Publications

The 1-, 7-, and 30-day low-flow series were determined for 120 continuous-record streamflow stations in Minnesota having at least 20 years of continuous record. The 2-, 5-, 10-, 50-, and 100-year statistics were determined for each series by fitting a log Pearson type III distribution to the data. The methods used to determine the low-flow statistics and to construct the plots of the low...

'Ground-water recharge' broadly describes the addition of water to the ground-water system. Most water recharging the ground-water system moves relatively rapidly to surface-water bodies and sustains streamflow, lake levels, and wetlands. Over the long term, recharge is generally balanced by discharge to surface waters, to plants, and to deeper parts of the ground-water system. However...

Mercury contamination in the environment is a global concern, especially in areas with abundant wetlands, such as south Florida. As the causal factors of this concern improve, scientists find that many factors that do not necessarily affect mercury concentrations, such as flooding and drying cycles, or changes to carbon and sulfate loading, can profoundly affect net mercury toxicity...

Large fish kills associated with toxic populations of the haptophyte Prymnesium parvum occur worldwide. In the past 5 yr, incidences of P. parvum blooms in inland water bodies of Texas (USA) have increased dramatically, where cell densities in excess of 1 × 107 cells l–1 are typically observed. We conducted field experiments (Lake Possum Kingdom) during the fall and early spring of 28 d...

A regional regression model was developed to estimate the spatial distribution of ground water recharge in subhumid regions. The regional regression recharge (RRR) model was based on a regression of basin-wide estimates of recharge from surface water drainage basins, precipitation, growing degree days (GDD), and average basin specific yield (SY). Decadal average recharge, precipitation...

The history of overbank sedimentation in the vicinity of Halfway Creek Marsh near La Crosse, Wis., was examined during 2005?06 by the U.S. Geological Survey and University of Wisconsin?Madison as part of a broader study of sediment and nutrient loadings to the Upper Mississippi River bottomlands by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S...

The St. Clair River/Lake St. Clair waterway forms an international boundary between the United States and Canada. The waters of the area are an important part of the cultural heritage of the area and serves as an important water-supply and power-generating resource; the waterway also supports an economy based largely on recreation, agriculture, and manufacturing. This report was...

As part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program, two Source Water-Quality Assessments (SWQAs) were conducted during 2004–05 in unconfined parts of the glacial aquifer system and in unconfined parts of the Prairie du Chien-Jordan aquifer in the Greater Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota and Wisconsin. SWQAs are two-phased sampling...

Invasive plants are a growing concern worldwide for conservation of native habitats. In endangered wet meadow habitat in the Upper Midwestern United States, reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) is a recognized problem and its prevalence is more widespread than the better-known invasive wetland plant purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). Although resource managers are concerned...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a series of geophysical investigations to monitor a field-scale biostimulation pilot project at the Anoka County Riverfront Park (ACP), downgradient from the Naval Industrial Reserve Ordnance Plant, in Fridley, Minnesota. The pilot project was undertaken by the U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southern Division, for the purpose of...

Regional ground-water recharge estimates for Minnesota were compared to estimates made on the basis of four local- and basin-scale methods. Three local-scale methods (unsaturated-zone water balance, water-table fluctuations (WTF) using three approaches, and age dating of ground water) yielded point estimates of recharge that represent spatial scales from about 1 to about 1000 m2. A...

Question: How can the U.S. National Vegetation Classification (USNVC) serve as an effective tool for classifying and mapping vegetation, and inform assessments and monitoring? Location: Voyageurs National Park, northern Minnesota, U.S.A and environs. The park contains 54 243 ha of terrestrial habitat in the sub-boreal region of North America. Methods: We classified and mapped the natural