Adapting generalization tools to physiographic diversity for the united states national hydrography dataset
B.P. Buttenfield, L.V. Stanislawski, C.A. Brewer
2011, Cartography and Geographic Information Science (38) 289-301
This paper reports on generalization and data modeling to create reduced scale versions of the National Hydrographic Dataset (NHD) for dissemination through The National Map, the primary data delivery portal for USGS. Our approach distinguishes local differences in physiographic factors, to demonstrate that knowledge about varying terrain (mountainous, hilly or...
InSAR observations of aseismic slip associated with an earthquake swarm in the Columbia River flood basalts
Charles Wicks, W. Thelen, C. Weaver, J. Gomberg, A. Rohay, P. Bodin
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (116)
In 2009 a swarm of small shallow earthquakes occurred within the basalt flows of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG). The swarm occurred within a dense seismic network in the U.S. Department of Energys Hanford Site. Data from the seismic network along with interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data from...
Wave-current interaction in Willapa Bay
Maitane Olabarrieta, John C. Warner, Nirnimesh Kumar
2011, Journal of Geophysical Research C: Oceans (116)
This paper describes the importance of wave-current interaction in an inlet-estuary system. The three-dimensional, fully coupled, Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system was applied in Willapa Bay (Washington State) from 22 to 29 October 1998 that included a large storm event. To represent the interaction between waves and currents, the...
Spawning habitat selection of hickory shad
Julianne E. Harris, Joseph E. Hightower
2011, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (31) 495-505
We examined the spawning habitat selectivity of hickory shad Alosa mediocris, an anadromous species on the Atlantic coast of North America. Using plankton tows and artificial substrates (spawning pads), we collected hickory shad eggs in the Roanoke River, North Carolina, to identify spawning timing, temperature, and microhabitat use. Hickory shad eggs...
Paleogene coal deposits of the Wilcox group and the Indio formation of south Texas
Robert W. Hook, Peter D. Warwick, John R. SanFilipo, Douglas J. Nichols
Peter D. Warwick, Alexander K. Karlsen, Matthew D. Merrill, Brett J. Valentine, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Geologic assessment of coal in the Gulf of Mexico coastal plain
Coal deposits of the undivided Wilcox Group and its southern equivalent Indio Formation (Paleogene) of south Texas are among the coal resources that are not evaluated quantitatively in the current Gulf Coastal Plain coal re-source assessment. South Texas Wilcox and Indio coals have not been extensively mined, nor have they...
Preening behavior of adult gyrfalcons tagged with backpack transmitters
T.L. Booms, P.F. Schempf, M.R. Fuller
2011, Journal of Raptor Research (45) 264-267
Radio transmitters provide data that enhance understanding of raptor biology (Walls and Kenward 2007) and are now used to answer a multitude of research questions (Meyburg and Fuller 2007). However, transmitters affect the birds that carry them (Barron et al. 2010), and it is important to document and evaluate such...
Extended megadroughts in the southwestern United States during Pleistocene interglacials
P.J. Fawcett, J.P. Werne, R. Scott Anderson, J.M. Heikoop, E.T. Brown, M.A. Berke, S.J. Smith, F. Goff, L. Donohoo-Hurley, L. M. Cisneros-Dozal, S. Schouten, J.S.S. Damste, Y. Huang, J. Toney, J. Fessenden, G. Woldegabriel, V. Atudorei, J. W. Geissman, Craig D. Allen
2011, Nature (470) 518-521
The potential for increased drought frequency and severity linked to anthropogenic climate change in the semi-arid regions of the southwestern United States (US) is a serious concern. Multi-year droughts during the instrumental period and decadal-length droughts of the past two millennia were shorter and climatically different from the future permanent,...
Detecting post-fire burn severity and vegetation recovery using multitemporal remote sensing spectral indices and field-collected composite burn index data in a ponderosa pine forest
Xuexia Chen, James E. Vogelmann, Matt Rollins, Donald Ohlen, Carl H. Key, Limin Yang, Chengquan Huang, Hua Shi
2011, International Journal of Remote Sensing (32) 7905-7927
It is challenging to detect burn severity and vegetation recovery because of the relatively long time period required to capture the ecosystem characteristics. Multitemporal remote sensing data can providemultitemporal observations before, during and after a wildfire, and can improve the change detection accuracy. The goal of this study is to...
