Locations and attributes of utility-scale solar power facilities in Colorado and New Mexico, 2011
Drew A. Ignizio, Natasha B. Carr
2012, Data Series 693
The data series consists of polygonal boundaries for utility-scale solar power facilities (both photovoltaic and concentrating solar power) located within Colorado and New Mexico as of December 2011. Attributes captured for each facility include the following: facility name, size/production capacity (in MW), type of solar technology employed, location, state, operational...
Mercury bioaccumulation studies in the National Water-Quality Assessment Program--biological data from New York and South Carolina, 2005-2009
Karen M. Beaulieu, Daniel T. Button, Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Karen Riva-Murray, Lia C. Chasar, Paul M. Bradley, Douglas A. Burns
2012, Data Series 705
The U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program conducted a multidisciplinary study from 2005–09 to investigate the bioaccumulation of mercury in streams from two contrasting environmental settings. Study areas were located in the central Adirondack Mountains region of New York and the Inner Coastal Plain of South Carolina. Fish, macroinvertebrates,...
Probabilistic prediction of barrier-island response to hurricanes
Nathaniel G. Plant, Hilary F. Stockdon
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research (117)
Prediction of barrier-island response to hurricane attack is important for assessing the vulnerability of communities, infrastructure, habitat, and recreational assets to the impacts of storm surge, waves, and erosion. We have demonstrated that a conceptual model intended to make qualitative predictions of the type of beach response to storms (e.g.,...
Effects of brush management on the hydrologic budget and water quality in and adjacent to Honey Creek State Natural Area, Comal County, Texas, 2001--10
J. Ryan Banta, Richard N. Slattery
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3097
Woody vegetation, including ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei), has encroached on some areas in central Texas that were historically oak grassland savannah. Encroachment of woody vegetation is generally attributed to overgrazing and fire suppression. Removing the ashe juniper and allowing native grasses to reestablish in the area as a brush management...
Geologic map of the Alley Spring quadrangle, Shannon County, Missouri
David J. Weary, Randall C. Orndorff
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3161
The Alley Spring 7.5-minute quadrangle is located in south-central Missouri within the Salem Plateau region of the Ozark Plateaus physiographic province. About 1,990 feet (ft) of flat-lying to gently dipping Lower Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, mostly dolomite, chert, sandstone, and orthoquartzite, overlie Mesoproterozoic volcanic rocks. A small exposure of the volcanic...
Estimating tag loss of the Atlantic Horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, using a multi-state model
Catherine Alyssa Butler, Conor P. McGowan, J. Barry Grand, David Smith
2012, Conference Paper
The Atlantic Horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, is a valuable resource along the Mid-Atlantic coast which has, in recent years, experienced new management paradigms due to increased concern about this species role in the environment. While current management actions are underway, many acknowledge the need for improved and updated parameter estimates...
Geospatial datasets for watershed delineation and characterization used in the Hawaii StreamStats web application
Alan Rea, Kenneth D. Skinner
2012, Data Series 680
The U.S. Geological Survey Hawaii StreamStats application uses an integrated suite of raster and vector geospatial datasets to delineate and characterize watersheds. The geospatial datasets used to delineate and characterize watersheds on the StreamStats website, and the methods used to develop the datasets are described in this report. The datasets...
Sediment loads in the Red River of the North and selected tributaries near Fargo, North Dakota, 2010--2011
Joel M. Galloway, Rochelle A. Nustad
2012, Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5111
Natural-resource agencies are concerned about possible geomorphic effects of a proposed diversion project to reduce the flood risk in the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area. The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers collected data in the spring of 2010 and 2011, and from June to November...
Introduction to the 8th International Workshop on Smoltification and a synthesis of major findings
Carl B. Schreck, Steven D. McCormick, Björn Thrandur Björnsson, Sigurd O. Stefansson, Hiroshi Ueda
2012, Aquaculture (362-363) 98-100
The early life history of anadromous salmonid fishes, be they Atlantic (Salmo salar) or Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.), trout of those genera, or charrs (Salvelinus spp.), appears much more complex than previously thought. The seaward movement or migration is extremely polymorphic among and within species. To help provide understanding of...
