Long Valley Caldera Lake and reincision of Owens River Gorge
Wes Hildreth, Judy Fierstein
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5120
Owens River Gorge, today rimmed exclusively in 767-ka Bishop Tuff, was first cut during the Neogene through a ridge of Triassic granodiorite to a depth as great as its present-day floor and was then filled to its rim by a small basaltic shield at 3.3 Ma. The gorge-filling basalt, 200...
Statistical tests of simple earthquake cycle models
Phoebe M. R. Devries, Eileen Evans
2016, Geophysical Research Letters (43) 12,036-12,045
A central goal of observing and modeling the earthquake cycle is to forecast when a particular fault may generate an earthquake: a fault late in its earthquake cycle may be more likely to generate an earthquake than a fault early in its earthquake cycle. Models that can explain geodetic observations...
Mechanisms of aquatic species invasions across the South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative region
Amy J. Benson, Bradley Stith, Victor C. Engel
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5148
Invasive species are a global issue, and the southeastern United States is not immune to the problems they present. Therefore, various analyses using modeling and exploratory statistics were performed on the U.S. Geological Survey Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Database with the primary objective of determining the most appropriate use of...
The chemistry and isotopic composition of waters in the low-enthalpy geothermal system of Cimino-Vico Volcanic District, Italy
Maria Battistel, Shaul Hurwitz, William Evans, Maurizio Barbieri
2016, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (328) 222-229
Geothermal energy exploration is based in part on interpretation of the chemistry, temperature, and discharge rate of thermal springs. Here we present the major element chemistry and the δD, δ18O, 87Sr/86Sr and δ11B isotopic ratio of groundwater from the low-enthalpy geothermal system near the city of Viterbo in the Cimino-Vico...
Plague cycles in two rodent species from China: Dry years might provide context for epizootics in wet years
David A. Eads, Dean E. Biggins, Lei Xu, Qiyong Liu
2016, Ecosphere (7)
Plague, a rodent-associated, flea-borne zoonosis, is one of the most notorious diseases in history. Rates of plague transmission can increase when fleas are abundant. Fleas commonly desiccate and die when reared under dry conditions in laboratories, suggesting fleas will be suppressed during droughts in the wild, thus reducing the rate...
Introduction to “Global tsunami science: Past and future, Volume I”
Eric L. Geist, Hermann Fritz, Alexander B. Rabinovich, Yuichiro Tanioka
2016, Pure and Applied Geophysics PAGEOPH (173) 3663-3669
Twenty-five papers on the study of tsunamis are included in Volume I of the PAGEOPH topical issue “Global Tsunami Science: Past and Future”. Six papers examine various aspects of tsunami probability and uncertainty analysis related to hazard assessment. Three papers relate to deterministic hazard and risk assessment. Five more papers...
Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea coral-associated sediment communities
Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Jill R. Bourque, Erik E. Cordes, Katherine Stamler
2016, Marine Ecology Progress Series (561) 51-68
Cold-water corals support distinct populations of infauna within surrounding sediments that provide vital ecosystem functions and services in the deep sea. Yet due to their sedentary existence, infauna are vulnerable to perturbation and contaminant exposure because they are unable to escape disturbance events. While multiple deep-sea coral habitats were injured...
Quantifying chemical weathering rates along a precipitation gradient on Basse-Terre Island, French Guadeloupe: new insight from U-series isotopes in weathering rinds
Jacqueline M. Engel, Linda May, Peter B. Sak, Jerome Gaillardet, Minghua Ren, Mark A. Engle, Susan L. Brantley
2016, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (195) 29-67
Inside soil and saprolite, rock fragments can form weathering clasts (alteration rinds surrounding an unweathered core) and these weathering rinds provide an excellent field system for investigating the initiation of weathering and long term weathering rates. Recently, uranium-series (U-series) disequilibria have shown great potential for determining rind formation rates...
Multireaction equilibrium geothermometry: A sensitivity analysis using data from the Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, USA
Jonathan M. King, Shaul Hurwitz, Jacob B. Lowenstern, D. Kirk Nordstrom, R. Blaine McCleskey
2016, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (328) 105-114
A multireaction chemical equilibria geothermometry (MEG) model applicable to high-temperature geothermal systems has been developed over the past three decades. Given sufficient data, this model provides more constraint on calculated reservoir temperatures than classical chemical geothermometers that are based on either the concentration of silica (SiO2), or the ratios of...
