Mapping surficial minerals at high latitudes: The USGS 2014 imaging spectrometer data collection in Alaska
Raymond F. Kokaly, Todd M. Hoefen, Garth Graham, Karen Kelly, Michaela Johnson, Bernard Hubbard, Richard Goldfarb
2015, Conference Paper
Passive optical remote sensing of high latitude regions faces many challenges including a short acquisition season and poor illumination due to low solar elevation. Additional complications are encountered in the identification of surface minerals for mineral resource characterization because minerals of interest commonly are exposed on steep terrain, further challenging...
Preliminary interpretation of industry two-dimensional seismic data from Susitna Basin, south-central Alaska
Kristen A. Lewis, Christopher J. Potter, Anjana K. Shah, Richard G. Stanley, Peter J. Haeussler, Richard W. Saltus
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1138
Located approximately 80 kilometers northwest of Anchorage, Alaska, the Susitna Basin is a complex sedimentary basin whose tectonic history has been poorly understood. Recent interpretation of two-dimensional seismic reflection data integrated with well, aeromagnetic, and gravity data provides new insights into the structural and stratigraphic nature of the basin. This report...
Potential for real‐time understanding of coupled hydrologic and biogeochemical processes in stream ecosystems: Future integration of telemetered data with process models for glacial meltwater streams
Diane M. McKnight, Karen D. Cozzetto, James D. S. Cullis, Michael N. Gooseff, Christopher Jaros, Joshua C. Koch, W. Berry Lyons, Roseanna M. Neupauer, Adam N. Wlostowski
2015, Water Resources Research (51) 6725-6738
While continuous monitoring of streamflow and temperature has been common for some time, there is great potential to expand continuous monitoring to include water quality parameters such as nutrients, turbidity, oxygen, and dissolved organic material. In many systems, distinguishing between watershed and stream ecosystem controls can be challenging. The usefulness...
Towards automating measurements and predictions of Escherichia coli concentrations in the Cuyahoga River, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio, 2012–14
Amie M.G. Brady, Meg B. Plona
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5094
Nowcasts are systems that can provide estimates of the current bacterial water-quality conditions based on predictive models using easily-measured, explanatory variables; nowcasts can provide the public with the information to make informed decisions on the risk associated with recreational activities in natural water bodies. Previous studies on the Cuyahoga River...
Indium: bringing liquid-crystal displays into focus
Celestine N. Mercer
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3012
Introduction Indium is rare in the Earth’s crust. The continental crust contains an average of about 50 parts per billion of indium, whereas the oceanic crust contains about 72 parts per billion, which is similar to meteoritic abundances and comparable to the crustal abundance of silver. Indium minerals are rare in...
Germanium: giving microelectronics an efficiency boost
Celestine N. Mercer
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3011
Introduction Germanium is a rare element but is present in trace quantities in most rock types because of its affinity for iron- and organic-bearing materials. The average germanium content of the Earth is about 14 parts per million, but the majority of germanium resides within the Earth’s core (37 parts per...
Electrical properties of methane hydrate + sediment mixtures
Wyatt L. Du Frane, Laura A. Stern, Steven Constable, Karen A. Weitemeyer, Megan M Smith, Jeffery J. Roberts
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research (120) 4773-4783
Knowledge of the electrical properties of multicomponent systems with gas hydrate, sediments, and pore water is needed to help relate electromagnetic (EM) measurements to specific gas hydrate concentration and distribution patterns in nature. Toward this goal, we built a pressure cell capable of measuring in situ electrical properties of multicomponent...
Examining spectral variations in localized lunar dark mantle deposits
Erica Jawin, Sebastien Besse, Lisa R. Gaddis, Jessica M. Sunshine, James W. Head, Sara Mazrouei
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets (120) 1310-1331
The localized lunar dark mantle deposits (DMDs) in Alphonsus, J. Herschel, and Oppenheimer craters were analyzed using visible-near-infrared spectroscopy data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper. Spectra of these localized DMDs were analyzed for compositional and mineralogical variations within the deposits and were compared with nearby mare basalt units. Spectra of...
