Geology topics

Research about Green Bay, Wisconsin

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Green Bay, Wisconsin.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2024

Assessing the relationship between cyanobacteria blooms and respiratory-related hospital visits: Green Bay, Wisconsin 2017–2019

Potential acute and chronic human health effects associated with exposure to cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins, including respiratory symptoms, are an understudied public health concern. We examined the relationship between estimated cyanobacteria biomass and the frequency of respiratory-related hospital visits for residents living near Green Bay, Lake Michigan, Wisconsin during 2017–2019. Remote sensing data from the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network was used to approximate cyanobacteria exposure through creation of a metric for cyanobacteria chlorophyll-a (Chl BS ). We obtained counts of hospital visits for asthma, wheezing, and allergic rhinitis from the Wisconsin Hospital Association for ZIP codes within a 3-mile radius of Green Bay. We analyzed weekly counts of hospital visits versus cyanobacteria, which was modelled as a continuous measure (Chl BS ) or categorized according to World Health Organization's (WHO) alert levels using Poisson generalized linear models. Our data included 2743 individual hospital visits and 114 weeks of satellite derived cyanobacteria biomass indicator data. Peak values of Chl BS were observed between the months of June and October. Using the WHO alert levels, 60% of weeks were categorized as no risk, 19% as Vigilance Level, 15% as Alert Level 1, and 6% as Alert Level 2. In Poisson regression models adjusted for temperature, dewpoint, season, and year, there was no association between Chl BS and hospital visits (rate ratio [RR] [95% Confidence Interval (CI)] = 0.98 [0.77, 1.24]). There was also no consistent association between WHO alert level and hospital visits when adjusting for covariates (Vigilance Level: RR [95% CI] 0.88 [0.74, 1.05], Alert Level 1: 0.82 [0.67, 0.99], Alert Level 2: 0.98 [0.77, 1.24], compared to the reference no risk category). Our methodology and model provide a template for future studies that assess the association between cyanobacterial blooms and respiratory health.

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USGS2020

Phosphorus, nitrogen and dissolved organic carbon fluxes from sediments in freshwater rivermouths entering Green Bay (Lake Michigan; USA)

Transitional areas between ecosystem types are often active biogeochemically due to resource limitation changes. Lotic-to-lentic transitions in freshwaters appear active biogeochemically, but few studies have directly measured nutrient processing rates to assess whether processing within the rivermouth is important for load estimates or the local communities. We measured oxic fluxes of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from sediments in two rivermouths of Green Bay (Lake Michigan, USA). Soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) flux was positive in most cases (overall mean 1.74 mg SRP m − 2 day − 1 ), as was ammonium (NH 4 ) flux (40.6 mg NH 4 m − 2 day − 1 ). Partial least square regression (PLSR) indicated a latent variable associated with both sediment [loosely bound phosphorus (P), iron bound P, organic content] and water column properties [temperature, DOC:dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and DOC:SRP ratios (negatively)] that was moderately associated with variation in SRP flux. PLSR analysis also indicated several sediment characteristics were moderately related to NH 4 flux, especially organic content, density (negative), and porosity. Flux of nitrates/nitrites (NO X ) and DOC were positively associated with the water column concentrations of NO X and DOC and qualitative estimates of the labile, non-humic types of DOC. In early summer, water column NO X and DOC concentrations were high and labile DOC may have fueled denitrification, resulting in net flux into sediments of both NO X and DOC. By late summer, water column NO X and DOC were very low and both these constituents were fluxing out of sediments into the water column. Based on our estimates for the entire period from April through September, rivermouth sediments were a net source of SRP and DIN, with a DIN:SRP ratio of ~ 44 and a NH 4 :NO X > 1. We estimated that the sediments in the Fox rivermouth probably contributed a small proportion of the total Fox River load during the growing season 2016 (< 5%), but at times may have contributed as much as 14% of the daily load. Despite the small size of the Fox rivermouth (< 0.5% of the watershed area), these results indicate that at times sediments can contribute substantially to the overall delivery of nitrogen and phosphorus to the nearshore zone.

