Organization of marine phenology data in support of planning and conservation in ocean and coastal ecosystems
Kathryn A. Thomas, Mark D. Fornwall, Jake F. Weltzin, R.B. Griffis
2014, Ecological Informatics (24) 169-176
Among the many effects of climate change is its influence on the phenology of biota. In marine and coastal ecosystems, phenological shifts have been documented for multiple life forms; however, biological data related to marine species' phenology remain difficult to access and is under-used. We conducted an assessment of potential...
A compilation of K-Ar-ages for southern California
Fred K. Miller, Douglas M. Morton, Janet L. Morton, David M. Miller
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1195
The purpose of this report is to make available a large body of conventional K-Ar ages for granitic, volcanic, and metamorphic rocks collected in southern California. Although one interpretive map is included, the report consists primarily of a systematic listing, without discussion or interpretation, of published and unpublished ages that...
A generalization of the double-corner-frequency source spectral model and its use in the SCEC BBP validation exercise
David M. Boore, Carola Di Alessandro, Norman A. Abrahamson
2014, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (104) 2387-2398
The stochastic method of simulating ground motions requires the specification of the shape and scaling with magnitude of the source spectrum. The spectral models commonly used are either single-corner-frequency or double-corner-frequency models, but the latter have no flexibility to vary the high-frequency spectral levels for a specified seismic moment....
Digital database of microfossil localities in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California
Kristin McDougall, Debra L. Block
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5120
The eastern San Francisco Bay region (Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, California) is a geologically complex area divided by faults into a suite of tectonic blocks. Each block contains a unique stratigraphic sequence of Tertiary sediments that in most blocks unconformably overlie Mesozoic sediments. Age and environmental interpretations based on...
Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model (SLAMM) ‐ New functionality for predicting changes in distribution of submerged aquatic vegetation in response to sea level rise
Henry Lee II, Deborah A. Reusser, Melanie R Frazier, Lee M McCoy, Patrick J. Clinton, Jonathan S. Clough
2014, Report
Introduction Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) is an ecologically important habitat world‐wide. In Pacific Northwest (PNW) estuaries, SAV in the lower intertidal and shallow subtidal habitats are dominated by the native seagrass, Zostera marina Linnaeus, 1753. Within this report, SAV and seagrass refer to Z. marina seagrass beds in PNW estuaries. Z....
Concentrations, loads, and yields of total phosphorus, total nitrogen, and suspended sediment and bacteria concentrations in the Wister Lake Basin, Oklahoma and Arkansas, 2011-13
Stephanie D. Buck
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5170
The Poteau Valley Improvement Authority uses Wister Lake in southeastern Oklahoma as a public water supply. Total phosphorus, total nitrogen, and suspended sediments from agricultural runoff and discharges from wastewater treatment plants and other sources have degraded water quality in the lake. As lake-water quality has degraded, water-treatment cost, chemical...
Hydrologic conditions in urban Miami-Dade County, Florida, and the effect of groundwater pumpage and increased sea level on canal leakage and regional groundwater flow
Joseph D. Hughes, Jeremy T. White
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5162
The extensive and highly managed surface-water system in southeastern Florida constructed during the 20th Century has allowed for the westward expansion of urban and agricultural activities in Miami-Dade County. In urban areas of the county, the surface-water system is used to (1) control urban flooding, (2) supply recharge to production...
Effects of seasonal operation on the quality of water produced by public-supply wells
Laura M. Bexfield, Bryant C. Jurgens
2014, Groundwater (52) 10-24
Seasonal variability in groundwater pumping is common in many places, but resulting effects of seasonal pumping stress on the quality of water produced by public-supply wells are not thoroughly understood. Analysis of historical water-quality samples from public-supply wells completed in deep basin-fill aquifers in Modesto, California (134 wells) and Albuquerque,...
Coastal subsidence and relative sea level rise
Steven E. Ingebritsen, Devin L. Galloway
2014, Environmental Research Letters (9)
Subsurface fluid-pressure declines caused by pumping of groundwater or hydrocarbons can lead to aquifer-system compaction and consequent land subsidence. This subsidence can be rapid, as much as 30 cm per year in some instances, and large, totaling more than 13 m in extreme examples. Thus anthropogenic subsidence may be the...
Correlations of turbidity to suspended-sediment concentration in the Toutle River Basin, near Mount St. Helens, Washington, 2010-11
Mark A. Uhrich, Jasna Kolasinac, Pamela L. Booth, Robert L. Fountain, Kurt R. Spicer, Adam R. Mosbrucker
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1204
Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey, Cascades Volcano Observatory, investigated alternative methods for the traditional sample-based sediment record procedure in determining suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) and discharge. One such sediment-surrogate technique was developed using turbidity and discharge to estimate SSC for two gaging stations in the Toutle River Basin near Mount...
The 3D Elevation Program: Summary for New Jersey
William J. Carswell Jr.
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3091
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of New Jersey, elevation data are critical for water supply and quality, flood risk management, natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, infrastructure...
Tribal engagement strategy of the South Central Climate Science Center, 2014
William J. Andrews, April Taylor, Kimberly T. Winton
2014, Circular 1396
The South Central Climate Science Center was established by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2012 to increase understanding of climate change and coordinate an effective response to climate-change effects on Native American tribes and natural and cultural resources that the Department manages. The eight regional Climate Science Centers...
Strong influence of El Niño Southern Oscillation on flood risk around the world
Philip J. Ward, B Jongman, M. Kummu, Mike Dettinger, F.C Sperna Weiland, H.C Winsemius
2014, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (111) 15659-15664
El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the most dominant interannual signal of climate variability and has a strong influence on climate over large parts of the world. In turn, it strongly influences many natural hazards (such as hurricanes and droughts) and their resulting socioeconomic impacts, including economic damage and loss...