Estimated nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to the Fish Creek watershed, Teton County, Wyoming, 2009–15
Cheryl A. Eddy-Miller, Roy Sando, Michael J. MacDonald, Carlin Girard
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5160
Nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, are essential for plant and animal growth and nourishment, but the overabundance of bioavailable nitrogen and phosphorus in water can cause adverse health and ecological effects. It is generally accepted that increased primary production of surface-water bodies because of high inputs of nutrients is...
Combined exposure of diesel exhaust particles and respirable Soufrière Hills volcanic ash causes a (pro-)inflammatory response in an in vitro multicellular epithelial tissue barrier model
Ines Tomašek, Claire J. Horwell, David Damby, Hana Barosova, Christoph Geers, Alke Petri-Fink, Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser, Martin J. D. Clift
2016, Particle and Fibre Toxicology (13) 1-14
BackgroundThere are justifiable health concerns regarding the potential adverse effects associated with human exposure to volcanic ash (VA) particles, especially when considering communities living in urban areas already exposed to heightened air pollution. The aim of this study was, therefore, to gain an imperative, first...
Isotopic constraints on the genesis and evolution of basanitic lavas at Haleakala, Island of Maui, Hawaii
Erin H. Phillips, K.W.W. Sims, David R. Sherrod, Vincent Salters, Jurek Blusztajn, Henrieta Dulaiova
2016, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (195) 201-225
To understand the dynamics of solid mantle upwelling and melting in the Hawaiian plume, we present new major and trace element data, Nd, Sr, Hf, and Pb isotopic compositions, and 238U–230Th–226Ra and 235U–231Pa–227Ac activities for 13 Haleakala Crater nepheline normative basanites with ages ranging from ∼900 to 4100 yr B.P. These...
Occurrence, distribution, and volume of metals-contaminated sediment of selected streams draining the Tri-State Mining District, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas, 2011–12
D. Charlie Smith
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5144
Lead and zinc were mined in the Tri-State Mining District (TSMD) of southwest Missouri, northeast Oklahoma, and southeast Kansas for more than 100 years. The effects of mining on the landscape are still evident, nearly 50 years after the last mine ceased operation. The legacies of mining are the mine...
Four-band image mosaic of the Colorado River corridor downstream of Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona, derived from the May 2013 airborne image acquisition
Laura E. Durning, Joel B. Sankey, Philip A. Davis, Temuulen T. Sankey
2016, Data Series 1027
In May 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center acquired airborne multispectral high-resolution data for the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Arizona. The image data, which consist of four color bands (blue, green, red, and near-infrared) with a ground resolution of 20 centimeters, are available...
Building unified geospatial data for land-change modeling—A case study in the area of Richmond, Virginia
David I. Donato, Jason L. Shapiro
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1176
An effort to build a unified collection of geospatial data for use in land-change modeling (LCM) led to new insights into the requirements and challenges of building an LCM data infrastructure. A case study of data compilation and unification for the Richmond, Va., Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) delineated the problems...
Groundwater-flow model of the northern High Plains aquifer in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming
Steven M. Peterson, Amanda T. Flynn, Jonathan P. Traylor
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5153
The High Plains aquifer is a nationally important water resource underlying about 175,000 square miles in parts of eight states: Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Droughts across much of the Northern High Plains from 2001 to 2007 have combined with recent (2004) legislative mandates...
Changing agricultural practices: Potential consequences to aquatic organisms
Peter J. Lasier, Matthew L. Urich, Sayed M. Hassan, Whitney N. Jacobs, Robert B. Bringolf, Kathleen M. Owens
2016, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (188) 1-17
Agricultural practices pose threats to biotic diversity in freshwater systems with increasing use of glyphosate-based herbicides for weed control and animal waste for soil amendment becoming common in many regions. Over the past two decades, these particular agricultural trends have corresponded with marked declines in populations of fish and mussel...