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USGS2014

Contaminant exposure of birds nesting in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA

In earlier studies, elevated concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) were reported in double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) eggs and tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) eggs and nestlings collected from lower Green Bay (WI, USA) in 1994 and 1995 and black-crowned night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) eggs collected in 1991. Comparable samples collected in 2010 and 2011 indicated that concentrations of PCBs were 35%, 62%, 70%, and 88% lower than in the early 1990s in tree swallow eggs, tree swallow nestlings, double-crested cormorant eggs, and black-crowned night-heron eggs, respectively; concentrations of DDE were 47%, 43%, 51%, and 80% lower, respectively. These declines are consistent with regional contaminant trends in other species. Concentrations of PCBs were higher in herring gull (Larus argentatus) than in black-crowned night-heron eggs collected from Green Bay in 2010; PCB concentrations in double-crested cormorant and tree swallow eggs were intermediate. The estimated toxicity of the PCB mixture in eggs of the insectivorous tree swallow was the equal to or greater than toxicity in the 3 piscivorous bird species. A multivariate analysis indicated that the composition percentage of lower-numbered PCB congeners was greater in eggs of the insectivorous tree swallow than in eggs of the 3 piscivorous species nesting in Green Bay. Dioxin and furan concentrations and the toxicity of these chemicals were also higher in tree swallows than these other waterbird species nesting in Green Bay.

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USGS2004

Effectiveness of a pressurized stormwater filtration system in Green Bay, Wisconsin: A study for the environmental technology verification program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

A pressurized stormwater filtration system was installed in 1998 as a stormwater-treatment practice to treat runoff from a hospital rooftop and parking lot in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This type of filtration system has been installed in Florida citrus groves and sewage treatment plants around the United States; however, this installation is the first of its kind to be used to treat urban runoff and the first to be tested in Wisconsin. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) monitored the system between November 2000 and September 2002 to evaluate it as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Technology Verification Program. Fifteen runoff events were monitored for flow and water quality at the inlet and outlet of the system, and comparison of the event mean concentrations and constituent loads was used to evaluate its effectiveness. Loads were decreased in all particulate-associated constituents monitored, including suspended solids (83 percent), suspended sediment (81 percent), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (26 percent), total phosphorus (54 percent), and total recoverable zinc (62 percent). Total dissolved solids, dissolved phosphorus, and nitrate plus nitrite loads remained similar or increased through the system. The increase in some constituents was most likely due to a ground-water contribution between runoff events. Sand/silt split analysis resulted in the median silt content of 78 percent at the inlet, 87 percent at the outlet, and 3 percent at the flow splitter.

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USGS1995

Applying computer simulation models as learning tools in fishery management

Computer models can be powerful tools for addressing many problems in fishery management, but uncertainty about how to apply models and how they should perform can lead to a cautious approach to modeling. Within this approach, we expect models to make quantitative predictions but only after all model inputs have been estimated from empirical data and after the model has been tested for agreement with an independent data set. I review the limitations to this approach and show how models can be more useful as tools for organizing data and concepts, learning about the system to be managed, and exploring management options. Fishery management requires deciding what actions to pursue to meet management objectives. Models do not make decisions for us but can provide valuable input to the decision‐making process. When empirical data are lacking. preliminary modeling with parameters derived from other sources can help determine priorities for data collection. When evaluating models for management applications, we should attempt to define the conditions under which the model is a useful, analytical tool (its domain of applicability) and should focus on the decisions made using modeling results, rather than on quantitative model predictions. I describe an example of modeling used as a learning tool for the yellow perch Perca flavescens fishery in Green Bay, Lake Michigan.

