Geology topics

Research about New Jersey

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including New Jersey.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

USGS2015

Biogeochemical environments of streambed-sediment pore waters with and without arsenic enrichment in a sedimentary rock terrain, New Jersey Piedmont, USA

Release of arsenic (As) from sedimentary rocks has resulted in contamination of groundwater in aquifers of the New Jersey Piedmont Physiographic Province, USA; the contamination also may affect the quality of the region's streamwater to which groundwater discharges. Biogeochemical mechanisms involved in the release process were investigated in the streambeds of Six Mile Run and Pike Run, tributaries to the Millstone River in the Piedmont. At Six Mile Run, streambed pore water and shallow groundwater were low or depleted in oxygen, and contained As at concentrations greater than 20 μg/L. At Pike Run, oxidizing conditions were present in the streambed, and the As concentration in pore water was 2.1 μg/L. The 16S rRNA gene and the As(V) respiratory reductase gene, arrA , were amplified from DNA extracted from streambed pore water at both sites and analyzed, revealing that distinct bacterial communities that corresponded to the redox conditions were present at each site. Anaerobic enrichment cultures were inoculated with pore water from gaining reaches of the streams with acetate and As(V). As(V) was reduced by microbes to As(III) in enrichments with Six Mile Run pore water and groundwater, whereas no reduction occurred in enrichments with Pike Run pore water. Cloning and sequencing of the arrA gene indicated 8 unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at Six Mile Run and 11 unique OTUs at Pike Run, which may be representative of the arsenite oxidase gene arxA . Low-oxygen conditions at Six Mile Run have favored microbial As reduction and release, whereas release was inhibited by oxidizing conditions at Pike Run.

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USGS2015

Screening tool to evaluate the vulnerability of down-gradient receptors to groundwater contaminants from uncapped landfills

A screening tool for quantifying levels of concern for contaminants detected in monitoring wells on or near landfills to down-gradient receptors (streams, wetlands and residential lots) was developed and evaluated. The tool uses Quick Domenico Multi-scenario (QDM), a spreadsheet implementation of Domenico-based solute transport, to estimate concentrations of contaminants reaching receptors under steady-state conditions from a constant-strength source. Unlike most other available Domenico-based model applications, QDM calculates the time for down-gradient contaminant concentrations to approach steady state and appropriate dispersivity values, and allows for up to fifty simulations on a single spreadsheet. Sensitivity of QDM solutions to critical model parameters was quantified. The screening tool uses QDM results to categorize landfills as having high, moderate and low levels of concern, based on contaminant concentrations reaching receptors relative to regulatory concentrations. The application of this tool was demonstrated by assessing levels of concern (as defined by the New Jersey Pinelands Commission) for thirty closed, uncapped landfills in the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve, using historic water-quality data from monitoring wells on and near landfills and hydraulic parameters from regional flow models. Twelve of these landfills are categorized as having high levels of concern, indicating a need for further assessment. This tool is not a replacement for conventional numerically-based transport model or other available Domenico-based applications, but is suitable for quickly assessing the level of concern posed by a landfill or other contaminant point source before expensive and lengthy monitoring or remediation measures are taken. In addition to quantifying the level of concern using historic groundwater-monitoring data, the tool allows for archiving model scenarios and adding refinements as new data become available.

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USGS2015

Water-level conditions in the confined aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain, 2008

