Search USGS⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search USGS

Results for “American Currents”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 829 records · Page 46Linked to original sources
USGS1974

The status of the light-footed clapper rail

Only 12 California marsh areas are presently believed to be inhabited by the Light-footed Clapper Rail, and eight of these appear to support only 5-15 birds apiece. Tentative estimates for the other four are: Anaheim Bay 200, Upper Newport 30-35, Los Penasquitos 30, and Tijuana Estuary 150. These estimates, admittedly very rough, indicate a total Light-footed Rail population on only about 500 birds. Recognizing that rails are secretive and hard to inventory, the actual count could be somewhat higher, but I feel it is most unlikely that the number could be more than 750 birds altogether. Reductions in Light-footed Clapper Rail populations can be attributed almost entirely to loss of habitat. An estimated 26,000 acres of saltmarsh once existed between Santa Barbara and the Mexican border. At present there are approximately 8500 acres, much of which has been degraded by pollution, water diversion, and restriction of tidal flow. Of those areas currently occupied by Clapper Rails, few can be considered to have a very secure future. Of the four major areas only Anaheim Bay appears to be relatively safe from future habitat destruction. Tijuana Estuary, Los Penasquitos Lagoon, and Upper Newport Bay are all threatened by commercial developments that could reduce or destroy local rail populations. I have not visited Baja California, but I believe there is still a substantial population of Clapper Rails in the marshes around San Quintin Bay. Taxonomists do not agree on the subspecific identity of these birds, but some feel they are representatives of the Light-footed race. If so, it is fortunate to have a relatively secure (for now) reservoir of these birds, but whether the Light-footed Clapper Rail survives within the United States may well be decided within the next few years.

American Birds↗
USGS2000

Geology of the Cape MendocinoGeology of the Cape Mendocino, Eureka, Garberville, and southwestern part of the Hayfork 30 x 60 minute quadrangles and adjacent offshore area, northern California, with digital database

Introduction These geologic maps and accompanying structure sections depict the geology and structure of much of northwestern California and the adjacent continental margin. The map area includes the Mendocino triple junction, which is the juncture of the North American continental plate with two plates of the Pacific ocean basin. The map area also encompasses major geographic and geologic provinces of northwestern California. The maps incorporate much previously unpublished geologic mapping done between 1980 and 1995, as well as published mapping done between about 1950 and 1978. To construct structure sections to mid-crustal depths, we integrate the surface geology with interpretations of crustal structure based on seismicity, gravity and aeromagnetic data, offshore structure, and seismic reflection and refraction data. In addition to describing major geologic and structural features of northwestern California, the geologic maps have the potential to address a number of societally relevant issues, including hazards from earthquakes, landslides, and floods and problems related to timber harvest, wildlife habitat, and changing land use. All of these topics will continue to be of interest in the region, as changing land uses and population density interact with natural conditions. In these interactions, it is critical that the policies and practices affecting man and the environment integrate an adequate understanding of the geology. This digital map database, compiled from previously published and unpublished data, and new mapping by the authors, represents the general distribution of bedrock and surficial deposits in the mapped area. Together with the accompanying text file (ceghmf.ps, ceghmf.pdf, ceghmf.txt), it provides current information on the geologic structure and stratigraphy of the area covered. The database delineates map units that are identified by general age and lithology following the stratigraphic nomenclature of the U.S. Geological Survey. The scale of the source maps limits the spatial resolution (scale) of the database to 1:100,000 or smaller.

California↗
USGS2014

Report of the Committee on Land Erosion, 1950–1951

Activities of the Committee on Land Erosion, since the present Committee was appointed in September, 1950, have been confined mainly to correspondence among members as a means of becoming better acquainted and of deciding on a suitable program for consideration of the Committee Erosion being such a far-flung and complex phenomenon defies any small group to consider all of its many facets. It is obvious, therefore, that greatest practical results would be obtained if Committee activities were confined in the main to those investigations in which members are currently engaged. Colman and Sinclair state that one of their chief current interests is the study of possibilities for decreasing creep on steep mountain slopes in Southern California. They have reason to believe that a considerable part (the precise amount being unknown) of the debris issuing from the canyons starts its way to channels as dry sliding or other type of soil movement that takes place during the dry seasons although the actual damage occurs during wet periods. Initially they hope to obtain more information on channel accumulations and to learn more about where the material comes from and how and when it moves to the channel. With this information they expect to be in a better position to study means of decreasing debris movement. The importance of debris movement into the densely populated valleys of Southern California is of such an order that additional planning along these lines can be well justified.

