Taphonomic problems in reconstructing sea-level history from the late Quaternary marine terraces of Barbados
Daniel R. Muhs, Kathleen R. Simmons
2017, Quaternary Research (88) 409-429
Although uranium series (U-series) ages of growth-position fossil corals are important to Quaternary sea-level history, coral clast reworking from storms can yield ages on a terrace dating to more than one high-sea stand, confounding interpretations of sea-level history. On northern Barbados, U-series ages corals from a thick storm deposit are...
Biocrust ecology: Unifying micro- and macro-scales to confront global change
Scott Ferrenberg, Sasha C. Reed
2017, New Phytologist (216) 643-646
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are communities of microbes, lichens and bryophytes living at the soil surface in drylands (Fig. 1; Belnap et al., 2016). Biocrusts occur on all continents and can comprise a majority of cover in some systems (Belnap et al., 2016). While species diversity and distributions have long...
Vulnerable transportation and utility assets near actively migrating streams in Indiana
Benjamin J. Sperl
2017, Data Series 1068
An investigation was completed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs that found 1,132 transportation and utility assets in Indiana are vulnerable to fluvial erosion hazards due to close proximity to actively migrating streams. Locations of transportation assets (bridges, roadways, and...
Monitoring storm tide and flooding from Hurricane Matthew along the Atlantic coast of the United States, October 2016
Eric R. Frantz, Michael J. Byrne Sr., Andral W. Caldwell, Stephen L. Harden
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1122
IntroductionHurricane Matthew moved adjacent to the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The hurricane made landfall once near McClellanville, South Carolina, on October 8, 2016, as a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) deployed a temporary monitoring network of...
Towards a comprehensive water quality modeling of Barnegat Bay: Development of ROMS to WASP Coupler
Zafer Define, Frederick J. Spitz, Vincent T. DePaul, Tim A. Wool
2017, Journal of Coastal Research (78) 34-45
The Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) has been coupled with the Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP) to be used in a comprehensive analysis of water quality in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey. The coupler can spatially aggregate hydrodynamic information in ROMS cells into larger WASP segments. It can also be...
The 3D Elevation Program national indexing scheme
Cindy A. Thatcher, Hans Karl Heidemann, Jason M. Stoker, Diane F. Eldridge
2017, Fact Sheet 2017-3073
The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) acquires high-resolution elevation data for the Nation. This program has been operating under an opportunity-oriented approach, acquiring light detection and ranging (lidar) projects of varying sizes scattered across the United States. As a result, the national 3DEP elevation layer...
Flood-inundation maps for the White River at Noblesville, Indiana
Zachary W. Martin
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5123
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 7.5-mile reach of the White River at Noblesville, Indiana, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Indiana Department of Transportation. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science website at https://water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation/, depict...
Patterns of spatial distribution of golden eagles across North America: How do they fit into existing landscape-scale mapping systems?
Jessi L. Brown, Bryan Bedrosian, Douglas A. Bell, Melissa A. Braham, Jeff Cooper, Ross H. Crandall, Joe DiDonato, Robert Domenech, Adam E. Duerr, Todd E. Katzner, Michael J. Lanzone, David W. LaPlante, Carol L. McIntyre, Tricia A. Miller, Robert K. Murphy, Adam Shreading, Steven J. Slater, Jeff P. Smith, Brian W. Smith, James W. Watson, Brian Woodbridge
2017, Journal of Raptor Research (51) 197-215
Conserving wide-ranging animals requires knowledge about their year-round movements and resource use. Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) exhibit a wide range of movement patterns across North America. We combined tracking data from 571 Golden Eagles from multiple independent satellite-telemetry projects from North America to provide a comprehensive look at the magnitude...
Home range, den selection and habitat use of Carolina northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus coloratus)
Corinne A. Diggins, Alexander Silvis, Christine A. Kelly, W. Mark Ford
2017, Wildlife Research (44) 427-237
Context: Understanding habitat selection is important for determining conservation and management strategies for endangered species. The Carolina northern flying squirrel (CNFS; Glaucomys sabrinus coloratus) is an endangered subspecies found in the high-elevation montane forests of the southern Appalachians, USA. The primary use of nest boxes to monitor CNFS has provided...
