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At least 1,207 records · Page 67Linked to original sources
USGS1988

Linear solvation energy relationships for toxicity of selected organic chemicals to Daphnia pulex and Daphnia magna

In the Laurentian Great Lakes, more than 300 contaminants have been identified in fish, other biota, water, and sediment. Current hazard assessment of these chemicals by the National Fisheries Research Center-Great Lakes is based on their toxicity, occurrence in the environment, and source. Although scientists at the Center have tested over 70 chemicals with the crustacean Daphnia pulex , the number of experimental data needed to screen the huge array of chemicals in the Great Lakes exceeds the practical capabilities of conducting bioassays. This limitation can be partly circumvented, however, by using mathematical models based on quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) to provide rapid, inexpensive estimates of toxicity. Many properties of chemicals, including toxicity, bioaccumulation and water solubility are well correlated and can be predicted by equations of the generalized linear solvation energy relationships (LSER). The equation we used to model solute toxicity is Toxicity = constant + m VI/100 + s (π* + dδ) + b βm + a αm where VI = intrinsic (Van der Waals) molar volume; π* = molecular dipolarity/polarizability; δ = polarizability 'correction term'; βm = solute hydrogen bond acceptor basicity; and αm = solute hydrogen bond donor acidity. The subscript m designates solute monomer values for α and β. We applied the LSER model to 48-h acute toxicity data (measured as immobilization) for six classes of chemicals detected in Great Lakes fish. The following regression was obtained for Daphnia pulex (concentration = μM): log EC50 = 4.86 - 4.35 VI/100; N = 38, r2 = 0.867, sd = 0.403 We also used the LSER modeling approach to analyze to a large published data set of 24-h acute toxicity for Daphnia magna ; the following regression resulted, for eight classes of compounds (concentration = mM): log EC50 = 3.88 - 4.52 VI/100 - 1.62 π* + 1.66 βm - 0.916 αm; N = 62, r2 = 0.859, sd = 0.375 In addition we developed computer software that identifies chemical structures, estimates the LSER parameters, and predicts toxicity. The LSER models promise to be effective in differentiating between reactive and nonreactive toxicity behavior where other models have failed. Contaminants with reactive behavior are generally the most toxic and rank highest in hazard assessment of environmental chemicals.

Proceedings of the QSAR↗
USGS1998

Drought-induced shift of a forest-woodland ecotone: Rapid landscape response to climate variation

In coming decades, global climate changes are expected to produce large shifts in vegetation distributions at unprecedented rates. These shifts are expected to be most rapid and extreme at ecotones, the boundaries between ecosystems, particularly those in semiarid landscapes. However, current models do not adequately provide for such rapid effects—particularly those caused by mortality—largely because of the lack of data from field studies. Here we report the most rapid landscape-scale shift of a woody ecotone ever documented: in northern New Mexico in the 1950s, the ecotone between semiarid ponderosa pine forest and piñon–juniper woodland shifted extensively (2 km or more) and rapidly (<5 years) through mortality of ponderosa pines in response to a severe drought. This shift has persisted for 40 years. Forest patches within the shift zone became much more fragmented, and soil erosion greatly accelerated. The rapidity and the complex dynamics of the persistent shift point to the need to represent more accurately these dynamics, especially the mortality factor, in assessments of the effects of climate change.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of↗
USGS1999

Techniques for accurate estimation of net discharge in a tidal channel

An ultrasonic velocity meter discharge-measurement site in a tidally affected region of the Sacramento-San Joaquin rivers was used to study the accuracy of the index velocity calibration procedure. Calibration data consisting of ultrasonic velocity meter index velocity and concurrent acoustic Doppler discharge measurement data were collected during three time periods. The relative magnitude of equipment errors, acoustic Doppler discharge measurement errors, and calibration errors were evaluated. Calibration error was the most significant source of error in estimating net discharge. Using a comprehensive calibration method, net discharge estimates developed from the three sets of calibration data differed by less than an average of 4 cubic meters per second. Typical maximum flow rates during the data-collection period averaged 750 cubic meters per second.

