http://pubs.usgs.gov New Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey - Publications that have been added in the last 7 days. http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/sim/sim3026 Lopez, Ivan; Hansen, Vicki (2008), Scientific Investigations Map 3026. <br /> <br /> 2009-01-13 SIM Scientific Investigations Map http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/ofr/ofr20081324 Truini, Margot; Macy, J. P. (2008), Open-File Report 2008-1324. <br /> <br /> The N aquifer is the major source of water in the 5,400 square-mile Black Mesa area in northeastern Arizona. Availability of water is an important issue in northeastern Arizona because of continued water requirements for industrial and municipal use and the needs of a growing population. Precipitation in the Black Mesa area is typically about 6 to 14 inches per year. The water-monitoring program in the Black Mesa area began in 1971 and is designed to provide information about the long-term effects of ground-water withdrawals from the N aquifer for industrial and municipal uses. This report presents results of data collected for the monitoring program in the Black Mesa area from January 2006 to September 2007. The monitoring program includes measurements of (1) ground-water withdrawals, (2) ground-water levels, (3) spring discharge, (4) surface-water discharge, and (5) ground-water chemistry. Periodic testing of ground-water withdrawal meters is completed every 4 to 5 years. The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) yearly totals for the ground-water metered withdrawal data were unavailable in 2006 due to an up-grade within the NTUA computer network. Because NTUA data is often combined with Bureau of Indian Affairs data for the total withdrawals in a well system, withdrawals will not be published in this year's annual report. From 2006 to 2007, annually measured water levels in the Black Mesa area declined in 3 of 11 wells measured in the unconfined areas of the N aquifer, and the median change was 0.0 feet. Measurements indicated that water levels declined in 8 of 17 wells measured in the confined area of the aquifer. The median change for the confined area of the aquifer was 0.2 feet. From the prestress period (prior to 1965) to 2007, the median water-level change for 30 wells was -11.1 feet. Median water-level changes were 2.9 feet for 11 wells measured in the unconfined areas and -40.2 feet for 19 wells measured in the confined area. Spring flow ... 2009-01-13 OFR Open-File Report http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/sim/sim3032 Rodriguez, Jose M.; Gomez-Gomez, Fernando (2008), Scientific Investigations Map 3032. <br /> <br /> The Salinas alluvial fan area has historically been one of the most intensively used agricultural areas in the South Coastal Plain of Puerto Rico. Changes in agricultural practices and land use in the Salinas alluvial fan have also caused changes in the geographic distribution of ground-water withdrawals from the alluvial aquifer. As a result, the ground-water balance and ground-water flow pattern have changed throughout the years and may explain the presence of saline ground water along parts of the coast at present. By providing a reconstruction of historical ground-water development in the Salinas alluvial fan area, from the initial years of aquifer development at about 1900 to the most recent conditions existing in 2005, water resources managers and planners can use the results of the analysis for a more complete understanding of aquifer conditions especially pertaining to water quality. This study effort was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources as a contribution in the management of the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The study area encompasses about 20 mi2 (square miles) of the extensive South Coastal Plain alluvial aquifer system (fig. 1). The study area is bounded to the north by foothills of the Cordillera Central mountain chain, to the south by the Caribbean Sea, and to the east and west by the Rio Nigua de Salinas and the Quebrada Aguas Verdes, respectively. Fan-delta and alluvial deposits contain the principal aquifers in the study area. 2009-01-13 SIM Scientific Investigations Map http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/sim/sim3030 Rodriguez, Jose M.; Gomez-Gomez, Fernando (2008), Scientific Investigations Map 3030. <br /> <br /> A ground-water level synoptic survey of the limestone aquifer in the Arecibo to Manati area, Puerto Rico, was conducted from November 27 through December 1, 2006 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. The purpose of the study was to define the spatial distribution of the potentiometric surface of the upper and lower aquifers of the North Coast limestone aquifer system. A potentiometric surface is defined as an areal representation of the levels to which water would rise in tightly cased wells open to an aquifer (Fetter, 1988). These potentiometric surface maps can be used by water-resources planners to understand the general direction of ground-water flow and to evaluate ground-water conditions for water supply and resource protection. The study was conducted during a period of rising ground-water levels resulting from above-normal rainfall during October and November 2006 when rainfall amount was about 30 percent above normal. The study area encompassed 125 square miles and was bounded to the north by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the southern extension of the limestone units, to the west by the Rio Grande de Arecibo, and to the east by the Rio Grande de Manati (pls. 1 and 2; inset). 