California↗
USGS2011

Early marine growth of pink salmon in Prince William Sound and the coastal gulf of Alaska during years of low and high survival

Although early marine growth has repeatedly been correlated with overall survival in Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp., we currently lack a mechanistic understanding of smolt-to-adult survival. Smolt-to-adult survival of pink salmon O. gorbuscha returning to Prince William Sound was lower than average for juveniles that entered marine waters in 2001 and 2003 (3% in both years), and high for those that entered the ocean in 2002 (9%) and 2004 (8%). We used circulus patterns from scales to determine how the early marine growth of juvenile pink salmon differed (1) seasonally during May-October, the period hypothesized to be critical for survival; (2) between years of low and high survival; and (3) between hatchery and wild fish. Juvenile pink salmon exhibited larger average size, migrated onto the continental shelf and out of the sampling area more quickly, and survived better during 2002 and 2004 than during 2001 and 2003. Pink salmon were consistently larger throughout the summer and early fall during 2002 and 2004 than during 2001 and 2003, indicating that larger, faster-growing juveniles experienced higher survival. Wild juvenile pink salmon were larger than hatchery fish during low-survival years, but no difference was observed during high-survival years. Differences in size among years were determined by some combination of growing conditions and early mortality, the strength of which could vary significantly among years. ?? Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2008.

Transactions of the American Fisheries Society↗
USGS2023

The During Nearshore Event Experiment (DUNEX): A collaborative coastal community experiment to address coastal resilience

The During Nearshore Event Experiment (DUNEX) was a large-scale coastal field effort focused on improving understanding of during-storm nearshore processes to ultimately develop predictive technologies, engineering solutions, and actions to enhance coastal resilience. The experiments were conducted on the North Carolina coast by a multidisciplinary group of over 30 research scientists from 18 academic and federal institutions supporting over 30 graduate students and deploying over 300 instruments from 2019 to 2021. The overarching goal of DUNEX was to gather information collaboratively to improve understanding of the interactions of coastal water levels, waves, currents, beach and dune evolution, soil behavior, vegetation, and groundwater during major coastal storms that affect infrastructure, habitats, and communities. In the short term, these high-quality field measurements will lead to better understanding of during-storm processes and impacts and will enhance U.S. academic coastal research programs by providing opportunities for students to learn about field data collection and to potentially analyze data as part of their studies. Longer-term, DUNEX data and outcomes will improve the ability to predict extreme event physical processes and impacts, validate coastal processes numerical models, and improve coastal resilience strategies and communication methods for coastal communities impacted by storms. The purpose of this paper is to describe the motivation for and science goals of the experiment, how stakeholder needs led to these goals, collaborations amongst researchers, and the knowledge gained that will lead to tools to improve coastal resilience. Herein, we first describe how researchers worked with stakeholders to structure their community-driven needs into science-based requirements. Next, we summarize how federal, academic, and stakeholder researchers worked together to design and execute a multi-organizational experiment aligned with those requirements. Finally, we articulate early findings and lessons learned from the experiment. This paper does not summarize all the research findings from DUNEX, as analyses are still ongoing. An American Geophysical Union (AGU) Special Collection on Coastal Storm Research will be published in 2025 including outcomes from DUNEX research.

