DISSOL YEO-SOLIDS DISCHARGE 

TO THE OCEANS FROM THE 

CONTERMINOUS UNITED STATES 

A contribution to the International Hydrological 

Decade 

Dissolved-Solids Discharge 

to the Oceans From the 

Conterminous United States 

By Donald K. Leifeste 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 685 

1974 
United States Department of the Interior 

ROGERS C. B. MORTON, Secretary 

Geological Survey 

V. E. McKelvey, Director 

Free on application to the U.S. Geological Survey, National Center, Reston, Va. 22092 
CONTENTS 

Page 

Abstract............................................................... 1 

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 

Purpose and scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 

Contributing basins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 

Methods of computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

Discussions of results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

Dissolved-solids discharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

Dissolved-solids concentration and yields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

ILLUSTRATION 

Page 

Figure 1. Map of the conterminous United States showing drainage areas and location of data stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 

TABLES 

Page 

Table 1. Summary of drainage areas, water and dissolved-solids discharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

2. Summary of dissolved-solids discharge to the oceans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

III 

Dissolved-Solids Discharge to the Oceans 

From the Conterminous United States 

By Donald K. Leifeste 

ABSTRACT 

Dissolved-solids data from 54 river basins for 1966-69 were 

used to compute the amount of dissolved material contributed 

to the oceans from the conterminous United States. The computations show that about 264,000,000 tons are discharged annually. The Gulf of Mexico receives the largest load, about 

183,000,000 tons, of which about 15 7,000,000 tons are contributed by the Mississippi River. The Atlantic Ocean receives about 

37,500,000 tons, and the Pacific Ocean about 43,400,000 tons. 

Average yearly yields range from 26 to 231 tons per square 

mile and average about 100 tons per square mile. 

INTRODUCTION 

The scientific community constantly endeavors to utilize improved technological methods and expanded 

data-collection programs to understand in more detail 

the global natural systems of water, air, and soil and the 

recycling that occurs between them. Inventories, such as 

this one, attempt to improve the accounting of the materials transfer between the various parts of these systems, 

and help explain how the global system is affected by 

man. They provide him with information useful in developing, managing, and conserving our resources. 

PURPOSE AND SCOPE 

Although surface streams carry both dissolved and 

suspended material, the patterns of transport and the 

sources of the two types of material differ. These two 

types of material are, therefore, best appraised separately. This report considers only those inorganic chemical constituents that are present in the dissolved state. 

The amount of suspended material may be large, however, and at high flow, in many streams may greatly 

exceed the dissolved load. The quantity of suspended 

material discharged to the oceans from U.S. streams has 

been summarized by Curtis, Culbertson, and Chase 

(1973). 

The calculations presented in this report are for gross 

dissolved solids, uncorrected for salts reaching the land 

in precipitation; the values, therefore, reflect the effects 

of man's agricultural, industrial, and urbanization activities. 

No detailed study has been made of submarine discharge or dissolved composition of that discharge. Computations herein concern only surface flow. 

Chemical denudation has long been a matter of scientific interest. Dole and Stabler (1909) and Durum, 

Heidel, and Tison (I 960) made regional computations of 

dissolved-solids discharge to the oceans. This study 

updates these previous investigations and provides current information that might be a basis for showing 

changes that have occurred in the past 60-years. 

CONTRIBUTING BASINS 

For purposes of this study the conterminous United 

States was divided into three major regions--drainage 

to the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific 

Ocean. These regions were further subdivided into 27 

drainage areas as follows (fig. 1): 

Atlantic Ocean Drainage-! 0 basins (areas 1-1 0) 

Gulf of Mexico Drainage-9 basins (areas 11-19) 

Pacific Ocean Drainage-8 basins (areas 20-27) 

The contributing basins correspond to those used by 

Wilson and Iseri (1969), and the reader is referred to 

that report for details concerning the water discharge 

and drainage area figures. 
I 

0 

EXPLANATION 

b 'Y -Data station . and identification . . ( s ee table 2) 

~-Noncontributing basins 

20 -Drainage area number 

··--Drainage divide 

F1gure . 1 .- Contributing basms · a nd Joca t10 . n of data stations. 

2 
0 ..........._.L..:L--1_1 .,oo 200 100 0 ~~L- 300 MILES 

II I II I 100 200 I I 3r' KILOMETERS 

100 

Figure 1-c · ontinued 

3 

... -

·-··:-."·; 

-:;,; 
METHODS OF COMPUTATION 

Computations of dissolved-solids discharge from the 

contributing basins are based on water-quality records of 

the United States Geological Survey with the exception 

of records furnished by the International Boundary and 

Water Commission for the Rio Grande. Only streams 

discharging directly to the oceans from the shores of the 

United States were considered, regardless of origin. 

