PRISM: Processing routines in IDL for spectroscopic measurements (installation manual and user's guide, version 1.0)
Raymond F. Kokaly
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1155
This report describes procedures for installing and using the U.S. Geological Survey Processing Routines in IDL for Spectroscopic Measurements (PRISM) software. PRISM provides a framework to conduct spectroscopic analysis of measurements made using laboratory, field, airborne, and space-based spectrometers. Using PRISM functions, the user can compare the spectra of materials...
Quantifying viruses and bacteria in wastewater—Results, interpretation methods, and quality control
Donna S. Francy, Erin A. Stelzer, Rebecca N. Bushon, Amie M. G. Brady, Brian E. Mailot, Susan K. Spencer, Mark A. Borchardt, Ashley G. Elber, Kimberly R. Riddell, Terry M. Gellner
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5150
Membrane bioreactors (MBR), used for wastewater treatment in Ohio and elsewhere in the United States, have pore sizes small enough to theoretically reduce concentrations of protozoa and bacteria, but not viruses. Sampling for viruses in wastewater is seldom done and not required. Instead, the bacterial indicators Escherichia coli (E. coli)...
Proceedings of the third USGS modeling conference, June 7-11, 2010, Broomfield, Colorado-Understanding and predicting for a changing world
Shailaja R. Brady
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5147
The Third USGS Modeling Conference was held June 7th-11, 2010, in Broomfield, Colorado. The conference focused on the development and application of analytical and theoretical models and data availability that support managing the Nation's resources and help protect lives and property. Participants at the conference included scientists and managers from...
Seasonal movements of non-native lake trout in a connected lake and river system
Clint C. Muhlfeld, J. Joseph Giersch, Brian Marotz
2011, Fisheries Management and Ecology (19) 224-232
Non-native lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush (Walbaum), threaten native salmonid populations in the western United States. Effective management of lake trout requires understanding movements within connected lake and river systems. This study determined the seasonal movements of subadult lake trout in the Flathead River upstream of Flathead Lake, Montana, USA using radio telemetry....
Developing a regional canopy fuels assessment strategy using multi-scale lidar
Birgit E. Peterson, Kurtis Nelson
2011, Conference Paper, Proceedings of SilviLaser 2011, 11th International Conference on LiDAR Applications for Assessing Forest Ecosystems, University of Tasmania, Australia, 16-20 October 2011
Accurate assessments of canopy fuels are needed by fire scientists to understand fire behavior and to predict future fire occurrence. A key descriptor for canopy fuels is canopy bulk density (CBD). CBD is closely linked to the structure of the canopy; therefore, lidar measurements are particularly well suited to assessments...
Undiscovered hydrocarbon resources in the U.S. Gulf Coast Jurassic Norphlet and Smackover Formations
Ofori N. Pearson
2011, Conference Paper, Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies transactions
The U.S. Geological Survey has completed assessments of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources in the Jurassic Norphlet and Smackover formations of the onshore coastal plain and State waters of the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Norphlet Formation consists of sandstones and interbedded shales and siltstones deposited during a marine...
Alaska Geochemical Database (AGDB)-Geochemical data for rock, sediment, soil, mineral, and concentrate sample media
Matthew Granitto, Elizabeth A. Bailey, Jeanine M. Schmidt, Nora B. Shew, Bruce M. Gamble, Keith A. Labay
2011, Data Series 637
The Alaska Geochemical Database (AGDB) was created and designed to compile and integrate geochemical data from Alaska in order to facilitate geologic mapping, petrologic studies, mineral resource assessments, definition of geochemical baseline values and statistics, environmental impact assessments, and studies in medical geology. This Microsoft Access database serves as a...
Organic contaminants, trace and major elements, and nutrients in water and sediment sampled in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Lisa H. Nowell, Amy S. Ludtke, David K. Mueller, Jonathon C. Scott
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1271
Beach water and sediment samples were collected along the Gulf of Mexico coast to assess differences in contaminant concentrations before and after landfall of Macondo-1 well oil released into the Gulf of Mexico from the sinking of the British Petroleum Corporation's Deepwater Horizon drilling platform. Samples were collected at 70...
