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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: 1811

Stratigraphic controls on saltwater intrusion in the Dominguez Gap area of coastal Los Angeles Stratigraphic controls on saltwater intrusion in the Dominguez Gap area of coastal Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Basin is a densely populated coastal area that significantly depends on groundwater. A part of this groundwater supply is at risk from saltwater intrusion—the impetus for this study. High-resolution seismic-reflection data collected from the Los Angeles–Long Beach Harbor Complex have been combined with borehole geophysical and descriptive geological data from four nearby...
Authors
Brian D. Edwards, Kenneth D. Ehman, Daniel J. Ponti, Eric G. Reichard, John Tinsley, Robert J. Rosenbauer, Michael T. Land

Hydrologic and biogeochemical controls of river subsurface solutes under agriculturally enhanced ground water flow Hydrologic and biogeochemical controls of river subsurface solutes under agriculturally enhanced ground water flow

The relative influences of hydrologic processes and biogeochemistry on the transport and retention of minor solutes were compared in the riverbed of the lower Merced River (California, USA). The subsurface of this reach receives ground water discharge and surface water infiltration due to an altered hydraulic setting resulting from agricultural irrigation. Filtered ground water samples...
Authors
R.A. Wildman, Joseph L. Domagalski, J. G. Hering

Quantifying fluxes and characterizing compositional changes of dissolved organic matter in aquatic systems in situ using combined acoustic and optical measurements Quantifying fluxes and characterizing compositional changes of dissolved organic matter in aquatic systems in situ using combined acoustic and optical measurements

Studying the dynamics and geochemical behavior of dissolved and particulate organic material is difficult because concentration and composition may rapidly change in response to aperiodic as well as periodic physical and biological forcing. Here we describe a method useful for quantifying fluxes and analyzing dissolved organic matter (DOM) dynamics. The method uses coupled optical and...
Authors
B.D. Downing, E. Boss, B.A. Bergamaschi, J.A. Fleck, M. A. Lionberger, N. K. Ganju, D. H. Schoellhamer, R. Fujii

Integrating scientific knowledge into large-scale restoration programs: the CALFED Bay-Delta Program experience Integrating scientific knowledge into large-scale restoration programs: the CALFED Bay-Delta Program experience

Integrating science into resource management activities is a goal of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, a multi-agency effort to address water supply reliability, ecological condition, drinking water quality, and levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of northern California. Under CALFED, many different strategies were used to integrate science, including interaction between the research...
Authors
Kimberly A. Taylor, A. Short

Transport of viruses through saturated and unsaturated columns packed with sand Transport of viruses through saturated and unsaturated columns packed with sand

Laboratory-scale virus transport experiments were conducted in columns packed with sand under saturated and unsaturated conditions. The viruses employed were the male-specific RNA coliphage, MS2, and the Salmonella typhimurium phage, PRD1. The mathematical model developed by Sim and Chrysikopoulos (Water Resour Res 36:173–179, 2000) that accounts for processes responsible for removal of...
Authors
R. Anders, C.V. Chrysikopoulos

User Manual for the Data-Series Interface of the Gr Application Software User Manual for the Data-Series Interface of the Gr Application Software

This manual describes the data-series interface for the Gr Application software. Basic tasks such as plotting, editing, manipulating, and printing data series are presented. The properties of the various types of data objects and graphical objects used within the application, and the relationships between them also are presented. Descriptions of compatible data-series file formats are...
Authors
John M. Donovan

Hindcasting of decadal‐timescale estuarine bathymetric change with a tidal‐timescale model Hindcasting of decadal‐timescale estuarine bathymetric change with a tidal‐timescale model

Hindcasting decadal-timescale bathymetric change in estuaries is prone to error due to limited data for initial conditions, boundary forcing, and calibration; computational limitations further hinder efforts. We developed and calibrated a tidal-timescale model to bathymetric change in Suisun Bay, California, over the 1867–1887 period. A general, multiple-timescale calibration ensured...
Authors
Neil K. Ganju, David H. Schoellhamer, Bruce E. Jaffe

New evidence for a magmatic influence on the origin of Valles Marineris, Mars New evidence for a magmatic influence on the origin of Valles Marineris, Mars

In this paper, we show that the complex geological evolution of Valles Marineris, Mars, has been highly influenced by the manifestation of magmatism (e.g., possible plume activity). This is based on a diversity of evidence, reported here, for the central part, Melas Chasma, and nearby regions, including uplift, loss of huge volumes of material, flexure, volcanism, and possible...
Authors
J. M. Dohm, J.-P. Williams, R. C. Anderson, J. Ruiz, P.C. McGuire, G. Komatsu, A.F. Davila, J.C. Ferris, D. Schulze-Makuch, V.R. Baker, W. V. Boynton, A.G. Fairen, T.M. Hare, H. Miyamoto, K. L. Tanaka, S.J. Wheelock

Evidence for prolonged El Nino-like conditions in the Pacific during the Late Pleistocene: a 43 ka noble gas record from California groundwaters Evidence for prolonged El Nino-like conditions in the Pacific during the Late Pleistocene: a 43 ka noble gas record from California groundwaters

Information on the ocean/atmosphere state over the period spanning the Last Glacial Maximum - from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene - provides crucial constraints on the relationship between orbital forcing and global climate change. The Pacific Ocean is particularly important in this respect because of its dominant role in exporting heat and moisture from the tropics to higher...
Authors
J.T. Kulongoski, David R. Hilton, J. A. Izbicki, K. Belitz

Utilization by fishes of the Alviso Island ponds and adjacent waters in south san francisco bay following restoration to tidal influence Utilization by fishes of the Alviso Island ponds and adjacent waters in south san francisco bay following restoration to tidal influence

Earthen levees of three isolated salt ponds known locally as the Alviso Island Ponds were intentionally breached in March 2006 to allow tidal exchange of the ponds with water from Coyote Creek. The water exchange transformed the previously fishless hypersaline ponds into lower salinity habitats suitable for fish life. This study documented fish utilization of the ponds, adjacent reaches...
Authors
M. K. Saiki, F.H. Mejia

A simplified water temperature model for the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam A simplified water temperature model for the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam

Glen Canyon Dam, located on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, has affected the physical, biological and cultural resources of the river downstream in Grand Canyon. One of the impacts to the downstream physical environment that has important implications for the aquatic ecosystem is the transformation of the thermal regime from highly variable seasonally to relatively constant year...
Authors
S.A. Wright, C.R. Anderson, N. Voichick

A new syringe pump apparatus for the retrieval and temporal analysis of helium in groundwaters and geothermal fluids A new syringe pump apparatus for the retrieval and temporal analysis of helium in groundwaters and geothermal fluids

We present details of a newly designed syringe pump apparatus for the retrieval and temporal analysis of helium (SPARTAH). The device is composed of a commercially available syringe pump connected to coils of Cu tubing, which interface the syringe and the groundwater or geothermal wellhead. Through test deployments at geothermal wells in Iceland and California, we show that well fluids...
Authors
P.H. Barry, David R. Hilton, M.D. Tryon, K. M. Brown, J.T. Kulongoski
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