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Executive Summary In 2006, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began directly supporting ShakeAlert® research and in 2012 the ShakeAlert demonstration system began testing (Given and others, 2018). The ShakeAlert earthquake early warning (EEW) system is a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the three West Coast States (Washington, Oregon,...

Digital flood-inundation maps for a 3.1-mile reach of Río de la Plata in and near Comerío, Puerto Rico, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Water-surface profiles were computed for the stream reach by using a one-dimensional steady-state step-backwater model. The model was calibrated to the current (2025) stage-streamflow...

Since their first use in the mid-1980s, external passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags have facilitated innovative investigations into multiple biological traits of animals. For native freshwater mussels, PIT tags are frequently used in capture-mark-recapture applications because they allow repeated, noninvasive sampling, are easy to apply, have high retention rates, and...

Mauna Loa volcano erupts crystal-poor material at its summit and more crystal-rich material on its rift zones. Some of the more olivine-rich lava flows contain xenoliths with diverse mineralogy, including cumulate harzburgites with high-Mg# orthopyroxenes and high-Fo olivines (both > 84). Previous experimental work and thermodynamic modelling has proposed that high-Mg# orthopyroxenes...

Salt marshes are dynamic biogeomorphic systems reliant on autochthonous and allochthonous input to maintain their three-dimensional configuration. Sea-level rise, subsidence, and sediment deficits can lead to submergence, open-water expansion, and ultimately loss of the vegetated marsh plain and associated ecosystem services. Widely used management-focused models focus on vegetation zonation in...

River-to-lake transitional areas are biogeochemically active sections of the aquatic continuum that are often understudied compared to their adjoining environments. Internal nutrient loading from river-to-lake transitional areas may be a considerable source of nutrients to lakes and if overlooked disconnect upstream management initiatives from in-lake improvements. To contextualize internal nutrient...

The global use of antidepressants has steadily increased, raising concern to aquatic ecosystems due to the incomplete removal during wastewater treatment. Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) act on the neuronal system by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine. However, despite visual function being heavily dependent on the neuronal system, a knowledge...

IntroductionEcological restoration is increasingly used to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem services. In drylands of the western United States (US), post-disturbance restoration often involves seeding treatments to promote the recovery of native plant communities. Spatial and temporal variability in environmental conditions influences plant establishment and contributes to low restoration success in...

The U.S. Geological Survey evaluated long-term suspended sediment flux and streamflow datasets for temporal trends (monotonic and step trends) at 10 streamgage sites within the Fountain Creek watershed in central Colorado using the Mann-Kendall test (monotonic trend) and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test (step trend). Data were collected in cooperation with...

Supporting the overarching goal to evaluate critical minerals nationwide, the mine waste characterization effort in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Mapping Resources Initiative has created a series of protocols to standardize sampling carried out under this effort by the participating State geological surveys and their cooperators. The protocols are...

Significant FindingsChinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) are native, anadromous fish species in the Siletz River Basin, western Oregon, that face many threats to their survival in freshwater and the ocean. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon seek to mitigate freshwater threats to Chinook salmon...

The Upper Mississippi River Restoration (UMRR) program, a broad partnership of State and Federal agencies administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, integrates ecosystem monitoring, research, and modeling to rehabilitate habitat and evaluate ecosystem trends over time in the Upper Mississippi River System. Hydrologic data are integral to the...

Groundwater quality changes in wells and streams lag behind changes to land use due to groundwater travel times. Two contaminant transport methods were compared to assess differences in their simulated travel time distributions (TTDs) to streams and wells in the Wisconsin Central Sands. MODPATH simulates advective groundwater flow with particle...

Information on a species’ population dynamics, such as changes in abundance and distribution, can be used to identify declining populations and initiate conservation efforts and protections. For the Ornate Chorus Frog (Pseudacris ornata), anecdotal observations of local extirpation and population declines have been noted, but trends in its range-wide population...

Introduction: Urbanization is an extreme form of land use alteration, with human development driving changes in the distribution of resources available to wildlife. Some large carnivores have learned to exploit anthropogenic food resources in urban development, resulting in human-carnivore conflict that can have detrimental impacts to people and carnivores, as exemplified...

Coral reefs play vital roles in global marine systems and are currently facing increased threats of bleaching. Coral bleaching is heavily influenced by the host-associated microeukaryote community – most notably the dinoflagellate family Symbiodiniaceae. The apicomplexan family Corallicolidae, is the second most abundant member of the microeukaryote community, yet their...

Advancing spring phenology has been observed around the world, including changes in the timing of breeding of birds. When singing rates are tied to breeding stage, the rate at which birds are available for detection by surveyors can also show seasonal patterns that may shift with spring phenology. As the...

Freshwater-using utility-scale thermoelectric (TE) plant water-use estimates were evaluated for annual trends from 2008 to 2020 across the conterminous United States (CONUS) and within hydrologic regions. Overall, TE water withdrawal and consumption trends declined across CONUS by 14,335 and 278 million liters/day, respectively. Decreasing water withdrawal and consumption trends for...

Elevated concentrations of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria and signs of sewage lead to impairment of Cedar and Crane Creeks near the town of Curtice, Ohio. In 2021, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, collected samples and analyzed them for concentrations of E. coli and...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Office of Water Resources, computed selected at-site streamflow statistics at U.S. Geological Survey streamgages in and near Massachusetts and developed regional regression equations for estimating selected streamflows at ungaged stream sites in Massachusetts. Two sets of...

The U.S. Geological Survey’s seismic velocity model for the Cascadia Subduction Zone provides P- and S-wave velocity (VP and VS, respectively) information from 40.2° to 50.0° N. latitude and −129.0° to −121.0° W. longitude, and is used to support a variety of research topics, including three-dimensional (3D) earthquake simulations and...

Earthquakes and their cascading consequences pose a significant threat to the people, environment, infrastructure, and economy of the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The Pacific Northwest is susceptible to three types of earthquakes: deep (intraslab) earthquakes, subduction zone (megathrust) earthquakes, and shallow crustal earthquakes. For each of these earthquake types, earth scientists...

Source apportionment of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in rivers is typically based on water concentrations, which cannot quantify PFAS loads or define geographical source areas. This study applied a river catchment-scale approach to identify PFAS source zones and assess the relative importance of industrial PFAS sources in the River...

Forecasts of streamflow drought, when streamflow declines below typical levels, are notably less available than for floods or meteorological drought, despite widespread impacts. To address this gap, we apply machine learning (ML) models to forecast streamflow drought 1-13 weeks into the future at > 3,000 streamgage locations across the conterminous...

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), frequently called “forever chemicals,” are used for a wide variety of industrial purposes and are often found in common household and industrial items such as firefighting foams, non-stick cookware, and water-resistant materials. The contamination of water, air, and soil by PFAS is a national and...