Documentation for the MODFLOW 6 Groundwater Flow Model
Christian D. Langevin, Joseph D. Hughes, Edward R. Banta, Richard G. Niswonger, Sorab Panday, Alden M. Provost
2017, Techniques and Methods 6-A55
This report documents the Groundwater Flow (GWF) Model for a new version of MODFLOW called MODFLOW 6. The GWF Model for MODFLOW 6 is based on a generalized control-volume finite-difference approach in which a cell can be hydraulically connected to any number of surrounding cells. Users can define the model...
Documentation for the “XT3D” option in the Node Property Flow (NPF) Package of MODFLOW 6
Alden M. Provost, Christian D. Langevin, Joseph D. Hughes
2017, Techniques and Methods 6-A56
This report describes the “XT3D” option in the Node Property Flow (NPF) Package of MODFLOW 6. The XT3D option extends the capabilities of MODFLOW by enabling simulation of fully three-dimensional anisotropy on regular or irregular grids in a way that properly takes into account the full, three-dimensional conductivity tensor. It...
Documentation for the MODFLOW 6 framework
Joseph D. Hughes, Christian D. Langevin, Edward R. Banta
2017, Techniques and Methods 6-A57
MODFLOW is a popular open-source groundwater flow model distributed by the U.S. Geological Survey. Growing interest in surface and groundwater interactions, local refinement with nested and unstructured grids, karst groundwater flow, solute transport, and saltwater intrusion, has led to the development of numerous MODFLOW versions. Often times, there are incompatibilities...
Reconstructing Common Era relative sea-level change on the Gulf Coast of Florida
Matthew J. Gerlach, Simon E. Engelhart, Andrew C. Kemp, Ryan P. Moyer, Joseph M. Smoak, Christopher E. Bernhardt, Niamh Cahill
2017, Marine Geology (390) 254-269
To address a paucity of Common Era data in the Gulf of Mexico, we reconstructed ~ 1.1 m of relative sea-level (RSL) rise over the past ~ 2000 years at Little Manatee River (Gulf Coast of Florida, USA). We applied a regional-scale foraminiferal transfer function to fossil assemblages preserved in a core of salt-marsh...
Using object-based image analysis to conduct high-resolution conifer extraction at regional spatial scales
Peter S. Coates, K. Benjamin Gustafson, Cali L. Roth, Michael P. Chenaille, Mark A. Ricca, Kimberly Mauch, Erika Sanchez-Chopitea, Travis J. Kroger, William M. Perry, Michael L. Casazza
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1093
The distribution and abundance of pinyon (Pinus monophylla) and juniper (Juniperus osteosperma, J. occidentalis) trees (hereinafter, "pinyon-juniper") in sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems of the Great Basin in the Western United States has increased substantially since the late 1800s. Distributional expansion and infill of pinyon-juniper into sagebrush ecosystems threatens the...
Hierarchical population monitoring of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in Nevada and California—Identifying populations for management at the appropriate spatial scale
Peter S. Coates, Brian G. Prochazka, Mark A. Ricca, Gregory T. Wann, Cameron L. Aldridge, Steven E. Hanser, Kevin Doherty, Michael S. O’Donnell, David R. Edmunds, Shawn P. Espinosa
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1089
Population ecologists have long recognized the importance of ecological scale in understanding processes that guide observed demographic patterns for wildlife species. However, directly incorporating spatial and temporal scale into monitoring strategies that detect whether trajectories are driven by local or regional factors is challenging and rarely implemented. Identifying the...
Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) nesting and brood-rearing microhabitat in Nevada and California—Spatial variation in selection and survival patterns
Peter S. Coates, Brianne E. Brussee, Mark A. Ricca, Jonathan E. Dudko, Brian G. Prochazka, Shawn P. Espinosa, Michael L. Casazza, David J. Delehanty
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1087
Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereinafter, "sage-grouse") are highly dependent on sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) dominated vegetation communities for food and cover from predators. Although this species requires the presence of sagebrush shrubs in the overstory, it also inhabits a broad geographic distribution with significant gradients in precipitation and temperature that...