Groundwater-level altitudes in 10 confined aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain were measured and evaluated to provide an overview of regional groundwater conditions during fall 2008. Water levels were measured in more than 900 wells in New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and northern Delaware and potentiometric surface maps prepared for the confined Cohansey aquifer of Cape May County, the Rio Grande water-bearing zone, the Atlantic City 800-foot sand, the Piney Point, Vincentown, and the Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifers, the Englishtown aquifer system, and the Upper, Middle, and Lower aquifers of the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system. In 2008, the highest water-level altitudes were observed in the Vincentown aquifer (median, 78 ft) and the lowest in the Atlantic City 800-foot sand (median, -45 ft). Persistent, regionally extensive cones of depression were present within the potentiometric surfaces of the Englishtown aquifer system in east-central New Jersey, the Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer in east-central and southern New Jersey, the Upper, Middle, and Lower Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifers in southern New Jersey, and the Atlantic City 800-foot sand in the southeastern part of the State. Cones of depression in the potentiometric surfaces of the Upper Potomac-Raritan-Magothy and the Piney Point aquifers in east-central and southwestern New Jersey had broadened and deepened since 2003. Declining water levels in many of New Jersey’s confined Coastal Plain aquifers intensified during the late 1970s and early 1980s, prompting the designation of two water-supply Critical Areas by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; Critical Areas 1 and 2 continued to be of concern. To address that concern, water-level changes were assessed in nearly 800 wells measured during the fall of 2003 and 2008, and potentiometric-surface difference maps for each aquifer were constructed and evaluated. In addition, water-level trends were calculated for 77 wells for the periods 2003–8 and 1998–2008 and for 73 wells for the period 1978–2008. From 2003 to 2008 small to moderate water-level changes were observed in many Coastal Plain aquifers in New Jersey, but in places, groundwater levels continued to decline substantially as a result of pumping. Groundwater levels in the Atlantic City 800-foot sand were lower in 2008 than in 2003; declines were greatest near pumping centers in eastern Atlantic County. Changes were less pronounced in Cape May County where water levels were, on average, 1 to 3 feet (ft) lower than those during the previous study (2003), except near Rio Grande where a localized cone of depression had formed as a result of increased withdrawals. Large and widespread declines occurred in the Piney Point aquifer in Cumberland County where water levels in and around the city of Bridgeton had fallen in excess of 100 ft since 2003, and by 30 ft to more than 60 ft in surrounding areas. Groundwater levels in the Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer and Englishtown aquifer system continued to recover in east-central New Jersey; however, groundwater levels in the Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer throughout the southern part of the State continued to decline. In the Upper Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer, groundwater levels were substantially lower than in 2003 in parts of northern Ocean County but were stable in the area adjacent to Raritan Bay (Critical Area 1), and water levels continued to recover in southern New Jersey. In the Middle Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer, water levels rose near Raritan Bay in Middlesex County; however, modest declines were recorded in interior areas of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Groundwater levels in both the Middle and Lower Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifers were stable or rising within the regional cone of depression in Critical Area 2; beyond the critical area in southern New Jersey, however, water levels were slightly lower than in 2003. Analyses of long-term water-level changes indicate that from 1978 to 2008 downward trends occurred at 20 wells (27 percent), upward trends at 27 wells (37 percent), and trends at 26 wells (36 percent) were insubstantial. Sustained, long-term declines were observed most often at wells within the Atlantic City 800-foot sand and at wells in the Piney Point aquifer in southern New Jersey, in which rates of decline were as great as 1.4 feet/year. Upward water-level trends were observed frequently at wells screened in the Englishtown aquifer system and the Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer in Critical Area 1 in east-central New Jersey, and in the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system in parts of Critical Area 1 and throughout most of Critical Area 2 in southern New Jersey. Annual rates of upward change were as great as 3.9 and 5.6 ft/yr in the Englishtown aquifer system and Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer, respectively. Among the units of the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system, annual rates of recovery were greatest in the Lower aquifer. From 1998 to 2008, downward water-level trends were observed at 22 wells (29 percent), upward trends were observed at 21 wells (27 percent), and insubstantial trends at 34 wells (44 percent). Downward trends were detected most often at wells open to the Piney Point aquifer and the Atlantic City 800-foot sand. Upward water-level trends were most frequent in wells open to the Englishtown aquifer system in Critical Area 1 and in wells within the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system in southern New Jersey.