North Carolina↗
USGS1988

The Blake Plateau Basin and Carolina Trough

Presently, the continental margin of the southeastern United States (Fig. 1) forms a zone of transition between the actively building, steep-fronted carbonate platform of the Bahamas and the typical eastern North American terrigenous clastic-dominated, drowned, shelf-slope-rise configuration. This region of the continental margin is underlain by two major sedimentary basins—the Blake Plateau Basin and the Carolina Trough (Fig. 2)—which are different in shape, basement structure, and history. Indeed, the two southern basins show some of the greatest contrasts of any basins of eastern North America, especially in their early response to rifting and in the change from rifting to drifting. The region has experienced abrupt major changes in geological conditions, most notably the onset of Gulf Stream flow in the early Tertiary. Morphologically, the area is dominated by the broad, flat Blake Plateau at about 800-1,000 m water depth (Fig. 1). The plateau is bounded to the east by the extremely steep Blake Escarpment, descending to 5,000 m water depths. To the west, a short continental slope rises to a continental shelf. This Blake Plateau morphology characterizes the margin east of Florida and north of the Bahamas. North of Florida the margin merges into the typical shelf-slope-rise morphology. Just north of the Blake Escarpment and its northern projection, the Blake Spur, the Blake Ridge extends away from the continental slope at water depths exceeding 2,000 m (Fig. 1). This broad ridge is a Cenozoic, sedimentary drift deposit controlled by bottom currents. (For the reader who is beginning to wonder why half of the features of this region seem to be named "Blake", the Blake was a Coast Survey steamer from which investigations off the southeastern U.S. were carried out in 1877 to 1880. Ferromanganese nodules were discovered on the Blake Plateau at that time [Murray, 1885].)

Blake Plateau basin; Carolina Trough↗
USGS2022

Pink-footed Shearwater Ardenna creatopus

The Pink-footed Shearwater’s life history is tied to the Humboldt and California upwelling currents in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. It is larger than other shearwaters in its range, other than Flesh-footed Shearwater Ardenna carneipes. It is also distinct in appearance with pinkish bill and feet, pale underparts, and brown to grayish upperparts. It is known to breed on the Juan Fernández Islands and Isla Mocha, off central Chile. Birds spend the non-breeding period in waters off Peru and northward to waters off the west coast of North America. Breeding occurs in colonies, where pairs nest in burrows and the female lays a single egg. Breeding colonies generally are located on steep slopes in both open and forested habitats. During the breeding period, the species forages mainly in waters over the relatively narrow continental shelf as well as over deep offshore waters, depending on breeding colony. During the non-breeding period, individuals concentrate near the continental shelf-break and slope, and in more pelagic waters while making migratory movements. The Pink-footed Shearwater preys on fish and squid by seizing them at the surface or by making shallow dives. Foraging is often in association with albacore, dolphins, other seabirds, and fishing vessels. Pink-footed Shearwater is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN and Endangered by Chile and Canada. Principal conservation threats are mortality from fisheries bycatch (especially in South American fisheries), and predation and habitat degradation from introduced mammals on breeding islands.

Birds of the World↗
USGS2014

Deep‐well salinity‐exploration

One of the outstanding accomplishments of recent years in connection with the study of the geologic source of groundwater and the quality of water yielded by different formations has been the development of methods and equipment for the exploration of wells. The description and use of the deep ‐ well current‐meter on well ‐ exploration work in Hawaii and New Mexico has already appeared in published literature (John McCombs and A. G. Fiedler, Methods of exploring and repairing leaky artesian wells, U.S. Geol. Sur. Water‐Supply Paper 596, pp. 1–32, 1928) on hydrology but recent developments in the application of electrical conductivity‐measurements for determining the salinity of water in wells have not heretofore been presented. In addition to being of considerable scientific importance in connection with problems of ground‐water hydrology, the practical value of locating the place at which salt water is entering a well and contaminating a potable water‐supply is great. Such information may be the means of preventing the loss of large investments in industries, irrigation‐projects, and cities that are dependent upon well ‐water supplies that may at some time become contaminated by salty or other highly mineralized water.

Nevada, Hawaii↗
USGS2014

Report of the Committee on Runoff, 1948–1949

Because of the widely scattered locations of the membership, no assembled meeting of the Committee was held during the year, all discussions being held by correspondence. Consideration was given to three subjects during the year: (1) standardization of terminology as related to runoff (continued from previous year), (2) deficiencies in hydrologic research, and (3) current programs of hydrologic research. With respect to terminology, the wide divergence of opinion among committee members with respect to the definition of terms fairly common in hydrologic literature emphasizes the need for more uniformity. Various authors use the same terms to describe slightly different runoff phenomena. The Committee, while unable to agree at this date on recommended definitions, urges writers to restrict their terminology so far as practicable to that previously used. Nothing is gained by inventing a new name for a phenomenon which has already been satisfactorily named by a previous writer. On the other hand, precise definitions are necessary to proper understanding, and loose usage of runoff terms only destroys their usefulness. Where any question as to the intended definition exists, it is preferable for the author to present his definition until better agreement as to the accepted definition has been reached.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2009

