St. Louis area earthquake hazards mapping project; seismic and liquefaction hazard maps
Chris H. Cramer, Robert A. Bauer, Jae-won Chung, David Rogers, Larry Pierce, Vicki Voigt, Brad Mitchell, David Gaunt, Robert Williams, David Hoffman, Gregory L. Hempen, Phyllis Steckel, Oliver S. Boyd, Connor M. Watkins, Kathleen Tucker, Natasha McCallister
2016, Seismological Research Letters (88) 206-223
We present probabilistic and deterministic seismic and liquefaction hazard maps for the densely populated St. Louis metropolitan area that account for the expected effects of surficial geology on earthquake ground shaking. Hazard calculations were based on a map grid of 0.005°, or about every 500 m, and are thus higher...
Alaska geology revealed
Frederic H. Wilson, Keith A. Labay
2016, General Information Product 168
This map shows the generalized geology of Alaska, which helps us to understand where potential mineral deposits and energy resources might be found, define ecosystems, and ultimately, teach us about the earth history of the State. Rock units are grouped in very broad categories on the basis of age...
Sedimentation survey of Lago Caonillas, Utuado, Puerto Rico, September–November 2012
Luis R. Soler-Lopez
2016, Scientific Investigations Map 3368
During September–November 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, conducted a sedimentation survey of Lago Caonillas to estimate current (2012) reservoir storage capacity and the recent (2000–2012) reservoir sedimentation rate by comparing the 2012 bathymetric survey data with the February 2000 data....
Community exposure to potential climate-driven changes to coastal-inundation hazards for six communities in Essex County, Massachusetts
Nina Abdollahian, Jamie L. Ratliff, Nathan J. Wood
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1187
IntroductionUnderstanding if and how community exposure to coastal hazards may change over time is crucial information for coastal managers tasked with developing climate adaptation plans. This report summarizes estimates of population and asset exposure to coastal-inundation hazards associated with sea-level-rise and storm scenarios in six coastal communities of the Great...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Mississippian Sunbury shale and Devonian–Mississippian Chattanooga shale in the Appalachian Basin Province, 2016
Debra K. Higley, William A. Rouse, Catherine B. Enomoto, Michael H. Trippi, Timothy R. Klett, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Ronald M. Drake II, Thomas M. Finn, Nicholas J. Gianoutsos, Ofori N. Pearson, Colin A. Doolan, Phuong A. Le, Christopher J. Schenk
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3085
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous resources that total 464 million barrels of oil and 4.08 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Lower Mississippian Sunbury Shale and Middle Devonian–Lower Mississippian Chattanooga Shale of the Appalachian Basin Province....
Integrating remote sensing with species distribution models; Mapping tamarisk invasions using the Software for Assisted Habitat Modeling (SAHM)
Amanda M. West, Paul H. Evangelista, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Nicholas E. Young, Thomas J. Stohlgren, Colin Talbert, Marian Talbert, Jeffrey Morisette, Ryan Anderson
2016, Journal of Visualized Experiments (116)
Early detection of invasive plant species is vital for the management of natural resources and protection of ecosystem processes. The use of satellite remote sensing for mapping the distribution of invasive plants is becoming more common, however conventional imaging software and classification methods have been shown to be unreliable. In...
Estimated use of water in the Delaware River Basin in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, 2010
Susan S. Hutson, Kristin S. Linsey, Russell A. Ludlow, Betzaida Reyes, Jennifer L. Shourds
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5142
The Delaware River Basin (DRB) was selected as a Focus Area Study in 2011 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as part of the USGS National Water Census. The National Water Census is a USGS research program that focuses on national water availability and use and then develops new water...
The 3D Elevation Program and America's infrastructure
Vicki Lukas, Carswell
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3093
Infrastructure—the physical framework of transportation, energy, communications, water supply, and other systems—and construction management—the overall planning, coordination, and control of a project from beginning to end—are critical to the Nation’s prosperity. The American Society of Civil Engineers has warned that, despite the importance of the Nation’s infrastructure, it is in...
Summary of environmental flow monitoring for the Sustainable Rivers Project on the Middle Fork Willamette and McKenzie Rivers, western Oregon, 2014–15
Krista L. Jones, Joseph F. Mangano, J. Rose Wallick, Heather D. Bervid, Melissa Olson, Mackenzie K. Keith, Leslie Bach
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1186
This report presents the results of an ongoing environmental flow monitoring study by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and U.S. Geological Survey in support of the Sustainable Rivers Project (SRP) of TNC and USACE. The overarching goal of this study is to evaluate and characterize...
