Publications
The following list of California Water Science Center publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists.
Filter Total Items: 1723
Evaluation of measurement scale using imbibition experiments in volcanic tuffs
A major issue in the site characterization at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, a potential site for a high-level nuclear waste repository, is the relevance of laboratory-scale measurements on cores to field-scale processes, particularly water flow. Calculation of Philip`s sorptivity parameter using imbibition of water into rock was selected as a simple test to describe hydrologic parameters at both laborat
Authors
Alan L. Flint, Lorraine E. Flint, Kenneth A. Richards
Historical decline and current status of coho salmon in California
The southernmost populations of coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch occur in California where native coho stocks have declined or disappeared from all streams in which they were historically recorded. Coho salmon previously occurred in as many as 582 streams, from the Smith River near the Oregon border to the San Lorenzo River on the central coast. Information on the recent presence or absence of coh
Authors
Larry R. Brown, Peter B. Moyle, Ronald M. Yoshiyama
Use of long-term tritium records from the Colorado River to determine timescales for hydrologic processes associated with irrigation in the Imperial Valley, California
Tritium records were used to study hydrologic processes associated with irrigation and drainage in the Imperial Valley, a 2000-km2 agricultural area in the southeastern California desert. Tritium was analyzed in surface water, ground water, soil-pore water and drain water, and the results were compared to the historical record of tritium in the Colorado River. The Colorado River record was reconst
Authors
Robert L. Michel, R.A. Schoeder
Contaminants in eggs of aquatic birds from the grasslands of central California
Eggs were collected from the Grasslands of western Merced County, California, during 1986 and 1987, and at the Mendota Wildlife Area in Fresno County in 1987, as part of a reproductive study of nesting ducks and shorebirds. The eggs were analyzed to evaluate the effects of contaminants in agricultural drainwater on avian reproduction. Agricultural drainwater was the major source of water for irrig
Authors
R. L. Hothem, D. Welsh
Secondary minerals and acid mine-water chemistry
No abstract available.
Authors
Charles N. Alpers, D.W Blowes, D. Kirk Nordstrom, J.L. Jambor
Seasonal variations of Zn/Cu ratios in acid mine water from Iron Mountain, California
Time-series data on Zn/Cu weight ratios from portal effluent compositions [(Zn/Cu)water] at Iron Mountain, California, show seasonal variations that can be related to the precipitation and dissolution of melanterite [(FeII,Zn,Cu)SO4·7H2O]. Mine water and actively forming melanterite were collected from underground mine workings and chemically analyzed. The temperature-dependent solubility of Zn-Cu
Authors
Charles N. Alpers, D. Kirk Nordstrom, J. Michael Thompson
Transport and natural attenuation of Cu, Zn, As, and Fe in the acid mine drainage of Leviathan and Bryant Creeks
The Leviathan and Bryant Creek (LBC) drainage system, on the border of California and Nevada, flows through overburden and waste from a former open-pit sulfur mine. The drainage contains acid mine waters with high concentrations of several trace elements, including Cu, Zn, and As, derived from oxidative weathering of sulfides in the wastes and altered bedrock. In June and October, 1982, the mainst
Authors
Jenny G. Webster, D. Kirk Nordstrom, Kathleen S. Smith
Helium isotope and gas discharge variations associated with crustal unrest in Long Valley Caldera, California, 1989-1992
The onset of anomalous seismic activity in 1989 beneath Mammoth Mountain on the southwestern rim of the Long Valley caldera, California, was followed within ∼4 months by a large increase in 3He/4He in vapor discharged from a fumarole on the north side of the mountain. The helium isotopic ratio at this vent rose to a maximum of 6.7 RA in July 1990 and subsequently declined to values near 5 RA. Pote
Authors
M. L. Sorey, B. M. Kennedy, W.C. Evans, C. D. Farrar, G.A. Suemnicht
Multivariate geostatistical analysis of ground-water contamination: A case history
A case history is presented for the application of multivariate geostatistical methods to the problem of estimating pesticide concentrations in ground water from measured concentrations of nitrate and pesticide, when pesticide is under‐sampled. The shallow, poorly confined, sand and gravel aquifer underlying the lower Malheur River basin near Ontario, Oregon is contaminated by nitrate and metaboli
Authors
Jonathan D. Istok, Jeffrey D. Smyth, Alan L. Flint
An improved method for quantifying soil macroporosity
Quantitative information on macroporosity is needed to predict water flow and solute transport in field soils. A method was developed for determining the number, shape, and size distribution of soil macropores. Horizontal serial sections sawed from paraffin-impregnated soil cores were photographed under ultraviolet (UV) light. Anthracene, mixed with the paraffin, fluoresces a bright bluish white u
Authors
V. R. Vermeul, J.D. Istok, A. L. Flint, J.L. Pikul Jr.
Modelling within the stream-catchment continuum
No abstract available.
Authors
Kenneth E. Bencala, John H. Duff, Judson W. Harvey, A. P. Jackman, F.J. Triska
Organic carbon sources and sinks in San Francisco Bay: variability induced by river flow
Sources and sinks of organic carbon for San Francisco Bay (California, USA) were estimated for 1980. Sources for the southern reach were dominated by phytoplankton and benthic microalgal production. River loading of organic matter was an additional important factor in the northern reach. Tidal marsh export and point sources played a secondary role. Autochthonous production in San Francisco Bay ap
Authors
Alan D. Jassby, T.M. Powell, James E. Cloern