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Regional Monitoring Program 1997 Annual Report
Chapter 3.
Water Monitoring
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1.
Introduction
2.
1997 Review Implementation
3.
Water Monitoring
4.
Sediment Monitoring
5.
Bivalve Monitoring
6.
Pilot and Special Studies
7.
Related Monitoring Activities
8.
Other Monitoring Activities
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Acronyms
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Glossary
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Appendices
 

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San Francisco Estuary Institute

    Water-Quality Variability in San Francisco Bay: General Patterns of Change During 1997
James E. Cloern, Brian E. Cole, Jody L. Edmunds,
and Jelriza I. Baylosis
United States Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA
Introduction
The Measurement Program
1997 Results
Summary
  Acknowledgments
References

        

Introduction

One goal of the Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) is to determine seasonal and annual trends of variability in the chemical and biological water quality of the San Francisco Estuary. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) maintains a program of monthly water-quality measurements to supplement RMP monitoring done three times each year. This element of the RMP is designed to describe the changing spatial patterns of water-quality variability from the lower Sacramento River to the southern limit of the South Bay. Five water-quality parameters are measured as descriptors of the chemical-biological status of the Estuary, and as indicators of the key processes that control the concentration, chemical form, or biological availability of toxic contaminants.

A second objective of the RMP is to determine long-term trends in the concentrations of trace elements and organic contaminants in the San Francisco Estuary. This objective poses a difficult challenge because estuaries have large natural variability that acts as noise around any signals of water quality improvement or degradation over time. Progress toward this second objective will require innovative approaches for characterizing the natural variability of biological and chemical conditions in the Estuary, and then separating these natural fluctuations from any trends of change. In this chapter we summarize results of the USGS measurement program for 1997, and use these results to illustrate the general patterns of water-quality change caused by natural processes of variability in the San Francisco Bay-Delta ecosystem. Identification of these patterns, and their underlying mechanisms, is an important step in the determination of trends of change in trace contaminants.

The Measurement Program

Design

This element of the RMP characterizes water quality in the deep channel of the Bay-Delta system. It includes measurements at a series of fixed stations spaced every 3­6 km, from Rio Vista (lower Sacramento River, Figure 3.46), through Suisun Bay, Carquinez Strait, San Pablo Bay, the Central Bay, and the South Bay to the mouth of Coyote Creek. Vertical profiles are taken at each station, so this measurement program provides two-dimensional (longitudinal-vertical) descriptions of spatial structure. Sampling along the 145 km transect requires 12­15 hours, so measurements are taken at varying phases of the semidiurnal tide cycle. Although it is logistically difficult to synchronize sampling to a constant tidal phase, we minimized the effects of intratidal variability by sampling near the periods of monthly minimum tidal energy when possible. Therefore, this sampling program is biased toward neap tide conditions, and it is confounded by intratidal variability during the course of sampling. Sampling is confined to the central channel, so it does not measure directly the transverse component of water-quality variability across the broad shoals. However, sampling along the axial transect does describe variability along the estuarine salinity gradient, and it provides an integrative picture of all the processes occurring upstream, in adjacent marshes and lateral shoals, due to point source discharges, and within the local water column (Jassby et al., 1997). Sampling was done once each month along the entire North Bay-South Bay transect. More frequent sampling was done in the South Bay to follow the dynamic water-quality changes caused by the spring phytoplankton bloom (Cloern, 1996), such as depletion of dissolved metals (Luoma et al., 1998). Sampling dates for 1997 are listed in Table 3.3.

Water Quality Parameters

This element of the RMP measures five water-quality parameters, each reflecting a different set of processes that cause estuarine variability. Salinity measures the relative proportion of freshwater and seawater, and the salinity distribution reflects the changing importance of river flow as a source of dissolved materials carried into the Bay-Delta from the Estuary's watersheds. Water temperature is an independent indicator of mixing, and an important control on biological transformations of reactive trace substances. The concentration of suspended particles (as total suspended solids, TSS) changes in response to the alternating tidal cycles of sediment deposition and resuspension, episodic wind-driven resuspension, and riverine inputs of new sediments during periods of high flow. These processes are relevant to the RMP because many trace substances are reactive with particle surfaces, so the pathways of transport, retention, and incorporation of these contaminants into the food web are influenced by the transport of sediments. For example, RMP data show strong correlations between suspended solids concentration and the concentration of total mercury in San Francisco Bay waters (Schoellhamer, 1997). This USGS measurement program provides information about the large-scale changes in the spatial distribution of TSS associated with river inputs. Variability at shorter time scales is characterized by the continuous measurements of TSS by moored instruments at fixed locations (Schoellhamer, 1996).

