Hydrothermal, biogenic, and seawater components in metalliferous black shales of the Brooks Range, Alaska: Synsedimentary metal enrichment in a carbonate ramp setting
John F. Slack, David Selby, Julie A. Dumoulin
2015, Economic Geology (110) 653-675
Trace element and Os isotope data for Lisburne Group metalliferous black shales of Middle Mississippian (early Chesterian) age in the Brooks Range of northern Alaska suggest that metals were sourced chiefly from local seawater (including biogenic detritus) but also from externally derived hydrothermal fluids. These black shales are interbedded with...
Stratigraphic and microfossil evidence for a 4500-year history of Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes and tsunamis at Yaquina River estuary, Oregon, USA
Nicholas A Graehl, Harvey M. Kelsey, Robert C. Witter, Eileen Hemphill-Haley, Simon E. Engelhart
2015, GSA Bulletin (127) 211-226
The Sallys Bend swamp and marsh area on the central Oregon coast onshore of the Cascadia subduction zone contains a sequence of buried coastal wetland soils that extends back ∼4500 yr B.P. The upper 10 of the 12 soils are represented in multiple cores. Each soil is abruptly overlain...
A revision of the Norian Conchostracan Zonation in North America and its implications for Late Triassic North American tectonic history
Robert E. Weems, Spencer G. Lucas
2015, Book chapter, Fossil Record 4. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 67
Collections of Upper Triassic (Norian) conchostracans from the upper Cumnock and lower Sanford formations (North Carolina), Bull Run Formation (Virginia), Gettysburg Formation (Pennsylvania), Passaic Formation (New Jersey), Blomidon Formation (Nova Scotia), and Redonda Formation (New Mexico) have significantly expanded our knowledge of the Norian conchostracan faunas in these units. These...
Kinematics of shallow backthrusts in the Seattle fault zone, Washington State
Thomas L. Pratt, K.G. Troost, Jackson K. Odum, William J. Stephenson
2015, Geosphere (11) 1948-1974
Near-surface thrust fault splays and antithetic backthrusts at the tips of major thrust fault systems can distribute slip across multiple shallow fault strands, complicating earthquake hazard analyses based on studies of surface faulting. The shallow expression of the fault strands forming the Seattle fault zone of Washington State shows the...
Mineral potential for sediment-hosted copper deposits in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 75)
Cliff D. Taylor, Stuart A. Giles
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280-K
The presence of Neoproterozoic through Cambrian, continental, siliciclastic sedimentary rocks interbedded with dolomitic carbonates, shales, and glacial tillites similar to the Katanga Supergroup host rocks of the Central African Copperbelt and other sediment-hosted copper-bearing Proterozoic sequences worldwide, is first order criteria for consideration of the Neoproterozoic units of the Taoudeni...
Evaluation of vector coastline features extracted from 'structure from motion'-derived elevation data
Nicole Kinsman, Ann E. Gibbs, Matt Nolan
2015, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the Coastal Sediments 2015
For extensive and remote coastlines, the absence of high-quality elevation models—for example, those produced with lidar—leaves some coastal populations lacking one of the essential elements for mapping shoreline positions or flood extents. Here, we compare seven different elevation products in a lowlying area in western Alaska to establish their appropriateness...
Database creation, data quality assessment, and geochemical maps (phase V, deliverable 59)—Final report on compilation and validation of geochemical data
Robert G. Eppinger, Stuart A. Giles, Gregory K. Lee, Steven M. Smith
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280-D
Under the World Bank-funded Second Projet de Renforcement Institutionnel du Secteur Minier de la Republique Islamique de Mauritanie (PRISM-II), this Phase V geochemistry report follows earlier Phase I and Phase II summary reports on geochemical data (U.S. Geological Survey, 2007 and Eppinger, 2007; respectively). All the reports are based on...
Episodic deflation-inflation events at Kīlauea Volcano and implications for the shallow magma system
Kyle R. Anderson, Michael P. Poland, Jessica H. Johnson, Asta Miklius
Rebecca Carey, Valerie Cayol, Michael P. Poland, Dominique Weis, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Hawaiian volcanoes: From source to surface
Episodic variations in magma pressures and flow rates at Kīlauea Volcano, defined by a characteristic temporal evolution and termed deflation-inflation (DI) events, have been observed since at least the 1990s. DI events consist of transient, days-long deflations and subsequent reinflations of the summit region, accompanied since 2008 by fluctuations in...