Transgressive-regressive cycles in the metalliferous, oil-shale-bearing Heath Formation (Upper Mississippian), central Montana
Julie A. Dumoulin, Craig A. Johnson, Karen D. Kelley, Palma J. Botterell, Paul C. Hackley, Clint Scott, John F. Slack
2017, Stratigraphy (14) 97-122
The Upper Mississippian Heath Formation, which accumulated in the Big Snowy Trough of central Montana, has been known for three decades to contain mudrocks highly enriched in Zn, V, Mo, Ni and other metals, and source rocks for oil. The unit has more recently been recognized as a prospective tight...
Synopsis of the Fourth International Percid Fishes Symposia
Brian Schmidt, Dana Castle, Edward F. Roseman, Toomas Saat, Hannu Lehtonen
2017, Fisheries (42) 567-570
Percids play an integral role in food webs and freshwater fisheries of the world. Anthropogenic stressors such as pollution, overfishing, invasive species, and climate change threaten percid diversity and the sustainability of economically important fisher-ies. The International Percid Fish...
Before and after retrofit behavior and performance of a 55-story tall building inferred from distant earthquake and ambient vibration data
Mehmet Celebi, Toshihide Kashima, S. Farid Ghahari, Shin Koyama, Ertuğrul Taciroğlu, Izuru Okawa
2017, Earthquake Spectra (33) 1599-1626
A sparsely instrumented 55-story building in Osaka, Japan had recorded unprecedented, severe and long-duration long-period resonating responses during the March 11, 2011 M9.0 Tohoku earthquake that occurred at 767 km distance. Thereafter, studies of the records resulted in implementation of a significant retrofit design, comprising dampers and buckling restrained braces...
Before and after retrofit behavior and performance of a 55-story tall building inferred from distant earthquake and ambient vibration data
Mehmet Celebi, Toshihide Kashima, S. F. Ghahari, Shin Koyama, Ertugrul Tacirogle, Izuru Okawa
2017, Earthquake Spectra (33) 1599-1626
A sparsely instrumented 55-story building in Osaka, Japan, had recorded unprecedented, severe, and long-duration, long-period resonating responses during the 11 March 2011 M9.0 Tohoku earthquake that occurred at 767 km distance. Thereafter, studies of the records resulted in the implementation of a significant retrofit design, comprising dampers and buckling restrained...
Assessing the risk of non-native marine species in the Bering Sea
Jesika Reimer, Amanda Droghini, Anthony S. Fischbach, Jordan Watson, Bonnie Bernard, Aaron Poe
2017, Report
Invasive species are one of the leading global conservation concerns, which can have strong, negative impacts on ecosystems, vulnerable species, and valuable natural resources. Arctic regions have experienced a relatively low number of biological introductions to date. Their geographical remoteness, cold waters, and presence of sea ice present challenging conditions...
Defining a Safe Operating Space for inland recreational fisheries
Stephen R. Carpenter, William A. Brock, Gretchen J. A. Hansen, Jonathan F. Hansen, Joseph M. Hennessy, Daniel A. Isermann, Eric J. Pedersen, K. Martin Perales, Andrew L. Rypel, Greg G. Sass, Tyler D. Tunney, M. Jake Vander Zanden
2017, Fish and Fisheries (18) 1150-1160
The Safe Operating Space (SOS) of a recreational fishery is the multidimensional region defined by levels of harvest, angler effort, habitat, predation and other factors in which the fishery is sustainable into the future. SOS boundaries exhibit trade-offs such that decreases in harvest can compensate to some degree for losses...
Refined conservation strategies for Golden-winged Warblers in the West Virginia highlands with implications for the broader avian community
Kyle R. Aldinger, Petra B. Wood, Catherine M. Johnson
2017, The Condor (119) 762-786
Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) populations in the Appalachian Mountains region of North America are imperiled, warranting species-specific conservation. However, management for Golden-winged Warblers can affect both early-successional and forest species, many of which are also declining in the region. We conducted point counts in sites representing a range of successional...
