Estimating magnitude and frequency of floods using the PeakFQ 7.0 program
Andrea G. Veilleux, Timothy A. Cohn, Kathleen M. Flynn, Mason Jr., Paul R. Hummel
2014, Fact Sheet 2013-3108
Flood-frequency analysis provides information about the magnitude and frequency of flood discharges based on records of annual maximum instantaneous peak discharges collected at streamgages. The information is essential for defining flood-hazard areas, for managing floodplains, and for designing bridges, culverts, dams, levees, and other flood-control structures. Bulletin 17B (B17B) of the...
Effect of sulfate and carbonate minerals on particle-size distributions in arid soils
Dirk Goossens, Brenda J. Buck, Yuazxin Teng, Colin Robins, Harland L. Goldstein
2014, Soil Science Society of America Journal (78) 881-893
Arid soils pose unique problems during measurement and interpretation of particle-size distributions (PSDs) because they often contain high concentrations of water-soluble salts. This study investigates the effects of sulfate and carbonate minerals on grain-size analysis by comparing analyses in water, in which the minerals dissolve, and isopropanol (IPA), in which...
Response to heavy, non-floating oil spilled in a Great Lakes river environment: a multiple-lines-of-evidence approach for submerged oil assessment and recovery
Ralph H. Dollhopf, Faith A. Fitzpatrick, Jeffrey W. Kimble, Daniel M. Capone, Thomas P. Graan, Ronald B. Zelt, Rex Johnson
2014, Conference Paper, International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings
The Enbridge Line 6B pipeline release of diluted bitumen into the Kalamazoo River downstream of Marshall, MI in July 2010 is one of the largest freshwater oil spills in North American history. The unprecedented scale of impact and massive quantity of oil released required the development and implementation of new...
Geodesy- and geology-based slip-rate models for the Western United States (excluding California) national seismic hazard maps
Mark D. Petersen, Yuehua Zeng, Kathleen M. Haller, Robert McCaffrey, William C. Hammond, Peter Bird, Morgan Moschetti, Zhengkang Shen, Jayne Bormann, Wayne Thatcher
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1293
The 2014 National Seismic Hazard Maps for the conterminous United States incorporate additional uncertainty in fault slip-rate parameter that controls the earthquake-activity rates than was applied in previous versions of the hazard maps. This additional uncertainty is accounted for by new geodesy- and geology-based slip-rate models for the Western United...
Late Paleozoic fusulinids from Sonora, Mexcio: importance for interpretation of depositional settings, biogeography, and paleotectonics
Calvin H. Stevens, Forrest G. Poole, Ricardo Amaya-Martinez
2014, Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas (31) 14-27
Three sets of fusulinid faunas in Sonora, Mexico, discussed herein, record different depositional and paleotectonic settings along the southwestern margin of Laurentia (North America) during Pennsylvanian and Permian time. The settings include: offshelf continental rise and ocean basin (Rancho Nuevo Formation in the Sonora allochthon), shallow continental shelf (La Cueva...
40Ar/39Ar geochronological constraints on the formation of the Dayingezhuang gold deposit: New implications for timing and duration of hydrothermal activity in the Jiaodong gold province, China
Li-Qiang Yang, J. Deng, Richard J. Goldfarb, Jiahua Zhang, Bang-Fei Gao, Zhong-Liang Wang
2014, Gondwana Research (25) 1469-1483
China's largest gold resource is located in the highly endowed northwestern part of the Jiaodong gold province. Most gold deposits in this area are associated with the NE- to NNE-trending shear zones on the margins of the 130–126 Ma Guojialing granite. These deposits collectively formed at ca. 120 ± 5 Ma during rapid uplift...
Effects of smallmouth buffalo, Ictiobus bubalus biomass on water transparency, nutrients, and productivity in shallow experimental ponds
Daniel B. Goetz, Robert Kroger, Leandro E. Miranda
2014, Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (92) 503-508
The smallmouth buffalo Ictiobus bubalus is a native benthivore to floodplain lakes in the Yazoo River Basin, USA. Based on evidence from other benthivorous fish studies we hypothesized high biomasses of I. bubalus contribute to poor water quality conditions. We tested this hypothesis in shallow (< 1.5 m) 0.05 ha...
