Modeling the development of martian sublimation thermokarst landforms
Colin M. Dundas, Shane Byrne, Alfred S. McEwen
2015, Icarus (262) 154-169
Sublimation-thermokarst landforms result from collapse of the surface when ice is lost from the subsurface. On Mars, scalloped landforms with scales of decameters to kilometers are observed in the mid-latitudes and considered likely thermokarst features. We describe a landscape evolution model that couples diffusive mass movement and subsurface ice loss...
Woodland salamander responses to a shelterwood harvest-prescribed burn silvicultural treatment within Appalachian mixed-oak forests
W. Mark Ford, Kathleen R. Mahoney, Kevin R. Russell, Jane L. Rodrigue, Jason D. Riddle, Thomas M. Schuler, Mary Beth Adams
2015, Forest Ecology and Management (359) 277-285
Forest management practices that mimic natural canopy disturbances, including prescribed fire and timber harvests, may reduce competition and facilitate establishment of favorable vegetative species within various ecosystems. Fire suppression in the central Appalachian region for almost a century has contributed to a transition from oak-dominated to more mesophytic, fire-intolerant forest...
Suspended-sediment dynamics in the tidal reach of a San Francisco Bay tributary
Gregory Shellenbarger, Maureen A. Downing-Kunz, David H. Schoellhamer
2015, Ocean Dynamics (65) 1477-1488
To better understand suspended-sediment transport in a tidal slough adjacent to a large wetland restoration project, we deployed continuously measuring temperature, salinity, depth, turbidity, and velocity sensors in 2010 at a near-bottom location in Alviso Slough (Alviso, California, USA). Alviso Slough is the downstream reach of the Guadalupe River and...
Topographic and hydrographic survey data for the São Francisco River near Torrinha, Bahia, Brazil, 2014
Ryan L. Fosness, Benjamin J. Dietsch
2015, Data Series 965
Navigable inland waterways, including lakes, rivers, and reservoirs, are important transportation routes for people and goods in Brazil. Natural and anthropogenic effects coupled with recent severe droughts have led to decreased inland waterway navigation. The Company for Development of the São Francisco and Parnaíba River Valleys (CODEVASF) has recognized the...
Particle tracking for selected groundwater wells in the lower Yakima River Basin, Washington
Matthew P. Bachmann
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5149
The Yakima River Basin in south-central Washington has a long history of irrigated agriculture and a more recent history of large-scale livestock operations, both of which may contribute nutrients to the groundwater system. Nitrate concentrations in water samples from shallow groundwater wells in the lower Yakima River Basin exceeded the...
Water-level data for the Albuquerque Basin and adjacent areas, central New Mexico, period of record through September 30, 2014
Joseph E. Beman
2015, Data Series 963
The Albuquerque Basin, located in central New Mexico, is about 100 miles long and 25–40 miles wide. The basin is hydrologically defined as the extent of consolidated and unconsolidated deposits of Tertiary and Quaternary age that encompasses the structural Rio Grande Rift. Drinking-water supplies throughout the basin were obtained solely...
1-Meter Digital Elevation Model specification
Samantha T. Arundel, Christy-Ann M. Archuleta, Lori A. Phillips, Brittany L. Roche, Eric W. Constance
2015, Techniques and Methods 11-B7
In January 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey National Geospatial Technical Operations Center began producing the 1-Meter Digital Elevation Model data product. This new product was developed to provide high resolution bare-earth digital elevation models from light detection and ranging (lidar) elevation data and other elevation data collected over the conterminous...
Projected future vegetation changes for the northwest United States and southwest Canada at a fine spatial resolution using a dynamic global vegetation model.
Sarah Shafer, Patrick J. Bartlein, Elizabeth M. Gray, Richard T. Pelltier
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
Future climate change may significantly alter the distributions of many plant taxa. The effects of climate change may be particularly large in mountainous regions where climate can vary significantly with elevation. Understanding potential future vegetation changes in these regions requires methods that can resolve vegetation responses to climate change at...
