Exploration of the canyon-incised continental margin of the northeastern United States reveals dynamic habitats and diverse communities
Andrea Quattrini, Martha S. Nizinski, Jason Chaytor, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, E. Brendan Roark, Scott France, Jon A. Moore, Taylor P. Heyl, Peter J. Auster, Carolyn D. Ruppel, Kelley P. Elliott, Brian R. C. Kennedy, Elizabeth A. Lobecker, Adam Skarke, Timothy M. Shank
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
The continental margin off the northeastern United States (NEUS) contains numerous, topographically complex features that increase habitat heterogeneity across the region. However, the majority of these rugged features have never been surveyed, particularly using direct observations. During summer 2013, 31 Remotely-Operated Vehicle (ROV) dives were conducted from 494 to 3271...
Spatially explicit spectral analysis of point clouds and geospatial data
Daniel D. Buscombe
2015, Computers & Geosciences (86) 92-108
The increasing use of spatially explicit analyses of high-resolution spatially distributed data (imagery and point clouds) for the purposes of characterising spatial heterogeneity in geophysical phenomena necessitates the development of custom analytical and computational tools. In recent years, such analyses have become the basis of, for example, automated texture characterisation...
Climate and streamflow characteristics for selected streamgages in eastern South Dakota, water years 1945–2013
Galen K. Hoogestraat, John F. Stamm
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5146
Upward trends in precipitation and streamflow have been observed in the northeastern Missouri River Basin during the past century, including the area of eastern South Dakota. Some of the identified upward trends were anomalously large relative to surrounding parts of the northern Great Plains. Forcing factors for streamflow trends in...
Extraction of hydrocarbons from high-maturity Marcellus Shale using supercritical carbon dioxide
Palma J. Botterell, Philip A. Candela, Wenlu Zhu, Alan J. Kaufman
2015, Energy & Fuels (29) 7897-7909
Shale is now commonly exploited as a hydrocarbon resource. Due to the high degree of geochemical and petrophysical heterogeneity both between shale reservoirs and within a single reservoir, there is a growing need to find more efficient methods of extracting petroleum compounds (crude oil, natural gas, bitumen) from potential source...
Ribosomal DNA identification of Nosema/Vairimorpha in freshwater polychaete, Manayunkia speciosa, from Oregon/California and the Laurentian Great Lakes
David M. Malakauskas, Emory C. Altman, Sarah J. Malakauskas, Suzanne M. Thiem, Donald W. Schloesser
2015, Journal of Invertebrate Pathology (132) 101-104
We examined Manayunkia speciosa individuals from the Klamath River, Oregon/California and Lake Erie, Michigan, USA for the presence of Microsporidia. We identified microsporidian spores and sequenced their SSU, ITS, and part of the LSU rDNA. Phylogenetic analysis of SSU rDNA indicated spores from both populations belonged to the Nosema/Vairimorpha clade....
Long term changes in trout numbers following channel reconstruction, instream wood placement, and livestock removal from a spring creek in the Blackfoot Basin, Montana
Ron Pierce, Craig Podner, Leslie A. Jones
2015, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (144) 184-195
To restore habitat for wild trout, Kleinschmidt Creek, a low-gradient, groundwater-dominated stream in the Blackfoot Basin, Montana, was reconstructed using natural channel design principles. Reconstruction increased stream sinuosity from a ratio of 1.1 to 1.6, decreased mean channel width from 14.5 to 2.8 m, and increased sediment transport capacity to reduce...
Tidal and seasonal variations in calving flux observed with passive seismology
T.C. Bartholomaus, Christopher F. Larsen, Michael E. West, Shad O’Neel, Erin C. Pettit, Martin Truffer
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (120) 2318-2337
The seismic signatures of calving events, i.e., calving icequakes, offer an opportunity to examine calving variability with greater precision than is available with other methods. Here using observations from Yahtse Glacier, Alaska, we describe methods to detect, locate, and characterize calving icequakes. We combine these icequake records with a coincident,...
A simplified, data-constrained approach to estimate the permafrost carbon–climate feedback
C.D. Koven, E.A.G. Schuur, C. Schädel, T. J. Bohn, E. J. Burke, G. Chen, X. Chen, P. Ciais, G. Grosse, J.W. Harden, D.J. Hayes, G. Hugelius, Elchin E. Jafarov, G. Krinner, P. Kuhry, D.M. Lawrence, A. H. MacDougall, Sergey S. Marchenko, A. David McGuire, Susan M. Natali, D.J. Nicolsky, David Olefeldt, S. Peng, V.E. Romanovsky, Kevin M. Schaefer, J. Strauss, Claire C. Treat, M. Turetsky
2015, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences (373)
We present an approach to estimate the feedback from large-scale thawing of permafrost soils using a simplified, data-constrained model that combines three elements: soil carbon (C) maps and profiles to identify the distribution and type of C in permafrost soils; incubation experiments to quantify the rates of C lost after...
