Throughout most of human history, environmental stewardship during mining has not been a priority partly because of the lack of applicable laws and regulations and partly because of ignorance about the effects that mining can have on the environment. In the United States, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, in conjunction with related laws, codified a more modern approach to mining, including the responsibility for environmental stewardship, and provided a framework for incorporating environmental protection into mine planning. Today, similar frameworks are in place in the other developed countries of the world, and international mining companies generally follow similar procedures wherever they work in the world. The regulatory guidance has fostered an international effort among all stakeholders to identify best practices for environmental stewardship.
The modern approach to mining using best practices involves the following: (a) establishment of a pre-mining baseline from which to monitor environmental effects during mining and help establish geologically reasonable closure goals; (b) identification of environmental risks related to mining through standardized approaches; and (c) formulation of an environmental closure plan before the start of mining. A key aspect of identifying the environmental risks and mitigating those risks is understanding how the risks vary from one deposit type to another—a concept that forms the basis for geoenvironmental mineral-deposit models.
Accompanying the quest for best practices is the goal of making mining sustainable into the future. Sustainable mine development is generally considered to be development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The concept extends beyond the availability of nonrenewable mineral commodities and includes the environmental and social effects of mine development.
Global population growth, meanwhile, has decreased the percentage of inhabitable land available to support society’s material needs. Presently, the land area available to supply the mineral resources, energy resources, water, food, shelter, and waste disposal needs of all Earth’s inhabitants is estimated to be 135 square meters per person. Continued global population growth will only increase the challenges of sustainable mining.
Current trends in mining are also expected to lead to new environmental challenges in the future, among which are mine-waste management issues related to mining larger deposits for lower ore grade; water-management issues related to both the mining of larger deposits and the changes in precipitation brought about by climate change; and greenhouse gas issues related to reducing the carbon footprint of larger, more energy-intensive mining operations.
","largerWorkType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"largerWorkTitle":"Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply","largerWorkSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/pp1802B","isbn":"978-1-4113-3991-0","usgsCitation":"Seal, R.R., II, Piatak, N.M., Kimball, B.E., and Hammarstrom, J.M., 2017, Environmental considerations related to mining of nonfuel minerals, chap. B of Schulz, K.J., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., Seal, R.R., II, and Bradley, D.C., eds., Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1802, p. B1–B16, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802B.","productDescription":"vii, 16 p.","numberOfPages":"28","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-056555","costCenters":[{"id":245,"text":"Eastern Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":334557,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/b/coverthb1.jpg"},{"id":334560,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/b/pp1802b.pdf","text":"Report","size":"2.20 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"PP 1802 B"}],"contact":"Mineral Resources Program Coordinator
U.S. Geological Survey
913 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
Email: minerals@usgs.gov
https://minerals.usgs.gov
Fluorine compounds are essential in numerous chemical and manufacturing processes. Fluorspar is the commercial name for fluorite (isometric CaF2), which is the only fluorine mineral that is mined on a large scale. Fluorspar is used directly as a fluxing material and as an additive in different manufacturing processes. It is the source of fluorine in the production of hydrogen fluoride or hydrofluoric acid, which is used as the feedstock for numerous organic and inorganic chemical compounds.
The United States was the world’s leading producer of fluorspar until the mid-1950s. In the mid-1970s, the U.S. fluorspar mining industry began to decline because of foreign competition. By 1982, there was essentially only a single U.S. producer left, and that company ceased mining in 1996. Consumption of fluorspar in the United States peaked in the early 1970s, which was also the peak period of U.S. steel production. Since then, U.S. fluorspar consumption has decreased substantially; the United States has nonetheless increased its imports of downstream fluorine compounds, such as, in order of tonnage imported, hydrofluoric acid, aluminum fluoride, and cryolite. This combination of no U.S. production (until recently) and high levels of consumption has made the United States the world’s leading fluorspar-importing country, in all its various forms.
The number of fluorspar-exporting countries has decreased substantially in recent decades, and, as a result, the United States has become dependent on just a few countries to supply its needs. In 2013, the United States imported the majority of its fluorspar from three countries, which were, in descending order of the amount imported, Mexico, China, and South Africa.
Geologically, in igneous systems, fluorine is one of a number of elements that are “incompatible.” These incompatible elements become concentrated in the residual magma while the common silicates crystallize upon magma ascent and cooling, leading to relatively high fluorine concentrations in the more evolved or differentiated igneous rocks and in hydrothermal deposits associated with those evolved igneous rocks. In sedimentary rocks, fluorine’s highest concentrations are found in phosphorites because fluorine substitutes for hydroxyl ions in apatite, which leads to fluorine concentrations of, typically, from 2 to 4 weight percent in phosphorites. Because of the presence of fluorine, phosphate fertilizer manufacturers can produce a fluorosilicic acid byproduct. Most deposits mined for fluorine are hydrothermal, however, and consist of fluorine minerals that precipitated from hot water. Magmatic brines and brines from deep within sedimentary basins that have high concentrations of dissolved fluoride are the mineralizing fluids for various types of hydrothermal fluorspar deposits. Relatively dilute hydrothermal fluids that formed in some volcanic rocks can also transport sufficient fluoride to form a high-grade fluorspar deposit. Fluorite has low solubility in a common range of hydrothermal temperatures, particularly from about 160 degrees Celsius (°C) down to 60 °C. The increasing fluorite solubility below 60 °C partly explains why some water with exceptionally high levels of dissolved fluorine are found even at ambient temperatures in evaporitic lake basins in some East African Rift valleys in Kenya and Tanzania. The geologic conditions that led to the high concentrations there are known to exist in a number of other places in the world as well, including, perhaps, places in the Basin and Range province of the United States.
Eight minerals or mineral groups have sufficient fluorine in their structures to be considered as possible ores of the element; they are bastnaesite (also spelled bastnäsite; and other fluorocarbonates), cryolite, sellaite, villiaumite, fluorite, fluorapatite (in phosphorites), various phyllosilicates, and topaz. Fluorite is currently the only mineral that is mined for fluorine, and nomineral except fluorite is likely to become a source of commercially produced fluorine as a primary product as long as supplies from relatively thick and high-grade fluorite deposits continue to be available.
At least seven classes (which include one subclass) of hydrothermal fluorite deposits are recognized; they are classified according to their tectonic and (or) magmatic settings, as follows: (1) carbonatite-related fluorspar deposits; (2) alkaline-intrusion-related fluorspar deposits; (3) alkaline-volcanic-related epithermal fluorspar deposits; (4) Mississippi Valley-type fluorspar deposits (and a subclass of salt-related carbonate-hosted fluorspar deposits); (5) fluorspar deposits related to strongly differentiated granites; (6) subalkaline-volcanic-related epithermal fluospar deposits; and (7) fluorspar deposits that appear to be conformable within tuffaceous limy lacustrine sediments. An eighth class (not hydrothermal) is that of fluorspar deposits concentrated in soils and weathered zones; that is, residual fluorspar deposits. Generally, fluorspar deposits related to strongly differentiated granites have larger tonnages and lower grades than carbonatite-related fluorspar deposits, which, in turn, have larger tonnages and lower grades than fluorspar vein deposits from various other classes.
The United States has a few identified resources of fluorspar, most notably the Klondike II property in the Illinois- Kentucky fluorspar district located about 8 kilometers southwest of Salem, Kentucky, which has a large vein that contains at least 1.6 million metric tons at a grade of 60 percent CaF2 (Feytis, 2009). Additional fluorspar resources of lower grade but larger tonnage have been identified at Hicks Dome in the Illinois-Kentucky fluorspar district and at Lost River near the western tip of the Seward Peninsula in Alaska, along with a couple of dozen smaller, higher grade resources.
Internationally, new mines that either opened before the beginning of 2013 or were scheduled to open soon after that time include the Nui Phao tungsten-fluorspar-bismuth-copper-gold deposit in northern Vietnam; the St. Lawrence project in Newfoundland, Canada, which is located in a well-known fluorspar district; the Bamianshan deposit, which is related to a strongly differentiated granite in northwestern Zhejiang Province, China, near some of that Province’s large, subalkaline-volcanic-related epithermal veins; and the Nokeng project in South Africa, which is also related to a strongly differentiated granite. Other deposits in northwestern Australia, Nevada (United States), Norway, South Africa, and Sweden have been identified and could be put into production within just a few years.
Among undiscovered resources, an interesting possibility might be to produce a fluorine product from evaporitic, high-fluorine, high-pH sodium-carbonate brines like Lake Magadi (Kenya) and Lake Natron (Tanzania) in Africa’s Eastern Rift Valley. In addition, apparently conformable fluorspar deposits in tuffaceous limy lacustrine sediments, such as those in Italy, are likely to occur in similar young alkalic volcanic settings elsewhere in the world.
Modern geophysical and geochemical exploration techniques have typically not been brought to bear in exploration for new fluorspar deposits, although such techniques are likely to be used in future exploration. The tendency for fluorine to dissolve in significant concentrations in water at low temperature allows both surface water and groundwater to be used as sampling media in geochemical exploration. Evolved granite-related fluorspar deposits may be particularly susceptible to geophysical exploration methods because crystalline rocks that form a basement to sedimentary sections can be approximately defined with gravity and magnetic methods, and magnetite-bearing skarns can be directly detected with magnetic surveys.
Environmental considerations of fluorine mining focus especially on drinking water, where high fluorine concentrations can lead to tooth decay; dental and skeletal fluorosis; and bone and cartilage conditions, including genu valgum, which is the crippling bone deformity more commonly known as knock knee. Trace amounts of other elements in fluorspar ores are a concern at some deposits; for example, high beryllium concentrations in alkaline-volcanic-related epithermal deposits or high cadmium concentrations associated with Mississippi Valley-type and salt-related carbonate-hosted fluorspar deposits.
Future research might include testing whether fluorine can be extracted economically from high-pH, sodium-carbonate brines and exploring for new occurrences of apparently conformable fluorspar deposits in tuffaceous limy lacustrine sediments outside of the Latium Region of Italy. Other promising new areas of research could be studies of fluorspar deposit fluid inclusion compositions by quadrupole mass spectrometry, by noble gas mass spectrometry on irradiated fluid inclusions, or by chlorine isotopes, while also measuring the chemistry of the same fluid inclusions either by bulk crush-and-leach methods or by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Advanced studies of fluid inclusion chemistry could be applied beneficially to some of the enigmatic large epithermal fluorspar veins at various places in the world, where they might determine those deposits’ possible relationships to igneous intrusions, or to dissolved salt, or to heated meteoric water in volcanic sections, or perhaps to all three. This knowledge could help focus new exploration.
","largerWorkType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"largerWorkTitle":"Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply","largerWorkSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/pp1802G","isbn":"978-1-4113-3991-0","usgsCitation":"Hayes, T.S., Miller, M.M., Orris, G.J., and Piatak, N.M., 2017, Fluorine, chap. G of Schulz, K.J., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., Seal, R.R., II, and Bradley, D.C., eds., Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1802, p. G1–G80, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802G.","productDescription":"viii, 80 p.","numberOfPages":"92","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-049496","costCenters":[{"id":245,"text":"Eastern Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":312,"text":"Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":334567,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/g/coverthb1.jpg"},{"id":334568,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/g/pp1802g.pdf","text":"Report","size":"12.6 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"PP 1802 F"}],"contact":"Mineral Resources Program Coordinator
U.S. Geological Survey
913 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
Email: minerals@usgs.gov
https://minerals.usgs.gov
Selenium (Se) was discovered in 1817 in pyrite from copper mines in Sweden. It is a trace element in Earth’s crust, with an abundance of three to seven orders of magnitude less than the major rock-forming elements. Commercial use of selenium began in the United States in 1910, when it was used as a pigment for paints, ceramic glazes, and red glass. Since that time, it has had many other economic uses—notably, in the 1930s and 1940s, when it was used in rectifiers (which change alternating current to direct current), and in the 1960s, when it began to be used in the liner of photocopier drums. In the 21st century, other compounds have replaced selenium in these older products; modern uses for selenium include energy-efficient windows that limit heat transfer and thin-film photovoltaic cells that convert solar energy into electricity.