Preliminary peak stage and streamflow data at selected USGS streamgaging stations for the South Carolina flood of October 2015
Toby D. Feaster, John M. Shelton, Jeanne C. Robbins
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1201
Heavy rainfall occurred across South Carolina during October 1–5, 2015, as a result of an upper atmospheric low-pressure system that funneled tropical moisture from Hurricane Joaquin into the State. The storm caused major flooding from the central to the coastal areas of South Carolina. Almost 27 inches of rain fell...
Linking microbial community structure and microbial processes: An empirical and conceptual overview
R.L. Bier, Emily S. Bernhardt, Claudia M. Boot, Emily B. Graham, Edward K. Hall, Jay T. Lennon, Diana R. Nemergut, Brooke B. Osborne, Clara Ruiz-Gonzalez, Joshua P. Schimel, Mark P. Waldrop, Matthew D. Wallenstein
2015, FEMS Microbiology Ecology (91)
A major goal of microbial ecology is to identify links between microbial community structure and microbial processes. Although this objective seems straightforward, there are conceptual and methodological challenges to designing studies that explicitly evaluate this link. Here, we analyzed literature documenting structure and process responses to manipulations to determine the...
Uranium in the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative study area, southwestern Wyoming
Anna B. Wilson
2015, Open-File Report 2014-1123
Wyoming has led the nation as the producer of uranium ore since 1995 and contains the largest reserves of any state. Approximately one third of Wyoming’s total production came from deposits in, or immediately adjacent to, the Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) study area in the southwestern corner of the...
U.S. Geological Survey assessments of continuous (unconventional) oil and gas resources, 2000 to 2011
U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Continuous Resources Assessment Team
2015, Data Series 69-MM
From 2000 to 2011, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted 139 quantitative assessments of continuous (unconventional) oil and gas accumulations within the United States. This report documents those assessments more fully than previously done by providing detailed documentation of both the assessment input and output. This report also compiles the data...
Monitoring, field experiments, and geochemical modeling of Fe(II) oxidation kinetics in a stream dominated by net-alkaline coal-mine drainage, Pennsylvania, USA
Charles A. Cravotta III,
2015, Applied Geochemistry (62) 96-107
Watershed-scale monitoring, field aeration experiments, and geochemical equilibrium and kinetic modeling were conducted to evaluate interdependent changes in pH, dissolved CO2, O2, and Fe(II) concentrations that typically take place downstream of net-alkaline, circumneutral coal-mine drainage (CMD) outfalls and during aerobic treatment of such CMD. The kinetic modeling approach, using PHREEQC,...
Taking a systems approach to ecological systems
James B. Grace
2015, Journal of Vegetation Science (26) 1025-1027
Increasingly, there is interest in a systems-level understanding of ecological problems, which requires the evaluation of more complex, causal hypotheses. In this issue of the Journal of Vegetation Science, Soliveres et al. use structural equation modeling to test a causal network hypothesis about how tree canopies affect understorey communities. Historical...
Near-field receiving water monitoring of trace metals and a benthic community near the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant in south San Francisco Bay, California: 2014
Daniel J. Cain, Janet K. Thompson, Jeff Crauder, Francis Parcheso, A. Robin Stewart, Amy E. Kleckner, Jessica Dyke, Michelle I. Hornberger, Samuel N. Luoma
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1199
Trace-metal concentrations in sediment and in the clam Macoma petalum (formerly reported as Macoma balthica), clam reproductive activity, and benthic macroinvertebrate community structure were investigated in a mudflat 1 kilometer (km) south of the discharge of the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant (PARWQCP) in South San Francisco...
Geologic and geophysical maps of the El Casco 7.5′ quadrangle, Riverside County, southern California, with accompanying geologic-map database
J. C. Matti, D. M. Morton, V. E. Langenheim
2015, Open-File Report 2010-1274
Introduction Earth materials and structures in the El Casco quadrangle provide considerable information about the late Cenozoic geologic evolution of southern California’s Inland Empire region (fig. 2). Important structural and stratigraphic elements include (1) modern traces of the right-lateral San Jacinto Fault zone, (2) older traces of the San Jacinto Fault...
