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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

Environmental setting of San Francisco Bay Environmental setting of San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay, the largest bay on the California coast, is a broad, shallow, turbid estuary comprising two geographically and hydrologically distinct subestuaries: the northern reach lying between the connection to the Pacific Ocean at the Golden Gate and the confluence of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system, and the southern reach (herein called South Bay) between the Golden...
Authors
T. J. Conomos, R. E. Smith, J. W. Gartner

A policy evaluation tool: Management of a multiaquifer system using controlled stream recharge A policy evaluation tool: Management of a multiaquifer system using controlled stream recharge

A model for the optimal allocation of water resources was developed for a multiaquifer groundwater and surface water system near Livermore, California. The complex groundwater system was analyzed using a transient, quasi-three-dimensional model that considers the nonlinear behavior of the unconfined aquifer. The surface water system consists of a reservoir that discharges water to three...
Authors
Wesley R. Danskin, Steven M. Gorelick

Seasonal cycles of zooplankton from San Francisco Bay Seasonal cycles of zooplankton from San Francisco Bay

The two estuarine systems composing San Francisco Bay have distinct zooplankton communities and seasonal population dynamics. In the South Bay, a shallow lagoon-type estuary, the copepods Acartia spp. and Oithona davisae dominate. As in estuaries along the northeast coast of the U.S., there is a seasonal succession involving the replacement of a cold-season Acartia species (A. clausi s.l...
Authors
Julie W. Ambler, James E. Cloern, Anne Hutchinson

Time scales of circulation and mixing processes of San Francisco Bay waters Time scales of circulation and mixing processes of San Francisco Bay waters

Conceptual models for tidal period and low-frequency variations in sea level, currents, and mixing processes in the northern and southern reaches of San Francisco Bay describe the contrasting characteristics and dissimilar processes and rates in these embayments: The northern reach is a partially mixed estuary whereas the southern reach (South Bay) is a tidally oscillating lagoon with...
Authors
R. A. Walters, R. T. Cheng, T. J. Conomos

Transport and concentration controls for chloride, strontium, potassium and lead in Uvas Creek, a small cobble-bed stream in Santa Clara County, California, U.S.A.: 1. Conceptual model Transport and concentration controls for chloride, strontium, potassium and lead in Uvas Creek, a small cobble-bed stream in Santa Clara County, California, U.S.A.: 1. Conceptual model

Stream sediments adsorb certain solutes from streams, thereby significantly changing the solute composition; but little is known about the details and rates of these adsorptive processes. To investigate such processes, a 24-hr. injection of a solution containing chloride, strontium, potassium, sodium and lead was made at the head of a 640-m reach of Uvas Creek in west-central Santa Clara...
Authors
V. C. Kennedy, A. P. Jackman, S.M. Zand, G. W. Zellweger, R.J. Avanzino

Design and implementation of evapotranspiration measuring equipment for Owens Valley, California Design and implementation of evapotranspiration measuring equipment for Owens Valley, California

As part of a plant survivability and ground water study in Owens Valley, California, semipermanent installations are used to measure continuous range‐land evapotranspiration in the valley's phreatophyte community. A proposed mobile installation also has been designed. The semipermanent micrometeoro‐logical station collects continuous data for solution of the Bowen ratio/energy budget...
Authors
Michael R. Simpson, Lowell F. W. Duell

Reducing relative error from the CVBEM by proper treatment of the known boundary conditions Reducing relative error from the CVBEM by proper treatment of the known boundary conditions

By a proper treatment of the known boundary conditions of a boundary value problem, a complex variable boundary element method (CVBEM) can be used to exactly satisfy the known nodal point boundary values. In this fashion, a numerical model can be developed which generates relative error information along the problem boundary that can be used to reduce the modelling error by either an...
Authors
T. V. Hromadka, Gary L. Guymon

Significance of biomass and light availability to phytoplankton productivity in San Francisco Bay Significance of biomass and light availability to phytoplankton productivity in San Francisco Bay

Primary productivity was measured monthly at 6 sites within San Francisco Bay, USA, throughout 1980. The 6 sites were chosen to represent a range of estuarine environments with respect to salinity, phytoplankton community composition, turbidity, and water depth. Annual net production over the photic zone ranged from 95 to 150 g C m-2, and was highest in regions of lowest turbidity. Daily...
Authors
Brian E. Cole, James E. Cloern

Dynamics of added nitrate and phosphate compared in a northern California woodland stream Dynamics of added nitrate and phosphate compared in a northern California woodland stream

Injections of NO3 and PO4 were made during September 1975 into Little Lost Man Creek, a small pristine stream in Redwood National Park, California. Chloride, a conservative constituent, was added in a known ratio to the nutrients. Nutrient loss at a downstream point was calculated using concentration of added Cl as a reference. Nitrate nitrogen (NO3‐N), added for 4 h, reached 920 μg/1...
Authors
Michael J. Sebetich, Vance C. Kennedy, S. Marc Zand, Ronald J. Avanzino, Gary W. Zellweger

A simple model of ice segregation using an analytic function to model heat and soil-water flow A simple model of ice segregation using an analytic function to model heat and soil-water flow

For slowly moving freezing fronts in soil, the heat-transport equation may be approximated by the Laplacian of temperature. Consequently, potential theory may be assumed to apply and the temperature state can be approximated by an analytic function. The movement of freezing fronts may be approximated by a time-stepped solution of the phase-change problem, thus solving directly for heat...
Authors
T. V. Hromadka, G. L. Guymon

Ground-water-quality monitoring network design for the San Joaquin Valley ground-water basin, California Ground-water-quality monitoring network design for the San Joaquin Valley ground-water basin, California

Ideal and actual ground-water-quality monitoring networks are proposed for the San Joaquin Valley basin in California. The ideal network, which comprises several subnetworks, provides direction in the development of an actual network of wells currently monitored by known operating agencies. The ideal network can serve as a basis for the future expansion of the actual network as more...
Authors
William E. Templin

Transport and concentration controls for chloride, strontium, potassium and lead in Uvas Creek, a small cobble-bed stream in Santa Clara County, California, U.S.A.: 2. Mathematical modeling Transport and concentration controls for chloride, strontium, potassium and lead in Uvas Creek, a small cobble-bed stream in Santa Clara County, California, U.S.A.: 2. Mathematical modeling

Three models describing solute transport of conservative ion species and another describing transport of species which adsorb linearly and reversibly on bed sediments are developed and tested. The conservative models are based on three different conceptual models of the transient storage of solute in the bed. One model assumes the bed to be a well-mixed zone with flux of solute into the...
Authors
A. P. Jackman, R. A. Walters, V. C. Kennedy
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