Inferring spatial and temporal behavioral patterns of free-ranging manatees using saltwater sensors of telemetry tags
Delma Nataly Castelblanco-Martinez, Benjamin Morales-Vela, Daniel H. Slone, Janneth Adriana Padilla-Saldivar, James P. Reid, Hector Abuid Hernandez-Arana
2015, Mammalian Biology (80) 21-30
Diving or respiratory behavior in aquatic mammals can be used as an indicator of physiological activity and consequently, to infer behavioral patterns. Five Antillean manatees, Trichechus manatus manatus, were captured in Chetumal Bay and tagged with GPS tracking devices. The radios were equipped with a micropower saltwater sensor (SWS), which...
Cambrian–Ordovician of the central Appalachians:Correlations and event stratigraphy of carbonate platform andadjacent deep-water deposits
David K. Brezinski, John F. Taylor, John E. Repetski, James D. Loch
2015, Book chapter, Geological Society of America field guide
This trip seeks to illustrate the succession of Cambrian and Ordovician facies deposited within the Pennsylvania and Maryland portion of the Great American Carbonate Bank. From the Early Cambrian (Dyeran) through Late Ordovician (Turinan), the Laurentian paleocontinent was rimmed by an extensive carbonate platform. During this protracted period of time, a...
Geologic map of Mauritania (phase V, deliverables 51a, 51b, and 51c)
Dwight Bradley, Holly Motts, John D. Horton, Stuart A. Giles, Cliff D. Taylor
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280-A1
In 1996, at the request of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists produced a strategic plan for the acquisition, improvement and modernization of multidisciplinary sets of data to support the growth of the Mauritanian minerals sector and to highlight the...
An assessment of arthropod prey resources at Nakula Natural Area Reserve, a potential site of reintroduction for Kiwikiu (Pseudonestor xanthophrys) and Maui `Alauahio (Parareomyza montana)
Paul C. Banko, Robert W. Peck, Justin Cappadonna, Claire Steele, David L. Leonard, Hanna L. Mounce, Dusti Becker, Kirsty Swinnerton
2015, Technical Report HCSU-059
Hawaiian forest birds have declined dramatically since humans arrived in the archipelago. Birds from all foraging guilds have been affected but insectivorous species are currently at greatest risk of extinction. On the island of Maui, populations and ranges of the insectivorous kiwikiu (Maui parrotbill; Pseudonestor xanthophrys) and Maui ‘alauahio (Maui...
Suburban groundwater quality as influenced by turfgrass and septic sources, Delmarva Peninsula, USA
Joshua W. Kasper, Judith M. Denver, Joanna K. York
2015, Journal of Environmental Quality (44) 642-654
Suburban land use is expanding in many parts of the United States and there is a need to better understand the potential water-quality impacts of this change. This study characterized groundwater quality in a sandy, water-table aquifer influenced by suburban development and compared the results to known patterns in water...
Evaluating nurse plants for restoring native woody species to degraded subtropical woodlands
Stephanie G. Yelenik, Nicole DiManno, Carla M. D’Antonio
2015, Ecology and Evolution (5) 300-313
Harsh habitats dominated by invasive species are difficult to restore. Invasive grasses in arid environments slow succession toward more desired composition, yet grass removal exacerbates high light and temperature, making the use of “nurse plants” an appealing strategy. In this study of degraded subtropical woodlands dominated by alien grasses in...
Ants of the national park of American Samoa
Paul C. Banko, Robert W. Peck
2015, Technical Report HCSU-061
American Samoa makes up the eastern end of the Samoan Archipelago. On the islands of Tutuila, Taʽū and Ofu, the National Park of American Samoa (NPSA) protects about 4,000 ha of coastal, mid-slope and ridge-top forest. While the ant fauna of the Samoan Archipelago is considered relatively well documented, much...
Aftershocks illuminate the 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake causative fault zone and nearby active faults
J. Wright Horton Jr., Anjana K. Shah, Daniel E. McNamara, Stephen L. Snyder, Aina M Carter
2015, Special Paper of the Geological Society of America (509) 253-271
Deployment of temporary seismic stations after the 2011 Mineral, Virginia (USA), earthquake produced a well-recorded aftershock sequence. The majority of aftershocks are in a tabular cluster that delineates the previously unknown Quail fault zone. Quail fault zone aftershocks range from ~3 to 8 km in depth and are in a...
