Diatomite
R.D. Crangle Jr.
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 48-49
The United States continues to be the world's leading producer and consumer of diatomite. Production of diatomite in the United States during 2011 was estimated to be 600 kt (661,000 st), a slight increase compared with 2010 production. The unit value of diatomite varied widely by end use in 2011....
P-T-t conditions, Nd and Pb isotopic compositions and detrital zircon geochronology of the Massabesic Gneiss Complex, New Hampshire: isotopic and metamorphic evidence for the identification of Gander basement, central New England
Michael J. Dorais, Robert P. Wintsch, Michael J. Kunk, John Aleinikoff, William Burton, Christine Underdown, Charles M. Kerwin
2012, American Journal of Science (312) 1049-1097
We present new evidence for the assignment of the Neoproterozoic Massabesic Gneiss Complex of New Hampshire to the Gander terrane rather than the Avalon terrane. The majority of Avalonian (sensu stricto) igneous and meta-igneous rocks as defined in Maritime Canada have positive whole-rock ɛNd compared to more negative values for...
Current and potential sustainable corn stover feedstock for biofuel production in the United States
Zhengxi Tan, Shu-Guang Liu, Larry L. Tieszen, Norman Bliss
2012, Biomass and Bioenergy (47) 372-386
Increased demand for corn (Zea mays L.) stover as a feedstock for cellulosic ethanol raises concerns about agricultural sustainability. Excessive corn stover harvesting could have long-term impacts on soil quality. We estimated current and future stover production and evaluated the potential harvestable stover amount (HSA) that could be used for biofuel...
Industrial diamond
D.W. Olson
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 62-63
Estimated 2011 world production of natural and synthetic industrial diamond was about 4.45 billion carats. During 2011, natural industrial diamonds were produced in more than 20 countries, and synthetic industrial diamond was produced in at least 13 countries. About 98 percent of the combined natural and synthetic global output was...
Dinocyst taphonomy, impact craters, cyst ghosts, and the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM)
Lucy E. Edwards
2012, Palynology (36) 80-95
Dinocysts recovered from sediments related to the Chesapeake Bay impact structure in Virginia and the earliest Eocene suboxic environment in Maryland show strange and intriguing details of preservation. Features such as curled processes, opaque debris, breakage, microborings and cyst ghosts, among others, invite speculation about catastrophic depositional processes, rapid burial...
Kinetics of uncatalyzed thermochemical sulfate reduction by sulfur-free paraffin
Tongwei Zhang, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Qisheng Ma, Alon Amrani, Yongchun Tang
2012, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (96) 1-17
To determine kinetic parameters of sulfate reduction by hydrocarbons (HC) without the initial presence of low valence sulfur, we carried out a series of isothermal gold-tube hydrous-pyrolysis experiments at 320, 340, and 360 °C under a constant confined pressure of 24.1 MPa. The reactants used consisted of saturated HC (sulfur-free)...
Relationship between mid-water trawling effort and catch composition uncertainty in two large lakes (Huron and Michigan) dominated by alosines, osmerids, and coregonines
David M. Warner, Randall M. Claramunt, Jeffrey S. Schaeffer, Daniel L. Yule, Tom R. Hrabik, Bernie Peintka, Lars G. Rudstam, Jeffrey D. Holuszko, Timothy P. O’Brien
2012, Fisheries Research (123-124) 62-69
Because it is not possible to identify species with echosounders alone, trawling is widely used as a method for collecting species and size composition data for allocating acoustic fish density estimates to species or size groups. In the Laurentian Great Lakes, data from midwater trawls are commonly used for such...
Early indications of soil recovery from acidic deposition in U.S. red spruce forests
Gregory B. Lawrence, Walter C. Shortle, Mark B. David, Kevin T. Smith, Richard A.F. Warby, Andrei G. Lapenis
2012, Soil Science Society of America Journal (76) 1407-1417
Forty to fifty percent decreases in acidic deposition through the 1980s and 1990s led to partial recovery of acidified surface waters in the northeastern United States; however, the limited number of studies that have assessed soil change found increased soil acidification during this period. From existing data, it's not clear...