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USGS2015

Median nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the New Jersey Highlands Region estimated using regression models and land-surface characteristics

Nitrate-concentration data are used in conjunction with land-use and land-cover data to estimate median nitrate concentrations in groundwater underlying the New Jersey (NJ) Highlands Region. Sources of data on nitrate in 19,670 groundwater samples are from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Information System (NWIS) and the NJ Private Well Testing Act (PWTA). In a study conducted by the USGS, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, logistic regression was used to relate measured nitrate concentrations to five explanatory variables (percent urban and agricultural land use, septic-system density, total length of streams, and number of known contaminated sites) quantified in 610-meter-square grid cells. A method for calculating the median concentrations of nitrate from a series of logistic regression models was developed. Two calibration and two validation procedures showed that the logistic-regression-based method can estimate groundwater-nitrate concentrations in the Highlands Region accurately to within 0.1 milligram per liter as nitrogen (mg/L as N). Limitations of the logistic-regression-based method include the inability to select a logistic model with exactly 0.5 probability of exceeding the threshold value and lack of an algorithm to directly calculate the median value. Quantile regression was evaluated as a suitable alternative and was slightly less accurate than the logistic-regression method in estimating median groundwater nitrate concentrations in the Highlands Region. Multiple-linear regression with log-transformed nitrate-concentration data and the same five explanatory values was less accurate than either logistic or quantile regression in estimating median nitrate concentrations. On the basis of 4,516 2000 x 2000 foot grid cells that contain wells with data stored in NWIS and the PWTA database, the estimated median nitrate concentration for the entire Highlands Region is about 1.25 mg/L as N, and estimated median concentrations range from about 1.05 to 1.78 mg/L as N among 11 smaller administratively defined areas within the Highlands Region that vary in percentages of urban land use, agricultural land use, and septic-system density. The Kaplan-Meier method of estimating summary statistics from left-censored data was applied in order to include nondetects (left-censored data) in median nitrate-concentration calculations. Median concentrations also were determined using three alternative methods of handling nondetects. Treatment of the 23 percent of samples that were nondetects had little effect on estimated median nitrate concentrations because method detection limits were mostly less than median values.

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USGS2014

Diabase dikes of the Franklin Furnace, New Jersey, quadrangle

Two of the numerous small dikes mapped on the areal geology sheet of the Franklin Furnace Folio (U.S. Geological Survey 161) as “Mostly basic, including nepheline tinguaite, leucite tinguaite, and camptonite” of post‐Ordovician age, have been found to be quite distinct from these alkalic rocks, and the two dikes in question are indistinguishable from the Triassic diabase found elsewhere in New Jersey and adjoining States. The association of diabase with highly alkalic rocks has been observed and commented on by numerous writers. There is evidence pointing to the post‐Triassic age of the Beemerville alkaline rocks, and a possible correlation with a volcanic ash of Cretaceous age found by Stephenson and Carter at Haddonfield, New Jersey, near Camden, in 1936. ©1938. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

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USGS2014

The contamination of ground‐water by salt water near Parlin, New Jersey

The classic studies of Badon Ghyben [see 1 of “References” at end of paper] and Alexander Herzoerg [2].that defined the basic principles governing the relation between salt water and fresh water in water‐bearing sands are now fairly well known. They showed that fresh water floats on the heavier salt Water and that, under static conditions, the ratio between the head of the fresh water above mean sea‐level and the depth of the contact between fresh and salt water below mean sea‐level, is determined by the relative specific gravities of the two waters. Other studies have shown that under ordinary conditions there is little mixing between the fresh and salt waters, so that the zone of contact is narrow. Instances have been observed in which the chloride‐content of the water has ranged from a few parts to several thousand parts per million within a few feet. It would seem, therefore, that the basic conditions under which fresh and salt water occur together in water‐bearing sands are somewhat similar to those in the tidal estuaries of streams. The principal differences are caused by the frictional resistance of the sand which prevents rapid movements of both fluids and probably retards their mixing.