Proceedings of the IEEE Working Conference on Curr↗
USGS1999

Measurement of velocities with an acoustic velocity meter, one side-looking and two upward-looking acoustic Doppler current profilers in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, Romeoville, Illinois

In 1998, a prototype 300 kHz, side-looking Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) was deployed in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) at Romeoville, Illinois. Additionally, two upward-looking ADCP's were deployed in the same acoustic path as the side-looking ADCP and in the reach defined by the upstream and downstream acoustic velocity meter (AVM) paths. All three ADCP's were synchronized to the AVM clock at the gaging station so that data were sampled simultaneously. The three ADCP's were deployed for six weeks measuring flow velocities from 0.0 to 2.5 ft/s. Velocities measured by each ADCP were compared to AVM path velocities and to velocities measured by the other ADCP's.

Proceedings of the IEEE Working Conference on Curr↗
USGS1999

Overview of hydro-acoustic current-measurement applications by the U.S. geological survey in Indiana

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintains a network of 170 streamflow-gaging stations in Indiana to collect data from which continuous records of river discharges are produced. Traditionally, the discharge record from a station is produced by recording river stage and making periodic discharge measurements through a range of stage, then developing a relation between stage and discharge. Techniques that promise to increase data collection accuracy and efficiency include the use of hydro-acoustic instrumentation to measure river velocities. The velocity measurements are used to compute river discharge. In-situ applications of hydro-acoustic instruments by the USGS in Indiana include acoustic velocity meters (AVM's) at six streamflow-gaging stations and newly developed Doppler velocity meters (DVM's) at two stations. AVM's use reciprocal travel times of acoustic signals to measure average water velocities along acoustic paths, whereas DVM's use the Doppler shift of backscattered acoustic signals to compute water velocities. In addition to the in-situ applications, three acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP's) are used to make river-discharge measurements from moving boats at streamflow-gaging stations in Indiana. The USGS has designed and is testing an innovative unmanned platform from which to make ADCP discharge measurements.

Proceedings of the IEEE Working Conference on Curr↗
USGS2000

Circulation and sediment transport in the vicinity of the Hudson Shelf Valley

Sediment transport in the Hudson Shelf Valley and on the adjacent Long Island Shelf are evaluated using available data along with a three-dimensional wind-driven circulation model and a one-dimensional sediment transport model. Winds from the northwest drive currents up the Hudson Shelf Valley, while winds from the east produce weaker currents directed down the valley. Consistent with previous studies, sediment transport on the Long Island Shelf is dominated by resuspension during energetic wave events that are correlated with strong winds from the northeast, and net sediment flux is predicted to be towards the southwest along bathymetric contours. Transport of muddy sediments in the Hudson Shelf Valley, however, does not appear to be wave-dominated. These sediments are most likely to be resuspended by energetic currents driven by strong winds from the northwest that are not associated with energetic waves. The strong up-valley flows associated with these winds implies that net sediment flux along the Hudson Shelf Valley is up-valley.

Proceedings of the International Conference on Est↗
USGS2000

Modeling sand bank formation around tidal headlands

Sandbanks are often found in the vicinity of coastal headlands around which tidal flows are strong enough to generate significant tidally-forced residual eddies, typically with scales of 2-10 km. One popular hypothesis is that these sandbanks are generated by a 'tidal stirring' mechanism in which the inward-directed pressure gradient associated with these residual eddies produces an inward-directed movement of sand near the seabed. This hypothesis predicts asymmetric sandbank formation when planetary vorticity is significant compared to the relative vorticity of the residual eddies. This mechanism is tested with a numerical sediment transport model, using idealized symmetrical coastline geometry and tidal forcing that represents conditions similar to regions where these tidal headland sandbanks are known to occur. For both suspended and bedload simulations, we find that nearly symmetric sandbanks form, and that the sediment transport patterns that are responsible for building and maintaining the banks are due more the patterns of shear stress and sediment flux that occur over the course of the tidal cycle rather than to the characteristics of the tidally-averaged residual fields. We also find that sediment supply can be an important factor in controlling the nature of the resulting sandbanks.

