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Tidal freshwater wetlands are one of the most vulnerable ecosystems to climate change and rising sea levels. However salinification within these systems is poorly understood, therefore, productivity (litterfall, woody biomass, and fine roots) were investigated on three forested tidal wetlands [(1) freshwater, (2) moderately saline, and (3) heavily salt-impacted] and a marsh along the Waccamaw and Turkey Creek in South Carolina. Mean aboveground (litterfall and woody biomass) production on the freshwater, moderately saline, heavily salt-impacted, and marsh, respectively, was 1,061, 492, 79, and 0  g m−2 year−1 versus belowground (fine roots) 860, 490, 620, and 2,128  g m−2 year−1. Litterfall and woody biomass displayed...
D.1 introduction; D.2 suspended-sediment concentration interpolation method; D.3 transport-curve method for suspended sediment load, bed load, and total load; D.4 equations for estimating bed load and bed-material load; D.5 toward collection of consistent, reliable fluvial-sediment data; references
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
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The extent to which mineralogy and swelling potential is correlated in the expansive clays and shales is studied. Sites are selected in Cretaceous shales, including Pierre Shale, that are uplifted into steeply dipping strata near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Swelling potentials are obtained on limited suites of samples with conventional and labor-intensive schemes including Seed and Chen's schemes, and with swell-consolidation measurements in response to saturation, consolidation, and rebound in an oedometer. The results showing the percent total smectite provide a useful index of swelling potential concept defined by Seed and correlates well with the swelling potential indices developed by Seed, Chen,...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
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This paper examines how the velocity distribution of flow in open channels affects the kinematic and dynamic wave velocities, from which the various forms of the Vedernikov number V can be formulated. When V >1, disturbances created in open-channel flow will amplify in the form of roll waves; when V <1, some (though not all) disturbances will attenuate. A study of the Vedernikov stability criterion reveals that it can be readily deduced within the framework of the kinematic and dynamic wave theories by comparing the kinematic wave velocity to the corresponding dynamic wave velocity. -from Author
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During 1986, the U. S. Geological Survey and the Louisiana Geological Survey began a five-year cooperative study focused on the processes which cause erosion of barrier islands. These processes must be understood in order to predict future erosion and to better manage our coastal resources. The study area includes the Louisiana barrier islands which serve to protect 41% of the nation's wetlands. These islands are eroding faster than any other barrier islands in the United States, in places greater than 20 m/yr. The study is divided into three parts: geological development of barrier islands, quantitative processes of barrier island erosion and applications of results. The study focuses on barrier islands in Louisiana...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
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To estimate bed-load sediment transport rates in flows over bed forms such as ripples and dunes, spatially averaged velocity profiles are frequently used to predict mean boundary shear stress. However, such averaging obscures the complex, nonlinear interaction of wake decay, boundary-layer development, and topographically induced acceleration downstream of flow separation and often leads to inaccurate estimates of boundary stress, particularly skin friction, which is critically important in predicting bed-load transport rates. This paper presents an alternative methodology for predicting skin friction over 2D bed forms. The approach is based on combining the equations describing the mechanics of the internal boundary...
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A method was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey for rapid estimation of scour at highway bridges using limited site data and analytical procedures to estimate pier, abutment, and contraction scour depths. The basis for the method was a procedure recommended by the Federal Highway Administration for conducting detailed scour investigations, commonly referred to as the Level 2 method. Using pier, abutment, and contraction scour results obtained from Level 2 investigations at 122 sites in 10 States, envelope curves and graphical relations were developed that enable determination of scour-depth estimates at most bridge sites in a matter of a few hours. Rather than using complex hydraulic variables, surrogate variables...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
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Detailed scour measurements were made at Farm-Market 2004 over the Brazos River near Lake Jackson, Tex. during flooding in October 1994. Woody debris accumulations on bents 6, 7, and 8 obstructed flow through the bridge, causing scour of the streambed. Measurements at the site included three-dimensional velocities, channel bathymetry, water-surface elevations, water-surface slope, and discharge. Channel geometry upstream from the bridge caused approach conditions to be nonuniform.
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
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This paper examines the influence of Hurricane Andrew on the sediment budget of an 80-kilometer section of the Louisiana barrier islands west of the modern Mississippi delta. Because long-term bathymetric change has been extensively studied in this area, excellent baseline data are available for evaluating the impact of Hurricane Andrew. Results show that despite the high intensity of the storm and a storm track optimally positioned to impact the study area, the storm did not have an overwhelming influence on the sediment budget when compared to the changes occurring over the previous 50 years. For the Louisiana barrier islands, a 50-year record appears to be adequate for averaging the long-term contributions of...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
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Recent studies document the effectiveness of sea ice in reshaping the seafloor of the inner shelf into sharp-relief features, including ice gouges with jagged flanking ridges, ice-wallow relief, and 2- to 6-m-deep strudel-scour craters. These ice-related relief forms are in disequilibrium with classic open-water hydraulic processes and thus are smoothed over by waves and currents in one to two years. Such alternate reworking of the shelf by ice and currents - two diverse types of processes, which in the case of ice wallow act in unison-contributes to sediment mobility and, thus, to sediment loss from the coast and inner shelf. The bulldozing action by ice results in coast-parallel sediment displacement. Additionally,...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
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Urban stormwater hydrology studies in the U. S. Geological Survey are currently focused on compilation of national data bases containing flood-peak and short time-interval rainfall, discharge and water-quality information for urban watersheds. Current data bases, updated annually, are nationwide in scope. Supplementing the national data files are published reports of interpretative analyses, a map report and research products including improved instrumentation and deterministic modeling capabilities. New directions of Survey investigations include gaging programs for very small catchments and for stormwater detention facilities.
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation
This paper presents results of a study to assess the impacts of climate change on Midwestern streams and the ability of alternative regulations to maintain critical stream conditions. The study focuses on two generic types of regulations, those that restrict withdrawals to a constant flowrate at all times and those that allow withdrawals to increase and decrease with streamflow. Trading of water withdrawal permits is also considered as an adjunt to both policies. The study uses a modeling technique based on the SWAT model, applied to data for a Midwestern river basin. Streamflow was assumed stressed by agricultural irrigation, which is most intense during times when natural streamflows are at their lowest even without...
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Spectral analysis and system identification techniques are used to analyze a set of acceleration reponse records obtained during the Loma Prieta earthquake from the 47-story, moment-resisting framed and eccentrically braced Embarcadero Building (EMB). The EMB was constructed in 1979 based on the 1976 Uniform Building Code requirements and a design response spectra defined by two levels of earthquake performances. The EMB is in the lower market area of San Francisco, which is of great interest to the engineering community because of the area's soft soil characteristics that amplify ground motions originating at long distances, and because the Embarcadero freeway suffered extensive damage during the earthquake and...
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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...