Hydrologic support of carbon dioxide flux revealed by whole-lake carbon budgets

Freshwater lakes are an important component of the global carbon cycle through both organic carbon (OC) sequestration and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission. Most lakes have a net annual loss of CO 2 to the atmosphere and substantial current evidence suggests that biologic mineralization of allochthonous OC maintains this flux. Because net CO 2 flux to the atmosphere implies net mineralization of OC within the lake ecosystem, it is also commonly assumed that net annual CO 2 emission indicates negative net ecosystem production (NEP). We explored the relationship between atmospheric CO 2 emission and NEP in two lakes known to have contrasting hydrologie characteristics and net CO 2 emission. We calculated NEP for calendar year 2004 using whole-lake OC and inorganic carbon (IC) budgets, NEP oc and NEP IC , respectively, and compared the resulting values to measured annual CO 2 flux from the lakes. In both lakes, NEP Ic and NEP Ic were positive, indicating net autotrophy. Therefore CO 2 emission from these lakes was apparently not supported by mineralization of allochthonous organic material. In both lakes, hydrologie CO 2 inputs, as well as CO 2 evolved from netcalcite precipitation, could account for the net CO 2 emission. NEP calculated from diel CO 2 measurements was also affected by hydrologie inputs of CO 2 . These results indicate that CO 2 emission and positive NEP may coincide in lakes, especially in carbonate terrain, and that all potential geologic, biogeochemical, and hydrologie sources of CO 2 need to be accounted for when using CO 2 concentrations to infer lake NEP. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.

Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences↗
USGS2011

Population genetic structure of clinical and environmental isolates of Blastomyces dermatitidis based on 27 polymorphic microsatellite markers

Blastomyces dermatitidis , a thermally dimorphic fungus, is the etiologic agent of North American blastomycosis. Clinical presentation is varied, ranging from silent infections to fulminant respiratory disease and dissemination to skin and other sites. Exploration of the population genetic structure of B. dermatitidis would improve our knowledge regarding variation in virulence phenotypes, geographic distribution, and difference in host specificity. The objective of this study was to develop and test a panel of microsatellite markers to delineate the population genetic structure within a group of clinical and environmental isolates of B. dermatitidis . We developed 27 microsatellite markers and genotyped B. dermatitidis isolates from various hosts and environmental sources ( n =112). Assembly of a neighbor-joining tree of allele-sharing distance revealed two genetically distinct groups, separated by a deep node. Bayesian admixture analysis showed that two populations were statistically supported. Principal coordinate analysis also reinforced support for two genetic groups, with the primary axis explaining 61.41% of the genetic variability. Group 1 isolates average 1.8 alleles/locus, whereas group 2 isolates are highly polymorphic, averaging 8.2 alleles/locus. In this data set, alleles at three loci are unshared between the two groups and appear diagnostic. The mating type of individual isolates was determined by PCR. Both mating type-specific genes, the HMG and α-box domains, were represented in each of the genetic groups, with slightly more isolates having the HMG allele. One interpretation of this study is that the species currently designated B. dermatitidis includes a cryptic subspecies or perhaps a separate species.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology↗
USGS2021

Limited shifts in the distribution of migratory bird breeding habitat density in response to future changes in climate

Grasslands, and the depressional wetlands that exist throughout them, are endangered ecosystems that face both climate and land-use change pressures. Tens of millions of dollars are invested annually to manage the existing fragments of these ecosystems to serve as critical breeding habitat for migratory birds. The North American Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is a region that contains millions of depressional wetlands that produce between 50 and 80% of the continent’s waterfowl population and. Previous modeling efforts suggested that climate change would result in a shift of suitable waterfowl breeding habitat from the central to the southeast portion of the PPR, an area where over half of the wetlands have been drained. The implications of these projections suggest a massive investment in wetland restoration in the southeastern PPR would be needed to sustain waterfowl populations at harvestable levels. We revisited these modeled results indicating how future climate may impact the distribution of waterfowl-breeding habitat using up-to-date climate model projections and a newly developed model for simulating prairie-pothole wetland hydrology. We also presented changes to the number of “May ponds,” a metric used by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to estimate waterfowl breeding populations and establish harvest regulations. Based on the output of 32 climate models and 2 emission scenarios, we found no evidence that the distribution of May ponds would shift in the future. However, our results projected a 17% decrease to 5% increase in May-pond numbers when comparing the most recent climate period (1989–2018) to the end of the 21st century (2070–2099). When combined, our results suggest areas in the PPR that that currently support the highest densities of intact wetland basins, and thus support the largest numbers of breeding-duck pairs, will likely also be the places most critical to maintaining continental waterfowl populations in an uncertain future.

