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At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
USGS1971

The occurrence and significance of polychlorinated biphenyls in the environment

SUMMARY: Polychlorinated biphenyls constitute a group of chlorine-bearing compounds of industrial origin that have permeated the natural environment throughout the world. Their chemical structure resembles that of some of the organochlorine pesticides. They are troublesome interferences in gas chromatographic analysis of these pesticides. Although methods have been developed to overcome analytical problems, measurements of quantity still are only approximate. Special studies in the United States, Netherlands, and Great Britain have traced PCB's to industrial effluent, but other possible sources have not been followed. Their use in paints, cartons, and insulating fluids suggests that environmental pollution may be from many different sources. PCB's are present in fish and wildlife in many countries of the world. Quantities are higher in animals living near industrial areas. PCB's build up in biological food chains with increases of tens to thousands of times from lower to higher organisms. Experimental studies have shown that PCB's have a toxicity to mallards, pheasants, bobwhite quail, coturnix quail, red-winged blackbirds, starlings, cowbirds, and grackles that is of the same order as the toxicity of DDE to these species. Overt signs of poisoning also are similar to those caused by compounds of the DDT group. Toxic effects of DDE and Aroclor 1254 to coturnix chicks were additive, but not synergistic. PCB's containing higher percentages of chlorine are more toxic to birds than those containing lower percentages. PCB's of foreign manufacture contained contaminants to an extent that greatly increased their toxicity Aroclor 1242. Statistical evaluations of the role that different chemicals may play in thinning of eggshells of brown pelicans show that DDE residues correlate better with shell thinning than do residues of dieldrin or PCB's. Studies of the effects of PCB's in the environment are as yet insufficient for well-rounded conclusions. The evidence available indicates that they must be viewed as potential problems until fuller data can be assembled. Toxicity to insects of PCB's of different degrees of chlorination is the reverse of the pattern in birds: the lower chlorinations are more toxic to insects. PCB's enhanced the toxicity of dieldrin and DDT to insects. Shrimp are very sensitive to PCB's and most will die as a result of 20-day exposure to a concentration of 5 ppb. PCB's also inhibit shell growth of oysters. Fish and crabs are less sensitive; all accumulate residues to many times the concentrations in the water, and a test with crabs showed that they lost the residues very slowly. Residues of PCB's in the brains of birds killed by these compounds measure in the hundreds of parts per million. PCB's may have contributed to mortality of some birds in the field. PCB's induce microsomal enzyme activity in birds and mammals and the lower chlorinated mixtures have estrogenic activity in rats. Exposure to PCB's increased the susceptibility of mallard ducklings to duck hepatitis virus. Offspring of pheasants whose parents received high dosages of PCB's made poor choices in visual cliff tests. Egg production and hatching after pipping also were affected. Long-term studies of the reproductive effects of Aroclor 1254 on mallards and bobwhite quail and of Aroclor 1254 plus DDE on quail showed no significant differences from controls. In studies of chickens, however, egg production, hatchability, and shell thickness were impaired by high doses of Aroclor 1254 and by low doses of Aroclor 1242. Statistical evaluations of the role that different chemicals may play in thinning of eggshells of brown pelicans show that DDE residues correlate better with shell thinning than do residues of dieldrin or PCB's. Studies of the effects of PCB's in the environment are as yet insufficient for well-rounded conclusions. The evidence available indicates that they must be

Transactions of the North American Wildlife and Na↗
USGS1997

Water quality variability in San Francisco Bay, Some gGeneral lessons from 1996 sampling: 1996 annual report, San Francisco estuary regional monitoring program for trace substances