In Earth’s crust, selenium is found as selenide minerals, selenate and selenite salts, and as substitution for sulfur in sulfide minerals. It is the sulfide minerals, most commonly those in porphyry copper deposits, that provide the bulk of the selenium produced for the international commodity market. Selenium is obtained as a byproduct of copper refining and recovered from the anode slimes generated in electrolytic production of copper. Because of this, the countries that have the largest resources and (or) reserves of copper also have the largest resources and (or) reserves of selenium.
Because selenium occurs naturally in Earth’s crust, its presence in air, water, and soil results from both geologic reactions and human activity. Selenium is found concentrated naturally in soils that overlie bedrock with high selenium concentrations. Selenium mining, processing, use in industrial and agricultural applications, and disposal may all contribute selenium to the environment. A well-known case of selenium contamination from agricultural practices was discovered in 1983 in the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge in California. There, waters draining from agricultural fields created wetlands with high concentrations of dissolved selenium in the water. The selenium was taken up by aquatic wildlife and caused massive numbers of embryonic deformities and deaths.
Regulatory agencies have since worked to safeguard ecological and human health by creating environmental exposure guidelines based upon selenium concentrations in water and in fish tissue. Any attempt to regulate selenium concentrations requires a delicate balance because selenium occurs naturally and is also a vital nutrient for the health of wildlife, domestic stock, and humans. Selenium is commonly added as a vitamin to animal feed, and in some regions of the United States and the world, it is added as an amendment to soils for uptake by agricultural crops.
The important role of selenium in economic products, energy supply, agriculture, and health will continue for well into the future. The challenge to society is to balance the benefits of selenium use with the environmental consequences of its extraction. Increased understanding of the elemental cycle of selenium in the earth may lead to new (or unconventional) sources of selenium, the discovery of new methods of extraction, and new technologies for minimizing the transfer of selenium from rock to biota, so to protect environmental and human health.
","largerWorkType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"largerWorkTitle":"Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply","largerWorkSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/pp1802Q","isbn":"978-1-4113-3991-0","usgsCitation":"Stillings, L.L., 2017, Selenium, chap. Q of Schulz, K.J., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., Seal, R.R., II, and Bradley, D.C., eds., Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1802, p. Q1–Q55, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802Q.","productDescription":"viii, 55 p.","numberOfPages":"68","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-059321","costCenters":[{"id":245,"text":"Eastern Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":335230,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/q/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":335231,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/q/pp1802q.pdf","text":"Report","size":"9.55 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"PP 1802 Q"}],"contact":"Mineral Resources Program Coordinator
U.S. Geological Survey
913 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
Email: minerals@usgs.gov
https://minerals.usgs.gov
Vanadium is used primarily in the production of steel alloys; as a catalyst for the chemical industry; in the making of ceramics, glasses, and pigments; and in vanadium redox-flow batteries (VRBs) for large-scale storage of electricity. World vanadium resources in 2012 were estimated to be 63 million metric tons, which include about 14 million metric tons of reserves. The majority of the vanadium produced in 2012 was from China, Russia, and South Africa.
Vanadium is extracted from several different types of mineral deposits and from fossil fuels. These deposits include vanadiferous titanomagnetite (VTM) deposits, sandstone-hosted vanadium (with or without uranium) deposits (SSV deposits), and vanadium-rich black shales. VTM deposits are the principal source of vanadium and consist of magmatic accumulations of ilmenite and magnetite containing 0.2 to 1 weight percent vanadium pentoxide (V2O5). SSV deposits are another important source; these deposits have average ore grades that range from 0.1 to greater than 1 weight percent V2O5. The United States has been and is currently the main producer of vanadium from SSV deposits, particularly those on the Colorado Plateau. Vanadium-rich black shales occur in marine successions that were deposited in epeiric (inland) seas and on continental margins. Concentrations in these shales regularly exceed 0.18 weight percent V2O5 and can be as high as 1.7 weight percent V2O5. Small amounts of vanadium have been produced from the Alum Shale in Sweden and from ferrophosphorus slag generated during the reduction of phosphate to elemental phosphorus in ore from shales of the Phosphoria Formation in Idaho and Wyoming. Because vanadium enrichment occurs in beds that are typically only a few meters thick, most of the vanadiferous black shales are not currently economic, although they may become an important resource in the future. Significant amounts of vanadium are recovered as byproducts of petroleum refining, and processing of coal, tar sands, and oil shales may be important future sources.
Vanadium occurs in one of four oxidation states in nature: +2, +3, +4, and +5. The V3+ ion has an octahedral radius that is almost identical to that of (Fe3+) and (Al3+) and, therefore, it substitutes in ferromagnesian minerals. During weathering, much of the vanadium may partition into newly formed clay minerals, and it either remains in the +3 valence state or oxidizes to the +4 valence state, both of which are relatively insoluble. If erosion is insignificant but chemical leaching is intense, the residual material may be enriched in vanadium, as are some bauxites and laterites. During the weathering of igneous, residual, or sedimentary rocks, some vanadium oxidizes to the +5 valence state, especially in the intensive oxidizing conditions that are characteristic of arid climates.
The average contents of vanadium in the environment are as follows: soils [10 to 500 parts per million (ppm)]; streams and rivers [0.2 to 2.9 parts per billion (ppb)]; and coastal seawater (0.3 to 2.8 ppb). Concentrations of vanadium in soils (548 to 7,160 ppm) collected near vanadium mines in China, the Czech Republic, and South Africa are many times greater than natural concentrations in soils. Additionally, if deposits contain sulfide minerals such as chalcocite, pyrite, and sphalerite, high levels of acidity may be present if sulfide dissolution is not balanced by the presence of acid-neutralizing carbonate minerals. Some of the vanadium-bearing deposit types, particularly some SSV and black-shale deposits, contain appreciable amounts of carbonate minerals, which lowers the acid-generation potential.
Vanadium is a micronutrient with a postulated requirement for humans of less than 10 micrograms per day, which can be met through dietary intake. Primary and secondary drinking water regulations for vanadium are not currently in place in the United States. Vanadium toxicity is thought to result from an intake of more than 10 to 20 milligrams per day. Vanadium is essential for some biological processes and organisms. For example, some nitrogen-fixing bacteria require vanadium for producing enzymes necessary to convert nitrogen from the atmosphere into ammonia, which is a more biologically accessible form of nitrogen.
","largerWorkType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"largerWorkTitle":"Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply","largerWorkSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/pp1802U","isbn":"978-1-4113-3991-0","usgsCitation":"Kelley, K.D., Scott, C.T., Polyak, D.E., and Kimball, B.E., 2017, Vanadium, chap. U of Schulz, K.J., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., Seal, R.R., II, and Bradley, D.C., eds., Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1802, p. U1–U36, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802U.","productDescription":"viii, 36 p.","numberOfPages":"48","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-069568","costCenters":[{"id":171,"text":"Central Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":334857,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/u/coverthb1.jpg"},{"id":334858,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/u/pp1802u.pdf","text":"Report","size":"10.2 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"PP 1802 U"}],"contact":"Mineral Resources Program Coordinator
U.S. Geological Survey
913 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
Email: minerals@usgs.gov
https://minerals.usgs.gov
The platinum-group elements (PGEs)—platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium—are metals that have similar physical and chemical properties and tend to occur together in nature. PGEs are indispensable to many industrial applications but are mined in only a few places. The availability and accessibility of PGEs could be disrupted by economic, environmental, political, and social events. The United States net import reliance as a percentage of apparent consumption is about 90 percent.
PGEs have many industrial applications. They are used in catalytic converters to reduce carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and nitrous oxide emissions in automobile exhaust. The chemical industry requires platinum or platinum-rhodium alloys to manufacture nitric oxide, which is the raw material used to manufacture explosives, fertilizers, and nitric acid. In the petrochemical industry, platinum-supported catalysts are needed to refine crude oil and to produce aromatic compounds and high-octane gasoline. Alloys of PGEs are exceptionally hard and durable, making them the best known coating for industrial crucibles used in the manufacture of chemicals and synthetic materials. PGEs are used by the glass manufacturing industry in the production of fiberglass and flat-panel and liquid crystal displays. In the electronics industry, PGEs are used in computer hard disks, hybridized integrated circuits, and multilayer ceramic capacitors.
Aside from their industrial applications, PGEs are used in such other fields as health, consumer goods, and finance. Platinum, for example, is used in medical implants, such as pacemakers, and PGEs are used in cancer-fighting drugs. Platinum alloys are an ideal choice for jewelry because of their white color, strength, and resistance to tarnish. Platinum, palladium, and rhodium in the form of coins and bars are also used as investment commodities, and various financial instruments based on the value of these PGEs are traded on major exchanges.
PGEs are among the rarest metals; Earth’s upper crust contains only about 0.0005 part per million (ppm) platinum. Today, the average grade of PGEs in ores that are mined primarily for their PGE concentrations varies from 5 to 15 ppm, although the concentration of PGEs in hand-picked ore specimens may range from tens to hundreds of parts per million.
More than 100 different minerals have one of the PGEs as an essential component. PGE minerals occur as native metals. They also occur as compounds with other transition metals (copper, iron, mercury, nickel, and silver), post-transition metals (bismuth, lead, and tin), metalloids (antimony, arsenic, and tellurium), and nonmetals (selenium and sulfur).
From 1900 to 2011, approximately 14,200 metric tons of PGEs was produced, and roughly 95 percent of that production (13,500 metric tons) took place between 1960 and 2011. The breakdown of production by country shows that, since 1900, about 90 percent of the production came from South Africa and Russia. The secondary supply of platinum, palladium, and rhodium is obtained through the recycling of catalytic converters from end-of-life vehicles, jewelry, and electronic equipment. Recycled platinum, palladium, and rhodium provide a significant proportion of the world’s total supply; these secondary sources are sufficient to close the gap between world mine production and consumption.
Exploration and mining companies report resources of about 104,000 metric tons of PGEs (including minor amounts of gold) in mineral deposits around the world that could be developed. For PGEs, almost all the reported production and identified resources are associated with deposits in three geologic features—the Bushveld Complex, which is a layered mafic-to-ultramafic intrusion in South Africa; the Great Dyke, which is a layered mafic-to-ultramafic intrusion in Zimbabwe; and sill-like intrusions associated with flood basalts in the Noril’sk-Talnakh area of Russia.
The metallic forms of PGEs are generally considered to be inert. PGEs pose a risk to human health only in cases where individuals are occupationally exposed to synthetic PGE compounds, especially workers in precious-metal refineries. In the natural environment, background PGE concentrations are low in water, sediment, soil, and plants. Anthropogenic sources of PGEs in the environment include catalytic converters used in modern automobiles, platinum-based chemotherapy drugs, and smelter emissions.