Prairie Potholes Region↗
USGS2011

Was pre–twentieth century sea level stable?

Sea level rise (SLR) ranks high on the list of climate change issues because the expected acceleration from the current rate (about 3.1 millimeters per year) poses threats to coastal regions. Tide gauge, salt marsh, and archaeological records, and modeling of glacioisostatic adjustment (GIA) have led to the widely accepted idea that late Holocene (the past ∼2000 years) sea level was stable prior to acceleration beginning around 1850–1900 C.E. For instance, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report, before the last century, sea level had “stabilized” over the past 2000 years, rising at a mean rate of 0–0.2 millimeter per year [ Bindoff et al. , 2007]. Others maintain that sea level was “nearly stable” over the past few thousand years [ Nicholls and Cazenave , 2010], pre–twentieth century rates were “close to zero” [ Church et al. , 2008], or “stable from at least BC 100 until AD 950” and “stable, or slightly falling” from 1350 until the nineteenth century [ Kemp et al. , 2011].

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS1999

Diel movement and habitat use by paddlefish in Navigation Pool 8 of the upper Mississippi River

We studied diel movement and habitat use by paddlefish Polyodon spathula implanted with radio transmitters in Navigation Pool 8 of the upper Mississippi River. We radio-tracked five paddlefish during three randomly chosen 24-h periods each month in May, Aug, and Oct 1995. Paddlefish were located by boat one to three times every 3 h during each 24-h period. At each location, geographic coordinates were determined with a global positioning system receiver using the Precise Positioning Service, and depth was measured with a depth sounder. Location coordinates were plotted with ARC/INFO software on a Geographic Information System land–water coverage. Movement distances were calculated as the linear distance between sequential locations. Radio-tagged paddlefish usually remained in a secondary channel that had low current velocity during all seasons, whereas main channel, main channel border, tailwater, and backwater habitats were seldom used. Paddlefish strongly selected areas that were deep; about 62% of paddlefish locations were in areas with more than 6 m of depth, although this habitat constituted only 14.5% of the total study area. However, paddlefish used significantly shallower areas during the night than during the day. Paddlefish moved significantly larger distances at night than during the day in spring and fall, but differences in movement among diel periods during summer were not significant. Our research suggests that radiotelemetry studies that need to determine depth use or movement of paddlefish during small time scales may need to incorporate a diel component. However, study objectives to determine use of general habitat types by radio-marked paddlefish can be adequately met by tracking during the day.

Mississippi River↗
USGS2000

Effects of fall-to-winter changes in habitat and frazil ice on the movements and habitat use of juvenile rainbow trout in a Wyoming tailwater

Overwinter declines in the abundance of small rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss have been observed in a section of the Big Horn River that lies downstream from Boysen Reservoir, where reservoir releases prevent surface ice formation. To provide insight into the possible causes of these declines in abundance, radiotelemetry was used to determine movement and microhabitat use of juvenile (20–25 cm total length) rainbow trout during the fall and winter of 1995–1996. Throughout the fall and winter, both stocked (hatchery) and naturally spawned (wild) fish were generally found in main-channel pools with cover that reduced current velocities to less than 2 cm/s near the bottom and with nearby (<2 m) water velocities that were greater than 15 cm/s. These locations provided refuges from the current, with adjacent flowing water that could deliver drifting aquatic invertebrates. The fish were generally associated with cover that was formed by aquatic vegetation early in the fall, but they shifted to cobble and boulder cover (in deeper water) as the aquatic vegetation decomposed and as winter progressed. Episodes of frazil ice in January and early February were associated with movements of wild fish in the upstream portion of the study area—from normal activity areas to refuges at the bottom of deep pools or under shelf ice in shallow water near shore. Frazil-ice episodes often initiated long-term movements among fish. Our results suggest that changing habitat features from fall to winter and frazil-ice episodes can cause juvenile rainbow trout to move and to modify their habitat use, depending on their location in a tailwater.