Streams draining part of the United States but discharging into the Great Lakes or from Canadian shores 

were not included. 

No estimates are given for the Colorado River because 

the river flow is nearly fully utilized for irrigation and 

other purposes, and only a very small residual of the 

natural flow reaches the Gulf of California. 

Estimates for the coastal drainage of southern and 

central California (areas 21-23) must be considered very 

gross estimates because of the complex hydrology of 

these areas combined with very limited data. In southern 

California (areas 21 and 22) water is intensely, and generally very completely, developed. There are numerous 

reservoirs, water is transferred from one river basin to 

another as needed, and there is much deliberate recharge 

of alluvial aquifers by both locally derived and imported 

stream water. Because of the cultivation and drainage 

patterns of the Sacramento and San Joaquin River basins 

(area 23) and the complex pattern of canals and natural 

channels in their combined delta, detailed analyses 

beyond the scope of this report would be required to 

develop reasonably accurate estimates of the dissolvedsolids discharge to San Francisco Bay. 

Data from 54 individual river basins were used to 

estimate the annual dissolved-solids discharge for the 

27 areas. The boundaries of the 27 contributing 

basins and the location of the sampling stations are 

shown in figure 1. Generally the sampling stations 

were closest to the mouth of the river, but above 

the estuarine zone. Daily or monthly records were used 

for most streams; however, for some of the smaller subareas only data from less frequent sampling were available. In order to reflect current conditions as much as 

possible, and yet provide a sufficient record for meaningful averages, data for 1966-69 were used. 

Load values for dissolved solids were computed using 

the following methods. 

1. If a daily sampling record was available, the daily 

samples were usually composited on the basis of 

similar conductance, and the mean flow for the 

composite period was used to compute the 

dissolved-solids load for each composite period. 

The sum of the loads of the composite periods was 

used as the load for the period of record 

(1966-69). 

2. If only monthly or less frequent sampling data were 

available and if annual or seasonal dissolved-solids 

concentrations were relatively constant, the mean 

concentration and mean flow for the season or year 

was used to compute annual loads and the load for 

the period of record. 

3. If only monthly or less frequent sampling data were 

available and seasonal or annual dissolved-solids 

concentrations were highly variable, regression analyses were used to estimate mean concentrations for 

selected ranges of flow. The frequency of occurrence of each range in flow and the mean 

dissolved-solids concentration for each range in 

flow were used to compute total load for the 

period of record. 

Although records obtained from sampling locations 

close to the mouth of the streams were used whenever 

possible, the total drainage area of the streams was not 

sampled. Therefore, the dissolved-solids load from the 

entire basin was estimated by applying the average 

dissolved-solids concentration of the measured portion 

of the basin to the entire basin and weighting it in proportion to the flow from the entire basin. 

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 

DISSOLVED-SOLIDS DISCHARGE 

Results of this study show that 264,000,000 tons of 

dissolved solids were discharged annually ( 1966-69) to 

the oceans from streams draining the conterminous 

United States (table 1 ). The Gulf of Mexico receives the 

largest load, 183,000,000 tons, of which 157,000,000 

tons are carried by the Mississippi River. The Pacific 

Ocean receives 43,400,000 tons annually, and the 

Atlantic Ocean 37,500,000 tons. 

Table !.-Summary of drainage area, water, and dissolved-solids discharge 

Receiving body Drainage area Water discharge Dissolved-solids discharge 

Square miles Percent Cubic feet Percent Thousands of Percent 

of total per second of total tons per year of total 

Atlantic Ocean ....... 285,900 10.7 359,400 20.6 37,500 14.2 

Gulf of Mexico ....... 1,750,500 65.6 887,400 50.8 183,000 69.3 

Pacific Ocean ........ 632,500 23.7 499,060 28.6 43,400 16.5 

Total ............ 2,667,900 100.0 1,745,860 100.0 264,000 100.0 

4 
VI 

Table 2.-Disso/Ped-solids discharge to the oceans 

Drainage area Total discharge Dissolved solids 

(mg/1} 

Gross yield of dissolved solids 

Area 

No. Contributing basin 

1. Passamaquoddy Bay to Penobscot River ............... 

a. Penobscot River at W. Enfield, Maine ............ 