2009-01-13 SIM Scientific Investigations Map http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/sim/sim3006 Repetski, John E. (2008), Scientific Investigations Map 3006. <br /> <br /> 2009-01-13 SIM Scientific Investigations Map http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/ofr/ofr20081330 Kuffner, Ilsa B.; Brock, John C.; Grober-Dunsmore, Rikki; Hickey, T. Don; Bonito, Victor; Bracone, Jeremy E.; Wright, C. Wayne (2008), Open-File Report 2008-1330. <br /> <br /> Coral reef ecosystem management benefits from continual, quantitative assessment of the resources being managed, plus assessment of factors that affect distribution patterns of organisms in the ecosystem. In this study, we investigated the relationships among physical, benthic, and fish variables in effort to help explain the distribution patterns of ecologically and economically important species on twelve patch reefs within Biscayne National Park (BNP), Florida, U.S.A. We visited 196 randomly-located sampling stations across twelve shallow (< 10m) patch reefs, using SCUBA to conduct our surveys. We measured physical variables (e.g., substratum type), estimated the percent cover of benthic community members (e.g., coral, algae), and counted and estimated mean size for each fish species observed. We also used high-density bathymetric data collected remotely via airborne laser surveying (Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL)) to calculate rugosity (bumpiness) of the reef habitat. Here we present our findings visually by graphing our quantitative community and physical structure data simultaneously in a GIS map format. You will see that biological organisms arrange themselves on each patch reef in a non-random manner. For example, many species of fish prefer to locate themselves in areas of the reef where the rugosity index is high. Rugose parts of the reef provide them with good hiding places from predators. These maps (and the data used to create them) are permanent records of the status of reef resources found on these twelve patch reefs in BNP as of September, 2003. The survey data found in the shapefile located on this CD product includes benthic percent cover data for algae, coral, encrusting invertebrates, and substratum type, in addition to gorgonian abundance and volume, total fish abundance and species richness, and specific counts for Acanthurids (surgeonfish), Scarids (parrotfish), Lutjanids (snappers), Haemulids (grunts), Serranids (gro... 2009-01-10 OFR Open-File Report http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/sir/sir20085067 Jenkins, Jill A.; Bourgeois, E. Beth; Jeske, Clint W. (2008), Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5067. <br /> <br /> In January 2001, the construction of the Davis Pond freshwater diversion structure was completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The diversion of freshwater from the Mississippi River is intended to mitigate saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico and to lessen the concomitant loss of wetland areas. In addition to the freshwater inflow, Barataria Bay basin would receive nutrients, increased flows of sediments, and water-borne and sediment-bound compounds. The purpose of this biomonitoring study was, therefore, to serve as a baseline for prediversion concentrations of selected contaminants in bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nestlings (hereafter referred to as eaglets), representative freshwater fish, and bivalves. Samples were collected from January through June 2001. Two similarly designed postdiversion studies, as described in the biological monitoring program, are planned. Active bald eagle nests targeted for sampling eaglet blood (n = 6) were generally located southwest and south of the diversion structure. The designated sites for aquatic animal sampling were at Lake Salvador, at Lake Cataouatche, at Bayou Couba, and along the Mississippi River. Aquatic animals representative of eagle prey were collected. Fish were from three different trophic levels and have varying feeding strategies and life histories. These included herbivorous striped mullet (Mugil cephalus), omnivorous blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus), and carnivorous largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Three individuals per species were collected at each of the four sampling sites. Freshwater Atlantic rangia clams (Rangia cuneata) were collected at the downstream marsh sites, and zebra mussels (Dreissena spp.) were collected on the Mississippi River. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends (BEST) protocols served as guides for fish sampling and health assessments. Fish are useful for monitoring aquatic ecosys... 2009-01-10 SIR Scientific Investigations Report http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/sir/sir20085223 Musser, Jonathan W. (2008), Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5223. <br /> <br /> Potential flow characteristics of future flooding along a 4.8-mile reach of the Flint River in Albany, Georgia, were simulated using recent digital-elevation-model data and the U.S. Geological Survey finite-element surface-water modeling system for two-dimensional flow in the horizontal plane (FESWMS-2DH). The model was run at four water-surface altitudes at the Flint River at Albany streamgage (02352500): 181.5-foot (ft) altitude with a flow of 61,100 cubic feet per second (ft3/s), 184.5-ft altitude with a flow of 75,400 ft3/s, 187.5-ft altitude with a flow of 91,700 ft3/s, and 192.5-ft altitude with a flow of 123,000 ft3/s. The model was run to measure changes in inundated areas and water-surface altitudes for eight scenarios of possible modifications to the 4.8-mile reach on the Flint River. The eight scenarios include removing a human-made peninsula located downstream from Oglethorpe Boulevard, increasing the opening under the Oakridge Drive bridge, adding culverts to the east Oakridge Drive bridge approach, adding culverts to the east and west Oakridge Drive bridge approaches, adding an overflow across the oxbow