Publications

Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds are ubiquitous in ambient surface soils in the city of Chicago, Illinois. PAH concentrations in samples collected in June 2001 and January 2002 were typically in the following order from highest to lowest: fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, phenanthrene, benzo(a)pyrene, chrysene, benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, indeno(1...

Changes in herbicide use in the Midwestern United States have been substantial over the last 5 years. Most significant is a tripling in the use of glyphosate (N-[phosphonomethyl]glycin). Over this same time period (1997­2001), atrazine use increased by 20 percent and acetochlor use increased by 10 percent, while cyanazine use decreased by 99 percent, alachlor use decreased by 70 percent...

Recent decades have brought increasing concerns for potential contamination of water resources that could inadvertently result during production, use, and disposal of the numerous chemicals offering improvements in industry, agriculture, medical treatment, and even common household products. Increasing knowledge of the environmental occurrence or toxicological behavior of these...

Too little is known about the effects of these compounds, their metabolites, and degradation products.

Till (1) raised concerns that several aspects of how we handled the data in our study (2) may have caused unintended bias. First, Till (1) considers the “median detectable concentrations” listed in Table 1 (2) to be misleading because “higher median concentrations than is actually the case” were suggested. We interpret this concern raised by Till (1) to be that some readers may...

Water resources data for Iowa for the 2002 water year consists of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams; stage, and/or contents of lakes and reservoirs; ground water levels and water quality of ground-water wells. This report volume contains discharge records for 95 gaging stations; stage or contents for 6 lakes and reservoirs and 7 streams; water quality for 1 stream...

Water resources data for Iowa for the 2002 water year consists of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams; stage, and/or contents of lakes and reservoirs; ground water levels and water quality of ground-water wells. This report volume contains discharge records for 31 gaging stations; stage or contents for 3 lakes; water quality for 1 stream-gaging station, and sediment...

Herbicide concentrations in streams of the U.S. Midwest have been shown to decrease through the growing season due to a variety of chemical and physical factors. The occurrence of herbicide degradation products at the end of the growing season is not well known. This study was conducted to document the occurrence of commonly used herbicides and their degradation products in Illinois...

Ten years ago, the upper Mississippi River Basin in the Midwestern United States experienced the costliest flood in the history of the United States. The flood came to be known as “ The Great Flood of 1993.”

This report presents miscellaneous geologic, hydrologic, and ground-water-quality data collected in and near Belvidere, Ill. during May 2001–November 2002. The data were collected for two studies conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey during 1990–2002, but subsequent to publication of the final interpretive reports for the studies. The cooperative studies with the U.S. Environmental...

The Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge (hereafter referred to as the Refuge), located on the Missouri River floodplain in northwest Missouri, was established in 1935 to provide habitat for migratory birds and wildlife. Results of 1937 and 1964 topographic surveys indicate that sedimenta-tion, primarily from Squaw Creek and Davis Creek inflows, had substantially reduced Refuge pool...

Lake Delhi was formed in 1929 when the Interstate Power Company dammed the Maquoketa River near Delhi, Iowa, for generation of hydroelectric power. The resulting 450-acre lake became a popular area in eastern Iowa for boating, swimming, and fishing. Hydroelectric power generation ended in 1973, and lakeside residents purchased the dam to maintain the recreational opportunities of the...