Publications

As part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) oversaw the installation of 30 shallow monitoring wells in the Columbia, South Carolina metropolitan area. The ground water sampled from these wells was used to study the recent effects of human activities on shallow ground water in an urban setting. Well locations were selected in...

The Contaminant Hazard Review (CHR) series--sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center--synthesizes ecotoxicological data for selected environmental contaminants, with emphasis on hazards to native species of flora and fauna. From 1985 through 1998, 34 reviews were published in various report series of the U.S. Department of the Interior on agricultural...

No abstract available.

The intense application of nitrogen-fertilizer to cropland in the midwestern United States has created concern about nitrate contamination of the region's aquifers. Since 1991, the US Geological Survey has used a network of 303 wells to investigate the regional distribution of nitrate in near-surface aquifers of the midwestern United States. Detailed land use and soil data were compiled...

Agrichemicals (herbicides and nitrate) are significant sources of diffuse pollution to groundwater. Indirect methods are needed to assess the potential for groundwater contamination by diffuse sources because groundwater monitoring is too costly to adequately define the geographic extent of contamination at a regional or national scale. This paper presents examples of the application of

Spawning migration of adult male chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha was monitored by radio telemetry to determine their response to the presence of metals contamination in the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River, Idaho. The North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River is relatively free of metals contamination and was used as a control. In all, 45 chinook salmon were transported from...

No abstract available.

Increased emphasis on evaluation of nonpoint-source pollution has intensified the need for techniques that can be used to discern the toxicological effects of complex chemical mixtures. In response, the use of biological assessment techniques is receiving increased regulatory emphasis. When applied with documented habitat assessment and chemical analysis, these techniques can increase...

Where Walnut Creek flows across the South Skunk River alluvial aquifer, it provides a potential source of herbicides and herbicide metabolites. This straightened reach of the creek loses water and dissolved contaminants to the alluvial aquifer through a layer of fine-grained flood plain deposits. Estimates of potential flux of chemicals were based on measurements taken during baseflow in...

No abstract available.

The toxicity of an acid mixing zone produced at the confluence of a stream that was contaminated by acid mine drainage (AMD) and a pH-neutral stream was investigated in toxicity tests with juvenile bluegill Lepomis macrochirus and largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides. Fish mortalities in instream cages located in the mixing zone, below the mixing zone, and upstream in both tributaries...

A device that uses a siphon tube to establish a hydraulic connection between the bottom of an onshore standpipe and a point at the bottom of a water body was designed and tested for monitoring surface-water levels. Water is added to the standpipe to a level sufficient to drive a complete slug of water through the siphoning tube and to flush all air out of the system. The water levels in...