Geology and mineral resources of the North-Central Montana Sagebrush Focal Area: Chapter D in Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming
Jeffrey L. Mauk, Michael L. Zientek, B. Carter Hearn Jr., Heather L. Parks, M. Christopher Jenkins, Eric D. Anderson, Mary Ellen Benson, Donald I. Bleiwas, Jacob DeAngelo, Paul Denning, Connie L. Dicken, Ronald M. Drake II, Gregory L. Fernette, Helen W. Folger, Stuart A. Giles, Jonathan M. G. Glen, Matthew Granitto, Jon E. Haacke, John D. Horton, Karen D. Kelley, Joyce A. Ober, Barnaby W. Rockwell, Carma A. San Juan, Elizabeth S. Sangine, Peter N. Schweitzer, Brian N. Shaffer, Steven M. Smith, Colin F. Williams, Douglas B. Yager
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5089-D
SummaryThe U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed to withdraw approximately 10 million acres of Federal lands from mineral entry (subject to valid existing rights) from 12 million acres of lands defined as Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming (for further discussion on the lands...
Geology and mineral resources of the Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Oregon and Nevada), the Southeastern Oregon and North-Central Nevada, and the Southern Idaho and Northern Nevada (and Utah) Sagebrush Focal Areas: Chapter B in Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming
Peter G. Vikre, Mary Ellen Benson, Donald I. Bleiwas, Joseph P. Colgan, Pamela M. Cossette, Jacob DeAngelo, Connie L. Dicken, Ronald M. Drake II, Edward A. du Bray, Gregory L. Fernette, Jonathan M. G. Glen, Jon E. Haacke, Susan M. Hall, Albert H. Hofstra, David A. John, Stephen Ludington, Mark J. Mihalasky, James J. Rytuba, Brian N. Shaffer, Lisa L. Stillings, John C. Wallis, Colin F. Williams, Douglas B. Yager, Lukas Zürcher
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5089-B
SummaryThe U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed to withdraw approximately 10 million acres of Federal lands from mineral entry (subject to valid existing rights) from 12 million acres of lands defined as Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming (for further discussion on the lands...
Geology and mineral resources of the Southwestern and South-Central Wyoming Sagebrush Focal Area, Wyoming, and the Bear River Watershed Sagebrush Focal Area, Wyoming and Utah: Chapter E in Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming
Anna B. Wilson, Timothy S. Hayes, Mary Ellen Benson, Douglas B. Yager, Eric D. Anderson, Donald I. Bleiwas, Jacob DeAngelo, Connie L. Dicken, Ronald M. Drake II, Gregory L. Fernette, Stuart A. Giles, Jonathan M. G. Glen, Jon E. Haacke, John D. Horton, Heather L. Parks, Barnaby W. Rockwell, Colin F. Williams
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5089-E
SummaryThe U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed to withdraw approximately 10 million acres of Federal lands from mineral entry (subject to valid existing rights) from 12 million acres of lands defined as Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming (for further discussion on the lands...
Using an interlaboratory study to revise methods for conducting 10-d to 42-d water or sediment toxicity tests with Hyalella azteca
Chris D. Ivey, Christopher G. Ingersoll, William G. Brumbaugh, Edward J. Hammer, David R. Mount, J. Russell Hockett, Teresa J. Norberg-King, Dave Soucek, Lisa Taylor
2016, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (35) 2439-2447
Studies have been conducted to refine US Environmental Protection Agency, ASTM International, and Environment Canada standard methods for conducting 42-d reproduction tests with Hyalella azteca in water or in sediment. Modifications to the H. azteca method include better-defined ionic composition requirements for exposure water (i.e., >15 mg/L of chloride and >0.02 mg/L...
Characterization of fractures and flow zones in a contaminated crystalline-rock aquifer in the Tylerville section of Haddam, Connecticut
Carole D. Johnson, Kristal F. Kiel, Peter K. Joesten, Katherine L. Pappas
2016, Data Series 1020
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, investigated the characteristics of the bedrock aquifer in the Tylerville section of Haddam, Connecticut, from June to August 2014. As part of this investigation, geophysical logs were collected from six water-supply wells and were analyzed...
Multi-index time series monitoring of drought and fire effects on desert grasslands
Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman, Steven Buckley, Cynthia S.A. Wallace, Michelle A. Coe
2016, Remote Sensing of Environment (183) 186-197
The Western United States is expected to undergo both extended periods of drought and longer wildfire seasons under forecasted global climate change and it is important to understand how these disturbances will interact and affect recovery and composition of plant communities in the future. In this research paper we describe...