This report describes the results from the 1996 Regional Monitoring Program for Trace Substances (RMP). It is the fourth Annual Report from the RMP which began in 1993 and attempts to synthesize the most obvious data patterns from the last four years. This report includes data from Base Program monitoring activities, as well as results of Pilot and Special Studies conducted or completed in 1996. Additionally, several articles contributed by RMP investigators and others, are included. These articles provide perspective and insight on important contaminant issues identified by the RMP. This summary addresses which kinds of pollutants measured by the RMP appear to be at levels that warrant concern, what kinds of trends may be discerned, and which stations have consistently shown elevated contaminant levels. The goals or general objectives of the RMP are: 1. To obtain high quality baseline data describing the concentrations of toxic and potentially toxic trace elements and organic contaminants in the water and sediment of the San Francisco Estuary. 2. To determine seasonal and annual trends in chemical and biological water quality in the San Francisco Estuary. 3. To continue to develop a data set that can be used to determine long-term trends in the concentrations of toxic and potentially toxic trace elements and organic contaminants in the water and sediments of the San Francisco Estuary. 4. To determine whether water quality and sediment quality in the Estuary at large are in compliance with objectives established by the Basin Plan (the regulatory planning document used by the Regional Water Quality Control Board). 5. To provide a database on water and sediment quality in the Estuary which is compatible with data being developed in other ongoing studies, including wasteload allocation studies and model development, sediment quality objectives development, in-bay studies of dredged material disposal, Interagency Ecological Program (IEP) water quality studies, primary productivity studies, local effects biomonitoring programs, and state and federal mussel watch programs.

California↗
USGS1999

Water-quality variability in San Francisco Bay: general patterns of change during 1997

The 1997 Annual Report is the fifth Annual Report from the Regional Monitoring Program for Trace Substances (RMP) and contains a comprehensive description of RMP results from the 1997 monitoring year. As in previous years, the report includes results from the Base Program (water, sediment, and bivalve monitoring) and results from Pilot and Special Studies completed in 1997, in addition to an update on the RMP Five-Year Review implementation. It also includes papers contributed by RMP investigators and other scientists. These articles address related monitoring activities, and help to provide additional insight into contaminant patterns and the impacts of those contaminants on the San Francisco Estuary. The 1997 monitoring year proved to be an unusual one, with record-setting precipitation in December and January followed by unusually dry weather in February and March. These weather patterns had a visible effect on RMP results, frequently creating sharp contrasts in results between the first two sampling cruises of the year, and higher than normal contaminant concentrations at many RMP sampling sites in February. These results, and results from the other aspects of the RMP, are summarized below.

California↗
USGS1922

Stream measurement work: Chapter 9 in Thirteenth biennial report of the State Engineer to the governor of Utah: 1921-1922

Systematic stream measurement work was probably first undertaken in Utah when the United States Geological Survey in 1888 began collecting records of flow of certain streams in the West in connection with special studies relating to irrigation in the arid sections. Since 1895 Congress has made small appropriations “for gaging the streams and determining the water supply of the United States.” These appropriations have permitted of federal allotments in each State only sufficient to carry on a limited amount of investigation and in recent years many private and State organizations have co-operated wither by furnishing data or by making appropriations to assist in collecting data. This co-operation has more than doubled the extent of the work carried out by the Surface Water division of the Geological Survey.

Utah↗
USGS1934

Stream measurement work: Appendix 4 in Nineteenth biennial report of the State Engineer to the governor of Utah: 1933-1934

Stream measurement work under the usual co-operative agreement between the U.S. Geological Survey and the State Engineer continued during the biennium for the purpose of determining the water resources of the State. This work in Utah is part of the general plan for a systematic determination of the water resources of the United States begun by the Geological Survey in 1888. Records of stream flow on a few rivers in the West were taken as part of special studies on irrigation, in which connection gaging stations were established on the Bear, Weber, Provo, and Sevier rivers. The Bear River station at Collinston has been maintained continuously since that date.