2. St. George River to Cape Cod Bay ................... 

a. Kennebec River at Bingham, Maine ............. 

b. Androscoggin River near Auburn, Maine ......... 

c. Merrimack River below Concord River at Lowell, 

Mass. 

3. Cape Cod to New York-Connecticut State line .......... 

a. Connecticut River at Thompsonville, Conn ....... 

4. New York-Connecticut State line to Cape May .......... 

a. Hudson River at Green Island, N.Y ............. 

5. Cape May to Cape Henry .......................... 

a. Delaware River at Trenton, N.J ................ 

b. Susquehanna River at Marietta, Pa .............. 

c. Potomac River near Washington, D.C ............ 

d. James River near Richmond, Va ............... 

6. Cape Henry to Neuse River ,. ...................... a. Chowan River near Winston, N.C ............... 

b. Ronaoke River near Roanoke Rapids, N.C ........ 

c. Tar River at Tarboro, N.C .................... 

d. Neuse River at Kingston, N.C .................. 

7. Cove River Black River ............................ 

a. Cape Fear River near Tarheel, N.C .............. 

b. Pee Dee River near Pee Dee, S.C ................ 

8. Santee River to Sapelo Island ....................... 

a. Savannah River near Clyo, Ga .................. 

b. Ogeechee River near Eden, Ga ................. 

9. Altamaha River to Cape Kennedy ................... 

a. Altamaha River at Doctortown, Ga .............. 

b. St. Johns River near DeLand, Fla ............... 

Cubic 

Square meters 

kilometers Square miles 

per 

second 

ATLANTIC OCEAN 

30,046 11,601 665 

17,275 6,670 326 

54,133 20,901 1,162 

7,045 2,720 120 

8,436 3,257 167 

12,005 4,635 198 

46,537 17,968 986 

25,022 9,661 451 

50,391 19,456 928 

20,953 8,090 353 

205,283 79,260 2,866 

17,560 6,780 323 

66,278 25,990 992 

29,940 11,560 306 

17,501 6,757 204 

73,199 28,262 779 

12,616 4,871 131 

21,782 8,410 227 

5,543 2,140 64.1 

6,967 2,690 82.5 

75,247 29,053 805 

12,458 4,810 140 

22,870 8,830 260 

102,525 39,585 999 

25,512 9,850 335 

6,864 2,650 67.5 

77,130 29,780 732 

35,224 13,600 344 

8,081 3,120 96.9 

10. Cape Kennedy to Cape Sable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................... 255 

Total or average 2 740,480 2 285,900 10,180 

GULF OF MEXICO 

11. Cape Sable to Alligator Creek ....................... .................... 71 

12. Peace River to New River .......................... 67,000 26,100 770 

a. Suwanee River near Wilcox, Fla ................ 25,200 9,730 302 

13. Apalachicola River ............................... 51,800 20,000 756 a. Apalachicola River at Chattahoochee, Fla ........ 44,550 17,200 623 

Cubic 

feet Maxi- Miniper mum mum second 

23,500 .......... 

11,520 87 26 

41,020 .......... 

4,246 44 23 

5,899 98 34 

7,006 112 30 

34,810 .......... 

15,930 113 44 

32,770 .......... 

12,480 158 78 

101,200 .......... 

11,420 117 61 

35,020 270 75 

10,790 302 85 

7,205 282 61 

27,500 .......... 

4,626 188 40 

8,031 98 35 

2,262 85 48 

2,914 111 28 

28,440 .......... 

4,955 94 37 

9,195 84 38 

35,290 .......... 

11,840 57 34 

2,383 60 35 

25,860 .......... 

13,580 170 30 

3,420 904 299 

9,000 .......... 

359,400 .......... 

2,500 .......... 

27,200 .......... 

10,690 222 55 

26,700 .......... 22,010 75 32 

Average 

55 

Tonnes Tons Thousands Thousands 

per square per of tonnes of tons . square kilometer .

1 per year per year mte 

37.5 107 1,160 1,270 

55 ............................... 

55 37.1 106 2,020 2,220 

30 ............................... 

60 ............................... 

71 ............................... 

70 47.0 134 2,210 2,440 

70 ............................... 

110 63.8 182 3,220 3,550 

109 ............................... 

135 59.6 170 12,200 13,500 

94 ............................... 

135 ............................... 

182 ............................... 

121 ............................... 

70 23.5 67 1,720 1,900 

73 ............................... 

72 ................................ 

65 ............................... 

67 ............................... 

55 18.6 53 1,400 1,540 

57 ............................... 

57 ............................... 

45 14.0 40 1,420 1,560 

47 ............................... 

48 ............................... 

