Science picks: Leads, feeds and story seeds for A...( ity to give a more complete assessment ...)

Feeds:

HYDRO HITCHHIKERS: USGS hydrologists, or water scientists if you want to be plainer, are studying how raindrops and melting snow percolate through soil and become ground water and what kinds of unintended baggage ? in the form of pollutants ? these hydro-travelers pick up along the way. The technical term for that process of turning rain into ground water is "recharge" and it?s an important part of understanding the quantity and quality of water resources across the country because the bulk of ground water began its life in the water cycle in the clouds as rain and snow. Consequently, most ground-water contamination that happens from what people do on the land surface occurs during this recharge phase. USGS scientists in New Jersey are studying a research watershed with high levels of nitrate in shallow ground water to determine where and how those contaminants enter ground-water systems. Models developed from these experiments will be used nationally to better track contaminants moving into ground-water systems. Call Arthur Baehr at 609-771-3978 for more information.

GOOD REEF THAT?S A LOT OF LARVAE: USGS scientists have been studying the effects that sediment and ocean currents have on Hawaiian coral reefs and are now tracking the movement of "rice coral" larvae, one of the primary Hawaiian reef-building corals off the Maui coast. Scientists can predict when the coral will spawn, but do not know how and where the floating larvae are dispersed prior to their settling on hard sections of the seafloor. Results of the study will provide resource managers with information on how to best protect this unique and economically valuable Hawaiian coastal environment. Coral reefs are storehouses of immense biological wealth that provide s
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Contact: Butch Kinerney
bkinerney@usgs.gov
703-648-4732
United States Geological Survey
11-Aug-2003