The abundance of sulfide minerals defines the environmental and geologic characteristics of PGE-enriched magmatic sulfide deposits; those deposits with the highest amount of sulfide minerals could have the highest environmental impact. Acid rock drainage from reef-type and contact-type deposits is unlikely because the ores and their host rocks contain low proportions of sulfide minerals. For some conduit-type orebodies with massive ores, mineral-processing techniques separate and produce concentrates of copper-, iron-, and nickel-bearing sulfide minerals; those with copper and nickel are processed to extract metal, but the iron-sulfide minerals, mainly pyrrhotite, are discarded as waste. This results in waste material with a high acid-generating potential.
The most significant primary source of PGEs in the United States is a deposit in the Stillwater Complex, which is a layered igneous intrusion in Montana. Approximately 305 metric tons of platinum and palladium have been mined from the Stillwater Complex deposit since 1986. Exploration and development drilling indicate that another 2,200 metric tons are present. Mining has progressed to depths of 1,800 meters below the surface, but the bottom of the ore deposit has not been reached; geologic estimates suggest that another 1,000 to 6,200 metric tons of PGEs could be present at depth. In the future, PGEs may be mined from deposits found near the base of the Duluth Complex, which is a group of igneous intrusions in Minnesota.
","largerWorkType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"largerWorkTitle":"Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply","largerWorkSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/pp1802N","isbn":"978-1-4113-3991-0","usgsCitation":"Zientek, M.L., Loferski, P.J., Parks, H.L., Schulte, R.F., and Seal, R.R., II, 2017, Platinum-group elements, chap. N of Schulz, K.J., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., Seal, R.R., II, and Bradley, D.C., eds., Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1802, p. N1–N91, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802N.","productDescription":"ix, 91 p.","numberOfPages":"106","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-052035","costCenters":[{"id":312,"text":"Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":334214,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/n/coverthb1.jpg"},{"id":334215,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/n/pp1802n.pdf","text":"Report","size":"33.4 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"PP 1802 N"}],"contact":"Mineral Resources Program Coordinator
U.S. Geological Survey
913 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
Email: minerals@usgs.gov
https://minerals.usgs.gov
Titanium is a mineral commodity that is essential to the smooth functioning of modern industrial economies. Most of the titanium produced is refined into titanium dioxide, which has a high refractive index and is thus able to impart a durable white color to paint, paper, plastic, rubber, and wallboard. Because of their high strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance, titanium metal and titanium metal alloys are used in the aerospace industry as well as for welding rod coatings, biological implants, and consumer goods.
Ilmenite and rutile are currently the principal titanium-bearing ore minerals, although other minerals, including anatase, perovskite, and titanomagnetite, could have economic importance in the future. Ilmenite is currently being mined from two large magmatic deposits hosted in rocks of Proterozoic-age anorthosite plutonic suites. Most rutile and nearly one-half of the ilmenite produced are from heavy-mineral alluvial, fluvial, and eolian deposits. Titanium-bearing minerals occur in diverse geologic settings, but many of the known deposits are currently subeconomic for titanium because of complications related to the mineralogy or because of the presence of trace contaminants that can compromise the pigment production process.
Global production of titanium minerals is currently dominated by Australia, Canada, Norway, and South Africa; additional amounts are produced in Brazil, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and Sri Lanka. The United States accounts for about 4 percent of the total world production of titanium minerals and is heavily dependent on imports of titanium mineral concentrates to meet its domestic needs.
Titanium occurs only in silicate or oxide minerals and never in sulfide minerals. Environmental considerations for titanium mining are related to waste rock disposal and the impact of trace constituents on water quality. Because titanium is generally inert in the environment, human health risks from titanium and titanium mining are minimal; however, the processes required to extract titanium from titanium feedstock can produce industrial waste.
","largerWorkType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"largerWorkTitle":"Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply","largerWorkSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/pp1802T","isbn":"978-1-4113-3991-0","usgsCitation":"Woodruff, L.G., Bedinger, G.M., and Piatak, N.M., 2017, Titanium, chap. T of Schulz, K.J., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., Seal, R.R., II, and Bradley, D.C., eds., Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1802, p. T1–T23, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802T.","productDescription":"viii, 23 p.","numberOfPages":"36","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-045879","costCenters":[{"id":245,"text":"Eastern Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":334850,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/t/coverthb1.jpg"},{"id":334851,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/t/pp1802t.pdf","text":"Report","size":"10.7 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"PP 1802 T"}],"contact":"Mineral Resources Program Coordinator
U.S. Geological Survey
913 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
Email: minerals@usgs.gov
https://minerals.usgs.gov
Manganese is an essential element for modern industrial societies. Its principal use is in steelmaking, where it serves as a purifying agent in iron-ore refining and as an alloy that converts iron into steel. Although the amount of manganese consumed to make a ton of steel is small, ranging from 6 to 9 kilograms, it is an irreplaceable component in the production of this fundamental material. The United States has been totally reliant on imports of manganese for many decades and will continue to be so for at least the near future. There are no domestic reserves, and although some large low-grade resources are known, they are far inferior to manganese ores readily available on the international market. World reserves of manganese are about 630 million metric tons, and annual global consumption is about 16 million metric tons. Current reserves are adequate to meet global demand for several decades. Global resources in traditional land-based deposits, including both reserves and rocks sufficiently enriched in manganese to be ores in the future, are much larger, at about 17 billion metric tons. Manganese resources in seabed deposits of ferromanganese nodules and crusts are larger than those on land and have not been fully quantified. No production from seabed deposits has yet been done, but current research and development activities are substantial and may bring parts of these seabed resources into production in the future. The advent of economically successful seabed mining could substantially alter the current scenario of manganese supply by providing a large new source of manganese in addition to traditional land-based deposits.
From a purely geologic perspective, there is no global shortage of proven ores and potential new ores that could be developed from the vast tonnage of identified resources. Reserves and resources are very unevenly distributed, however. The Kalahari manganese district in South Africa contains 70 percent of the world’s identified resources and about 25 percent of its reserves. South Africa, Brazil, and Ukraine together accounted for nearly 65 percent of reserves in 2013. The combination of total import reliance for manganese, the mineral commodity’s essential uses in our industrialized society, and the potential for supply disruptions because of the limited sources of the ore makes manganese among the most critical minerals for the United States.
Manganese is the 12th most abundant element in Earth’s crust. Its concentration varies among common types of rocks, mostly in the range of from 0.1 to 0.2 percent. The highest quality manganese ores contain from 40 to 45 percent manganese. The formation of these ores requires specialized geologic conditions that concentrate manganese at several hundred times its average crustal abundance. The dominant processes in forming the world’s principal deposits take place in the oceans. As a result, most important manganese deposits occur in ancient marine sedimentary rocks that are now exposed on continents as a result of subsequent tectonic uplift and erosion. In many cases, other processes have further enriched these manganiferous sedimentary rocks to form some of today’s highest grade ores. Modern seabed resources of ferromanganese nodules cover vast areas of the present ocean floor and are still forming by complex interactions of marine microorganisms, manganese dissolved in seawater, and chemical processes on the seabed.
Manganese is ubiquitous in soil, water, and air. It occurs most often in solid form but can become soluble under acidic conditions. Manganese mining, like any activity that disturbs large areas of Earth’s surface, has the potential to produce increases in manganese concentrations that could be harmful to humans or the environment if not properly controlled. Although manganese is an essential nutrient for humans and most other organisms, overexposure can lead to neurotoxicity in humans. Workers at manganese mining and processing facilities have the greatest potential to inhale manganese-rich dust. Without proper protective equipment, these workers may develop a permanent neurological disorder known as manganism. Each manganese mine is unique and presents its own suite of potential hazards and preventative measures. Likewise, various nations have their own sets of standards to ensure safe mining, isolation of mine waste, treatment of mine waters, and mine closure and restoration. Interest in mining trace metals contained in ferromanganese nodules and crusts on the seabed has increased rapidly in the past decade. Prime areas for future research include overcoming the technological challenges presented by mining as deep as 6,500 meters below sea level and understanding and mitigating the potential impacts of seabed mining on marine ecosystems.
","largerWorkType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"largerWorkTitle":"Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply","largerWorkSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/pp1802L","isbn":"978-1-4113-3991-0","usgsCitation":"Cannon, W.F., Kimball, B.E., and Corathers, L.A., 2017, Manganese, chap. L of Schulz, K.J., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., Seal, R.R., II, and Bradley, D.C., eds., Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1802, p. L1–L28, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802L.","productDescription":"viii, 28 p.","numberOfPages":"40","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-046161","costCenters":[{"id":245,"text":"Eastern Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":334193,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/l/pp1802l.pdf","text":"Report","size":"7.29 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"PP 1802 K"},{"id":334192,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/l/coverthb1.jpg"}],"contact":"Mineral Resources Program Coordinator
U.S. Geological Survey
913 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
Email: minerals@usgs.gov
https://minerals.usgs.gov
Cobalt is a silvery gray metal that has diverse uses based on certain key properties, including ferromagnetism, hardness and wear-resistance when alloyed with other metals, low thermal and electrical conductivity, high melting point, multiple valences, and production of intense blue colors when combined with silica. Cobalt is used mostly in cathodes in rechargeable batteries and in superalloys for turbine engines in jet aircraft. Annual global cobalt consumption was approximately 75,000 metric tons in 2011; China, Japan, and the United States (in order of consumption amount) were the top three cobalt-consuming countries. In 2011, approximately 109,000 metric tons of recoverable cobalt was produced in ores, concentrates, and intermediate products from cobalt, copper, nickel, platinum-group-element (PGE), and zinc operations. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo [Kinshasa]) was the principal source of mined cobalt globally (55 percent). The United States produced a negligible amount of byproduct cobalt as an intermediate product from a PGE mining and refining operation in southeastern Montana; no U.S. production was from mines in which cobalt was the principal commodity. China was the leading refiner of cobalt, and much of its production came from cobalt ores, concentrates, and partially refined materials imported from Congo (Kinshasa).
The mineralogy of cobalt deposits is diverse and includes both primary (hypogene) and secondary (supergene) phases. Principal terrestrial (land-based) deposit types, which represent most of world’s cobalt mine production, include primary magmatic Ni-Cu(-Co-PGE) sulfides, primary and secondary stratiform sediment-hosted Cu-Co sulfides and oxides, and secondary Ni-Co laterites. Seven additional terrestrial deposit types are described in this chapter. The total terrestrial cobalt resource (reserves plus other resources) plus past production, where available, is calculated to be 25.5 million metric tons. Additional resources of cobalt are known to occur on the modern sea floor in aerially extensive deposits of Fe-Mn(-Ni-Cu-Co-Mo) nodules and Fe-Mn(-Co-Mo-rare-earth-element) crusts. Legal, economic, and technological barriers have prevented exploitation of these cobalt resources, which lie at water depths of as great as 6,000 meters, although advances in technology may soon allow production of these resources to be economically viable.
Environmental issues related to cobalt mining concern mainly the elevated cobalt contents in soils and waters. Although at low levels cobalt is essential to human health (it is the central atom in the critical nutrient vitamin B12), overexposure to high levels of cobalt may cause lung and heart dysfunction, as well as dermatitis. The ecological impacts of cobalt vary widely and can be severe for some species of fish and plants, depending on various environmental factors.