Inter-laboratory calibration of natural gas round robins for δ2H and δ13C using off-line and on-line techniques
Jinxing Dai, Xinyu Xia, Zhisheng Li, Dennis D. Coleman, Robert F. Dias, Ling Gao, Jian Li, Andrei Deev, Jin Li, Daniel Dessort, Dominique Duclerc, Liwu Li, Jinzhong Liu, Stefan Schloemer, Wenlong Zhang, Yunyan Ni, Guoyi Hu, Xiaobo Wang, Yongchun Tang
2012, Chemical Geology (310-311) 49-55
Compound-specific carbon and hydrogen isotopic compositions of three natural gas round robins were calibrated by ten laboratories carrying out more than 800 measurements including both on-line and off-line methods. Two-point calibrations were performed with international measurement standards for hydrogen isotope ratios (VSMOW and SLAP) and carbon isotope ratios (NBS 19...
Earthworm bioassays and seedling emergence for monitoring toxicity, aging and bioaccumulation of anthropogenic waste indicator compounds in biosolids-amended soil
Chad A. Kinney, Bryan R. Campbell, Regina Thompson, Edward T. Furlong, Dana W. Kolpin, Mark R. Burkhardt, Steven D. Zaugg, Stephen L. Werner, Anthony G. Hay
2012, Science of the Total Environment (433) 507-515
Land application of biosolids (treated sewage sludge) can be an important route for introducing xenobiotic compounds into terrestrial environments. There is a paucity of available information on the effects of biosolids amendment on terrestrial organisms. In this study, the influence of biosolids and biosolids aging on earthworm (Eisenia fetida) reproduction...
Drought drove forest decline and dune building in eastern upper Michigan, USA, as the upper Great Lakes became closed basins
Walter L. Loope, Henry M. Loope, Ronald J. Goble, Timothy G. Fisher, David E. Lytle, Robert J. Legg, Douglas A. Wysocki, Paul R. Hanson, Aaron R. Young
2012, Geology (40) 315-318
Current models of landscape response to Holocene climate change in midcontinent North America largely reconcile Earth orbital and atmospheric climate forcing with pollen-based forest histories on the east and eolian chronologies in Great Plains grasslands on the west. However, thousands of sand dunes spread across 12,000 km2 in eastern upper...
Gypsum
R.D. Crangle Jr.
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 59-59
The United States is the world's fourth leading producer and consumer of gypsum. Production of gypsum in the U.S. during 2011 was estimated to be 9.4 Mt (103 million st), an increase of 6 percent compared with 2010 production. The average price of mined crude gypsum was $7/t ($6.35/st). Synthetic...
Correlation of resource plays and biodiversity patterns: accumulation of organic-rich shale tracks taxonomic turnover
Jennifer D. Eoff
2012, GCAGS Journal (1) 1-12
Similar paleogeographic and paleotectonic settings characterize most self-sourced shale hydrocarbon plays. Their deposition occurred within similar orders of magnitude of eustatic events and during geologic periods characterized by “warm” (or transitional) climates and calcitic seas. In addition, the stratigraphic occurrence of shale plays parallels certain historical patterns of marine metazoan...
Fluorspar
M. Miller
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 51-52
World fluorspar demand continued to show signs of recovery from 2008-2009 recession. In 2011, nearly all fluorspar (CaF2) consumed in the United States was imported. Hastie Mining and Trucking Co. produced some fluorspar as a byproduct from its limestone quarry operations in Illinois. In addition, a small amount of usable...
Directional connectivity in hydrology and ecology
Laurel G. Larsen, Jungyill Choi, Martha K. Nungesser, Judson W. Harvey
2012, Ecological Applications (22) 2204-2220
Quantifying hydrologic and ecological connectivity has contributed to understanding transport and dispersal processes and assessing ecosystem degradation or restoration potential. However, there has been little synthesis across disciplines. The growing field of ecohydrology and recent recognition that loss of hydrologic connectivity is leading to a global decline in biodiversity underscore...
A half-million-year record of paleoclimate from the Lake Manix Core, Mojave Desert, California
Marith C. Reheis, Jordon Bright, Steve P. Lund, David M. Miller, Gary Skipp, Robert J. Fleck
2012, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (365-366) 11-37
Pluvial lakes in the southwestern U.S. responded sensitively to past climate through effects on rainfall, runoff, and evaporation. Although most studies agree that pluvial lakes in the southwestern U.S. reached their highest levels coeval with glacial stages, the specific timing of increased effective moisture and lake-level rise is debated, particularly...
Allowable levels of take for the trade in Nearctic songbirds
Fred A. Johnson, Matthew A.H. Walters, G. Scott Boomer
2012, Ecological Applications (22) 1114-1130
The take of Nearctic songbirds for the caged-bird trade is an important cultural and economic activity in Mexico, but its sustainability has been questioned. We relied on the theta-logistic population model to explore options for setting allowable levels of take for 11 species of passerines that were subject to legal...