The phytoplankton community represents the single largest component of living biomass in San Francisco Bay, and we measure the distribution of chlorophyll a as an index of this biomass. Unlike salinity and TSS, chlorophyll a is a nonconservative quantity that changes in response to processes of production and consumption, as well as inputs and transports. The production of phytoplankton biomass involves the uptake of inorganic forms of elements (including carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and some trace metals) dissolved in the water, and then transformation of these inorganic raw materials into new organic matter packaged as algal cells. The partitioning of reactive elements between dissolved and particulate forms can be highly influenced by the phytoplankton community in San Francisco Bay (Cloern, 1996; Luoma et al., 1998), and chlorophyll a concentration is a simple indicator of the potential for these biotransformations.

We measure dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration as an indicator of the net trophic status of the Estuary. If the oxygen content of water is undersaturated (less than that at equilibrium with atmospheric oxygen), then oxygen is being consumed by the biota faster than it is produced by photosynthesis (community respiration exceeds primary production). Supersaturation of oxygen occurs when the photosynthetic production of oxygen within the Estuary is faster than all the processes of consumption. Therefore, DO concentration is an index of the balance between production and oxygen consumption, a key descriptor of the status of the ecosystem. Episodes of DO supersaturation occur during periods of rapid phytoplankton primary production when the inorganic forms of elements (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon, cadmium, etc.) are rapidly removed from solution and converted into particulate form. Therefore, DO provides a useful indicator of the rate of phytoplankton-mediated transformations of reactive elements and compounds in the water column. Whereas chlorophyll a measures the abundance (or biomass) of the phytoplankton, DO measures the activity level of the phytoplankton community.

Methods

Data for this RMP element were collected with an instrument package that includes sensors for measuring: sampling depth, conductivity, temperature, salinity (calculated from conductivity and temperature), TSS (optical backscatter sensor), chlorophyll a (fluorometer), and DO (oxygen electrode). The instrument package is lowered through the water column, taking measurements about every 4 cm. Here, we report only the measurements made in the upper meter of the water column, calculated as the mean of all measurements made between 0.5 m and 1.5 m. The complete data set, including measurements made at all depths, is available as a data report (Baylosis et al., 1998) or over the Internet at the USGS website that archives and displays results of the water-quality program at http://sfbay.wr.usgs.gov/access/wqdata/.

The conductivity and temperature sensors were calibrated by Sea-Bird Electronics prior to the first sampling in January 1997. The optical backscatter sensor, fluorometer, and oxygen electrodes were calibrated each sampling date with analyses of water samples. Surface samples were collected by pump, and bottom samples were collected with a Niskin bottle. Aliquots were analyzed for: TSS (gravimetric method of Hager, 1993); chlorophyll a (spectrophotometric method of Lorenzen, 1967, using the equations of Riemann, 1978); and dissolved oxygen (automated Winkler titration, following Granéli and Granéli, 1991). Values reported here are calculated quantities based on daily calibrations of the optical backscatter, fluorescence, and oxygen sensors from linear regressions of measured concentrations versus voltage output of each instrument.

1997 Results

The Year of the Big Storm

Residents of northern California will remember 1997 as the year of the Big Storm, a three-day period of record precipitation and river flow centered on New Year's Day. The New Year's storm was preceded by high precipitation in December 1996, when runoff was about three times the December mean. Roos (1997) describes the event:

Record streamflow, especially the 3-day flood volumes, were produced in many of the major rivers. The sheer volume of runoff exceeded the flood control capacity of Don Pedro and Millerton reservoirs in the central Sierra foothills, sending large amounts of excess water down the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers. Most other foothill reservoirs made releases that brought rivers downstream up to maximum flood design capacity. Major flooding occurred along the uncontrolled Cosumnes River southeast of Sacramento, on the Tuolumne River near Modesto, and the San Joaquin River near Fresno.

