USGS Activities in Nevada -- Amargosa Desert Research Site What's New

Recently Released Reports

Andraski, B.J., Stonestrom, D.A., Michel, R.L., Halford, K.J., and Radyk, J.C., 2005, Plant-based plume-scale mapping of tritium contamination in desert soils: Vadose Zone, vol. 4, p. 819-827 (abstract || entire article)

Walvoord, M.A., Striegl, R.G., Prudic, D.E., and Stonestrom, D.A., 2005, CO2 dynamics in the Amargosa Desert--fluxes and isotopic speciation in a deep unsaturated zone: Water Resources Research, v. 41, W02006, doi:10.1029/2004WR003599. (abstract)

Seyfried, M., Schwinning, S., Walvoord, M.A., Pockman, W., Jackson, R., Newman, B., and Phillips, F., 2005, Ecohydrological control of deep drainage in semiarid regions: Ecology, v. 86, p. 277-287.

Walvoord, M.A., and Stonestrom, D.A., 2004, Enhanced gas-phase transport in a deep unsaturated zone, Amargosa Desert (U.S.A), in K. Kovar, Z. Hrkal, and J. Bruthans, eds., Proceedings of International Conference on Finite-Element Models, MODFLOW, and More, 12-16 September 2004, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic: IAHS, p. 227-230.

Stonestrom, D.A., J.D. Abraham, B.J. Andraski, R.J. Baker, C.J. Mayers, R.L. Michel, D.E. Prudic, R.G. Striegl, and M.A. Walvoord. 2004. Monitoring radionuclide contamination in the unsaturated zone: Lessons learned at the Amargosa Desert Research Site, Nye County, Nevada. In Workshop on long-term performance monitoring of metals and radionuclides in the subsurface, Reston, VA, 21-22 April 2004 (entire report served from Florida State Univ., Tallahassee)

Andraski, B.J., Halford, K.J., and Michel, R.L, 2004, Plume-scale testing of a simplified method for detecting tritium contamination in plants and soil, in Workshop on Long-term Performance Monitoring of Metals and Radionuclides in the Subsurface, Reston, VA, April 21-22, 2004 (entire report served from Florida State Univ., Tallahassee)

Walvoord, M.A., and Scanlon, B.R., 2004, Hydrologic processes in deep vadose zones in interdrainage arid environments, in Hogan, J.F, Phillips, F.M, and Scanlon, B.R., eds., Groundwater recharge in a desert environment---The southwestern United States: Washington, D.C., American Geophysical Union, p. 15-28.

Stonestrom, D.A., Prudic, D.E., Laczniak, R.J., and Akstin, K.C., 2004, Tectonic, climatic, and land-use controls on ground-water recharge in an arid alluvial basin: Amargosa Desert, U.S.A., in Hogan, J.F, Phillips, F.M, and Scanlon, B.R., eds., Groundwater recharge in a desert environment---The southwestern United States: Washington, D.C., American Geophysical Union, p. 29-47.

Phillips, F.M., Walvoord, M.A., and Small, E.E., 2004, Effects of environmental change on groundwater recharge in the Desert Southwest, in Hogan, J.F, Phillips, F.M, and Scanlon, B.R., eds., Groundwater recharge in a desert environment---The southwestern United States: Washington, D.C., American Geophysical Union, p. 273-294.

Dong, Weiquan, 2004, Extraction of paleohydrology and paleoclimate proxies from vadose zones and paleolake records in the southwestern Great Basin: Las Vegas, University of Nevada, Ph.D. Dissertation, 180 p.

Abraham, J.D., and Lucius, J.E., 2004, Direct current resistivity profiling to study distribution of water in the unsaturated zone near the Amargosa Desert Research Site, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2004-1319, 16 p. (entire Report)

Walvoord, M.A., Phillips, F.M., Stonestrom, D.A., Evans, R.D., Hartsough, P.C., Newman, B.D., and Striegl, R.G., 2004, Response to comment on “A reservoir of nitrate beneath desert soils:” Science, vol. 304, p. 51c, doi: 10.1126/science.1095033.

Walvoord, M.A., D.A. Stonestrom, B.J. Andraski, and R.G. Striegl, 2004, Constraining the inferred paleohydrologic evolution of a deep unsaturated zone in the Amargosa Desert: Vadose Zone Journal, vol. 3, p. 502-512.