Field-trip guide to Columbia River flood basalts, associated rhyolites, and diverse post-plume volcanism in eastern Oregon
Mark L. Ferns, Martin J. Streck, Jason D. McClaughry
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5022-O
The Miocene Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) is the youngest and best preserved continental flood basalt province on Earth, linked in space and time with a compositionally diverse succession of volcanic rocks that partially record the apparent emergence and passage of the Yellowstone plume head through eastern Oregon during...
A unique coral community in the mangroves of Hurricane Hole, St. John, US Virgin Islands
Caroline S. Rogers
2017, Diversity (9)
Corals do not typically thrive in mangrove environments. However, corals are growing on and near the prop roots of red mangrove trees in Hurricane Hole, an area within the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument under the protection of the US National Park Service in St. John, US Virgin Islands....
Estimating risks for water-quality exceedances of total-copper from highway and urban runoff under predevelopment and current conditions with the Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM)
Gregory E. Granato, Susan C. Jones
Christopher N. Dunn, Brian Van Weele, editor(s)
2017, Conference Paper, World environmental and water resources congress 2017: Watershed management, irrigation and drainage, and water resources planning and management
The stochastic empirical loading and dilution model (SELDM) was used to demonstrate methods for estimating risks for water-quality exceedances of event-mean concentrations (EMCs) of total-copper. Monte Carlo methods were used to simulate stormflow, total-hardness, suspended-sediment, and total-copper EMCs as stochastic variables. These simulations were done for the Charles River Basin...
A projection of lesser prairie chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) populations range-wide
Jonathan W. Cummings, Sarah J. Converse, Clinton T. Moore, David R. Smith, Clay T. Nichols, Nathan L. Allan, Chris M. O’Meilia
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1071
We built a population viability analysis (PVA) model to predict future population status of the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus, LEPC) in four ecoregions across the species’ range. The model results will be used in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) Species Status Assessment (SSA) for the LEPC. Our...
Field-trip guide to the geologic highlights of Newberry Volcano, Oregon
Robert A. Jensen, Julie M. Donnelly-Nolan
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5022-J2
Newberry Volcano and its surrounding lavas cover about 3,000 square kilometers (km2) in central Oregon. This massive, shield-shaped, composite volcano is located in the rear of the Cascades Volcanic Arc, ~60 km east of the Cascade Range crest. The volcano overlaps the northwestern corner of the Basin and...
Geologic field trip guide to Mount Mazama and Crater Lake Caldera, Oregon
Charles R. Bacon, Heather M. Wright
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5022-J1
Crater Lake partly fills one of the most spectacular calderas of the world—an 8 by 10 kilometer (km) basin more than 1 km deep formed by collapse of the Mount Mazama volcano during a rapid series of explosive eruptions ~7,700 years ago. Having a maximum depth of 594 meters (m),...
Vegetation map for the Hakalau Forest Unit of the Big Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex on the island of Hawai‘i
James D. Jacobi
2017, Technical Report HCSU-TR042
This vegetation map was produced to serve as an updated habitat base for management of natural resources of the Hakalau Forest Unit (HFU) of the Big Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Refuge) on the island of Hawai‘i. The map is based on a vegetation map originally produced as part of...
Investigation of late Pleistocene and Holocene activity in the San Gregorio fault zone on the continental slope north of Monterey Canyon, offshore central California
Katherine L. Maier, Charles K. Paull, Daniel S. Brothers, David W. Caress, Mary McGann, Eve M. Lundsten, Krystle Anderson, Roberto Gwiazda
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (107) 1094-1106
We provide an extensive high‐resolution geophysical, sediment core, and radiocarbon dataset to address late Pleistocene and Holocene fault activity of the San Gregorio fault zone (SGFZ), offshore central California. The SGFZ occurs primarily offshore in the San Andreas fault system and has been accommodating dextral strike‐slip motion between the Pacific...
Shorebird stopover habitat decisions in a changing landscape
Caitlyn R. Gillespie, Joseph J. Fontaine
2017, Journal of Wildlife Management (81) 1051-1062
To examine how habitat use by sandpipers (Calidris spp.; Baird's sandpipers, dunlin, least sandpipers, pectoral sandpipers, semipalmated sandpipers, stilt sandpipers, and white-rumped sandpipers) varies across a broad suite of environmental conditions, we conducted surveys at wetlands throughout the spring migratory period in 2013 and 2014 in 2 important stopover regions:...
