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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: 19035

From deposition to erosion: Spatial and temporal variability of sediment sources, storage, and transport in a small agricultural watershed From deposition to erosion: Spatial and temporal variability of sediment sources, storage, and transport in a small agricultural watershed

The spatial and temporal variability of sediment sources, storage, and transport were investigated in a small agricultural watershed draining the Coast Ranges and Sacramento Valley in central California. Results of field, laboratory, and historical data analysis in the Willow Slough fluvial system document changes that transformed a transport-limited depositional system to an effective...
Authors
J.L. Florsheim, B.A. Pellerin, N.H. Oh, N. Ohara, P.A.M. Bachand, Sandra M. Bachand, B.A. Bergamaschi, P.J. Hernes, M.L. Kavvas

A comparison of methods to assess long-term changes in Sonoran Desert vegetation A comparison of methods to assess long-term changes in Sonoran Desert vegetation

Knowledge about the condition of vegetation cover and composition is critical for assessing the structure and function of ecosystems. To effectively quantify the impacts of a rapidly changing environment, methods to track long-term trends of vegetation must be precise, repeatable, and time- and cost-efficient. Measuring vegetation cover and composition in arid and semiarid regions is...
Authors
S.M. Munson, R. H. Webb, J.A. Hubbard

Occurrence and fate of the herbicide glyphosate and its degradate aminomethylphosphonic acid in the atmosphere Occurrence and fate of the herbicide glyphosate and its degradate aminomethylphosphonic acid in the atmosphere

This is the first report on the ambient levels of glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the United States, and its major degradation product, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), in air and rain. Concurrent, weekly integrated air particle and rain samples were collected during two growing seasons in agricultural areas in Mississippi and Iowa. Rain was also collected in Indiana in a
Authors
Feng-Chih Chang, M.F. Simcik, P. D. Capel

Effect of land cover change on runoff curve number estimation in Iowa, 1832-2001 Effect of land cover change on runoff curve number estimation in Iowa, 1832-2001

Within the first few decades of European-descended settlers arriving in Iowa, much of the land cover across the state was transformed from prairie and forest to farmland, patches of forest, and urbanized areas. Land cover change over the subsequent 126 years was minor in comparison. Between 1832 and 1859, the General Land Office conducted a survey of the State of Iowa to aid in the...
Authors
Loren L. Wehmeyer, Frank H. Weirich, Thomas F. Cuffney

Long-term change in perennial vegetation along the Colorado river in Grand Canyon national park (1889-2010) Long-term change in perennial vegetation along the Colorado river in Grand Canyon national park (1889-2010)

Long-term monitoring data are difficult to obtain for high-value resource areas, particularly in remote parts of national parks. One long-used method for evaluating change uses ground-based repeat photography to match historical images of landscapes. River expeditions that documented a proposed railroad route through Grand Canyon with large-format photographs occurred in 1889 and 1890. A...
Authors
R. H. Webb, Jayne Belnap, M. L. Scott, Todd Esque

Rapid Holocene coastal change revealed by high-resolution micropaleontological analysis, Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, USA Rapid Holocene coastal change revealed by high-resolution micropaleontological analysis, Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, USA

Foraminiferal analyses of 404 contiguous samples, supported by diatom, lithologic, geochronologic and seismic data, reveal both rapid and gradual Holocene paleoenvironmental changes in an 8.21-m vibracore taken from southern Pamlico Sound, North Carolina. Data record initial flooding of a latest Pleistocene river drainage and the formation of an estuary 9000. yr ago. Estuarine conditions...
Authors
Pre C. Grand, S.J. Culver, D. J. Mallinson, K.M. Farrell, D.R. Corbett, B. P. Horton, C. Hillier, S.R. Riggs, S.W. Snyder, M.A. Buzas

Comparison of bottom-track to global positioning system referenced discharges measured using an acoustic Doppler current profiler Comparison of bottom-track to global positioning system referenced discharges measured using an acoustic Doppler current profiler

A negative bias in discharge measurements made with an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) can be caused by the movement of sediment on or near the streambed. The integration of a global positioning system (GPS) to track the movement of the ADCP can be used to avoid the systematic negative bias associated with a moving streambed. More than 500 discharge transects from 63 discharge
Authors
Chad R. Wagner, David S. Mueller

Biological and geochemical controls on diel dissolved inorganic carbon cycling in a low-order agricultural stream: Implications for reach scales and beyond Biological and geochemical controls on diel dissolved inorganic carbon cycling in a low-order agricultural stream: Implications for reach scales and beyond

Movement of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) through the hydrologic cycle is an important component of global carbon budgets, but there is considerable uncertainty about the controls of DIC transmission from landscapes to streams, and through river networks to the oceans. In this study, diel measurements of DIC, d13C-DIC, dissolved oxygen (O2), d18O-O2, alkalinity, pH, and other...
Authors
Craig Tobias, J.K. Bohlke

Re-establishing marshes can return carbon sink functions to a current carbon source in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California, USA Re-establishing marshes can return carbon sink functions to a current carbon source in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California, USA

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in California was an historic, vast inland freshwater wetland, where organic soils almost 20 meters deep formed over the last several millennia as the land surface elevation of marshes kept pace with sea level rise. A system of levees and pumps were installed in the late 1800s and early 1900s to drain the land for agricultural use. Since then, land...
Authors
Robin L. Miller, Roger Fujii

Sources and Delivery of Nutrients to the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico from Streams in the South-Central United States Sources and Delivery of Nutrients to the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico from Streams in the South-Central United States

SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes (SPARROW) models were developed to estimate nutrient inputs [total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP)] to the northwestern part of the Gulf of Mexico from streams in the South‐Central United States (U.S.). This area included drainages of the Lower Mississippi, Arkansas‐White‐Red, and Texas‐Gulf hydrologic regions. The models...
Authors
Richard A. Rebich, Natalie A. Houston, Scott V. Mize, Daniel Pearson, Patricia B. Ging, Hornig C. Evan

Guidelines and recommended terms for expression of stable-isotope-ratio and gas-ratio measurement results Guidelines and recommended terms for expression of stable-isotope-ratio and gas-ratio measurement results

To minimize confusion in the expression of measurement results of stable isotope and gas-ratio measurements, recommendations based on publications of the Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) are presented. Whenever feasible, entries are consistent with the Système International d'Unités, the SI (known in...
Authors
Tyler B. Coplen
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