Publications

Highly toxic sodium cyanide (NaCN) is used increasingly by the international mining community to extract gold and other precious metals through milling of high grade ores and heap leaching of low grade ores. Of the 98 million kg cyanide (CN) consumed in North America in 1989, about 80% was used in gold mining (Knudson 1990). In Canada, more than 90% of the mined gold is extracted from...

Traditionally, the toxic effects of petroleum have been investigated by conducting studies in the absence of ultraviolet radiation (UV). Photomediated toxicity is often not considered, and the toxic effects of an oil spill can be grossly underestimated. The toxicity of a weathered oil collected from a monitoring well at an abandoned oil field toCeriodaphnia dubia was examined in the...

Lake Chicot, in south central Louisiana, USA, was created in 1943 by the impoundment of Chicot Bayou. Extensive establishment of woody seedlings occurred in the lake during a 1.5 year period, including the growing seasons of both 1986 and 1987, when the reservoir was drained for repair work on the dam. Study plots were established in September 1986 to document woody vegetation...

Water resources data for the 1999 water year for South Carolina consist of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams; stage and contents of lakes and reservoirs; and ground-water levels. This report contains discharge records for 118 gaging stations; stage-only records for 38 gaging stations; stage and contents for 17 lakes and reservoirs; water quality for 42 gaging...

No abstract available.

Water-resources data for the 1998 water year for Texas are presented in four volumes, and consist of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams and canals; stage, contents, and water-quality of lakes and reservoirs; and water levels and water quality of ground-water wells. Volume 1 contains records for water discharge at 112 gaging stations; stage only at 5 gaging stations...

In 1992, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), began a study of the hydrogeology and water quality of the aquifers underlying the vicinity of Belvidere, Boone County, Ill. Previously, volatile organic compounds (VOC's) and other constituents of industrial origin were detected in one or more ground-water samples from about 100 of...

In a study of arsenic concentrations in public-supply wells in the New England Coastal Basins, concentrations at or above 0.005 mg/L (milligrams per liter) were detected in more samples of water from wells completed in bedrock (25 percent of all samples) than in water from wells completed in stratified drift (7.5 percent of all samples). Iron and manganese were detected (at...

The upper Illinois River Basin (UIRB) is the 10,949 square mile drainage area upstream from Ottawa, Illinois, on the Illinois River. The UIRB is one of 13 studies that began in 1996 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment program. A compilation of environmental data from Federal, State, and local agencies provides a description of the environmental...

The City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa obtains its municipal water supply from four well fields along the Cedar River. The wells are completed at depths of about 60 to 80 feet in a shallow alluvial aquifer adjacent to the Cedar River. The City of Cedar Rapids and the U.S. Geological Survey have conducted a cooperative study of the groundwater flow system and water quality near the well fields...

Since the discovery of acid rain in the 1970's, scientists have been concerned that deposition of acids could cause depletion of calcium in forest soils. Research in the 1980's showed that the amount of calcium in forest soils is controlled by several factors that are difficult to measure. Further research in the 1990's, including several studies by the U.S. Geological Survey, has shown...

Historical use of pesticides and rapid urbanization have left their mark on the chemistry of bottom sediments in Lorence Creek Lake (fig. 1) in the northern part of San Antonio, Tex. Several metals, organochlorine compounds (pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs]), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) detected in bottom sediments of the lake have temporal trends...