Publications
This list of Water Resources Mission Area publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists. A searchable database of all USGS publications can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 19021
Modeled future peak streamflows in four coastal Maine rivers Modeled future peak streamflows in four coastal Maine rivers
To safely and economically design bridges and culverts, it is necessary to compute the magnitude of peak streamflows that have specified annual exceedance probabilities (AEPs). Annual precipitation and air temperature in the northeastern United States are, in general, projected to increase during the 21st century. It is therefore important for engineers and resource managers to...
Authors
Glenn A. Hodgkins, Robert W. Dudley
Evaluation of groundwater quality and selected hydrologic conditions in the South Coast aquifer, Santa Isabel area, Puerto Rico, 2008–09 Evaluation of groundwater quality and selected hydrologic conditions in the South Coast aquifer, Santa Isabel area, Puerto Rico, 2008–09
The source of drinking water in the Santa Isabel and Coamo areas of Puerto Rico (Molina and Gómez-Gómez, 2008) is the South Coast aquifer (hereafter referred to as the aquifer), which supplies about 30,700 cubic meters per day (m³/d) to Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) public-supply wells. In addition, approximately 45 wells provide an estimated 33,700 m³/d of groundwater...
Authors
José M. Rodríguez
Modeled future peak streamflows in four coastal Maine rivers Modeled future peak streamflows in four coastal Maine rivers
To safely and economically design bridges and culverts, it is necessary to compute the magnitude of peak streamflows that have specified annual exceedance probabilities (AEPs). These peak flows are also needed for effective floodplain management. Annual precipitation and air temperature in the northeastern United States are in general projected to increase during the 21st century (Hayhoe...
Authors
Glenn A. Hodgkins, Robert W. Dudley
Water-quality characteristics, trends, and nutrient and sediment loads of streams in the Treyburn development area, North Carolina, 1988–2009 Water-quality characteristics, trends, and nutrient and sediment loads of streams in the Treyburn development area, North Carolina, 1988–2009
Streamflow and water-quality data, including concentrations of nutrients, metals, and pesticides, were collected from October 1988 through September 2009 at six sites in the Treyburn development study area. A review of water-quality data for streams in and near a 5,400-acre planned, mixed-use development in the Falls Lake watershed in the upper Neuse River Basin of North Carolina...
Authors
Jason M. Fine, Douglas A. Harned, Carolyn J. Oblinger
How runoff begins (and ends): characterizing hydrologic response at the catchment scale How runoff begins (and ends): characterizing hydrologic response at the catchment scale
Improved understanding of the complex dynamics associated with spatially and temporally variable runoff response is needed to better understand the hydrology component of interdisciplinary problems. The objective of this study was to quantitatively characterize the environmental controls on runoff generation for the range of different streamflow-generation mechanisms illustrated in the...
Authors
Benjamin B. Mirus, Keith Loague
Microbial community composition and endolith colonization at an Arctic thermal spring are driven by calcite precipitation Microbial community composition and endolith colonization at an Arctic thermal spring are driven by calcite precipitation
Environmental conditions shape community composition. Arctic thermal springs provide an opportunity to study how environmental gradients can impose strong selective pressures on microbial communities and provide a continuum of niche opportunities. We use microscopic and molecular methods to conduct a survey of microbial community composition at Troll Springs on Svalbard, Norway, in the...
Authors
Verena Starke, Julie Kirshtein, Marilyn L. Fogel, Andrew Steele
Numerical flow models and their calibration using tracer based ages Numerical flow models and their calibration using tracer based ages
Any estimate of ‘age’ of a groundwater sample based on environmental tracers requires some form of geochemical model to interpret the tracer chemistry (chapter 3) and is, therefore, referred to in this chapter as a tracer model age. the tracer model age of a groundwater sample can be useful for obtaining information on the residence time and replenishment rate of an aquifer system, but...
Authors
W. Sanford
Radiocarbon dating in groundwater systems Radiocarbon dating in groundwater systems
The radioactive isotope of carbon, radiocarbon (14C), was first produced artificially in 1940 by Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben, who bombarded graphite in a cyclotron at the Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley, CA, in an attempt to produce a radioactive isotope of carbon that could be used as a tracer in biological systems (Kamen (1963) [101]; Ruben and Kamen (1941) [102]). Carbon-14 of...
Authors
Niel Plummer, P. D. Glynn
Characterization and conceptualization of groundwater flow systems Characterization and conceptualization of groundwater flow systems
This chapter discusses some of the fundamental concepts, data needs and approaches that aid in developing a general understanding of a groundwater system. Principles of the hydrological cycle are reviewed; the processes of recharge and discharge in aquifer systems; types of geological, hydrological and hydraulic data needed to describe the hydrogeological framework of an aquifer system...
Authors
Niel Plummer, W. E. Sanford, P. D. Glynn
Defining groundwater age Defining groundwater age
This book investigates applications of selected chemical and isotopic substances that can be used to recognize and interpret age information pertaining to ‘old’ groundwater (defined as water that was recharged on a timescale from approximately 1000 to more than 1 000 000 a). However, as discussed below, only estimates of the ‘age’ of water extracted from wells can be inferred. These...
Authors
T. Torgersen, R. Purtschert, F. M. Phillips, Niel Plummer, W. E. Sanford, A. Suckow
Book review: The year without summer: 1816 and the volcano that darkened the world and changed history Book review: The year without summer: 1816 and the volcano that darkened the world and changed history
No abstract available. Review info: The year without summer: 1816 and the volcano that darkened the world and changed history. By Klingaman, W.K and Klingaman, N.P., 2013. ISBN: 9781250042750, 338 p.
Authors
Martha A. Scholl
Groundwater quality in western New York, 2011 Groundwater quality in western New York, 2011
Water samples collected from 16 production wells and 15 private residential wells in western New York from July through November 2011 were analyzed to characterize the groundwater quality. Fifteen of the wells were finished in sand and gravel aquifers, and 16 were finished in bedrock aquifers. Six of the 31 wells were sampled in a previous western New York study, which was conducted in...
Authors
James E. Reddy