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USGS1994

Shoreline and coastal wetland variability along the west shore of Green Bay, Marinette and Oconto counties, Wisconsin

Coastal wetland ecosystems along the Great Lakes shorelines are extremely valuable natural resources. They provide numerous environmental and recreational benefits, and they serve as critical habitats for fish and wildlife populations. In general terms, wetlands can be defined as lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems; they are characterized by periodic submergence or a water table at or near the surface and a predominance of hydric soils and hydrophytes. Changes in shoreline positions over time result in concomitant changes in the amount of adjacent coastal wetlands, frequently resulting in a permanent loss of these valuable resources. In the Great Lakes region, the main natural cause of shoreline changes are lake-level fluctuations that result from two interactive factors. One factor is the glacio-isostatic rebound of the lake basins, which has been occurring since the end of the late Wisconsin glaciation to the present. This crustal rebounding has slowly uplifted previous lake outlets, warped and tilted lake basins, and changed lake levels and shoreline positions. On the basis of historic lake-level gauge records, measured modern differential vertical uplift rates range from 0.26 ft/century in the southern part of the Great Lakes drainage basin to 1.74 ft/century in the northern part of the basin (Larsen, 1989). The second factor contributing to lake-level fluctuations is climate variability, which controls the amount of regional precipitation and evaporation, storm frequency, runoff, and resulting lake levels. Climate variability can occur over a wide spectrum of time scales; it can range from seasonal variations, to long-term trends of a few years or decades in duration, to trends lasting hundred of thousands of years. Climatic variations, in conjunction with glacio-isostatic rebound, have resulted in substantial temporal variability of the Great Lakes shorelines and associated wetland tracts during post-glacial times.

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USGS1994

Temporal variability of shoreline positions and coastal wetlands along lower Green Bay, Oconto and Brown counties, Wisconsin

The positions of shorelines and the areal extent of adjacent coastal wetland tracts in the Great Lakes region have exhibited substantial temporal variability during both prehistoric and historical times. Shoreline migration has resulted in environmental problems such as flooding and the coastal erosion of lakefront property, as well as the destruction of coastal wetland resources. In the Great Lakes region, the main natural cause for changes in shoreline position and adjacent wetland area is lake-level fluctuations, which results from two interactive factors. One factor is the glacio-isostatic rebound of the lake basins that has occurred from the end of the late Wisconsin glaciation to the present. This crustal rebounding has resulted in the slow uplifting of previous lake outlets and warping of lake basins, contributing to changing lake levels and shoreline migration. Historic lake-level gauge records indicate modern differential vertical uplift rates that range from 0.26 ft/century in the southern part of the Great Lakes drainage basin to 1.74 ft/century in the northern part of the basin (Larsen, 1989). The second factor contributing to lake-level fluctuations is climate variability, which causes variations in the amount of regional precipitation and evaporation, storm frequency, runoff, and resulting lake levels. Climate variability can occur over a wide spectrum of time scales, from seasonal variations, to longer-term trends of a few years or decades in duration, to trends lasting hundreds of thousands of years. A combination of both climatic variations and glacio-isostatic rebound has resulting in substantial temporal variability of the Great Lakes shorelines and associated coastal wetland tracts during post-glacial times.

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USGS1992

Fyke-net and gill-net size selectivities for yellow perch in Green Bay, Lake Michigan

We estimated a fyke‐net selectivity function for yellow perch Perca flavescens in Green Bay, Lake Michigan, by comparing length‐frequency distributions of yellow perch captured in fyke nets with different mesh sizes in 1986. Using a length—girth relationship for Green Bay yellow perch, we expressed selectivity as the ratio of girth ( G ) to effective mesh perimeter ( P ), which was 5–7% less than nominal mesh perimeter. Then, fitting an existing gill‐net selectivity function to the Green Bay yellow perch fishery, we found fyke‐net and gill‐net selectivities were similar, with similar G / P ratios, but fyke nets had smaller effective mesh perimeters and thus were more efficient at capturing smaller yellow perch for any given mesh size, The derived fyke‐net selectivity function can be used to determine mesh sizes that minimize the sublegal catch of yellow perch in this fishery and could be applied to entrapment gear in other yellow perch fisheries, given data on the length–girth relationships and effective mesh perimeters.

