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
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
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
The rare-earth elements (REEs) are 15 elements that range in atomic number from 57 (lanthanum) to 71 (lutetium); they are commonly referred to as the “lanthanides.” Yttrium (atomic number 39) is also commonly regarded as an REE because it shares chemical and physical similarities and has affinities with the lanthanides. Although REEs are not rare in terms of average crustal abundance, the concentrated deposits of REEs are limited in number.
Because of their unusual physical and chemical properties, the REEs have diverse defense, energy, industrial, and military technology applications. The glass industry is the leading consumer of REE raw materials, which are used for glass polishing and as additives that provide color and special optical properties to the glass. Lanthanum-based catalysts are used in petroleum refining, and cerium-based catalysts are used in automotive catalytic converters. The use of REEs in magnets is a rapidly increasing application. Neodymium-iron-boron magnets, which are the strongest known type of magnets, are used when space and weight are restrictions. Nickel-metal hydride batteries use anodes made of a lanthanum-based alloys.
China, which has led the world production of REEs for decades, accounted for more than 90 percent of global production and supply, on average, during the past decade. Citing a need to retain its limited REE resources to meet domestic requirements as well as concerns about the environmental effects of mining, China began placing restrictions on the supply of REEs in 2010 through the imposition of quotas, licenses, and taxes. As a result, the global rare-earth industry has increased its stockpiling of REEs; explored for deposits outside of China; and promoted new efforts to conserve, recycle, and substitute for REEs. New mine production began at Mount Weld in Western Australia, and numerous other exploration and development projects noted in this chapter are ongoing throughout the world.
The REE-bearing minerals are diverse and often complex in composition. At least 245 individual REE-bearing minerals are recognized; they are mainly carbonates, fluorocarbonates, and hydroxylcarbonates (n = 42); oxides (n = 59); silicates (n = 85); and phosphates (n = 26).
Many of the world’s significant REE deposits occur in carbonatites, which are carbonate igneous rocks. The REEs also have a strong genetic association with alkaline magmatism. The systematic geologic and chemical processes that explain these observations are not well understood. Economic or potentially economic REE deposits have been found in (a) carbonatites, (b) peralkaline igneous systems, (c) magmatic magnetite-hematite bodies, (d) iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits, (e) xenotime-monazite accumulations in mafic gneiss, (f) ion-absorption clay deposits, and (g) monazite-xenotime-bearing placer deposits. Carbonatites have been the world’s main source for the light REEs since the 1960s. Ion-adsorption clay deposits in southern China are the world’s primary source of the heavy REEs. Monazite-bearing placer deposits were important sources of REEs before the mid-1960s and may be again in the future. In recent years, REEs have been produced from large carbonatite bodies mined at the Mountain Pass deposit in California and, in China, at the Bayan Obo deposit in Nei Mongol Autonomous Region, the Maoniuping deposit in Sichuan Province, the Daluxiang deposit in Sichuan Province, and the Weishan deposit in Anhui Province. Alkaline igneous complexes have recently been targeted for exploration because of their enrichments in the heavy REEs.
Information relevant to the environmental aspects of REE mining is limited. Little is known about the aquatic toxicity of REEs. The United States lacks drinking water standards for REEs. The concentrations of REEs in environmental media are influenced by their low abundances in crustal rocks and their limited solubility in most groundwaters and surface waters. The scarcity of sulfide minerals, including pyrite, minimizes or eliminates concerns about acid-mine drainage for carbonatite-hosted deposits and alkaline-intrusion-related REE deposits. For now, insights into environmental responses of REE mine wastes must rely on predictive models.
