Investigation of geochemical indicators to evaluate the connection between inland and coastal groundwater systems near Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, Hawai‘i
Fred D. Tillman, Delwyn S. Oki, Adam G. Johnson, Larry B. Barber, Kimberly R. Beisner
2014, Applied Geochemistry (51) 278-292
Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park (KAHO) is a coastal sanctuary on the western side of the Island of Hawai‘i that was established in 1978 to preserve, interpret, and perpetuate traditional Native Hawaiian culture and activities. KAHO contains a variety of culturally and ecologically significant water resources and water-related habitat for species...
A data reconnaissance on the effect of suspended-sediment concentrations on dissolved-solids concentrations in rivers and tributaries in the Upper Colorado River Basin
Fred D. Tillman, David W. Anning
2014, Journal of Hydrology (519) 1020-1030
The Colorado River is one of the most important sources of water in the western United States, supplying water to over 35 million people in the U.S. and 3 million people in Mexico. High dissolved-solids loading to the River and tributaries are derived primarily from geologic material deposited in inland...
Agricultural irrigated land-use inventory for Osceola County, Florida, October 2013-April 2014
Richard L. Marella, Joann F. Dixon
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1257
A detailed inventory of irrigated crop acreage is not available at the level of resolution needed to increase the accuracy of current water-use estimates or to project future water demands in many Florida counties. This report provides a detailed digital map and summary of irrigated areas within Osceola County for...
Data and spatial studies of the USGS Texas Water Science Center
Thomas E. Burley
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3117
Hydrologists, geographers, geophysicists, and geologists with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Texas Water Science Center (TXWSC) work in the USGS Water Mission Area on a diverse range of projects built on a foundation of spatial data. The TXWSC has developed sophisticated data and spatial-studies-related capabilities that are an integral part...
Seismicity of the Earth 1900-2013 East African Rift
Gavin P. Hayes, Eric S. Jones, Timothy J. Stadler, William D. Barnhart, Daniel E. McNamara, Harley M. Benz, Kevin P. Furlong, Antonio Villaseñor
2014, Open-File Report 2010-1083-P
The East African Rift system (EARS) is a 3,000-km-long Cenozoic age continental rift extending from the Afar triple junction, between the horn of Africa and the Middle East, to western Mozambique. Sectors of active extension occur from the Indian Ocean, west to Botswana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
From hybrid swarms to swarms of hybrids
Thomas J. Stohlgren, Allen L. Szalanski, John F. Gaskin, Nicholas E. Young, Amanda M. West, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Amber Tripodi
2014, Environment and Ecology Research (2) 311-318
Science has shown that the introgression or hybridization of modern humans (Homo sapiens) with Neanderthals up to 40,000 YBP may have led to the swarm of modern humans on earth. However, there is little doubt that modern trade and transportation in support of the humans has continued to introduce additional...
Nitrogen transport within an agricultural landscape: insights on how hydrology, biogeochemistry, and the landscape intersect to control the fate and transport of nitrogen in the Mississippi Delta
Jeannie R. B. Barlow, Robert Kröger
2014, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (69) 11A-16A
Nitrogen (N) is a ubiquitous contaminant throughout agricultural landscapes due to both the application of inorganic and organic fertilizers to agricultural fields and the general persistence of nitrate (NO3 ) in oxygenated aqueous environments (Denver et al. 2010; Domagalski et al. 2008; Green et al. 2008; Coupe 2001; Nolan and...
Golden alga presence and abundance are inversely related to salinity in a high-salinity river ecosystem, Pecos River, USA
Natascha Israel, Matthew M. VanLandeghem, Shawn Denny, John Ingle, Reynaldo Patino
2014, Harmful Algae (39) 81-91
Prymnesium parvum (golden alga, GA) is a toxigenic harmful alga native to marine ecosystems that has also affected brackish inland waters. The first toxic bloom of GA in the western hemisphere occurred in the Pecos River, one of the saltiest rivers in North America. Environmental factors (water quality) associated with...
GIS-based rapid-assessment of bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis (Richardson, 1845) suitability in reservoirs
James M. Long, Yu Liang, Daniel E. Shoup, Andrew R. Dzialowski, Joseph R. Bidwell
2014, Management of Biological Invasions (5) 363-370
Broad-scale niche models are good for examining the potential for invasive species occurrences, but can fall short in providing managers with site-specific locations for monitoring. Using Oklahoma as an example, where invasive bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) are established in certain reservoirs, but predicted to be widely distributed based on broad-scale...
