Fines classification based on sensitivity to pore-fluid chemistry
Junbong Jang, J. Carlos Santamarina
2016, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (142) 1-8
The 75-μm particle size is used to discriminate between fine and coarse grains. Further analysis of fine grains is typically based on the plasticity chart. Whereas pore-fluid-chemistry-dependent soil response is a salient and distinguishing characteristic of fine grains, pore-fluid chemistry is not addressed in current classification systems....
Evidence for partial melt in the crust beneath Mt. Paektu (Changbaishan), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and China
Ri Kyong-Song, James O. S. Hammond, Ko Chol-Nam, Kim Hyok, Yun Yong-Gun, Pak Gil-Jong, Ri Chong-Song, Clive Oppenheimer, Kosima W. Liu, Kayla D. Iacovino, Ryu Kum-Ran
2016, Science Advances (2)
Mt. Paektu (also known as Changbaishan) is an enigmatic volcano on the border between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and China. Despite being responsible for one of the largest eruptions in history, comparatively little is known about its magmatic evolution, geochronology, or underlying structure. We present receiver function...
Effect of phytoremediation on concentrations of benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and dissolved oxygen in groundwater at a former manufactured gas plant site, Charleston, South Carolina, USA, 1998–2014
James Landmeyer, Thomas N. Effinger
2016, Environmental Earth Sciences (75)
Concentrations of benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and dissolved oxygen in groundwater at a former manufactured gas plant site near Charleston, South Carolina, USA, have been monitored since the installation of a phytoremediation system of hybrid poplar trees in 1998. Between 2000 and 2014, the concentrations of benzene, toluene, and naphthalene (BT&N)...
Construction, calibration, and validation of the RBM10 water temperature model for the Trinity River, northern California
Edward C. Jones, Russell W. Perry, John C. Risley, Nicholas A. Som, Nicholas J. Hetrick
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1056
We constructed a one-dimensional daily averaged water-temperature model to simulate Trinity River temperatures for 1980–2013. The purpose of this model is to assess effects of water-management actions on water temperature and to provide water temperature inputs for a salmon population dynamics model. Simulated meteorological data, observed streamflow data, and...
Surveillance for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in wild birds during outbreaks in domestic poultry, Minnesota, 2015
Christopher S. Jennelle, Michelle Carstensen, Erik C. Hildebrand, Louis Cornicelli, Paul C. Wolf, Daniel A. Grear, S. Ip, Kaci K. VanDalen, Larissa A. Minicucci
2016, Emerging Infectious Diseases (22) 1278-1282
In 2015, a major outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) infection devastated poultry facilities in Minnesota, USA. To clarify the role of wild birds, we tested 3,139 waterfowl fecal samples and 104 sick and dead birds during March 9–June 4, 2015. HPAIV was isolated from a Cooper’s hawk...
Temporal and spatial patterns of wetland extent influence variability of surface water connectivity in the Prairie Pothole Region, United States
Melanie K. Vanderhoof, Laurie C. Alexander, Jason Todd
2016, Landscape Ecology (31) 805-824
Context. Quantifying variability in landscape-scale surface water connectivity can help improve our understanding of the multiple effects of wetlands on downstream waterways. Objectives. We examined how wetland merging and the coalescence of wetlands with streams varied both spatially (among ecoregions) and interannually (from drought to deluge) across parts of the...
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Taoudeni Basin Province, Mali and Mauritania, 2015
Michael E. Brownfield, Christopher J. Schenk, Timothy R. Klett, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Janet K. Pitman, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Tracey J. Mercier, Kristen R. Marra, Sarah J. Hawkins
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3003
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 160 million barrels of conventional oil, 1,880 billion cubic feet of conventional gas, 602 million barrels of shale oil, and 6,395 billion cubic feet of shale gas in the Taoudeni Basin Province in Mali...
Energetic costs of mange in wolves estimated from infrared thermography
Paul C. Cross, Emily S. Almberg, Catherine G Haase, Peter J. Hudson, Shane K Maloney, Matthew C Metz, Adam J Munn, Paul Nugent, Olivier Putzeys, Daniel R. Stahler, Anya C Stewart, Doug W. Smith
2016, Ecology (97) 1938-1948
Parasites, by definition, extract energy from their hosts and thus affect trophic and food web dynamics even when the parasite may have limited effects on host population size. We studied the energetic costs of mange (Sarcoptes scabiei) in wolves (Canis lupus) using thermal cameras to estimate heat losses associated with...