Roos estimates that runoff during January 1997 was about 390 percent of the average, and probably a record for the month. He ends his description:

The New Year's Day storm is one for the record books. December 1996 and January 1997 are the two wettest consecutive months on record for the northern Sierra 8-station average, with a combined total of 47.6 inches of precipitation.

January 1997 was followed by very dry periods in February and March, so the 1997 record of Delta outflow into the San Francisco Estuary was characterized by exceptional outflows in January, receding outflows in February and March, and then persistently low outflows the remainder of the year (Figure 3.47). This simple, high-amplitude fluctuation in Delta outflow provides an excellent example for illustrating the principle that the water quality and biological communities of estuaries respond quickly and strongly to changes in river flow. Some of these changes have direct relevance to the RMP and its objectives of determining trends of change.

Effects of the Big Storm on Water Quality of the Estuary

Water quality of San Francisco Bay, like all urbanized estuaries, is influenced by a combination of both natural forces and human activities. Estuaries are ecosystems where freshwater and seawater mix, and the proportions of fresh and seawater change in response to fluctuations in river flow. The freshwater-seawater mix within the Estuary is measured as the salinity distribution, and the changing salinity distribution reflects large changes in water quality and biological communities caused by change in the relative proportions of fresh and seawater. The New Year's Flood of 1997 provides a large natural experiment to show how water quality and biological communities and processes of the San Francisco Estuary change in response to an extreme event of high river flow.

Results from the USGS salinity measurements are depicted in Figure 3.47, which shows the changing spatial patterns of salinity as gray-scale shadings. The upper panel shows the daily record of the Delta Outflow Index (DOI). The bottom panel shows the patterns of salinity variability as shaded contour images, where shading intensity is proportional to salt content of the surface waters. The vertical axis represents the longitudinal transect from the lower Sacramento River (top of image, at kilometer 92), to the Central Bay at Angel Island (kilometer 0), and then to the lower South Bay at the mouth of Coyote Creek (kilometer -52.7). The horizontal axis represents monthly variability during 1997. This, and following images, are based on interpolations of the 533 surface measurements made during the twenty USGS sampling cruises in 1997. Here, dark shading indicates high salinity and light shading indicates low salinity. The thick solid line shows the changing position of the surface salinity of 2 psuan index of the location of the interface between freshwater and brackish water in the Estuary. This image shows the strong response of the salinity distribution to the New Year's Flood. The first USGS sampling was done on January 13, and sampling was stopped in Carquinez Strait because flows were so great that the research ship could not progress further upstream against the strong currents. The next sampling on January 28 was completed up to Rio Vista, and it showed a remarkable salinity distribution with freshwater in the surface layer as far downstream as San Pablo Bay. A nearly-fresh (salinity of 1 psu) surface layer was found in the Central Bay near Angel Island on January 28.

The solid diamonds on Figure 3.47 show the times and locations of USGS measurements during the three periods of RMP water sampling. The first RMP sampling of 1997 occurred at the time of the most extreme change in the salinity distribution, about three weeks after the January5 peak in Delta outflow. The mean DOI during the first RMP water sampling was 6,420 m3/s, nearly double the previous high DOI during an RMP sampling (Table 3.4). The mean surface salinity along the entire USGS sampling transect was only 3.4 psu on January 28; during this period, the surface waters of the Estuary were, on average, about 90% freshwater. This period when the freshwater fraction in the Estuary was very high should be reflected in the distributions of trace contaminants measured by other RMP elements. For example, the pattern in Figure 3.47 suggests that contaminants with local sources were flushed from the Estuary during this period of unusually high river flow and low salinity.

The patterns in Figure 3.47 show only the results of the surface measurements, and these do not reflect the salinity of deep waters in the Estuary. Freshwater has lower density than seawater, so it has a tendency to float on top of seawater unless turbulent mixing from wind and tides is strong enough to vertically mix the surface freshwater and deep seawater. During periods of high river flow, such as January and February 1997, the water in the Estuary channels becomes layered, or stratified, with low-salinity water carried seaward on top of high-salinity deep water. For example, on January 28 when the surface salinity at Angel Island (USGS station 17) was only 2 psu (nearly freshwater), the bottom waters at that location had salinity of 21.1 psu (mostly seawater). Therefore, events of high river flow change both the horizontal and the vertical distributions of salinity and other water-quality constituents.