Evidence for episodic acidification effects on migrating Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts
John T. Kelly, Darrren T. Lerner, Michael F. O’Dea, Amy M. Regish, Michelle Y. Monette, J.P. Hawkes, Keith H. Nislow, Stephen D. McCormick
2015, Journal of Fish Biology (87) 1129-1146
Field studies were conducted to determine levels of gill aluminium as an index of acidification effects on migrating Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts in the north-eastern U.S.A. along mainstem river migration corridors in several major river basins. Smolts emigrating from the Connecticut River, where most (but not all) tributaries were well buffered,...
Role of ground ice dynamics and ecological feedbacks in recent ice wedge degradation and stabilization
Mark Torre Jorgenson, Mikhail Kanevskiy, Yuri Shur, Natalia Moskalenko, Dana Brown, Kimberly P. Wickland, Robert G. Striegl, Joshua C. Koch
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (120) 2280-2297
Ground ice is abundant in the upper permafrost throughout the Arctic and fundamentally affects terrain responses to climate warming. Ice wedges, which form near the surface and are the dominant type of massive ice in the Arctic, are particularly vulnerable to warming. Yet processes controlling ice wedge degradation and stabilization...
The vulnerability of Indo-Pacific mangrove forests to sea-level rise
Catherine E. Lovelock, Donald R. Cahoon, Daniel A. Friess, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Ken W. Krauss, Ruth Reef, Kerrylee Rogers, Megan L. Saunders, Frida Sidik, Andrew Swales, Neil Saintilan, Le Xuan Thuyen, Tran Triet
2015, Nature (526) 559-563
Sea-level rise can threaten the long-term sustainability of coastal communities and valuable ecosystems such as coral reefs, salt marshes and mangroves. Mangrove forests have the capacity to keep pace with sea-level rise and to avoid inundation through vertical accretion of sediments, which allows them to maintain wetland soil elevations suitable...
Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan
Lynne Koontz, Catherine M. Cullinane Thomas, Erik Larsen
2015, Report
No abstract available....
Aluminosilicate melts and glasses at 1 to 3 GPa: Temperature and pressure effects on recovered structural and density changes
S Bista, Jonathan Stebbins, William B. Hankins, Thomas W. Sisson
2015, American Mineralogist (100) 2298-2307
In the pressure range in the Earth’s mantle where many basaltic magmas are generated (1 to 3 GPa) (Stolper et al. 1981), increases in the coordination numbers of the network-forming cations in aluminosilicate melts have generally been considered to be minor, although effects on silicon and particularly on aluminum coordination...
Landsat Science Team meeting: Winter 2015
Todd A. Schroeder, Thomas Loveland, Michael A. Wulder, James R. Irons
2015, The Earth Observer (27) 12-17
The summer meeting of the joint U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)–NASA Landsat Science Team (LST) was held at the USGS’s Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center July 7-9, 2015, in Sioux Falls, SD. The LST co-chairs, Tom Loveland [EROS—Senior Scientist] and Jim Irons [NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)—Landsat 8...
Stable carbon isotope fractionation during bacterial acetylene fermentation: Potential for life detection in hydrocarbon-rich volatiles of icy planet(oid)s
Laurence Miller, Shaun Baesman, Ron Oremland
2015, Astrobiology (15) 977-986
We report the first study of stable carbon isotope fractionation during microbial fermentation of acetylene (C2H2) in sediments, sediment enrichments, and bacterial cultures. Kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) averaged 3.7 ± 0.5‰ for slurries prepared with sediment collected at an intertidal mudflat in San Francisco Bay and 2.7 ± 0.2‰ for a pure culture of Pelobacter sp....
Book review: Large igneous provinces
Edward A. du Bray
2015, Economic Geology (110) 1908-1910
This book presents a comprehensive compilation of all aspects of large igneous provinces (LIPs). Published in 2014, the book is now the definitive source of information on the petrogenesis of this type of globally important, voluminous magmatic activity. In the first few pages, LIPs are characterized as magmatic provinces with...
