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: 1825
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
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
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
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
High-frequency in situ optical measurements during a storm event: Assessing relationships between dissolved organic matter, sediment concentrations, and hydrologic processes High-frequency in situ optical measurements during a storm event: Assessing relationships between dissolved organic matter, sediment concentrations, and hydrologic processes
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) dynamics during storm events has received considerable attention in forested watersheds, but the extent to which storms impart rapid changes in DOM concentration and composition in highly disturbed agricultural watersheds remains poorly understood. In this study, we used identical in situ optical sensors for DOM fluorescence (FDOM) with and without...
Authors
John Franco Saraceno, Brian A. Pellerin, Bryan D. Downing, Emmanuel Boss, Philip A. M. Bachand, Brian A. Bergamaschi
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
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
Coastal groundwater dynamics off Santa Barbara, California: combining geochemical tracers, electromagnetic seepmeters, and electrical resistivity Coastal groundwater dynamics off Santa Barbara, California: combining geochemical tracers, electromagnetic seepmeters, and electrical resistivity
This paper presents repeat field measurements of 222Rn and 223,224,226,228Ra, electromagnetic seepage meter-derived advective fluxes, and multi-electrode, stationary and continuous marine resistivity surveys collected between November 2005 and April 2007 to study coastal groundwater dynamics within a marine beach in Santa Barbara, California. The study provides insight into magnitude and...
Authors
Peter W. Swarzenski, John A. Izbicki
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