","largerWorkType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"largerWorkTitle":"Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply","largerWorkSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/pp1802F","isbn":"978-1-4113-3991-0","usgsCitation":"Slack, J.F., Kimball, B.E., and Shedd, K.B., 2017, Cobalt, chap. F of Schulz, K.J., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., Seal, R.R., II, and Bradley, D.C., eds., Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1802, p. F1–F40, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802F.","productDescription":"viii, 40 p.","numberOfPages":"52","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-078704","costCenters":[{"id":245,"text":"Eastern Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":339507,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/f/pp1802f.pdf","text":"Report ","size":"4.44 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"PP 1802 F"},{"id":339523,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/f/coverthb1.jpg"}],"contact":"Mineral Resources Program Coordinator
U.S. Geological Survey
913 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
Email: minerals@usgs.gov
https://minerals.usgs.gov
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility evaluated three Hydrolab HL4 multiparameter water-quality sondes by OTT Hydromet. The sondes were equipped with temperature, conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), and turbidity sensors. The sensors were evaluated for compliance with the USGS National Field Manual for the Collection of Water-Quality Data (NFM) criteria for continuous water-quality monitors and to verify the validity of the manufacturer’s technical specifications. The conductivity sensors were evaluated for the accuracy of the specific conductance (SC) values (conductance at 25 degrees Celsius [oC]), that were calculated by using the vendor default method, Hydrolab Fresh. The HL4’s communication protocols and operating temperature range along with accuracy of the water-quality sensors were tested in a controlled laboratory setting May 1–19, 2016. To evaluate the sonde’s performance in a surface-water field application, an HL4 equipped with temperature, conductivity, pH, DO, and turbidity sensors was deployed June 20–July 22, 2016, at USGS water-monitoring site 02492620, Pearl River at National Space Technology Laboratories (NSTL) Station, Mississippi, located near Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, and compared to the adjacent well-maintained EXO2 site sonde.
The three HL4 sondes met the USGS temperature testing criteria and the manufacturer’s technical specifications for temperature based upon the median room temperature difference between the measured and standard temperatures, but two of the three sondes exceeded the allowable difference criteria at the temperature extremes of approximately 5 and 40 ºC. Two sondes met the USGS criteria for SC. One of the sondes failed the criteria for SC when evaluated in a 100,000-microsiemens-per-centimeter (μS/cm) standard at room temperature, and also failed in a 10,000-μS/cm standard at 5, 15, and 40 ºC. All three sondes met the USGS criteria for pH and DO at room temperature, but one sonde exceeded the allowable difference criteria when tested in pH 5.00 buffer and at 40 ºC. The USGS criteria and the technical specifications for turbidity were met by one sonde in standards ranging from 10 to 3,000 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU). A second sonde met the USGS criteria and the technical specifications except in the 3,000-NTU standard, and the third sonde exceeded the USGS calibration criteria in the 10- and 20-NTU standards and the technical specifications in the 20-NTU standard.
Results of the field test showed acceptable performance and revealed that differences in data sample processing between sonde manufacturers may result in variances between the reported measurements when comparing one sonde to another. These variances in data would be more pronounced in dynamic site conditions. The lack of a wiper or other sensor-cleaning device on the DO sensor could prove problematic, and could limit the use of the HL4 to profiling applications or at sites with limited biofouling.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20171153","usgsCitation":"Snazelle, T.T., 2017, Evaluation of the Hydrolab HL4 water-quality sonde and sensors: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2017–1153, 20 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171153.","productDescription":"Report: v, 20 p.; Data; Metadata","numberOfPages":"30","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-072173","costCenters":[{"id":502,"text":"Office of Surface Water","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":350018,"rank":3,"type":{"id":16,"text":"Metadata"},"url":"https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/59b94eaae4b091459a54d8f9","text":"Data and Metadata ","linkHelpText":"Evaluation of Hydrolab HL4 Water-Quality Sondes and Sensors"},{"id":350016,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1153/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":350017,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1153/ofr20171153.pdf","text":"Report","size":"602 kB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2017–1153"}],"contact":"Chief, Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility
U.S. Geological Survey
Building 2101
Stennis Space Center, MS 39529
Tsala Apopka Lake is a complex system of lakes and wetlands, with intervening uplands, located in Citrus County in west-central Florida. It is located within the 2,100 square mile watershed of the Withlacoochee River, which drains north and northwest towards the Gulf of Mexico. The lake system is managed by the Southwest Florida Water Management District as three distinct “pools,” which from upstream to downstream are referred to as the Floral City Pool, Inverness Pool, and Hernando Pool. Each pool contains a mixture of deep-water lakes that remain wet year round, ephemeral (seasonal) ponds and wetlands, and dry uplands. Many of the major deep-water lakes are interconnected by canals. Flow from the Withlacoochee River, when conditions allow, can be diverted into the lake system. Flow thorough the canals can be used to control the distribution of water between the three pools. Flow in the canals is controlled using structures, such as gates and weirs.
Hydrogeologic units in the study area include a surficial aquifer consisting of Quaternary-age sediments, a discontinuous intermediate confining unit consisting of Miocene- and Pliocene-age sediments, and the underlying Upper Floridan aquifer, which consists of Eocene- and Oligocene-age carbonates. The fine-grained quartz sands that constitute the surficial aquifer are generally thin, typically less than 25 feet thick, within the vicinity of Tsala Apopka Lake. A thin, discontinuous, sandy clay layer forms the intermediate confining unit. The Upper Floridan aquifer is generally unconfined in the vicinity of Tsala Apopka Lake because the intermediate confining unit is discontinuous and breached by numerous karst features. In the study area, the Upper Floridan aquifer includes the upper Avon Park Formation and Ocala Limestone. The Ocala Limestone is the primary source of drinking water and spring flow in the area.
The objectives of this study are to document the interaction of Tsala Apopka Lake, the surficial aquifer, and the Upper Floridan aquifer; and to estimate an annual water budget for each pool and for the entire lake system for 2004–12. The hydrologic interactions were evaluated using hydraulic head and geochemical data. Geochemical data, including major ion, isotope, and age-tracer data, were used to evaluate sources of water and to distinguish flow paths. Hydrologic connection of the surficial environment (lakes, ponds, wetlands, and the surficial aquifer) was quantified on the basis of a conceptualized annual water-budget model. The model included the change in surface water and groundwater storage, precipitation, evapotranspiration, surface-water inflow and outflow, and net groundwater exchange with the underlying Upper Floridan aquifer. The control volume for each pool extended to the base of the surficial aquifer and covered an area defined to exceed the maximum inundated area for each pool during 2004–12 by 0.5 foot. Net groundwater flow was computed as a lumped value and was either positive or negative, with a negative value indicating downward or lateral leakage from the control volume and a positive value indicating upward leakage to the control volume.
The annual water budget for Tsala Apopka Lake was calculated using a combination of field observations and remotely sensed data for each of three pools and for the composite three pool area. A digital elevation model at a 5-foot grid spacing and bathymetric survey data were used to define the land-surface elevation and volume of each pool and to calculate the changes in inundated area with change in lake stage. Continuous lake-stage and groundwater-level data were used to define the change in storage for each pool. The rainfall data used in the water-budget calculations were based on daily radar reflectance data and measured rainfall from weather stations. Evapotranspiration was computed as a function of reference evapotranspiration, adjusted to actual evapotranspiration using a monthly land-cover coefficient (based on evapotranspiration measurements at stations located in representative landscapes). Surface-water inflows and outflows were determined using stage data collected at a series of streamgages installed primarily at the water-control structures. Discharge was measured under varying flow regimes and ratings were developed for the water-control structures. The discharge data collected during the study period were used to calibrate a surface-water flow model for 2004–12. Flows predicted by the model were used in the water-budget analysis. Net groundwater flow was determined as the residual term in the water-budget equation.
The results of the water-budget analysis indicate that rainfall was the largest input of water to Tsala Apopka Lake, whereas evapotranspiration was the largest output. For the 2004–12 analysis period, surface-water inflow accounted for 11 percent of the inputs, net groundwater inflow accounted for 1 percent of inputs (annual periods with positive net groundwater flow were included as inputs, while annual periods with negative net groundwater flow were counted as outputs), and rainfall accounted for the remaining 88 percent. For the same period, the outputs consisted of 2 percent surface-water outflow, 12 percent net groundwater outflow, and 86 percent evapotranspiration. Net groundwater inflows and surface-water/groundwater storage were negligible during the water-budget period but could be important components of the budget in individual years.
The net groundwater flow was negative (downward) for 8 out of the 9 years modeled (2004–12), indicating that the Tsala Apopka Lake study area was primarily a recharge area for the underlying Upper Floridan aquifer during this time period. Groundwater-level elevation in paired wells (adjacent wells completed in the surficial aquifer and Upper Floridan aquifer) typically was higher in the surficial aquifer than the Upper Floridan aquifer. However, hydraulic head data indicate that the surficial aquifer often has discharge potential to the surface-water system, especially in the low lying areas near the major lakes. Surficial-aquifer water levels were often higher than lake stages, especially during wet periods, which is likely an indication of aquifer-to-lake seepage in these areas. East of the major lakes, hydraulic head data were nearly equal in the surficial aquifer and Upper Floridan aquifer, which is an indication that the Upper Floridan aquifer is unconfined. Based on deuterium and oxygen stable isotope data collected in December 2011 and December 2012, there was no evidence of recharge to the Upper Floridan aquifer from the wetlands east of the major lakes; aquifer isotopic ratios did not indicate an enriched source, which is typical of lake and wetland sources. West of the major lakes, there was evidence of enriched isotopic ratios in water samples from the Upper Floridan aquifer. Differences in hydraulic head at paired wells in the surficial aquifer and Upper Floridan aquifer indicated that the surficial aquifer has the potential to recharge the Upper Floridan aquifer in the western part of the pools and west of the major lakes.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20175132","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Southwest Florida Water Management District","usgsCitation":"McBride, W.S., Metz, P.A., Ryan, P.J., Fulkerson, Mark, and Downing, H.C., 2017, Groundwater levels, geochemistry, and water budget of the Tsala Apopka Lake system, west-central Florida, 2004–12: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5132, 100 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175132.","productDescription":"xi, 100 p.","numberOfPages":"116","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-059771","costCenters":[{"id":270,"text":"FLWSC-Tampa","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":350056,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5132/sir20175132.pdf","text":"Report","size":"14.0 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"SIR 2017–5132"},{"id":350055,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5132/coverthb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"Florida","otherGeospatial":"Tsala Apopka Lake System","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -82.452392578125,\n 28.66890107414433\n ],\n [\n -82.0520782470703,\n 28.66890107414433\n ],\n [\n -82.0520782470703,\n 29.00693934321682\n ],\n [\n -82.452392578125,\n 29.00693934321682\n ],\n [\n -82.452392578125,\n 28.66890107414433\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
4446 Pet Lane, Suite 108
Lutz, FL 33559
Sequoia Scientific’s LISST-ABS is an acoustic backscatter sensor designed to measure suspended-sediment concentration at a point source. Three LISST-ABS were evaluated at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility (HIF). Serial numbers 6010, 6039, and 6058 were assessed for accuracy in solutions with varying particle-size distributions and for the effect of temperature on sensor accuracy. Certified sediment samples composed of different ranges of particle size were purchased from Powder Technology Inc. These sediment samples were 30–80-micron (µm) Arizona Test Dust; less than 22-µm ISO 12103-1, A1 Ultrafine Test Dust; and 149-µm MIL-STD 810E Silica Dust. The sensor was able to accurately measure suspended-sediment concentration when calibrated with sediment of the same particle-size distribution as the measured. Overall testing demonstrated that sensors calibrated with finer sized sediments overdetect sediment concentrations with coarser sized sediments, and sensors calibrated with coarser sized sediments do not detect increases in sediment concentrations from small and fine sediments. These test results are not unexpected for an acoustic-backscatter device and stress the need for using accurate site-specific particle-size distributions during sensor calibration. When calibrated for ultrafine dust with a less than 22-µm particle size (silt) and with the Arizona Test Dust with a 30–80-µm range, the data from sensor 6039 were biased high when fractions of the coarser (149-µm) Silica Dust were added. Data from sensor 6058 showed similar results with an elevated response to coarser material when calibrated with a finer particle-size distribution and a lack of detection when subjected to finer particle-size sediment. Sensor 6010 was also tested for the effect of dissimilar particle size during the calibration and showed little effect. Subsequent testing revealed problems with this sensor, including an inadequate temperature compensation, making this data questionable. The sensor was replaced by Sequoia Scientific with serial number 6039. Results from the extended temperature testing showed proper temperature compensation for sensor 6039, and results from the dissimilar calibration/testing particle-size distribution closely corroborated the results from sensor 6058.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20171154","usgsCitation":"Snazelle, T.T., 2017, Laboratory evaluation of the Sequoia Scientific LISST-ABS acoustic backscatter sediment sensor: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2017–1154, 21 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171154.","productDescription":"Report: vii, 21 p.; Data; Metadata","numberOfPages":"34","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-083385","costCenters":[{"id":502,"text":"Office of Surface Water","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":350020,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1154/ofr20171154.pdf","text":"Report","size":"921 kB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2017–1154"},{"id":350021,"rank":3,"type":{"id":16,"text":"Metadata"},"url":"https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/59ba9376e4b091459a563ba7","text":"Data and Metadata","linkHelpText":"HIF evaluation of LISST-ABS"},{"id":350019,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1154/coverthb.jpg"}],"contact":"Chief, Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility
U.S. Geological Survey
Building 2101
Stennis Space Center, MS 39529
Anticipating and mitigating the effects of climate change is a fundamental challenge for natural resource conservation. In this report, we respond to research needs identified by Catoctin Mountain Park (CATO) for native Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) conservation and management as part of the US Geological Survey (USGS) Natural Resources Preservation Program in FY15-16. We addressed three overarching research questions: (1) How will anticipated changes in air temperature affect stream habitats? (2) How will changes to stream habitat affect the distribution of Brook Trout? (3) Which stream segments are most and least vulnerable to the effects of climate change?