","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/pp1802O","isbn":"978-1-4113-3991-0","usgsCitation":"Van Gosen, B.S., Verplanck, P.L., Seal, R.R., II, Long, K.R., and Gambogi, Joseph, 2017, Rare-earth elements, chap. O 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. O1–O31, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802O.","productDescription":"viii, 31 p.","numberOfPages":"44","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-050900","costCenters":[{"id":171,"text":"Central Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":334627,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/o/pp1802o.pdf","text":"Report","size":"4.50 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"PP 1802 O"},{"id":334626,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/o/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
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
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
Antimony is an important mineral commodity used widely in modern industrialized societies. The element imparts strength, hardness, and corrosion resistance to alloys that are used in many areas of industry, including in lead-acid storage batteries. Antimony’s leading use is as a fire retardant in safety equipment and in household goods, such as mattresses. The U.S. Government has considered antimony to be a critical mineral mainly because of its use in military applications. The great majority of the world’s antimony comes from China, and much of the remainder is shipped to China for smelting. Antimony resources are unevenly distributed around the world. China has the bulk of the world’s identified resources; other countries that have identified antimony resources include Bolivia, Canada, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Tajikistan, and Turkey. Resources in the United States are located mainly in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada. The most significant antimony mineral deposits occur in geologic environments with a thick sequence of siliciclastic sedimentary rocks in areas with significant fault and fracture systems. The most common antimony ore mineral is stibnite (Sb2 S3 ), but more than 100 other minerals also contain antimony. The presence of antimony in surface waters and groundwaters results primarily from rock weathering, soil runoff, and anthropogenic sources. Global emissions of antimony to the atmosphere average 6,100 metric tons per year. Empirical data suggest that the acid-generating potential of antimony mine waste is low.
","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/pp1802C","isbn":"978-1-4113-3991-0","usgsCitation":"Seal, R.R., II, Schulz, K.J., and DeYoung, J.H., Jr., with contributions from David M. Sutphin, Lawrence J. Drew, James F. Carlin, Jr., and Byron R. Berger, 2017, Antimony, chap. C 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. C1–C17, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802C.","productDescription":"vii, 17 p.","numberOfPages":"30","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-078901","costCenters":[{"id":245,"text":"Eastern Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":352475,"rank":3,"type":{"id":12,"text":"Errata"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/pp1802_erratum-march132018.txt","text":"Erratum","size":"1 KB","linkFileType":{"id":2,"text":"txt"}},{"id":339520,"rank":0,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/c/coverthb1.jpg"},{"id":339513,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/c/pp1802c.pdf","text":"Report","size":"7.05 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"PP 1802 C"}],"contact":"Mineral Resources Program Coordinator
U.S. Geological Survey
913 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
Email: minerals@usgs.gov
https://minerals.usgs.gov
Mineral commodities are vital for economic growth, improving the quality of life, providing for national defense, and the overall functioning of modern society. Minerals are being used in larger quantities than ever before and in an increasingly diverse range of applications. With the increasing demand for a considerably more diverse suite of mineral commodities has come renewed recognition that competition and conflict over mineral resources can pose significant risks to the manufacturing industries that depend on them. In addition, production of many mineral commodities has become concentrated in relatively few countries (for example, tungsten, rare-earth elements, and antimony in China; niobium in Brazil; and platinum-group elements in South Africa and Russia), thus increasing the risk for supply disruption owing to political, social, or other factors. At the same time, an increasing awareness of and sensitivity to potential environmental and health issues caused by the mining and processing of many mineral commodities may place additional restrictions on mineral supplies. These factors have led a number of Governments, including the Government of the United States, to attempt to identify those mineral commodities that are viewed as most “critical” to the national economy and (or) security if supplies should be curtailed.
This book presents resource and geologic information on the following 23 mineral commodities currently among those viewed as important to the national economy and national security of the United States: antimony (Sb), barite (barium, Ba), beryllium (Be), cobalt (Co), fluorite or fluorspar (fluorine, F), gallium (Ga), germanium (Ge), graphite (carbon, C), hafnium (Hf), indium (In), lithium (Li), manganese (Mn), niobium (Nb), platinum-group elements (PGE), rare-earth elements (REE), rhenium (Re), selenium (Se), tantalum (Ta), tellurium (Te), tin (Sn), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), and zirconium (Zr). For a number of these commodities—for example, graphite, manganese, niobium, and tantalum—the United States is currently wholly dependent on imports to meet its needs. The first two chapters (A and B) deal with general information pertinent to the study of mineral resources. Chapters C through V describe individual mineral commodities and include an overview of current uses of the commodity, identified resources and their distribution nationally and globally, the state of current geologic knowledge, the potential for finding additional deposits nationally and globally, and geoenvironmental issues that may be related to the production and uses of the commodity. These chapters are updates of the commodity chapters published in 1973 in U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 820, “United States Mineral Resources.”