Forecasting climate change impacts to plant community composition in the Sonoran Desert region
Seth M. Munson, Robert H. Webb, Jayne Belnap, J. Andrew Hubbard, Don E. Swann, Sue Rutman
2012, Global Change Biology (18) 1083-1095
Hotter and drier conditions projected for the southwestern United States can have a large impact on the abundance and composition of long-lived desert plant species. We used long-term vegetation monitoring results from 39 large plots across four protected sites in the Sonoran Desert region to determine how plant species have...
Dawn at Vesta: testing the protoplanetary paradigm
C.T. Russell, C.A. Raymond, A. Coradini, H.Y. McSween, M.T. Zuber, A. Nathues, Maria-Cristina DeSanctis, R. Jaumann, A.S. Konopliv, F. Preusker, S.W. Asmar, R.S. Park, R. Gaskell, H.U. Keller, S. Mottola, T. Roatsch, J.E.C. Scully, D.E. Smith, P. Tricarico, M.J. Toplis, U.R. Christensen, W. C. Feldman, D. J. Lawrence, T.J. McCoy, T.H. Prettyman, R.C. Reedy, M.E. Sykes, T.N. Titus
2012, Science (336) 684-686
The Dawn spacecraft targeted 4 Vesta, believed to be a remnant intact protoplanet from the earliest epoch of solar system formation, based on analyses of howardite-eucrite-diogenite (HED) meteorites that indicate a differentiated parent body. Dawn observations reveal a giant basin at Vesta's south pole, whose excavation was sufficient to produce...
Practical estimates of field-saturated hydraulic conductivity of bedrock outcrops using a modified bottomless bucket method
Benjamin B. Mirus, Kim S. Perkins
2012, Water Resources Research (48)
The bottomless bucket (BB) approach (Nimmo et al., 2009a) is a cost-effective method for rapidly characterizing field-saturated hydraulic conductivity Kfs of soils and alluvial deposits. This practical approach is of particular value for quantifying infiltration rates in remote areas with limited accessibility. A similar approach for bedrock outcrops is also...
USGS Zebra Mussel Monitoring Program for north Texas
Christopher J. Churchill, Stanley Baldys
2012, Fact Sheet 2012-3077
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Zebra Mussel Monitoring Program for north Texas provides early detection and monitoring of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) by using a holistic suite of detection methods. The program is designed to assess zebra mussel occurrence, distribution, and densities in north Texas waters by using four approaches:...
Osteosarcoma of the maxilla with concurrent osteoma in a southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis)
J. Rodriguez-Ramos Fernandez, N. J. Thomas, R.R. Dubielzig, R. Drees
2012, Journal of Comparative Pathology (147) 391-396
Southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) are threatened marine mammals that belong to the family Mustelidae and are native to the coast of Central California. Neoplasia is reported infrequently in sea otters. An adult female free-ranging southern sea otter was...
Seismic refraction analysis: the path forward
Seth S. Haines, Colin Zelt, William Doll
2012, Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union (93) 305-305
Seismic Refraction Methods: Unleashing the Potential and Understanding the Limitations; Tucson, Arizona, 29 March 2012 A workshop focused on seismic refraction methods took place on 29 May 2012, associated with the 2012 Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems. This workshop was convened to assess the...
Volatile organic compounds in the unsaturated zone from radioactive wastes
Ronald J. Baker, Brian J. Andraski, David A. Stonestrom, Wentai Luo
2012, Journal of Environmental Quality (41) 1324-1336
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are often comingled with low-level radioactive wastes (LLRW), but little is known about subsurface VOC emanations from LLRW landfills. The current study systematically quantified VOCs associated with LLRW over an 11-yr period at the USGS Amargosa Desert Research Site (ADRS) in southwestern Nevada. Unsaturated-zone gas samples...
Identification of the thiamin pyrophosphokinase gene in rainbow trout: Characteristic structure and expression of seven splice variants in tissues and cell lines and during embryo development
Shinya Yuge, Catherine A. Richter, Maureen K. Wright-Osment, Diane Nicks, Stephanie K. Saloka, Donald E. Tillitt, Weiming Li
2012, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (163) 193-202
Thiamin pyrophosphokinase (TPK) converts thiamin to its active form, thiamin diphosphate. In humans, TPK expression is down-regulated in some thiamin deficiency related syndrome, and enhanced during pregnancy. Rainbow trout are also vulnerable to thiamin deficiency in wild life and are useful models for thiamin metabolism research. We identified the tpk...