The exceptional peak of freshwater inflow in early January (DOI = 14,840 m3/s) was followed by a second peak (DOI =7,514 m3/s) in late January, and then a spring of receding inflow and a summer/autumn of persistent low inflow. The gray-scale shadings of Figure 3.47 show how the surface salinity of the Estuary responded to the periods of receding river flow, with the entire Estuary becoming progressively saltier after the January storms ended. This progressive increase in the seawater fraction was reflected in the changing position of the line where surface salinity = 2 psu (Figure 3.47). By the time of the second RMP water sampling in April 1997, this position was displaced about 75 km upstream and positioned in Suisun Bay. Between the RMP first and second samplings, the mean surface salinity of the Estuary increased from 3.4 to 16.7 psu (Table 3.4), and we expect large changes in the concentrations of some trace substances between these two sampling periods. The third RMP water sampling, in late July/early August, occurred after three months of sustained low flow, when the mean surface salinity along the USGS transect was 18.2 psu (Table 3.4).

The salinity distribution of Figure 3.47 shows how dissolved components of water quality can change in response to seasonal fluctuations in river flow. Other aspects of water quality change with river flow, including the distribution and concentration of suspended matter. In Figure 3.48 we show the changing patterns of total suspended solids (TSS) concentration as a measure of the abundance of particles suspended in surface waters of the Estuary. Most suspended particles in the San Francisco Estuary are mineral (clay) particles, and the gray-scale shadings in Figure 3.48 show the large pulse input of suspended sediments to the northern Estuary following the 1997 New Year's Flood. The highest TSS concentration measured in surface waters by the USGS monitoring was 227 mg/L. During the first RMP water sampling, TSS concentrations were uniformly high in the northern Estuary, and a plume of low salinity-high turbidity water was observed into the Central Bay. The mean TSS concentration in surface waters along the USGS transect was 91mg/L, the highest mean concentration in the five years of RMP sampling (Table 3.4).

As the river flow receded in spring, the riverine sources of sediments to the Estuary were reduced, and the mean TSS concentration fell to 38mg/L (Table 3.4). Since many trace contaminants are reactive with particle surfaces, we expect large changes in the concentrations and distributions of the particle-reactive substances between the first and second RMP samplings of 1997. We also expect that these seasonal trends continued into the time of the July/August sampling when TSS concentrations were low throughout the Estuary (Figure 3.48). This image also shows localized regions of high TSS concentration in the lower South Bay, especially below the Dumbarton Bridge, reflecting inputs of sediments from the urban watershed of the South Bay during the January storms.

The Spring Phytoplankton Bloom

As the RMP evolves and matures, we continue to learn new lessons about the key processes which control the transport, biogeochemical cycling, and ecosystem effects of trace contaminants in the San Francisco Estuary. In recent years we have learned that phytoplankton uptake and assimilation of trace metals (such as cadmium, nickel, zinc, and selenium) is a key biological process which transforms these elements from dissolved to particulate phases (Luoma et al., 1998). These biological transformations are a key step in the trophic transfer of trace contaminants leading to bioaccumulation within the tissues of upper-trophic-level consumer animals. Phytoplankton, as the dominant primary producers in the Estuary, probably also play a key role in the uptake and metabolism of some trace organic contaminants, such as PCBs. The USGS water-quality element of RMP follows phytoplankton dynamics in San Francisco Bay by measuring chlorophyll concentration (an index of the biomass, or abundance, of the phytoplankton community) and dissolved oxygen concentration (as an index of the rate of photosynthesis, or productivity, of the phytoplankton community).