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USGS1992

Evaluating fishery rehabilitation under uncertainty: A bioeconomic analysis of quota management for the Green Bay yellow perch fishery

The fishery for yellow perch Perca flavescens in Green Bay, Lake Michigan, is currently operating under a rehabilitation plan based on a commercial harvest quota. We developed a bioeconomic computer model that included links between population density and growth, recruitment, and fishing effort for this fishery. Random variability was included in the stock–recruitment relation and in a simulated population assessment. We used the model in an adaptive management framework to evaluate the effects of the rehabilitation plan on both commercial and sport fisheries and to search for ways to improve the plan. Results indicate that the current quota policy is a member of a set of policies that would meet most management goals and increase total value of the fishery. Sensitivity analyses indicate that this conclusion is robust over a wide range of biological conditions. We predict that commercial fishers will lose money relative to the baseline condition, but they may receive other benefits from the elimination of the common‐property nature of the fishery. The prospect exists for managing variability in harvest and stock size and for maximizing economic returns in the fishery, but more information is required, primarily on sportfishing effort dynamics and angler preferences. Stock‐recruitment relations, density dependence of growth, and dynamics of sportfishing effort are the primary sources of uncertainty limiting the precision of our predictions. The current quota policy is about as good as other policies at reducing this uncertainty and appears, overall, to be one of the best choices for this fishery. The analytical techniques used in this study were primarily simple, heuristic approaches that could be easily transferred to other studies.

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USGS1990

Benefit-cost analysis of fishery rehabilitation projects: A Great Lakes case study

Tools of benefit-cost analysis are used to evaluate a project to rehabilitate the yellow perch fishery of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Both sport and commercial fishers harvest from this stock, which has been suffering from much reduced productivity since the early 1960s. The project is composed of commercial quotas and other regulations. Measures of benefits and costs were used that explicitly incorporate uncertainty about the potential level of success of the project. The analysis shows that commercial fish producers will more or less break even compared to where they would have been without the project, but that substantial recreational benefits can be expected. This case study illustrates how benefit-cost analysis can provide useful insights into the potential economic returns from rehabilitation projects. It also dramatizes unresolved research issues, particularly in the area of sport fishing valuation.