Temporal geochemical variations in above- and below-drainage coal mine discharge
Jill E. Burrows, Stephen C. Peters, Charles A. Cravotta III,
2015, Applied Geochemistry (62) 84-95
Water quality data collected in 2012 for 10 above- and 14 below-drainage coal mine discharges (CMDs), classified by mining or excavation method, in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania, USA, are compared with data for 1975, 1991, and 1999 to evaluate long-term (37 year) changes in pH, SO42−, and Fe concentrations related...
Short-term response of Holcus lanatus L. (Common Velvetgrass) to chemical and manual control at Yosemite National Park, USA
Laura J. Jones, Steven M. Ostoja, Matthew L. Brooks, Martin Hutten
2015, Invasive Plant Science and Management (8) 262-268
One of the highest priority invasive species at both Yosemite and Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks is Holcus lanatus L. (common velvetgrass), a perennial bunchgrass that invades mid-elevation montane meadows. Despite velvetgrass being a high priority species, there is little information available on control techniques. The goal of this project was...
Using a modified time-reverse imaging technique to locate low-frequency earthquakes on the San Andreas Fault near Cholame, California
Tobias Horstmann, Rebecca M. Harrington, Elizabeth S. Cochran
2015, Geophysical Journal International (203) 1207-1226
We present a new method to locate low-frequency earthquakes (LFEs) within tectonic tremor episodes based on time-reverse imaging techniques. The modified time-reverse imaging technique presented here is the first method that locates individual LFEs within tremor episodes within 5 km uncertainty without relying on high-amplitude P-wave arrivals and that produces...
Responses of macroinvertebrate community metrics to a wastewater discharge in the Upper Blue River of Kansas and Missouri, USA
Barry C. Poulton, Jennifer L. Graham, Teresa J. Rasmussen, Mandy L. Stone
2015, Journal of Water Resource and Protection (7) 1195-1220
The Blue River Main wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) discharges into the upper Blue River (725 km2), and is recently upgraded to implement biological nutrient removal. We measured biotic condition upstream and downstream of the discharge utilizing the macroinvertebrate protocol developed for Kansas streams. We examined responses of 34 metrics to...
Storage capacity of the Fena Valley Reservoir, Guam, Mariana Islands, 2014
Mathieu D. Marineau, Scott Wright
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5128
The Fena Valley Reservoir is in southern Guam and is the primary source of water for the U.S. Naval Base Guam and nearby village residents. Since the construction of the Fena Dam in 1951, sediment has accumulated in the reservoir and reduced its storage capacity. The reservoir was surveyed previously...
Information resources
Milton Friend
J. Christian Franson, Milton Friend, Samantha E.J. Gibbs, Margaret A. Wild, editor(s)
2015, Techniques and Methods 15-C9
During recent decades, natural resources agency personnel and others involved with the management and stewardship of wildlife have experienced an increasing need to access information and obtain technical assistance for addressing a diverse array of wildlife disease issues. This Chapter provides a broad overview of selected sources for obtaining supplemental...
Connectivity among subpopulations of Louisiana black bears as estimated by a step selection function
Joseph D. Clark, Jared S. Laufenberg, Maria Davidson, Jennifer L. Murrow
2015, Journal of Wildlife Management (79) 1360
Habitat fragmentation is a fundamental cause of population decline and increased risk of extinction for many wildlife species; animals with large home ranges and small population sizes are particularly sensitive. The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) exists only in small, isolated subpopulations as a result of land clearing for...
myScience—Engaging the public in U.S. Geological Survey science
Sally Holl
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3070
myScience (http://txpub.usgs.gov/myscience/) is a Web application developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Texas Water Science Center through a partnership with the USGS Community for Data Integration to address the need for increasing public awareness and participation in existing USGS citizen science projects. The myScience application contains data...
Discharge, suspended sediment, and salinity in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and adjacent surface waters in South-Central Louisiana, 1997–2008
Christopher M. Swarzenski, Scott M. Perrien
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5132
Discharge, suspended sediment, and salinity data collected between 1997 and 2008 indicate that the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) is an important distributary of river water and suspended sediments to coastal wetlands in south-central coastal Louisiana. Following natural hydraulic gradients, the GIWW passively distributes freshwater and suspended sediments from the Atchafalaya...