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USGS2014

Modeling long-term trends of chlorinated ethene contamination at a public supply well

A mass-balance solute-transport modeling approach was used to investigate the effects of dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) volume, composition, and generation of daughter products on simulated and measured long-term trends of chlorinated ethene (CE) concentrations at a public supply well. The model was built by telescoping a calibrated regional three-dimensional MODFLOW model to the capture zone of a public supply well that has a history of CE contamination. The local model was then used to simulate the interactions between naturally occurring organic carbon that acts as an electron donor, and dissolved oxygen (DO), CEs, ferric iron, and sulfate that act as electron acceptors using the Sequential Electron Acceptor Model in three dimensions (SEAM3D) code. The modeling results indicate that asymmetry between rapidly rising and more gradual falling concentration trends over time suggests a DNAPL rather than a dissolved source of CEs. Peak concentrations of CEs are proportional to the volume and composition of the DNAPL source. The persistence of contamination, which can vary from a few years to centuries, is proportional to DNAPL volume, but is unaffected by DNAPL composition. These results show that monitoring CE concentrations in raw water produced by impacted public supply wells over time can provide useful information concerning the nature of contaminant sources and the likely future persistence of contamination.

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USGS2014

Integration of stable carbon isotope, microbial community, dissolved hydrogen gas, and 2 H H 2 O tracer data to assess bioaugmentation for chlorinated ethene degradation in fractured rocks

An in situ bioaugmentation (BA) experiment was conducted to understand processes controlling microbial dechlorination of trichloroethene (TCE) in groundwater at the Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC), West Trenton, NJ. In the BA experiment, an electron donor (emulsified vegetable oil and sodium lactate) and a chloro-respiring microbial consortium were injected into a well in fractured mudstone of Triassic age. Water enriched in 2 H was also injected as a tracer of the BA solution, to monitor advective transport processes. The changes in concentration and the δ 13 C of TCE, cis-dichloroethene (cis-DCE), and vinyl chloride (VC); the δ 2 H of water; changes in the abundance of the microbial communities; and the concentration of dissolved H2 gas compared to pre- test conditions, provided multiple lines of evidence that enhanced biodegradation occurred in the injection well and in two downgradient wells. For those wells where the biodegradation was stimulated intensively, the sum of the molar chlorinated ethene (CE) concentrations in post-BA water was higher than that of the sum of the pre-BA background molar CE concentrations. The concentration ratios of TCE/(cis-DCE + VC) indicated that the increase in molar CE concentration may result from additional TCE mobilized from the rock matrix in response to the oil injection or due to desorption/diffusion. The stable carbon isotope mass-balance calculations show that the weighted average 13 C isotope of the CEs was enriched for around a year compared to the background value in a two year monitoring period, an effective indication that dechlorination of VC was occurring. Insights gained from this study can be applied to efforts to use BA in other fractured rock systems. The study demonstrates that a BA approach can substantially enhance in situ bioremediation not only in fractures connected to the injection well, but also in the rock matrix around the well due to processes such as diffusion and desorption. Because the effect of the BA was intensive only in wells where an amendment was distributed during injection, it is necessary to adequately distribute the amendments throughout the fractured rock to achieve substantial bioremediation. The slowdown in BA effect after a year is due to some extend to the decrease abundant of appropriate microbes, but more likely the decreased concentration of electron donor.

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USGS2014

Minimal role of eastern fence lizards in Borrelia burgdorferi transmission in central New Jersey oak/pine woodlands

The Eastern fence lizard, Sceloporus undulatus , is widely distributed in eastern and central North America, ranging through areas with high levels of Lyme disease, as well as areas where Lyme disease is rare or absent. We studied the potential role of S. undulatus in transmission dynamics of Lyme spirochetes by sampling ticks from a variety of natural hosts at field sites in central New Jersey, and by testing the reservoir competence of S. undulatus for Borrelia burgdorferi in the laboratory. The infestation rate of ticks on fence lizards was extremely low (proportion infested = 0.087, n = 23) compared to that on white footed mice and other small mammals (proportion infested = 0.53, n = 140). Of 159 nymphs that had fed as larvae on lizards that had previously been exposed to infected nymphs, none was infected with B. burgdorferi , compared with 79.9% of 209 nymphs that had fed as larvae on infected control mice. Simulations suggest that changes in the numbers of fence lizards in a natural habitat would have little effect on the infection rate of nymphal ticks with Lyme spirochetes. We conclude that in central New Jersey S. undulatus plays a minimal role in the enzootic transmission cycle of Lyme spirochetes.