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/pp1802","isbn":"978-1-4113-3991-0","usgsCitation":"Schulz, K.J., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., Seal, R.R., II, and Bradley, D.C., eds., 2017, Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1802, 797 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802.","productDescription":"Report: 862 p.; Data Release","numberOfPages":"862","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-069563","costCenters":[{"id":245,"text":"Eastern Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":350071,"rank":5,"type":{"id":22,"text":"Related Work"},"url":"https://mrdata.usgs.gov/pp1802/ ","text":"- Global Distribution of Selected Mines, Deposits, and Districts of Critical Minerals","linkFileType":{"id":5,"text":"html"},"description":"Global distribution of selected mines, deposits, and districts of critical minerals"},{"id":336929,"rank":2,"type":{"id":8,"text":"Cover"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/pp1802_frontbackcovers.pdf","text":"Front and Back Covers","size":"1.23 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"PP 1802"},{"id":352473,"rank":7,"type":{"id":12,"text":"Errata"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/pp1802_erratum-march132018.txt","text":"Erratum","size":"1 KB","linkFileType":{"id":2,"text":"txt"}},{"id":336933,"rank":3,"type":{"id":2,"text":"Additional Report Piece"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/cover/pp1802frontmatter.pdf","text":"Professional Paper 1802 - Front Matter","size":"326 KB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"PP 1802","linkHelpText":" - Front Matter"},{"id":336928,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":350094,"rank":6,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/pp1802_entirebook.pdf","text":"Report (Entire Book)","size":"148 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"}},{"id":349464,"rank":4,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.5066/F7GH9GQR","text":"USGS data release","description":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"Global Distribution of Selected Mines, Deposits, and Districts of Critical Minerals"}],"contact":"Mineral Resources Program Coordinator
U.S. Geological Survey
913 National Center
Reston, VA 20192
Email: minerals@usgs.gov
http://minerals.usgs.gov
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
Beryllium is a mineral commodity that is used in a variety of industries to make products that are essential for the smooth functioning of a modern society. Two minerals, bertrandite (which is supplied domestically) and beryl (which is currently supplied solely by imports), are necessary to ensure a stable supply of high-purity beryllium metal, alloys, and metal-matrix composites and beryllium oxide ceramics. Although bertrandite is the source mineral for more than 90 percent of the beryllium produced globally, industrial beryl is critical for the production of the very high purity beryllium metal needed for some strategic applications. The current sole domestic source of beryllium is bertrandite ore from the Spor Mountain deposit in Utah; beryl is imported mainly from Brazil, China, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Portugal. High-purity beryllium metal is classified as a strategic and critical material by the Strategic Materials Protection Board of the U.S. Department of Defense because it is used in products that are vital to national security. Beryllium is maintained in the U.S. stockpile of strategic materials in the form of hot-pressed beryllium metal powder.
Because of its unique chemical properties, beryllium is indispensable for many important industrial products used in the aerospace, computer, defense, medical, nuclear, and telecommunications industries. For example, high-performance alloys of beryllium are used in many specialized, high-technology electronics applications, as they are energy efficient and can be used to fabricate miniaturized components. Beryllium-copper alloys are used as contacts and connectors, switches, relays, and shielding for everything from cell phones to thermostats, and beryllium-nickel alloys excel in producing wear-resistant and shape-retaining high-temperature springs. Beryllium metal composites, which combine the fabrication ability of aluminum with the thermal conductivity and highly elastic modulus of beryllium, are ideal for producing aircraft and satellite structural components that have a high stiffness-to-weight ratio and low surface vibration. Beryllium oxide ceramics are used in a wide range of applications, including missile guidance systems, radar applications, and cell phone transmitters, and they are critical to medical technologies, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines, medical lasers, and portable defibrillators.
The United States is expected to remain self-sufficient with respect to most of its beryllium requirements, based on information available at the time this chapter was prepared (2013). The United States is one of only three countries that currently process beryllium ores and concentrate them into beryllium products, and these three countries supply most of the rest of the world with these products. Exploration for new deposits in the United States is limited because domestic beryllium production is dominated by a single producer that effectively controls the domestic beryllium market, which is relatively small and specialized, and the market cannot readily accommodate new competition on the raw material supply side.
","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/pp1802E","isbn":"978-1-4113-3991-0","usgsCitation":"Foley, N.K., Jaskula, B.W., Piatak, N.M., and Schulte, R.F., 2017, Beryllium, chap. E 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. E1–E32, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802E.","productDescription":"viii, 32 p.","numberOfPages":"44","onlineOnly":"N","additionalOnlineFiles":"N","ipdsId":"IP-045146","costCenters":[{"id":245,"text":"Eastern Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":334565,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/e/pp1802e.pdf","text":"Report","size":"15.7 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"Professional Paper 1802 E"},{"id":334564,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1802/e/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
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
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
We worked with managers in two focal areas to plan for the uncertain future by integrating quantitative climate change scenarios and simulation modeling into scenario planning exercises.
