Reports

In cooperation with the North Plains Groundwater Conservation District (NPGCD), the U.S. Geological Survey collected and analyzed water-quality samples at 30 groundwater monitor wells in the NPGCD in the Texas Panhandle. All of the wells were completed in the Ogallala Formation of the central High Plains aquifer. Samples from each well were collected during February–March 2012 and in...

These remotely sensed, geographically referenced elevation measurements of lidar-derived submerged topography datasets were produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, Florida. This project provides highly detailed and accurate datasets for part of Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, acquired post-Hurricane Sandy on November 1, 5...

Increased demands for cleaner burning energy, coupled with the relatively recent technological advances in accessing hydrocarbon-rich geologic formations, have led to an intense effort to find and extract unconventional natural gas from various underground sources around the country. One of these sources, the Marcellus Shale, located in the Allegheny Plateau, is currently undergoing...

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center conducted a time-series collection of shallow sediment cores from the back-barrier environments along the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana from March 2012 through July 2013. The sampling efforts were part of a larger USGS study to evaluate effects on the geomorphology of the Chandeleur Islands...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, completed a study on the occurrence of pharmaceutical compounds and other contaminants of emerging concern in shallow groundwater in non-agricultural areas of Minnesota during 2013. This report describes the study design and methods for the study on the occurrence of pharmaceuticals and other...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Changing Arctic Ecosystems (CAE) initiative strives to inform key resource management decisions for Arctic Alaska by providing scientific information and forecasts for current and future ecosystem response to a warming climate. Over the past 5 years, a focal area for the USGS CAE initiative has been the North Slope of Alaska. This region has experienced...

Rates of carbon storage in wetlands are determined by the balance of its inputs and losses, both of which are affected by environmental factors such as water temperature and depth. In the autumn of 1997, the U.S. Geological Survey re-established two wetlands with different shallow water depths—about 25 and 55 centimeters deep—to investigate the potential to reverse subsidence of delta...

The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority supplements the municipal water supply for the Albuquerque metropolitan area, in central New Mexico, with surface water diverted from the Rio Grande. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, undertook this study in which water-chemistry data and historical...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, investigated the use of acoustic backscatter to estimate concentrations of suspended sediment and total phosphorus at the Barton River near Coventry, Vermont. The hypothesis was that acoustic backscatter—the reflection of sound waves off objects back to the source from which they came...

Drinking water delivered by community water systems (CWSs) comes from one or both of two sources: surface water and groundwater. Source water is raw, untreated water used by CWSs and is usually treated before distribution to consumers. Beginning in 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment Program initiated Source Water-Quality Assessments (SWQAs) at...

The lower Platte River, Nebraska, provides drinking water, irrigation water, and in-stream flows for recreation, wildlife habitat, and vital habitats for several threatened and endangered species. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Lower Platte River Corridor Alliance (LPRCA) developed site-specific regression models for water-quality constituents at four sites...

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that accumulates in fish to levels of concern for human health and the health of fish-eating wildlife. Mercury contamination of fish is the primary reason for issuing fish consumption advisories, which exist in every State in the Nation. Much of the mercury originates from combustion of coal and can travel long distances in the atmosphere before being...