Concentrations and annual fluxes of sediment-associated chemical constituents from conterminous US coastal rivers using bed sediment data

Hydrological Processes

Volumn 26, Issue 7, 2012, Pages 1090-1114

  Horowitz, Arthur J ^a   Stephens, Verlin C ^b   Elrick, Kent A ^a   Smith, James J ^a  

^a U S GEOLOGICAL SURVEY   (United States)

^b DENVER FEDERAL CENTER   (United States)

Author keywords

Annual fluxes; Coastal rivers; Conterminous USA; Nutrients; Sediment associated concentrations; Trace major elements

Indexed keywords

AL-CONCENTRATION; ANNUAL FLUX; ANTHROPOGENIC SOURCES; BASELINE LEVELS; BED SEDIMENTS; BLACKWATER; CALCULATED VALUES; CHEMICAL CONCENTRATIONS; CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS; CONTERMINOUS USA; FLORIDA; GROUND TRUTH; GULF COAST; GULF OF MEXICO; INDUSTRIAL AREA; INORGANIC CARBON; NORTH EAST ATLANTIC; NUTRIENT CONCENTRATIONS; POPULATION DENSITIES; REVERSE ORDER; RIVER BASINS; SEDIMENT DISCHARGE; SUSPENDED SEDIMENT FLUX; TOTAL NITROGEN; TOTAL PHOSPHORUS; TRACE ELEMENT CONCENTRATIONS;

ANOXIC SEDIMENTS; LEAD; MERCURY (METAL); NUTRIENTS; PETROGRAPHY; POPULATION STATISTICS; SEDIMENTOLOGY; SODIUM; SULFUR; SUSPENDED SEDIMENTS;

RIVERS;

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS; COASTAL ZONE; CONCENTRATION (COMPOSITION); FLUVIAL DEPOSIT; NUTRIENT DYNAMICS; RIVER BED; RIVER DISCHARGE; SEDIMENT CHEMISTRY; SUSPENDED SEDIMENT; TRACE ELEMENT;

UNITED STATES;

EID: 84862800317     PISSN: 08856087     EISSN: 10991085     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/hyp.8437     Document Type: Article

References (73)

