Publications
The USGS publishes peer-reviewed reports and journal articles which are used by Chesapeake Bay Program resource managers and policy makers to make science-based decisions for ecosystem conservation and restoration. Use the Search box below to find publications on selected topics.
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Filter Total Items: 942
Comparison of two regression-based approaches for determining nutrient and sediment fluxes and trends in the Chesapeake Bay watershed Comparison of two regression-based approaches for determining nutrient and sediment fluxes and trends in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
Nutrient and sediment fluxes and changes in fluxes over time are key indicators that water resource managers can use to assess the progress being made in improving the structure and function of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The U.S. Geological Survey collects annual nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) and sediment flux data and computes trends that describe the extent to which water...
Authors
Douglas Moyer, Robert M. Hirsch, Kenneth Hyer
Recent and historic sediment dynamics along Difficult Run, a suburban Virginia Piedmont stream Recent and historic sediment dynamics along Difficult Run, a suburban Virginia Piedmont stream
Suspended sediment is one of the major concerns regarding the quality of water entering the Chesapeake Bay. Some of the highest suspended-sediment concentrations occur on Piedmont streams, including Difficult Run, a tributary of the Potomac River draining urban and suburban parts of northern Virginia. Accurate information on catchment level sediment budgets is rare and difficult to...
Authors
Cliff R. Hupp, Gregory B. Noe, Edward R. Schenk, Adam J. Benthem
Assessment of salinity intrusion in the James and Chickahominy Rivers as a result of simulated sea-level rise in Chesapeake Bay, East Coast, USA Assessment of salinity intrusion in the James and Chickahominy Rivers as a result of simulated sea-level rise in Chesapeake Bay, East Coast, USA
Global sea level is rising, and the relative rate in the Chesapeake Bay region of the East Coast of the United States is greater than the worldwide rate. Sea-level rise can cause saline water to migrate upstream in estuaries and rivers, threatening freshwater habitat and drinking-water supplies. The effects of future sea-level rise on two tributaries of Chesapeake Bay, the James and...
Authors
Karen C. Rice, Bo Hong, Jian Shen
Analysis of the deconstruction of Dyke Marsh, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Virginia-Progression, geologic and manmade causes, and effective restoration scenarios Analysis of the deconstruction of Dyke Marsh, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Virginia-Progression, geologic and manmade causes, and effective restoration scenarios
This report is a synthesis of the latest findings from an ongoing study of Dyke Marsh, an eroding freshwater tidal wetland that is scheduled for federal restoration. Its purpose is to provide an accurate and up-to-date temporal and geological framework for the marsh, of which most is new information (plus a compilation of historical and recent information), that is directly relevant to...
Authors
Ronald J. Litwin, Joseph P. Smoot, Milan J. Pavich, Helaine W. Markewich, Erik Oberg, Ben Helwig, Brent Steury, Vincent L. Santucci, Nancy J. Durika, Nancy B. Rybicki, Katharina M. Engelhardt, Geoffrey Sanders, Stacey Verardo, Andrew J. Elmore, Joseph Gilmer
Relating nutrient and herbicide fate with landscape features and characteristics of 15 subwatersheds in the Choptank River watershed Relating nutrient and herbicide fate with landscape features and characteristics of 15 subwatersheds in the Choptank River watershed
Excess nutrients and agrochemicals from non-point sources contribute to water quality impairment in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and their loading rates are related to land use, agricultural practices, hydrology, and pollutant fate and transport processes. In this study, monthly baseflow stream samples from 15 agricultural subwatersheds of the Choptank River in Maryland USA (2005 to 2007...
Authors
W. Dean Hively, Cathleen J. Hapeman, Laura L. McConnell, Thomas R. Fisher, Clifford P. Rice, Gregory W. McCarty, Ali M. Sadeghi, David R. Whitall, Peter M. Downey, Gabriela T. Nino de Guzman, Krystyna Bialek-Kalinski, Megan W. Lang, Anne B. Gustafson, Adrienne J. Sutton, Kerry A. Sefton, Jennifer A. Harman Fetcho
Predator removal enhances waterbird restoration in Chesapeake Bay (Maryland) Predator removal enhances waterbird restoration in Chesapeake Bay (Maryland)
This report represents an update to an earlier report(Erwin et al. 2007a) on wildlife restoration on the largest dredge material island project in the United States underway in Talbot County, Maryland (Figure 1) in the mid–Chesapeake Bay region, referred to as the Paul Sarbanes Ecosystem Restoration Project at Poplar Island (www.nab.usace.army.mil/projects/Maryland/PoplarIsland/documents...