In our central North Dakota focal area, centered on Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, managers are concerned about how changes in flood severity and growing conditions for native and invasive plants may affect archaeological resources and cultural landscapes associated with the Knife and Missouri Rivers. Climate projections and hydrological modeling based on those projections indicate plausible changes in spring and summer soil moisture ranging from a 7 percent decrease to a 13 percent increase and maximum winter snowpack (important for spring flooding) changes ranging from a 13 percent decrease to a 47 percent increase. Facilitated discussions among managers and scientists exploring the implications of these different climate scenarios for resource management revealed potential conflicts between protecting archeological sites and fostering riparian cottonwood forests. The discussions also indicated the need to prioritize archeological sites for excavation or protection and culturally important plant species for intensive management attention.
In our southwestern South Dakota focal area, centered on Badlands National Park, managers are concerned about how changing climate will affect vegetation production, wildlife populations, and erosion of fossils, archeological artifacts, and roads. Climate scenarios explored by managers and scientists in this focal area ranged from a 13 percent decrease to a 33 percent increase in spring precipitation, which is critical to plant growth in the northern Great Plains region, and a slight decrease to a near doubling of intense rain events. Facilitated discussions in this focal area concluded that greater effort should be put into preparing for emergency protection, excavation, and preservation of exposed fossils or artifacts and revealed substantial opportunities for different agencies to learn from each other and cooperate on common management goals. Follow up quantitative simulation modeling of grassland dynamics helped quantify the degree of change expected in vegetation production under the wide range of climate scenarios and suggested that (a) low grazing rates could be adversely affecting vegetation composition in the national park and (b) understanding of the management practices needed to maintain desired vegetation conditions is incomplete.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20171129","usgsCitation":"Symstad, A.J., Miller, B.W., Friedman, J.M., Fisichelli, N.A., Ray, A.J., Rowland, Erika, and Schuurman, G.W., 2017, Model-based scenario planning to inform climate change adaptation in the Northern Great Plains—Final report: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2017–1129, 22 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171129.","productDescription":"Report: vii, 22 p.; Data Release","numberOfPages":"34","onlineOnly":"Y","ipdsId":"IP-089059","costCenters":[{"id":480,"text":"Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":348794,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1129/coverthb.jpg"},{"id":348795,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1129/ofr20171129.pdf","text":"Report","size":"2.63 MB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2017–1129"},{"id":348796,"rank":3,"type":{"id":30,"text":"Data Release"},"url":"https://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F7T1524X","text":"USGS data release","linkHelpText":"State-and-transition simulation model of rangeland vegetation in southwest South Dakota (1969–2050)"}],"country":"United States","state":"Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -114,\n 41\n ],\n [\n -97,\n 41\n ],\n [\n -97,\n 49\n ],\n [\n -114,\n 49\n ],\n [\n -114,\n 41\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","contact":"Director, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
U.S. Geological Survey
8711 37th Street Southeast
Jamestown, North Dakota 58401
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.
Introduction: Tidal marsh systems along the Pacific coast of the United States have experienced substantial stress and loss of area and ecosystem function, which we examined by using the endangered California Ridgway’s Rail, Rallus obsoletus obsoletus (‘rail’) as an indicator of its tidal marsh habitat in the San Francisco Estuary. We organized a collection of historical (1885-1940) and modern (2005-2014) rail feathers and analyzed the feather isotope means for delta carbon (δ13C), sulfur (δ34S), and nitrogen (δ15N) by region and time period.
Outcomes: Feather isotopes represented the primary foraging habitat during historical then modern time periods. Neither individual nor regional rail feather isotopes suggested freshwater or terrestrial foraging by the rail. Three regions with both historic and modern feather isotopes revealed non-uniform spatial shifts in isotope levels consistent with a marine based food web and significant δ15N enrichment.
Discussion: Our results supported the rail’s status as a generalist forager and obligate tidal marsh species throughout the historic record. The variable isoscape trends generated from feather isotope means illustrated a modern loss of the isotopic homogeneity between regions of historical tidal marsh, which correlated with spatially-explicit habitat alterations such as increasing biological invasions and sewage effluent over time.
Conclusion: These findings have reinforced the importance of tidal marsh conservation in the face of ongoing underlying changes to these important ecosystems.