Wyoming↗
USGS2016

Environmental variability and population dynamics: Do European and North American ducks play by the same rules?

Density dependence, population regulation, and variability in population size are fundamental population processes, the manifestation and interrelationships of which are affected by environmental variability. However, there are surprisingly few empirical studies that distinguish the effect of environmental variability from the effects of population processes. We took advantage of a unique system, in which populations of the same duck species or close ecological counterparts live in highly variable (north American prairies) and in stable (north European lakes) environments, to distinguish the relative contributions of environmental variability (measured as between-year fluctuations in wetland numbers) and intraspecific interactions (density dependence) in driving population dynamics. We tested whether populations living in stable environments (in northern Europe) were more strongly governed by density dependence than populations living in variable environments (in North America). We also addressed whether relative population dynamical responses to environmental variability versus density corresponded to differences in life history strategies between dabbling (relatively “fast species” and governed by environmental variability) and diving (relatively “slow species” and governed by density) ducks. As expected, the variance component of population fluctuations caused by changes in breeding environments was greater in North America than in Europe. Contrary to expectations, however, populations in more stable environments were not less variable nor clearly more strongly density dependent than populations in highly variable environments. Also, contrary to expectations, populations of diving ducks were neither more stable nor stronger density dependent than populations of dabbling ducks, and the effect of environmental variability on population dynamics was greater in diving than in dabbling ducks. In general, irrespective of continent and species life history, environmental variability contributed more to variation in species abundances than did density. Our findings underscore the need for more studies on populations of the same species in different environments to verify the generality of current explanations about population dynamics and its association with species life history.

Ecology and Evolution↗
USGS2025

Neural network-based temporal ensembling of water depth estimates derived from SuperDove Images

CubeSats provide a wealth of high-frequency observations at a meter-scale spatial resolution. However, most current methods of inferring water depth from satellite data consider only a single image. This approach is sensitive to the radiometric quality of the data acquired at that particular instant in time, which could be degraded by various confounding factors, such as sun glint or atmospheric effects. Moreover, using single images in isolation fails to exploit recent improvements in the frequency of satellite image acquisition. This study aims to leverage the dense image time series from the SuperDove constellation via an ensembling framework that helps to improve empirical (regression-based) bathymetry retrieval. Unlike previous studies that only ensembled the original spectral data, we introduce a neural network-based method that instead ensembles the water depths derived from multi-temporal imagery, provided the data are acquired under steady flow conditions. We refer to this new approach as NN-depth ensembling. First, every image is treated individually to derive multitemporal depth estimates. Then, we use another NN regressor to ensemble the temporal water depths. This step serves to automatically weight the contribution of the bathymetric estimates from each time instance to the final bathymetry product. Unlike methods that ensemble spectral data, NN-depth ensembling mitigates against propagation of uncertainties in spectral data (e.g., noise due to sun glint) to the final bathymetric product. The proposed NN-depth ensembling is applied to temporal SuperDove imagery of reaches from the American, Potomac, and Colorado rivers with depths of up to 10 m and evaluated against in situ measurements. The proposed method provided more accurate and robust bathymetry retrieval than single-image analyses and other ensembling approaches.

Remote Sensing↗
USGS2007

Modeling tidal hydrodynamics of San Diego Bay, California

In 1983, current data were collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration using mechanical current meters. During 1992 through 1996, acoustic Doppler current profilers as well as mechanical current meters and tide gauges were used. These measurements not only document tides and tidal currents in San Diego Bay, but also provide independent data sets for model calibration and verification. A high resolution (100-m grid), depth-averaged, numerical hydrodynamic model has been implemented for San Diego Bay to describe essential tidal hydrodynamic processes in the bay. The model is calibrated using the 1983 data set and verified using the more recent 1992-1996 data. Discrepancies between model predictions and field data in beth model calibration and verification are on the order of the magnitude of uncertainties in the field data. The calibrated and verified numerical model has been used to quantify residence time and dilution and flushing of contaminant effluent into San Diego Bay. Furthermore, the numerical model has become an important research tool in ongoing hydrodynamic and water quality studies and in guiding future field data collection programs.

California↗