First, we surveyed Brook Trout abundance and fish community composition using electrofishing techniques within three watersheds: Owens Creek, upper Big Hunting Creek, and Blue Blazes Creek (a tributary to Big Hunting Creek). Second, we deployed a network of stream temperature gages to assess spatial variation in stream temperature and groundwater (GW) influence. Third, we used modeling techniques to forecast future stream temperatures that account for GW influences and air temperature scenarios.
Fish sampling detected 13 species and 15,345 individual fish, the majority of which were Blacknose Dace (60%), Blue Ridge Sculpin (26%), and Brook Trout (6%). Brook Trout were not observed in Blue Blazes Creek and exhibited higher densities in Owens Creek than upper Big Hunting Creek (average densities = 19 fish/100 m and 4 fish/100 m, respectively). In contrast, Brown Trout were present in Blue Blazes Creek and exhibited greater density in Blue Blazes Creek than either Owens Creek or upper Big Hunting Creek (average densities = 3.0 fish/100 m,
0.3 fish/100 m, and 1.7 fish/100 m, respectively). Brown Trout occurred in sympatry with Brook Trout in Owens Creek and upper Big Hunting Creek, but appeared to have replaced Brook Trout
in Blue Blazes Creek. Our fish surveys also revealed important locations for Brook Trout reproduction and young-of-year (YOY) dispersal within the Owens Creek watershed.
Our study also revealed surprising differences in the distribution of Blue Ridge Sculpin among CATO streams. This species was abundant in Owens Creek (average density = 83 fish/100 m) but was less common in Blue Blazes Creek (average density = 12 fish/100 m) and was not detected in upper Big Hunting Creek. Histological examination of several specimens from Blue Blazes Creek by V. Blazer at the USGS Leetown Science Center revealed the presence of a novel parasite (Dermosystidium sp.) which has been linked to fish population declines elsewhere (Blazer et al. 2016). The parasite was not detected in Blue Ridge Sculpin samples from Owens Creek, and all trout appeared to be uninfected. Our survey results suggest that Blue Ridge Sculpin have been extirpated from upper Big Hunting Creek and have not recolonized from downstream source populations due to the fish passage barrier of Cunningham Falls. We recommend additional research to (1) evaluate the feasibility of reintroducing Blue Ridge Sculpin into upper Big Hunting Creek and (2) continue monitoring the distribution and potential spread of Dermocystidium in downstream waters.
Stream temperatures ranged from 9.6 – 27.6 ºC during baseflow conditions in 2015 and 2016. Sites within upper Big Hunting Creek were consistently warmer than in Owens Creek or Blue Blazes Creek, suggesting an effect of headwater ponds outside CATO on upper Big Hunting Creek temperatures. For instance, in 2016 the maximum observed temperature in upper Big Hunting Creek was 27.6 ºC whereas Owens Creek reached a maximum of 23.7 ºC that year. Stream temperature data also revealed that 2016 was warmer than 2015 throughout the study area but did not exceed thermal tolerance limits for Brook Trout in either year.
We estimated the influence of GW on stream temperatures using a statistical modeling approach based on the relationship between daily mean air temperature and stream temperature over time. Results indicated that effects of GW were generally stronger in the Owens Creek watershed than in Blue Blazes or upper Big Hunting Creek. However, we detected substantial spatial variation in GW influence among Owens Creek sites, with stream temperatures at some locations showing relatively little GW influence and others showing very strong influences (and correspondingly small influence of daily mean air temperatures). Although incoming lateral seeps were detected in upper Big Hunting Creek (D. Ferrier, Hood College, personal communication), the strongest effects of GW in the study area were due to GW upwelling within portions of the Owens Creek watershed (i.e., Tributary C in Figure 4) where we also observed high numbers of Brook Trout juveniles. Our results therefore identified potential high-priority areas for Brook Trout conservation in CATO.
Finally, we modeled future stream temperatures based on scenarios characterizing GW sensitivity to air temperature and future air temperature increases. Stream temperature forecasts revealed important differences in habitat suitability for Brook Trout within and among watersheds. Big Hunting Creek sites were generally more sensitive to air temperature increases than sites in Owens Creek or Blue Blazes Creek. For instance, an increase in mean annual air temperature of 1.5 ºC (lowest level evaluated) exceeded thermal thresholds for Brook Trout in the majority of sites within that watershed, regardless of GW influence levels. In contrast, an air temperature increase of 1.5 ºC did not exceed thermal thresholds for Brook Trout in Owens Creek. However, modeled air temperature increases of 5 ºC resulted in a loss of Brook Trout thermal suitability throughout the study area. Model results revealed spatially patchy responses to air temperature increases that could provide an early-warning system for trout monitoring
designs in CATO.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Transportation, determined the peak discharge, annual exceedance probability (flood frequency), and peak stage of two floods that took place on Big Cottonwood Creek at U.S. Highway 50 near Coaldale, Colorado (hereafter referred to as “Big Cottonwood Creek site”), on August 23, 2016, and on Fountain Creek below U.S. Highway 24 in Colorado Springs, Colorado (hereafter referred to as “Fountain Creek site”), on August 29, 2016. A one-dimensional hydraulic model was used to estimate the peak discharge. To define the flood frequency of each flood, peak-streamflow regional-regression equations or statistical analyses of USGS streamgage records were used to estimate annual exceedance probability of the peak discharge. A survey of the high-water mark profile was used to determine the peak stage, and the limitations and accuracy of each component also are presented in this report. Collection and computation of flood data, such as peak discharge, annual exceedance probability, and peak stage at structures critical to Colorado’s infrastructure are an important addition to the flood data collected annually by the USGS.
The peak discharge of the August 23, 2016, flood at the Big Cottonwood Creek site was 917 cubic feet per second (ft3/s) with a measurement quality of poor (uncertainty plus or minus 25 percent or greater). The peak discharge of the August 29, 2016, flood at the Fountain Creek site was 5,970 ft3/s with a measurement quality of poor (uncertainty plus or minus 25 percent or greater).
The August 23, 2016, flood at the Big Cottonwood Creek site had an annual exceedance probability of less than 0.01 (return period greater than the 100-year flood) and had an annual exceedance probability of greater than 0.005 (return period less than the 200-year flood). The August 23, 2016, flood event was caused by a precipitation event having an annual exceedance probability of 1.0 (return period of 1 year, or the 1-year storm), which is a statistically common (high probability) storm. The Big Cottonwood Creek site is downstream from the Hayden Pass Fire burn area, which dramatically altered the hydrology of the watershed and caused this statistically rare (low probability) flood from a statistically common (high probability) storm. The peak flood stage at the cross section closest to the U.S. Highway 50 culvert was 6,438.32 feet (ft) above the North American Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88).
The August 29, 2016, flood at the Fountain Creek site had an estimated annual exceedance probability of 0.5505 (return period equal to the 1.8-year flood). The August 29, 2016, flood event was caused by a precipitation event having an annual exceedance probability of 1.0 (return period of 1 year, or the 1-year storm). The peak stage during this flood at the cross section closest to the U.S. Highway 24 bridge was 5,832.89 ft (NAVD 88).