","language":"English","publisher":"Taylor & Francis","doi":"10.1080/20964129.2017.1410451","usgsCitation":"Merritt, A.M., Casazza, M.L., Overton, C.T., Takekawa, J.Y., Hahn, T.P., and Hull, J.M., 2017, Lessons from the past: isotopes of an endangered rail as indicators of underlying change to tidal marsh habitats: Ecosystem Health and Sustainability, v. 3, no. 11, p. 1-16, https://doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2017.1410451.","productDescription":"Article 1410451; 16 p.","startPage":"1","endPage":"16","ipdsId":"IP-085120","costCenters":[{"id":651,"text":"Western Ecological Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":469234,"rank":0,"type":{"id":40,"text":"Open Access Publisher Index Page"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20964129.2017.1410451","text":"Publisher Index Page"},{"id":352014,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"California","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -122.70904541015625,\n 37.31338308990806\n ],\n [\n -121.74774169921875,\n 37.31338308990806\n ],\n [\n -121.74774169921875,\n 38.33088431959971\n ],\n [\n -122.70904541015625,\n 38.33088431959971\n ],\n [\n -122.70904541015625,\n 37.31338308990806\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","volume":"3","issue":"11","publishingServiceCenter":{"id":1,"text":"Sacramento PSC"},"noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"5afee79ce4b0da30c1bfc2ee","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Merritt, Angela M. 0000-0002-8512-2423 amerritt@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8512-2423","contributorId":201578,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Merritt","given":"Angela","email":"amerritt@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"M.","affiliations":[{"id":651,"text":"Western Ecological Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":729474,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Casazza, Michael L. 0000-0002-5636-735X mike_casazza@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5636-735X","contributorId":2091,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Casazza","given":"Michael","email":"mike_casazza@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"L.","affiliations":[{"id":651,"text":"Western Ecological Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":729473,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Overton, Cory T. 0000-0002-5060-7447 coverton@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5060-7447","contributorId":3262,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Overton","given":"Cory","email":"coverton@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"T.","affiliations":[{"id":651,"text":"Western Ecological Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":729475,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Takekawa, John Y. 0000-0003-0217-5907 john_takekawa@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0217-5907","contributorId":196611,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Takekawa","given":"John","email":"john_takekawa@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"Y.","affiliations":[{"id":651,"text":"Western Ecological Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":729476,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4},{"text":"Hahn, Thomas P.","contributorId":202760,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Hahn","given":"Thomas","email":"","middleInitial":"P.","affiliations":[{"id":7214,"text":"University of California, Davis","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":729477,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":5},{"text":"Hull, Joshua M.","contributorId":127686,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Hull","given":"Joshua","email":"","middleInitial":"M.","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":729478,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":6}]}} ,{"id":70195981,"text":"70195981 - 2017 - Natural and human-induced variability in barrier-island response to sea level rise","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2018-03-12T12:44:40","indexId":"70195981","displayToPublicDate":"2017-12-16T00:00:00","publicationYear":"2017","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":1807,"text":"Geophysical Research Letters","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"Natural and human-induced variability in barrier-island response to sea level rise","docAbstract":"Storm-driven sediment fluxes onto and behind barrier islands help coastal barrier systems keep pace with sea level rise (SLR). Understanding what controls cross-shore sediment flux magnitudes is critical for making accurate forecasts of barrier response to increased SLR rates. Here, using an existing morphodynamic model for barrier island evolution, observations are used to constrain model parameters and explore potential variability in future barrier behavior. Using modeled drowning outcomes as a proxy for vulnerability to SLR, 0%, 28%, and 100% of the barrier is vulnerable to SLR rates of 4, 7, and 10 mm/yr, respectively. When only overwash fluxes are increased in the model, drowning vulnerability increases for the same rates of SLR, suggesting that future increases in storminess may increase island vulnerability particularly where sediment resources are limited. Developed sites are more vulnerable to SLR, indicating that anthropogenic changes to overwash fluxes and estuary depths could profoundly affect future barrier response to SLR.