Dissolved methane in the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean, 1992-2009; sources and atmospheric flux
Thomas D. Lorenson, Jens Greinert, Richard B. Coffin
2016, Limnology and Oceanography (61) S300-S323
Methane concentration and isotopic composition was measured in ice-covered and ice-free waters of the Arctic Ocean during eleven surveys spanning the years of 1992-1995 and 2009. During ice-free periods, methane flux from the Beaufort shelf varies from 0.14 to 0.43 mg CH4 m-2 day-1. Maximum fluxes from localized areas of...
Stakeholder views of management and decision support tools to integrate climate change into Great Lakes Lake Whitefish management
Abigail J. Lynch, William W. Taylor, Aaron M. McCright
2016, Fisheries (41) 644-652
Decision support tools can aid decision making by systematically incorporating information, accounting for uncertainties, and facilitating evaluation between alternatives. Without user buy-in, however, decision support tools can fail to influence decision-making processes. We surveyed fishery researchers, managers, and fishers affiliated with the Lake Whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis fishery in the 1836...
Clawpack: Building an open source ecosystem for solving hyperbolic PDEs
Richard M. Iverson, K.T. Mandli, Aron J. Ahmadia, M.J. Berger, Donna Calhoun, David L. George, Y. Hadjimichael, David I. Ketcheson, Grady L. Lemoine, Randall J. LeVeque
2016, PeerJ (2)
Clawpack is a software package designed to solve nonlinear hyperbolic partial differential equations using high-resolution finite volume methods based on Riemann solvers and limiters. The package includes a number of variants aimed at different applications and user communities. Clawpack has been actively developed as an open source project for over...
Streamflow data
Gregg J. Wiche, Robert R. Holmes Jr.
2016, Book chapter, Flood forecasting: A global perspective
Streamflow data are vital for a variety of water-resources issues, from flood warning to water supply planning. The collection of streamflow data is usually an involved and complicated process. This chapter serves as an overview of the streamflow data collection process. Readers with the need for the detailed information on...
Widespread kelp-derived carbon in pelagic and benthic nearshore fishes
Vanessa R. von Biela, Seth D. Newsome, James L. Bodkin, Gordon H. Kruse, Christian E. Zimmerman
2016, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (181) 364-374
Kelp forests provide habitat for diverse and abundant fish assemblages, but the extent to which kelp provides a source of energy to fish and other predators is unclear. To examine the use of kelp-derived energy by fishes we estimated the contribution of kelp- and phytoplankton-derived carbon using carbon (δ13C) and...
Impacts of shore expansion and catchment characteristics on lacustrine thermokarst records in permafrost lowlands, Alaska Arctic Coastal Plain
Josefine Lenz, Benjamin M. Jones, Sebastian Wetterich, Rik Tjallingii, Michael Fritz, Christopher D. Arp, Natalia Rudaya, Guido Grosse
2016, arktos (2)
Arctic lowland landscapes have been modified by thermokarst lake processes throughout the Holocene. Thermokarst lakes form as a result of ice-rich permafrost degradation, and they may expand over time through thermal and mechanical shoreline erosion. We studied proximal and distal sedimentary records from a thermokarst lake located on the Arctic...
Subsea ice-bearing permafrost on the U.S. Beaufort Margin: 2. Borehole constraints
Carolyn D. Ruppel, Bruce M. Herman, Laura L. Brothers, Patrick E. Hart
2016, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (17) 4333-4353
Borehole logging data from legacy wells directly constrain the contemporary distribution of subsea permafrost in the sedimentary section at discrete locations on the U.S. Beaufort Margin and complement recent regional analyses of exploration seismic data to delineate the permafrost's offshore extent. Most usable borehole data were acquired on a ∼500...
Subsea ice-bearing permafrost on the U.S. Beaufort Margin: 1. Minimum seaward extent defined from multichannel seismic reflection data
Laura L. Brothers, Bruce M. Herman, Patrick E. Hart, Carolyn D. Ruppel
2016, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (17) 4354-4365
Subsea ice-bearing permafrost (IBPF) and associated gas hydrate in the Arctic have been subject to a warming climate and saline intrusion since the last transgression at the end of the Pleistocene. The consequent degradation of IBPF is potentially associated with significant degassing of dissociating gas hydrate deposits. Previous studies interpreted...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Lusitanian Basin Province, Portugal, 2016
Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Timothy R. Klett, Thomas M. Finn, Tracey J. Mercier, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Phuong A. Le, Sarah J. Hawkins, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Stanley T. Paxton
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3086
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey assessed mean undiscovered, technically recoverable resources of 121 million barrels of oil and 212 billion cubic feet of gas in the Lusitanian Basin Province, Portugal....