Slope-area indirect discharge measurements were carried out at the Big Cottonwood Creek and Fountain Creek sites to estimate peak discharge of the August 23, 2016, flood and August 29, 2016, flood, respectively. The USGS computer program Slope-Area Computation Graphical User Interface was used to compute the peak discharge by adding the surveyed cross sections with Manning roughness coefficient assignments to the high-water marks. The Manning roughness coefficients for each cross section were estimated in the field using the Cowan method.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20175107","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Transportation","usgsCitation":"Kohn, M.S., Stevens, M.R., Mommandi, Amanullah, and Khan, A.R., 2017, Peak discharge, flood frequency, and peak stage of floods on Big Cottonwood Creek at U.S. Highway 50 near Coaldale, Colorado, and Fountain Creek below U.S. Highway 24 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2016: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5107, 58 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175107.","productDescription":"Report: vii, 58 p.; Appendixes","numberOfPages":"70","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-083372","costCenters":[{"id":191,"text":"Colorado Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":349894,"rank":3,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5107/sir20175107_Appendix2_BigCottonwoodCr_LeftBank.zip","text":"Appendix 2, Big Cottonwood Creek, Left Bank—","size":"177 MB","linkFileType":{"id":6,"text":"zip"},"description":"Appendix 2 Left Bank","linkHelpText":"Photos of left bank high-water marks from Big Cottonwood Creek at U.S. Highway 50 near Coaldale, Colorado"},{"id":349892,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5107/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":349923,"rank":6,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5107/sir20175107_Appendix7_FountainCr_LeftBank.zip","text":"Appendix 7, Fountain Creek, Left Bank—","size":"303 MB","linkFileType":{"id":6,"text":"zip"},"description":"Appendix 7 Left Bank","linkHelpText":"Photos of left bank high-water marks from Fountain Creek below U.S. Highway 24 in Colorado Springs, Colorado"},{"id":349893,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5107/sir20175107.pdf","text":"Report","size":"19.5 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"SIR 2017–5107"},{"id":349921,"rank":5,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5107/sir20175107_Appendix3_BigCottonwoodCr.zip","text":"Appendix 3, Big Cottonwood Creek—","size":"154 MB","linkFileType":{"id":6,"text":"zip"},"description":"Appendix 3","linkHelpText":"Photos of cross Sections from Big Cottonwood Creek at U.S. Highway 50 near Coaldale, Colorado"},{"id":349925,"rank":7,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5107/sir20175107_Appendix7_FountainCr_RightBank.zip","text":"Appendix 7, Fountain Creek, Right Bank—","size":"305 MB","linkFileType":{"id":6,"text":"zip"},"description":"Appendix 7 Right Bank","linkHelpText":"Photos of right bank high-water marks from Fountain Creek below U.S. Highway 24 in Colorado Springs, Colorado"},{"id":349926,"rank":8,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5107/sir20175107_Appendix8_FountainCr.zip","text":"Appendix 8, Fountain Creek—","size":"220 MB","linkFileType":{"id":6,"text":"zip"},"description":"Appendix 8","linkHelpText":"Photos of cross sections from Fountain Creek below U.S. Highway 24 in Colorado Springs, Colorado"},{"id":349920,"rank":4,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5107/sir20175107_Appendix2_BigCottonwoodCr_RightBank.zip","text":"Appendix 2, Big Cottonwood Creek, Right Bank—","size":"142 MB","linkFileType":{"id":6,"text":"zip"},"description":"Appendix 2 Right Bank","linkHelpText":"Photos of right bank high-water marks from Big Cottonwood Creek at U.S. Highway 50 near Coaldale, Colorado"}],"country":"United States","state":"Colorado","city":"Coaldale, Colorado Springs","otherGeospatial":"Big Cottonwood Creek, Fountain Creek","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -104.80493545532227,\n 38.79868097286392\n ],\n [\n -104.78673934936523,\n 38.79868097286392\n ],\n [\n -104.78673934936523,\n 38.80944982778107\n ],\n [\n -104.80493545532227,\n 38.80944982778107\n ],\n [\n -104.80493545532227,\n 38.79868097286392\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n },\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -105.76083183288574,\n 38.36297641178211\n ],\n [\n -105.7474637031555,\n 38.36297641178211\n ],\n [\n -105.7474637031555,\n 38.37083318856711\n ],\n [\n -105.76083183288574,\n 38.37083318856711\n ],\n [\n -105.76083183288574,\n 38.36297641178211\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Colorado Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
Box 25046, MS-415
Denver, CO 80225
The enhancement of agricultural lands through the use of artificial drainage systems is a common practice throughout the United States, and recently the use of this practice has expanded in the Prairie Pothole Region. Many wetlands are afforded protection from the direct effects of drainage through regulation or legal agreements, and drainage setback distances typically are used to provide a buffer between wetlands and drainage systems. A field study was initiated to assess the potential for subsurface drainage to affect wetland surface-water characteristics through a reduction in precipitation runoff, and to examine the efficacy of current U.S. Department of Agriculture drainage setback distances for limiting these effects. Surface-water levels, along with primary components of the catchment water balance, were monitored over 3 y at four seasonal wetland catchments situated in a high-relief terrain (7–11% slopes). During the second year of the study, subsurface drainage systems were installed in two of the catchments using drainage setbacks, and the drainage discharge volumes were monitored. A catchment water-balance model was used to assess the potential effect of subsurface drainage on wetland hydrology and to assess the efficacy of drainage setbacks for mitigating these effects. Results suggest that overland precipitation runoff can be an important component of the seasonal water balance of Prairie Pothole Region wetlands, accounting on average for 34% (19–49%) or 45% (39–49%) of the annual (includes snowmelt runoff) or seasonal (does not include snowmelt) input volumes, respectively. Seasonal (2014–2015) discharge volumes from the localized drainage systems averaged 81 m3 (31–199 m3), and were small when compared with average combined inputs of 3,745 m3 (1,214–6,993 m3) from snowmelt runoff, direct precipitation, and precipitation runoff. Model simulations of reduced precipitation runoff volumes as a result of subsurface drainage systems showed that ponded wetland surface areas were reduced by an average of 590 m2 (141–1,787 m2), or 24% (3–46%), when no setbacks were used (drainage systems located directly adjacent to wetland). Likewise, wetland surface areas were reduced by an average of 141 m2 (23–464 m2), or 7% (1–28%), when drainage setbacks (buffer) were used. In totality, the field data and model simulations suggest that the drainage setbacks should reduce, but not eliminate, impacts to the water balance of the four wetlands monitored in this study that were located in a high-relief terrain. However, further study is required to assess the validity of these conclusions outside of the limited parameters (e.g., terrain, weather, soils) of this study and to examine potential ecological effects of altered wetland hydrology.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service","doi":"10.3996/022017-JFWM-012","usgsCitation":"Tangen, B., and Finocchiaro, R., 2017, A case study examining the efficacy of drainage setbacks for limiting effects to wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region, USA: Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management, v. 8, no. 2, p. 513-529, https://doi.org/10.3996/022017-JFWM-012.","productDescription":"17 p.","startPage":"513","endPage":"529","ipdsId":"IP-084102","costCenters":[{"id":480,"text":"Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":461323,"rank":0,"type":{"id":40,"text":"Open Access Publisher Index Page"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.3996/022017-jfwm-012","text":"Publisher Index Page"},{"id":350010,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"North Dakota","county":"Stutsman County","geographicExtents":"{\"type\":\"FeatureCollection\",\"features\":[{\"type\":\"Feature\",\"geometry\":{\"type\":\"Polygon\",\"coordinates\":[[[-99.2669,47.3268],[-98.8466,47.327],[-98.8392,47.327],[-98.8232,47.3272],[-98.8152,47.3271],[-98.4991,47.327],[-98.467,47.3266],[-98.4677,47.2402],[-98.4685,46.9788],[-98.4412,46.9789],[-98.4396,46.6296],[-98.7894,46.6294],[-99.0379,46.6309],[-99.1616,46.6317],[-99.4122,46.6316],[-99.4498,46.6319],[-99.4477,46.8044],[-99.4476,46.9788],[-99.4821,46.9795],[-99.4824,47.0089],[-99.4822,47.0162],[-99.4821,47.0249],[-99.4826,47.0396],[-99.4827,47.1558],[-99.4801,47.3267],[-99.2669,47.3268]]]},\"properties\":{\"name\":\"Stutsman\",\"state\":\"ND\"}}]}","volume":"8","issue":"2","publishingServiceCenter":{"id":4,"text":"Rolla PSC"},"noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationDate":"2017-08-01","publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"5a60fae7e4b06e28e9c2294a","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Tangen, Brian 0000-0001-5157-9882 btangen@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5157-9882","contributorId":167277,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Tangen","given":"Brian","email":"btangen@usgs.gov","affiliations":[{"id":480,"text":"Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":725082,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Finocchiaro, Raymond 0000-0002-5514-8729 rfinocchiaro@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5514-8729","contributorId":167278,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Finocchiaro","given":"Raymond","email":"rfinocchiaro@usgs.gov","affiliations":[{"id":480,"text":"Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":725083,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2}]}} ,{"id":70194065,"text":"ofr20171147 - 2017 - Groundwater/surface-water interaction in central Sevier County, Tennessee, October 2015–2016","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2017-12-14T15:24:21","indexId":"ofr20171147","displayToPublicDate":"2017-12-14T00:00:00","publicationYear":"2017","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"seriesTitle":{"id":330,"text":"Open-File Report","code":"OFR","onlineIssn":"2331-1258","printIssn":"0196-1497","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":5}},"seriesNumber":"2017-1147","title":"Groundwater/surface-water interaction in central Sevier County, Tennessee, October 2015–2016","docAbstract":"The U.S. Geological Survey evaluated the interaction of groundwater and surface water in the central part of Sevier County, Tennessee, from October 2015 through October 2016. Stream base flow was surveyed in December 2015 and in July and October 2016 to evaluate losing and gaining stream reaches along three streams in the area. During a July 2016 synoptic survey, groundwater levels were measured in wells screened in the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer to define the potentiometric surface in the area. The middle and lower reaches of the Little Pigeon River and the middle reaches of Middle Creek and the West Prong Little Pigeon River were gaining streams at base-flow conditions. The lower segments of the West Prong Little Pigeon River and Middle Creek were losing reaches under base-flow conditions, with substantial flow losses in the West Prong Little Pigeon River and complete subsurface diversion of flow in Middle Creek through a series of sinkholes that developed in the streambed and adjacent flood plain beginning in 2010. The potentiometric surface of the Cambrian-Ordovician aquifer showed depressed water levels in the area where loss of flow occurred in the lower reaches of West Prong Little Pigeon River and Middle Creek. Continuous dewatering activities at a rock quarry located in this area appear to have lowered groundwater levels by as much as 180 feet, which likely is the cause of flow losses observed in the two streams, and a contributing factor to the development of sinkholes at Middle Creek near Collier Drive.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20171147","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the City of Sevierville and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation","usgsCitation":"Carmichael, J.K., and Johnson, G.C., 2017, Groundwater/surface-water interaction in central Sevier County, Tennessee, October 2015–2016: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2017–1147, 22 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171147.","productDescription":"v, 22 p.","numberOfPages":"32","onlineOnly":"N","ipdsId":"IP-086182","costCenters":[{"id":24708,"text":"Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":349937,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1147/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":349938,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1147/ofr20171147.pdf","text":"Report","size":"2.53 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2017–1147"}],"country":"United States","state":"Tennessee","county":"Sevier County","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -83.60664367675781,\n 35.74261114799056\n ],\n [\n -83.38485717773438,\n 35.74261114799056\n ],\n [\n -83.38485717773438,\n 35.88126165890356\n ],\n [\n -83.60664367675781,\n 35.88126165890356\n ],\n [\n -83.60664367675781,\n 35.74261114799056\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center—Tennessee
U.S. Geological Survey
640 Grassmere Park, Suite 100
Nashville, TN 37211
Peat soils store a large fraction of the global soil carbon (C) pool and comprise 95% of wetland C stocks. While isolated freshwater wetlands in temperate and tropical biomes account for more than 20% of the global peatland C stock, most studies of wetland soil C have occurred in expansive peatlands in northern boreal and subarctic biomes. Furthermore, the contribution of small depressional wetlands in comparison to larger wetland systems in these environments is very uncertain. Given the fact that these wetlands are numerous and variable in terms of their internal geometry, innovative methods are needed for properly estimating belowground C stocks and their overall C contribution to the landscape. In this study, we use a combination of ground penetrating radar (GPR), aerial imagery, and direct measurements (coring) in conjunction with C core analysis to develop a relation between C stock and surface area, and estimate the contribution of subtropical depressional wetlands to the total C stock of pine flatwoods at the Disney Wilderness Preserve (DWP), Florida. Additionally, GPR surveys were able to image collapse structures underneath the peat basin of depressional wetlands, depicting lithological controls on the formation of depressional wetlands at the DWP. Results indicate the importance of depressional wetlands as critical contributors to the landscape C budget at the DWP and the potential of GPR-based approaches for (1) rapidly and noninvasively estimating the contribution of depressional wetlands to regional C stocks and (2) evaluating the formational processes of depressional wetlands.
