Nitrogen
L.E. Apodaca
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 78-79
Ammonia was produced by 12 companies at 27 plants in 15 states in the United States during 2011. Sixty-one percent of total U.S. ammonia production capacity was centered in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas because of those states' large reserves of natural gas, the dominant domestic feedstock. In 2011, U.S. producers...
Avian botulism and avian chlamydiosis in wild water birds, Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Montana, USA
Douglas E. Docherty, J. Christian Franson, Roger E. Brannian, Renee R. Long, Craig A. Radi, David Krueger, Robert F. Johnson
2012, Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine (43) 885-888
In 1999, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, Wisconsin, conducted a diagnostic investigation into a water bird mortality event involving intoxication with avian botulism type C and infection with avian chlamydiosis at the Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Montana, USA. Of 24 carcasses necropsied, 11...
Peat
L.E. Apodaca
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 79-80
In 2011, domestic production of peat, excluding Alaska, was estimated to be 605 kt (667,000 st), compared with 628 kt (629,000 st) in 2010. In 2011, imports increased to 1.1. Mt (1.2 million st) compared with 947 kt (1 million st) in 2010, and exports were estimated to have decreased...
Estrogenic compounds decrease growth hormone receptor abundance and alter osmoregulation in Atlantic salmon
Darren T. Lerner, Mark A. Sheridan, Stephen D. McCormick
2012, General and Comparative Endocrinology (179) 196-204
Exposure of Atlantic salmon smolts to estrogenic compounds is shown to compromise several aspects of smolt development. We sought to determine the underlying endocrine mechanisms of estrogen impacts on the growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) axis. Smolts in freshwater (FW) were either injected 3 times over 10 days...
Calving seismicity from iceberg-sea surface interactions
T.C. Bartholomaus, C.F. Larsen, Shad O’Neel, M.E. West
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (117)
Iceberg calving is known to release substantial seismic energy, but little is known about the specific mechanisms that produce calving icequakes. At Yahtse Glacier, a tidewater glacier on the Gulf of Alaska, we draw upon a local network of seismometers and focus on 80 hours of concurrent, direct observation of...
Pumice and pumicite
R.D. Crangle Jr.
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 85-86
Production of pumice in the United States during 2011 was estimated to be 380 kt (420,000 st), a 3-percent decrease compared with 2010. The unit value of pumice varied by end use in 2011. Pumice used as an abrasive was priced at $10.39/t ($9.30/st), while specialty-grade pumice, used in cosmetics,...
Shale Gas Development and Brook Trout: Scaling Best Management Practices to Anticipate Cumulative Effects
David Smith, Craig D. Snyder, Nathaniel P. Hitt, John A. Young, Stephen P. Faulkner
2012, Environmental Practice (14) 366-381
Shale gas development may involve trade-offs between energy development and benefits provided by natural ecosystems. However, current best management practices (BMPs) focus on mitigating localized ecological degradation. We review evidence for cumulative effects of natural gas development on brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and conclude that BMPs should account for potential...
Effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita on Louisiana black bear habitat
Joseph D. Clark, Jennifer L. Murrow
2012, Ursus (23) 192-205
The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) is comprised of 3 subpopulations, each being small, geographically isolated, and vulnerable to extinction. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts in 2005, potentially altering habitat occupied by this federally threatened subspecies. We used data collected on radio-telemetered bears from...
Lithium
B.W. Jaskula
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 72-73
In 2011, world lithium consumption was estimated to have been about 25 kt (25,000 st) of lithium contained in minerals and compounds, a 10-percent increase from 2010. U.S. consumption was estimated to have been about 2 kt (2,200 st) of contained lithium, a 100-percent increase from 2010. The United States...
Exploration review
D.R. Wilburn, T.D. Rapstine, E.C. Lee
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 40-60
This summary of international mineral exploration activities for the year 2011 draws upon available information from industry sources, published literature and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) specialists. This summary provides data on exploration budgets by region and mineral commodity, identifies significant mineral discoveries and areas of mineral exploration, discusses government programs...
Sulfur
L.E. Apodaca
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 91-92
In 2011, elemental sulfur and the byproduct sulfuric acid were produced at 109 operations in 29 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Total shipments were valued at about $1.6 billion. Elemental sulfur production was 8.2 Mt (9 million st); Louisiana and Texas accounted for about 53 percent of domestic production....
Spot-mapping underestimates song-territory size and use of mature forest by breeding golden-winged warblers in Minnesota, USA
Henry M. Streby, John P. Loegering, David E. Andersen
2012, Wildlife Society Bulletin (36) 40-46
Studies of songbird breeding habitat often compare habitat characteristics of used and unused areas. Although there is usually meticulous effort to precisely and consistently measure habitat characteristics, accuracy of methods for estimating which areas are used versus which are unused by birds remains generally untested. To examine accuracy of spot-mapping...
Mineral resource of the month: boron
Robert D. Crangle Jr.
2012, Earth (57) 23-23
The article offers information on the mineral, boron. Boron compounds, particularly borates, have more commercial applications than its elemental relative which is a metalloid. Making up the 90% of the borates that are used worldwide are colemanite, kernite, tincal, and ulexite. The main borate deposits are located in the Mojave...
Habitat use by fishes of Lake Superior. II. Consequences of diel habitat use for habitat linkages and habitat coupling in nearshore and offshore waters
Owen T. Gorman, Daniel L. Yule, Jason D. Stockwell
2012, Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management (15) 355-368
Diel migration patterns of fishes in nearshore (15–80 m depth) and offshore (>80 m) waters of Lake Superior were examined to assess the potential for diel migration to link benthic and pelagic, and nearshore and offshore habitats. In our companion article, we described three types of diel migration: diel vertical migration (DVM),...