1. Advisory Committee on Water Information, National Water Quality Monitoring Council. 2006. A National Water Quality Monitoring Network for U.S. coastal waters and their tributaries. Available from: ; 50.
2. Cuffney TF, Gurtz ME, Meador MR. 1993. Guidelines for Processing and Quality Assurance of Benthic Invertebrate Samples Collected as Part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program. US Geological Survey Open-File Report 93-407. US Geological Survey: Reston, VA; 80.
3. Curtis WF, Culbertson JK, Chase EB. 1973. Fluvial-Sediment Discharge to the Oceans from the Conterminous United States. US Geological Survey Circular 670. US Geological Survey: Reston, VA; 17.
4. Dole RB, Stabler H. 1909. Denudation. US Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 234. US Geological Survey: Washington, D.C.; 78-93.
5. Edwards TK, Glysson GD. 1999. Field Methods for Measurement of Fluvial Sediment, US Geological Survey Techniques of Water-Resource Investigation, Book 3. US Geological Survey: Reston, VA; Chapter C2, 118.
6. Ficke JF, Hawkinson RH. 1975. The National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN) -Some Questions and Answers. US Geological Survey Circular 719. US Geological Survey: Reston, VA; 23.
7. Förstner U, Heise S. 2006. Assessing and managing contaminated sediments: requirements on data quality - from molecular to river basin scale. Croatica Chemica Acta 79: 5-14.
8. Förstner U, Wittmann GTW. 1981. Metal Pollution in the Aquatic Environment, 2nd revised edn. Springer-Verlag: New York; 486.
9. Garrett RG. 2009. Relative spatial soil geochemical variability along two transects across the United States and Canada. Applied Geochemistry 24: 1405-1415.
10. Gellis AC, Banks WSL, Langland MJ, Martucci SK. 2004. Summary of suspended-sediment data for streams draining the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, water years 1952-2002. US Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2004-5056, Reston, VA; 59.
11. Gellis AC, Hupp CR, Pavich MJ, Landwehr JM, Banks WSL, Hubbard BE, Langland MJ, Ritchie JC, Reuter JM. 2008. Sources, transport, and storage of sediment at selected sites in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5186, Reston, VA; 95.
12. Gilliom RJ, Alley WM, Gurtz ME. 1995. Design of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program: Occurrence and Distribution of Water-Quality Conditions. U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1112. U.S. Geological Survey: Reston, VA; 33.
13. Gilliom RJ, Barbash JE, Crawford CG, Hamilton PA, Martin JD, Nakagaki N, Nowell LH, Scott JC, Stackelberg PE, Thelin GP, Wolock DM. 2006. Pesticides in the Nation's Streams and Ground Water. US Geological Survey Circular 1291. US Geological Survey: Reston, VA; 173.
14. Goldhaber ML, Morrison JM, Holloway JM, Wanty RB, Helsel DR, Smith DB. 2009. A regional soil and sediment geochemical study in northern California. Applied Geochemistry 24: 1482-1499.
15. Goolsby DA, Battaglin WA, Lawrence GB, Artz RS, Aulenbach BT, Hooper RP, Keeney DR, Stensland GJ. 1999. Flux and sources of nutrients in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin - Topic 3, Report for the Integrated Assessment on Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. NOAA Coastal Ocean Program Decision Analysis Series No. 17. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Washington, D.C.; 129.
16. Gustavsson N, Bølviken B, Smith DB, Severson RC. 2001. Geochemical landscapes of the conterminous United States - New map presentations for 22 elements. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1648. U.S. Geological Survey: Reston, VA; 38.
17. Hawkinson RH, Ficke JF, Saindon LG. 1977. Quality of Rivers of the United States - Based on the National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN). US Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-1151. US Geological Survey: Reston, VA; 158.
18. Hirsch RM, Alley WM, Wilber WG. 1988. Concepts for a National Assessment Program. US Geological Survey Circular 1291. US Geological Survey: Reston, VA; 42.
19. Hitt KJ. 1994. Refining 1970's Land Use Data with 1990 Population Data to Indicate New Residential Developments. US Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigation Report 94-4250. US Geological Survey: Reston, VA; 15.
20. Horowitz AJ. 1991. A Primer on Sediment trace Element Chemistry, 2nd edn, Lewis Publishers, Inc.: Chelsea, MI, 136.
21. Horowitz AJ. 2003. An evaluation of sediment rating curves for estimating suspended sediment concentrations for subsequent flux calculations. Hydrological Processes 17: 3387-3409.
22. Horowitz AJ. 2008. Determining annual suspended sediment and sediment-associated trace element and nutrient fluxes. The Science of the Total Environment 400: 315-343.
23. Horowitz AJ. 2010. A quarter century of declining suspended sediment fluxes in the Mississippi River and the effect of the 1993 flood. Hydrological Processes 24: 13-34.