","language":"English","publisher":"AGU Publications","doi":"10.1002/2017GL074811","usgsCitation":"Miselis, J.L., and Lorenzo-Trueba, J., 2017, Natural and human-induced variability in barrier-island response to sea level rise: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 44, no. 23, p. 11922-11931, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL074811.","productDescription":"10 p.","startPage":"11922","endPage":"11931","ipdsId":"IP-087584","costCenters":[{"id":574,"text":"St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":469235,"rank":0,"type":{"id":40,"text":"Open Access Publisher Index Page"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.1002/2017gl074811","text":"Publisher Index Page"},{"id":352407,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","state":"New Jersey","geographicExtents":"{\n \"type\": \"FeatureCollection\",\n \"features\": [\n {\n \"type\": \"Feature\",\n \"properties\": {},\n \"geometry\": {\n \"type\": \"Polygon\",\n \"coordinates\": [\n [\n [\n -74.19822692871094,\n 39.73834635103298\n ],\n [\n -74.03274536132812,\n 39.73834635103298\n ],\n [\n -74.03274536132812,\n 40.07071544306934\n ],\n [\n -74.19822692871094,\n 40.07071544306934\n ],\n [\n -74.19822692871094,\n 39.73834635103298\n ]\n ]\n ]\n }\n }\n ]\n}","volume":"44","issue":"23","publishingServiceCenter":{"id":9,"text":"Reston PSC"},"noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationDate":"2017-12-11","publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"5afee79ce4b0da30c1bfc2ec","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Miselis, Jennifer L. 0000-0002-4925-3979 jmiselis@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4925-3979","contributorId":3914,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Miselis","given":"Jennifer","email":"jmiselis@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"L.","affiliations":[{"id":574,"text":"St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":730785,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Lorenzo-Trueba, Jorge 0000-0002-7082-7762","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7082-7762","contributorId":203269,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Lorenzo-Trueba","given":"Jorge","email":"","affiliations":[{"id":36592,"text":"Montclair State University","active":true,"usgs":false}],"preferred":false,"id":730786,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2}]}} ,{"id":70190920,"text":"sir20175107 - 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","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2017-12-14T15:35:01","indexId":"sir20175107","displayToPublicDate":"2017-12-14T13:15:00","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":"2017-5107","title":"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","docAbstract":"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
In previous tests of the effectiveness of four common fish screen materials for excluding lamprey ammocoetes, we determined that woven wire (WW) allowed substantially more entrainment than perforated plate (PP), profile bar (PB), or Intralox (IL) material. These tests were simplistic because they used small vertically-oriented screens positioned perpendicular to the flow without a bypass or a sweeping velocity (SV). In the subsequent test discussed in this report, we exposed ammocoetes to much larger (2.5-m-wide) screen panels with flows up to 10 ft3 /s, a SV component, and a simulated bypass channel. The addition of a SV modestly improved protection of lamprey ammocoetes for all materials tested. A SV of 35 cm/s with an approach velocity (AV) of 12 cm/s, was able to provide protection for fish about 5–15 mm smaller than the protection provided by an AV of 12 cm/s without a SV component. The best-performing screen panels (PP, IL, and PB) provided nearly complete protection from entrainment for fish greater than 50-mm toal length, but the larger openings in the WW material only protected fish greater than 100-mm total length. Decreasing the AV and SV by 50 percent expanded the size range of protected lampreys by about 10–15 mm for those exposed to IL and WW screens, and it decreased the protective ability of PP screens by about 10 mm. Much of the improvement for IL and WW screens under the reduced flow conditions resulted from an increase in the number of lampreys swimming away from the screen. Fish of all sizes became impinged (that is, stuck on the screen surface for more than 1 s) on the screens, with the rate of impingement highest on PP (39– 72 percent) and lowest on WW (7–22 percent). Although impingements were common, injuries were rare, and 24-h post-test survival was greater than 99 percent. Our results refined the level of protection provided by these screen materials when both an AV and SV are present and confirmed our earlier recommendation that WW screens be replaced with more effective materials. Future work should focus on determining the risks associated with other screen types (for example, rotary drum screens, horizontal flat plate screens) and exploring the effectiveness of higher SV:AV ratios, because it may help expand the range of sizes protected by the best performing materials.