Chlorophyll distributions show that phytoplankton abundance in the San Francisco Estuary is usually low, except for periods of very high biomass (algal blooms) which can develop in the South Bay during the months February through April (Cloern, 1996). During 1997, the South Bay spring bloom was characterized by four distinct episodes of enhanced chlorophyll biomass, beginning with a small event north of the San Mateo Bridge in late January (Figure 3.49). This was followed by three larger events of rapid chlorophyll increase, and then decline, in late February, late March, and late April (at the time of the second RMP water sampling). These events of enhanced phytoplankton biomass were reflected in the dissolved oxygen (DO) content of surface waters, and we observed simultaneous events of oxygen supersaturation during the March and April algal bloom events (Figure 3.49). The patterns of DO variability (Figure 3.50) suggest that phytoplankton primary productivity was very high in the South Bay during late March and late April, so we expect large changes in the form or concentrations of reactive trace substances between the RMP water samplings in January (low phytoplankton activity) and April (high phytoplankton activity). The third RMP water sampling occurred in July/August, after three months of persistent low phytoplankton biomass and productivity, suggesting that the biological effect of phytoplankton on trace substances was small then.

Results of USGS sampling suggest that the RMP sampling in April 1997 should provide an excellent opportunity to measure the effects of phytoplankton uptake/metabolism on trace contaminants, because this sampling was done during the period of highest chlorophyll concentration (maximum 34.9 mg/m3) and DO concentration (maximum 133% saturation) among all the RMP water samplings done since 1993 (Table 3.4).

The 1997 El Niño Event

One of the strongest El Niño events of the past century developed in 1997, when temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean warmed to over five degrees Celsius (°C) above normal. This global-scale climatological phenomenon propagated along the west coast of South and North America, and its effects remind us that the San Francisco Estuary is connected to, and influenced by, changes in the adjacent coastal ocean. The surface water temperatures of the southern and northern regions of the Estuary (Figure 3.51) were not unusual in 1997, but the water temperatures in the Central Bay (closest to the Pacific Ocean) were the highest recorded since the RMP sampling began. Effects of oceanic warming, which reflect large-scale changes in coastal oceanic circulation, were most pronounced during the RMP water sampling of July/August (Figure 3.51). For example, bottom temperature at USGS station 18 in Central Bay was 17.67°C on August 5, compared to bottom temperature of only 15.44°C in August 1996. This temperature anomaly suggests that the character of the Central Bay region, including its water quality and biological communities, could have been affected by coastal changes influenced by the 1997 El Niño event.

Although we are far from a complete understanding of how coastal oceanographic processes influence water quality in the San Francisco Estuary, RMP results from recent years show that water quality does change in response to coastal upwelling (Cloern et al., 1997) and El Niño warming. These coastal forcings probably induce a cascade of chemical and biological changes within the Estuary, through linkages which are not yet fully understood. Observations during the 1997 El Niño suggest one mechanism through which the coastal ocean might influence estuarine water quality and toxicity. The USGS and SFEI conducted a special study during August 1997 in response to reports of animal mortalities and visible red tides in regions of the Central Bay (Cole and Cohen, 1998). This study showed high abundances of the dinoflagellate Gymnodinium sanguineum, a toxin-producing species of phytoplankton usually found in tropical or subtropical waters. During this red tide episode Cole and Cohen (1998) observed mortalities and poor condition of attached invertebrate animals, such as mussels and tunicates, in marinas around Central Bay. Numerous dead fish (including adult striped bass and halibut) were observed in Aquatic Park lagoon.

The simultaneous occurrence of temperature anomalies (warm water) and toxic red tides in Central Bay shows how events of change in the coastal ocean can propagate into the San Francisco Estuary and cause changes in water quality and biological communities. The unusual events of summer 1997 remind us that reports of fish and shellfish mortality are increasing in response to nutrient enrichment and stimulation of harmful algal blooms in estuaries around the world. They also remind us that San Francisco Bay harbors at least twenty known species of toxin-producing phytoplankton (Rodgers et al., 1996). Therefore, sources of toxicity can be produced biologically within the Estuary, so the RMP goals of determining trends of water-quality change should include consideration of the potential impact of toxic blooms and the prospect that events of algal-derived toxicity could become more frequent in San Francisco Bay, as they have in other nutrient-rich coastal ecosystems.