Landslides in the western Columbia Gorge, Skamania County, Washington
Thomas C. Pierson, Russell C. Evarts, Joseph A. Bard
2016, Scientific Investigations Map 3358
SummaryRecent light detection and ranging (lidar) imagery has allowed us to identify and map a large number of previously unrecognized landslides, or slides, in heavily forested terrain in the western Columbia Gorge, Skamania County, Washington, and it has revealed that the few previously recognized areas of instability are actually...
Responses of a tall building with U.S. code-type instrumentation in Tokyo, Japan, to events before, during and after the Tohoku earthquake of 11 March 2011
Mehmet Çelebi, Toshihide Kashima, S. Farid Ghahari, Fariba Abazarsa, Ertugrul Taciroglu
2016, Earthquake Spectra (32) 497-522
The 11 March 2011 M 9.0 Tohoku earthquake generated long-duration shaking that propagated hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter and affected tall buildings in urban areas several hundred kilometers from the epicenter of the main shock. Recorded responses show that tall buildings were affected by long-period motions. This study presents...
A-DROP: A predictive model for the formation of oil particle aggregates (OPAs)
Lin Zhao, Michel C. Boufadel, Xiaolong Geng, Kenneth Lee, Thomas King, Brian H. Robinson, Faith A. Fitzpatrick
2016, Marine Pollution Bulletin (106) 245-259
Oil–particle interactions play a major role in removal of free oil from the water column. We present a new conceptual–numerical model, A-DROP, to predict oil amount trapped in oil–particle aggregates. A new conceptual formulation of oil–particle coagulation efficiency is introduced to account for the effects of oil stabilization by particles,...
A dynamic leaf gas-exchange strategy is conserved in woody plants under changing ambient CO2: evidence from carbon isotope discrimination in paleo and CO2 enrichment studies
Steven L. Voelker, J. Renee Brooks, Frederick C. Meinzer, Rebecca Anderson, Martin K.-F. Bader, Giovanna Battipaglia, Katie M. Becklin, David Beerling, Didier Bert, Julio L. Betancourt, Todd E. Dawson, Jean-Christophe Domec, Richard P. Guyette, Christian Korner, Steven W. Leavitt, Sune Linder, John D. Marshall, Manuel Mildner, Jerome Ogee, Irina P. Panyushkina, Heather J. Plumpton, Kurt S. Pregitzer, Matthias Saurer, Andrew R. Smith, Rolf T.W. Siegwolf, Michael C. Stambaugh, Alan F. Talhelm, Jacques C. Tardif, Peter K. Van De Water, Joy K. Ward, Lisa Wingate
2016, Global Change Biology (22) 889-902
Rising atmospheric [CO2], ca, is expected to affect stomatal regulation of leaf gas-exchange of woody plants, thus influencing energy fluxes as well as carbon (C), water, and nutrient cycling of forests. Researchers have proposed various strategies for stomatal regulation of leaf gas-exchange that include maintaining a constant leaf internal [CO2],...
Responses of two tall buildings in Tokyo, Japan, before, during, and after the M9.0 Tohoku earthquake of 11 March 2011
Mehmet Çelebi, Yoshiuaki Hisada, Roshanak Omrani, S. Farid Ghahari, Ertugrul Taciroglu
2016, Earthquake Spectra (32) 463-495
The 11 March 2011 M 9.0 Tohoku earthquake generated significant long duration shaking that propagated hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter and affected urban areas throughout much of Honshu. Recorded responses of tall buildings at several hundred km from the epicenter of the main shock and other events show tall...
Acid rain and its environmental effects: Recent scientific advances
Douglas A. Burns, Julian Aherne, David A. Gay, Christopher M.B. Lehmann
2016, Atmospheric Environment (146) 1-4
The term ‘acid rain’ refers to atmospheric deposition of acidic constituents that impact the earth as rain, snow, particulates, gases, and vapor. Acid rain was first recognized by Ducros (1845) and subsequently described by the English chemist Robert Angus Smith (Smith, 1852) whose pioneering studies linked the sources to industrial...
Nitrate removal from agricultural drainage ditch sediments with amendments of organic carbon: Potential for an innovative best management practice
Derek R. Faust, Robert Kröger, Leandro E. Miranda, Scott A. Rush
2016, Water, Air, & Soil Pollution (227)
Agricultural fertilizer applications have resulted in loading of nutrients to agricultural drainage ditches in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. The purpose of this study was to determine effects of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) amendments on nitrate-nitrogen (NO3−-N) removal from overlying water, pore water, and sediment...