Location and age of foraminifer samples examined by Chevron Petroleum Company paleontologists from more than 2,500 oil test wells in California
Earl E. Brabb
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1262
Chevron Petroleum Company in 2001 donated an estimated 50,000 foraminifer slides, 5,000 well logs, geologic and surface locality maps, and paleontologic reports to the California Academy of Sciences and Stanford University for safekeeping, because they stopped or cut back exploration for petroleum deposits in California. The material was loaned to...
Probabilistic seismic hazard assessment including site effects for Evansville, Indiana, and the surrounding region
Jennifer S. Haase, Tim Bowling, Robert L. Nowack, Yoon S. Choi, Chris H. Cramer, Oliver S. Boyd, Robert A. Bauer
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1231
We provide a probabilistic seismic hazard assessment for the Evansville, Indiana region incorporating information from new surficial geologic mapping efforts on the part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Kentucky and Indiana State Geological Surveys, as well as information on the thickness and properties of near surface soils...
Comment on "Changes in climatic water balance drive downhill shifts in plant species' optimum elevations"
Nathan L. Stephenson, Adrian J. Das
2011, Science (334) 177
Crimmins et al. (Reports, 21 January 2011, p. 324) attributed an apparent downward elevational shift of California plant species to a precipitation-induced decline in climatic water deficit. We show that the authors miscalculated deficit, that the apparent decline in species’ elevations is likely a consequence of geographic biases, and that unlike...
Applying remote sensing to invasive species science—A tamarisk example
Jeffrey T. Morisette
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3109
The Invasive Species Science Branch of the Fort Collins Science Center provides research and technical assistance relating to management concerns for invasive species, including understanding how these species are introduced, identifying areas vulnerable to invasion, forecasting invasions, and developing control methods. This fact sheet considers the invasive plant species tamarisk...
The Alaska Geochemical Database: v. 1.0 - Geologic Materials
Jeanine M. Schmidt, Matthew Granitto
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3130
What is the AGDB?: The Alaska Geochemical Database (AGDB) is a new, comprehensive compilation of geologic, spatial, descriptive, mineralogical, and analytical geochemical data for samples collected in Alaska and surrounding waters by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from 1962 to 2009. Data for geologic materials (rocks, minerals and mineral separates, soils, lake...
Bathymetric surveys at highway bridges crossing the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers near St. Louis, Missouri, 2010
Richard J. Huizinga
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5170
Bathymetric surveys were conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation, on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers in the vicinity of 12 bridges at 7 highway crossings near St. Louis, Missouri, in October 2010. A multibeam echo sounder mapping system was used to obtain...
Coulomb 3.3 Graphic-rich deformation and stress-change software for earthquake, tectonic, and volcano research and teaching-user guide
Shingi Toda, Ross S. Stein, Volkan Sevilgen, Jian Lin
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1060
Coulomb is intended both for publication-directed research and for college and graduate school classroom instruction. We believe that one learns best when one can see the most and can explore alternatives quickly. So the principal feature of Coulomb is ease of input, rapid interactive modification, and intuitive visualization of the...
Assessing hydraulic connections across a complex sequence of volcanic rocks - Analysis of U-20 WW multiple-well aquifer test, Pahute Mesa, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada
C. Amanda Garcia, Joseph M. Fenelon, Keith J. Halford, Steven R. Reiner, Randell J. Laczniak
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5173
Groundwater beneath Pahute Mesa flows through a complexly layered sequence of volcanic rock aquifers and confining units that have been faulted into distinct structural blocks. Hydraulic property estimates of rocks and structures in this flow system are necessary to assess radionuclide migration near underground nuclear testing areas. The U.S. Geological...
Streamflow and streambed scour in 2010 at bridge 339, Copper River, Alaska
Jeffrey S. Conaway, Timothy P. Brabets
2011, Professional Paper 1784-C
The Copper River Highway traverses a dynamic and complex network of braided and readily erodible channels that constitute the Copper River Delta, Alaska, by way of 11 bridges. Over the past decade, several of these bridges and the highway have sustained serious damage from both high and low flows and...
