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Publications

Read publications and other informational products to learn more about USGS science occurring in the Mississippi Basin.

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Historical subsidence and wetland loss in the Mississippi delta plain Historical subsidence and wetland loss in the Mississippi delta plain

Five representative areas of the Mississippi River delta plain were investigated using remote images, marsh elevations, water depths, sediment cores, and radiocarbon dates to estimate the timing, magnitudes, and relative rates of marsh erosion and land subsidence at geological and historical time scales. In the Terrebonne-Lafourche region of rapid interior-wetland loss, former marshes...
Authors
Robert A. Morton, Julie Bernier, John A. Barras, Nicholas F. Ferina

Water-quality and biologic data for the Blue River basin, Kansas City metropolitan area, Missouri and Kansas, October 2000 to October 2004 Water-quality and biologic data for the Blue River basin, Kansas City metropolitan area, Missouri and Kansas, October 2000 to October 2004

This report presents water-quality and biologic data collected in the Blue River Basin, metropolitan Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas, from October 2000 to October 2004. Data were collected in cooperation with the city of Kansas City, Missouri, Water Services Department as part of an ongoing study designed to characterize long-term water-quality trends in the basin and to provide data to...
Authors
Donald H. Wilkison, Daniel J. Armstrong, Rebecca E. Brown, Barry C. Poulton, Jeffrey D. Cahill, Steven D. Zaugg

Evidence for intensification of the global water cycle: Review and synthesis Evidence for intensification of the global water cycle: Review and synthesis

One of the more important questions in hydrology is: if the climate warms in the future, will there be an intensification of the water cycle and, if so, the nature of that intensification? There is considerable interest in this question because an intensification of the water cycle may lead to changes in water-resource availability, an increase in the frequency and intensity of tropical...
Authors
Thomas G. Huntington

Pushpoint sampling for defining spatial and temporal variations in contaminant concentrations in sediment pore water near the ground-water/surface-water interface Pushpoint sampling for defining spatial and temporal variations in contaminant concentrations in sediment pore water near the ground-water/surface-water interface

During four periods from April 2002 to June 2003, pore-water samples were taken from river sediment within a gaining reach (Mill Pond) of the Sudbury River in Ashland, Massachusetts, with a temporary pushpoint sampler to determine whether this device is an effective tool for measuring small-scale spatial variations in concentrations of volatile organic compounds and selected field...
Authors
Marc J. Zimmerman, Andrew J. Massey, Kimberly W. Campo

Migratory bird pathways and the Gulf of Mexico: Importance of Louisiana's coast Migratory bird pathways and the Gulf of Mexico: Importance of Louisiana's coast

Because of its geographic position, Louisiana plays an important role in the hemispheric-scale phenomenon known as the Nearctic-Neotropical bird migration system. Each year millions of landbirds migrate across or near to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Birds migrate in large, broad fronts that sometimes exceed 2 million individuals, and there is an advantage for them to take a direct...
Authors
Gregory J. Smith, Wylie Barrow

Using radar to understand migratory birds and their habitats: Critical needs for the Gulf of Mexico Using radar to understand migratory birds and their habitats: Critical needs for the Gulf of Mexico

Nearly all Neotropical migratory landbird species of the eastern United States as well as many western species use Louisiana and the northern Gulf of Mexico coast during their transcontinental migrations each spring and fall. Radar has determined that hundreds of millions of birds make the nocturnal crossing of the Gulf of Mexico resulting in daily flights of as many as 2.5 million...
Authors
Gregory J. Smith, Wylie Barrow

Evaluation of Measurements Collected with Multi-Parameter Continuous Water-Quality Monitors in Selected Illinois Streams, 2001-03 Evaluation of Measurements Collected with Multi-Parameter Continuous Water-Quality Monitors in Selected Illinois Streams, 2001-03

Eight streams, representing a wide range of environmental and water-quality conditions across Illinois, were monitored from July 2001 to October 2003 for five water-quality parameters as part of a pilot study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). Continuous recording multi-parameter water-quality monitors were...
Authors
George E. Groschen, Robin B. King

Ecological science and sustainability for the 21st century Ecological science and sustainability for the 21st century

Ecological science has contributed greatly to our understanding of the natural world and the impact of humans on that world. Now, we need to refocus the discipline towards research that ensures a future in which natural systems and the humans they include coexist on a more sustainable planet. Acknowledging that managed ecosystems and intensive exploitation of resources define our future
Authors
Margaret A. Palmer, Emily S. Bernhardt, Elizabeth A. Chornesky, Scott L. Collins, Andrew P. Dobson, Clifford S. Duke, Barry Gold, Robert B. Jacobson, Sharon E. Kingsland, Rhonda H. Kranz, Michael J. Mappin, M. Luisa Martinez, Fiorenza Micheli, Jennifer L. Morse, Michael L. Pace, Mercedes Pascual, Stephen S. Palumbi, O. J. Reichman, Alan R. Townsend, Monica G. Turner

Grazing by the intertidal gastropod Melampus coffeus greatly increases mangrove leaf litter degradation rates Grazing by the intertidal gastropod Melampus coffeus greatly increases mangrove leaf litter degradation rates

Melampus coffeus, a pulmonate gastropod, forages for mangrove leaf litter at low tide and climbs tree trunks to avoid inundation during high tide. Unlike many grazers, these snails can assimilate mangrove leaf material. At Boca Ceiga Bay, Florida, densities of adult snails were high (>100 snails m–2) throughout a 130 m wide intertidal zone. A mark–recapture study indicated that over the...
Authors
C. Edward Proffitt, Donna Devlin
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