","language":"English","publisher":"Wiley","doi":"10.1002/2016JG003573","usgsCitation":"McClellan, M., Comas, X., Hinkle, R., and Sumner, D.M., 2017, Estimating belowground carbon stocks in isolated wetlands of the Northern Everglades Watershed, central Florida, using ground penetrating radar (GPR) and aerial imagery: Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, v. 122, no. 11, p. 2804-2816, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JG003573.","productDescription":"13 p.","startPage":"2804","endPage":"2816","ipdsId":"IP-076429","costCenters":[{"id":270,"text":"FLWSC-Tampa","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":469236,"rank":0,"type":{"id":40,"text":"Open Access Publisher Index Page"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.1002/2016jg003573","text":"Publisher Index Page"},{"id":349987,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"Florida","otherGeospatial":"Central Florida, Disney Wilderness Preserve","volume":"122","issue":"11","publishingServiceCenter":{"id":9,"text":"Reston PSC"},"noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationDate":"2017-11-06","publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"5a60fae7e4b06e28e9c2294d","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"McClellan, Matthew","contributorId":201324,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"McClellan","given":"Matthew","email":"","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":725002,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Comas, Xavier","contributorId":201325,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Comas","given":"Xavier","email":"","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":725003,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Hinkle, Ross","contributorId":201326,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Hinkle","given":"Ross","email":"","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":725004,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Sumner, David M. 0000-0002-2144-9304 dmsumner@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2144-9304","contributorId":1362,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Sumner","given":"David","email":"dmsumner@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"M.","affiliations":[{"id":270,"text":"FLWSC-Tampa","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":156,"text":"Caribbean Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":725001,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4}]}} ,{"id":70192237,"text":"70192237 - 2017 - Case studies of capacity building for biodiversity monitoring","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2020-08-20T17:24:17.831349","indexId":"70192237","displayToPublicDate":"2017-12-14T00:00:00","publicationYear":"2017","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":5,"text":"Book chapter"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":24,"text":"Book Chapter"},"chapter":"13","title":"Case studies of capacity building for biodiversity monitoring","docAbstract":"Monitoring the status and trends of species is critical to their conservation and management. However, the current state of biodiversity monitoring is insufficient to detect such for most species and habitats, other than in a few localised areas. One of the biggest obstacles to adequate monitoring is the lack of local capacity to carry out such programs. Thus, building the capacity to do such monitoring is imperative. We here highlight different biodiversity monitoring efforts to illustrate how capacity building efforts are being conducted at different geographic scales and under a range of resource, literacy, and training constraints. Accordingly, we include examples of monitoring efforts from within countries (Kenya, France, and China), within regions (Central America and the Arctic) and larger capacity building programs including EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) of Existence and the National Red List Alliance.
","largerWorkType":{"id":4,"text":"Book"},"largerWorkTitle":"The GEO handbook on biodiversity observation networks","language":"English","publisher":"Springer International Publishing/Springer Nature","doi":"10.1007/978-3-319-27288-7_13","usgsCitation":"Schmeller, D.S., Arvanitidis, C., Bohm, M., Brummitt, N., Chatzinikolaou, E., Costello, M.J., Ding, H., Gill, M.J., Haase, P., Juillard, R., Garcia-Moreno, J., Pettorelli, N., Peng, C., Riginos, C., Schmiedel, U., Simaika, J.P., Waterman, C., Wu, J., Xu, H., and Belnap, J., 2017, Case studies of capacity building for biodiversity monitoring, chap. 13 of The GEO handbook on biodiversity observation networks, p. 309-326, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27288-7_13.","productDescription":"18 p.","startPage":"309","endPage":"326","ipdsId":"IP-061404","costCenters":[{"id":568,"text":"Southwest Biological Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":488151,"rank":0,"type":{"id":40,"text":"Open Access Publisher Index 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S.","contributorId":147645,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Schmeller","given":"Dirk","email":"","middleInitial":"S.","affiliations":[{"id":16875,"text":"(1)Dept of Conservation Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany;","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":714927,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Arvanitidis, Christos","contributorId":196998,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Arvanitidis","given":"Christos","email":"","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":714928,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Bohm, Monika","contributorId":198052,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Bohm","given":"Monika","email":"","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":714929,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Brummitt, 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The glacial aquifer system extends from Maine to Alaska, although the focus of this report is the part of the system in the conterminous United States east of the Rocky Mountains. The glacial sand and gravel principal aquifer is the largest source of public and self-supplied industrial supply for any principal aquifer and also is an important source for irrigation supply. Despite its importance for water supply, water levels in the glacial aquifer system are generally stable varying with climate and only locally from pumping. The hydrogeologic framework developed for this study includes the information from waterwell records and classification of material types from surficial geologic maps into likely aquifers dominated by sand and gravel deposits. Generalized groundwater budgets across the study area highlight the variation in recharge and discharge primarily driven by climate.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20175015","collaboration":"Water Availability and Use Science Program","usgsCitation":"Reeves, H.W., Bayless, E.R., Dudley, R.W., Feinstein, D.T., Fienen, M.N., Hoard, C.J., Hodgkins, G.A., Qi, S.L., Roth, J.L., and Trost, J.J., 2017, Generalized hydrogeologic framework and groundwater budget for a groundwater availability study for the glacial aquifer system of the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5015, 49 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175015.","productDescription":"vii, 49 p.","numberOfPages":"62","onlineOnly":"N","ipdsId":"IP-066369","costCenters":[{"id":191,"text":"Colorado Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":382,"text":"Michigan Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":392,"text":"Minnesota Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":466,"text":"New England Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":677,"text":"Wisconsin Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":35860,"text":"Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":349670,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5015/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":349673,"rank":3,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5015/sir20175015.pdf","text":"Report","size":"11.5 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"SIR 2017–5015"},{"id":349672,"rank":2,"type":{"id":18,"text":"Project Site"},"url":"https://water.usgs.gov/wausp/gw/regional.html","text":"Water Availability and Use Science Program"}],"country":"United States","otherGeospatial":"Glacial Aquifer System","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -124.541015625,\n 37.579412513438385\n ],\n [\n -67.060546875,\n 37.579412513438385\n ],\n [\n -67.060546875,\n 49.210420445650286\n ],\n [\n -124.541015625,\n 49.210420445650286\n ],\n [\n -124.541015625,\n 37.579412513438385\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n },\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -158.37890625,\n 54.470037612805754\n ],\n [\n -129.990234375,\n 54.470037612805754\n ],\n [\n -129.990234375,\n 63.860035895395306\n ],\n [\n -158.37890625,\n 63.860035895395306\n ],\n [\n -158.37890625,\n 54.470037612805754\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Upper Midwest Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
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Lansing, MI 48911–5991
The Interstate 94 Corridor has been identified as 1 of 16 Minnesota groundwater areas of concern because of its limited available groundwater resources. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, completed six seasonal and annual groundwater balances for parts of the Interstate 94 Corridor surficial aquifer to better understand its long-term (next several decades) sustainability. A high-precision Mississippi River groundwater discharge measurement of 5.23 cubic feet per second per mile was completed at low-flow conditions to better inform these groundwater balances. The recharge calculation methods RISE program and Soil-Water-Balance model were used to inform the groundwater balances. For the RISE-derived recharge estimates, the range was from 3.30 to 11.91 inches per year; for the SWB-derived recharge estimates, the range was from 5.23 to 17.06 inches per year.
Calculated groundwater discharges ranged from 1.45 to 5.06 cubic feet per second per mile, a ratio of 27.7 to 96.4 percent of the measured groundwater discharge. Ratios of groundwater pumping to total recharge ranged from 8.6 to 97.2 percent, with the longer-term groundwater balances ranging from 12.9 to 19 percent. Overall, this study focused on the surficial aquifer system and its interactions with the Mississippi River. During the study period (October 1, 2012, through November 30, 2014), six synoptic measurements, along with continuous groundwater hydrographs, rainfall records, and a compilation of the pertinent irrigation data, establishes the framework for future groundwater modeling efforts.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20175114","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources","usgsCitation":"Smith, E.A., Lorenz, D.L., Kessler, E.W., Berg, A.M., and Sanocki, C.A., 2017, Groundwater discharge to the Mississippi River and groundwater balances for the Interstate 94 Corridor surficial aquifer, Clearwater to Elk River, Minnesota, 2012–14: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5114, 54 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175114.","productDescription":"Report: ix, 54 p.; Appendix Tables; Data Release","numberOfPages":"68","onlineOnly":"Y","additionalOnlineFiles":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-027699","costCenters":[{"id":392,"text":"Minnesota Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":349965,"rank":4,"type":{"id":3,"text":"Appendix"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5114/sir20175114_appendix_tables.xlsx","text":"Appendix Tables 1–4","size":"171 kB","linkFileType":{"id":3,"text":"xlsx"},"description":"SIR 2017–5114 Appendix Tables"},{"id":349961,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5114/sir20175114.pdf","text":"Report","size":"4.75 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"SIR 2017–5114"},{"id":349960,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5114/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":349962,"rank":3,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/F7NZ864G","text":"USGS data release","description":"USGS Data Release","linkHelpText":"Soil-Water-Balance model data sets for the Interstate 94 corridor surficial aquifer, Clearwater to Elk River, Minnesota, 2010-2014"}],"country":"United States","state":"Minnesota","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -94.10202026367188,\n 45.25\n ],\n [\n -93.52249145507812,\n 45.25\n ],\n [\n -93.52249145507812,\n 45.47650323381734\n ],\n [\n -94.10202026367188,\n 45.47650323381734\n ],\n [\n -94.10202026367188,\n 45.25\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Upper Midwest Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
2280 Woodale Drive
Mounds View, MN 55112–4900
Concentrations of particulate organic carbon (POC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which together comprise total organic carbon, were measured in this reconnaissance study at sampling sites in the Upper Klamath River, Lost River, and Klamath Straits Drain in 2013–16. Optical absorbance and fluorescence properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM), which contains DOC, also were analyzed. Parallel factor analysis was used to decompose the optical fluorescence data into five key components for all samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to investigate differences in DOM source and processing among sites.
At all sites in this study, average DOC concentrations were higher than average POC concentrations. The highest DOC concentrations were at sites in the Klamath Straits Drain and at Pump Plant D. Evaluation of optical properties indicated that Klamath Straits Drain DOM had a refractory, terrestrial source, likely extracted from the interaction of this water with wetland peats and irrigated soils. Pump Plant D DOM exhibited more labile characteristics, which could, for instance, indicate contributions from algal or microbial exudates. The samples from Klamath River also had more microbial or algal derived material, as indicated by PCA analysis of the optical properties. Most sites, except Pump Plant D, showed a linear relation between fluorescent dissolved organic matter (fDOM) and DOC concentration, indicating these measurements are highly correlated (R2=0.84), and thus a continuous fDOM probe could be used to estimate DOC loads from these sites.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20171160","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation","usgsCitation":"Goldman, J.H., and Sullivan, A.B., 2017, Characteristics of dissolved organic matter in the Upper Klamath River, Lost River, and Klamath Straits Drain, Oregon and California: U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2017-1160, 21 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171160.","productDescription":"Report: iv, 21 p.; Data Release","numberOfPages":"29","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-088888","costCenters":[{"id":518,"text":"Oregon Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":349912,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1160/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":349913,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1160/ofr20171160.pdf","text":"Report","size":"3.2 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2017-1160"},{"id":349914,"rank":3,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/F71Z42V4","text":"USGS data release","description":"USGS Data Release","linkHelpText":"Data from an analysis of dissolved organic matter in the Upper Klamath River, Lost River, and Klamath Straits Drain, Oregon and California, 2013–16"}],"country":"United States","state":"California, Oregon","otherGeospatial":"Lost River, Klamath Straits Drain, Upper Klamath River","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -122.05261230468751,\n 41.77131167976407\n ],\n [\n -121.0308837890625,\n 41.77131167976407\n ],\n [\n -121.0308837890625,\n 42.44980808481614\n ],\n [\n -122.05261230468751,\n 42.44980808481614\n ],\n [\n -122.05261230468751,\n 41.77131167976407\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Oregon Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
2130 SW 5th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97201
Reported aftershock durations, earthquake effects, and other observations from the large 14 December 1872 earthquake in central Washington are consistent with an epicenter near Entiat, Washington. Aftershocks were reported for more than 3 months only near Entiat. Modal intensity data described in this article are consistent with an Entiat area epicenter, where the largest modified Mercalli intensities, VIII, were assigned between Lake Chelan and Wenatchee. Although ground failures and water effects were widespread, there is a concentration of these features along the Columbia River and its tributaries in the Entiat area. Assuming linear ray paths, misfits from 23 reports of the directions of horizontal shaking have a local minima at Entiat, assuming the reports are describing surface waves, but the region having comparable misfit is large. Broadband seismograms recorded for comparable ray paths provide insight into the reasons why possible S–P times estimated from felt reports at two locations are several seconds too small to be consistent with an Entiat area epicenter.