The estimated six-year mercury dry deposition across North America
Leiming Zhang, Zhiyong Wu, Irene Cheng, L. Paige Wright, Mark L. Olson, David A. Gay, Martin R. Risch, Steven Brooks, Mark S. Castro, Gary D. Conley, Eric S. Edgerton, Thomas M. Holsen, Winston Luke, Robert Tordon, Peter Weiss-Penzias
2016, Environmental Science & Technology (50) 12864-12873
Dry deposition of atmospheric mercury (Hg) to various land covers surrounding 24 sites in North America was estimated for the years 2009 to 2014. Depending on location, multiyear mean annual Hg dry deposition was estimated to range from 5.1 to 23.8 μg m–2 yr–1 to forested canopies, 2.6 to 20.8...
Efficacy of environmental DNA to detect and quantify Brook Trout populations in headwater streams of the Adirondack Mountains, New York
Barry P. Baldigo, Lee Ann Sporn, Scott D. George, Jacob Ball
2016, Transactions of the American Fisheries Society (146) 99-111
Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis is rapidly evolving as a tool for monitoring the distributions of aquatic species. Detection of species’ populations in streams may be challenging because the persistence time for intact DNA fragments is unknown and because eDNA is diluted and dispersed by dynamic hydrological processes. During 2015, the...
Collection, processing, and quality assurance of time-series electromagnetic-induction log datasets, 1995–2016, south Florida
Scott T. Prinos, Robert Valderrama
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1194
Time-series electromagnetic-induction log (TSEMIL) datasets are collected from polyvinyl-chloride cased or uncased monitoring wells to evaluate changes in water conductivity over time. TSEMIL datasets consist of a series of individual electromagnetic-induction logs, generally collected at a frequency of once per month or once per year that have been compiled into...
Quantification of the intrusion process at Kīlauea volcano, Hawai'i
Thomas L. Wright, Bruce Marsh
2016, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (328) 34-44
The characteristic size of two types of intrusions identified beneath Kīlauea's East Rift zone are uniquely estimated by combining time constraints from fractional crystallization and the rates of magma solidification during cooling. Some intrusions were rapidly emplaced as dikes, but stalled before reaching the surface, and cooled and crystallized to feed later fractionated eruptions. More...
Flow characteristics and salinity patterns of tidal rivers within the northern Ten Thousand Islands, southwest Florida, water years 2007–14
Amanda Booth, Lars E. Soderqvist
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5158
Freshwater flow to the Ten Thousand Islands estuary has been altered by the construction of the Tamiami Trail and the Southern Golden Gate Estates. The Picayune Strand Restoration Project, which is associated with the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, has been implemented to improve freshwater delivery to the Ten Thousand Islands...
Ground squirrel shooting and potential lead exposure in breeding avian scavengers
Garth Herring, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Mason T. Wagner
2016, PLoS ONE (11)
Recreational ground squirrel shooting is a popular activity throughout the western United States and serves as a tool for managing ground squirrel populations in agricultural regions. Belding’s ground squirrels (Spermophilus beldingi) are routinely shot in California, Nevada, and Oregon across habitats that overlap with breeding avian scavengers. Ground squirrels shot...
Cratering on Ceres: Implications for its crust and evolution
H. Hiesinger, S. Marchi, N. Schmedemann, P. Schenk, J. H. Pasckert, A. Neesemann, D.P. O'Brien, T. Kneissl, A. Ermakov, R.R. Fu, M. T. Bland, A. Nathues, T. Platz, D.A. Williams, R. Jaumann, J. C. Castillo-Rogez, O. Ruesch, B. Schmidt, R.S. Park, F. Preusker, D.L. Buczkowski, C.T. Russell, C.A. Raymond
2016, Science (353)
Thermochemical models have predicted that Ceres, is to some extent, differentiated and should have an icy crust with few or no impact craters. We present observations by the Dawn spacecraft that reveal a heavily cratered surface, a heterogeneous crater distribution, and an apparent absence of large craters. The...
Estimating natural monthly streamflows in California and the likelihood of anthropogenic modification
Daren Carlisle, David M. Wolock, Jeanette K. Howard, Theodore E. Grantham, Kurt Fesenmyer, Michael Wieczorek
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1189
Because natural patterns of streamflow are a fundamental property of the health of streams, there is a critical need to quantify the degree to which human activities have modified natural streamflows. A requirement for assessing streamflow modification in a given stream is a reliable estimate of flows expected in the...