Challenges to sea otter recovery and conservation
Brenda E. Ballachey, James L. Bodkin
2015, Book chapter, Sea otter conservation
Similar to other species that in recent centuries experienced unregulated human exploitation, sea otters were extirpated throughout large portions of their historic range in the North Pacific. For most of the twentieth century, with cessation of the fur trade and because of concerted efforts at conservation, sea otters recovered much...
Historic and Contemporary Status of Sea Otters in the North Pacific
James L. Bodkin
Shawn E. Larson, Arthur Gross, Glenn R. VanBlaricom, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Sea Otter Conservation
Similar to other species that in recent centuries experienced unregulated human exploitation, sea otters were extirpated throughout large portions of their historic range in the North Pacific. For most of the twentieth century, with cessation of the fur trade and because of concerted efforts at conservation, sea otters recovered much...
Estimating switchgrass productivity in the Great Plains using satellite vegetation index and site environmental variables
Yingxin Gu, Bruce K. Wylie, Daniel M. Howard
2015, Ecological Indicators (48) 472-476
Switchgrass is being evaluated as a potential feedstock source for cellulosic biofuels and is being cultivated in several regions of the United States. The recent availability of switchgrass land cover maps derived from the National Agricultural Statistics Service cropland data layer for the conterminous United States provides an opportunity to...
Using the Maxent program for species distribution modelling to assess invasion risk
Catherine S. Jarnevich, Nicholas E. Young
R.C Venette, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Pest Risk Modelling and Mapping for Invasive Alien Species
MAXENT is a software package used to relate known species occurrences to information describing the environment, such as climate, topography, anthropogenic features or soil data, and forecast the presence or absence of a species at unsampled locations. This particular method is one of the most popular species distribution modelling techniques...
Bioenergetics modeling of percid fishes
Charles P. Madenjian
Patrick Kestemont, Konrad Dabrowski, Robert C. Summerfelt, editor(s)
2015, Book chapter, Biology and culture of percid fishes
A bioenergetics model for a percid fish represents a quantitative description of the fish’s energy budget. Bioenergetics modeling can be used to identify the important factors determining growth of percids in lakes, rivers, or seas. For example, bioenergetics modeling applied to yellow perch (Perca flavescens) in the western...
Oceanic and atmospheric forcing of Larsen C Ice-Shelf thinning
P. R. Holland, A. Brisbourne, H. F. J. Corr, Daniel Mcgrath, K. Purdon, J. Paden, H. A. Fricker, F. S. Paolo, A.H. Fleming
2015, The Cryosphere (9) 1005-1024
The catastrophic collapses of Larsen A and B ice shelves on the eastern Antarctic Peninsula have caused their tributary glaciers to accelerate, contributing to sea-level rise and freshening the Antarctic Bottom Water formed nearby. The surface of Larsen C Ice Shelf (LCIS), the largest ice shelf on the peninsula, is...
Estimating bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) abundance using noninvasive sampling at a mineral lick within a National Park Wilderness Area
Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Mary Kay Watry, Laura E. Ellison, Michael A. Schwarz, Gordon Luikart
2015, Western North American Naturalist (75) 181-191
Conservation of species requires accurate population estimates. We used genetic markers from feces to determine bighorn sheep abundance for a herd that was hypothesized to be declining and in need of population status monitoring. We sampled from a small but accessible portion of the population's range where animals naturally congregate...
Provenance and detrital zircon geochronologic evolution of lower Brookian foreland basin deposits of the western Brooks Range, Alaska, and implications for early Brookian tectonism
Thomas E. Moore, Paul B. O’Sullivan, Christopher J. Potter, Raymond A. Donelick
2015, Geosphere (11) 93-122
The Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous part of the Brookian sequence of northern Alaska consists of syntectonic deposits shed from the north-directed, early Brookian orogenic belt. We employ sandstone petrography, detrital zircon U-Pb age analysis, and zircon fission-track double-dating methods to investigate these deposits in a succession of thin...
An integrated approach to modeling changes in land use, land cover, and disturbance and their impact on ecosystem carbon dynamics: a case study in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California
Benjamin M. Sleeter, Jinxun Liu, Colin Daniel, Leonardo Frid, Zhiliang Zhu
2015, AIMS Environmental Science (2) 577-606
Increased land-use intensity (e.g. clearing of forests for cultivation, urbanization), often results in the loss of ecosystem carbon storage, while changes in productivity resulting from climate change may either help offset or exacerbate losses. However, there are large uncertainties in how land and climate systems will evolve and interact to...