Drivers and environmental responses to the changing annual snow cycle of northern Alaska
Christopher J. Cox, Robert S. Stone, David C. Douglas, Diane Stanitski, George J. Divoky, Geoff S. Dutton, Colm Sweeney, J. Craig George, David U. Longenecker
2017, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (98) 2559-2577
On the North Slope of Alaska, earlier spring snowmelt and later onset of autumn snow accumulation are tied to atmospheric dynamics and sea ice conditions, and result in environmental responses.Linkages between atmospheric, ecological and biogeochemical variables in the changing Arctic are analyzed using long-term measurements near...
Concepts: Assessing tiger population dynamics using capture–recapture sampling
J. Andrew Royle, Arjun M. Gopalaswamy, Robert Dorazio, James D. Nichols, Devcharan Jathanna, Ravishankar Parameshwaran
2017, Book chapter, Methods for monitoring tiger and prey populations
Capture-recapture can be viewed as an animal survey method in which the count statistic is the total number of animals caught, and the associated detection probability is the probability of capture....
Organic chemical characterization and mass balance of a hydraulically fractured well: From fracturing fluid to produced water over 405 days
James Rosenblum, E. Michael Thurman, Imma Ferrer, George R. Aiken, Karl G. Linden
2017, Environmental Science & Technology (51) 14006-14015
A long-term field study (405 days) of a hydraulically fractured well from the Niobrara Formation in the Denver-Julesburg Basin was completed. Characterization of organic chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing and their changes through time, from the preinjected fracturing fluid to the produced water, was conducted. The characterization consisted of a...
Swimming behaviour and ascent paths of brook trout in a corrugated culvert
Elsa Goerig, Normand E. Bergeron, Theodore R. Castro-Santos
2017, River Research and Applications (33) 1463-1471
Culverts may restrict fish movements under some hydraulic conditions such as shallow flow depths or high velocities. Although swimming capacity imposes limits to passage performance, behaviour also plays an important role in the ability of fish to overcome velocity barriers. Corrugated metal culverts are characterized by unsteady flow and existence...
A comparison of two mobile electrode arrays for increasing mortality of Lake Trout embryos
Peter J. Brown, Christopher S. Guy, Michael H. Meeuwig
2017, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (37) 363-369
Conservation of sport fisheries and populations of several native fishes in the western United States is dependent on sustained success of removal programs targeting invasive Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush. Gill-netting of spawning adults is one strategy used to decrease spawning success; however, additional complementary methods are needed to disrupt Lake Trout...
Remote sensing for wetland mapping and historical change detection at the Nisqually River Delta
Laurel Ballanti, Kristin B. Byrd, Isa Woo, Christopher Ellings
2017, Sustainability (9) 1-32
Coastal wetlands are important ecosystems for carbon storage and coastal resilience to climate change and sea-level rise. As such, changes in wetland habitat types can also impact ecosystem functions. Our goal was to quantify historical vegetation change within the Nisqually River watershed relevant to carbon storage, wildlife habitat, and wetland...
Estimating the high-arsenic domestic-well population in the conterminous United States
Joseph D. Ayotte, Laura Medalie, Sharon L. Qi, Lorraine C. Backer, Bernard T. Nolan
2017, Environmental Science & Technology (51) 12443-12454
Arsenic concentrations from 20 450 domestic wells in the U.S. were used to develop a logistic regression model of the probability of having arsenic >10 μg/L (“high arsenic”), which is presented at the county, state, and national scales. Variables representing geologic sources, geochemical, hydrologic, and physical features were among the significant...
Age structure
Craig P. Paukert, Jonathan J. Spurgeon
2017, Book chapter, Age and growth of fishes: Principles and techniques
No abstract available....
Regional geology and tectonics
Warren J. Nokleberg
Thomas K. Bundtzen, Warren J. Nokleberg, Raymond A. Price, David W. Scholl, David B. Stone, editor(s)
2017, Book chapter, Dynamic geology of the Northern Cordillera (Alaska and western Canada) and adjacent marine areas: Tectonics, hazards, and resources
This chapter describes the regional geology and tectonic origins of the major geologic units for the Northern Cordillera. The goals of the chapter are to: (1) provide a summary and regional overview of this vast region that contains a complicated geologic history; and (2) describe the major geologic units and...