Economic value of angling on the Colorado River at Lees Ferry: Using secondary data to estimate the influence of seasonality
Lucas S. Bair, David L. Rogowski, Christopher Neher
2016, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (36) 1229-1239
Glen Canyon Dam (GCD) on the Colorado River in northern Arizona provides water storage, flood control, and power system benefits to approximately 40 million people who rely on water and energy resources in the Colorado River basin. Downstream resources (e.g., angling, whitewater floating) in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (GCNRA)...
On the importance of stratigraphic control for vertebrate fossil sites in Channel Islands National Park, California, USA: Examples from new Mammuthus finds on San Miguel Island
Jeffery S. Pigati, Daniel R. Muhs, John P. McGeehin
2016, Quaternary International (443) 129-139
Quaternary vertebrate fossils, most notably mammoth remains, are relatively common on the northern Channel Islands of California. Well-preserved cranial, dental, and appendicular elements of Mammuthus exilis (pygmy mammoth) and Mammuthus columbi (Columbian mammoth) have been recovered from hundreds of localities on the islands during the past half-century or more. Despite...
Influence of bromide on the performance of the amphipod Hyalella azteca in reconstituted waters
Chris D. Ivey, Christopher G. Ingersoll
2016, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (35) 2425-2429
Poor performance of the amphipod Hyalella azteca has been observed in exposures using reconstituted waters. Previous studies have reported success in H. azteca water-only exposures with the addition of relatively high concentrations of bromide. The present study evaluated the influence of lower environmentally representative concentrations of bromide on the response...
Paleomagnetic correlation of basalt flows in selected coreholes near the Advanced Test Reactor Complex, the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center, and along the southern boundary, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho
Mary K.V. Hodges, Duane E. Champion
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5131
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, used paleomagnetic data from 18 coreholes to construct three cross sections of subsurface basalt flows in the southern part of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). These cross sections, containing descriptions of the subsurface horizontal and vertical distribution...
Environmental and eelgrass response to dike removal: Nisqually River Delta (2010–14)
Renee K. Takesue
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1169
Restoration of tidal flows to formerly diked marshland can alter land-to-sea fluxes and patterns of accumulation of terrestrial sediment and organic matter, and these tidal flows can also affect existing nearshore habitats. Dikes were removed from 308 hectares (ha) of the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge on the Nisqually River Delta...
The Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC)
Danielle K. Golon
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3070
The Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) operates as a partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey and is 1 of 12 DAACs within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). The LP DAAC ingests, archives, processes, and distributes NASA Earth...
Why do trees die? Characterizing the drivers of background tree mortality
Adrian J. Das, Nathan L. Stephenson, Kristin P. Davis
2016, Ecology (97) 2616-2627
The drivers of background tree mortality rates—the typical low rates of tree mortality found in forests in the absence of acute stresses like drought—are central to our understanding of forest dynamics, the effects of ongoing environmental changes on forests, and the causes and consequences of geographical gradients in the nature...
Groundwater quality in the Santa Barbara Coastal Plain, California
Tracy A. Davis, Kenneth Belitz
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3058
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California established the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access...
Status of groundwater quality in the Santa Barbara Study Unit, 2011: California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Tracy A. Davis, Justin T. Kulongoski
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5112
Groundwater quality in the 48-square-mile Santa Barbara study unit was investigated in 2011 as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program Priority Basin Project. The study unit is mostly in Santa Barbara County and is in the Transverse and Selected...
Groundwater level trends and drivers in two northern New England glacial aquifers
James B. Shanley, Ann T. Chalmers, Thomas J. Mack, Thor E. Smith, Philip T. Harte
2016, Journal of the American Water Resources Association (52) 1012-1030
We evaluated long-term trends and predictors of groundwater levels by month from two well-studied northern New England forested headwater glacial aquifers: Sleepers River, Vermont, 44 wells, 1992-2013; and Hubbard Brook, New Hampshire, 15 wells, 1979-2004. Based on Kendall Tau tests with Sen slope determination, a surprising number of well-month combinations had...
Enhanced canopy fuel mapping by integrating lidar data
Birgit E. Peterson, Kurtis J. Nelson
2016, Fact Sheet 2015-3086
BackgroundThe Wildfire Sciences Team at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earth Resources Observation and Science Center produces vegetation type, vegetation structure, and fuel products for the United States, primarily through the Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools (LANDFIRE) program. LANDFIRE products are used across disciplines for a variety of applications....