Geologic Map of Baranof Island, southeastern Alaska
Susan M. Karl, Peter J. Haeussler, Glen R. Himmelberg, Cathy L. Zumsteg, Paul W. Layer, Richard M. Friedman, Sarah M. Roeske, Lawrence W. Snee
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3335
This map updates the geology of Baranof Island based on fieldwork, petrographic analyses, paleontologic ages, and isotopic ages. These new data provide constraints on depositional and metamorphic ages of lithostratigraphic rock units and the timing of structures that separate them. Kinematic analyses and thermobarometric calculations provide insights on the regional...
Hydrogeology of the Susquehanna River valley-fill aquifer system in the Endicott-Vestal area of southwestern Broome County, New York
Allan D. Randall, William M. Kappel
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5078
The village of Endicott, New York, and the adjacent town of Vestal have historically used groundwater from the Susquehanna River valley-fill aquifer system for municipal water supply, but parts of some aquifers in this urban area suffer from legacy contamination from varied sources. Endicott would like to identify sites distant...
Interanal seam loss in Asian turtles of the Cuora flavomarginata complex (Testudines, Geoemydidae)
Carl H. Ernst, Jeffrey E. Lovich
2015, Herpetological Bulletin 1-4
The taxonomy of Asian box turtles of the genus Cuora is complicated by the description of numerous valid and invalid taxa over the last several decades. However, some characteristics used to differentiate species are questionable. Members of the C. flavomarginata complex are defined by some, but not all, taxonomists as...
Effects of increased discharge on spawning and age-0 recruitment of rainbow trout in the Colorado River at Lees Ferry, Arizona
Luke A. Avery, Josh Korman, William R. Persons
2015, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (35) 671-680
Negative interactions of Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss with endangered Humpback Chub Gila cypha pose challenges to the operation of Glen Canyon Dam (GCD) to manage for both species in the Colorado River. Operations to enhance the Rainbow Trout tailwater fishery may lead to an increase in downstream movement of the trout to areas where...
Evaluating the importance of characterizing soil structure and horizons in parameterizing a hydrologic process model
Benjamin B. Mirus
2015, Hydrological Processes (29) 4611-4623
Incorporating the influence of soil structure and horizons into parameterizations of distributed surface water/groundwater models remains a challenge. Often, only a single soil unit is employed, and soil-hydraulic properties are assigned based on textural classification, without evaluating the potential impact of these simplifications. This study uses a distributed physics-based model...
Evaluation of habitat suitability index models by global sensitivity and uncertainty analyses: a case study for submerged aquatic vegetation
Zuzanna Zajac, Bradley Stith, Andrea C. Bowling, Catherine A. Langtimm, Eric D. Swain
2015, Ecology and Evolution (5) 2503-2517
Habitat suitability index (HSI) models are commonly used to predict habitat quality and species distributions and are used to develop biological surveys, assess reserve and management priorities, and anticipate possible change under different management or climate change scenarios. Important management decisions may be based on model results, often without a...
Effects of high salinity wastewater discharges on unionid mussels in the Allegheny River, Pennsylvania
Kathleen A. Patnode, Elizabeth A. Hittle, Robert Anderson, Lora Zimmerman, John W. Fulton
2015, Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management (6) 55-70
We examined the effect of high salinity wastewater (brine) from oil and natural gas drilling on freshwater mussels in the Allegheny River, Pennsylvania, during 2012. Mussel cages (N = 5 per site) were deployed at two sites upstream and four sites downstream of a brine treatment facility on the Allegheny...
Source, use and disposition of freshwater in Puerto Rico, 2010
Wanda L. Molina
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3044
Introduction Water diverted from streams and pumped from wells constitutes the main source of water for the 78 municipios of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. A better understanding of water-use patterns is needed, particularly regarding the amount of water used, where and how this water is used and disposed, and how...