Proceedings of the International Conference on Est↗
USGS2000

Modeling surface trapped river plumes: A sensitivity study

To better understand the requirements for realistic regional simulation of river plumes in the Gulf of Maine, we test the sensitivity of the Blumberg-Mellor hydrodynamic model to choice of advection scheme, grid resolution, and wind, using idealized geometry and forcing. The test case discharges 1500 m3/s of fresh water into a uniform 32 psu ocean along a straight shelf at 43?? north. The water depth is 15 m at the coast and increases linearly to 190 m at a distance 100 km offshore. Constant discharge runs are conducted in the presence of ambient alongshore current and with and without periodic alongshore wind forcing. Advection methods tested are CENTRAL, UPWIND, the standard Smolarkiewicz MPDATA and a recursive MPDATA scheme. For the no-wind runs, the UPWIND advection scheme performs poorly for grid resolutions typically used in regional simulations (grid spacing of 1-2 km, comparable to or slightly less than the internal Rossby radius, and vertical resolution of 10% of the water column), damping out much of the plume structure. The CENTRAL difference scheme also has problems when wind forcing is neglected, and generates too much structure, shedding eddies of numerical origin. When a weak 5 cm/s ambient current is present in the no-wind case, both the CENTRAL and standard MPDATA schemes produce a false fresh- and dense-water source just upstream of the river inflow due to a standing two-grid length oscillation in the salinity field. The recursive MPDATA scheme completely eliminates the false dense water source, and produces results closest to the grid-converged solution. The results are shown to be very sensitive to vertical grid resolution, and the presence of wind forcing dramatically changes the nature of the plume simulations. The implication of these idealized tests for realistic simulations is discussed, as well as ramifications on previous studies of idealized plume models.

Maine↗
USGS2003

Morphological variation in glochidia shells of six species of Elliptio from Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Coast drainages in the southeastern United States

The genus Elliptio, with 36 currently recognized species, is the largest genus in the family Unionidae in North America. The genus is represented by two species, Elliptio crassidens and E. dilatata, in the Interior Basin and 34 species in drainages of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Coast. The paucity and variation of conchological characters in the genus Elliptio makes it extremely difficult to define species and determine relationships. We examined glochidia from six species of Elliptio in an effort to determine if there are useful characteristics for species level identification and/or characters for identification of species groups. Elliptio species were selected to represent different morphological groups from four drainages in the southeastern United States. The glochidia from E. crassidens, E. dariensis, E. hopetonensis, E. icterina, E. shepardiana, and E. mcmichaeli were qualitatively compared, using scanning electron microscopy, with each other and with descriptions of these and other Elliptio glochidia described in the literature. Two groups were identified. The crassidens group, including E. crassidens, E. dariensis, and E. mcmichaeli, had subtriangular glochidia with a triangular styliform hook extending from the ventral margin of the valve and rough exterior valve sculpturing. Adults of this group had wrinkled or corrugated sculpturing on the posterior slope of the shell. The complanata group, including E. hopetonensis, E. icterina, and E. shepardiana, had subelliptical glochidia with a broad flange extending the entire ventral margin and loose-looped exterior valve sculpturing. Adults of this group lack sculpturing on the posterior slope of the shell. Differences in glochidial morphometrics were found, however, additional work is needed to determine if they are reliable for species level identification.

Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washingto↗
USGS2004

A new species of Rhyacophila pictet (Trichoptera: Rhyacophilidae) from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with illustrations of females of R. Appalachia morse and ross and R. mycta ross

Rhyacophila celadon Etnier, Stocks, and Parker, n. sp., a large species of the R. nigrita species group, is described from areas in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee and North Carolina, based on males, females, and larvae. The male is virtually identical to that of R. nigrita, but differs consistently from that species in aspects of the genitalia. The female and larva differ remarkably from those of R. nigrita. Females of Rhyacophila appalachia and R. mycta are illustrated.

Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washin↗