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James F Coles

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These data were collected to characterize the quantity and quality of microplastic particles found in 17 streams in the northeastern United States, from New York to Virginia. USGS staff who represent the Urban Landscapes Capabilities Team (ULCT) within the North Atlantic-Appalachian Region designed the study and collected the water samples on which the data are based. Data were collected during 2017 and 2018 and included a baseflow and stormflow sample at each site. Additionally, the various microplastic particles in each sample were characterized by one of two different size-fraction categories (categories of 355-1000 micrometers and 1000-5600 micrometers), by type of particle (fiber/line, fiber clump, bead/pellet,...
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In the summer of 2014 at Pawtuckaway Beach at Pawtuckaway State Park in Nottingham New Hampshire, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) established a seasonal meteorological station (430508071091801) on the beach and a seasonal water-quality station (01073389) in Pawtuckaway Lake proximal to the swimming area. Data recorded at 15-minute intervals by the meteorological station were wind speed, wind direction, precipitation, barometric pressure, and relative humidity. Data recorded at 15-minute intervals by the water-quality station were air and water temperature, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, and stage (water level), which characterized water conditions at the swimming area. In 2015 the USGS also established...
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The Northeast Stream Quality Assessment (NESQA) performed mercury (Hg) isotope analysis of prey fish, game fish, and sediments from 29 sites across an urban to forested land-use gradient. The data presented here includes the chemical analysis of Hg concentrations and isotopes, capture information for fish species, land use, and stream water quality variables. Using these parameters it was determined that the preservation of Hg isotope signatures, which are indicative of source (e.g. atmospheric deposition, industrial point discharge), were dependent on land use, proximity to point sources, and variables related urbanization (e.g. road density and impervious surface cover). Additional Information regarding the interpretation...
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Problem: The Clean Water Act (PL 92-500) requires that the health of the Nation’s rivers and streams be assessed on a regular basis, and in the Northeast such assessments often use information from aquatic biological communities that live in the stream. Biomonitoring programs implemented by individual states evaluate biological data to assess stream health on the premise that certain sensitive species that are native to the region cannot survive when water quality is poor. The aquatic community data are typically condensed into a set of biological condition metrics that are scaled numerically to convey the relative degree of stream impairment (e.g., excellent, good, fair, poor). However, biological condition...
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