Science during crisis: the application of social science during major environmental crises
Gary Machlis, Kris Ludwig
Michael J. Manfredo, Jerry J. Vaske, Andreas Rechkemmer, Esther Duke, editor(s)
2014, Book chapter, Understanding society and natural resources: forging new strands in integration across the social sciences
Historical and contemporary experience suggests that science plays an increasingly critical role in governmental and institutional responses to major environmental crises. Recent examples include major western wildfires (2009), the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010), the Fukushima nuclear accident (2011), and Hurricane Sandy (2012). The application of science during such crises has...
Foraging and growth potential of juvenile Chinook Salmon after tidal restoration of a large river delta
Aaron T. David, Christopher Ellings, Isa Woo, Charles A. Simenstad, John Y. Takekawa, Kelley L. Turner, Ashley L. Smith, Jean E. Takekawa
2014, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (143) 1515-1529
We evaluated whether restoring tidal flow to previously diked estuarine wetlands also restores foraging and growth opportunities for juvenile Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Several studies have assessed the value of restored tidal wetlands for juvenile Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp., but few have used integrative measures of salmon performance, such as habitat-specific growth potential,...
Development of dietary-based toxic reference values to assess the risk of chlorophacinone to non-target raptorial birds
Barnett A. Rattner, Rebecca S. Lazarus, S. L. Shultz, Katherine E. Horak, Benjamin G. Abbo, Steven F. Volker
R. M. Timms, J. M. O’Brien, editor(s)
2014, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 26th Vertebrate Pest Conference
Regulatory changes in the use of some second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides in parts of North America may result in expanded use of first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (FGARs). Recent toxicological studies with captive raptors have demonstrated that these species are considerably more sensitive to the FGAR diphacinone than traditional avian wildlife test species...
A continuous record of intereruption velocity change at Mount St. Helens from coda wave interferometry
Alicia J. Hotovec-Ellis, Joan S. Gomberg, John Vidale, Ken C. Creager
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (119) 2199-2214
In September 2004, Mount St. Helens volcano erupted after nearly 18 years of quiescence. However, it is unclear from the limited geophysical observations when or if the magma chamber replenished following the 1980–1986 eruptions in the years before the 2004–2008 extrusive eruption. We use coda wave interferometry with repeating earthquakes to...
Evaluation of wave runup predictions from numerical and parametric models
Hilary F. Stockdon, David M. Thompson, Nathaniel G. Plant, Joseph W. Long
2014, Coastal Engineering (92) 1-11
Wave runup during storms is a primary driver of coastal evolution, including shoreline and dune erosion and barrier island overwash. Runup and its components, setup and swash, can be predicted from a parameterized model that was developed by comparing runup observations to offshore wave height, wave period, and local beach...
Rapidly spreading seagrass invades the Caribbean with unknown ecological consequences
Caroline S. Rogers, Demian A Willette, Jeff Miller
2014, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (12) 546-547
The non-native seagrass Halophila stipulacea has spread rapidly throughout the Caribbean Sea (Willette et al. 2014); without additional research, the ecological ramifications of this invasion are difficult to predict. Biodiversity, connectivity of marine ecosystems, and recovery of degraded coral reefs could all be affected. The invasive seagrass, native to the...
Mercury and methylmercury stream concentrations in a Coastal Plain watershed: A multi-scale simulation analysis
Christopher D. Knightes, Heather E. Golden, Celeste A. Journey, Gary M. Davis, Paul Conrads, Mark Marvin-DiPasquale, Mark E. Brigham, Paul M. Bradley
2014, Environmental Pollution (187) 182-192
Mercury is a ubiquitous global environmental toxicant responsible for most US fish advisories. Processes governing mercury concentrations in rivers and streams are not well understood, particularly at multiple spatial scales. We investigate how insights gained from reach-scale mercury data and model simulations can be applied at broader watershed scales using...
