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Publications

Below is a list of available Colorado Water Science Center publications and published products.

Filter Total Items: 754

Water-quality characteristics of the Slate and East Rivers, Colorado, during the winter recreational season, December 1996

Periods of population influxes during winter recreation occur simultaneously with periods of extreme low flow in many Rocky Mountain areas. The ability of streams to assimilate additional nutrient loading is reduced by the low-flow conditions. Low-flow water-quality characteristics of the Slate and East Rivers, which drain the Crested Butte area, were investigated in December 1996. Six sites were
Authors
N.E. Spahr, J. R. Deacon

Winter fluxes of CO2 and CH4 from subalpine soils in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Fluxes of CO2 and CH4 through a seasonal snowpack were measured in and adjacent to a subalpine wetland in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Gas diffusion through the snow was controlled by gas production or consumption in the soil and by physical snowpack properties. The snowpack insulated soils from cold midwinter air temperatures allowing microbial activity to continue through the winter.
Authors
Alisa Mast, Kimberly P. Wickland, Robert G. Striegl, David W. Clow

World Wide Web home page for the South Platte NAWQA

A World Wide Web home page for the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program, South Platte River Basin study is now online. The home page includes information about the basinwide investigation and provides viewing and downloading access to physical, chemical, and biological data collected by the study team.
Authors
Sharon L. Qi, Kevin F. Dennehy

Geochemistry of the processes that attenuate acid mine drainage in wetlands

Because conventional treatment of acid-mine drainage (AMD) involves installation and maintenance of water treatment plants, regulators and mine operators have sought lower cost and lower maintenance technologies. One ecological engineering technology that has received increasing research attention is the use of natural and constructed wetlands for remediation of some of the water-quality problems
Authors
Katherine Walton-Day

Strontium 87/strontium 86 as a tracer of mineral weathering reactions and calcium sources in an alpine/subalpine watershed, Loch Vale, Colorado

Sr isotopic ratios of atmospheric deposition, surface and subsurface water, and geologic materials were measured in an alpine/subalpine watershed to characterize weathering reactions and identify sources of dissolved Ca in stream water. Previous studies have noted an excess of Ca in stream water above that expected from stoichiometric weathering of the dominant bedrock minerals. Mixing calculation
Authors
David W. Clow, Alisa Mast, Thomas D. Bullen, John T. Turk

Organochlorine compounds and trace elements in streambed sediment and fish tissue, South Platte River Basin; Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming

Concentration data for organochlorine compounds and trace elements in streambed sediment and fish tissue collected throughout the South Platte River Basin as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National WaterQuality Assessment (NAWQA) Program were evaluated to determine the following: (1) which organochlorine compounds and trace elements occurred most frequently, (2) whether detection frequencies
Authors
Janet S. Heiny

Interim results of quality-control sampling of surface water for the Upper Colorado River National Water-Quality Assessment Study Unit, water years 1995-96

Quality-control samples provide part of the information needed to estimate the bias and variability that result from sample collection, processing, and analysis. Quality-control samples of surface water collected for the Upper Colorado River National Water-Quality Assessment study unit for water years 1995?96 are presented and analyzed in this report. The types of quality-control samples collected
Authors
N.E. Spahr, R.W. Boulger

Nitrogen and phosphorus data for surface water in the Upper Colorado River basin, Colorado, 1980-94

This report documents, summarizes, and provides on 3.5-in. diskette the surface-water data collected from January 1980 through August 1994 for nitrogen and phosphorus in the Upper Colorado River Basin from the Colorado-Utah State line to the Continental Divide. Ancillary data for parameters, such as water temperature, streamflow, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, pH, and alkalinity, also are
Authors
K. H. Wynn, N.E. Spahr