24. Horowitz AJ, Elrick KA, Hooper RC. 1989. The prediction of aquatic sediment-associated trace element concentrations using selected geochemical factors. Hydrological Processes 3: 347-364.
25. Horowitz AJ, Elrick KA, Smith JJ. 2001. Estimating suspended sediment and trace element fluxes in large river basins: methodological considerations as applied to the NASQAN program. Hydrological Processes 15: 1107-1132.
26. Horowitz AJ, Elrick KA, Smith JJ. 2008. Monitoring urban impacts on suspended sediment, trace element, and nutrient fluxes within the City of Atlanta, Georgia, USA: program design, methodological considerations, and initial results. Hydrological Processes 22: 1473-1496.
27. Horowitz AJ, Meybeck M, Idlafkih Z, Biger E. 1999. Variations in trace element geochemistry in the Seine River Basin based on floodplain deposits and bed sediments. Hydrological Processes 13: 1329-1340.
28. Horowitz AJ, Stephens VC. 2008. The effects of land use on fluvial sediment chemistry for the conterminous U.S. - results from the first cycle of the NAWQA Program: trace and major elements, phosphorus, carbon, and sulfur. The Science of the Total Environment 400: 290-314.
29. Luthy RG. Aiken GR, Brusseau ML, Cunningham SD, Gschwend PM, Pignatello JA, Reinhard M, Traina SJ, Weber Jr. JA, Westall JC. 1997. Sequestration of hydrophobic organic by geosorbents. Environmental Science & Technology 31: 3341-3347.
30. Meade RH. 2010. Sediment transport and deposition in rivers: the case for non-stationarity. In A Review of Selected Hydrology Topics to Support Bank Operations, Garcia LE, Puz G (eds). HEF Technical Report 1, The World Bank, Water Partnership Program: The Netherlands; 69-76.
31. Meade RH, Moody JA. 2010. Causes for the decline of suspended sediment-discharges in the Mississippi River system, 1940-2007. Hydrological Processes 24: 35-49.
32. Meade RH, Yuzyk TR, Day TJ. 1990. Movement and storage of sediment in rivers of the United States and Canada. In Surface Water Hydrology The Geology of North America, Wolman MG, Riggs HC (eds). Geological Society of America: Boulder, CO; 255-280.
33. Meybeck M. 1994. Origin and variable composition of present day riverborne material. In Material Fluxes on the Surface of the Earth. National Research Council: Washington, DC; 61-73.
34. Milliman JD, Farnsworth KL. 2011. River Discharge to the Coastal Ocean A Global Synthesis. Cambridge University Press: New York, NY; 392.
35. Milliman JD, Meade RH. 1983. World-wide delivery of river sediment to the oceans. Journal of Geology 91: 1-21.
36. Milliman JD, Rutkowski C, Meybeck M. 1995. River Discharge to the Sea: A Global River Index (GLORI). Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) Reports and Studies. LOICZ Project Office. Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Texel: The Netherlands: 125.
37. Milliman JD, Syvitski JPM. 1992. Geomorphic/tectonic control of sediment discharge to the ocean: the importance of small mountainous rivers. Journal of Geology 100: 525-544.
38. Montgomery DR. 2007. Dirt - The Erosion of Civilizations. University of California Press: Berkeley, CA; 285.
39. Mueller DK, Spahr NE. 2006. Nutrients in Streams and Rivers Across the Nation - 1992-2001. US Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006-5107. US Geological Survey: Reston, VA; 44.
40. Nakagaki N, Wolock DM. 2005. Estimation of Agricultural Pesticide use in Drainage Basins Using Land Cover Maps and County Pesticide Data. US Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005-1188. US Geological Survey: Reston, VA; 56.
41. National Research Council. 1994. Overview. In Material Fluxes on the Surface of the Earth. National Research Council: Washington, DC: 1-14.
42. Office of Water Quality. 1996. Redesign Plan for the National Stream Quality Accounting Network. U.S. Geological Survey: Reston, VA; 110-114.
43. Osterkamp WR. Heilman P. Lane LJ. 1998. Economic considerations of a continental sediment-monitoring program. International Journal of Sediment Research 13: 12-24.
44. Reimann C, Garrett RG. 2005. Geochemical background - concept and reality. The Science of the Total Environment 350: 12-27.
45. Rice KC. 1999. Trace element concentrations in streambed sediments across the conterminous United States. Environmental Science & Technology 33: 2499-2504.
46. Salomons W, Förstner U. 1984. Metals in the Hydrocycle. Springer-Verlag: New York; 349.
47. Schacklette HT, Boerngen J. 1984. Element Concentrations in Soils and Other Surficial Materials of the Conterminous United States. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1270. U.S. Geological Survey: Washington, DC; 105.
48. Shelton LR, Capel PD. 1994. Guidelines for Collecting and Processing Samples of Stream Bed Sediment for Analysis of Trace Elements and Organic Contaminants for the National Water-Quality Assessment Program. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 94-458. U.S. Geological Survey: Reston, VA; 20.
