Publications

The southern Chesapeake Bay region is experiencing land subsidence and rising water levels due to global sea-level rise; land subsidence and rising water levels combine to cause relative sea-level rise. Land subsidence has been observed since the 1940s in the southern Chesapeake Bay region at rates of 1.1 to 4.8 millimeters per year (mm/yr), and subsidence continues today. This land...

High salinity groundwater more than 1000 metres deep in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the United States has been documented in several locations1,2, most recently within the 35 million-year-old Chesapeake Bay impact crater3,4,5. Suggestions for the origin of increased salinity in the crater have included evaporite dissolution6, osmosis6, and evaporation from heating7 associated with the...

A study has been undertaken to determine the time required for the effects of nitrogen-reducing best management practices (BMPs) implemented at the land surface to reach the Chesapeake Bay via groundwater transport to streams. To accomplish this, a nitrogen mass-balance regression (NMBR) model was developed and applied to seven watersheds on the Delmarva Peninsula. The model included the

Achieving and maintaining the water quality conditions necessary to protect the aquatic living resources of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries has required a foundation of quantifiable water quality criteria. Quantitative criteria serve as a critical basis for assessing the attainment of designated uses and measuring progress toward meeting water quality goals of the Chesapeake...

Purpose: Fine-grained sediment is an important pollutant in streams and estuaries, including the Chesapeake Bay in the USA. The objective of this study was to determine the sources of fine-grained sediment using the sediment fingerprinting approach in the Linganore Creek watershed, a tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. Materials and methods: The sediment fingerprinting approach was used in...

The Northern Snakehead Channa argus is an introduced species that now inhabits the Chesapeake Bay. During a preliminary survey for introduced pathogens possibly harbored by these fish in Virginia waters, a filterable agent was isolated from five specimens that produced cytopathic effects in BF-2 cells. Based on PCR amplification and partial sequencing of the major capsid protein (MCP)...

Measured concentrations of environmental tracers in spring discharge from a karst aquifer in the Shenandoah Valley, USA, were used to refine a numerical groundwater flow model. The karst aquifer is folded and faulted carbonate bedrock dominated by diffuse flow along fractures. The numerical model represented bedrock structure and discrete features (fault zones and springs)...

Yellow perch live in creeks, rivers, ponds, lakes, and estuaries across the central and eastern United States and Canada. In Chesapeake Bay, they tolerate salinities up to one-third that of seawater. The adults reside in the brackish waters of the bay’s tributaries and migrate upstream to spawn. Yellow perch are eagerly sought by recreational fishermen for their excellent taste and...

Greater connectivity to stream surface water may result in greater inputs of allochthonous nutrients that could stimulate internal nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycling in natural, restored, and created riparian wetlands. This study investigated the effects of hydrologic connectivity to stream water on soil nutrient fluxes in plots (n = 20) located among four created and two natural...

The 2013 Forecast - Given the average Jan-May 2013 total nitrogen load of 162,028 kg/day, this summer’s hypoxia volume forecast is 6.1 km3, slightly smaller than average size for the period of record and almost the same as 2012.

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) partners, routinely reports long-term concentration trends and monthly and annual constituent loads for stream water-quality monitoring stations across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This report documents flow-adjusted trends in sediment and total nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations for 31 stations in the...

A bank and floodplain sediment budget was created for three Piedmont streams tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. The watersheds of each stream varied in land use from urban (Difficult Run) to urbanizing (Little Conestoga Creek) to agricultural (Linganore Creek). The purpose of the study was to determine the relation between geomorphic parameters and sediment dynamics and to develop a...