Factors associated with sources, transport, and fate of chloroform and three other trihalomethanes in untreated groundwater used for drinking water
Janet M. Carter, Michael J. Moran, John S. Zogorski, Curtis V. Price
2012, Environmental Science & Technology (46) 8189-8197
Multiple lines of evidence for indicating factors associated with the sources, transport, and fate of chloroform and three other trihalomethanes (THMs) in untreated groundwater were revealed by evaluating low-level analytical results and logistic regression results for THMs. Samples of untreated groundwater from wells used for drinking water were collected from...
Occurrence of triclosan, triclocarban, and its lesser chlorinated congeners in Minnesota freshwater sediments collected near wastewater treatment plants
Arjun K. Venkatesan, Benny F.G. Pycke, Larry B. Barber, Kathy Lee, Rolf U. Halden
2012, Journal of Hazardous Materials (229-230) 29-35
The antimicrobial agents triclosan (TCS), triclocarban (TCC) and their associated transformation products are of increasing concern as environmental pollutants due to their potential adverse effects on humans and wildlife, including bioaccumulation and endocrine-disrupting activity. Analysis by tandem mass spectrometry of 24 paired freshwater bed sediment samples (top 10 cm) collected...
Analytical resource assessment method for continuous (unconventional) oil and gas accumulations - The "ACCESS" Method
Robert A. Crovelli, Ronald R. revised by Charpentier
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1146
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) periodically assesses petroleum resources of areas within the United States and the world. The purpose of this report is to explain the development of an analytic probabilistic method and spreadsheet software system called Analytic Cell-Based Continuous Energy Spreadsheet System (ACCESS). The ACCESS method is based...
Multivariate statistical approach to estimate mixing proportions for unknown end members
Joshua F. Valder, Andrew J. Long, Arden D. Davis, Scott J. Kenner
2012, Journal of Hydrology (460-461) 65-76
A multivariate statistical method is presented, which includes principal components analysis (PCA) and an end-member mixing model to estimate unknown end-member hydrochemical compositions and the relative mixing proportions of those end members in mixed waters. PCA, together with the Hotelling T2 statistic and a conceptual model of groundwater flow and...
Statement of Dr. Craig D. Allen, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate, 17 August 2012
Craig D. Allen
2012, Report
No abstract available....
Flood-inundation maps for Sweetwater Creek from above the confluence of Powder Springs Creek to the Interstate 20 bridge, Cobb and Douglas Counties, Georgia
Jonathan W. Musser
2012, Scientific Investigations Map 3220
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 10.5-mile reach of Sweetwater Creek, from about 1,800 feet above the confluence of Powder Springs Creek to about 160 feet below the Interstate 20 bridge, were developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with Cobb County, Georgia. The inundation maps, which can be...
Seismic hazard of American Samoa and neighboring South Pacific Islands--methods, data, parameters, and results
Mark D. Petersen, Stephen C. Harmsen, Kenneth S. Rukstales, Charles S. Mueller, Daniel E. McNamara, Nicolas Luco, Melanie Walling
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1087
American Samoa and the neighboring islands of the South Pacific lie near active tectonic-plate boundaries that host many large earthquakes which can result in strong earthquake shaking and tsunamis. To mitigate earthquake risks from future ground shaking, the Federal Emergency Management Agency requested that the U.S. Geological Survey prepare seismic...
The Cedars ultramafic mass, Sonoma County, California
M. Clark Blake Jr., Edgar H. Bailey, Carl M. Wentworth
2012, Open-File Report 2012-1164
The Cedars ultramafic mass is a mantle fragment that consists of partially serpentinized spinel harzburgite and dunite. Compositional layering and a chromite lineation define a penetrative metamorphic foliation that almost certainly formed in the upper mantle. Although detailed petrofabric and mineral chemistry are presently lacking, it seems reasonable that the...
