Interactions among livestock grazing, vegetation type, and fire behavior in the Murphy Wildland Fire Complex in Idaho and Nevada, July 2007
Karen Launchbaugh, Bob Brammer, Matthew L. Brooks, Stephen C. Bunting, Patrick Clark, Jay Davison, Mark Fleming, Ron Kay, Mike Pellant, David A. Pyke
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1214
A series of wildland fires were ignited by lightning in sagebrush and grassland communities near the Idaho-Nevada border southwest of Twin Falls, Idaho in July 2007. The fires burned for over two weeks and encompassed more than 650,000 acres. A team of scientists, habitat specialists, and land managers was called...
Catalog of earthquake hypocenters at Alaskan volcanoes: January 1 through December 31, 2007
James P. Dixon, Scott D. Stihler, John A. Power
2008, Data Series 367
Between January 1 and December 31, 2007, AVO located 6,664 earthquakes of which 5,660 occurred within 20 kilometers of the 33 volcanoes monitored by the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Monitoring highlights in 2007 include: the eruption of Pavlof Volcano, volcanic-tectonic earthquake swarms at the Augustine, Illiamna, and Little Sitkin volcanic centers,...
Quantifying Ground-Water and Surface-Water Discharge from Evapotranspiration Processes in 12 Hydrographic Areas of the Colorado Regional Ground-Water Flow System, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona
Guy A. DeMeo, J. LaRue Smith, Nancy A. Damar, Jon Darnell
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5116
Rapid population growth in southern Nevada has increased the demand for additional water supplies from rural areas of northern Clark and southern Lincoln counties to meet projected water-supply needs. Springs and rivers in these undeveloped areas sustain fragile riparian habitat and may be susceptible to ground-water withdrawals. Most natural ground-water...
Monitoring ecosystem quality and function in arid settings of the Mojave Desert
Jayne Belnap, Robert H. Webb, Mark E. Miller, David M. Miller, Lesley A. DeFalco, Philip A. Medica, Matthew L. Brooks, Todd C. Esque, Dave Bedford
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5064
Monitoring ecosystem quality and function in the Mojave Desert is both a requirement of state and Federal government agencies and a means for determining potential long-term changes induced by climatic fluctuations and land use. Because it is not feasible to measure every attribute and process in the desert ecosystem, the...
Hydrogeology, Chemical Characteristics, and Transport Processes in the Zone of Contribution of a Public-Supply Well in York, Nebraska
Matthew K. Landon, Brian R. Clark, Peter B. McMahon, Virginia L. McGuire, Michael J. Turco
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5050
In 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey, as part of the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program, initiated a topical study of Transport of Anthropogenic and Natural Contaminants (TANC) to PSW (public-supply wells). Local-scale and regional-scale TANC study areas were delineated within selected NAWQA study units for intensive study of processes...
Interpreting and Reporting Radiological Water-Quality Data
David E. McCurdy, John R. Garbarino, Ann H. Mullin
2008, Techniques and Methods 5-B6
This document provides information to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Science Centers on interpreting and reporting radiological results for samples of environmental matrices, most notably water. The information provided is intended to be broadly useful throughout the United States, but it is recommended that scientists who work at sites containing...
Specific conductance in the Colorado River between Glen Canyon Dam and Diamond Creek, Northern Arizona, 1988-2007
Nicholas Voichick
2008, Data Series 364
The construction of Glen Canyon Dam, completed in 1963, resulted in substantial physical and biological changes to downstream Colorado River environments between Lake Powell and Lake Mead - an area almost entirely within Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. In an effort to understand these changes, data have been collected to...
Mineral Commodity Summaries 2008
Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey
2008, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2008
Each chapter of the 2008 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) includes information on events, trends, and issues for each mineral commodity as well as discussions and tabular presentations on domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, 5-year salient statistics, and world production and resources. The...
