Evaluation of Pleistocene groundwater flow through fractured tuffs using a U-series disequilibrium approach, Pahute Mesa, Nevada, USA
James B. Paces, Paul J. Nichols, Leonid A. Neymark, Harihar Rajaram
2013, Chemical Geology (358) 101-118
Groundwater flow through fractured felsic tuffs and lavas at the Nevada National Security Site represents the most likely mechanism for transport of radionuclides away from underground nuclear tests at Pahute Mesa. To help evaluate fracture flow and matrix–water exchange, we have determined U-series isotopic compositions on more than 40...
Pregnancy rates in central Yellowstone bison
Peter J. Gogan, Robin E. Russell, Edward M. Olexa, Kevin M. Podruzny
2013, Journal of Wildlife Management (77) 1271-1279
Plains bison (Bison b. bison) centered on Yellowstone National Park are chronically infected with brucellosis (Brucella abortus) and culled along the park boundaries to reduce the probability of disease transmission to domestic livestock. We evaluated the relationship between pregnancy rates and age, dressed carcass weight, and serological status for brucellosis...
Recreational water quality response to a filtering barrier at a Great Lakes beach
Kasia Przybyla-Kelly, Meredith Nevers, Cathy Breitenbach, Richard L. Whitman
2013, Journal of Environmental Management (129) 635-641
Recent research has sought to determine the off- or onshore origin of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in order to improve local recreational water quality. In an effort to reduce offshore contamination, a filtering barrier (FB) was installed at Calumet Beach, Lake Michigan, Chicago, IL. A horseshoe-shaped curtain (146 m long,...
Detecting channel riparian vegetation response to best-management-practices implementation in ephemeral streams with the use of spot high-resolution visible imagery
Kendall Vande Kamp, Matthew B. Rigge, Nels H. Troelstrup Jr., Alexander J. Smart, Bruce Wylie
2013, Rangeland Ecology and Management (66) 63-70
Heavily grazed riparian areas are commonly subject to channel incision, a lower water table, and reduced vegetation, resulting in sediment delivery above normal regimes. Riparian and in-channel vegetation functions as a roughness element and dissipates flow energy, maintaining stable channel geometry. Ash Creek, a tributary of the Bad River in...
Can shale safely host US nuclear waste?
C. E. Neuzil
2013, Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union (94) 261-262
"Even as cleanup efforts after Japan’s Fukushima disaster offer a stark reminder of the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) stored at nuclear plants worldwide, the decision in 2009 to scrap Yucca Mountain as a permanent disposal site has dimmed hope for a repository for SNF and other high-level nuclear waste (HLW)...
A new species of Helobdella (Hirudinida: Glossiphoniidae) from Oregon
William E. Moser, Steven V. Fend, Dennis J. Richardson, Charlette I. Hammond, Eric A. Lazo-Wasem, Fredric R. Govedich, Bettina S. Gullo
2013, Zootaxa (3718) 287-294
Helobdella bowermani n. sp. is described from specimens collected in fine sediment of open water benthos of Upper Klamath Lake, Klamath County, Oregon. The new species has pale yellow/buff coloration with scattered chromatophore blotches throughout the dorsal surface, lateral extensions or papillae only on the a2 annulus, dorsal medial row...
Comparison of a karst groundwater model with and without discrete conduit flow
Stephen P. Saller, Michael J. Ronayne, Andrew J. Long
2013, Hydrogeology Journal (21) 1555-1566
Karst aquifers exhibit a dual flow system characterized by interacting conduit and matrix domains. This study evaluated the coupled continuum pipe-flow framework for modeling karst groundwater flow in the Madison aquifer of western South Dakota (USA). Coupled conduit and matrix flow was simulated within a regional finite-difference model over a...
Effects of incubation substrates on hatch timing and success of White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) embryos
Michael J. Parsley, Eric Kofoot
2013, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5180
The Kootenai River white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1994 because several decades of failed spawning had put the population at risk of extinction. Natural spawning is known to occur at several locations in the Kootenai River, Idaho, but there is little...
