Thermal mapping of a pahoehoe lava flow, Kilauea Volcano
Matthew R. Patrick, Tim R. Orr, Gary B. Fisher, Frank A. Trusdell, James P. Kauahikaua
2016, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (332) 71-87
Pāhoehoe lava flows are a major component of Hawaiian eruptive activity, and an important part of basaltic volcanism worldwide. In recent years, pāhoehoe lava has destroyed homes and threatened parts of Hawai‘i with inundation and disruption. In this study, we use oblique helicopter-borne thermal images to create high...
Ciscoes (Coregonus, subgenus Leucichthys) of the Laurentian Great Lakes and Lake Nipigon
Randy L. Eshenroder, Paul Vecsei, Owen T. Gorman, Daniel Yule, Thomas C. Pratt, Nicholas E. Mandrak, David B. Bunnell, Andrew M. Muir
2016, Report, Miscellaneous Publication 2016-01
This study of the ciscoes (Coregonus, subgenus Leucichthys) of the Great Lakes and Lake Nipigon represents a furtherance through 2015 of field research initiated by Walter Koelz in 1917 and continued by Stanford Smith in the mid-1900s—a period spanning nearly a century. Like Koelz’s study, this work contains information on...
Effects of dams and geomorphic context on riparian forests of the Elwha River, Washington
Patrick B. Shafroth, Laura G Perry, Chanoane A Rose, Jeffrey H Braatne
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Understanding how dams affect the shifting habitat mosaic of river bottomlands is key for protecting the many ecological functions and related goods and services that riparian forests provide and for informing approaches to riparian ecosystem restoration. We examined the downstream effects of two large dams on patterns of forest composition,...
Hydrologic connectivity: Quantitative assessments of hydrologic-enforced drainage structures in an elevation model
Sandra K. Poppenga, Bruce B. Worstell
2016, Journal of Coastal Research (Special Issue 76) 90-106
Elevation data derived from light detection and ranging present challenges for hydrologic modeling as the elevation surface includes bridge decks and elevated road features overlaying culvert drainage structures. In reality, water is carried through these structures; however, in the elevation surface these features impede modeled overland surface flow. Thus, a...
Improving the effectiveness of ecological site descriptions: General state-and-transition models and the Ecosystem Dynamics Interpretive Tool (EDIT)
Brandon T. Bestelmeyer, Jeb C. Williamson, Curtis J. Talbot, Greg W. Cates, Michael C. Duniway, Joel R. Brown
2016, Rangelands (38) 329-335
State-and-transition models (STMs) are useful tools for management, but they can be difficult to use and have limited content.STMs created for groups of related ecological sites could simplify and improve their utility. The amount of information linked to models can be increased using tables that communicate management interpretations and important...
Generalizing ecological site concepts of the Colorado Plateau for landscape-level applications
Michael C. Duniway, Travis W. Nauman, Jamin K. Johanson, Shane Green, Mark E. Miller, Brandon T. Bestelmeyer
2016, Rangelands (38) 342-349
Numerous ecological site descriptions in the southern Utah portion of the Colorado Plateau can be difficult to navigate, so we held a workshop aimed at adding value and functionality to the current ecological site system.We created new groups of ecological sites and drafted state-and-transition models for these new groups.We...
Are we working towards global research priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles?
A.F. Rees, J. Alfaro-Shigueto, P.C.R. Barata, K.A. Bjorndal, A.B. Bolten, J. Bourjea, A.C. Broderick, L.M. Campbell, L. Cardona, C. Carreras, P. Casale, S.A. Ceriani, P.H. Dutton, T. Eguchi, A. Formia, M.M.P.B. Fuentes, W.J. Fuller, M. Girondot, M.H. Godfrey, M. Hamann, Kristen M. Hart, G.C. Hays, S. Hochscheid, Y. Kaska, M.P. Jensen, J.C. Mangel, J.A. Mortimer, E. Naro-Maciel, C.K.Y. Ng, W.J. Nichols, A.D. Phillott, R.D. Reina, O. Revuelta, G. Schofield, J.A. Seminoff, K. Shanker, J. Tomas, van de Merwe, K.S. Van Houtan, H.B. Vander Zanden, B.P. Wallace, K.R. Wedemeyer-Strombel, Thierry M. Work, B.J. Godley
2016, Endangered Species Research (31) 337-382
In 2010, an international group of 35 sea turtle researchers refined an initial list of more than 200 research questions into 20 metaquestions that were considered key for management and conservation of sea turtles. These were classified under 5 categories: reproductive biology, biogeography, population ecology, threats and conservation strategies. To...