Influence of a chlor-alkali superfund site on mercury bioaccumulation in periphyton and low-trophic level fauna
Kate L. Buckman, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Vivien F. Taylor, Ann T. Chalmers, Hannah J. Broadley, Jennifer L. Agee, Brian P. Jackson, Celia Y. Chen
2015, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (34) 1649-1658
In Berlin, New Hampshire, USA, the Androscoggin River flows adjacent to a former chlor-alkali facility that is a US Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site and source of mercury (Hg) to the river. The present study was conducted to determine the fate and bioaccumulation of methylmercury (MeHg) to lower trophic-level taxa...
Water-quality conditions and suspended-sediment transport in the Wilson and Trask Rivers, northwestern Oregon, water years 2012–14
Steven Sobieszczyk, Heather M. Bragg, Mark A. Uhrich
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5109
In October 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey began investigating and monitoring water-quality conditions and suspended-sediment transport in the Wilson and Trask Rivers, northwestern Oregon. Water temperature, specific conductance, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen were measured every 15–30 minutes in both streams using real-time instream water-quality monitors. In conjunction with the...
Groundwater levels, trends, and relations to pumping in the Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Project, Oregon and California
Marshall W. Gannett, Katherine H. Breen
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1145
The use of groundwater to supplement surface-water supplies for the Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Project in the upper Klamath Basin of Oregon and California markedly increased between 2000 and 2014. Pre-2001 groundwater pumping in the area where most of this increase occurred is estimated to have been about 28,600...
Responses to water depth and clipping of twenty−three plant species in an Indian monsoonal wetland
Beth A. Middleton, Arnold van der Valk, Craig B. Davis
2015, Aquatic Botany (126) 38-47
Responses of species to disturbances give insights into how species might respond to future wetland changes. In this study, species of monsoonal wetlands belonging to various functional types (graminoid and non−graminoid emergents, submersed aquatic, floating−leaved aquatic) varied in their growth responses to water depth and harvesting. We tested the effects...
Assessment of existing and potential landslide hazards resulting from the April 25, 2015 Gorkha, Nepal earthquake sequence
Brian D. Collins, Randall W. Jibson
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1142
Introduction On April 25, 2015, a large (M7.8) earthquake shook much of central Nepal and was followed by a series of M>6 aftershocks, including a M7.3 event on May 12, 2015. This earthquake and aftershocks, referred to as the “Gorkha earthquake sequence,” caused thousands of fatalities, damaged and destroyed entire villages,...
Larger aftershocks happen farther away: nonseparability of magnitude and spatial distributions of aftershocks
Nicholas van der Elst, Bruce E. Shaw
2015, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 5771-5778
Aftershocks may be driven by stress concentrations left by the main shock rupture or by elastic stress transfer to adjacent fault sections or strands. Aftershocks that occur within the initial rupture may be limited in size, because the scale of the stress concentrations should be smaller than the primary rupture...
Application of a putative alarm cue hastens the arrival of invasive sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) at a trapping location
John B. Hume, Trevor D. Meckley, Nicholas S. Johnson, Thomas M Luhring, Michael J Siefkes, C. Michael Wagner
2015, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (72) 1799-1806
The sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus is an invasive pest in the Laurentian Great Lakes basin, threatening the persistence of important commercial and recreational fisheries. There is substantial interest in developing effective trapping practices via the application of behavior-modifying semiochemicals (odors). Here we report on the effectiveness of utilizing repellent and attractant odors...
Approaches to modeling landscape-scale drought-induced forest mortality
Eric J. Gustafson, Douglas J. Shinneman
2015, Book chapter, Simulation modeling of forest landscape disturbances
Drought stress is an important cause of tree mortality in forests, and drought-induced disturbance events are projected to become more common in the future due to climate change. Landscape Disturbance and Succession Models (LDSM) are becoming widely used to project climate change impacts on forests, including potential interactions with...
Simulating forest landscape disturbances as coupled human and natural systems
Michael Wimberly, Terry L. Sohl, Zhihua Liu, Aashis Lamsal
2015, Book chapter
Anthropogenic disturbances resulting from human land use affect forest landscapes over a range of spatial and temporal scales, with diverse influences on vegetation patterns and dynamics. These processes fall within the scope of the coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) concept, which has emerged as an important framework for understanding...