The type localities of the mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus (Rafinesque, 1817), and the Kansas white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus macrourus (Rafinesque, 1817), are not where we thought they were
Neal Woodman
2013, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington (126) 187-198
Among the iconic mammals of the North American West is the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). This species and a western subspecies of the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus macrourus) were two of seven mammals originally named and described as new species in 1817 by Constantine S. Rafinesque. Rafinesque never saw the...
The 3D Elevation Program: summary for Texas
William J. Carswell Jr.
2013, Fact Sheet 2013-3097
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 Texas, elevation data are critical for natural resources conservation; wildfire management, planning, and response; flood risk management; agriculture and precision farming; infrastructure...
Understanding water column and streambed thermal refugia for endangered mussels in the Delaware River
Martin A. Briggs, Emily B. Voytek, Frederick D. Day-Lewis, Donald O. Rosenberry, John W. Lane Jr.
2013, Environmental Science & Technology (47) 11423-11431
Groundwater discharge locations along the upper Delaware River, both discrete bank seeps and diffuse streambed upwelling, may create thermal niche environments that benefit the endangered dwarf wedgemussel (Alasmidonta heterodon). We seek to identify whether discrete or diffuse groundwater inflow is the dominant control on refugia. Numerous springs and seeps were...
Oceanographic controls on sedimentary and geochemical facies on the Peru outer shelf and upper slope
Michael A. Arthur, Walter E. Dean
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1105
Concentrations and characteristics of organic matter in surface sediments deposited under an intense oxygen-minimum zone (OMZ) on the Peru margin were mapped and studied in samples from deck-deployed box cores and push cores acquired by submersible on two east-west transects spanning depths of 75 to 1,000 meters (m) at 12°S...
Emergency assessment of post-fire debris-flow hazards for the 2013 Powerhouse fire, southern California
Dennis M. Staley, Gregory M. Smoczyk, Ryan R. Reeves
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1248
Wildfire dramatically alters the hydrologic response of a watershed such that even modest rainstorms can produce dangerous flash floods and debris flows. Existing empirical models were used to predict the probability and magnitude of debris-flow occurrence in response to a 10-year recurrence interval rainstorm for the 2013 Powerhouse fire near...
Emergency assessment of post-fire debris-flow hazards for the 2013 Mountain fire, southern California
Dennis M. Staley, Joseph E. Gartner, Greg M. Smoczyk, Ryan R. Reeves
2013, Open-File Report 2013-1249
Wildfire dramatically alters the hydrologic response of a watershed such that even modest rainstorms can produce dangerous flash floods and debris flows. We use empirical models to predict the probability and magnitude of debris flow occurrence in response to a 10-year rainstorm for the 2013 Mountain fire near Palm Springs,...
Geologic map of the Washougal quadrangle, Clark County, Washington, and Multnomah County, Oregon
Russell C. Evarts, Jim E. O'Connor, Terry L. Tolan
2013, Scientific Investigations Map 3257
The Washougal 7.5’ quadrangle spans the boundary between the Portland Basin and the Columbia River Gorge, approximately 30 km east of Portland, Oregon. The map area contains the westernmost portion of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic area as well as the rapidly growing areas surrounding the Clark County, Washington,...
The role of dust storms in total atmospheric particle concentrations at two sites in the western U.S.
Jason C. Neff, Richard L. Reynolds, Seth M. Munson, Daniel Fernandez, Jayne Belnap
2013, Journal of Geophysical Research D: Atmospheres (118) 11201-11212
Mineral aerosols are produced during the erosion of soils by wind and are a common source of particles (dust) in arid and semiarid regions. The size of these particles varies widely from less than 2 µm to larger particles that can exceed 50 µm in diameter. In this study, we...
Composition and origin of rhyolite melt intersected by drilling in the Krafla geothermal field, Iceland
R.A. Zierenberg, Peter Schiffmant, G.H. Barfod, C.E. Lesher, N.E. Marks, Jacob B. Lowenstern, A.K. Mortensen, E.C. Pope, D.K. Bird, M.H. Reed, G.O. Fridleifsson, W.A. Elders
2013, Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology (165) 327-347
The Iceland Deep Drilling Project Well 1 was designed as a 4- to 5-km-deep exploration well with the goal of intercepting supercritical hydrothermal fluids in the Krafla geothermal field, Iceland. The well unexpectedly drilled into a high-silica (76.5 % SiO2) rhyolite melt at approximately 2.1 km. Some of the melt...