Utah↗
USGS1966

Water resources of Branch County, Michigan

Branch County has abundant water resources throughout most of its area. Almost all the water used is supplied by wells that obtain water from glacial drift deposits and locally from fractures and sandy beds in the Coldwater Shale. Glacial drift in buried bedrock valleys may yield large quantities of water to wells. Well yields are generally adequate for domestic and farm supplies. Properly developed large-diameter wells tapping thick beds of sand and gravel of the glacial drift can yield up to several thousands of gallons per minute locally. The hundreds of lakes and the many perennial streams have great recreational value. They are also a large potential source of water for some supplies. For example, it is estimated that 88 billion gallons of water runs off in streams of the county in an average year, and the lakes o the county hold about 42billion gallons of water in storage. Problems of water supply to wells exist locally in some moraine and till areas of where the glacial drift is thin and the underlying bedrock yields only small quantities of water or none at all. Ground water is generally hard to very hard and often contains excessive iron. Salty water is mainly a problem in areas where bedrock is the chief source. Floods are not a serious problem largely because of the storage capacity of the lakes and the permeable materials in some stream basins. Based on measurements at eight stream sites the estimated amount of flow for 90 percent of the time ranges from 80,000 to 150,000 gallons per day per square mile of drainage area. A special study of low levels in land-locked Gilead Lake indicated that this lake is semiperched and mostly dependent upon the water table for tits levels.

Michigan↗
USGS1945

Industrial limestones and dolomites in Virginia: northern and central parts of the Shenandoah Valley

The area described in this report includes the northern and central parts of Shenandoah Valley in Virginia extending from the West Virginia line southwestward to the vicinity of Greenville, Augusta County. It contains extensive deposits of high-calcium limestone averaging more than 97 per cent calcium carbonate. The Mosheim limestone, composed largely of high-calcium limestone, is the important "quarry rock" of the area. Other formations containing high-calcium limestone include locally a part of the Lenoir, the upper part of the Chambersburg in the western belts of Shenandoah County, and relatively thin units in the Beekmantown along the eastern side of the Massanutten Mountain syncline north of Rockingham County. Some of the thickest deposits of high-calcium limestone near railroads are in Frederick, Shenandoah, Rockingham, and Augusta counties. Extensive exposures of the Tomstown (Shady) dolomite, containing more than 42 per cent magnesium carbonate, occur in the eastern part df Clarke County. Locally near the North Mountain fault in parts of Shenandoah and Rockingham counties, 80 feet or more of brecciated dolomite in the Elbrook formation contains about 43.5 per cent magnesium carbonate and generally less than 2 per cent silica. Most of the sampled dolomite units in the Elbrook, Conococheague, and Beekmantown formations contain less than 40 per cent magnesium carbonate. Special study was made of the carbonate rocks suitable for chemical use and favorably located near railroads. Limestones, containing less than 95 per cent calcium carbonate, were studied locally in some detail. Descriptions of the belts of industrial limestone and dolomite are supplemented by geologic maps and sections, and chemical analyses.

Virginia↗
USGS2024

New developments at the Center for Engineering Strong-Motion Data (CESMD)

The Center for Engineering Strong-Motion Data (CESMD), an internationally utilized joint center of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the California Geological Survey (CGS), provides a single access point for earthquake strong-motion records and station metadata from the CGS California Strong-Motion Instrumentation Program (CSMIP), the USGS National Strong-Motion Project (NSMP), the USGS Advanced National Seismic System, and other affiliates. The CESMD has been continuously improving its webtools to facilitate the access of strong-motion data and metadata for use in post-earthquake response and for scientific and engineering research applications. The Center provides raw and processed strong-motion data via the Engineering Data Center (EDC) and the Virtual Data Center (VDC) web portals. This paper focuses on the strong-motion products provided by the EDC where more than 48,000 records with peak ground accelerations greater than 0.1% g from over 2400 earthquakes are currently hosted. and on the ongoing efforts to develop data access tools and applications. The new developments and ongoing efforts in the EDC include: 1) enhancements to the CESMD webservices to facilitate access to station metadata, earthquake information, and strong motion records 2) new features to the interactive map interface, improving the visualization and access to earthquake, station, and record information, 3) efforts to develop a new web application tool for data format conversion from a number of data formats, 4) efforts to unify varying waveform data formats into a consistent format, 5) ongoing efforts to compile seismic station site geology, measured or inferred Vs30 values, shear-wave profiles, NEHRP site class, and available structural instrument deployment schematics, and 6) a special studies pages for research topic-specific ground motion datasets that offer uniform processing of records from a variety of sources.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2005