A revised 87Sr/86Sr curve for the Silurian: Implications for global ocean chemistry and the Silurian timescale
Bradley D. Cramer, Axel Munnecke, D. I. Schofield, K.M. Haase, A. Haase-Schramm
2011, Journal of Geology (119) 335-349
Recent recalibration of the Silurian timescale and improved global chronostratigraphic correlation of Silurian strata significantly altered the Silurian 87Sr/86Sr curve and the temporal extent of available data. Whereas previous Silurian 87Sr/86Sr composites showed a generally monotonic increase throughout the Silurian, revisions to the Silurian timescale now require a major increase in the...
Didymosphenia geminata: Algal blooms in oligotrophic streams and rivers
P.V. Sundareshwar, S. Upadhayay, M. Abessa, S. Honomichl, B. Berdanier, S. A. Spaulding, C. Sandvik, A. Trennepohl
2011, Geophysical Research Letters (38)
In recent decades, the diatom Didymosphenia geminata has emerged as nuisance species in river systems around the world. This periphytic alga forms large "blooms" in temperate streams, presenting a counterintuitive result: the blooms occur primarily in oligotrophic streams and rivers, where phosphorus (P) availability typically limits primary production. The goal...
Soil carbon sequestration potential for "grain for green" project in Loess Plateau, China
R. Chang, B. Fu, Gaisheng Liu, S. Liu
2011, Environmental Management (48) 1158-1172
Conversion of cropland into perennial vegetation land can increase soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation, which might be an important mitigation measure to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The “Grain for Green” project, one of the most ambitious ecological programmes launched in modern China, aims at transforming the low-yield slope...
Changes in monoterpene mixing ratios during summer storms in rural New Hampshire (USA)
Karl B. Haase, C. Jordan, E. Mentis, L. Cottrell, H.R. Mayne, R. Talbot, B.C. Sive
2011, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions (11) 20631-20665
Monoterpenes are an important class of biogenic hydrocarbons that influence ambient air quality and are a principle source of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Emitted from vegetation, monoterpenes are a product of photosynthesis and act as a response to a variety of environmental factors. Most parameterizations of monoterpene emissions are based...
Assessment of clinical pathology and pathogen exposure in sea otters (Enhydra lutris) bordering the threatened population in Alaska
Tracey Goldstein, Verena A. Gill, Pamela A. Tuomi, Daniel H. Monson, Alexander Burdin, Patricia A. Conrad, J. Lawrence Dunn, Cara L. Field, Christine K. Johnson, David A. Jessup, James L. Bodkin, Angela M. Doroff
2011, Journal of Wildlife Diseases (47) 579-592
Northern sea otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) abundance has decreased dramatically over portions of southwest Alaska, USA, since the mid-1980s, and this stock is currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In contrast, adjacent populations in south central Alaska, USA, and Russia have been stable to increasing during the...
Monitoring duration and extent of storm-surge and flooding in Western Coastal Louisiana marshes with Envisat ASAR data
Elijah Ramsey III, Zhong Lu, Yukihiro Suzuoki, Amina Rangoonwala, Dirk Werle
2011, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (4) 387-399
Inundation maps of coastal marshes in western Louisiana were created with multitemporal Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture (ASAR) scenes collected before and during the three months after Hurricane Rita landfall in September 2005. Corroborated by inland water-levels, 7 days after landfall, 48% of coastal estuarine and palustrine marshes remained inundated by...
Nitrogen contamination of surficial aquifers - A growing legacy
Larry J. Puckett, Anthony J. Tesoriero, Neil M. Dubrovsky
2011, Environmental Science & Technology (45) 839-844
The virtual ubiquity of fertilizer-fed agriculture, increasing over several decades, has become necessary to support the global human population. Ironically, widespread use of nitrogen (N) has contaminated another vital resource: surficial fresh groundwater. Further, as nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas, anthropogenic manipulation of...
Development of the USGS national land-cover database over two decades
George Z. Xian, Collin G. Homer, Limin Yang
Qihao Weng, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Advances in environmental remote sensing
Land-cover composition and change have profound impacts on terrestrial ecosystems. Land-cover and land-use (LCLU) conditions and their changes can affect social and physical environments by altering ecosystem conditions and services. Information about LCLU change is often used to produce landscape-based metrics and evaluate landscape conditions to monitor LCLU status and...
