Mark M Dornblaser
Biography
I have been a research chemist with the USGS National Research Program since 1998. My focus is on the biogeochemical cycling of carbon in aquatic systems.
Education:
B.A., Environmental Studies, Middlebury College, VT, 1984
M.Sc., Marine Science, State University of New York, Stony Brook, 1986
Science and Products
Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystems Project (SHAEP)
The Shingobee Headwaters Aquatic Ecosystems Project (SHAEP) brings together scientists from the USGS along with students and professors from universities in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and California for a unique study opportunity. This diverse group of scientists research the physical, chemical, and biological processes of lakes, wetlands, and streams at local and watershed scales....
Anthropogenic landcover impacts fluvial dissolved organic matter composition in the Upper Mississippi River Basin
Landcover changes have altered the natural carbon cycle; however, most landcover studies focus on either forest conversion to agriculture or urban, rarely both. We present differences in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations and dissolved organic matter (DOM) molecular composition within Upper Mississippi River Basin low order streams and...
Vaughn, Derrick R.; Kellerman, Anne M.; Wickland, Kimberly; Striegl, Robert G.; Podgorski, David C.; Hawkings, Jon R.; Nienhuis, Jaap; Dornblaser, Mark; Stets, Edward G.; Spencer, Robert GM Spatiotemporal dynamics of CO2 gas exchange from headwater mountain streams
Mountain streams play an important role in the global carbon cycle by transporting, metabolizing, and exchanging carbon they receive from the terrestrial environment. The rates at which these processes occur remain highly uncertain because of a paucity of observations and the difficulty of measuring gas exchange rates in steep, turbulent mountain...
Clow, David W.; Striegl, Robert G.; Dornblaser, Mark Storm-scale and seasonal dynamics of carbon export from a nested subarctic watershed underlain by permafrost
Subarctic catchments underlain by permafrost sequester a major stock of frozen organic carbon (C), which may be mobilized as the Arctic warms. Warming can impact C export from thawing soils by altering the depth and timing of runoff related to changing storm and fire regimes and altered soil thaw depths. We investigated C export in a first order...
Koch, Joshua C.; Dornblaser, Mark; Striegl, Rob
USGS permafrost research determines the risks of permafrost thaw to biologic and hydrologic resources
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with university, Federal, Tribal, and independent partners, conducts fundamental research on the distribution, vulnerability, and importance of permafrost in arctic and boreal ecosystems. Scientists, land managers, and policy makers use USGS data to help make decisions for development, wildlife...
Waldrop, Mark P.; Anderson, Lesleigh; Dornblaser, Mark; Erikson, Li H.; Gibbs, Ann E.; Herman-Mercer, Nicole M.; James, Stephanie R.; Jones, Miriam C.; Koch, Joshua C.; Leewis, Mary-Cathrine; Manies, Kristen L.; Minsley, Burke J.; Pastick, Neal J.; Patil, Vijay; Urban, Frank; Walvoord, Michelle A.; Wickland, Kimberly P.; Zimmerman, Christian Patterns and isotopic composition of greenhouse gases under ice in lakes of interior Alaska
Arctic and boreal lake greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are an important component of regional carbon (C) budgets. Yet the magnitude and seasonal patterns of lake GHG emissions are poorly constrained, because sampling is limited in these remote landscapes, particularly during winter and shoulder seasons. To better define patterns of under ice GHG...
O'Dwyer, Madeline; Butman, David; Striegl, Robert G.; Dornblaser, Mark M.; Wickland, Kimberly P.; Kuhn, Catherine D.; Bogard, Matthew J. Satellite and airborne remote sensing of gross primary productivity in boreal Alaskan lakes
In terrestrial and marine ecosystems, remote sensing has been used to estimate gross primary productivity (GPP) for decades, but few applications exist for shallow freshwater ecosystems.Here we show field-based GPP correlates with satellite and airborne lake color across a range of optically and limnologically diverse lakes in interior Alaska. A...
Kuhn, Catherine D.; Bogard, Matthew J.; Johnston, Sarah Ellen; John, Aji; Vermote, Eric; Spencer, Rob; Dornblaser, Mark M.; Wickland, Kimberly P.; Striegl, Robert G.; Butman, David Hydrologic connectivity determines dissolved organic matter biogeochemistry in northern high-latitude lakes
Northern high‐latitude lakes are undergoing climate‐induced changes including shifts in their hydrologic connectivity with terrestrial ecosystems. How this will impact dissolved organic matter (DOM) biogeochemistry remains uncertain. We examined the drivers of DOM composition for lakes in the Yukon Flats Basin in Alaska, an arid region of low...
Johnston, Sarah Ellen; Striegl, Robert G.; Bogard, Matthew J.; Dornblaser, Mark M.; Butman, David E.; Kellerman, Anne M.; Wickland, Kimberly P.; Podgorski, David C.; Spencer, Robert G. M. Constraining dissolved organic matter sources and temporal variability in a model sub-Arctic lake
Circumpolar lakes comprise ~ 1.4 million km2 of arctic and subarctic landscapes and are vulnerable to change in vegetation, permafrost distribution, and hydrological conditions in response to climate warming. However, the composition and cycling of dissolved organic matter (DOM) is poorly understood for these lakes because most are remote and...
Johnston, Sarah Ellen; Bogard, Matthew J.; Rogers, Jennifer A.; Butman, David; Striegl, Robert G.; Dornblaser, Mark M.; Spencer, Robert G. M. Negligible cycling of terrestrial carbon in many lakes of the arid circumpolar landscape
High-latitude environments store nearly half of the planet’s below-ground organic carbon (OC), mostly in perennially frozen permafrost soils. Climatic changes drive increased export of terrestrial OC into many aquatic networks, yet the role that circumpolar lakes play in mineralizing this carbon is unclear. Here we directly evaluate ecosystem-...
Bogard, Matthew J.; Kuhn, Catherine D.; Johnston, Sarah Ellen; Striegl, Robert G.; Holtgrieve, Gordon W.; Dornblaser, Mark M.; Spencer, Robert G. M.; Wickland, Kimberly P.; Butman, David E. Limited nitrate retention capacity in the Upper Mississippi River
The Mississippi River and other large rivers have the potential to regulate nitrogen export from terrestrial landscapes, and thus mitigate eutrophication in downstream aquatic ecosystems. In large rivers, human-constructed impoundments and connected backwaters may facilitate nitrogen removal; however, the capacity of these features is poorly...
Loken, Luke; Crawford, John T.; Dornblaser, Mark M.; Striegl, Robert G.; Houser, Jeffrey N.; Turner, Peter A; Stanley, Emily H. Methane in groundwater from a leaking gas well, Piceance Basin, Colorado, USA
Site-specific and regional analysis of time-series hydrologic and geochemical data collected from 15 monitoring wells in the Piceance Basin indicated that a leaking gas well contaminated shallow groundwater with thermogenic methane. The gas well was drilled in 1956 and plugged and abandoned in 1990. Chemical and isotopic data showed the...
McMahon, Peter B.; Thomas, Judith C.; Crawford, John T.; Dornblaser, Mark M.; Hunt, Andrew G. CO2 time series patterns in contrasting headwater streams of North America
We explored the underlying patterns of temporal stream CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) variability using highfrequency sensors in seven disparate headwater streams distributed across the northern hemisphere. We also compared this dataset of [40,000 pCO2 records with other published records from lotic systems. Individual stream sites exhibited...
Crawford, John T.; Stanley, Emily H.; Dornblaser, Mark M.; Striegl, Robert G.