Water quality, hydrology, and phosphorus loading to Little St. Germain Lake, Wisconsin, with special emphasis on the effects of winter aeration and ground-water inputs

Little St. Germain Lake is a 978-acre, multibasin lake in Vilas County, Wisconsin. In the interest of protecting and improving the water quality of the lake, the Little St. Germain Lake District initiated several cooperative studies with the U.S. Geological Survey between 1991 and 2004 to (1) document the water quality and the extent of winter anoxia in the lake, (2) evaluate the success of aerators at eliminating winter anoxia, (3) develop water and nutrient budgets for the lake, and (4) assess how the water quality of the lake should respond to changes in phosphorus loading. This report presents the results of these cooperative studies with special emphasis on the water quality in the lake since 2000, including the effects of winter aeration and the importance of ground-water contributions of phosphorus to the productivity of the lake. Measurements collected during these studies indicate that the water quality in Little St. Germain Lake was consistently different among basins. The West Bay consistently had the best water quality, the South Bay had intermediate water quality, and the East and Upper East Bays consistently had the worst water quality. The water quality in each of the basins was relatively stable from 1991 to 2000; however, since 2001, the West Bay has changed from oligotrophic to mesotrophic, the South Bay has changed from mesotrophic to eutrophic, and the East and Upper East Bays have changed from eutrophic to eutrophic/hypereutrophic. Winter anoxia frequently occurred throughout most of the lake, except in the West Bay and just below the ice in the East Bay. To eliminate winter anoxia, coarse-bubble line aerators were installed and operated in the Upper East, East, and South Bays. The aerators in the Upper East and South Bays were very successful at eliminating winter anoxia; however, the aerator in the East Bay had little impact on the dissolved oxygen concentrations throughout its basin. Detailed water and phosphorus budgets computed for the lake indicated that inflow from Muskellunge Creek was the major source of phosphorus to the lake and that ground water was the secondary source. Results from a detailed ground-water-flow model indicated that ground water flows into the lake from all sides, except the south sides of the West and Second South Bays. Most of the phosphorus appears to come from natural sources, such as ground water and surface water flowing through relatively undeveloped areas surrounding Little St. Germain Lake and Muskellunge Lake. Several empirical water-quality models were used to simulate how the East and Upper East Bays of the lake should respond to reductions in phosphorus loading from Muskellunge Creek. Simulation results indicated that reductions in tributary loading could improve the water quality of the East and Upper East Bays. Improving the water quality of these bays would also improve the water quality of the South and Second South Bays because of the flow of water through the lake. However, even with phosphorus loading from Muskellunge Creek completely eliminated, most of the lake would remain borderline mesotrophic/eutrophic because of the contributions of phosphorus from ground water.

Wisconsin↗
USGS1956

Ecological study of ruffed grouse broods in Virginia

The Ruffed Grouse ( Bonasa umbellus ), commonly called "pheasant" throughout the southern Appalachian region, is a popular game bird in the mountains of Virginia. Unfortunately, however, the grouse populations in this State have declined noticeably during the past fifty years. Because of this, special field studies were designed through the cooperation of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U. S. Forest Service, which would provide information that could be used in devising more efficient grouse management practices. As part of this program, I was assigned to investigate the ecology and habits of this species in the Shenandoah Mountains during the spring and summer of 1941. These studies were conducted within the George Washington National Forest in northwestern Augusta County, southwestern Rockingham County, and northeastern Highland County, Virginia.