Regional Stratigraphy and Petroleum Systems of the Michigan Basin, North America
Christopher S. Swezey
2008, Scientific Investigations Map 2978
Although more than 100 years of research have gone into deciphering the stratigraphy of the Michigan basin of North America, it remains a challenge to visualize the basin stratigraphy on a regional scale and to describe stratigraphic relations within the basin. Similar difficulties exist for visualizing and describing the regional...
Biodegradation in contaminated aquifers: Incorporating microbial/molecular methods
J. Weiss, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli
2008, Groundwater (46) 305-322
In order to evaluate natural attenuation in contaminated aquifers, there has been a recent recognition that a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating microbial and molecular methods, is required. Observed decreases in contaminant mass and identified footprints of biogeochemical reactions are often used as evidence of intrinsic bioremediation, but...
Mortality of ducklings of the black-bellied whistling duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis) during their premier swim in a hypersaline lake in south Texas
D. S. Stolley, Samuel T. Edmonds, Carol U. Meteyer
2008, The Southwestern Naturalist (53) 230-235
Adult black-bellied whistling ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis) were observed leaving islands with recently hatched young in a South Texas hypersaline lake during summer 2003. We counted 216 ducklings from 20 broods attempting to make their first swim to the mainland, presumably heading for suitable...
Riparian vegetation dynamics and evapotranspiration in the riparian corridor in the delta of the Colorado River, Mexico
Pamela L. Nagler, Edward P. Glenn, Osvel Hinojosa-Huerta, Francisco Zamora, Keith A. Howard
2008, Journal of Environmental Management (88) 864-874
Like other great desert rivers, the Colorado River in the United States and Mexico is highly regulated to provide water for human use. No water is officially allotted to support the natural ecosystems in the delta of the river in Mexico. However, precipitation is inherently variable in this watershed, and...
Primary production and carrying capacity of former salt ponds after reconnection to San Francisco Bay
Julien Thebault, Tara Schraga, James E. Cloern, Eric G. Dunlavey
2008, Wetlands (28) 841-851
Over 6,110 ha of the commercial production salt ponds surrounding South San Francisco Bay, CA, have been decommissioned and reconnected to the bay, most as part of the largest wetlands restoration program in the western United States. These open water ponds are critical habitat for millions of birds annually and...
Mercury bioaccumulation and effects on birds in San Francisco Bay
Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Joshua T. Ackerman
2008, Report, The pulse of the estuary: Monitoring and managing water quality in the San Francisco estuary
Highlights San Francisco Bay is an important wintering and breeding ground for more than 1 million waterbirds annually Mercury concentrations are highest in birds that eat fish and that reside in the Lower South Bay When Forster’s terns arrive in the Bay in spring to breed, mercury concentrations in their blood increase by...
The need for a national LIDAR dataset
Jason M. Stoker, David Harding, Jay Parrish
2008, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (74) 1066-1068
On May 21st and 22nd 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Association of American State Geologists (AASG) hosted the Second National Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) Initiative Strategy Meeting at USGS Headquarters in Reston, Virginia. The USGS is taking the lead...
Reef communities in the Dry Tortugas (Florida, USA): Baseline surveys for the new no-take area
I. B. Kuffner, V. J. Paul, R. Ritson-Williams, T. D. Hickey, L. J. Walters
2008, Conference Paper, 11th International Coral Reef Symposium Proceedings
To understand the current community structure on reefs in the Dry Tortugas, we conducted specieslevel surveys of macroalgae, coral diversity, herbivorous and game fishes, urchins, and substratum composition (e.g., rugosity) in shallow (3- to 5-m depth) low-relief reef and hardbottom habitats in October 2007. We had particular interest in the...
Survival and migration behavior of juvenile salmonids at Lower Granite Dam, 2006
John W. Beeman, Scott D. Fielding, Amy C. Braatz, Tamara S. Wilkerson, Adam C. Pope, Christopher E. Walker, Jill M. Hardiman, Russell W. Perry, Timothy D. Counihan
2008, Report
We described behavior and estimated passage and survival parameters of juvenile salmonids during spring and summer migration periods at Lower Granite Dam in 2006. During the spring, the study was designed to examine the effects of the Behavioral Guidance Structure (BGS) by using a randomized-block BGS Stored / BGS Deployed...
