Publications

Winter snow accumulation and summer snow and ice ablation were measured at South Cascade Glacier, Washington, to estimate glacier mass-balance quantities for balance year 2003. The 2003 glacier-average maximum winter snow balance was 2.66 meters water equivalent, which was about equal to the average of such balances for the glacier since balance year 1959. The 2003 glacier summer balance...

This quality-assurance plan documents the standards, policies, and procedures used by the U.S. Geological Survey's Washington Water Science Center, for activities related to the collection, processing, storage, analysis, and publication of ground-water data. This plan serves as a guide to all Washington Water Science Center personnel involved in ground-water activities, and changes as...

The U.S. Army disposed of waste trichloroethene (TCE) and other materials in the East Gate Disposal Yard near the Logistics Center on Fort Lewis, Washington, from the 1940s to the early 1970s. As a result, ground water contaminated with primarily TCE extends more than 3 miles downgradient from the East Gate Disposal Yard. The site is underlain by a complex and heterogeneous sequence of...

The 1921 peak discharge at Skagit River near Concrete, Washington (U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging station 12194000), was verified using peak-discharge data from the flood of October 21, 2003, the largest flood since 1921. This peak discharge is critical to determining other high discharges at the gaging station and to reliably estimating the 100-year flood, the primary design...

A shallow, RDX (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine)–contaminated aquifer at Naval Submarine Base Bangor has been characterized as predominantly manganese-reducing, anoxic with local pockets of oxic conditions. The potential contribution of microbial RDX degradation to localized decreases observed in aquifer RDX concentrations was assessed in sediment microcosms amended with [U-14C]...

No abstract available.

Urban development modifies the production and delivery of runoff to streams and the resulting rate, volume, and timing of streamflow. Given that streamflow demonstrably influences the structure and composition of lotic communities, we have identified four hydrologic changes resulting from urban development that are potentially significant to stream ecosystems: increased frequency of high...

We examined the accumulation of manganese (Mn) in gill tissues of chemically naïve lobsters heldin situ at six sites in Long Island Sound (LIS) for up to six weeks to evaluate the possible contribution of eutrophication-driven habitat quality factors to the 1999 mass mortality of American lobsters (Homarus americanus). These western LIS lobster habitats experience seasonal hypoxia, which...

In 1923, a U.S. Geological Survey expedition surveyed the water surface profile of the Colorado River through Grand Canyon with theodolite and stadia rod. In 2000, lidar overflights collected topographic data centered on the river corridor, allowing construction of a new water surface profile and detection of change in the profile since 1923. By registering the surveys with respect to...

Geochemical tracers were used to examine the mixing of water and particles in Lower New York and Raritan Bays in August 1999 during low-flow conditions. Four brackish water masses (20 ≤ S ≤ 28) originating in the Raritan and Shrewsbury Rivers, Arthur Kill, and Upper New York Bay were characterized by their dissolved metals concentrations. The mixing lines of dissolved Cu, Ni, and Pb in...

Recovery and protection of streams in urban areas depend on a comprehensive understanding of how human activities affect stream ecosystems. The hydrologic effects of urban development and the consequences for stream channel form and streambed stability were examined in 16 streams in the Puget Lowland, Washington, using three streamflow metrics that integrate storm‐scale effects of urban

The U.S. Geological Survey and the King County Department of Natural Resources collected water samples from 14 sites on urban streams in King County during storms and during base flow between 1998 and 2003. The samples were analyzed for the presence of 155 pesticides and pesticide transformation products. Thirty-nine of the compounds were detected at least once during the study: 20...