north of Oakridge Drive, making the overflow into a channel, removing the Oakridge Drive bridge, and adding a combination of an oxbow overflow and culverts on both Oakridge Drive bridge approaches. The modeled inundation and water-surface altitude changes were mapped for use in evaluating the river modifications. The most effective scenario at reducing inundated area was the combination scenario. At the 187.5-ft altitude, the inundated area decreased from 4.24 square miles to 4.00 square miles. The remove-peninsula scenario was the least effective with a reduction in inundated area of less than 0.01 square miles. In all scenarios, the inundated area reduction increased with water-surface altitude, peaking at the 187.5-ft altitude. The inundated area reduction then decreased at the gage altitude of 192.5 ft. 2009-01-10 SIR Scientific Investigations Report http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/ofr/ofr20081373 McGee, Benton D.; Goree, Burl B.; Tollett, Roland W.; Mason, Robert R., Jr. (2008), Open-File Report 2008-1373. <br /> <br /> On August 29-31, 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a mobile monitoring network consisting of 124 pressure transducers (sensors) (figs. 1, 2) at 80 sites over an area of about 4,200 square miles to record the timing, extent, and magnitude of inland hurricane storm surge and coastal flooding generated by Hurricane Gustav, which made landfall in southeastern Louisiana on September 1. One-hundred twenty-one sensors from 61 sites (fig. 3) were recovered. Thirty-seven sites from which sensors were recovered were in the New Orleans area, and the remaining 24 sites were distributed throughout southeastern Louisiana. Sites were categorized as surge (21), riverine flooding (18), anthropogenic (affected by the operation of gates or pumps) (17), or mixed/uncertain on the basis of field observations and the appearance of the water-level data (5). 2009-01-10 OFR Open-File Report http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/ds/ds405 Lee, Kathy E.; Schoenfuss, Heiko L.; Jahns, Nathan D.; Brown, Greg K.; Barber, Larry B. (2008), Data Series 405. <br /> <br /> This report presents the study design and environmental data for an integrated chemical and biological study of three streams (South Fork Crow River, Redwood River, and Grindstone River) that receive wastewater in Minnesota. The objective of the study was to identify distribution patterns of endocrine-active chemicals and other organic chemicals indicative of wastewater, and to identify fish responses in the same streams. Endocrine-active chemicals are a class of chemicals that interfere with the natural regulation of endocrine systems, and an understanding of their distribution in aquatic systems is important so that aquatic organism exposure can be evaluated. This study was a cooperative effort of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and St. Cloud State University (St. Cloud, Minn.). The USGS collected and analyzed water and quality-assurance samples and measured streamflow during six sampling events in each of three streams. Water samples were collected upstream from and at two successive points downstream from wastewater-treatment plant (WWTP) effluent discharge and from treated effluent from February through September 2007. Bed-sediment samples were collected during one sampling period at each of the stream locations. Water and bed-sediment samples were analyzed for endocrine-active chemicals including alkylphenols, alkylphenol polyethoxylates, and nonylphenol ethoxycarboxlylates (NPECs). Water samples also were analyzed for major ions, nutrients, and organic carbon. In addition, as part of an intensive time-series investigation, the USGS staff collected daily water samples for 8 weeks from the Redwood River near Marshall, Minn., for analyses of total alkylphenols and atrazine. St. Cloud State University staff collected and analyzed fish to determine male fish responses at all water sampling sites and at an additional site near the discharge of wastewater-treatment plant effluent to these streams. Male fish responses inc... 2009-01-09 DS Data Series http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/gip/gip71 Sulak, Kenneth J.; Randall, Michael (2008), General Information Publication 71. <br /> <br /> Sturgeon: An ancient type of fish, with 5 rows of armor scutes, a cartilaginous skeleton, long snout, suction mouth, no teeth, and 4 barbels. Photograph of a Gulf sturgeon. The total length of a 5-month old is 313 mm. 2009-01-08 GIP General Information Publication http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/sir/sir20085190 Ator, Scott W. (2008), Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5190. <br /> <br /> Data collected from more than 400 wells in the surficial unconfined aquifer in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain (New York through North Carolina) were compiled and analyzed to improve understanding of multiple natural and human influences on water quality in such shallow regional aquifers. Geochemical patterns were identified and described through principal components analysis on major ions, and correlation and logistic regression were used to relate observed concentrations of nitrate and selected pesticide compounds (atrazine, metolachlor, simazine, and deethylatrazine, an atrazine degradate) and volatile organic compounds (chloroform, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, tetrachlorethene, and methyl tert-butyl ether) to likely influences, such as observed geochemical patterns, land use, hydrogeology, and soils. Variability in major-ion concentrations is primarily related to ionic strength and redox condition. Concentrations of nitrate, pesticides, and volatile organic compounds are related to natural conditions, as well as the distribution of likely sources reflected in