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USGS1964

Water resources of the Green Bay area, Wisconsin

The Green Bay area comprises an area of about 525 square miles in eastern Wisconsin at the south end of Green Bay. It includes the western three-fourths of Brown County and the eastern one-ninth of Outagamie County. In 1960, the population of the area was estimated at 124,000. The most prominent topographic feature is the northwest-facing, southwestward trending Niagara escarpment. The area northwest of the escarpment drains into Green Bay via the Fox River, Suamico River, Duck Creek, and their tributaries. The area southeast of the escarpment is drained by streams that flow into Lake Michigan. The chief sources of surface water in the Green Bay area are the Fox River, Green Bay, and Lake Michigan. Smaller amounts of water are available from the East and Suamico Rivers and other streams. A sandstone aquifer is the principal source of the ground-water supply. The Niagara dolomite, although largely undeveloped, is potentially an important aquifer in the eastern part of the area. Small amounts of water are obtained also from the Platteville formation and from deposits of Pleistocene and Recent age. Water from the surfaceand ground-water sources is moderately hard to very hard. The Fox River, tributary to Lake Michigan at Green Bay, is a significant source of water for industrial use in the Green Bay area. The Menasha Dam, which controls release of water from the Lake Winnebago pool, is the major regulation on the Fox River, and it has considerable effect in reducing peak flows and supplementing low flows in the lower Fox River. The average discharge of the lower Fox River for the period 1898-1959, as measured at the gaging station at Rapide Croche Dam, was 2,687 mgd (million gallons per day). The longest consecutive period during which the discharge averaged less than 500 mgd was 80 days. The average discharge can be expected to fall below 700 mgd about once every 5 years for a 7-day period. In 1959, the average withdrawal of water from the Fox River was about 62 mgd. The water in the river is of the calcium magnesium bicarbonate type and is hard. The small streams in the area are utilized chiefly for stock watering; some of the water, however, is used for irrigation. The water in the small streams is more highly mineralized than the water in the Fox River and is very hard. Large quantities of water are available from Green Bay, but the disposal of industrial waste into the bay has restricted the use of the water. The major withdrawal is for condenser cooling, and, in 1959, it averaged about 415 mgd. The water from Green Bay is moderately hard but is of better chemical quality than the water from the Fox River and the small streams in the area. The only withdrawals of water from Lake Michigan for use in the Green Bay area are made by the city of Green Bay. In 1959, these withdrawals averaged 7.8 mgd. The lower Fox River is not subject to extremes of flow owing to the dampening effect of the Lake Winnebago pool and the regulation of flow at Menasha Dam. Cloudbursts over the lower Fox River valley below Menasha Dam, however, have occasionally caused extremely high water, as in 1922, when the discharge at the mouth of the Fox River was estimated to be about 50,000 mgd. Daily discharges greater than about 13,000 mgd occurred only 7 times in the period 1918-59. The 50-year flood of 15,500 mgd represents an average runoff of less than 2.6 mgd per square mile of drainage area, a relatively low runoff for a 50-year flood in Wisconsin. The sandstone aquifer is the principal source of ground water in the Green Bay area and furnishes water for public supply and industrial use. This aquifer includes rocks of Late Cambrian age, and the Prairie du Chien group and St. Peter sandstone of Ordovician age; it ranges in thickness from 550 to 640 feet. Ground water is found in openings along fractures and bedding planes and in the interstices between sand grains. The sandstone aquifer can support additional development of large supplies of ground water. Wells can be developed in most of the area that will yield 500 gpm (gallons per minute) or more, provided they are properly spaced and penetrate the entire thickness of the aquifer. It is estimated that the perennial yield of the sandstone in the Green Bay area could be at least 30 mgd if the aquifer is properly developed; only 5.4 mgd was withdrawn in 1959. The water from this sandstone aquifer is of the calcium magnesium bicarbonate type, is very hard, and, at a few places, contains objectionable amounts of iron. The Niagara dolomite, potentially a source of moderate to large quantities of water in the eastern part of the area, probably will yield 500 gpm or more to wells. In 1959, the average withdrawal of water for all uses was estimated at 495 mgd, of which 98.2 percent was from surface-water sources and 1.8 percent was from wells. About 485 mgd of water was withdrawn for industrial use, 6 mgd for public supply, and 4 mgd for rural use. The industrial use of water averaged 441 mgd for condenser cooling, 38 mgd fot processing by the paper industry, and 6 mgd for other industrial uses. The city of Green Bay used 7.8 mgd of water from Lake Michigan; other public supplies in the area used 2.6 mgd from wells. Of the withdrawals of water for rural use, about 75 percent was from wells and about 25 percent was from streams. The discharge of wastes into the lower Fox River and its tributary streams has altered the quality of the natural water. The wastes consist chiefly of treated municipal sewage and treated and untreated wastes from the paper industry, rendering plants, a sugar mill, and other industries. The industrial waste makes up about 90 percent of the oxygen-demand loading in the lower Fox River, and treated municipal sewage accounts for about 10 percent. The dissolved-oxygen concentration of water in the lower Fox River decreases rapidly in the vicinity of Green Bay during the summer when the river water is warm. If the periods when the river water is warmest, generally during July and early August, were to coincide with periods of lowest annual streamflow, generally in late August, the river would be unable to assimilate the loading of decomposable organic matter. In an emergency, industrial and public supply wells could supply at least 6 mgd for a sustained period and probably as much as 10 mgd for a period of several days. Six of the wells that formerly supplied the city of Green Bay are maintained in operating condition and could furnish about the same quantity of water as the industrial and other public supply wells. Small streams in the area would be supplemental sources of water, and the water in the Fox River and Green Bay is easily accessible.

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