Authors
R. Michael Erwin, Peter C. McGowan, Jan Reese
Sources, fate, and transport of nitrogen and phosphorus in the Chesapeake Bay watershed: An empirical model Sources, fate, and transport of nitrogen and phosphorus in the Chesapeake Bay watershed: An empirical model
Spatially Referenced Regression on Watershed Attributes (SPARROW) was used to provide empirical estimates of the sources, fate, and transport of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and the mean annual TN and TP flux to the bay and in each of 80,579 nontidal tributary stream reaches. Restoration efforts in recent decades have been insufficient to...
Authors
Scott W. Ator, John W. Brakebill, Joel D. Blomquist
Simulated changes in salinity in the York and Chickahominy Rivers from projected sea-level rise in Chesapeake Bay Simulated changes in salinity in the York and Chickahominy Rivers from projected sea-level rise in Chesapeake Bay
As a result of climate change and variability, sea level is rising throughout the world, but the rate along the east coast of the United States is higher than the global mean rate. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the City of Newport News, Virginia, conducted a study to evaluate the effects of possible future sea-level rise on the salinity front in two tributaries to...
Authors
Karen C. Rice, Mark Bennett, Jian Shen
Anthropocene streams and base-level controls from historic dams in the unglaciated mid-Atlantic region, USA Anthropocene streams and base-level controls from historic dams in the unglaciated mid-Atlantic region, USA
Recently, widespread valley-bottom damming for water power was identified as a primary control on valley sedimentation in the mid-Atlantic US during the late seventeenth to early twentieth century. The timing of damming coincided with that of accelerated upland erosion during post-European settlement land-use change. In this paper, we examine the impact of local drops in base level on...
Authors
Dorothy Merritts, Robert Walter, Michael Rahnis, Jeff Hartranft, Scott Cox, Allen Gellis, Noel Potter, William Hilgartner, Michael J. Langland, Lauren Manion, Caitlin Lippincott, Sauleh Siddiqui, Zain Rehman, Chris Scheid, Laura Kratz, Andrea Shilling, Matthew Jenschke, Katherine Datin, Elizabeth Cranmer, Austin Reed, Derek Matuszewski, Mark Voli, Erik Ohlson, Ali Neugebauer, Aakash Ahamed, Conor Neal, Allison Winter, Steven Becker
Contributions of Phosphorus from Groundwater to Streams in the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge Physiographic Provinces, Eastern United States Contributions of Phosphorus from Groundwater to Streams in the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge Physiographic Provinces, Eastern United States
Phosphorus from natural and human sources is likely to be discharged from groundwater to streams in certain geochemical environments. Water-quality data collected from 1991 through 2007 in paired networks of groundwater and streams in different hydrogeologic and land-use settings of the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge Physiographic Provinces in the eastern United States were...
Authors
Judith M. Denver, Charles A. Cravotta, Scott W. Ator, Bruce D. Lindsey
Monoclinic tridymite in clast-rich impact melt rock from the Chesapeake Bay impact structure Monoclinic tridymite in clast-rich impact melt rock from the Chesapeake Bay impact structure
X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy confirm a rare terrestrial occurrence of monoclinic tridymite in clast-rich impact melt rock from the Eyreville B drill core in the Chesapeake Bay impact structure. The monoclinic tridymite occurs with quartz paramorphs after tridymite and K-feldspar in a microcrystalline groundmass of devitrified glass and Fe-rich smectite. Electron-microprobe...
Authors
John C. Jackson, J. Wright Horton, I-Ming Chou, Harvey E. Belkin
Development of soil properties and nitrogen cycling in created wetlands Development of soil properties and nitrogen cycling in created wetlands
Mitigation wetlands are expected to compensate for the loss of structure and function of natural wetlands within 5–10 years of creation; however, the age-based trajectory of development in wetlands is unclear. This study investigates the development of coupled structural (soil properties) and functional (nitrogen cycling) attributes of created non-tidal freshwater wetlands of varying...
Authors
K.L. Wolf, C. Ahn, G.B. Noe