Publications

Isotopically labeled nitrate (15NO3-) was added continuously to the Rowley estuary, Massachusetts, for 22 d to assess the transport, uptake, and cycling of terrestrially derived nitrogen during a period of high river discharge and low phytoplankton activity. Isotopic enrichment of the 3.5-km tidal prism (150,000 m3) was achieved for the 3 weeks and allowed us to construct a nitrogen mass...

We analyzed a long-term record of ice thickness on the Piscataquis River in central Maine to determine whether there were temporal trends that were associated with climate warming. Trends in ice thickness were compared and correlated with regional time series of winter air temperature, heating degree days (HDD) , date of river ice-out, seasonal center-of-volume date (SCVD) (date on which...

No abstract available.

A numerical model was used to simulate pond-aquifer interactions under natural and stressed conditions near Snake Pond, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Simulation results show that pond-bottom hydraulic conductivity, which represents the degree of hydraulic connection between the pond and the aquifer, is an important control on these interactions. As this parameter was incrementally increased...

Trichloroethene and tetrachloroethene were detected in ground water in a vertical interval from about 68 to 176 feet below sea level beneath the shoreline where the contaminant plume emanating from a capped landfill on the Massachusetts Military Reservation intersects Red Brook Harbor. The highest concentrations at the shoreline, about 15 micrograms per liter of trichloroethene and 1...

No abstract available.

Streambed sediment and fish tissue were collected at 14 river sites in eastern New England during low-flow conditions in 1998 and 1999 as part of the New England Coastal Basins (NECB) study of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. Sampling sites were selected over a range of urban settings. Population densities at selected sites ranged from 26 to 3...

A mixed plume of contaminants in ground water, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), and metals, near the former Nyanza property in Ashland, Massachusetts, discharges to the Sudbury River upstream and downstream of Mill Pond and a former mill raceway. Polyethylene-membrane vapor-diffusion (PVD) samplers were installed in river-bottom...

Ongoing data collection in an established well network in Windham, Maine, serves as an indicator of the hydrologic and water-quality conditions in the aquifer. This report presents data collected from 1997 through 2001, including ground-water levels, measurements of water-quality field parameters, and concentrations of nutrients and arsenic.

An environmental database was developed to store water-quality data collected during the 1999 U.S. Geological Survey investigation of the occurrence and distribution of dioxins, furans, and PCBs in the riverbed sediment and fish tissue in the Penobscot River in Maine. The database can be used to store a wide range of detailed information and to perform complex queries on the data it...

Historical ice-out dates for 29 lakes in New England were compiled and are presented in this report. The length of record for the lakes ranges from 64 to 163 years, with an average of 108 years. Many lakes in New England had their latest recorded ice-out date in 1888. Ice-out dates for lakes are an important hydrologic data series for climate researchers and other interested parties.

The potential for nutrient enrichment to coastal estuaries on Mt. Desert Island, Maine, may affect the health of these important ecosystems at Acadia National Park. Inputs of water and nitrogen entering one of these coastal estuaries, Northeast Creek, and adjacent wetlands on Mt. Desert Island were quantified in a recent study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with...