Hydrogeologic setting and simulation of groundwater flow near the Canterbury and Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnels, Leadville, Colorado
Tristan P. Wellman, Suzanne S. Paschke, Burke Minsley, Jean A. Dupree
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5085
The Leadville mining district is historically one of the most heavily mined regions in the world producing large quantities of gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, and manganese since the 1860s. A multidisciplinary investigation was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Colorado Department of Public Health and...
Assessment of in-place oil shale resources of the Eocene Green River Formation, a foundation for calculating recoverable resources
Ronald C. Johnson, Tracy J. Mercier
2011, Conference Paper, 31st Oil Shale Symposium: Proceedings
The recently completed assessment of in-place resources of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin, Colorado; the Uinta Basin, Utah and Colorado; and the Greater Green River Basin Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah and their accompanying ArcGIS projects will form the foundation for estimating technically-recoverable resources in those areas....
Dating of Pliocene Colorado River sediments: implications for cosmogenic burial dating and the evolution of the lower Colorado River
Ari Matmon, Greg M. Stock, Darryl E. Granger, Keith A. Howard
2011, Geological Society of America Bulletin (124) 626-640
We applied cosmogenic 26Al/10Be burial dating to sedimentary deposits of the ancestral Colorado River. We compared cosmogenic burial ages of sediments to the age of an independently well-dated overlying basalt flow at one site, and also applied cosmogenic burial dating to sediments with less precise independent age constraints. All dated...
Simulations of flow and prediction of sediment movement in Wymans Run, Cochranton Borough, Crawford County, Pennsylvania
Elizabeth Hittle
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1223
In small watersheds, runoff entering local waterways from large storms can cause rapid and profound changes in the streambed that can contribute to flooding. Wymans Run, a small stream in Cochranton Borough, Crawford County, experienced a large rain event in June 2008 that caused sediment to be deposited at a...
Assessment of hyporheic zone, flood-plain, soil-gas, soil, and surface-water contamination at the Old Incinerator Area, Fort Gordon, Georgia, 2009-2010
Wladmir B. Guimaraes, W. Fred Falls, Andral W. Caldwell, W. Hagan Ratliff, John B. Wellborn, James Landmeyer
2011, Open-File Report 2011-1201
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Army Environmental and Natural Resources Management Office of the U.S. Army Signal Center and Fort Gordon, Georgia, assessed the hyporheic zone, flood plain, soil gas, soil, and surface-water for contaminants at the Old Incinerator Area at Fort Gordon,...
Water-quality data for the Russian River Basin, Mendocino and Sonoma Counties, California, 2005-2010
Robert Anders, Karl Davidek, Donald M. Stoeckel
2011, Data Series 610
Since 2003, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Sonoma County Water Agency, has been collecting chemical, microbiological, and isotopic data from surface-water and groundwater sites in Mendocino and Sonoma Counties, California. The investigation is being conducted to determine water-quality baseline conditions for the Russian River during the summer...
Suspended sediment and bedload in the First Broad River Basin in Cleveland County, North Carolina, 2008-2009
William F. Hazell, Brad A. Huffman
2011, Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5079
A study was conducted to characterize sediment transport upstream and downstream from a proposed dam on the First Broad River near the town of Lawndale in Cleveland County, North Carolina. Streamflow was measured continuously, and 381 suspended-sediment samples were collected between late March 2008 and September 2009 at two monitoring...
Relations among land cover, streamflow, and water quality in the North Canadian River Basin near Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: 1968-2009
Rachel A. Esralew, William J. Andrews, S. Jerrod Smith
2011, Fact Sheet 2011-3107
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the city of Oklahoma City, has collected water-quality samples at the North Canadian River near Harrah, Oklahoma (the Harrah station), since 1968, and the North Canadian River at Britton Road at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (the Britton Road station), since 1988. The North Canadian...