Context-dependent planktivory: interacting effects of turbidity and predation risk on adaptive foraging
Kevin L. Pangle, Timothy D. Malinich, David B. Bunnell, Dennis R. DeVries, Stuart A. Ludsin
2012, Ecosphere (3)
By shaping species interactions, adaptive phenotypic plasticity can profoundly influence ecosystems. Predicting such outcomes has proven difficult, however, owing in part to the dependence of plasticity on the environmental context. Of particular relevance are environmental factors that affect sensory performance in organisms in ways that alter the tradeoffs associated with...
Heat flow in vapor dominated areas of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field: implications for the thermal budget of the Yellowstone Caldera
Shaul Hurwitz, Robert Harris, Cynthia Anne Werner, Fred Murphy
2012, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (117)
Characterizing the vigor of magmatic activity in Yellowstone requires knowledge of the mechanisms and rates of heat transport between magma and the ground surface. We present results from a heat flow study in two vapor dominated, acid-sulfate thermal areas in the Yellowstone Caldera, the 0.11 km2 Obsidian Pool Thermal Area...
Rare earths, the lanthanides, yttrium and scandium
G. Bedinger, D. Bleiwas
2012, Mining Engineering (64) 86-88
In 2011, rare earths were recovered from bastnasite concentrates at the Mountain Pass Mine in California. Consumption of refined rare-earth products decreased in 2011 from 2010. U.S. rare-earth imports originated primarily from China, with lesser amounts from Austria, Estonia, France and Japan. The United States imported all of its demand...
Evidence of local adaptation in westslope cutthroat trout
Daniel P. Drinan, Alexander V. Zale, Molly A.H. Webb, Mark L. Taper, Bradley B. Shepard, Steven T. Kalinowski
2012, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (141) 872-880
An understanding of the process of local adaptation would allow managers to better protect and conserve species. Many salmonids are in need of such efforts, and because they often persist in differing, isolated environments, they are useful organisms for studying local adaptation. In addition, the temperature sensitivity of salmonids provides...
Linking soil moisture balance and source-responsive models to estimate diffuse and preferential components of groundwater recharge
M.O. Cuthbert, R. Mackay, J. R. Nimmo
2012, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (9) 8455-8492
Results are presented of a detailed study into the vadose zone and shallow water table hydrodynamics of a field site in Shropshire, UK. A conceptual model is developed and tested using a range of numerical models, including a modified soil moisture balance model (SMBM) for estimating groundwater recharge in the...
Fragilariopsis diatom evolution in Pliocene and Pleistocene Antarctic shelf sediments
Charlotte Sjunneskog, Christina Riesselman, Diane Winter, Reed Scherer
2012, Micropaleontology (58) 273-289
The late Pliocene – early Pleistocene sediment record in the AND-1B core from the McMurdo Sound, Ross Sea, Antarctica, displays a rich diversity and high abundance of diatoms, including several new morphologies within the genus Fragilariopsis. These new morphologies exhibit similarities to the extinct late Miocene/early Pliocene species Fragilariopsis aurica...
Evolution of the chemistry of Fe bearing waters during CO2 degassing
J.N. Geroni, C.A. Cravotta III, D.J. Sapsford
2012, Applied Geochemistry (27) 2335-2347
The rates of Fe(II) oxidation and precipitation from groundwater are highly pH dependent. Elevated levels of dissolved CO2 can depress pH and cause difficulty in removing dissolved Fe and associated metals during treatment of ferruginous water. This paper demonstrates interdependent changes in pH, dissolved inorganic C species, and Fe(II) oxidation...
Impact disruption and recovery of the deep subsurface biosphere
Charles S. Cockell, Mary A. Voytek, Aaron L. Gronstal, Kai Finster, Julie D. Kirshtein, Kieren Howard, Joachim Reitner, Gregory S. Gohn, Ward E. Sanford, J. Wright Horton Jr., Jens Kallmeyer, Laura Kelly, David S. Powars
2012, Astrobiology (12) 231-246
Although a large fraction of the world's biomass resides in the subsurface, there has been no study of the effects of catastrophic disturbance on the deep biosphere and the rate of its subsequent recovery. We carried out an investigation of the microbiology of a 1.76 km drill core obtained from the...
Habitat use by fishes of Lake Superior. I. Diel patterns of habitat use in nearshore and offshore waters of the Apostle Islands region
O. T. Gorman, D.L. Yule, J.D. Stockwell
2012, Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management (15) 333-354
Diel patterns of distribution of fishes in nearshore (15–80 m depth) and offshore (>80 m) waters of the Apostle Islands region of Lake Superior were described using bottom trawls, mid-water trawls, and acoustic gear during day and night sampling. These data revealed three types of diel migration: diel vertical migration (DVM), diel...
Estimating the benefits of land imagery in environmental applications: a case study in nonpoint source pollution of groundwater
Richard L. Bernknopf, William M. Forney, Ronald P. Raunikar, Shruti K. Mishra
Ramanan Laxminarayan, Molly K. Maccauley, editor(s)
2012, Book chapter, The value of information
Moderate-resolution land imagery (MRLI) is crucial to a more complete assessment of the cumulative, landscape-level effect of agricultural land use and land cover on environmental quality. If this improved assessment yields a net social benefit, then that benefit reflects the value of information (VOI) from MRLI. Environmental quality and the...
Modeling species invasions in Ecopath with Ecosim: an evaluation using Laurentian Great Lakes models
Brian J. Langseth, Mark Rogers, Hongyan Zhang
2012, Ecological Modelling (247) 251-261
Invasive species affect the structure and processes of ecosystems they invade. Invasive species have been particularly relevant to the Laurentian Great Lakes, where they have played a part in both historical and recent changes to Great Lakes food webs and the fisheries supported therein. There is increased interest in understanding...
