Publications

This chapter compiles available chemical and radiation toxicity information for plants and animals from the scientific literature on naturally occurring uranium and associated radionuclides. Specifically, chemical and radiation hazards associated with radionuclides in the uranium decay series including uranium, thallium, thorium, bismuth, radium, radon, protactinium, polonium, actinium...

Estimates of water withdrawals in the United States part of the Great Lakes Basin and 107 of its watersheds designated by the 8-digit hydrologic unit code (HUCs) indicate that about 30.3 billion gallons per day (Bgal/d) were withdrawn for practically all categories of use in 2005. Virtually all water withdrawn was freshwater. Surface-water withdrawals totaled 28.8 Bgal/d, or 95 percent...

Chlorinated hydrocarbon concentrations in eggs of fish-eating birds from contaminated environments such as the Great Lakes of North America tend to be highly intercorrelated, making it difficult to elucidate mechanisms causing reproductive impairment, and to ascribe cause to specific chemicals. An information- theoretic approach was used on data from 197 salvaged bald eagle (Haliaeetus

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, collects data pertaining to the surface-water resources of Missouri. These data are collected as part of the Missouri Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network and constitute a valuable source of reliable, impartial, and timely information for developing an improved understanding of water...

INTRODUCTION Hurricane Gustav made landfall on September 1, 2008, near Cocodrie, Louisiana, as a category 2 storm, with maximum sustained winds near 170 km/hr. Hurricane-force winds, with speeds in excess of 119 km/hr, extended along 270 km of the Louisiana coastline, from Marsh Island to the central barrier islands. Tropical-storm-force winds (speeds > 63 km/hr) were felt across the...

Eutrophication of reservoirs frequently occurs because of excessive nutrient inputs caused by anthropogenic activities, including row-crop agriculture. The trophic status of Fort Cobb Reservoir, Oklahoma, was assessed in April, July, and September 2006. The Fort Cobb Reservoir was highly eutrophic, with the greatest concentrations of nutrients and chlorophyll-a being measured in the...

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 310 recovered drill cores from the drowned reefs around the island of Tahiti (17°40′S, 149°30′W), many of which contained samples of massive corals from the genus Porites. Herein we report on one well-preserved fossil coral sample: a 13.6 cm long Porites sp. dated by uranium series techniques at 9523 ± 33 years. Monthly δ18O and Sr...

Major flooding occurred June 8-9, 2008, in the Upper Iowa River Basin in northeast Iowa following severe thunderstorm activity over the region. About 7 inches of rain were recorded for the 48-hour period ending 4 p.m., June 8, at Decorah, Iowa; more than 7 inches of rain were recorded for the 48-hour period ending 7 a.m., June 8, at Dorchester, Iowa, about 17 miles northeast of Decorah...

In February 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Memphis District, investigated the presence of inorganic elements and organic compounds in bed sediments of the lower Mississippi River. Selected sites were located in the navigation channel near river miles 737, 773, and 790 near Memphis, Tennessee. Bed-sediment samples were collected...

The State of Louisiana requested emergency authorization on May 11, 2010, to perform spill mitigation work on the Chandeleur Islands and on all the barrier islands from Grand Terre Island eastward to Sandy Point to enhance the capability of the islands to reduce the movement of oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to the marshes. The proposed action-building a barrier berm...

Predicting the morphological impacts and associated hazards of extreme storms on barrier islands is facilitated by examining historical poststorm images and identifying the predominant alongshore and cross-shore patterns of erosion and deposition for different island segments. Morphological changes on the Mississippi–Alabama barrier-island chain produced by 12 Category 3 and stronger...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the San Antonio River Authority, the Evergreen Underground Water Conservation District, and the Goliad County Groundwater Conservation District, configured, calibrated, and tested a watershed model for a study area consisting of about 2,150 square miles of the lower San Antonio River watershed in Bexar, Guadalupe, Wilson, Karnes...