DNA and dispersal models highlight constrained connectivity in a migratory marine megavertebrate
Eugenia Naro-Maciel, Kristen M. Hart, Rossana Cruciata, Nathan Freeman Putman
2016, Ecography (40) 586-597
Population structure and spatial distribution are fundamentally important fields within ecology, evolution, and conservation biology. To investigate pan-Atlantic connectivity of globally endangered green turtles (Chelonia mydas) from two National Parks in Florida, USA, we applied a multidisciplinary approach comparing genetic analysis and ocean circulation modeling. The Everglades (EP) is a...
Conditional vulnerability of plant diversity to atmospheric nitrogen deposition across the United States
Samuel M. Simkin, Edith B. Allen, William D. Bowman, Christopher L. Clark, Jayne Belnap, Matthew L. Brooks, Brian S. Cade, Scott L. Collins, Linda H. Geiser, Frank S. Gilliam, Sarah E. Jovan, Linda H. Pardo, Bethany K. Schulz, Carly J. Stevens, Katharine N. Suding, Heather L. Throop, Donald M. Waller
2016, PNAS (113) 4086-4091
Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has been shown to decrease plant species richness along regional deposition gradients in Europe and in experimental manipulations. However, the general response of species richness to N deposition across different vegetation types, soil conditions, and climates remains largely unknown even though responses may be contingent on...
Habitat selection by green turtles in a spatially heterogeneous benthic landscape in Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida
Ikuko Fujisaki, Kristen M. Hart, Autumn R. Sartain-Iverson
2016, Aquatic Biology (24) 185-199
We examined habitat selection by green turtles Chelonia mydas at Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, USA. We tracked 15 turtles (6 females and 9 males) using platform transmitter terminals (PTTs); 13 of these turtles were equipped with additional acoustic transmitters. Location data by PTTs comprised periods of 40 to 226...
Normal streamflows and water levels continue—Summary of hydrologic conditions in Georgia, 2014
Andrew E. Knaak, Paul D. Ankcorn, Michael F. Peck
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3016
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) South Atlantic Water Science Center (SAWSC) Georgia office, in cooperation with local, State, and other Federal agencies, maintains a long-term hydrologic monitoring network of more than 350 real-time, continuous-record, streamflow-gaging stations (streamgages). The network includes 14 real-time lake-level monitoring stations, 72 real-time surface-water-quality monitors, and...
The Galapagos archipelago: A natural laboratory to examine sharp hydroclimatic, geologic and anthropogenic gradients
Madelyn Percy, Sarah Schmitt, Diego Riveros-Iregui, Benjamin B. Mirus
2016, WIREs Water (3) 587-600
Poor understanding of the water cycle in tropical ecosystems has the potential to exacerbate water shortages and water crises in the region. We suggest that the Galápagos Islands provide an excellent proxy to regions across the tropics as a result of sharp hydroclimatic, anthropogenic, and pedohydrologic gradients across the archipelago....
Young of the year bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) as a bioindicator of estuarine health: Establishing a new baseline for persistent organic pollutants after Hurricane Sandy for selected estuaries in New Jersey and New York
Kelly L. Smalling, Ashok D. Deshpande, Vicki S. Blazer, Bruce W Dockum, DeMond Timmons, Beth L. Sharack, Ronald J. Baker, Jennifer Samson, Timothy J. Reilly
2016, Marine Pollution Bulletin (107) 422-431
Atlantic coastal bays of the US are essential habitat for young of year bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix). Their residence in these estuaries during critical life stages, high lipid content, and piscivory make bluefish an ideal bioindicator species for evaluating estuarine health. Individual whole fish from four estuaries impacted by Hurricane Sandy...
