to have flooded jointly at the design-year flood threshold (corresponding to the 2-, 10-, 25-, or 50-year instantaneous peak stream flow) if peak stream flows at both streams in the pair were observed or predicted to have equaled or exceeded the threshold on a given calendar day. Daily mean stream-flow data were used as a surrogate for instantaneous peak stream-flow data to determine which flood thresholds were equaled or exceeded on any given day. Instantaneous peak stream-flow data, when available, were used preferentially to assess when the flood threshold was exceeded. Observed probabilities of joint flooding were computed as the ratios of the number of days when stream flows at both streams concurrently equaled or exceeded their flood thresholds (events) to the number of days when stream flows at either stream equaled or exceeded its flood threshold (trials). Logistic regression equations for estimating the probability of joint flooding at the 2-year flood threshold were developed on the basis of event-trial ratio and basin characteristic data. Distance between drainage area centroids, the ratio of the smaller drainage area to the larger drainage area, mean drainage area, and the centroid angle adjusted 30 degrees were the characteristics most closely associated with the probability of joint flooding on paired streams in Ohio. In general, the probability of joint flooding decreased with an increase in centroid distance and increased with increases in drainage area ratio, mean drainage area, and centroid angle adjusted 30 degrees.

Ohio↗

USGS1973

Fluorite equilibria in thermal springs of the Snake River Basin, Idaho

Some thermal water sources of the Snake River basin, Idaho, are near saturation with respect to fluorite. That mineral was identified by X-ray diffraction in precipitates induced in three water samples by adding sodium fluoride. The derived solubility product (K S0 ) for zero ionic strength was close to that calculated from Latimer's thermodynamic data (10 -9.7 7 ). The relative ease of precipitation of fluorite from these water samples indicates that equilibrium with respect to fluorite may occur in some ground-water systems.

Idaho↗

USGS2017

The role of uplift and erosion in the persistence of saline groundwater in the shallow subsurface

In many regions of the world, the shallow (<300 m) subsurface is replenished with meteoric recharge within a few centuries or millennia, but in some regions saline groundwater persists despite abundant rainfall. Analyses of the flushing rate of shallow groundwater usually consider the permeability and recharge rate and a static landscape. The influence of landscape evolution can become important over millions of years, however. Here we present numerical simulations of fluid flow and transport in the top 1 km of a sedimentary foreland basin dominated by aquitards, where the rate of uplift and erosion (20 m Ma −1 ) balances that of meteoric flushing. Paleozoic age saline groundwater and brine persist at shallow depths that might otherwise have contained potable water. Similar hydrogeologic conditions, and uplift and erosion rates, likely exist in many other regions of the world, where a moving landscape has probably never been considered as an important contributor to groundwater quality.

Geophysical Research Letters↗

USGS2012

Temporal and spatial patterns in wind stress and wind stress curl over the central Southern California Bight

In 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey, together with several other federal and municipal agencies, began a series of field programs to determine along and cross-shelf transport patterns over the continental shelves in the central Southern California Bight. As a part of these programs, moorings that monitor winds were deployed off the Palos Verdes peninsula and within San Pedro Bay for six 3–4 month summer and winter periods between 2001 and 2008. In addition, nearly continuous records of winds for this 7-year period were obtained from a terrestrial site at the coast and from a basin site offshore of the long-term coastal site. The mean annual winds are downcoast at all sites. The alongshelf components of wind stress, which are the largest part of the low-frequency wind stress fields, are well correlated between basin, shelf and coastal sites. On average, the amplitude of alongshelf fluctuations in wind stress are 3–4 times larger over the offshore basin, compared to the coastal site, irrespective of whether the fluctuations represent the total, or just the correlated portion of the wind stress field. The curl in the large-scale wind stress tends to be positive, especially in the winter season when the mean wind stress is downcoast and larger at the offshore basin site than at the beach. However, since the fluctuation in wind stress amplitudes are usually larger than the mean, periods of weak negative curl do occur, especially in the summer season when the largest normalized differences in the amplitude of wind stress fluctuations are found in the nearshore region of the coastal ocean. Even though the low-frequency wind stress field is well-correlated over the continental shelf and offshore basins, out to distances of 35 km or more from the coast, winds even 10 km inshore of the beach do not represent the coastal wind field, at least in the summer months. The seasonal changes in the spatial structures in wind stress amplitudes suggest that an assessment of the amplitude of the responses of coastal ocean processes to wind forcing is complex and that the responses may have significant seasonal structures.