Influence of drift and admixture on population structure of American black bears (Ursus americanus) in the Central Interior Highlands, USA, 50 years after translocation
Emily E. Puckett, Thea V. Kristensen, Clay M. Wilton, Sara B. Lyda, Karen V. Noyce, Paula M. Holahan, David M. Leslie Jr., J. Beringer, Jerrold L. Belant, D. White Jr., Lori S. Eggert
2014, Molecular Ecology (23) 2414-2427
Bottlenecks, founder events, and genetic drift often result in decreased genetic diversity and increased population differentiation. These events may follow abundance declines due to natural or anthropogenic perturbations, where translocations may be an effective conservation strategy to increase population size. American black bears (Ursus americanus) were nearly extirpated from the...
Multi-trophic resilience of boreal lake ecosystems to forest fires
Tyler L. Lewis, Mark S. Lindberg, Joel A. Schmutz, M.R. Bertram
2014, Ecology (95) 1253-1263
Fires are the major natural disturbance in the boreal forest, and their frequency and intensity will likely increase as the climate warms. Terrestrial nutrients released by fires may be transported to boreal lakes, stimulating increased primary productivity, which may radiate through multiple trophic levels. Using a before‐after‐control‐impact (BACI) design, with...
From theoretical to actual ecosystem services: mapping beneficiaries and spatial flows in ecosystem service assessments
Kenneth J. Bagstad, Ferdinando Villa, David Batker, Jennifer Harrison-Cox, Brian Voigt, Gary W. Johnson
2014, Ecology and Society (19)
Ecosystem services mapping and modeling has focused more on supply than demand, until recently. Whereas the potential provision of economic benefits from ecosystems to people is often quantified through ecological production functions, the use of and demand for ecosystem services has received less attention, as have the spatial flows of...
USGS US topo maps for Alaska
Becci Anderson, Tracy Fuller
2014, The Alaska Miner (42) 14-18
In July 2013, the USGS National Geospatial Program began producing new topographic maps for Alaska, providing a new map series for the state known as US Topo. Prior to the start of US Topo map production in Alaska, the most detailed statewide USGS topographic maps were 15-minute 1:63,360-scale maps, with...
Developing tools to eradicate ecologically destructive ants on Rose Atoll: effectiveness and attractiveness of formicidal baits
Robert Peck, Paul Banko, Frank Pendleton
2014, Report, Hawaii Cooperative Studies Unit Technical Report
A key factor contributing to the decline in the population of Pisonia grandis on Rose Atoll is an infestation of the non-native scale, Pulvinaria urbicola (Homoptera: Coccidae). Ants, in facultative relationships with scale insects, may facilitate scale population growth and increase their effect on plant hosts. Three ant species found...
The impact of climate change on coastal ecosystems
Colin D. Woodroffe, Robert J. Nicholls, Virginia Burkett, Donald L. Forbes
2014, Book chapter, Oceans and human health: Implications for society and well-being
In this chapter we stress two important features of coasts and coastal ecosystems. First, these are dynamic systems which continually undergo adjustments, especially through erosion and re-deposition, in response to a range of processes. Many coastal ecosystems adjust naturally at a range of time scales and their potential for response...
The digital global geologic map of Mars: Chronostratigraphic ages, topographic and crater morphologic characteristics, and updated resurfacing history
Kenneth L. Tanaka, S.J. Robbins, Corey M. Fortezzo, J.A. Skinner Jr., Trent M. Hare
2014, Planetary and Space Science (95) 11-24
A new global geologic map of Mars has been completed in a digital, geographic information system (GIS) format using geospatially controlled altimetry and image data sets. The map reconstructs the geologic history of Mars, which includes many new findings collated in the quarter century since the previous, Viking-based global maps...
Identifying stakeholder-relevant climate change impacts: a case study in the Yakima River Basin, Washington, USA
K. Jenni, D. Graves, Jill M. Hardiman, James R. Hatten, Mark C. Mastin, Matthew G. Mesa, J. Montag, Timothy Nieman, Frank D. Voss, Alec G. Maule
2014, Climatic Change (124) 371-384
Designing climate-related research so that study results will be useful to natural resource managers is a unique challenge. While decision makers increasingly recognize the need to consider climate change in their resource management plans, and climate scientists recognize the importance of providing locally-relevant climate data and projections, there often remains...
Wind River subbasin restoration: U.S. Geological Survey annual report November 2012 through December 2013
Ian G. Jezorek, Patrick J. Connolly
2014, Report
Executive Summary The Wind River subbasin in southwest Washington State provides habitat for a population of wild Lower Columbia River steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss. There have been no hatchery steelhead planted in the Wind River subbasin since 1994, and hatchery adults are estimated to be less than one percent of adults in...
