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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: 1831

The legacy of wetland drainage on the remaining peat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA The legacy of wetland drainage on the remaining peat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California, USA

Throughout the world, many extensive wetlands, such as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California (hereafter, the Delta), have been drained for agriculture, resulting in land-surface subsidence of peat soils. The purpose of this project was to study the in situ effects of wetland drainage on the remaining peat in the Delta. Peat cores were retrieved from four drained, farmed islands...
Authors
Judith Z. Drexler, Christian S. de Fontaine, Steven J. Deverel

Collection of pyrethroids in water and sediment matrices: Development and validation of a standard operating procedure Collection of pyrethroids in water and sediment matrices: Development and validation of a standard operating procedure

Loss of pyrethroid insecticides onto surfaces during sample collection can confound the interpretation of analytical and toxicity test results. Sample collection devices, container materials, and water matrix composition have a significant influence on the association of pyrethroids to container walls, which can be as high as 50 percent. Any sample collection method involving transfer...
Authors
Michelle Hladik, James L. Orlando, Kathryn Kuivila

Ground-Water Quality Data in the Santa Clara River Valley Study Unit, 2007: Results from the California GAMA Program Ground-Water Quality Data in the Santa Clara River Valley Study Unit, 2007: Results from the California GAMA Program

Ground-water quality in the approximately 460-square-mile Santa Clara River Valley study unit (SCRV) was investigated from April to June 2007 as part of the statewide Priority Basin project of the Ground-Water Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The GAMA Priority Basin project was developed in response to the Groundwater Quality Monitoring Act of 2001 and is being conducted...
Authors
Joseph Montrella, Kenneth Belitz

An Excel Workbook for Identifying Redox Processes in Ground Water An Excel Workbook for Identifying Redox Processes in Ground Water

The reduction/oxidation (redox) condition of ground water affects the concentration, transport, and fate of many anthropogenic and natural contaminants. The redox state of a ground-water sample is defined by the dominant type of reduction/oxidation reaction, or redox process, occurring in the sample, as inferred from water-quality data. However, because of the difficulty in defining and...
Authors
Bryant C. Jurgens, Peter B. McMahon, Francis H. Chapelle, Sandra M. Eberts

Why are diverse relationships observed between phytoplankton biomass and transport time? Why are diverse relationships observed between phytoplankton biomass and transport time?

Transport time scales such as flushing time and residence time are often used to explain variability in phytoplankton biomass. In many cases, empirical data are consistent with a positive phytoplankton‐transport time relationship (i.e., phytoplankton biomass increases as transport time increases). However, negative relationships, varying relationships, or no significant relationship may...
Authors
Lisa V. Lucas, Janet K. Thompson, Larry R. Brown

Comparison of groundwater flow in Southern California coastal aquifers Comparison of groundwater flow in Southern California coastal aquifers

Development of the coastal aquifer systems of Southern California has resulted in overdraft, changes in streamflow, seawater intrusion, land subsidence, increased vertical flow between aquifers, and a redirection of regional flow toward pumping centers. These water-management challenges can be more effectively addressed by incorporating new understanding of the geologic, hydrologic, and
Authors
Randall T. Hanson, John A. Izbicki, Eric G. Reichard, Brian D. Edwards, Michael Land, Peter Martin

Polaris Polaris

No abstract available.
Authors
James F. Howle

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
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