California↗

USGS2021

Assessing the feasibility of managed aquifer recharge in California

With aquifers around the world stressed by over-extraction, water managers are increasingly turning to managed aquifer recharge (MAR), directly replenishing groundwater resources through injection wells, recharge basins, or other approaches. While there has been progress in understanding the geological and infrastructure-related considerations to make MAR more effective, critical evaluations of its institutional design and implementation are limited. This study assesses MAR projects, using a case study of projects proposed by groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) in California to comply with the state's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014; these projects will almost double the number of MAR projects in the United States. We draw on content analysis of groundwater sustainability plans that propose these projects. We first assess the types of recharge projects proposed and the stated aims of the projects, to assess when and why agencies are turning to MAR as a solution. We find that recharge basins are by far the most common approach, and that GSAs hope these basins will improve water table levels, reduce subsidence, and improve water quality. We then analyze potential barriers to project implementation and assess the projects' ability to achieve the stated goals. Primary concerns identified include a potential lack of available water, a potentially challenging legal framework, and minimal consideration of funding and cumulative land needs. To conclude, we discuss broader considerations for ensuring that MAR is an effective water management tool.

California↗

USGS2006

Update on the distribution of the invasive Asian fish tapeworm, Bothriocephalus acheilognathi, in the U.S. and Canada

The documented range of the invasive and potentially pathogenic Asian fish tapeworm, Bothriocephalus acheilognathi Yamaguti, 1934 in the United States and Canada is updated based on examination of museum depositions and original field collections. Gravid specimens of B. acheilognathi were collected from the fathead minnow Pimephales promelas Rafinesque in Peter Lake, at the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center (UNDERC) Land o' Lakes, Wisconsin. A single immature specimen of the parasite was collected from a white bass, Morone chrysops (Rafinesque) in Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. This is the first record of B. acheilognathi in Canada and extends its northern range in the interior of the continent by more than 600 miles over the last documented record. The previous record of B. acheilognathi in Canada, from the northern pikeminnow, Ptychocheilus oregonensis in British Columbia, is a misidentification of Eubothrium tulipai. Examination of selected records of intestinal cestodes from native cyprinids, in the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology (HWML, n = 9) collection and in the United States National Parasite Collection (USNPC, n = 8), provided evidence of the parasite in Nebraska and possibly in the upper Colorado River basin. Introductions into Wisconsin-Michigan were due to the stocking of golden shiners, whereas the source of the introduction in Manitoba remains unknown.

Comparative Parasitology↗

USGS2019

Differential effects of temperature and salinity on growth and mortality of oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in Barataria Bay and Breton Sound, Louisiana

Temperature and salinity and their interaction exert a major control on the life cycle of the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), affecting reproduction, development, growth, and mortality. Quantifying specific temperature and salinity relationships on oyster growth and mortality has however proven difficult, with data suggesting potentially region-specific responses. Legacy and recent data from field tray studies from public oyster grounds in Barataria Bay and Breton Sound were used to estimate growth and mortality rates as a function of temperature and salinity. Previous studies conducted in Barataria Bay and Breton Sound reported differences in growth and mortality between the basins. In the present study, environmental conditions were synchronized to compare growth and mortality between basins at similar combinations of temperature and salinity. Results indicate that when temperature and salinity are the same (synchronized), seasonal oyster growth and mortality rates still differ between Barataria Bay and Breton Sound. Given the same salinity and temperature conditions, differences in growth and mortality rates between estuaries may persist due to differences in other environmental conditions (i.e., food quality and composition, hydrology, site history, salinity variation) or localized genetic adaptations to environmental conditions.

Lousianna↗

USGS2013

Coastal-change and glaciological map of the Amery Ice Shelf area, Antarctica: 1961–2004

Reduction in the area and volume of Earth’s two polar ice sheets is intricately linked to changes in global climate and to the resulting rise in sea level. Measurement of changes in area and mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet was given a very high priority in recommendations by the Polar Research Board of the National Research Council. On the basis of these recommendations, the U.S. Geological Survey used its archive of satellite images to document changes in the cryospheric coastline of Antarctica and analyze the glaciological features of the coastal regions. Amery Ice Shelf, lying between 67.5° and 75° East longitude and 68.5° and 73.2° South latitude, is the largest ice shelf in East Antarctica. The latest measurements of the area of the ice shelf range between 62,620 and 71,260 square kilometers. The ice shelf is fed primarily by Lambert, Mellor, and Fisher Glaciers; its thickness ranges from 3,000 meters in the center of the grounding line to less than 300 meters at the ice front. Lambert Glacier is considered to be the largest glacier in the world, and its drainage basin is more than 1 million square kilometers in area. It is possible to see some coastal change on the outlet glaciers along the coast, but most of the noticeable change occurs on the Amery Ice Shelf front.