Reef fishes have higher parasite richness at unfished Palmyra Atoll compared to fished Kiritimati Island
Kevin D. Lafferty, Jenny C. Shaw, Armand M. Kuris
2008, EcoHealth (5) 338-345
We compared parasite communities at two coral atolls in the Line Islands chain of the central Pacific (Kiritimati Island and Palmyra Atoll). Palmyra Atoll is relatively pristine while Kiritimati Island is heavily fished. At each island, we sampled five fish species for helminth and arthropod endoparasites: Chromis margaritifer,...
Magmatically triggered slow slip at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii
Benjamin A. Brooks, James Foster, David Sandwell, Cecily J. Wolfe, Paul G. Okubo, Michael P. Poland, David Myer
2008, Science (321) 1177
We demonstrate that a recent dike intrusion probably triggered a slow fault-slip event (SSE) on Kilauea volcano's mobile south flank. Our analysis combined models of Advanced Land Observing Satellite interferometric dike-intrusion displacement maps with continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) displacement vectors to show that deformation nearly identical to four previous...
Nutrient Concentrations and Their Relations to the Biotic Integrity of Nonwadeable Rivers in Wisconsin
Dale M. Robertson, Brian M. Weigel, David J. Graczyk
2008, Professional Paper 1754
Excessive nutrient [phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N)] input from point and nonpoint sources is frequently associated with degraded water quality in streams and rivers. Point-source discharges of nutrients are fairly constant and are controlled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. To reduce inputs from...
Flood of April 2007 in New Hampshire
Robert H. Flynn
2008, Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5120
During April 16-18, 2007, central and southeastern New Hampshire experienced severe flooding as a result of up to 7 inches of rainfall from a storm that stalled off the New England coast. As a result of the flooding, a Presidential Disaster Declaration was issued on April 27, 2007. On that...
Study design and percent recoveries of anthropogenic organic compounds with and without the addition of ascorbic acid to preserve water samples containing free chlorine, 2004-06
Joshua F. Valder, Gregory C. Delzer, Curtis V. Price, Mark W. Sandstrom
2008, Open-File Report 2008-1226
The National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began implementing Source Water-Quality Assessments (SWQAs) in 2002 that focus on characterizing the quality of source water and finished water of aquifers and major rivers used by some of the larger community water systems in the United States....
Debris-Flow Hazards within the Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern United States
Gerald F. Wieczorek, Benjamin A. Morgan
2008, Fact Sheet 2008-3070
Tropical storms, including hurricanes, often inflict major damage to property and disrupt the lives of people living in coastal areas of the Eastern United States. These storms also are capable of generating catastrophic landslides within the steep slopes of the Appalachian Mountains. Heavy rainfall from hurricanes, cloudbursts, and thunderstorms can...
Short-term response of methane fluxes and methanogen activity to water table and soil warming manipulations in an Alaskan peatland
M. R. Turetsky, C. C. Treat, M. P. Waldrop, J. M. Waddington, Jennifer W. Harden, A. David McGuire
2008, Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences (113)
Growing season CH4 fluxes were monitored over a two year period following the start of ecosystem-scale manipulations of water table position and surface soil temperatures in a moderate rich fen in interior Alaska. The largest CH4 fluxes occurred in plots that received both flooding (raised water table position) and soil warming, while...
Bathymetric Surveys of Lake Arthur and Raccoon Lake, Pennsylvania, June 2007
Clinton D. Hittle, A. Thomas Ruby III
2008, Data Series 357
In spring of 2007, bathymetric surveys of two Pennsylvania State Park lakes were performed to collect accurate data sets of lake-bed elevations and to develop methods and techniques to conduct similar surveys across the state. The lake-bed elevations and associated geographical position data can be merged with land-surface elevations acquired...