Applying downscaled Global Climate Model data to a groundwater model of the Suwannee River Basin, Florida, USA
Eric D. Swain, J. Hal Davis
2016, American Journal of Climate Change (5) 526-557
The application of Global Climate Model (GCM) output to a hydrologic model allows for comparisons between simulated recent and future conditions and provides insight into the dynamics of hydrology as it may be affected by climate change. A previously developed numerical model of the Suwannee River Basin, Florida, USA, was...
Topobathymetric elevation model development using a new methodology: Coastal National Elevation Database
Jeffrey J. Danielson, Sandra K. Poppenga, John Brock, Gayla A. Evans, Dean J. Tyler, Dean B. Gesch, Cindy A. Thatcher, John Barras
2016, Journal of Coastal Research (Special Issue 76) 75-89
During the coming decades, coastlines will respond to widely predicted sea-level rise, storm surge, and coastalinundation flooding from disastrous events. Because physical processes in coastal environments are controlled by the geomorphology of over-the-land topography and underwater bathymetry, many applications of geospatial data in coastal environments require detailed knowledge of the...
Status of groundwater levels and storage volume in the Equus Beds aquifer near Wichita, Kansas, January 2016
Brian J. Klager
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5165
The Equus Beds aquifer in south-central Kansas, which is part of the High Plains aquifer, serves as a source of water for municipal and agricultural users in the area. The city of Wichita has used the Equus Beds aquifer as one of its primary water sources since the 1940s. The...
Discussion of “The relation between dilatancy, effective stress and dispersive pressure in granular avalanches” by P. Bartelt and O. Buser (DOI: 10.1007/s11440-016-0463-7)
Richard M. Iverson, David L. George
2016, Acta Geotechnica (11) 1465-1468
A paper recently published by Bartelt and Buser (hereafter identified as “the authors”) aims to clarify relationships between granular dilatancy and dispersive pressure and to question the effective stress principle and its application to shallow granular avalanches (Bartelt and Buser in Act Geotech 11:549–557, 2)....
Modelling landslide liquefaction, mobility bifurcation and the dynamics of the 2014 Oso disaster
Richard M. Iverson, David L. George
2016, Geotechnique (66) 175-187
Some landslides move slowly or intermittently downslope, but others liquefy during the early stages of motion, leading to runaway acceleration and high-speed runout across low-relief terrain. Mechanisms responsible for this disparate behaviour are represented in a two-phase, depth-integrated, landslide dynamics model that melds principles from soil mechanics, granular mechanics and...
Comment on “The reduction of friction in long-runout landslides as an emergent phenomenon” by Brandon C. Johnson et al.
Richard M. Iverson
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (121) 2238-2242
Results from a highly idealized, 2-D computational model indicate that dynamic normal-stress rarefactions might cause friction reduction in long-runout landslides, but the physical relevance of the idealized dynamics has not been confirmed by experimental tests. More importantly, the model results provide no evidence that refutes alternative hypotheses about friction reduction...
Debris flow runup on vertical barriers and adverse slopes
Richard M. Iverson, David L. George, Matthew Logan
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (121) 2333-2357
Runup of debris flows against obstacles in their paths is a complex process that involves profound flow deceleration and redirection. We investigate the dynamics and predictability of runup by comparing results from large-scale laboratory experiments, four simple analytical models, and a depth-integrated numerical model (D-Claw). The experiments and numerical simulations...
2016 Eastern Section SSA Annual Meeting Report
Thomas L. Pratt, Christine A. Goulet, Oliver S. Boyd
2016, Seismological Research Letters (88) 224-262
Report on the Eastern Section Seismological Society of America Meeting....
The Outer Banks of North Carolina
Robert Dolan, Harry F. Lins, Jodi Jones Smith
2016, Professional Paper 1827
The Outer Banks of North Carolina are excellent examples of the nearly 300 barrier islands rimming the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. These low, sandy islands are among the most dynamic natural landscapes occupied by man. Beach sands move offshore, onshore, and along the shore in the...
White-nose syndrome in North American bats - U.S. Geological Survey updates
Emily W. Lankau, Gail Moede Rogall
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3084
White-nose syndrome is a devastating wildlife disease that has killed millions of hibernating bats. This disease first appeared in New York during 2007 and has continued to spread at an alarming rate from the northeastern to the central United States and throughout eastern Canada. The disease is named for the...