IMAP↗

USGS2007

Magnetotelluric Data, Mid Valley, Nevada Test Site, Nevada

Introduction The United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at their Nevada Site Office (NSO) are addressing ground-water contamination resulting from historical underground nuclear testing through the Environmental Management (EM) program and, in particular, the Underground Test Area (UGTA) project. One issue of concern is the nature of the somewhat poorly constrained pre-Tertiary geology and its effects on ground-water flow. Ground-water modelers would like to know more about the hydrostratigraphy and geologic structure to support a hydrostratigraphic framework model that is under development for the Rainier Mesa/Shoshone Mountain Corrective Action Unit (CAU). During 2003, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the DOE and NNSA-NSO, collected and processed data at the Nevada Test Site in and near Yucca Flat (YF) to help define the character, thickness, and lateral extent of the pre-Tertiary confining units. We collected 51 magnetotelluric (MT) and audio-magnetotelluric (AMT), stations for that research. In early 2005 we extended that research with 26 additional MT data stations, located on and near Rainier Mesa and Shoshone Mountain (RM-SM). The new stations extended the area of the hydrogeologic study previously conducted in Yucca Flat. This work was done to help refine what is known about the character, thickness, and lateral extent of pre-Tertiary confining units. In particular, a major goal was to define the upper clastic confining unit (UCCU). The UCCU is comprised of late Devonian to Mississippian siliciclastic rocks assigned to the Eleana Formation and Chainman Shale. The UCCU underlies the Yucca Flat area and extends westward towards Shoshone Mountain, southward to Buckboard Mesa, and northward to Rainier Mesa. Late in 2005 we collected another 14 MT stations in Mid Valley and in northern Yucca Flat basin. That work was done to better determine the extent and thickness of the UCCU near the southeastern RM-SM CAU boundary with the southwestern YF CAU, and also in the northern YF CAU. The purpose of this report is to release the MT data at those 14 stations. No interpretation of the data is included here.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2002

Impacts of aquatic nonindigenous invasive species on the Lake Erie ecosystem

Lake Erie is particularly vulnerable to the introduction and establishment of aquatic nonindigenous invasive species (NIS) populations. A minimum of 144 aquatic NIS have been recorded in the Lake Erie basin including several species [e.g., Eurasian watermilfoil ( Myriophyllum spicatum ); zebra mussel ( Dreissena polymorpha ); quagga mussel (Dreissena bugensis); an amphipod (Echinogammarus ischnus); round goby (Neogobius melanostomus); and sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus )] that have had discernible impacts on the lake's ecology. NIS pose threats to the Lake Erie ecosystem for a variety of reasons including their ability to proliferate quickly, compete with native species, and transfer contaminants (e.g., PCBs) and disease through the food web. Six of the 14 beneficial use impairments listed in Annex 2 of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement are impaired in Lake Erie, in part as a result of the introduction of NIS. The Lake Erie Lakewide Management Plan (LaMP) has adopted an ecosystem approach to restore beneficial use impairments in the lake. Furthermore, a research consortium, known as the Lake Erie Millennium Network, is working alongside the LaMP, to address research problems regarding NIS, the loss of habitat, and the role of contaminants in the Lake Erie ecosystem.

Conference Paper↗

USGS2016

The Chuar Petroleum System, Arizona and Utah

The Neoproterozoic Chuar Group consists of marine mudstone, sandstone and dolomitic strata divided into the Galeros and Kwagunt Formations, and is exposed only in the eastern Grand Canyon, Arizona. Research by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in the late 1980s identified strata within the group to be possible petroleum source rocks, and in particular the Walcott Member of the Kwagunt Formation. Industry interest in a Chuar oil play led to several exploratory wells drilled in the 1990s in southern Utah and northern Arizona to test the overlying Cambrian Tapeats Sandstone reservoir, and confirm the existence of the Chuar in subcrop. USGS geochemical analyses of Tapeats oil shows in two wells have been tentatively correlated to Chuar bitumen extracts. Distribution of the Chuar in the subsurface is poorly constrained with only five well penetrations, but recently published gravity/aeromagnetic interpretations provide further insight into the Chuar subcrop distribution. The Chuar petroleum system was reexamined as part of the USGS Paradox Basin resource assessment in 2011. A map was constructed to delineate the Chuar petroleum system that encompasses the projected Chuar source rock distribution and all oil shows in the Tapeats Sandstone, assuming that the Chuar is the most likely source for such oil shows. Two hypothetical plays were recognized but not assessed: (1) a conventional play with a Chuar source and Tapeats reservoir, and (2) an unconventional play with a Chuar source and reservoir. The conventional play has been discouraging because most surface structures have been tested by drilling with minimal petroleum shows, and there is some evidence that petroleum may have been flushed by CO2 from Tertiary volcanism. The unconventional play is untested and remains promising even though the subcrop distribution of source facies within the Chuar Group is largely unknown.

