Bounce Rock-A shergottite-like basalt encountered at Meridiani Planum, Mars
J. Zipfel, C. Schroder, B.L. Jolliff, Ralf Gellert, K. E. Herkenhoff, R. Rieder, R. Anderson, J.F. Bell III, J. Bruckner, J.A. Crisp, P. R. Christensen, B. C. Clark, P.A. de Souza, G. Dreibus, C. D'uston, T. Economou, S.P. Gorevan, B.C. Hahn, G. Klingelhofer, T.J. McCoy, H.Y. McSween, D. W. Ming, R.V. Morris, D.S. Rodionov, S. W. Squyres, H. Wanke, S.P. Wright, M.B. Wyatt, A. S. Yen
2011, Meteoritics and Planetary Science (46) 1-20
The Opportunity rover of the Mars Exploration Rover mission encountered an isolated rock fragment with textural, mineralogical, and chemical properties similar to basaltic shergottites. This finding was confirmed by all rover instruments, and a comprehensive study of these results is reported here. Spectra from the miniature thermal emission spectrometer and...
Geology and mammalian paleontology of the Horned Toad Hills, Mojave Desert, California, USA
S.R. May, M.O. Woodburne, E.H. Lindsay, L.B. Albright, A. Sarna-Wojcicki, E. Wan, D.B. Wahl
2011, Palaeontologia Electronica (14) 13
The Horned Toad Formation includes five lithostratigraphic members that record alluvial fan, fluvial, lake margin, and lacustrine deposition within a relatively small basin just south of the active Garlock fault during the late Miocene to early Pliocene. These sediments experienced northwest-southeast contractional deformation during the Pliocene-Pleistocene associated with basement-involved reverse...
Effects of planting method and seed mix richness on the early stages of tallgrass prairie restoration
D.L. Larson, J.B. Bright, P. Drobney, J.L. Larson, N. Palaia, P.A. Rabie, S. Vacek, D. Wells
2011, Biological Conservation (144) 3127-3139
Tallgrass prairie restoration has been practiced for more than 75. years, yet few studies have systematically tested restoration methods over large geographic regions with the intent of refining methodology. In this study, we used three planting methods (dormant-season broadcast, growing-season broadcast and growing-season drill) fully crossed with three levels of...
Sarcocystis neurona retinochoroiditis in a sea otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni)
J. P. Dubey, N. J. Thomas
2011, Veterinary Parasitology (183) 156-159
Sarcocystis neurona is an important cause of fatal disease in sea otters in the USA. Encephalitis is the predominant lesion and parasites are confined to the central nervous system and muscles. Here we report retinochoroiditis in a sea otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) found dead on Copalis Beach, WA, USA. Salient...
Identification and evaluation of shark bycatch in Georgia's commercial shrimp trawl fishery with implications for management
C.N. Belcher, Cecil A. Jennings
2011, Fisheries Management and Ecology (18) 104-112
Many US states have recreational and commercial fisheries that occur in nursery areas occupied by subadult sharks and can potentially affect their survival. Georgia is one of few US states without a directed commercial shark fishery, but the state has a large, nearshore penaeid shrimp trawl fishery in which small...
A feasibility study of geological CO2 sequestration in the Ordos Basin, China
Z. Jiao, R.C. Surdam, L. Zhou, P.H. Stauffer, T. Luo
2011, Conference Paper, Energy Procedia
The Shaanxi Province/Wyoming CCS Partnership (supported by DOE NETL) aims to store commercial quantities of CO2 safely and permanently in the Ordovician Majiagou Formation in the northern Ordos Basin, Shaanxi Province, China. This objective is imperative because at present, six coal-to-liquid facilities in Shaanxi Province are capturing and venting significant...
Factors affecting winter survival of female mallards in the lower Mississippi alluvial valley
B.E. Davis, A. D. Afton, R. R. Cox Jr.
2011, Waterbirds (34) 186-194
The lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (hereafter LMAV) provides winter habitat for approximately 40% of the Mississippi Flyway's Mallard (Anas platyrhynhcos) population; information on winter survival rates of female Mallards in the LMAV is restricted to data collected prior to implementation of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. To estimate recent...