Summary

In this chapter, we use results from twenty USGS sampling cruises to describe some key features of water-quality variability in San Francisco Bay during 1997. The patterns of variability are displayed as shaded images showing the annual cycle and the spatial gradients of water quality, from the Sacramento River to the southern South Bay. The five water-quality parameters described here were chosen as indicators of different processes of estuarine variability, so results from this program element can be used as a starting place for interpreting the more complex patterns of variability in trace contaminants and their effects. We use results from 1997 to illustrate some general lessons of estuarine variability that are clearly evident in the easily-measured quantities: salinity, temperature, TSS, chlorophyll, and DO. These same lessons apply to trace substances, and we hope these lessons will be useful guides for identifying the patterns and causes of variability in trace substances, which are also influenced by the large events of 1997: the New Year's Flood of 1997; sustained periods of high phytoplankton production in the South Bay during spring; and the changes induced by the 1997 El Niño event.

Acknowledgments

This program of water-quality measurement in San Francisco Bay is a partnership supported by the United States Geological Survey (Water Resources Division National Research Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology Program, San Francisco Bay Ecosystem Program) and the Regional Monitoring Program for Trace Substances. We thank the coordinators of these programs and the members of the San Francisco Estuary Institute and the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board for their continuing support of this partnership.

References

Baylosis, J.I., B.E. Cole, and J.E. Cloern. 1998. Studies of the San Francisco Bay, California, Estuarine Ecosystem. Regional Monitoring Program Results. 1997. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-168, 194p.

Cloern, J.E. 1996. Phytoplankton bloom dynamics in coastal ecosystems: A review with some general lessons from sustained investigation of San Francisco Bay, California. Reviews of Geophysics 34:127­168.

Cloern, J.E., B.E. Cole, J.L. Edmunds, and J.I. Baylosis. 1997. Water quality variability in San Francisco Bay, some general lessons from 1996 sampling. In 1996 Annual Report: San Francisco Estuary Regional Monitoring Program for Trace Substances, San Francisco Estuary Institute, Oakland, CA. pp. 46­60.

Cole, B.E. and A. Cohen. 1998. Red tide in Berkeley Marina raises concern for toxic blooms in Central Bay. Newsletter, Interagency Ecological Program for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary, v. 11(1):11­13.

Granéli, W. and E. Granéli. 1991. Automated potentiometric determination of dissolved oxygen. Marine Biology 108:341­348.

Hager, S.W. 1993. Dissolved nutrient and suspended particulate matter data for the San Francisco Bay Estuary, California. October 1988 through September 1991. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 93-57.

Jassby, A.D., B.E. Cole, and J.E. Cloern. 1997. The design of sampling transects for characterizing water quality in estuaries. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 45:285­302.

Lorenzen, C.J. 1967. Determination of chlorophyll and phaeopigments: spectrophotometric equations. Limnology and Oceanography 12:343­346.

Luoma, S.N., A. van Geen, B.G. Lee, and J.E. Cloern. 1998. Metal uptake by phytoplankton during a bloom in South San Francisco Bay: Implications for metal cycling in estuaries. Limnology and Oceanography 43:1007­1016.

Riemann, B. 1978. Carotenoid interference in spectrophotometric determination of chlorophyll degradation products from natural populations of phytoplankton. Limnology and Oceanography 23:1059­1066.

Rodgers, K.M., D.L. Garrison, and J.E. Cloern. 1996. Toxic phytoplankton in San Francisco Bay. In 1995 Annual Report: San Francisco Estuary Regional Monitoring Program for Trace Substances. San Francisco Estuary Institute, Oakland, CA. pp. 56­66.

Roos, M. 1997. Water year 1996 in review. Newsletter, Interagency Ecological Program for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary, v. 10:9­12.

Schoellhamer, D.H. 1996. Factors affecting suspended-solids concentrations in South San Francisco Bay, California. Journal of Geophysical Research 101, No. C5:12,087­12,095.

Schoellhamer, D.H. 1997. Time series of suspended-solids concentration, salinity, temperature, and total mercury concentration in San Francisco Bay during water year 1996. In 1996 Annual Report: San Francisco Estuary Regional Monitoring Program for Trace Substances. San Francisco Estuary Institute, Oakland, CA. pp. 65­77.

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