Landsat science team meeting: Summer 2015
Todd Schroeder, Thomas Loveland, Michael A. Wulder, James R. Irons
2015, The Earth Observer (27) 12-17
The summer meeting of the joint U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)–NASA Landsat Science Team (LST) was held at the USGS’s Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center July 7-9, 2015, in Sioux Falls, SD. The LST co-chairs, Tom Loveland [EROS—Senior Scientist] and Jim Irons [NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)—Landsat 8...
Wintering ecology of sympatric subspecies of Sandhill Crane: Correlations between body size, site fidelity, and movement patterns
Gary L. Ivey, Bruce D. Dugger, Caroline P. Herziger, Michael L. Casazza, Joseph P. Fleskes
2015, The Condor (117) 518-529
Body size is known to correlate with many aspects of life history in birds, and this knowledge can be used to manage and conserve bird species. However, few studies have compared the wintering ecology of sympatric subspecies that vary significantly in body size. We used radiotelemetry to examine the relationship...
USGS National Wildlife Health Center quarterly wildlife mortality report April 2015 to June 2015
Anne Ballmann, Barbara L. Bodenstein, Robert J. Dusek, Daniel A. Grear, Jennifer G. Chipault
2015, Wildlife Disease Association Newsletter 6-8
No abstract available....
Mercury in stream water at five Czech catchments across a Hg and S deposition gradient
Tomáš Navrátil, James B. Shanley, Jan Rohovec, Filip Oulehle, Pavel Kram, Sarka Matouskova, Miroslav Tesar, Maria Hojdová
2015, Journal of Geochemical Exploration (158) 201-211
The Czech Republic was heavily industrialized in the second half of the 20th century but the associated emissions of Hg and S from coal burning were significantly reduced since the 1990s. We studied dissolved (filtered) stream water mercury (Hg) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations at five catchments with contrasting...
Fire activity as a function of fire–weather seasonal severity and antecedent climate across spatial scales in southern Europe and Pacific western USA
Itziar R. Urbieta, Gonzalo Zavala, Joaquin Bedia, Jose M. Gutierrez, Jesus San Miguel-Ayanz, Andrea Camia, Jon E. Keeley, Jose M. Moreno
2015, Environmental Research Letters (10)
Climate has a strong influence on fire activity, varying across time and space. We analyzed the relationships between fire–weather conditions during the main fire season and antecedent water-balance conditions and fires in two Mediterranean-type regions with contrasted management histories: five southern countries of the European Union (EUMED)(all fires); the Pacific...
The surface elevation table and marker horizon technique: A protocol for monitoring wetland elevation dynamics
James C. Lynch, Phillippe Hensel, Donald R. Cahoon
2015, Natural Resource Report NPS/NCBN/NRR—2015/1078
The National Park Service, in response to the growing evidence and awareness of the effects of climate change on federal lands, determined that monitoring wetland elevation change is a top priority in North Atlantic Coastal parks (Stevens et al, 2010). As a result, the NPS Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network...
Remote sensing to monitor cover crop adoption in southeastern Pennsylvania
Wells Hively, Sjoerd Duiker, Greg McCarty, Kusuma Prabhakara
2015, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (70) 340-352
In the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, winter cereal cover crops are often planted in rotation with summer crops to reduce the loss of nutrients and sediment from agricultural systems. Cover crops can also improve soil health, control weeds and pests, supplement forage needs, and support resilient cropping systems. In southeastern Pennsylvania,...
LiDAR based prediction of forest biomass using hierarchical models with spatially varying coefficients
Chad Babcock, Andrew O. Finley, John B. Bradford, Randall K. Kolka, Richard A. Birdsey, Michael G. Ryan
2015, Remote Sensing of Environment (169) 113-127
Many studies and production inventory systems have shown the utility of coupling covariates derived from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data with forest variables measured on georeferenced inventory plots through regression models. The objective of this study was to propose and assess the use of a Bayesian hierarchical modeling framework...
Nutrient-enhanced decomposition of plant biomass in a freshwater wetland
James E. Bodker, Robert Eugene Turner, Andrew Tweel, Christopher Schulz, Christopher M. Swarzenski
2015, Aquatic Botany (127) 44-52
We studied soil decomposition in a Panicum hemitomon (Schultes)-dominated freshwater marsh located in southeastern Louisiana that was unambiguously changed by secondarily-treated municipal wastewater effluent. We used four approaches to evaluate how belowground biomass decomposition rates vary under different nutrient regimes in this marsh. The results of laboratory experiments demonstrated how nutrient enrichment...