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USGS2014

EAARL-B coastal topography: eastern New Jersey, Hurricane Sandy, 2012: first surface

These remotely sensed, geographically referenced elevation measurements of lidar-derived first-surface (FS) topography datasets were produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, Florida. This project provides highly detailed and accurate datasets for a portion of the New Jersey coastline beachface, acquired pre-Hurricane Sandy on October 26, and post-Hurricane Sandy on November 1 and November 5, 2012. The datasets are made available for use as a management tool to research scientists and natural-resource managers. An innovative airborne lidar system, known as the second-generation Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL-B), was used during data acquisition. The EAARL-B system is a raster-scanning, waveform-resolving, green-wavelength (532-nm) lidar designed to map nearshore bathymetry, topography, and vegetation structure simultaneously. The EAARL-B sensor suite includes the raster-scanning, water-penetrating full-waveform adaptive lidar, down-looking red-green-blue (RGB) and infrared (IR) digital cameras, two precision dual-frequency kinematic carrier-phase GPS receivers, and an integrated miniature digital inertial measurement unit, which provide for sub-meter georeferencing of each laser sample. The nominal EAARL-B platform is a twin-engine Cessna 310 aircraft, but the instrument may be deployed on a range of light aircraft. A single pilot, a lidar operator, and a data analyst constitute the crew for most survey operations. This sensor has the potential to make significant contributions in measuring sub-aerial and submarine coastal topography within cross-environmental surveys. Elevation measurements were collected over the survey area using the EAARL-B system. The resulting data were then processed using the Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS), a custom-built processing system developed in a NASA-USGS collaboration. ALPS supports the exploration and processing of lidar data in an interactive or batch mode. Modules for presurvey flight-line definition, flight-path plotting, lidar raster and waveform investigation, and digital camera image playback have been developed. Processing algorithms have been developed to extract the range to the first and last significant return within each waveform. ALPS is used routinely to create maps that represent submerged or sub-aerial topography. Specialized filtering algorithms have been implemented to determine the "bare earth" under vegetation from a point cloud of last return elevations. For more information about similar projects, please visit the Lidar for Science and Resource Management Web site.

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USGS2014

Occurrence of pesticides in groundwater and sediments and mineralogy of sediments and grain coatings underlying the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Upper Deerfield, New Jersey, 2007

Water and sediment samples were collected from June through October 2007 from seven plots at the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Upper Deerfield, New Jersey, and analyzed for a suite of pesticides (including fungicides) and other physical and chemical parameters (including sediment mineralogy) by the U.S. Geological Survey. Plots were selected for inclusion in this study on the basis of the crops grown and the pesticides used. Forty-one pesticides were detected in 14 water samples; these include 5 fungicides, 13 herbicides, 1 insecticide, and 22 pesticide degradates. The following pesticides and pesticide degradates were detected in 50 percent or more of the groundwater samples: 1-amide-4-hydroxy-chorothalonil, alachlor sulfonic acid, metolachlor oxanilic acid, metolachlor sulfonic acid, metalaxyl, and simazine. Dissolved-pesticide concentrations ranged from below their instrumental limit of detection to 36 micrograms per liter (for metolachlor sulfonic acid, a degradate of the herbicide metolachlor). The total number of pesticides found in groundwater samples ranged from 0 to 29. Fourteen pesticides were detected in sediment samples from continuous cores collected within each of the seven sampled plots; these include 4 fungicides, 2 herbicides, and 7 pesticide degradates. Pesticide concentrations in sediment samples ranged from below their instrumental limit of detection to 34.2 nanograms per gram (for azoxystrobin). The total number of pesticides found in sediment samples ranged from 0 to 8. Quantitative whole-rock and grain-coating mineralogy of sediment samples were determined by x-ray diffraction. Whole-rock analysis indicated that sediments were predominantly composed of quartz. The materials coating the quartz grains were removed to allow quantification of the trace mineral phases present.