270 80.9 231 6,240 6,880 

76 ............................... 

537 ............................... 

300 ............. 2,410 2,660 

105 45.9 131 34,000 37,500 

200 ............. 446 492 

155 55.7 159 3,770 4,150 

155 ............................... 

50 231 66 1,190 1,320 

52 ............................... 
0\ 

Table 2.-Dissolved-solids discharge to the oceans-Continued 

Area 

No. Contributing basin 

14. Wetappo Creek to Perdido River ..................... 

a. Choctawhatchee River near Bruce, Fla ............ 

b. Escambia River near Century, Fla ............... 

15. Mobile Bay ...................................... 

a. Alabama River at Clairborne, Ala ................ 

b. Tombigee River near Coatopa, Ala ............... 

16. Pascagoula River to Pearl River ...................... 

a. Pascagoula River at Merrill, Miss ................. 

b. Pearl River near Bogalusa, La ................... 

17. Mississippi River .................................. 

a. Mississippi River at Luling Ferry, La .............. 

18. Vermilion, Mermentau and Calcasieu Rivers ...... " ....... a. Vermilion River near Perry, La .................. 

b. Calcasieu River near Kinder, La ................. 

19. Sabine River to Rio Grande ......................... 

a. Sabine River near Ruliff, Tex ................... 

b. Neches River at Evadale, Tex ................... 

c. Trinity River at Romayor, Tex .................. 

d. Brazos River near Juliff, Tex ................... 

e. Colorado River at Wharton, Tex ................. 

f. Guadalupe River at Victoria, Tex ................ 

g. San Antonio River at Goliad, Tex ................ 

h. Nueces River near Mathis, Tex .................. 

i. Rio Grande City, Tex ......................... 

Total or average .......................... 

20. Colorado River .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21. Tia Juana River to Ventura River .................... 22. San Jose Creek to Pescadero Creek .................... 

23. San Francisco Bay ................................ 

a. San Joaquin River near Vernalis, Calif ............ 

b. Sacramento River near Sacramento, Calif ......... 

24. Tagunitas Creek to Smith River ...................... 

a. Eel River at Scotia, Calif ...................... 

b. Klamath River near Klamath, Calif .............. 

c. Smith River near Cresent City .................. 

25. Oregon coastal area ............................... 

Drainage area Total discharge Dissolved solids 

(mg/1) 

Gross yield of dissolved solids 

Cubic Cubic 

Square Square miles meters feet 

kilometers per per 

second second 

Maxi- Mini- Avermum mum age 

Tonnes Tons Thousands Thousands 

per square per of tonnes of tons . square kilometer il per year per year me 

GULF OF MEXICO-Continued 

36,800 14,200 711 25,100 .......... 55 33.6 96 1,230 1,360 

11,340 4,380 199 7,020 67 29 45 .............................. 

9,890 3,820 171 6,045 119 25 66 .............................. 

114,700 44,300 1,818 64,200 .......... 65 32.6 93 3,730 4,110 

56,980 22,000 901 31,810 87 47 69 .............................. 39,890 15,400 610 21,550 138 49 53 .............................. 

51,000 19,700 883 31,200 .......... 100 34.7 156 2,790 3,070 

17,090 6,600 267 9,430 418 45 144 .............................. 

17,170 6,630 247 8,720 103 32 49 .............................. 

3,267,700 1,262,000 18,400 650,000 .......... 245 48.4 124 142,000 157,000 

3,220,900 1,243,600 ............... 326 172 247 .............................. 

22,500 8,700 306 10,800 .......... 130 55.7 159 1,260 1,380 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760 80 190 .............................. 

4,400 1,700 73 2,570 155 20 73 .............................. 

875,900 338,200 1,407 49,700 .......... 205 10.5 30 9,100 10,000 

24,160 9,330 234 8,270 262 30 82 .............................. 20,590 7,950 171 6,050 138 47 92 .............................. 

44,520 17,190 200 7,050 617 98 241 ............. ................. 114,200 44,100 160 5,640 951 128 388 .............................. 

107,200 41,380 79 2,780 371 127 248 .............................. 

13,360 5,160 44 1,550 543 111 245 .............................. 

10,150 3,920 23 880 822 108 379 .............................. 42,990 16,600 23 820 400 120 244 .............................. 467,200 180,400 23 800 681 276 559 .............................. 