","language":"English","publisher":"U.S. Geological Survey","publisherLocation":"Reston, VA","doi":"10.3133/ofr20171163","usgsCitation":"Mesa, M.G., Liedtke, T.L., Weiland, L.K., and Christiansen, H.E., 2017, Effectiveness of common fish screen materials for protecting lamprey ammocoetes—Influence of sweeping velocities and decreasing flows: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2017-1163, 19 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171163.","productDescription":"iv, 19 p.","numberOfPages":"28","ipdsId":"IP-092482","costCenters":[{"id":654,"text":"Western Fisheries Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":350014,"rank":2,"type":{"id":11,"text":"Document"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1163/ofr20171163.pdf","text":"Report","size":"836 KB","linkFileType":{"id":1,"text":"pdf"},"description":"OFR 2017-1163"},{"id":350013,"rank":1,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1163/coverthb.jpg"}],"contact":"Director, Western Fisheries Research Center
U.S. Geological Survey
6505 NE 65th Street
Seattle, Washington 98115
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":70191318,"text":"sir20175114 - 2017 - Groundwater discharge to the Mississippi River and groundwater balances for the Interstate 94 Corridor surficial aquifer, Clearwater to Elk River, Minnesota, 2012–14","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2017-12-13T15:59:22","indexId":"sir20175114","displayToPublicDate":"2017-12-13T00:00:00","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":"2017-5114","title":"Groundwater discharge to the Mississippi River and groundwater balances for the Interstate 94 Corridor surficial aquifer, Clearwater to Elk River, Minnesota, 2012–14","docAbstract":"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
Bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) have been introduced throughout Europe, mostly unintentionally, and little attention has been given to their potential for natural reproduction. We investigated the presence of young-of-the-year bighead carp in an irrigation canal network of Northern Italy and the environmental conditions associated with spawning in 2011–2015. The adult bighead carp population of the canal network was composed by large, likely mature, individuals with an average density of 45.2 kg/ha (over 10 fold more than in the main river). The 29 juvenile bighead carp found were 7.4–13.1 cm long (TL) and weighed 9.5–12.7 g. Using otolith-derived spawning dates we estimated that these juveniles were 94–100 days old, placing their fertilization and hatch dates in mid-to-end-June. Using this information in combination with thermal and hydraulic data, we examined the validity of existing models predicting the onset of spawning conditions and the viability of egg pathways to elucidate spawning location of the species. While evidence of reproduction was not found every year, we determined that potentially viable spawning conditions (annual degree-days and temperature thresholds) and pathways of egg drift suitable for hatching are present in short, slow-flowing canals.
","language":"English","publisher":"PLOS","doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0189517","usgsCitation":"Milardi, M., Chapman, D., Long, J.M., and Castaldelli, G., 2017, First evidence of bighead carp wild recruitment in Western Europe, and its relation to hydrology and temperature: PLoS ONE, p. 1-13, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189517.","productDescription":"e0189517; 13 p.","startPage":"1","endPage":"13","ipdsId":"IP-083648","costCenters":[{"id":192,"text":"Columbia Environmental Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":469238,"rank":0,"type":{"id":40,"text":"Open Access Publisher Index Page"},"url":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189517","text":"Publisher Index Page"},{"id":350048,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"publishingServiceCenter":{"id":4,"text":"Rolla PSC"},"noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationDate":"2017-12-12","publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"5a60fae9e4b06e28e9c2296d","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Milardi, Marco","contributorId":201384,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Milardi","given":"Marco","email":"","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":725157,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Chapman, Duane 0000-0002-1086-8853 dchapman@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1086-8853","contributorId":1291,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Chapman","given":"Duane","email":"dchapman@usgs.gov","affiliations":[{"id":192,"text":"Columbia Environmental Research Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":324,"text":"Great Lakes Science Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":725156,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Long, James M. 0000-0002-8658-9949 jmlong@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8658-9949","contributorId":3453,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Long","given":"James","email":"jmlong@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"M.","affiliations":[{"id":198,"text":"Coop Res Unit Atlanta","active":true,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":725159,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Castaldelli, Giuseppe","contributorId":201385,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Castaldelli","given":"Giuseppe","email":"","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":725158,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4}]}} ,{"id":70201527,"text":"70201527 - 2017 - Simulating the effects of management practices on cropland soil organic carbon changes in the Temperate Prairies Ecoregion of the United States from 1980 to 2012","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2019-02-21T15:36:56","indexId":"70201527","displayToPublicDate":"2017-12-10T09:31:45","publicationYear":"2017","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":1458,"text":"Ecological Modelling","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"Simulating the effects of management practices on cropland soil organic carbon changes in the Temperate Prairies Ecoregion of the United States from 1980 to 2012","docAbstract":"Understanding the effects of management practices on soil organic carbon (SOC) is important for designing effective policies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. In the Midwest United States, management practices in the croplands have been improved to increase crop production and reduce SOC loss since the 1980s. Many studies of SOC dynamics in croplands have been performed to understand the effects of management, but the results are still not conclusive. This study quantified SOC dynamics in the Midwest croplands from 1980 to 2012 with the General Ensemble Biogeochemical Modelling System (GEMS) and available management data. Our results showed that the total SOC in the croplands decreased from 1190 Tg C in 1980 to 1107 TgC in 1995, and then increased to 1176 TgC in 2012. Continuous cropping and intensive tillage may have driven SOC loss in the early period. The increase of crop production and adoption of conservation tillage increased the total SOC so that the decrease in the total SOC stock after 32 years was only 1%. The small change in average SOC did not reflect the large spatial variations of SOC change in the region. Major SOC losses occurred in the north and south of the region, where SOC baseline values were high and cropland production was low. The SOC gains took place in the central part of the region where SOC baseline values were moderate and cropland production was higher than the other areas. We simulated multiple land-use land-cover (LULC) change scenarios and analyzed the results. The analysis showed that among all the LULC changes, agricultural technology that increased cropland production had the greatest impact on SOC changes, followed by the tillage practices, changes in crop species, and the conversions of cropland to other land use. Information on management practice induced spatial variation in SOC can be useful for policy makers and farm managers to develop long-term management strategies for increasing SOC sequestration in different areas.