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USGS2014

Characterization of selected bed-sediment-bound organic and inorganic contaminants and toxicity, Barnegat Bay and major tributaries, New Jersey, 2012

A study of bed-sediment toxicity and organic and inorganic contaminants was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). Bed-sediment samples were collected once from 22 sites in Barnegat Bay and selected major tributaries during August–September 2012 and analyzed for toxicity and a suite of organic and inorganic contaminants by the USGS and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Sampling sites were selected to coincide with an existing water-quality monitoring network used by the NJDEP and others in order to evaluate water-quality conditions in Barnegat Bay and the surrounding watershed. Two of the 22 sites are reference sites and are within or adjacent to the study area; bed-sediment samples from reference sites allow for comparisons of results for the Barnegat Bay watershed to results from less affected settings within the region. Toxicity testing was conducted by exposing the estuarine amphipod Leptocheirus plumulosus and the freshwater amphipod Hyalella azteca to sediments for 28 days, and the percent survival, difference in biomass, and individual dry weights were measured. Reproductive effects also were evaluated for estuarine samples. Bed-sediment samples from four sites within Barnegat Bay were subjected to a toxicity identification evaluation to determine probable causes of toxicity. Samples were analyzed for a suite of 94 currently-used pesticides, 21 legacy pesticides, 24 trace elements, 40 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 7 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as Arochlor mixtures, and 145 individual PCB congeners. Concentrations of detected compounds were compared to sediment-quality guidelines, where appropriate.

New Jersey↗

USGS2014

EAARL-B submerged topography: Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, pre-Hurricane Sandy, 2012

These remotely sensed, geographically referenced elevation measurements of lidar-derived submerged topography datasets were produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, Florida. This project provides highly detailed and accurate datasets for part of Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, acquired pre-Hurricane Sandy on October 18, 22, 23, and 26, 2012. The datasets are made available for use as a management tool to research scientists and natural-resource managers. An innovative airborne lidar, known as the second-generation Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL-B), was used during data acquisition. The EAARL-B system is a raster-scanning, waveform-resolving, green-wavelength (532-nm) lidar designed to map near-shore bathymetry, topography, and vegetation structure simultaneously. The EAARL-B sensor suite includes the raster-scanning, water-penetrating full-waveform adaptive lidar, down-looking red-green-blue (RGB) and infrared (IR) digital cameras, two precision dual-frequency kinematic carrier-phase GPS receivers, and an integrated miniature digital inertial measurement unit, which provide for sub-meter georeferencing of each laser sample. The nominal EAARL-B platform is a twin-engine Cessna 310 aircraft, but the instrument may be deployed on a range of light aircraft. A single pilot, a lidar operator, and a data analyst constitute the crew for most survey operations. This sensor has the potential to make significant contributions in measuring sub-aerial and submarine coastal topography within cross-environmental surveys. Elevation measurements were collected over the survey area using the EAARL-B system. The resulting data were then processed using the Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS), a custom-built processing system developed originally in a NASA-USGS collaboration. The exploration and processing of lidar data in an interactive or batch mode is supported using ALPS. Modules for presurvey flight-line definition, flight-path plotting, lidar raster and waveform investigation, and digital camera image playback have been developed. Processing algorithms have been developed to extract the range to the first and last significant return within each waveform. The Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS) is used routinely to create maps that represent submerged or sub-aerial topography. Specialized filtering algorithms have been implemented to determine the "bare earth" under vegetation from a point cloud of last return elevations. For more information about similar projects, please visit the Lidar for Science and Resource Management Web site.

New Jersey↗

USGS2014

EAARL-B submerged topography: Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, post-Hurricane Sandy, 2012-2013