Learning from the recent Taiwan Meinong Earthquake
Ramon Gilsanz, Cathy Huang, Jessica Mandrick, Joe Mugford, Cerea Steficek, Mehmet Celebi, Sheng-Jhih Jhuang
2016, Conference Paper, SEAOC 2016 convention proceedings
This paper highlights the lessons learned following a reconnaissance trip to Tainan, Taiwan two weeks after the February 2016 earthquake. The reconnaissance was conducted by Gilsanz, Murray Steficek engineers (GMS) and an earthquake engineer from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI),...
Remote estimation of surface pCO2 on the West Florida Shelf
Shuangling Chen, Chuanmin Hu, Robert H. Byrne, Lisa L. Robbins, Bo Yang
2016, Continental Shelf Research (128) 10-25
Surface pCO2 data from the West Florida Shelf (WFS) have been collected during 25 cruise surveys between 2003 and 2012. The data were scaled up using remote sensing measurements of surface water properties in order to provide a more nearly synoptic map of pCO2 spatial distributions and describe their temporal variations. This investigation involved...
Calcareous microfossil-based orbital cyclostratigraphy in the Arctic Ocean
R. E. Marzen, Lauren H. DeNinno, Thomas M. Cronin
2016, Quaternary Science Reviews (149) 109-121
Microfaunal and geochemical proxies from marine sediment records from central Arctic Ocean (CAO) submarine ridges suggest a close relationship over the last 550 thousand years (kyr) between orbital-scale climatic oscillations, sea-ice cover, marine biological productivity and other parameters. Multiple paleoclimate proxies record glacial to interglacial cycles. To understand the climate-cryosphere-productivity...
Inter-comparison of three-dimensional models of volcanic plumes
Yujiro Suzuki, Antonio Costa, Matteo Cerminara, Tomaso Esposti Ongaro, Michael Herzog, Alexa R. Van Eaton, Leif Denby
2016, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (326) 26-42
We performed an inter-comparison study of three-dimensional models of volcanic plumes. A set of common volcanological input parameters and meteorological conditions were provided for two kinds of eruptions, representing a weak and a strong eruption column. From the different models, we compared the maximum plume height, neutral buoyancy level (where...
Long-term deer exclusion has complex effects on a suburban forest understory
Edward K. Faison, David R. Foster, Stephen DeStefano
2016, Rhodora (118) 382-402
Herbivory by deer is one of the leading biotic disturbances on forest understories (i.e., herbs, small shrubs, and small tree seedlings). A large body of research has reported declines in height, abundance, and reproductive capacity of forbs and woody plants coupled with increases in abundance of graminoids, ferns, and exotic...
Forecasting climate change impacts on plant populations over large spatial extents
Andrew T. Tredennick, Mevin Hooten, Cameron L. Aldridge, Collin G. Homer, Andrew R. Kleinhesselink, Peter B. Adler
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Plant population models are powerful tools for predicting climate change impacts in one location, but are difficult to apply at landscape scales. We overcome this limitation by taking advantage of two recent advances: remotely sensed, species-specific estimates of plant cover and statistical models developed for spatiotemporal dynamics of animal populations....
Seismic evidence of glacial-age river incision into the Tahaa barrier reef, French Polynesia
Michael Toomey, Jonathan D. Woodruff, Andrew D. Ashton, J. Taylor Perron
2016, Marine Geology (380) 284-289
Rivers have long been recognized for their ability to shape reef-bound volcanic islands. On the time-scale of glacial–interglacial sea-level cycles, fluvial incision of exposed barrier reef lagoons may compete with constructional coral growth to shape the coastal geomorphology of ocean islands. However, overprinting of Pleistocene landscapes by Holocene erosion or...
A synthesis of terrestrial mercury in the western United States: Spatial distribution defined by land cover and plant productivity
Daniel Obrist, Christopher Pearson, Jackson Webster, Tyler J. Kane, Che-Jen Lin, George R. Aiken, Charles N. Alpers
2016, Science of the Total Environment (568) 522-535
A synthesis of published vegetation mercury (Hg) data across 11 contiguous states in the western United States showed that aboveground biomass concentrations followed the order: leaves (26 μg kg− 1) ~ branches (26 μg kg− 1) > bark (16 μg kg− 1) > bole wood (1 μg kg− 1). No spatial trends of Hg in aboveground biomass distribution were detected, which likely is due to very sparse...
