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Publications

Publications are crucial for the dissemination of the Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center's scientific data and conclusions. View journal articles authored by our Center's scientists here. The full, searchable catalog of USGS publications can be accessed through the USGS Publications Warehouse.

Filter Total Items: 267

Physical habitat classification and instream flow modeling to determine habitat availability during low-flow periods, North Fork Shenandoah River, Virginia

Increasing development and increasing water withdrawals for public, industrial, and agricultural water supply threaten to reduce streamflows in the Shenandoah River basin in Virginia. Water managers need more information to balance human water-supply needs with the daily streamflows necessary for maintaining the aquatic ecosystems. To meet the need for comprehensive information on hydrology, water
Authors
Jennifer L. Krstolic, Donald C. Hayes, Peter M. Ruhl

Channel gains and losses in the Opequon Creek watershed of West Virginia, July 25-28, 2005

Discharge measurements were made during July 25-28, 2005, in streams and springs and at a wastewater-treatmentplant outfall in the Opequon Creek watershed of West Virginia to describe surface-water resources during low-flow. The greatest spring discharge measured was 6,460 gallons per minute, but 11 of 31 springs inspected were not flowing. Stream discharge measurements obtained at 69 sites define
Authors
Ronald D. Evaldi, Katherine S. Paybins

Water resources data Virginia water year 2005 Volume 2. Ground-water level and ground-water quality records

Water-resources data for the 2005 water year for Virginia consist of records of water levels and water quality of ground-water wells. This report (Volume 2. Ground-Water-Level and Ground-Water-Quality Records) contains water levels at 349 observation wells and water quality at 29 wells. Locations of these wells are shown on figures 3 through 8. The data in this report represent that part of the Na
Authors
Shaun Wicklein, Eugene D. Powell, Joel R. Guyer, Joseph A. Owens

Predicting the vulnerability of streams to episodic acidification and potential effects on aquatic biota in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Acidic deposition is one of the most serious environmental problems affecting Shenandoah National Park in north-central Virginia. The park is the third most contaminated park in the National Park System because of the deposition of acid rain. Acid rain affects headwater streams in the park by temporarily reducing the acid-neutralizing capacity (ANC) of the water, a process termed episodic acidific
Authors
Karen C. Rice, Frank A. Deviney, George M. Hornberger, James R. Webb

Drainage Areas of Selected Streams in Virginia

Drainage areas were determined for more than 1,600 basins in the three major river basins of Virginia -- the North Atlantic Slope, South Atlantic Slope, and Ohio River Basins. Drainage areas range from 0.004 square mile to 7,866 square miles. A geographic information system was used to digitize and store data associated with the drainage basins. Drainage divides were digitized from digital U.S. Ge
Authors
Donald C. Hayes, Ute Wiegand

A Reconnaissance for Emerging Contaminants in the South Branch Potomac River, Cacapon River, and Williams River Basins, West Virginia, April-October 2004

In 2003 a team of scientists from West Virginia Division of Natural Resources and the U. S. Geological Survey found a high incidence of an intersex condition, oocytes in the testes, among smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) in the South Branch Potomac River and the Cacapon River of West Virginia, indicating the possible presence of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs). Possible sources of EDCs
Authors
Douglas B. Chambers, Thomas J. Leiker

Reconnaissance borehole geophysical, geological, and hydrological data from the proposed hydrodynamic compartments of the Culpeper Basin in Loudoun, Prince William, Culpeper, Orange, and Fairfax Counties, Virginia

The Culpeper basin is part of a much larger system of ancient depressions or troughs, that lie inboard of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, and largely within the Applachian Piedmont Geologic Province of eastern North America, and the transition region with the neighboring Blue Ridge Geologic Province. This basin system formed during an abortive attempt to make a great ocean basin during the Late Triass
Authors
Michael P. Ryan, Herbert A. Pierce, Carole D. Johnson, David M. Sutphin, David L. Daniels, Joseph P. Smoot, John K. Costain, Cahit Coruh, George E. Harlow

The Virginia Coastal Plain Hydrogeologic Framework

A refined descriptive hydrogeologic framework of the Coastal Plain of eastern Virginia provides a new perspective on the regional ground-water system by incorporating recent understanding gained by discovery of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater and determination of other geological relations. The seaward-thickening wedge of extensive, eastward-dipping strata of largely unconsolidated sediments is c
Authors
Randolph E. McFarland, Bruce T. Scott

Time series and recurrence interval models to predict the vulnerability of streams to episodic acidification in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Acid rain affects headwater streams by temporarily reducing the acid‐neutralizing capacity (ANC) of the water, a process termed episodic acidification. The increase in acidic components in stream water can have deleterious effects on the aquatic biota. Although acidic deposition is uniform across Shenandoah National Park (SNP) in north central Virginia, the stream water quality response during rai
Authors
Frank A. Deviney, Karen C. Rice, George M. Hornberger

Stream salamander species richness and abundance in relation to environmental factors in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Stream salamanders are sensitive to acid mine drainage and may be sensitive to acidification and low acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) of a watershed. Streams in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, are subject to episodic acidification from precipitation events. We surveyed 25 m by 2 m transects located on the stream bank adjacent to the water channel in Shenandoah National Park for salamanders usi
Authors
Evan H. Campbell Grant, Robin E. Jung, Karen C. Rice

Water-quality data from ground- and surface-water sites near concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and non-CAFOs in the Shenandoah Valley and eastern shore of Virginia, January-February, 2004

Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) result from the consolidation of small farms with animals into larger operations, leading to a higher density of animals per unit of land on CAFOs than on small farms. The density of animals and subsequent concentration of animal wastes potentially can cause contamination of nearby ground and surface waters. This report summarizes water-quality data c
Authors
Karen C. Rice, Michele M. Monti, Matthew R. Ettinger

Transmission of atmospherically derived trace elements through an undeveloped, forested Maryland watershed

The transmission of atmospherically derived trace elements (Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn) was evaluated in a small, undeveloped, forested watershed located in north-central Maryland. Atmospheric input was determined for wet-only and vegetative throughfall components. Annual throughfall fluxes were significantly enriched over incident precipitation for most elements, although some
Authors
J.R. Scudlark, Karen C. Rice, Kathryn M. Conko, Owen P. Bricker, T.M. Church