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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

Chromium geochemistry of serpentinous sediment in the Willow core, Santa Clara County, California Chromium geochemistry of serpentinous sediment in the Willow core, Santa Clara County, California

A preliminary investigation of Cr geochemistry in serpentinous sediment completed for a multiple-aquifer ground-water monitoring well (Willow core of Santa Clara County, CA) determined sediment at depths >225 meters contains Cr concentrations ranging from 195 to 1155 mg/kg. Serpentinous sediment from this site is a potential source of non-anthropogenic Cr contamination. Chromium-bearing...
Authors
Christopher J. Oze, Matthew J. LaForce, Carl M. Wentworth, Randall T. Hanson, Dennis K. Bird, Robert G. Coleman

Channel response to tectonic forcing: field analysis of stream morphology and hydrology in the Mendocino triple junction region, northern California Channel response to tectonic forcing: field analysis of stream morphology and hydrology in the Mendocino triple junction region, northern California

An empirical calibration of the shear stress model for bedrock incision is presented, using field and hydrologic data from a series of small, coastal drainage basins near the Mendocino triple junction in northern California. Previous work comparing basins from the high uplift zone (HUZ, uplift rates around 4 mm/year) to ones in the low uplift zone (LUZ, ∼0.5 mm/year) indicates that the...
Authors
Noah P. Snyder, Kelin X. Whipple, Gregory E. Tucker, D.J. Merritts

Comparison of salinity and temperature at continuous monitoring stations and nearby monthly measurement sites in San Francisco Bay Comparison of salinity and temperature at continuous monitoring stations and nearby monthly measurement sites in San Francisco Bay

Salinity and temperature are crucial state variables affecting estuarine habitat an d, thus, are measured by various San Francisco Estuary programs. This article presents a comparison of salinity and temperature data collected at seven continuo us monitoring stations throughout San Francisco Bay (Figure 1) with data collected monthly by the US Geological Survey (USGS) research vessel (...
Authors
L.G. Bergfeld, D. H. Schoellhamer

Importance of a stochastic distribution of floods and erosion thresholds in the bedrock river incision problem Importance of a stochastic distribution of floods and erosion thresholds in the bedrock river incision problem

Fluvial erosion of bedrock occurs during occasional flood events when boundary shear stress exceeds a critical threshold to initiate incision. Therefore efforts to model the evolution of topography over long timescales should include an erosion threshold and should be driven by a stochastic distribution of erosive events. However, most bedrock incision models ignore the threshold as a...
Authors
Noah P. Snyder, Kelin X. Whipple, Gregory E. Tucker, D.J. Merritts

Preliminary assessment of DOC and THM precursor loads from a freshwater restored wetland, an agricultural field, and a tidal wetland in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta Preliminary assessment of DOC and THM precursor loads from a freshwater restored wetland, an agricultural field, and a tidal wetland in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta

Water exported from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta supplies drinking water to more than 22 million people in California. At certain times of the year, Delta waters contain relatively high concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and bromide. During these times, chlorination of Delta water for drinking water disinfection will form disinfection byproducts, such as...
Authors
R. Fujii, B.A. Bergamaschi, N. K. Ganju, J.A. Fleck, K.R. Burow-Fogg, D. Schoellhamer, S. J. Deverel

A summary of the San Francisco tidal wetlands restoration series A summary of the San Francisco tidal wetlands restoration series

The four topical articles of the Tidal Wetlands Restoration Series summarized and synthesized much of what is known about tidal wetlands and tidal wetland restoration in the San Francisco Estuary (hereafter “Estuary”). Despite a substantial amount of available information, major uncertainties remain. A major uncertainty with regard to fishes is the net benefit of restored tidal wetlands...
Authors
Larry R. Brown

Potential for increased mercury accumulation in the estuary food web Potential for increased mercury accumulation in the estuary food web

Present concentrations of mercury in large portions of San Francisco Bay (Bay), the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta), and the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers are high enough to warrant concern for the health of humans and wildlife. Large scale tidal wetland restoration is currently under consideration as a means of increasing populations of fish species of concern. Tidal wetland...
Authors
Jay A. Davis, Donald Yee, Joshua N. Collins, Steven E. Schwarzbach, Samuel N. Luoma

Potential effects of organic carbon production on ecosystems and drinking water quality Potential effects of organic carbon production on ecosystems and drinking water quality

Restoration of tidal wetlands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) is an important component of the Ecosystem Restoration Program of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program (CALFED). CALFED is a collaborative effort among state and federal agencies to restore the ecological health and improve water management of the Delta and San Francisco Bay (Bay). Tidal wetland restoration is intended to...
Authors
Larry R. Brown

An introduction to the San Francisco Estuary tidal wetlands restoration series An introduction to the San Francisco Estuary tidal wetlands restoration series

Restoration of tidal wetlands may provide an important tool for improving ecological health and water management for beneficial uses of the San Francisco Estuary (hereafter “Estuary”). Given the large losses of tidal wetlands from San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in the last 150 years, it seems logical to assume that restoring tidal wetlands will have benefits for a...
Authors
Larry R. Brown

Measuring human-induced land subsidence from space Measuring human-induced land subsidence from space

Satellite Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is a revolutionary technique that allows scientists to measure and map changes on the Earth's surface as small as a few millimeters. By bouncing radar signals off the ground surface from the same point in space but at different times, the radar satellite can measure the change in distance between the satellite and ground (range...
Authors
Gerald W. Bawden, Michelle Sneed, Sylvia V. Stork, Devin L. Galloway
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