Book chapter↗

USGS2023

Evaluate propagation efforts and determine dispersal patterns for Quadrula fragosa from tagged, artificially infested host fish (Ictalurus punctatus) in the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway (SACN)

The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway (SACN) has been the site of propagation and restoration efforts for two federally endangered unionid mussels: Higgins’ Eye, Lampsilis higginsii and Winged Mapleleaf (WML), Quadrula fragosa. Since about 2000, government agencies have collaboratively developed techniques to successfully propagate Higgins’ Eye and reintroduce the captive-reared subadult mussels into rehabilitated habitats in the upper Mississippi River Basin and several tributaries, including the SACN. However, propagation efforts for the WML have had limited success from 2003 to present. The population of WML in the SACN has high value because it is physically isolated and genetically distinct from four southern populations, and it is the only known self-sustaining population within the upper Mississippi River. Unionids have a complex reproductive cycle that includes a parasitic larval stage (glochidia) that requires species-specific fish hosts. WML are one of the few species that are fall, short-term (~6 weeks) brooders—brooding begins at end of August. In the SACN, Channel Catfish ( Ictalurus punctatus ) are the only known host for WML and glochidia are assumed to overwinter on their host fish and detach the following spring. Research has shown that holding hatchery reared channel catfish that are infested with WML glochidia in cages, either in situ or in a hatchery, over winter has been a challenge due to high fish mortality; rearing juveniles after transformation has also resulted in high mortality rates and juvenile loss (Wege et al. 2007). The importance of the overwintering parasitic period and the overall health of the host fish for successful transformation of juvenile WML is unknown, but these key criteria could play an important role in successful propagation efforts. This research has three objectives: (1) compile historic data from >14 years of Q. fragosa propagation efforts into a searchable database to identify potential knowledge gaps that could be limiting its success, (2) explore in situ and ex situ propagation techniques to optimize production of Q. fragosa juveniles, and (3) characterize the movement pattern of Channel Catfish that are artificially inoculated with the SACN strain of Q. fragosa to identify potential juvenile release survey locations in future years.

Minnesota, Wisconsin↗

USGS2022

Evaluate propagation efforts and determine dispersal patterns for Quadrula fragosa from tagged, artificially infested host fish (Ictalurus punctatus) in the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway (SACN)

Minnesota, Wisconsin↗

USGS2017

Responses of invasive silver and bighead carp to a carbon dioxide barrier in outdoor ponds

Resource managers need for effective methods to prevent the movement of silver ( Hypophthalmichthys molitrix ) and bighead carp ( H. nobilis ) from the Mississippi River basin into the Laurentian Great Lakes. In this study, we evaluated dissolved carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) as a barrier and deterrent to silver (278 ± 30.5 mm) and bighead (212 ± 7.7 mm) carp movement in continuous-flow outdoor ponds. As a barrier, CO 2 significantly reduced upstream movement but was not 100% effective at blocking fish passage. As a deterrent, we observed a significant shift away from areas of high CO 2 relative to normal movement before and after injection. Carbon dioxide concentrations varied across the pond during injection and reached maximum concentrations of 74.5±1.9 mg/L CO 2 ; 29 532 – 41 393 µatm at the site of injection during three independent trials. We conclude that CO 2 altered silver and bighead carp movement in outdoor ponds and recommend further research to determine barrier effectiveness during field applications.

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences↗

USGS2024

The Khonkho tephra: A large-magnitude volcanic eruption coincided with the rise of Tiwanaku in the Andes

We report a tephra deposit in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin, Bolivia, which was deposited by a major, previously unrecognized eruption sometime between AD 400 and 720. Archaeological data suggest these centuries were characterized by a substantial community migration to Tiwanaku, where social interaction networks gave birth to one of the Andes’ first large complex societies. Here we provide an initial characterization of this tephra, based on samples from the archaeological site Khonkho Wankane. The same tephra is present at two other archaeological sites in the region. Given the great distance to the nearest active volcano, this tephra layer likely derives from a large-magnitude, Late-Holocene explosive eruption of a Central Andean volcano. We suggest that this major event be included in the human history of the region, given its inferred magnitude and wide dispersal area. Future research could confirm the Khonkho tephra at other sites, identify the source volcano, estimate its volume, and more precisely date the eruption.

southern Lake Titicaca Basin↗