Development and use of a basin-scale hydrologic model for the Onondaga Lake basin
William F. Coon
2014, Clear Waters (44) 31-33
No abstract available....
Biodemography of ectothermic tetrapods provides insights into the evolution and plasticity of mortality patterns
David A. W. Miller, Fredric J. Janzen, Gary M. Fellers, Patrick M. Kleeman, Anne M. Bronikowski
2014, Book chapter, Sociality, hierarchy, health: comparative biodemography: a collection of papers
No abstract available....
Landscape alterations influence differential habitat use of nesting buteos and ravens within sagebrush ecosystem: implications for transmission line development
Peter S. Coates, Kristy B. Howe, Michael L. Casazza, David J. Delehanty
2014, The Condor (116) 341-356
A goal in avian ecology is to understand factors that influence differences in nesting habitat and distribution among species, especially within changing landscapes. Over the past 2 decades, humans have altered sagebrush ecosystems as a result of expansion in energy production and transmission. Our primary study objective was to identify...
Coral communities as indicators of ecosystem-level impacts of the Deepwater Horizon spill
Charles R. Fisher, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Erik E. Cordes, Iliana B. Baums, Helen K. White, Jill R. Bourque
2014, BioScience (64) 796-807
The Macondo oil spill released massive quantities of oil and gas from a depth of 1500 meters. Although a buoyant plume carried released hydrocarbons to the sea surface, as much as half stayed in the water column and much of that in the deep sea. After the hydrocarbons reached the...
Chronic sensitivity of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to cadmium, copper, lead, or zinc in laboratory water-only exposures
Ning Wang, Christopher G. Ingersoll, Rebecca A. Dorman, William G. Brumbaugh, Christopher A. Mebane, James L. Kunz, Douglas K. Hardesty
2014, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (33) 2246-2258
Chronic toxicity of cadmium, copper, lead, or zinc to white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was evaluated in water-only exposures started with newly hatched larvae or approximately 1-mo-old juveniles. The 20% effect concentration (EC20) for cadmium from the sturgeon tests was higher than the EC20 from the...
Methods for estimating annual exceedance-probability discharges and largest recorded floods for unregulated streams in rural Missouri
Rodney E. Southard, Andrea G. Veilleux
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5165
Regression analysis techniques were used to develop a set of equations for rural ungaged stream sites for estimating discharges with 50-, 20-, 10-, 4-, 2-, 1-, 0.5-, and 0.2-percent annual exceedance probabilities, which are equivalent to annual flood-frequency recurrence intervals of 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, and 500...
Post-Hurricane Sandy coastal oblique aerial photographs collected from Cape Lookout, North Carolina, to Montauk, New York, November 4-6, 2012
Karen L.M. Morgan, M. Dennis Krohn
2014, Data Series 858
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducts baseline and storm response photography missions to document and understand the changes in vulnerability of the Nation's coasts to extreme storms. On November 4-6, 2012, approximately one week after the landfall of Hurricane Sandy, the USGS conducted an oblique aerial photographic survey from Cape...
Provisional maps of thermal areas in Yellowstone National Park, based on satellite thermal infrared imaging and field observations
R. Greg Vaughan, Henry Heasler, Cheryl Jaworowski, Jacob B. Lowenstern, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5137
Maps that define the current distribution of geothermally heated ground are useful toward setting a baseline for thermal activity to better detect and understand future anomalous hydrothermal and (or) volcanic activity. Monitoring changes in the dynamic thermal areas also supports decisions regarding the development of Yellowstone National Park infrastructure, preservation...
Benthos and plankton community data for selected rivers and harbors along Wisconsin's Lake Michigan shoreline, 2012
Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Amanda H. Bell, Daniel J. Burns, Hayley T. Olds
2014, Data Series 824
Four river systems on the Wisconsin shoreline of Lake Michigan are designated Areas of Concern (AOCs) because of severe environmental degradation: the Lower Menominee River, Lower Green Bay and Fox River, Sheboygan River, and Milwaukee Estuary. Each AOC has one or more Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) that form the basis...
Magnetic resonance sounding survey data collected in the North Platte, Twin Platte, and South Platte Natural Resource Districts, Western Nebraska, Fall 2012
Mason A. Kass, Benjamin R. Bloss, Trevor P. Irons, James C. Cannia, Jared D. Abraham
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1138
This report is a release of digital data and associated survey descriptions from a series of magnetic resonance soundings (MRS, also known as surface nuclear magnetic resonance) that was conducted during October and November of 2012 in areas of western Nebraska as part of a cooperative hydrologic study by the...
Evidence of Absence software
Daniel Dalthorp, Manuela M. P. Huso, David Dail, Jessica Kenyon
2014, Data Series 881
Evidence of Absence software (EoA) is a user-friendly application used for estimating bird and bat fatalities at wind farms and designing search protocols. The software is particularly useful in addressing whether the number of fatalities has exceeded a given threshold and what search parameters are needed to give assurance that...
Base of principal aquifer for parts of the North Platte, South Platte, and Twin Platte Natural Resources Districts, western Nebraska
Christopher M. Hobza, Jared D. Abraham, James C. Cannia, Michaela R. Johnson, Steven S. Sibray
2014, Scientific Investigations Map 3310
Water resources in the North and South Platte River valleys of Nebraska, including the valley of Lodgepole Creek, are critical to the social and economic health of the area, and for the recovery of threatened and endangered species in the Platte River Basin. Groundwater and surface water are heavily used...
