Publications

FIA plot data were used to assist in classifying forest land cover from Landsat imagery and relevant ancillary data in two regions of the U.S.: one around the Chesapeake Bay area and the other around Utah. The overall accuracies for the forest/nonforest classification were over 90 percent and about 80 percent, respectively, in the two regions. The accuracies for deciduous/evergreen/mixed...

A recent study by the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows that a broad range of chemicals found in residential, industrial, and agricultural wastewaters commonly occurs in mixtures at low concentrations downstream from areas of intense urbanization and animal production. The chemicals include human and veterinary drugs (including antibiotics)...

Studies of bluff erosion and slope stability along the western shore of Chesapeake Bay suggest relative evolution from steep, eroding coastal bluffs to stable slopes at angles of repose ca. 35 degrees over decades. Because of the dating methods in those studies, it was impossible to precisely define rates of change. The present study provides historic age control. A pair of small harbor...

The symposium 'Black Ducks and Their Chesapeake Bay Habitats,' held October 4, 2000, provided a forum for scientists to share research about the American black duck (Anas rubripes), an important breeding and wintering waterfowl species dependent upon the Chesapeake Bay habitats. American black ducks have declined significantly in the last 50 years and continue to be a species of...

The Chesapeake Bay is the Nation's largest estuary and historically supported one of the most productive fisheries in the world. In addition to supporting aquatic communities and wildlife, the bay's watershed serves the economic and recreational needs of 15 million people. The fertile soils of the watershed support significant agricultural production. Unfortunately, the commercial...

The maintenance dredging of fine-grained sediment which accumulated in shipping channels in the Upper Chesapeake was discussed. The capacity of open-water sites was maximized in an environmentally acceptable manner to provide adequate time for the development of beneficial use or confined placement sites. The additional water column turbidity generated by dragging operations and bottom...

To provide the first nationwide reconnaissance of the occurrence of pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants (OWCs) in water resources, the U.S. Geological Survey used five newly developed analytical methods to measure concentrations of 95 OWCs in water samples from a network of 139 streams across 30 states during 1999 and 2000. The selection of sampling sites...

Mass balances of total arsenic and copper for a suburban lake in densely populated northern Virginia were calculated using data collected during 1998. Mass-balance terms were precipitation; stream inflow, including road runoff; stream outflow; and contributions from leaching of pressure-treated lumber. More mass of arsenic and copper was input to the lake than was output; the 1998 lake...

Model ground water ages based on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and tritium/helium-3 (3H/3He) data were obtained from two arrays of nested piezometers located on the north limb of an anticline in fractured sedimentary rocks in the Valley and Ridge geologic province of Pennsylvania. The fracture geometry of the gently east plunging fold is very regular and consists predominately of south...

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

Procedures are described for processing fish for examination of external and internal anomalies and pathologies indicative of exposure to environmental contaminants and other peturbations. For the procedures described here, fish are captured (preferably by electrofishing) and held alive until processing (generally 1 h). Fish are weighed, measured, and necropsied, and a scale sample is...