Decision analysis for conservation breeding: Maximizing production for reintroduction of whooping cranes
Des Smith, Sarah J. Converse, Keith Gibson, Axel Moehrenschlager, William A. Link, Glenn H. Olsen, Kelly Maguire
2011, Journal of Wildlife Management (75) 501-508
Captive breeding is key to management of severely endangered species, but maximizing captive production can be challenging because of poor knowledge of species breeding biology and the complexity of evaluating different management options. In the face of uncertainty and complexity, decision-analytic approaches can be used to identify optimal management options...
Simulating the potential effects of climate change in two Colorado basins and at two Colorado ski areas
William Battaglin, Lauren E. Hay, Steve Markstrom
2011, Earth Interactions (15) 1-23
The mountainous areas of Colorado are used for tourism and recreation, and they provide water storage and supply for municipalities, industries, and agriculture. Recent studies suggest that water supply and tourist industries such as skiing are at risk from climate change. In this study, a distributed-parameter watershed model, the Precipitation-Runoff...
A mass-balance model to separate and quantify colloidal and solute redistributions in soil
C.R. Bern, O.A. Chadwick, A.S. Hartshorn, L.M. Khomo, J. Chorover
2011, Chemical Geology (282) 113-119
Studies of weathering and pedogenesis have long used calculations based upon low solubility index elements to determine mass gains and losses in open systems. One of the questions currently unanswered in these settings is the degree to which mass is transferred in solution (solutes) versus suspension (colloids). Here we show...
Residence time and movements of postbreeding shorebirds on the northern coast of Alaska
Audrey R. Taylor, Richard B. Lanctot, Abby N. Powell, Steven J. Kendall, Debora A. Nigro
2011, The Condor (113) 779-794
Relatively little is known about shorebird movements across the coast of northern Alaska, yet postbreeding shorebirds use this coastline extensively prior to fall migration. We deployed 346 radio transmitters on 153 breeding and 193 postbreeding shorebirds of five species from 2005 to 2007.We examined two hypotheses regarding postbreeding shorebirds' movements:...
Habitat selection by a focal predator (Canis lupus) in a multiprey ecosystem of the northern Rockies
B. Milakovic, K.L. Parker, D.D. Gustine, R.J. Lay, A.B.D. Walker, M.P. Gillingham
2011, Journal of Mammalogy (92) 568-582
Large predators respond to land cover and physiography that maximize the likelihood of encountering prey. Using locations from global positioning system-collared wolves (Canis lupus), we examined whether land cover, vegetation productivity or change, or habitat-selection value for ungulate prey species themselves most influenced patterns of selection by wolves in a...
Earthquake casualty models within the USGS Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system
Kishor Jaiswal, David J. Wald, Paul S. Earle, Keith A. Porter, Mike Hearne
2011, Book chapter, Human casualties in earthquakes: progress in modelling and mitigation
Since the launch of the USGS’s Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) system in fall of 2007, the time needed for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to determine and comprehend the scope of any major earthquake disaster anywhere in the world has been dramatically reduced to less than...
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...
Adaption of egg and larvae sampling techniques for lake sturgeon and broadcast spawning fishes in a deep river
Edward F. Roseman, James Boase, Gregory W. Kennedy, Jaquelyn M. Craig, Karen Soper
2011, Journal of Applied Ichthyology (27) 89-92
In this report we describe how we adapted two techniques for sampling lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) and other fish early life history stages to meet our research needs in the Detroit River, a deep, flowing Great Lakes connecting channel. First, we developed a buoy‐less method for sampling fish eggs and...
Paleogene calcareous nannofossils of Southern Maryland, South Dover Bridge Core, USA
Jean M. Self-Trail
2011, Journal of Nannoplankton Research (32) 1-28
No abstract available...
Short- and long-term effects of fire on carbon in US dry temperate forest systems
Matthew D. Hurteau, Matthew L. Brooks
2011, BioScience (61) 139-146
Forests sequester carbon from the atmosphere, and in so doing can mitigate the effects of climate change. Fire is a natural disturbance process in many forest systems that releases carbon back to the atmosphere. In dry temperate forests, fires historically burned with greater frequency and lower severity than they do...