The 3D elevation program - Precision agriculture and other farm practices
Larry J. Sugarbaker, Carswell
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3088
A founding motto of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), originally the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), explains that “If we take care of the land, it will take care of us.” Digital elevation models (DEMs; see fig. 1) are derived from light detection and ranging (lidar) data and can be...
Linking the Central and Southern Appalachian Blue Ridge: What We Know and Don’t Know about Stratigraphy, Structure, Tectonism, and Regional Correlation in the Eastern Blue Ridge of Virginia
Mark W. Carter, Arthur J. Merschat
2016, Book chapter
The transition from Neoproterozoic Lynchburg Group rocks on the eastern limb of the para-autochthonous Blue Ridge anticlinorium in central Virginia to the fault-bounded Ashe Formation and Alligator Back Formation in southern Virginia has been a source of intense debate and speculation for decades. There are fundamental differences in the...
Overcoming challenges to the recovery of declining amphibian populations in the United States
Susan C. Walls, Lianne C. Ball, William J. Barichivich, Kenneth Dodd, Kevin M Enge, Thomas A. Gorman, Katherine M. O’Donnell, John G Palis, Raymond D. Semlitsch
2016, BioScience
The US Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) affords many potential benefits to species threatened with extinction. However, most at-risk amphibians—one of the most imperiled vertebrate groups—remain unlisted under the provisions of the ESA, and many impediments to recovery exist for those species that have been listed. Of the 35...
Designing occupancy studies when false-positive detections occur
Matthew Clement
2016, Methods in Ecology and Evolution (7) 1529-1547
1.Recently, estimators have been developed to estimate occupancy probabilities when false-positive detections occur during presence-absence surveys. Some of these estimators combine different types of survey data to improve estimates of occupancy. With these estimators, there is a tradeoff between the number of sample units surveyed, and the number and type...
Comparing orbiter and rover image-based mapping of an ancient sedimentary environment, Aeolis Palus, Gale crater, Mars
Kathryn M. Stack, Christopher Edwards, J. P. Grotzinger, S. Gupta, D. Sumner, Lauren A. Edgar, A. Fraeman, S. Jacob, L. LeDeit, K.W. Lewis, M.S. Rice, D. Rubin, F. Calef, K. Edgett, R.M.E. Williams, K. H. Williford
2016, Icarus 3-21
This study provides the first systematic comparison of orbital facies maps with detailed ground-based geology observations from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover to examine the validity of geologic interpretations derived from orbital image data. Orbital facies maps were constructed for the Darwin, Cooperstown, and Kimberley waypoints visited by...
Development of a study design and implementation plan to estimate juvenile salmon survival in Lookout Point Reservoir and other reservoirs of the Willamette Project, western Oregon
Tobias J. Kock, Russell W. Perry, Fred R. Monzyk, Adam C. Pope, John M. Plumb
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1211
Survival estimates for juvenile salmon and steelhead fry in reservoirs impounded by high head dams are coveted data by resource managers. However, this information is difficult to obtain because these fish are too small for tagging using conventional methods such as passive-integrated transponders or radio or acoustic transmitters. We developed...
Continuous-flow centrifugation to collect suspended sediment for chemical analysis
Kathleen E. Conn, Richard S. Dinicola, Robert W. Black, Stephen E. Cox, Richard W. Sheibley, James R. Foreman, Craig A. Senter, Norman T. Peterson
2016, Techniques and Methods 1-D6
Recent advances in suspended-sediment monitoring tools and surrogate technologies have greatly improved the ability to quantify suspended-sediment concentrations and to estimate daily, seasonal, and annual suspended-sediment fluxes from rivers to coastal waters. However, little is known about the chemical composition of suspended sediment, and how it may vary spatially between...
Evaluating external nutrient and suspended-sediment loads to Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, using surrogate regressions with real-time turbidity and acoustic backscatter data
Liam N. Schenk, Chauncey W. Anderson, Paul Diaz, Marc A. Stewart
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5167
Executive SummarySuspended-sediment and total phosphorus loads were computed for two sites in the Upper Klamath Basin on the Wood and Williamson Rivers, the two main tributaries to Upper Klamath Lake. High temporal resolution turbidity and acoustic backscatter data were used to develop surrogate regression models to compute instantaneous concentrations and...