These remotely sensed, geographically referenced elevation measurements of lidar-derived submerged topography datasets were produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, Florida. This project provides highly detailed and accurate datasets for part of Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, acquired post-Hurricane Sandy on November 1, 5, 16, 20, and 30, 2012; December 5, 6, and 21, 2012; and January 10, 2013. The datasets are made available for use as a management tool to research scientists and natural-resource managers. An innovative airborne lidar system, known as the second-generation Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL-B), was used during data acquisition. The EAARL-B system is a raster-scanning, waveform-resolving, green-wavelength (532-nm) lidar designed to map nearshore bathymetry, topography, and vegetation structure simultaneously. The EAARL-B sensor suite includes the raster-scanning, water-penetrating full-waveform adaptive lidar, down-looking red-green-blue (RGB) and infrared (IR) digital cameras, two precision dual-frequency kinematic carrier-phase GPS receivers, and an integrated miniature digital inertial measurement unit, which provide for sub-meter georeferencing of each laser sample. The nominal EAARL-B platform is a twin-engine Cessna 310 aircraft, but the instrument may be deployed on a range of light aircraft. A single pilot, a lidar operator, and a data analyst constitute the crew for most survey operations. This sensor has the potential to make significant contributions in measuring sub-aerial and submarine coastal topography within cross-environmental surveys. Elevation measurements were collected over the survey area using the EAARL-B system. The resulting data were then processed using the Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS), a custom-built processing system developed originally in a NASA-USGS collaboration. The exploration and processing of lidar data in an interactive or batch mode is supported using ALPS. Modules for presurvey flight-line definition, flight-path plotting, lidar raster and waveform investigation, and digital camera image playback have been developed. Processing algorithms have been developed to extract the range to the first and last significant return within each waveform. The Airborne Lidar Processing System (ALPS) is used routinely to create maps that represent submerged or sub-aerial topography. Specialized filtering algorithms have been implemented to determine the "bare earth" under vegetation from a point cloud of last return elevations. For more information about similar projects, please visit the Lidar for Science and Resource Management Web site .

New Jersey↗

USGS2014

The 3D Elevation Program: Summary for New Jersey

Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of New Jersey, elevation data are critical for water supply and quality, flood risk management, natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, infrastructure and construction management, and other business uses. Today, high-density light detection and ranging (lidar) data are the primary sources for deriving elevation models and other datasets. Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies work in partnership to (1) replace data that are older and of lower quality and (2) provide coverage where publicly accessible data do not exist. A joint goal of State and Federal partners is to acquire consistent, statewide coverage to support existing and emerging applications enabled by lidar data. The National Enhanced Elevation Assessment evaluated multiple elevation data acquisition options to determine the optimal data quality and data replacement cycle relative to cost to meet the identified requirements of the user community. The evaluation demonstrated that lidar acquisition at quality level 2 for the conterminous United States and quality level 5 interferometric synthetic aperture radar (ifsar) data for Alaska with a 6- to 10-year acquisition cycle provided the highest benefit/cost ratios. The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) initiative selected an 8-year acquisition cycle for the respective quality levels. 3DEP, managed by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Office of Management and Budget Circular A–16 lead agency for terrestrial elevation data, responds to the growing need for high-quality topographic data and a wide range of other 3D representations of the Nation’s natural and constructed features.

New Jersey↗

USGS2014

Transmissivity and storage coefficient estimates from slug tests, Naval Air Warfare Center, West Trenton, New Jersey

Slug tests were conducted on 56 observation wells open to bedrock at the former Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) in West Trenton, New Jersey. Aquifer transmissivity (T) and storage coefficient (S) values for most wells were estimated from slug-test data using the Cooper-Bredehoeft-Papadopulos method. Test data from three wells exhibited fast, underdamped water-level responses and were analyzed with the Butler high-K method. The range of T at NAWC was approximately 0.07 to 10,000 square feet per day. At 11 wells, water levels did not change measurably after 20 minutes following slug insertion; transmissivity at these 11 wells was estimated to be less than 0.07 square feet per day. The range of S was approximately 10 -10 to 0.01, the mode being 10 -10 . Water-level responses for tests at three wells fit poorly to the type curves of both methods, indicating that these methods were not appropriate for adequately estimating T and S from those data.