Post-fire land treatments and wind erosion -- lessons from the Milford Flat Fire, UT, USA
Mark E. Miller, Matthew A. Bowker, Richard L. Reynolds, Harland L. Goldstein
2012, Aeolian Research (7) 29-44
We monitored sediment flux at 25 plots located at the northern end of the 2007 Milford Flat Fire (Lake Bonneville Basin, west-central Utah) to examine the effectiveness of post-fire rehabilitation treatments in mitigating risks of wind erosion during the first 3 years post fire. Maximum values were recorded during Mar–Jul...
New insights into gill ionocyte and ion transporter function in euryhaline and diadromous fish
Junya Hiroi, Stephen D. McCormick
2012, Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology (184) 257-268
Teleost fishes are able to acclimatize to seawater by secreting excess NaCl by means of specialized “ionocytes” in the gill epithelium. Antibodies against Na+/K+-ATPase (NKA) have been used since 1996 as a marker for identifying branchial ionocytes. Immunohistochemistry of NKA by itself and in combination with Na+/K+/2Cl− cotransporter and CFTR...
Temporal evolution of stable water isotopologues in cloud droplets in a hill cap cloud in central Europe (HCCT-2010)
J.K. Spiegel, F. Aemisegger, M. Scholl, F.G. Wienhold, J.L. Collett Jr., T. Lee, D. van Pinxteren, S. Mertes, A. Tilgner, H. Herrmann, Roland A. Werner, N. Buchmann, W. Eugster
2012, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (12) 11679-11694
In this work, we present the first study resolving the temporal evolution of δ2H and δ18O values in cloud droplets during 13 different cloud events. The cloud events were probed on a 937 m high mountain chain in Germany in the framework of the Hill Cap Cloud Thuringia 2010 campaign...
Arsenic speciation in food chains from mid-Atlantic hydrothermal vents
Vivien F. Taylor, Brian P. Jackson, Matthew R. Siegfried, Jana Navratilova, Kevin A. Francesconi, Julie Kirshtein, Mary Voytek
2012, Environmental Chemistry (9) 130-138
Arsenic concentration and speciation were determined in benthic fauna collected from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge hydrothermal vents. The shrimp species, Rimicaris exoculata, the vent chimney-dwelling mussel, Bathymodiolus azoricus, Branchipolynoe seepensis, a commensal worm of B. azoricus and the gastropod Peltospira smaragdina showed variations in As concentration and in stable isotope (δ13C...
Ecological effects of climate change on salt marsh wildlife: a case study from a highly urbanized estuary
Karen M. Thorne, John Y. Takekawa, Deborah L. Elliott-Fisk
2012, Journal of Coastal Research (28) 1477-1487
Coastal areas are high-risk zones subject to the impacts of global climate change, with significant increases in the frequencies of extreme weather and storm events, and sea-level rise forecast by 2100. These physical processes are expected to alter estuaries, resulting in loss of intertidal wetlands and their component wildlife species....
Bromine
Joyce A. Ober
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 40-41
The element bromine is found principally as a dissolved species in seawater, evaporitic (salt) lakes and underground brines associated with petroleum deposits. Seawater contains about 65 parts per million of bromine or an estimated 100 Tt (110 trillion st). In the Middle East, the highly saline waters of the Dead...
Geologic processes influence the effects of mining on aquatic ecosystems
Travis S. Schmidt, William H. Clements, Richard B. Wanty, Philip L. Verplanck, Stan E. Church, Carma A. San Juan, David L. Fey, Barnaby W. Rockwell, Ed H. DeWitt, Terry L. Klein
2012, Ecological Applications (22) 870-879
Geologic processes strongly influence water and sediment quality in aquatic ecosystems but rarely are geologic principles incorporated into routine biomonitoring studies. We test if elevated concentrations of metals in water and sediment are restricted to streams downstream of mines or areas that may discharge mine wastes. We surveyed 198 catchments...
Effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita on Louisiana black bear habitat
Joseph D. Clark, Jennifer L. Murrow
2012, Ursus (23) 192-205
The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) is comprised of 3 subpopulations, each being small, geographically isolated, and vulnerable to extinction. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts in 2005, potentially altering habitat occupied by this federally threatened subspecies. We used data collected on radio-telemetered bears from...