Mercury in the national parks
Colleen Flanagan Pritz, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, David Krabbenhoft
2014, The George Wright Forum (31) 168-180
One thing is certain: Even for trained researchers, predicting mercury’s behavior in the environment is challenging. Fundamentally it is one of 98 naturally occurring elements, with natural sources, such as volcanoes, and concentrated ore deposits, such as cinnabar. Yet there are also human-caused sources, such as emissions from both coal-burning...
Looking for age-related growth decline in natural forests: unexpected biomass patterns from tree rings and simulated mortality
Jane R. Foster, Anthony W. D’Amato, John B. Bradford
2014, Oecologia (175) 363-374
Forest biomass growth is almost universally assumed to peak early in stand development, near canopy closure, after which it will plateau or decline. The chronosequence and plot remeasurement approaches used to establish the decline pattern suffer from limitations and coarse temporal detail. We combined annual tree ring measurements and mortality...
Hydrogeomorphic effects of explosive volcanic eruptions on drainage basins
Thomas C. Pierson, Jon J. Major
2014, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences (42) 469-507
Explosive eruptions can severely disturb landscapes downwind or downstream of volcanoes by damaging vegetation and depositing large volumes of erodible fragmental material. As a result, fluxes of water and sediment in affected drainage basins can increase dramatically. System-disturbing processes associated with explosive eruptions include tephra fall, pyroclastic density currents, debris...
Eel River margin source-to-sink sediment budgets: revisited
Jonathan A. Warrick
2014, Marine Geology (351) 25-37
The Eel River coastal margin has been used as a representative source-to-sink sediment dispersal system owing to its steep, high-sediment yield river and the formation of sedimentary strata on its continental shelf. One finding of previous studies is that the adjacent continental shelf retains only ~25% of the Eel River...
Assessment of parametric uncertainty for groundwater reactive transport modeling,
Xiaoqing Shi, Ming Ye, Gary P. Curtis, Geoffery L. Miller, Philip D. Meyer, Matthias Kohler, Steve Yabusaki, Jichun Wu
2014, Water Resources Research (50) 4416-4439
The validity of using Gaussian assumptions for model residuals in uncertainty quantification of a groundwater reactive transport model was evaluated in this study. Least squares regression methods explicitly assume Gaussian residuals, and the assumption leads to Gaussian likelihood functions, model parameters, and model predictions. While the Bayesian methods do not...
Alaska
F. Stuart Chapin III, Sarah F. Trainor, Patricia Cochran, Henry Huntington, Carl J. Markon, Molly McCammon, A. David McGuire, Mark Serreze
J. M. Melillo, Terese Richmond, G.W. Yohe, editor(s)
2014, Report, Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment
Key Messages Arctic summer sea ice is receding faster than previously projected and is expected to virtually disappear before mid-century. This is altering marine ecosystems and leading to greater ship access, offshore development opportunity, and increased community vulnerability to coastal erosion. Most glaciers in Alaska and British Columbia are shrinking substantially. This...
Cycles of explosive and effusive eruptions at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i
Don Swanson, Timothy R. Rose, Adonara E Mucek, Michael O. Garcia, Richard S. Fiske, Larry G. Mastin
2014, Geology (42) 631-634
The subaerial eruptive activity at Kīlauea Volcano (Hawai‘i) for the past 2500 yr can be divided into 3 dominantly effusive and 2 dominantly explosive periods, each lasting several centuries. The prevailing style of eruption for 60% of this time was explosive, manifested by repeated phreatic and phreatomagmatic activity in a...
Woody vegetation communities of tidal freshwater swamps in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida (US) with comparisons to similar systems in the US and South America
Jamie A. Duberstein, William H. Conner, Ken W. Krauss
2014, Journal of Vegetation Science (25) 848-862
Questions What are the general tree communities found in tidal freshwater swamps along four large coastal rivers in the southeastern United States (US)? How do these communities compare to other tidal freshwater swamps in the US and South America? Locations Tidal floodplains of major rivers along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the...
Preliminary analysis of the role of lake basin morphology on the modern diatom flora in the Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt Range, Nevada, USA
Scott W. Starratt
2014, Mountain Views (8) 8-13
As paleolimnologists, we often look at the world through a 5-cm-diameter hole in the bottom of a lake, and although a number of studies have shown that a single core in the deepest part of a lake does not necessarily reflect the entire diatom flora, time and money often limit...