New Jersey↗

USGS2014

Flood-inundation maps for the Saddle River in Ho-Ho-Kus Borough, the Village of Ridgewood, and Paramus Borough, New Jersey, 2013

Digital flood-inundation maps for a 5.4-mile reach of the Saddle River in New Jersey from Hollywood Avenue in Ho-Ho-Kus Borough downstream through the Village of Ridgewood and Paramus Borough to the confluence with Hohokus Brook in the Village of Ridgewood were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). The inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science Web site at http://water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation/ , depict estimates of the areal extent and depth of flooding corresponding to selected water levels (stages) at the USGS streamgage on the Saddle River at Ridgewood, New Jersey (station 01390500). Current conditions for estimating near real-time areas of inundation using USGS streamgage information may be obtained on the Internet at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=01390500 or at the National Weather Services (NWS) Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) at http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=okx&gage=rwdn4 . In this study, flood profiles were computed for the stream reach by means of a one-dimensional step-backwater model. The model was calibrated by using the most current stage-discharge relation (March 11, 2011) at the USGS streamgage 01390500, Saddle River at Ridgewood, New Jersey. The hydraulic model was then used to compute 10 water-surface profiles for flood stages at 1-foot (ft) intervals referenced to the streamgage datum, North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88), and ranging from 5 ft, the NWS “action and minor flood stage”, to 14 ft, which is the maximum extent of the stage-discharge rating and 0.6 ft higher than the highest recorded water level at the streamgage. The simulated water-surface profiles were then combined with a geographic information system 3-meter (9.84-ft) digital elevation model derived from Light Detection and Ranging (lidar) data in order to delineate the area flooded at each water level. The availability of these maps along with information on the Internet regarding current stage from the USGS streamgage provides emergency management personnel and residents with information that is critical for flood response activities, such as evacuations and road closures as well as for post-flood recovery efforts.

New Jersey↗

USGS2014

In-situ sediment oxygen demand rates in Hammonton Creek, Hammonton, New Jersey, and Crosswicks Creek, near New Egypt, New Jersey, August-October 2009

Sediment oxygen demand rates were measured in Hammonton Creek, Hammonton, New Jersey, and Crosswicks Creek, near New Egypt, New Jersey, during August through October 2009. These rates were measured as part of an ongoing water-quality monitoring program being conducted in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Oxygen depletion rates were measured using in-situ test chambers and a non-consumptive optical electrode sensing technique for measuring dissolved oxygen concentrations. Sediment oxygen demand rates were calculated on the basis of these field measured oxygen depletion rates and the temperature of the stream water at each site. Hammonton Creek originates at an impoundment, then flows through pine forest and agricultural fields, and receives discharge from a sewage-treatment plant. The streambed is predominantly sand and fine gravel with isolated pockets of organic-rich detritus. Sediment oxygen demand rates were calculated at four sites on Hammonton Creek and were found to range from -0.3 to -5.1 grams per square meter per day (g/m 2 /d), adjusted to 20 degrees Celsius. When deployed in pairs, the chambers produced similar values, indicating that the method was working as expected and yielding reproducible results. At one site where the chamber was deployed for more than 12 hours, dissolved oxygen was consumed linearly over the entire test period. Crosswicks Creek originates in a marshy woodland area and then flows through woodlots and pastures. The streambed is predominantly silt and clay with some bedrock exposures. Oxygen depletion rates were measured at three sites within the main channel of the creek, and the calculated sediment oxygen demand rates ranged from -0.33 to -2.5 g/m 2 /d, adjusted to 20 degrees Celsius. At one of these sites sediment oxygen demand was measured in both a center channel flowing area of a pond in the stream and in a stagnant non-flowing area along the shore of the pond where organic-rich bottom sediments had accumulated and lower dissolved oxygen concentration conditions existed in the water column. Dissolved oxygen concentrations in the center channel test chamber showed a constant slow decrease over the entire test period. Oxygen consumption in the test chamber at the near-shore location began rapidly and then slowed over time as oxygen became depleted in the chamber. Depending on the portion of the near-shore dissolved oxygen depletion curve used, calculated sediment oxygen demand rates ranged from as low as -0.03 g/m 2 /d to as high as -10 g/m 2 /d. The wide range of sediment oxygen demand rates indicates that care must be taken when extrapolating sediment oxygen demand rates between stream sites that have different bottom sediment types and different flow regimes.

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