Preslip and cascade processes initiating laboratory stick slip
Gregory C. McLaskey, David A. Lockner
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (119) 6323-6336
Recent modeling studies have explored whether earthquakes begin with a large aseismic nucleation process or initiate dynamically from the rapid growth of a smaller instability in a “cascade-up” process. To explore such a case in the laboratory, we study the initiation of dynamic rupture (stick slip) of a smooth saw-cut...
Introduction: Hazard mapping
Rex L. Baum, Toyohiko Miyagi, Saro Lee, Oleksandr M Trofymchuk
2014, Book chapter, Landslide science for a safer geoenvironment
Twenty papers were accepted into the session on landslide hazard mapping for oral presentation. The papers presented susceptibility and hazard analysis based on approaches ranging from field-based assessments to statistically based models to assessments that combined hydromechanical and probabilistic components. Many of the studies have taken advantage of increasing availability...
Optimally managing water resources in large river basins for an uncertain future
Jr. Edwin A. Roehl, Paul Conrads
2014, Book
Managers of large river basins face conflicting needs for water resources such as wildlife habitat, water supply, wastewater assimilative capacity, flood control, hydroelectricity, and recreation. The Savannah River Basin for example, has experienced three major droughts since 2000 that resulted in record low water levels in its reservoirs, impacting local...
Flow and sorption controls of groundwater arsenic in individual boreholes from bedrock aquifers in central Maine, USA
Qiang Yang, Charles W. Culbertson, Martha G. Nielsen, Charles W. Schalk, Carole D. Johnson, Robert G. Marvinney, Martin Stute, Yan Zheng
2014, Science of the Total Environment (505) 1291-1307
To understand the hydrogeochemical processes regulating well water arsenic (As) evolution in fractured bedrock aquifers, three domestic wells with [As] up to 478 μg/L are investigated in central Maine. Geophysical logging reveals that fractures near the borehole bottom contribute 70-100% of flow. Borehole and fracture water samples from various depths...
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hydrographic survey data used in a U.S. Geological Survey regional geologic framework study along the Delmarva Peninsula
Elizabeth A. Pendleton, Laura L. Brothers, E. Robert Thieler, William W. Danforth, Castle E. Parker
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1262
The U.S. Geological Survey initiated a research effort in 2014 to define the geologic framework of the Delmarva Peninsula inner continental shelf, which included new data collection and assembly of relevant extant datasets. Between 2006 and 2011, Science Applications International Corporation, under contract to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...
Postglacial eruptive history, geochemistry, and recent seismicity of Aniakchak volcano, Alaska Peninsula
Charles R. Bacon, Christina A. Neal, Thomas P. Miller, Robert G. McGimsey, Christopher J. Nye
2014, Professional Paper 1810
Aniakchak is a Pleistocene to Holocene composite volcano of the Alaska–Aleutian arc that suffered at least one caldera-forming eruption in postglacial time and last erupted in 1931. The oldest recognized postglacial eruption, Aniakchak I, produced andesite ignimbrite ca. 9,500–7,500 14C yr B.P. Subsequently, a vent northeast of the summit issued dacite–rhyodacite magma...
Meteorological data for selected sites along the Colorado River Corridor, Arizona, 2011-13
Joshua J. Caster, Timothy P. Dealy, Timothy Andrews, Helen C. Fairley, Amy E. East, Joel B. Sankey
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1247
This report presents data from 14 automated weather stations collected as part of an ongoing monitoring program within the Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon Recreation Area along the Colorado River Corridor in Arizona. Weather data presented in this document include precipitation, wind speed, maximum wind gusts, wind direction,...
Petroleum systems and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas in the Anadarko Basin Province, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas: USGS Province 58
Debra K. Higley
2014, Data Series 69-EE
This publication provides research results and related data in support of the U.S. Geological Survey assessment of the undiscovered oil and gas resource potential of the Anadarko Basin Province of western Oklahoma and Kansas, northern Texas, and southeastern Colorado. This province area includes the Las Animas arch of southeastern Colorado,...
Conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo: global tantalum processing plants, a critical part of the tantalum supply chain
John F. Papp
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3122
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) analyzes mineral and metal supply chains to identify and describe major components of mineral and metal material flows from ore extraction, through intermediate forms, to a final product. Supply chain analyses may be used (1) to identify risks to the United States associated with the...
Why bother about wildlife disease?
Milton Friend
2014, Circular 1401
In most developed countries, the maintenance of the numbers of wildlife1 is vested in the natural resource agencies of those countries. During earlier times, game species were the primary focus of natural resource agencies2,3 however, current wildlife conservation continues to transition towards a more holistic focus on biodiversity4 and environmental health5,6. Nevertheless, that...
Modeling uncertainty in coal resource assessments, with an application to a central area of the Gillette coal field, Wyoming
Ricardo A. Olea, James A. Luppens
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5196
Standards for the public disclosure of mineral resources and reserves do not require the use of any specific methodology when it comes to estimating the reliability of the resources. Unbeknownst to most intended recipients of resource appraisals, such freedom commonly results in subjective opinions or estimations based on suboptimal approaches,...
Status and understanding of groundwater quality in the Sierra Nevada Regional study unit, 2008: California GAMA Priority Basin Project
Miranda S. Fram, Kenneth Belitz
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5174
Groundwater quality in the Sierra Nevada Regional (SNR) study unit was investigated as part of the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment Program Priority Basin Project. The study was designed to provide statistically unbiased assessments of the quality of untreated groundwater within the primary aquifer...
Groundwater quality in the Sierra Nevada, California
Miranda S. Fram, Kenneth Belitz
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3096
Groundwater provides more than 40 percent of California’s drinking water. To protect this vital resource, the State of California created the Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. The Priority Basin Project (PBP) of the GAMA Program provides a comprehensive assessment of the State’s groundwater quality and increases public access...
Managing the whole landscape: Historical, hybrid, and novel ecosystems
Richard J. Hobbs, Eric S. Higgs, Carol M. Hall, Peter Bridgewater, F. Stuart Chapin III, John J. Ewel, Erle C. Ellis, Lauren M. Hallett, James Harris, Kristen B. Hulvey, Stephen T. Jackson, Patricia L. Kennedy, Christoph Kueffer, Lori Lach, Trevor C. Lantz, Ariel E. Lugo, Joseph Mascaro, Stephen D. Murphy, Cara Nelson, Michael P. Perring, David M. Richardson, Timothy Seastedt, Rachel J. Standish, Brian M. Starzomski, Katharine N. Suding, Pedro M. Tognetti, Laith Yakob, Laurie Yung
2014, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (12) 557-564
The reality confronting ecosystem managers today is one of heterogeneous, rapidly transforming landscapes, particularly in the areas more affected by urban and agricultural development. A landscape management framework that incorporates all systems, across the spectrum of degrees of alteration, provides a fuller set of options for how and when to...
Making decisions in complex landscapes: Headwater stream management across multiple federal agencies
Rachel Katz, Evan H. Campbell Grant, Michael C. Runge, Bruce Connery, Marquette Crockett, Libby Herland, Sheela Johnson, Dawn Kirk, Jeb Wofford, Rick Bennett, Keith Nislow, Marian Norris, Daniel Hocking, Benjamin Letcher, Allison H. Roy
2014, Report
Headwater stream ecosystems are vulnerable to numerous threats associated with climate and land use change. In the northeastern US, many headwater stream species (e.g., brook trout and stream salamanders) are of special conservation concern and may be vulnerable to climate change influences, such as changes in stream temperature and streamflow....
Radiometric cross calibration of Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+)
Nischal Mishra, Obaidul Haque, Larry Leigh, David Aaron, Dennis Helder, Brian L. Markham
2014, Remote Sensing (6) 12619-12638
This study evaluates the radiometric consistency between Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) using cross calibration techniques. Two approaches are used, one based on cross calibration between the two sensors using simultaneous image pairs, acquired during an underfly event on 29–30 March 2013....