Simulating effects of microtopography on wetland specific yield and hydroperiod
David M. Summer
Xixi Wang, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Modeling hydrologic effects of microtopographic features
Specific yield and hydroperiod have proven to be useful parameters in hydrologic analysis of wetlands. Specific yield is a critical parameter to quantitatively relate hydrologic fluxes (e.g., rainfall, evapotranspiration, and runoff) and water level changes. Hydroperiod measures the temporal variability and frequency of land-surface inundation. Conventionally, hydrologic analyses used these...
The Rakiura Titi Islands Restoration Project: Community action to eradicate Rattus rattus and Rattus exulans for ecological restoration and cultural wellbeing
P. J McClelland, R. Coote R., M. Trow M., P. Hutchins P., HannahRose M. Nevins, Josh Adams, J. Newman, H. Moller
C.R. Veitch, Mike N. Clout, D. R. Towns, editor(s)
2011, Conference Paper, Island invasives: Eradication and management: Proceedings of the International Conference on Island Invasives
In 2003, a non-profit group, Ka Mate Nga Kiore, was set up to oversee the restoration of four Maori-owned islands off the south coast of Stewart Island, New Zealand. The first step in the restoration was to eradicate ship rats (Rattus rattus) from three islands and Pacific rats (R. exulans)...
Seismic seiches
Arthur McGarr
Harsh K. Gupta, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Encyclopedia of solid earth geophysics
Seismic seiche is a term first used by Kvale (1955) to discuss oscillations of lake levels in Norway and England caused by the Assam earthquake of August 15, 1950. This definition has since been generalized to apply to standing waves set up in closed, or partially closed, bodies of water...
Coal resources for the Chemard Lake (Naborton No. 2) coal zone of the lower Wilcox group (Paleocene), northwestern Louisiana
Peter D. Warwick, Steven M. Podwysocki, Adam C. Schultz
Peter D. Warwick, Alexander K. Karlsen, Matthew D. Merrill, Brett J. Valentine, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Geologic assessment of coal in the Gulf of Mexico coastal plain
The lower part of the Wilcox Group of northwest Louisiana contains shallow (less than 500 ft) coal deposits that are mined for use in mine-mouth electric power-generating plants. The coal deposits, which are lignite A in apparent rank (Pierce et al., 2011), occur on the eastern part of the Sabine...
Management case study: Tampa Bay, Florida
Gerold Morrison, Holly Greening, Kimberly K. Yates
Eric Wolanski, Donald S. McLusky, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Management of Estuaries and Coasts
Tampa Bay, Florida, USA, is a shallow, subtropical estuary that experienced severe cultural eutrophication between the 1940s and 1980s, a period when the human population of its watershed quadrupled. In response, citizen action led to the formation of a public- and private-sector partnership (the Tampa Bay Estuary Program), which...
Effects of model layer simplification using composite hydraulic properties
Eve L. Kuniansky, Nicasio Sepulveda
Lakshmanan Elango, editor(s)
2011, Book chapter, Hydraulic conductivity: Issues, determination and applications
Groundwater provides much of the fresh drinking water to more than 1.5 billion people in the world (Clarke et al., 1996) and in the United States more that 50 percent of citizens rely on groundwater for drinking water (Solley et al., 1998). As aquifer systems are developed for water supply,...
Notes on the geology and meteorology of sites infected with white-nose syndrome before July 2010 in Southeastern United States
Christopher S. Swezey, Christopher P. Garrity
2011, NSS News (2011) 16-25
Since 2006, numerous bat colonies in North America have experienced unusually high incidences of mortality. In these colonies, bats are infected by a white fungus named Geomyces destructans, which has been observed on bat muzzles, noses, ears, and (or) wings. Although it is not exactly certain how and why these...
Distribution and characterization of in-channel large wood in relation to geomorphic patterns on a low-gradient river
Bertrand Moulin, Edward R. Schenk, Cliff R. Hupp
2011, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (36) 1137-1151
A 177 river km georeferenced aerial survey of in-channel large wood (LW) on the lower Roanoke River, NC was conducted to determine LW dynamics and distributions on an eastern USA low-gradient large river. Results indicate a system with approximately 75% of the LW available for transport either as detached individual...
Mineral resource of the month: potash
Stephen M. Jasinski
2011, Earth (56) 25-25
The article offers basic information about the mineral resource potash. According to the author, potash is the generic term for a variety of mined and manufactured salts that contain the mineral potassium in a water-soluble form. The author adds that potash is used in fertilizers, soaps and detergents, glass and...