","language":"English","publisher":"Elsevier","doi":"10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2017.09.017","usgsCitation":"Li, Z., Liu, S., Tan, Z., Sohl, T.L., and Wu, Y., 2017, Simulating the effects of management practices on cropland soil organic carbon changes in the Temperate Prairies Ecoregion of the United States from 1980 to 2012: Ecological Modelling, v. 365, p. 68-79, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2017.09.017.","productDescription":"12 p.","startPage":"68","endPage":"79","ipdsId":"IP-087774","costCenters":[{"id":222,"text":"Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center","active":true,"usgs":true}],"links":[{"id":360356,"type":{"id":24,"text":"Thumbnail"},"url":"https://pubs.usgs.gov/thumbnails/outside_thumb.jpg"}],"country":"United States","volume":"365","noUsgsAuthors":false,"publicationStatus":"PW","scienceBaseUri":"5c18c425e4b006c4f856ace0","contributors":{"authors":[{"text":"Li, Zhen","contributorId":200957,"corporation":false,"usgs":false,"family":"Li","given":"Zhen","affiliations":[],"preferred":false,"id":754393,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":1},{"text":"Liu, Shuguang 0000-0002-6027-3479 sliu@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6027-3479","contributorId":147403,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Liu","given":"Shuguang","email":"sliu@usgs.gov","affiliations":[{"id":223,"text":"Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center (Geography)","active":false,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":754394,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":2},{"text":"Tan, Zhengxi 0000-0002-4136-0921 ztan@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4136-0921","contributorId":2945,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Tan","given":"Zhengxi","email":"ztan@usgs.gov","affiliations":[{"id":223,"text":"Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center (Geography)","active":false,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":754395,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":3},{"text":"Sohl, Terry L. 0000-0002-9771-4231 sohl@usgs.gov","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9771-4231","contributorId":648,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Sohl","given":"Terry","email":"sohl@usgs.gov","middleInitial":"L.","affiliations":[{"id":222,"text":"Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center","active":true,"usgs":true},{"id":223,"text":"Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center (Geography)","active":false,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":754396,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":4},{"text":"Wu, Yiping ywu@usgs.gov","contributorId":987,"corporation":false,"usgs":true,"family":"Wu","given":"Yiping","email":"ywu@usgs.gov","affiliations":[{"id":223,"text":"Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center (Geography)","active":false,"usgs":true}],"preferred":true,"id":754397,"contributorType":{"id":1,"text":"Authors"},"rank":5}]}} ,{"id":70195221,"text":"70195221 - 2017 - Aftershocks, earthquake effects, and the location of the large 14 December 1872 earthquake near Entiat, central Washington","interactions":[],"lastModifiedDate":"2018-07-03T11:39:03","indexId":"70195221","displayToPublicDate":"2017-12-09T00:00:00","publicationYear":"2017","noYear":false,"publicationType":{"id":2,"text":"Article"},"publicationSubtype":{"id":10,"text":"Journal Article"},"seriesTitle":{"id":1135,"text":"Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America","onlineIssn":"1943-3573","printIssn":"0037-1106","active":true,"publicationSubtype":{"id":10}},"title":"Aftershocks, earthquake effects, and the location of the large 14 December 1872 earthquake near Entiat, central Washington","docAbstract":"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":70191218,"text":"sir20175115 - 2017 - Evaluation and use of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Watersheds Needs Survey data to quantify nutrient loads to surface water, 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
U.S. Geological Survey
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20192