Publications

Studies of butyltin compounds in soil, benthic sediments and the Asian clam Potamocorbula amurensis were conducted at the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard, and nearby Mare Island and Carquinez Straits in San Francisco Bay, California. Soils from a sandblast abrasives dump site at the shipyard contained low concentrations of mono-, di- and tributyltin (0.3-52 ng/g, total butyltin)...

The δ13C values of individual trihalomethanes (THM) formed on reaction of chlorine with dissolved organic carbon (DOC) leached from maize (corn; Zea maize L.) and Scirpus acutus(an aquatic bulrush), and with DOC extracted from agricultural drainage waters were determined using purge and trap introduction into a gas chromatograph-combustion-isotope ratio monitoring mass spectrometer. We...

A regional-scale, steady-state, saturated-zone ground-water flow model was constructed to evaluate potential regional ground-water flow in the vicinity of Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The model was limited to three layers in an effort to evaluate the characteristics governing large-scale subsurface flow. Geoscientific information systems (GSIS) were used to characterize the complex surface...

This report describes the environmental setting and investigative activities of the Sacramento River Basin study unit of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program. The Sacramento River Basin is one of 60 study units located throughout the United States that has been scheduled for study as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program. The Sacramento River Basin is the most...

The city of Santa Barbara pumps most of its ground water from the Santa Barbara and Foothill ground-water basins. The Santa Barbara basin is subdivided into two storage units: Storage Unit I and Storage Unit III. The Foothill basin and Storage Unit I of the Santa Barbara basin have been studied extensively and ground-water flow models have been developed for them. In this report, the...

Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) has great potential to detect and quantify land subsidence caused by aquifer system compaction. InSAR maps with high spatial detail and resolution of range displacement (±10 mm in change of land surface elevation) were developed for a groundwater basin (∼103 km2) in Antelope Valley, California, using radar data collected from the ERS-1...

The National Water-Quality Assessment Program for the San Joaquin-Tulare Basins began in 1991 to study the effects of natural and anthropogenic influences on the quality of ground water, surface water, biology, and ecology. The San Joaquin-Tulare Basins study unit, which covers approximately 31,200 square miles in central California, is made up of the San Joaquin Valley, the eastern...

The chemistry of the carbonate-free clay-size fraction of Owens Lake sediments supports the use of total organic carbon and magnetic susceptibility as indicators of stadial-interstadial oscillations. Owens Lake records of total organic carbon, magnetic susceptibility, and chemical composition of the carbonate-free, clay-size fraction indicate that Tioga glaciation began ~24,500 and ended...

The 1994 spring phytoplankton bloom in South San Francisco Bay caused substantial reductions in concentrations of dissolved Cd, Ni, and Zn, but not Cu. We estimate that the equivalent of ~60% of the total annual input of Cd, Ni, and Zn from local waste‐water treatment plants is cycled through the phytoplankton in South Bay. The results suggest that processes that affect phytoplankton...

A simulation-optimization model has been developed for the optimal management of the city of Santa Barbara's water resources during a drought. The model, which links groundwater simulation with linear programming, has a planning horizon of 5 years. The objective is to minimize the cost of water supply subject to: water demand constraints, hydraulic head constraints to control seawater...

Organochlorines, metals, and trace elements were measured in liver, kidney, or whole-body tissues of canvasbacks (Aythya valisineria), lesser scaups (A. affinis), and greater scaups (A. marila) collected from San Francisco Bay and three coastal areas of California during the winter of 1986–1987. Potentially toxic concentrations of mercury (mean ≤10.4 µg/g, dry weight) and selenium (mean...

We present results of an intensive sampling program designed to measure weekly changes in ecosystem respiration (oxygen consumption in the water column and sediments) around the 1996 spring bloom in South San Francisco Bay, California, USA. Measurements were made at a shallow site (2 m, where mean photic depth was 60% of the water column height) and a deep site (15 m, mean photic depth...