Natural hazards and risk reduction in Hawaii
James P. Kauahikaua, Robert I. Tilling
Michael P. Poland, T. Jane Takahashi, Claire M. Landowski, editor(s)
2014, Professional Paper 1801-10
Significant progress has been made over the past century in understanding, characterizing, and communicating the societal risks posed by volcanic, earthquake, and tsunami hazards in Hawai‘i. The work of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), with a century-long commitment to serving the public with credible hazards information, contributed substantially to this...
US Topo Maps 2014: Program updates and research
Kristin A. Fishburn
2014, Conference Paper
The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) US Topo map program is now in year two of its second three-year update cycle. Since the program was launched in 2009, the product and the production system tools and processes have undergone enhancements that have made the US Topo maps a popular success...
A depth-averaged debris-flow model that includes the effects of evolving dilatancy: II. Numerical predictions and experimental tests.
David L. George, Richard M. Iverson
2014, Proceedings of the Royal Society A (470)
We evaluate a new depth-averaged mathematical model that is designed to simulate all stages of debris-flow motion, from initiation to deposition. A companion paper shows how the model’s five governing equations describe simultaneous evolution of flow thickness, solid volume fraction, basal pore-fluid pressure, and two components of flow momentum. Each...
The evolution of seismic monitoring systems at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Paul G. Okubo, Jennifer S. Nakata, Robert Y. Koyanagi
Michael P. Poland, T. Jane Takahashi, Claire M. Landowski, editor(s)
2014, Professional Paper 1801-2
In the century since the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) put its first seismographs into operation at the edge of Kīlauea Volcano’s summit caldera, seismic monitoring at HVO (now administered by the U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]) has evolved considerably. The HVO seismic network extends across the entire Island of Hawai‘i and...
Instability of Hawaiian volcanoes
Roger P. Denlinger, Julia K. Morgan
Michael P. Poland, T. Jane Takahashi, Claire M. Landowski, editor(s)
2014, Professional Paper 1801-4
Hawaiian volcanoes build long rift zones and some of the largest volcanic edifices on Earth. For the active volcanoes on the Island of Hawai‘i, the growth of these rift zones is upward and seaward and occurs through a repetitive process of decades-long buildup of a magma-system head along the rift...
The dynamics of Hawaiian-style eruptions: A century of study
Margaret T. Mangan, Katharine V. Cashman, Donald A. Swanson
Michael P. Poland, T. Jane Takahashi, Claire M. Landowski, editor(s)
2014, Professional Paper 1801-8
This chapter, prepared in celebration of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatoryʼs centennial, provides a historical lens through which to view modern paradigms of Hawaiian-style eruption dynamics. The models presented here draw heavily from observations, monitoring, and experiments conducted on Kīlauea Volcano, which, as the site of frequent and accessible eruptions, has...
Growth and degradation of Hawaiian volcanoes
David A. Clague, David R. Sherrod
Michael P. Poland, T. Jane Takahashi, Claire M. Landowski, editor(s)
2014, Professional Paper 1801-3
The 19 known shield volcanoes of the main Hawaiian Islands—15 now emergent, 3 submerged, and 1 newly born and still submarine—lie at the southeast end of a long-lived hot spot chain. As the Pacific Plate of the Earth’s lithosphere moves slowly northwestward over the Hawaiian hot spot, volcanoes are successively...
Contaminants of legacy and emerging concern in largescale suckers (Catostomus macrocheilus) and the foodweb in the lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, USA
Elena B. Nilsen, Steven D. Zaugg, David A. Alvarez, Jennifer L. Morace, Ian R. Waite, Timothy D. Counihan, Jill M. Hardiman, Leticia Torres, Reynaldo Patino, Matthew G. Mesa, Robert Grove
2014, Science of the Total Environment (484) 344-352
We investigated occurrence, transport pathways, and effects of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants and other endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in aquatic media and the foodweb in the lower Columbia River. In 2009 and 2010, foodweb sampling at three sites along a gradient of contaminant exposure near Skamania (Washington), Columbia...
Does age matter? The influence of age on response rates in a mixed-mode survey
Larry M. Gigliotti, Alia Dietsch
2014, Human Dimensions of Wildlife: An International Journal (19) 280-287
The appeal of cost savings and faster results has fish and wildlife management agencies considering the use of Internet surveys instead of traditional mail surveys to collect information from their constituents. Internet surveys, however, may suffer from differential age-related response rates, potentially producing biased results if certain age groups respond...