The Auk↗
USGS2014

Prolactin and teleost ionocytes: new insights into cellular and molecular targets of prolactin in vertebrate epithelia

The peptide hormone prolactin is a functionally versatile hormone produced by the vertebrate pituitary . Comparative studies over the last six decades have revealed that a conserved function for prolactin across vertebrates is the regulation of ion and water transport in a variety of tissues including those responsible for whole-organism ion homeostasis. In teleost fishes, prolactin was identified as the “freshwater-adapting hormone”, promoting ion-conserving and water-secreting processes by acting on the gill, kidney, gut and urinary bladder. In mammals, prolactin is known to regulate renal, intestinal, mammary and amniotic epithelia, with dysfunction linked to hypogonadism, infertility, and metabolic disorders. Until recently, our understanding of the cellular mechanisms of prolactin action in fishes has been hampered by a paucity of molecular tools to define and study ionocytes, specialized cells that control active ion transport across branchial and epidermal epithelia. Here we review work in teleost models indicating that prolactin regulates ion balance through action on ion transporters, tight-junction proteins, and water channels in ionocytes, and discuss recent advances in our understanding of ionocyte function in the genetically and embryonically accessible zebrafish ( Danio rerio ). Given the high degree of evolutionary conservation in endocrine and osmoregulatory systems, these studies in teleost models are contributing novel mechanistic insight into how prolactin participates in the development, function, and dysfunction of osmoregulatory systems across the vertebrate lineage.

General and Comparative Endocrinology↗
USGS1973

Karst hydrology: A review

Karst regions of the world are characterized by limestones and other soluble rocks at or near land surface that have been modified by solutional erosion. Such surface features as sinks, long dry valleys, sparse streams, and bare rock and such subsurface features as caverns, arterial solution openings leading to large springs, and a deep water table are typical of karst terranes. These features result in an uneven distribution of permeability in karst systems and surface and subsurface hydrologic conditions that require special hydrogeologic studies. Local high permeability at shallow depth in mature karst regions leads to an ecology associated with a soilless and water-scarce surface environment. Many practical problems result from this high permeability, including: (1) scarcity and poor predictability of groundwater supplies; (2) scarcity of surface-water supplies; (3) instability of the ground; (4) leakage of surface reservoirs; and (5) an unreliable waste-disposal environment. Interest in karst hydrology has increased greatly in the past decade; this interest has resulted in the international exchange of numerous published reports on local areas and on special topical karst problems. Many of these reports have been used by the authors in preparing this paper, which synthesizes results of many workers and focuses attention on: (1) the development of karst features through hydrologic processes; and (2) hydrologic systems of karst terranes.