Combining multiple earthquake models in real time for earthquake early warning
Sarah E. Minson, Stephen Wu, James L Beck, Thomas H. Heaton
2017, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (107) 1868-1882
The ultimate goal of earthquake early warning (EEW) is to provide local shaking information to users before the strong shaking from an earthquake reaches their location. This is accomplished by operating one or more real‐time analyses that attempt to predict shaking intensity, often by estimating the earthquake’s location and magnitude...
Hierarchical, quantitative biogeographic provinces for all North American turtles and their contribution to the biogeography of turtles and the continent
Joshua R. Ennen, Wilfredo A. Matamoros, Mickey Agha, Jeffrey E. Lovich, Sarah C. Sweat, Christopher W. Hoagstrom
2017, Herpetological Monographs (31) 114-140
Our study represents the first attempt to describe biogeographic provinces for North American (México, United States, and Canada) turtles. We analyzed three nested data sets separately: (1) all turtles, (2) freshwater turtles, and (3) aquatic turtles. We georeferenced North American turtle distributions, then we created presence–absence matrices for each of...
Synthesis of downstream fish passage information at projects owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Willamette River Basin, Oregon
Amy C. Hansen, Tobias J. Kock, Gabriel S. Hansen
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1101
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) operates the Willamette Valley Project (Project) in northwestern Oregon, which includes a series of dams, reservoirs, revetments, and fish hatcheries. Project dams were constructed during the 1950s and 1960s on rivers that supported populations of spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), winter steelhead...
Observed variations in U.S. frost timing linked to atmospheric circulation patterns
Courtenay Strong, Gregory J. McCabe
2017, Nature Communications (8)
Several studies document lengthening of the frost-free season within the conterminous United States (U.S.) over the past century, and report trends in spring and fall frost timing that could stem from hemispheric warming. In the absence of warming, theory and case studies link anomalous frost timing to atmospheric circulation anomalies....
Barrier island habitat map and vegetation survey—Dauphin Island, Alabama, 2015
Nicholas M. Enwright, Sinéad M. Borchert, Richard H. Day, Laura C. Feher, Michael J. Osland, Lei Wang, Hongqing Wang
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1083
Barrier islands are dynamic environments due to their position at the land-sea interface. Storms, waves, tides, currents, and relative sea-level rise are powerful forces that shape barrier island geomorphology and habitats (for example, beach, dune, marsh, and forest). Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in...
Effects of extreme floods on macroinvertebrate assemblages in tributaries to the Mohawk River, New York, USA
Mirian R. Calderon, Barry P. Baldigo, Alexander J. Smith, Theodore A. Endreny
2017, River Research and Applications (33) 1060-1070
Climate change is forecast to bring more frequent and intense precipitation to New York which has motivated research into the effects of floods on stream ecosystems. Macroinvertebrate assemblages were sampled at 13 sites in the Mohawk River basin during August 2011, and again in October 2011, following historic floods caused...
Using multi-date satellite imagery to monitor invasive grass species distribution in post-wildfire landscapes: An iterative, adaptable approach that employs open-source data and software
Amanda M. West, Paul H. Evangelista, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Sunil Kumar, Aaron Swallow, Matthew Luizza, Steve Chignell
2017, International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation (59) 135-146
Among the most pressing concerns of land managers in post-wildfire landscapes are the establishment and spread of invasive species. Land managers need accurate maps of invasive species cover for targeted management post-disturbance that are easily transferable across space and time. In this study, we sought to develop an iterative, replicable...
Biological and land use controls on the isotopic composition of aquatic carbon in the Upper Mississippi River Basin
Britta Voss, Kimberly P. Wickland, George R. Aiken, Robert G. Striegl
2017, Global Biogeochemical Cycles (31) 1271-1288
Riverine ecosystems receive organic matter (OM) from terrestrial sources, internally produce new OM, and biogeochemically cycle and modify organic and inorganic carbon. Major gaps remain in the understanding of the relationships between carbon sources and processing in river systems. Here we synthesize isotopic, elemental, and molecular properties of dissolved organic...
Precipitation, streamflow, suspended-sediment, and water-quality data for the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson and Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, Colorado, 1966–2015
L. R. Arnold
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1072
The U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson (AGFC) and the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS) are facilities operated by the U.S. Department of the Army in southern Colorado. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Army, established a hydrologic and water-quality data-collection network at the AGFC...