Foraging and predation risk for larval cisco (Coregonus artedi) in Lake Superior: A modelling synthesis of empirical survey data
Jared T. Myers, Daniel L. Yule, Michael L. Jones, Henry R. Quinlan, Eric K. Berglund
2014, Ecological Modelling (294) 71-83
The relative importance of predation and food availability as contributors to larval cisco (Coregonus artedi) mortality in Lake Superior were investigated using a visual foraging model to evaluate potential predation pressure by rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) and a bioenergetic model to evaluate potential starvation risk. The models were informed by...
Digital data for preliminary geologic map of the Mount Hood 30- by 60-minute quadrangle, northern Cascade Range, Oregon
Lina Ma, David R. Sherrod, William E. Scott
2014, Data Series 906
The Mount Hood 30- by 60-minute quadrangle covers the axis and east flank of the Cascade Range in northern Oregon. Its namesake, Mount Hood volcano, dominates the view in the northwest quarter of the quadrangle, but the entire area is underlain by Oligocene and younger volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of...
Groundwater quality in central New York, 2012
James E. Reddy
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1226
Water samples were collected from 14 production wells and 15 private wells in central New York from August through December 2012 in a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The samples were analyzed to characterize the groundwater quality...
Map of assessed coalbed-gas resources in the United States, 2014
U.S. Geological Survey National Assessment of Oil and Gas Resources Team, Laura R. H. Biewick (compiler)
2014, Data Series 69-II
This report presents a digital map of coalbed-gas resource assessments in the United States as part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) National Assessment of Oil and Gas Project. Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the USGS quantitatively estimated potential volumes of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas resources within coalbed-gas assessment...
Abundance of host fish and frequency of glochidial parasitism in fish assessed in field and laboratory settings and frequency of juvenile mussels or glochidia recovered from hatchery-held fish, central and southeastern Texas, 2012-13
Christopher L. Braun, Charrish L. Stevens, Patricia D. Echo-Hawk, Nathan A. Johnson, James B. Moring
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5217
In 2012–13, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), completed the first phase of a two-phase study of mussel host-fish relations for five endemic mussel species in central and southeastern Texas that were State-listed as threatened on January 17, 2010: (1) Texas...
Chemical and biological quality of water in Grand Lake St. Marys, Ohio, 2011-12, with emphasis on cyanobacteria
Denise H. Dumouchelle, Erin A. Stelzer
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5210
Grand Lake St. Marys (GLSM) is a shallow lake in northwest Ohio, which is about 9 miles long and 3 miles wide with depths averaging less than 8 feet. Cyanobacteria blooms are common in GLSM, and high concentrations of microcystins—toxins produced by cyanobacteria—have been documented therein. During 2011–12, the U.S....
Effects of projected climate (2011–50) on karst hydrology and species vulnerability—Edwards aquifer, south-central Texas, and Madison aquifer, western South Dakota
Barbara Mahler, John F. Stamm, Mary F. Poteet, Amy J. Symstad, MaryLynn Musgrove, Andrew J. Long, Parker A. Norton
2014, Fact Sheet 2014-3046
Karst aquifers—formed by the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone—are critical groundwater resources in North America, and karst springs, caves, and streams provide habitat for unique flora and fauna. Springflow and groundwater levels in karst terrane can change greatly over short time scales, and therefore are likely to respond...
Geopressure gradient maps of Southern Louisiana, state, and vicinity
Lauri Burke, Scott A Kinney, Russell F Dubiel, Janet K. Pitman
2014, Report
This series of five maps characterizes the subsurface pressure system of southern Louisiana, including the associated State and Federal waters. These maps were generated using the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) comprehensive geopressure-gradient model (Burke et al., 2012b, 2013) that delineates the regional pressure system spanning the onshore and offshore Gulf...
Simulated effects of increased groundwater withdrawals in the Cave Springs area, Hixson, Tennessee
Connor J. Haugh
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5222
Concern for future water supplies in Tennessee has grown in recent years as a result of increased awareness of competing needs, the impact of droughts, and the need for more water to support growing populations. The U.S. Geological Survey conducts investigations to improve the knowledge about interactions of geology, climate,...