Journal of Hydrology↗
USGS1944

Exploratory water-well drilling in the Houston District, Texas

In the spring and summer of 1939 a program of exploratory drilling wad undertaken in the Houston district, Tx., in conjunction with a general initiation of the water resources of the district. The main purposes of the program were to determine the thickness and character of water-bearing sands down to a maximum depth of 2,000 feet, the chemical character of the water at different depths, and the artesian pressure and to provide additional observation wells for studying fluctuations in artesian pressure and possibilities of intrusion of salt water from the direction of the Gulf. Thirteen deep test wells, 5? inches in diameter and ranging in depth from 360 to 2,000 feet, were put down with a hydraulic rotary drill by the city of Houston. The combined drilling footage of all of the wells amounted to 17,460 feet, and their averse depth was 1,246 feet. All were electrically logged. Samples of cuttings were collected from the drilling mud after every 20 feet of drilling. In 6 of the wells sand samples were obtained by core drilling in beds at selected horizons, about 230 feet being recovered. A total of 15 samples of sand and water were obtained in 8 wells by the drill-stem method. Side-wall sampling was attempted. Six of the test holes were cased with 3? casing (inside diameter) and equipped with screens so that water-level measurements could be made and samples of water collected for chemical analyses , Selected sand samples were analyzed and tested in a field laboratory for mechanical composition, permeability, and porosity. The field and laboratory data were studied with special reference to the significance of the electrical logs. A comparison of the electrical logs of the test wells with the driller's logs shows that, on the whole, they agree remarkably well in fixing the upper and lower limits of the thicker beds of sand and clay, but that the agreement is not so close where the beds are thin. Variable results were obtained from attempts to correlate the second curve of the electrical log with the permeability and mechanical composition of the sand samples obtained by core drilling and drill-stem sampling. In the case of the core samples there was no apparent relationship between any of the three characteristics in well 3, but in well 5 a slight but distinct increase in the resistivity was accompanied by a large increase in permeability. In well 6 the resistivity in nearly every case varied with the permeability and coarseness of the samples. In well 6 the drilling mud was local clay enriched with Aquagel, whereas in wells 3 and 5 only local clay was used; the data obtained, however, are too meager to be used on a basis for even a tentative conclusion as to the effect of artificial mud on the correlations. In the 15 drill-stem sand samples the data show that, in general, the resistivity of sands having fluid content varies with but is not proportional to the permeability, but there seems to be little or no relationship between the coarseness of the sands and either the resistivity or the permeability. Studies of the relationship of the electrical logs to the salinity of the water indicate that increasing chloride is accompanied by decreasing resistivity. They suggest .that changes in the chloride content are accompanied by large changes in resistivity when the water contains less than 100 parts per million of chloride and by relatively small changes when the chloride content is over 100 parts per million. On the whole, the results of the test drilling from Houston tend to show that, although electrical logs give much information that is useful in the development of water wells, for the present at least these logs should be used in conjunction with driller's logs and drill-stem sampling of both sand and water in all the more promising sand horizons. The tests indicate that an average of 600 feet of .water-bearing sands occurs between the surface and a depth of 1,500 feet along the line of test wells we

Water Supply Paper↗
USGS2002

Procedures for formation of composite samples from segmented populations

We used a simulation approach to investigate the implication of two methods of forming composite samples to characterize segmented populations. We illustrate the case where the weight of individual segments varies randomly, a situation common with fish samples. Composite samples from segments such as whole fish or muscle tissue should be formed by homogenizing each segment separately and combining equal-sized portions randomly drawn from each homogenate. This approach permits unbiased estimation of the mean concentration per fish. Estimates of mean contaminant concentration varied little with variation in the number of composite samples analyzed or with composite size (number of segments in a composite sample). However, for a fixed number of composite samples, the precision of the variance estimate increases as composite size increased. In addition, for a fixed number of composites, the estimate of the variance stabilized as more segments were included in the composite samples. Estimates of the variance among fish or other population segments can be recovered using appropriate compositing procedures and specially-designed studies.

Environmental Science & Technology↗
USGS2012

Well bore breakouts and in situ stress

The detailed cross-sectional shape of stress induced well bore breakouts has been studied using specially processed ultrasonic borehole televiewer data. Breakout shapes are shown for a variety of rock types and introduce a simple elastic failure model which explains many features of the observations. Both the observations and calculations indicate that the breakouts define relatively broad and flat curvilinear surfaces which enlarge the borehole in the direction of minimum horizontal compression. Refs.

Journal of Geophysical Research↗
USGS1955

Early life history of the yellow perch, Perca flavescens (Mitchill), in the Red Lakes, Minnesota

The early life history of the yellow perch, an important commercial species in the Red Lakes, Minnesota, has been studied with special reference to length at scale formation, growth rate during first season of life, and food habits as they relate to growth and survival. Scales are fully imbricated in the area of 12th to 14th lateral line scales at 24 millimeters total length. There is a wide annual varition in first season's growth which is not correlated with growth in older fish. Body-scale relationship is rectilinear from 24 to 280 millimeters. Length-weight relationship during the first year is expressed by the equation W = 0.6198 × 10 −5 L 3.1251 which is very similar to that describing the relationship in later years. Stomach analysis indicates food is primarily plankton but in some seasons fish may be strongly dependent on bottom forms. Variations in food availability appear to be associated with changes in growth and may have a major influence on survival.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