49. Simpson SL, Bately GE, Charlton AA, Stauber JL, King CK, Chapman JC, Hyne RV, Gale SA. Roach AC, Maher WA, 2005. Handbook for Sediment Quality Assessment. CSIRO, Centre for Environmental Contaminants Research: Lucas Heights, NSW, 117.
50. Skyllberg U, Xia K, Bloom PR, Nater EA, Bleam WP. 2000. Binding of Hg (II) to reduced sulfur in soil organic matter along upland-peat soil transects. Journal of Environmental Quality 29: 855-865.
51. Slagel M, Griggs G. 2006. Cumulative losses of sand to the california coast by dam impoundment. Final Report to the California Coastal Sediment Management Workgroup and the California Department of Boating and Waterways. University of California, Santa Cruz, Institute of Marine Sciences; 41.
52. Stumm W, Morgan JJ. 1996. Aquatic Chemistry, 3rd edn. John Wiley & Sons: New York; 1042.
53. Swarzenski PW, Kvenvolden KA, Horowitz AJ, ten Brink M. 2001. Integrated strategy urged to address coastal contamination issues. Eos 82: 500.
54. Syvitski JPM, Kettner AJ. 2007. Available from: (accessed September 2007).
55. Syvitski JPM, Vorosmarty CJ, Kettner A, Green P. 2005. Impacts of humans on the flux of terrestrial sediment to the global coastal ocean. Science 308: 376-380.
56. Turner RE, Rabelais NN, Alexander RB, McIsaac G, Howarth RW. 2007. Characterization of nutrient, organic carbon, and sediment loads and concentrations from the Mississippi River into the northern Gulf of Mexico. Estuaries and Coasts 30: 773-790.
57. U.S. Department of Agriculture. 1989. The Second RCA Appraisal: Soil, Water, and Related Resources on Non-Federal Land in the United States. U.S. Department of Agriculture: Washington, DC; 280.
58. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1997. The Incidence and Severity of Sediment Contamination in Surface Waters of the United States, Vol 1. National Sediment Quality Survey, Office of Science and Technology, U.S. EPA-823-R-97-006: Washington, DC.
59. U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 1990. The Potential for Biological Effects of Sediment-Sorbed Contaminants Tested in the National Status and Trends Program. U.S. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS OMA 52: Seattle, WA; 175.
60. U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2006. Biennial report to congress on coastal zone management 2004-2005. Available from: .
61. United Nations Environmental Program (OCA). 1995. Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities. UNEP(OCA)/LBA/ IG.2/7, United Nations Environmental Programme: New York, USA; 60.
62. van der Leeden F, Troise FL, Todd DK. 1990. The Water Encyclopedia, 2nd edn. Lewis Publishers: Chelsea, MI; 808.
63. Van Heerden III, DeRouen Jr. K. 1997. Implementing a barrier island and barrier shoreline restoration program-the state of Louisiana's perspective. Journal of Coastal Research 13: 679-685.
64. Viers J, Dupre B, Gaillardet J. 2009. Chemical composition of suspended sediments in world rivers: new insights from a new database. The Science of the Total Environment 407: 853-868.
65. Vogelmann JE, Howard SM, Yang L, Larsen CR, Wylie BK, VanDriel N. 2001. Completion of the 1990s national land cover data set for the conterminous United States from LANDSAT thematic mapper data and ancillary data sources. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 67: 650-662.
66. Walker CH, Srinivason R. 1995. Estimating background loads of sediments, organic nitrogen, and organic phosphorus in the Mississippi River basin. In Proceedings of the First Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Management Conference. US Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf of Mexico Program Office, Stennis Space Center: MS; 146-158.
67. Walling DE. 2006. Human impact on land-ocean sediment transfer by the world's rivers. Geomorphology 79: 192-216.
68. Walling DE. 2008. The changing sediment loads of the world's rivers. In Sediment Dynamics in Changing Environments, IAHS Publication 325, Schmidt J, Cochrane T, Phillips C, Elliott S, Davies T, Basher L (eds). IAHS Press: Wallingford, UK; 323-338.
69. Warren N, Allan IJ. Carter JE, House WA. Parker A. 2003. Pesticides and other micro-organic contaminants in freshwater sedimentary environments - a review. Applied Geochemistry 18: 159-194.
70. Wikipedia. 2010. Demographics of the United States. Available from: (accessed January 2011).
71. Windom HL. Byrd J, Smith Jr. R, Hungspreugs M, Dharmvanaj S. Thumtrakul W, Yeats P. 1989. Interpretations of metal concentrations in estuarine sediments of Florida using aluminum as a reference element. Estuaries 13: 227-235.
72. Wong CSC, Xiangdong L, Thornton I. 2006. Urban environmental geochemistry of trace metals. Environmental Pollution 142: 1-16.
73. Yin Y, Allen HE, Huang CP, Sanders PP. 1996. Adsorption of Hg (II) by soil: effects of pH, chloride and organic matter. Journal of Environmental Quality 25: 837-844.