land use. Nitrate is most common in aerobic ground water and in relatively well-drained areas, for example; concentrations greater than 0.4 milligrams per liter may result from a variety of human activities, although concentrations greater than 3 milligrams per liter are more likely in agricultural areas. Atrazine, deethylatrazine, and metolachlor also are related to geochemical patterns, likely because ground-water geochemistry reflects hydrogeologic and soil conditions affecting pesticide transport to the water table. Results demonstrate the value of geochemical information along with the distribution of sources and other influences to understanding the regional occurrence of selected compounds in ground water. Such influences are not unique to the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain, and thus observations and interpretations are relevant to broader areas. 2009-01-08 SIR Scientific Investigations Report http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/ofr/ofr20081366 Fridrich, Christopher J.; Thompson, Ren A.; Slate, Janet L.; Berry, M. E.; Machette, Michael N. (2008), Open-File Report 2008-1366. <br /> <br /> This map covers the southern part of the Funeral Mountains, and adjacent parts of four structural basins - Furnace Creek, Amargosa Valley, Opera House, and central Death Valley. It extends over three full 7.5-minute quadrangles, and parts of eleven others - a total area of about 950 square kilometers. The boundaries of this map were drawn to include all of the known proximal hydrogeologic features that may affect the flow of ground water that discharges from the springs of the Furnace Creek wash area, in the west-central part of the map. These springs provide the major potable water supply for Death Valley National Park. 2009-01-08 OFR Open-File Report http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/sir/sir20085087 Randall, Allan D.; Finch, Anne (2008), Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5087. <br /> <br /> Water levels beneath parts of Averill Park, a residential hamlet in an upland area of till-mantled shale bedrock in east-central New York, have declined in response to increased withdrawals from new wells. Similar experiences in many upland localities in the northeastern United States have resulted in awareness that the rate of recharge to bedrock can be an important constraint on the density of new development in uplands. Recharge at Averill Park was calculated on the basis of careful estimation of pumpage within a defined cone of depression. The data-collection and recharge-estimation procedures documented herein could be applied in a variety of upland localities in support of community-planning studies. Static water levels measured in 145 wells at Averill Park during the late summer of 2002 defined a 0.54-square-mile cone of depression within which ground-water discharge took place entirely as withdrawals from wells. Rates of withdrawal were estimated largely from surveys in similar neighborhoods a few miles away served by public water supply. Comparison of the water-level measurements in 2002 with measurements on other dates revealed localized declines that could be attributed to new housing developments or commercial demands, but also demonstrated that water levels in 2002 within the cone of depression had stabilized and were not declining persistently over time. Therefore, the current withdrawals were equated to recharge from infiltrating precipitation. Recharge within this area was estimated to average 104 gallons per day per acre, equivalent to 1.4 inches annually, and was sufficient to sustain a residential population of 1.9 persons per acre. This recharge rate is much lower than rates estimated from streamflow records for upland watersheds elsewhere in the northeastern United States. This rate is an average of an unknown larger rate in the 30 percent of the study area where bedrock is discontinuously overlain by less than 30 feet of till and an unknown ... 2009-01-08 SIR Scientific Investigations Report http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/tm/tm6A28 Banta, Edward R.; Paschke, Suzanne S.; Litke, David W. (2008), Techniques and Methods 6-A28. <br /> <br /> This report documents five utility programs designed for use in conjunction with ground-water flow models developed with the U.S. Geological Survey's MODFLOW ground-water modeling program. One program extracts calculated flow values from one model for use as input to another model. The other four programs extract model input or output arrays from one model and make them available in a form that can be used to generate an ArcGIS raster data set. The resulting raster data sets may be useful for visual display of the data or for further geographic data processing. The utility program GRID2GRIDFLOW reads a MODFLOW binary output file of cell-by-cell flow terms for one (source) model grid and converts the flow values to input flow values for a different (target) model grid. The spatial and temporal discretization of the two models may differ. The four other utilities extract selected 2-dimensional data arrays in MODFLOW input and output files and write them to text files that can be imported into an ArcGIS geographic information system raster format. These four utilities require that the model cells be square and aligned with the projected coordinate system in which the model grid is defined. The four raster-conversion utilities are * CBC2RASTER, which extracts selected stress-package flow data from a MODFLOW binary output file of cell-by-cell flows; * DIS2RASTER, which extracts cell-elevation data from a MODFLOW Discretization file; * MFBIN2RASTER, which extracts array data from a MODFLOW binary output file of head or drawdown; and * MULT2RASTER, which extracts array data from a MODFLOW Multiplier file. 2009-01-08 TM Techniques and Methods