Arsenic species in weathering mine tailings and biogenic solids at the Lava Cap Mine Superfund Site, Nevada City, CA
Andrea L. Foster, Roger P. Ashley, James J. Rytuba
2011, Geochemical Transactions (12)
Background A realistic estimation of the health risk of human exposure to solid-phase arsenic (As) derived from historic mining operations is a major challenge to redevelopment of California's famed "Mother Lode" region. Arsenic, a known carcinogen, occurs in multiple solid forms that vary in bioaccessibility. X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy (XAFS) was...
Validation of a freshwater Otolith microstructure pattern for Nisqually Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
Angie Lind-Null, Kim Larsen
2011, Report
The Nisqually Fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) population is one of 27 stocks in the Puget Sound (Washington) evolutionarily significant unit listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). Extensive restoration of the Nisqually River delta ecosystem has taken place to assist in recovery of the stock since...
Estimating California ecosystem carbon change using process model and land cover disturbance data: 1951-2000
Jinxun Liu, James E. Vogelmann, Zhiliang Zhu, Carl H. Key, Benjamin M. Sleeter, D.T. Price, Jing M. Chen, Mark A. Cochrane, Jeffery C. Eidenshink, Stephen M. Howard, Norman B. Bliss, Hong Jiang
2011, Ecological Modelling (222) 2333-2341
Land use change, natural disturbance, and climate change directly alter ecosystem productivity and carbon stock level. The estimation of ecosystem carbon dynamics depends on the quality of land cover change data and the effectiveness of the ecosystem models that represent the vegetation growth processes and disturbance effects. We used...
Excess nitrogen in the U.S. environment: Trends, risks, and solutions
E.A. Davidson, M.B. David, J.N. Galloway, C.L. Goodale, R. Haeuber, J. A. Harrison, R. W. Howarth, D.B. Jaynes, R.R. Lowrance, Nolan B. Thomas, J.L. Peel, R.W. Pinder, E. Porter, C.S. Snyder, A.R. Townsend, M.H. Ward
2011, Issues in Ecology
It is not surprising that humans have profoundly altered the global nitrogen (N) cycle in an effort to feed 7 billion people, because nitrogen is an essential plant and animal nutrient. Food and energy production from agriculture, combined with industrial and energy sources, have more than doubled the amount of...
Soil carbon distribution in Alaska in relation to soil-forming factors
K.D. Johnson, J. Harden, A. D. McGuire, N.B. Bliss, James G. Bockheim, M.R. Clark, T. Nettleton-Hollingsworth, M.T. Jorgenson, E.S. Kane, M. Mack, J. O'Donnell, C.-L. Ping, E.A.G. Schuur, M.R. Turetsky, D.W. Valentine
2011, Geoderma (167-168) 71-84
The direction and magnitude of soil organic carbon (SOC) changes in response to climate change remain unclear and depend on the spatial distribution of SOC across landscapes. Uncertainties regarding the fate of SOC are greater in high-latitude systems where data are sparse and the soils are affected by sub-zero temperatures....
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...
Barrier island response to late Holocene climate events, North Carolina, USA
D. J. Mallinson, C. W. Smith, S. Mahan, S.J. Culver, K. McDowell
2011, Quaternary Research (76) 46-57
The Outer Banks barrier islands of North Carolina, USA, contain a geologic record of inlet activity that extends from ca. 2200 cal yr BP to the present, and can be used as a proxy for storm activity. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating (26 samples) of inlet-fill and flood tide delta...
Mantle to surface degassing of alkalic magmas at Erebus volcano, Antarctica
C. Oppenheimer, R. Moretti, P.R. Kyle, A. Eschenbacher, Jacob B. Lowenstern, R.L. Hervig, N. W. Dunbar
2011, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (306) 261-271
Continental intraplate volcanoes, such as Erebus volcano, Antarctica, are associated with extensional tectonics, mantle upwelling and high heat flow. Typically, erupted magmas are alkaline and rich in volatiles (especially CO2), inherited from low degrees of partial melting of mantle sources. We examine the degassing of the magmatic system at Erebus...