","language":"English","publisher":"Seismological Society of America","doi":"10.1785/0120170224","usgsCitation":"Brocher, T.M., Hopper, M.G., Algermissen, S.T., Perkins, D.M., Brockman, S.R., and Arnold, E.P., 2017, Aftershocks, earthquake effects, and the location of the large 14 December 1872 earthquake near Entiat, central Washington: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 108, no. 1, p. 66-83, https://doi.org/10.1785/0120170224.","productDescription":"18 p.","startPage":"66","endPage":"83","ipdsId":"IP-088313","costCenters":[{"id":237,"text":"Earthquake Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":351222,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"Washington","otherGeospatial":"Entiat","volume":"108","issue":"1","publishingServiceCenter":{"id":14,"text":"Menlo Park PSC"},"noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationDate":"2017-12-19","publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"5a7acd1fe4b00f54eb20c591","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Brocher, Thomas M. 0000-0002-9740-839X brocher@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9740-839X","contributorId":262,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Brocher","given":"Thomas","email":"brocher@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"M.","affiliations":[{"id":237,"text":"Earthquake Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":727514,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Hopper, Margaret G. hopper@usgs.gov","contributorId":2227,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Hopper","given":"Margaret","email":"hopper@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"G.","affiliations":[],"preferred":true,"id":727515,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Algermissen, S.T. Ted","contributorId":202065,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Algermissen","given":"S.T.","email":"","middleInitial":"Ted","affiliations":[{"id":595,"text":"U.S. Geological Survey","active":false,"usgs":true}],"preferred":false,"id":727516,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Perkins, David M. perkins@usgs.gov","contributorId":2114,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Perkins","given":"David","email":"perkins@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"M.","affiliations":[{"id":301,"text":"Geologic Hazards Team","active":false,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":727517,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4},{"text":"Brockman, Stanley R.","contributorId":62226,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Brockman","given":"Stanley","email":"","middleInitial":"R.","affiliations":[{"id":595,"text":"U.S. Geological Survey","active":false,"usgs":true}],"preferred":false,"id":727518,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":5},{"text":"Arnold, Edouard P.","contributorId":202068,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Arnold","given":"Edouard","email":"","middleInitial":"P.","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":727519,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":6}]}} ,{"id":70194659,"text":"70194659 - 2017 - Increased sediment load during a large-scale dam removal changes nearshore subtidal communities","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2017-12-11T11:55:12","indexId":"70194659","displayToPublicDate":"2017-12-08T00:00:00","publicationYear":"2017","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":2980,"text":"PLoS ONE","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"Increased sediment load during a large-scale dam removal changes nearshore subtidal communities","docAbstract":"The coastal marine ecosystem near the Elwha River was altered by a massive sediment influx—over 10 million tonnes—during the staged three-year removal of two hydropower dams. We used time series of bathymetry, substrate grain size, remotely sensed turbidity, scuba dive surveys, and towed video observations collected before and during dam removal to assess responses of the nearshore subtidal community (3 m to 17 m depth). Biological changes were primarily driven by sediment deposition and elevated suspended sediment concentrations. Macroalgae, predominantly kelp and foliose red algae, were abundant before dam removal with combined cover levels greater than 50%. Where persistent sediment deposits formed, macroalgae decreased greatly or were eliminated. In areas lacking deposition, macroalgae cover decreased inversely to suspended sediment concentration, suggesting impacts from light reduction or scour. Densities of most invertebrate and fish taxa decreased in areas with persistent sediment deposition; however, bivalve densities increased where mud deposited over sand, and flatfish and Pacific sand lance densities increased where sand deposited over gravel. In areas without sediment deposition, most invertebrate and fish taxa were unaffected by increased suspended sediment or the loss of algae cover associated with it; however, densities of tubeworms and flatfish, and primary cover of sessile invertebrates increased suggesting benefits of increased particulate matter or relaxed competition with macroalgae for space. As dam removal neared completion, we saw evidence of macroalgal recovery that likely owed to water column clearing, indicating that long-term recovery from dam removal effects may be starting. Our results are relevant to future dam removal projects in coastal areas and more generally to understanding effects of increased sedimentation on nearshore subtidal benthic communities.
","language":"English","publisher":"PLOS","doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0187742","usgsCitation":"Rubin, S., Miller, I.M., Foley, M.M., Berry, H.D., Duda, J., Hudson, B., Elder, N.E., Beirne, M.M., Warrick, J.A., McHenry, M.L., Stevens, A.W., Eidam, E., Ogston, A., Gelfenbaum, G.R., and Pedersen, R., 2017, Increased sediment load during a large-scale dam removal changes nearshore subtidal communities: PLoS ONE, v. 12, no. 12, p. 1-46, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187742.","productDescription":"e0187742; 46 p.","startPage":"1","endPage":"46","ipdsId":"IP-088231","costCenters":[{"id":654,"text":"Western Fisheries Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":469239,"rank":1,"type":{"id":40,"text":"Open Access Publisher Index Page"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0187742","text":"Publisher Index Page"},{"id":438127,"rank":0,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/F7JS9PDK","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"Data 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1978–2012","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2017-12-08T09:45:41","indexId":"sir20175115","displayToPublicDate":"2017-12-07T15:45:00","publicationYear":"2017","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":18,"text":"Report"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":5,"text":"USGS Numbered Series"},"seriesTitle":{"id":334,"text":"Scientific Investigations Report","code":"SIR","onlineIssn":"2328-0328","printIssn":"2328-031X","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":5}},"seriesNumber":"2017-5115","title":"Evaluation and use of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Watersheds Needs Survey data to quantify nutrient loads to surface water, 1978–2012","docAbstract":"Changes in municipal and industrial point-source discharges over time have been an important factor affecting nutrient trends in many of the Nation’s streams and rivers. This report documents how three U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) national datasets—the Permit Compliance System, the Integrated Compliance Information System, and the Clean Watersheds Needs Survey—were evaluated for use in the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment project to assess the causes of nutrient trends. This report also describes how a database of total nitrogen load and total phosphorous load was generated for select wastewater treatment facilities in the United States based on information reported in the EPA Clean Watersheds Needs Survey. Nutrient loads were calculated for the years 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012 based on average nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations for reported treatment levels and on annual reported flow values.
The EPA Permit Compliance System (PCS) and Integrated Compliance Information System (ICIS), which monitor point-source facility discharges, together are the Nation’s most spatially comprehensive dataset for nutrients released to surface waters. However, datasets for many individual facilities are incomplete, the PCS/ICIS historical data date back only to 1989, and historical data are available for only a limited number of facilities. Additionally, inconsistencies in facility reporting make it difficult to track or identify changes in nutrient discharges over time. Previous efforts made by the U.S. Geological Survey to “fill in” gaps in the PCS/ICIS data were based on statistical methods—missing data were filled in through the use of a statistical model based on the Standard Industrial Classification code, size, and flow class of the facility and on seasonal nutrient discharges of similar facilities. This approach was used to estimate point-source loads for a single point in time; it was not evaluated for use in generating a consistent data series over time.
Another national EPA dataset that is available is the Clean Watersheds Needs Survey (CWNS), conducted every 4 years beginning 1973. The CWNS is an assessment of the capital needs of wastewater facilities to meet the water-quality goals set in the Clean Water Act. Data collected about these facilities include location and contact information for the facilities; population served; flow and treatment level of the facility; estimated capital needs to upgrade, repair, or improve facilities for water quality; and nonpoint-source best management practices.
Total nitrogen and total phosphorous load calculations for each of the CWNS years were based on treatment level information and average annual outflow (in million gallons per day) from each of the facilities that had reported it. Treatment levels categories (such as Primary, Secondary, or Advanced) were substituted with average total nitrogen and total phosphorous concentrations for each treatment level based on those reported in literature. The CWNS dataset, like the PCS/ICIS dataset, has years where facilities did not report either a treatment level or an annual average outflow, or both. To fill in the data gaps, simple linear assumptions were made based on each facility’s responses to the survey in years bracketing the data gap or immediately before or after the data gap if open ended. Treatment level and flow data unique to each facility were used to complete the CWNS dataset for that facility.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sir20175115","usgsCitation":"Ivahnenko, Tamara, 2017, Evaluation and use of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Watersheds Needs Survey data to quantify nutrient loads to surface water, 1978–2012: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5115, 11 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175115.","productDescription":"Report: iv, 11 p.; Data Release","numberOfPages":"19","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-082278","costCenters":[{"id":191,"text":"Colorado Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":349388,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5115/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":349584,"rank":3,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/F7MG7MNN","text":"USGS Data Release","description":"USGS Data Release","linkHelpText":"National USEPA Clean Watershed Needs Survey WWTP nutrient load data 1978 to 2012"},{"id":349389,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5115/sir20175115.pdf","text":"Report","size":"864 kB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"SIR 2017–5115"}],"contact":"Program Coordinator, National Water Quality Program
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12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
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From January to April 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Mojave Water Agency, and other local water districts made approximately 1,200 water-level measurements in about 645 wells located within 15 separate groundwater basins, collectively referred to as the Mojave River and Morongo groundwater basins. These data document recent conditions and, when compared with older data, changes in groundwater levels. A water-level contour map was drawn using data measured in 2016 that shows the elevation of the water table and general direction of groundwater movement for most of the groundwater basins. Historical water-level data stored in the USGS National Water Information System (https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/) database were used in conjunction with data collected for this study to construct 37 hydrographs to show long-term (1930–2016) and short-term (1990–2016) water-level changes in the study area.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/sim3391","collaboration":"Prepared in cooperation with the Mojave Water Agency","usgsCitation":"Dick, M.C., and Kjos, A.R., 2017, Regional water table (2016) in the Mojave River and Morongo groundwater basins, southwestern Mojave Desert, California: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3391, scale 1:170,000, https://doi.org/10.3133/sim3391.","productDescription":"Map: 42.62 x 37.53 inches; Data Release","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-083520","costCenters":[{"id":154,"text":"California Water Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":349478,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3391/coverthb_.jpg"},{"id":349479,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3391/sim3391.pdf","text":"Report","size":"34 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"SIM 3391"},{"id":349633,"rank":3,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/F7GB2291","text":"Data Release","description":"SIM 3391","linkHelpText":"Regional Water Table (2016) in the Mojave River and Morongo Groundwater Basins, Southwestern Mojave Desert, California Data Release"}],"country":"United States","state":"California","otherGeospatial":"Mojave Desert, Mojave River and Morongo groundwater basins","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -116,\n 34.0833\n ],\n [\n -117.8333,\n 34.0833\n ],\n [\n -117.8333,\n 35.25\n ],\n [\n -116,\n 35.25\n ],\n [\n -116,\n 34.0833\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"California Water Science Center
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