3

4,533,800 3 1,750,000 25,120 887,400 .......... 210 36.6 104 166,000 183,000 

PACIFIC OCEAN 

634,600 245,000 .............................. . ............................. 31,600 12,190 14 500 .......... 650 9.1 26 290 320 

28,800 11,120 68 2,400 .......... 300 22 64 643 709 

123,200 47,570 861 30,400 .......... 235 52 148 6,380 7,040 

35,070 13,540 126 4,450 704 58 330 .............................. 69,930 27,000 652 23,020 155 69 96 .............................. 56,500 21,820 1,192 42,100 .......... 115 77 219 4,330 4,770 

8,063 3,113 201 709 212 64 142 .............................. 31,340 12,100 483 17,060 202 55 110 .............................. 1,577 609 107 3,770 ............................................. 43,800 16,900 1,509 53,300 .......... 65 71 203 3,110 3,430 
-.l 

a. Rouge River near Agness, Oreg ................. . 

b. Umpqua River near Elkton, Oreg ............... . 

26 Columbia River ................................. . 

a. Columbia River at the Dalles, Oreg .............. . 

b. Willamette River at Salem, Oreg ................ . 

c. Cowlitz River at Castle Rock, Wash ............. . 

27 Naselle River to Nooksack River .................... . 

a. Chehalis River in Porter, Wash ................. . 

b. Queets River near Queets, Wash ............... . 

c. Snohomish River near Snohomish, Wash ......... . 

d. Skagit River near Mt. Vernon, Wash ............. . 

e. Nooksack River near Deming, Wash ............. . 

Total or average 

1 Average for contributing basin rounded to nearest 5 mg/l. 2 Drainage area for area 1 0 estimated. 3 Drainage area for area 11 estimated. 

10,200 

9,539 

668,700 

614,000 

18,860 

5,800 

50,800 

3,351 

(1) 

4,439 

8,011 

1,513 

1,638,000 

3,938 170 6,000 101 56 

3,683 212 7,470 73 44 

258,200 7,963 281,200 .......... 

237,000 5,510 194,000 168 57 

7,280 661 23,340 .......... 

7,239 257 9,070 .......... 

19,610 2,523 89,100 .......... 

1,294 119 4,190 75 38 

(1) (1) (1) .......... 1,714 ......................... 

3,093 463 16,350 .......... 

584 92 3,260 .......... 

632,410 14,130 499,060 ......... . 

73 ............. 

58 ............. 

85 32 92 21,400 23,600 

100 ............. 

58 ............. 

44 ............. 

40 63 179 3,190 3,510 

57 ............. 

40 ............. 

30 ............. 

35 ............. 

55 ............. 

85 24.2 69 39,300 43,400 
DISSOLVED-SOLIDS CONCENTRATION AND YIELDS 

Yields of dissolved solids were computed in tons per 

square mile per year for each of the numbered areas 

(contributing basins). Results are given in table 2. Yields 

from the various basins, excluding the completely controlled Colorado River basin (area 20), vary from a low 

of 26 tons per square mile for the dry areas of Southern 

California (area 21) to a high of 231 for the highly 

watered area of southeastern Georgia - northeastern 

Florida (area 9), and average about 100 tons per square 

mile for the conterminous United States. However, 

much of the natural flow of streams in Southern 

California never reaches the Pacific Ocean, so this low 

figure for area 21 may not be very meaningful. 

Table 2 also shows maximum, minimum, and average 

dissolved-solids concentration (1966-69) for each of the 

contributing basins. 

8 

REFERENCES 

Curtis, W. F., Culbertson, J. K., and Chase, E. B., 1973, Fluvialsediment discharge to the oceans from the conterminous 

United States: U.S. Geol. Survey Circ. 670, 17 p. 

Dole, R. B., and Stabler, Herman, 1909, Denudation, in Conservation of water resources: U.S. Geol. Survey, Water Supply 

Paper 234, p. 78-93. 

Durum, W. H., Heidel, S. G., and Tison, L. J., 1960, World-wide 

runoff of dissolved solids: lnternat. Assoc. Sci. Hydrology, 

I.U.G.G., Pub. 51, p. 618-628. 

Judson, Samuel, and Ritter, D. F., 1964, Rates of regional denudation in the United States: Jour. Geophys. Research, v. 69, 

no. 16, p. 3395-3401. 

Livingston, D. A., 1963, Chemical composition of rivers and 

lakes in Data of Geochemistry (6th ed.): U.S. Geol. Survey 

Prof. Paper 440-G, p. G 1-G64. 

Wilson, Alfonso, and Iseri, K. T., 1969, River discharge to the 

sea from the shores of the conterminous United States, 

Alaska, and Puerto Rico: U.S. Geol. Survey Hydrol. Inv. 

Atlas 282.