McGuire, P.E., Moses, Don, and Andraski, B.J., 2004, An evapotranspiration cover for containment at the U.S. Army Fort Carson landfill site, Proceedings of the 30th Environmental and Energy Symposium & Exhibition, April 5-8, 2004, San Diego, CA: Arlington, VA, National Defense Industrial Association.

Walvoord, M.A., and Phillips, F.M., 2004, Identifying areas of basin-floor recharge in the Trans-Pecos region and the link to vegetation, Journal of Hydrology, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2003.12.029.

Stonestrom, D.A., and Blasch, K.W., 2003, Determining temperature and thermal properties for heat-based studies of surface-water ground-water interactions, in Stonestrom, D.A. and Constantz, Jim, ed., Heat as a Tool for Studying the Movement of Ground Water Near Streams: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1260, p. 73-80.

Other ADRS Related Activites

ADRS RESEARCH PRESENTED AT 2005 JOINT ASSEMBLY
Dave Stonestrom (USGS-NRP) presented a paper, "Surrogate Indicators of Radionuclide Migration at the Amargosa Desert Research Site, Nye County, Nevada," (Abstract) and Brian Andraski (USGS-NV) presented a paper, "Plant-Based Plume-Scale Monitoring Reveals the Extents and Pathways of Tritium Transport," (Abstract) at the session on Performance Monitoring to Assess Environmental System Behavior, New Orleans, LA, May 2005

RESERVOIR OF DESERT NITRATE CONTINUES TO DRAW INTEREST AMONG SCIENTISTS & REGULATORS
Results from the Amargosa Desert and elsewhere (Walvoord et al., 2003, Science) indicate that climate change or irrigation of Southwestern deserts could result in the percolation of desert-soil nitrate and the subsequent contamination of ground-water aquifers. Study results were discussed at the Geological Society of America Meeting, 7-10 November 2004:
--“Nitrate retention beneath nitrogen-limited vegetation in arid and semiarid environments and implications for rapid mobilization” by Walvoord, M.A., F.M. Phillips, D.A. Stonestrom, R.D. Evans, P.C. Hartsough, B.D. Newman, and R.G. Striegl.
and at the “Symposium on Nitrogen Eutrophication in Xeric Wildland and Agricultural Systems,” Univ. of California, Riverside, 19-20 Jan. 2005:
--“Multi Millennial Sequestration of Nitrate in Desert Subsoils” by Michelle Walvoord.

ADRS RESEARCH PRESENTED AT 2004 SOIL SCIENCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA MEETING: Justin Mayers (USGS-NV) presented a paper, "Modeling Tritium Transport Through a Deep Unsaturated Zone in an Arid Environment," at the symposium on Reconciling Measured and Predicted Water, Heat, and Solute Transport in Soil: A Tribute to Peter J. Wierenga, Seattle, WA, November 2004 (Abstract)

ADRS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFERRED AT WORKSHOP ON LONG-TERM MONITORING OF METALS AND RADIONUCLIDES IN THE SUBSURFACE: ADRS researchers presented emerging tritium-sampling methodology and “lessons learned” at the ADRS that are relevant to monitoring at a multi-agency workshop held in Reston, VA, April 2004. http://www.cistems.fsu.edu/agenda1.htm

ADRS RESEARCH PRESENTED AT 2003 AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION MEETING:
Brian Andraski (USGS-NV) presented a paper, "Plume-Scale Testing of a Simplified Method for Detecting Tritium Contamination in Plants and Soil" at the session on Environmental Vadose Zone Hydrology, San Francisco, CA, December 2003(Abstract)

Ron Baker (USGS-NJ) presented a paper,"Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Elevated Concentrations of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in Unsaturated-Zone Vapors Near a Chemical and Low-Level Radioactivity Waste-Disposal Facility, Amargosa Desert Research Site, Nye County, Nevada" at the session on Environmental Vadose Zone Hydrology, San Francisco, CA, December 2003(Abstract)

Dave Stonestrom presented a paper, "Focused Subsurface Flow in the Amargosa Desert Characterized by Direct-Current Resistivity Profiling" at the session on Hydrogeophysics: Characterization and Monitoring of Subsurface Parameters and Processes, San Francisco, CA, December 2003 (Abstract)

Michelle Walvoord presented a paper, "Modeling CO2 and Carbon-Isotope Dynamics in a Deep Unsaturated Zone near Beatty, Nevada" at the session on Environmental Vadose Zone Hydrology, San Francisco, CA, December 2003 (Abstract)