Bayes and empirical Bayes estimators of abundance and density from spatial capture-recapture data
Robert M. Dorazio
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
In capture-recapture and mark-resight surveys, movements of individuals both within and between sampling periods can alter the susceptibility of individuals to detection over the region of sampling. In these circumstances spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) models, which incorporate the observed locations of individuals, allow population density and abundance to be estimated...
Rangewide glaciation in the Sierra Nevada, California
James G. Moore, Barry C. Moring
2013, Geosphere (9) 1804-1818
The 600-km-long Sierra Nevada underwent extensive Pleistocene glaciation except for its southernmost 100 km. Presently, ∼1700 small glaciers and ice masses near the crest of the range occur above 3250 m in elevation; these covered an area of ∼50 km2 in 1972. Fourteen of the largest glaciers decreased by about one...
Response of brown-headed cowbirds and three host species to thinning treatments in low-elevation ponderosa pine forests along the northern Colorado Front Range
W.H. Keeley, Steve Germaine, Thomas R. Stanley, Sarah A. Spaulding, C.E. Wanner
2013, Forest Ecology and Management (306) 226-233
Thinning ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests to achieve desired ecological conditions remains a priority in the North American west. In addition to reducing the risk of high-severity wildfires in unwanted areas, stand thinning may increase wildlife and plant diversity and provide increased opportunity for seedling recruitment. We initiated conservative (i.e....
Inferring the relative resilience of alternative states
David G. Angeler, Craig R. Allen, Carmen Rojo, Miguel Alvarez-Cobelas, Maria A. Rodrigo, Salvador Sanchez-Carrillo
2013, PLoS ONE (8)
Ecological systems may occur in alternative states that differ in ecological structures, functions and processes. Resilience is the measure of disturbance an ecological system can absorb before changing states. However, how the intrinsic structures and processes of systems that characterize their states affects their resilience remains unclear. We analyzed time...
Implications of the miocene(?) crooked ridge river of northern arizona for the evolution of the colorado river and grand canyon
Ivo Lucchitta, Richard F. Holm, Baerbel K. Lucchitta
2013, Geosphere (9) 1417-1433
The southwesterly course of the probably pre–early Miocene and possibly Oligocene Crooked Ridge River can be traced continuously for 48 km and discontinuously for 91 km in northern Arizona (United States). The course is visible today in inverted relief. Pebbles in the river gravel came from at least as far...
Classification of freshwater ice conditions on the Alaskan Arctic Coastal Plain using ground penetrating radar and TerraSAR-X satellite data
Benjamin M. Jones, Alessio Gusmeroli, Christopher D. Arp, Tazio Strozzi, Guido Grosse, Benjamin V. Gaglioti, Matthew S. Whitman
2013, International Journal of Remote Sensing (34) 8267-8279
Arctic freshwater ecosystems have responded rapidly to climatic changes over the last half century. Lakes and rivers are experiencing a thinning of the seasonal ice cover, which may increase potential over-wintering freshwater habitat, winter water supply for industrial withdrawal, and permafrost degradation. Here, we combined the use of ground penetrating...
A model of strength
Douglas H. Johnson, R.D. Cook
2013, Science (342) 192-193
In her AAAS News & Notes piece "Can the Southwest manage its thirst?" (26 July, p. 362), K. Wren quotes Ajay Kalra, who advocates a particular method for predicting Colorado River streamflow "because it eschews complex physical climate models for a statistical data-driven modeling approach." A preference for data-driven models...
Previously unrecognized regional structure of the Coastal Belt of the Franciscan Complex, northern California, revealed by magnetic data
Victoria E. Langenheim, Robert C. Jachens, Carl M. Wentworth, Robert J. McLaughlin
2013, Geosphere (9) 1-17
Magnetic anomalies provide surprising structural detail within the previously undivided Coastal Belt, the westernmost, youngest, and least-metamorphosed part of the Franciscan Complex of northern California. Although the Coastal Belt consists almost entirely of arkosic graywacke and shale of mainly Eocene age, new detailed aeromagnetic data show that it is pervasively...
