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Publications

For more than a century, USGS scientists have conducted research in California’s Bay-Delta region. Informing natural-resource management decisions on the region’s issues, this research has been published in thousands of documents, some highlighted below.

Filter Total Items: 307

Occurrence and distribution of organochlorine compounds in sediment and livers of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) from the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary Occurrence and distribution of organochlorine compounds in sediment and livers of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) from the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary

A preliminary assessment was made in 1992 of chlorinated organic compounds in sediments and in livers of striped bass from the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary. Samples of sediment and striped bass livers contained DDT (ethane, 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-) and its degradation products, DDD (ethane, 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-) and DDE (ethylene, 1,1-dichloro-2,2...
Authors
W. E. Pereira, F. D. Hostettler, J.R. Cashman, R. S. Nishioka

Dissolved nutrient and suspended particulate matter data for the San Francisco Bay estuary, California, October 1991 through November 1993 Dissolved nutrient and suspended particulate matter data for the San Francisco Bay estuary, California, October 1991 through November 1993

The U.S. Geological Survey conducted hydrologic investigations in San Francisco Bay between October 1991 and November 1993. Dissolved inorganic plant nutrients, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, silica, and reactive phosphorus were measured in surface and in near-bottom waters at previously established locations in both northern and southern reaches of the bay. Salinity, turbidigy, and...
Authors
Stephen W. Hager

Sources of nitrogen and phosphorus to Northern San Francisco Bay Sources of nitrogen and phosphorus to Northern San Francisco Bay

We studied nutrient sources to the Sacramento River and Suisun Bay (northern San Francisco Bay) and the influence which these sources have on the distributions of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) in the river and bay. We found that agricultural return flow drains and a municipal wastewater treatment plant were the largest sources of nutrients to...
Authors
S.W. Hager, L. E. Schemel

Bioaccumulation of hydrocarbons derived from terrestrial and anthropogenic sources in the Asian clam, Potamocorbula amurensis, in San Francisco Bay estuary Bioaccumulation of hydrocarbons derived from terrestrial and anthropogenic sources in the Asian clam, Potamocorbula amurensis, in San Francisco Bay estuary

An assessment was made in Suisun Bay, California, of the distributions of hydrocarbons in estuarine bed and suspended sediments and in the recently introduced asian clam, Potamocorbula amurensis. Sediments and clams were contaminated with hydrocarbons derived from petrogenic and pyrogenic sources. Distributions of alkanes and of hopane and sterane biomarkers in sediments and clams were...
Authors
Wilfred E. Pereira, Frances D. Hostettler, John B. Rapp

Remarkable invasion of San Francisco Bay (California, USA) by the Asian clam Potamocorbula amurensis. II. Displacement of a former community Remarkable invasion of San Francisco Bay (California, USA) by the Asian clam Potamocorbula amurensis. II. Displacement of a former community

Long-term macrobenthic sampling at a site in northern San Francisco Bay has provided an unusual opportunity for documenting the time course of an invasion by a recently introduced Asian clam Potamocorbula arnurensis. Between 1977, when sampling began, and 1986, when the new clam was first discovered, the benthic community varied predictably in response to river inflow. During years of...
Authors
Frederic H. Nichols, Janet K. Thompson, Laurence E. Schemel

Climate variability in an estuary: Effects of riverflow on San Francisco Bay Climate variability in an estuary: Effects of riverflow on San Francisco Bay

A simple conceptual model of estuarine variability in the context of climate forcing has been formulated using up to 65 years of estimated mean-monthly delta flow, the cumulative freshwater flow to San Francisco Bay from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River, and salinity observations near the mouth, head, mid-estuary, and coastal ocean. Variations in delta flow, the principal source of...
Authors
David H. Peterson, Daniel R. Cayan, John F. Festa, Frederic H. Nichols, Roy A. Walters, James V. Slack, Stephen E. Hager, Laurence E. Schemel

Phytoplankton spatial distribution in south San Francisco Bay: mesoscale and small-scale variability Phytoplankton spatial distribution in south San Francisco Bay: mesoscale and small-scale variability

Horizontal transects of surface salinity and in-vivo fluorescence indicate the existence of three distinct spatial regimes in South San Francisco Bay. A mid-Bay region of low phytoplankton biomass with little small-scale variance is bounded to the north and south by water masses having higher in-vivo fluorescence and enhanced small-scale variability. Autocorrelation analyses demonstrate...
Authors
Thomas M. Powell, James E. Cloern, Roy A. Walters

Interannual variability in biochemistry of partially mixed estuaries: Dissolved silicate cycles in northern San Francisco Bay Interannual variability in biochemistry of partially mixed estuaries: Dissolved silicate cycles in northern San Francisco Bay

Much of the interannual variability in partially mixed estuaries in dissolved inorganic nutrient and dissolved oxygen patterns results from an enhancement or reduction of their annual cycle (generally via climatic forcing). In northern San Francisco Bay estuary the annual cycle of dissolved silicate supply peaks in spring and the effect of phytoplankton removal peaks in fall. Because...
Authors
David H. Peterson, Daniel R. Cayan, John F. Festa
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