Composition of conglomerates analyzed by the Curiosity rover: Implications for Gale Crater crust and sediment sources
Nicolas Mangold, L.M. Thompson, O. Forni, C. Fabre, L. Le Deit, R. C. Wiens, A.J. Williams, R. Williams, Ryan B. Anderson, Diana L. Blaney, Fred J. Calef, Agnes Cousin, Samuel M. Clegg, Gilles Dromart, William E. Dietrich, Kenneth S. Edgett, Martin R. Fisk, Olivier Gasnault, Ralf Gellert, John P. Grotzinger, Linda C. Kah, Stephane Le Mouelic, Scott M. McLennan, Sylvestre Maurice, Pierre-Yves Meslin, Horton E. Newsom, Marisa C. Palucis, William Rapin, Violaine Sautter, Kirsten L. Siebach, Katherine M. Stack, Dawn Y. Sumner, Aileen Yingst
2016, Journal of Geophysical Research (121) 353-387
Towards establishing compact imaging spectrometer standards
E. Terrence Slonecker, David W. Allen, Ronald G. Resmini
2016, International Journal of Experimental Spectroscopic Techniques (1)
Remote sensing science is currently undergoing a tremendous expansion in the area of hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology. Spurred largely by the explosive growth of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), sometimes called Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), or drones, HSI capabilities that once required access to one of only a handful of very...
Relationships between diatoms and tidal environments in Oregon and Washington, USA
Yuki Sawai, Benjamin P. Horton, Andrew C. Kemp, Andrea D. Hawkes, Tamostsu Nagumo, Alan R. Nelson
2016, Diatom Research (31) 17-38
A new regional dataset comprising 425 intertidal diatom taxa from 175 samples from 11 ecologically diverse Oregon and Washington estuaries illustrates the importance of compiling a large modern dataset from a range of sites. Cluster analyses and detrended correspondence analysis of the diatom assemblages identify distinct vertical zones within supratidal,...
Hydrologic Conditions in Kansas, water year 2015
Madison R. May
2016, Fact Sheet 2016-3015
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with Federal, State, and local agencies, maintains a long-term network of hydrologic monitoring sites in Kansas. In 2015, the network included about 200 real-time streamgages (hereafter referred to as “gages”), 12 real-time reservoir-level monitoring stations, and 30 groundwater-level monitoring wells. These data and...
USGS approach to real-time estimation of earthquake-triggered ground failure - Results of 2015 workshop
Kate E. Allstadt, Eric M. Thompson, David J. Wald, Michael W. Hamburger, Jonathan W. Godt, Keith L. Knudsen, Randall W. Jibson, M. Anna Jessee, Jing Zhu, Michael Hearne, Laurie G. Baise, Hakan Tanyas, Kristin D. Marano
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1044
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earthquake Hazards and Landslide Hazards Programs are developing plans to add quantitative hazard assessments of earthquake-triggered landsliding and liquefaction to existing real-time earthquake products (ShakeMap, ShakeCast, PAGER) using open and readily available methodologies and products. To date, prototype global statistical models have been developed and...
Review and synthesis: Changing permafrost in a warming world and feedbacks to the Earth System
Guido Grosse, Scott Goetz, A. David McGuire, Vladimir E. Romanovsky, Edward A.G. Schuur
2016, Environmental Research Letters (11) 1-10
The permafrost component of the cryosphere is changing dramatically, but the permafrost region is not well monitored and the consequences of change are not well understood. Changing permafrost interacts with ecosystems and climate on various spatial and temporal scales. The feedbacks resulting from these interactions range from local impacts on...
A process for reducing rocks and concentrating heavy minerals
Thomas R. Strong, Rhonda L. Driscoll
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1022
To obtain minerals suitable for age-dating and other analyses, it is necessary to first reduce the mineral-bearing rock to a fine, sand-like consistency. Reducing whole rock requires crushing, grinding, and sieving. Ideally, the reduced material should range in size from 80- to 270-mesh (an opening between wires in a sieve)....
High-resolution records detect human-caused changes to the boreal forest wildfire regime in interior Alaska
Benjamin V. Gaglioti, Daniel H. Mann, Benjamin M. Jones, Matthew J. Wooller, Bruce P. Finney
2016, The Holocene (26) 1064-1074
Stand-replacing wildfires are a keystone disturbance in the boreal forest, and they are becoming more common as the climate warms. Paleo-fire archives from the wildland–urban interface can quantify the prehistoric fire regime and assess how both human land-use and climate change impact ecosystem dynamics. Here, we use a combination of...
Scripting MODFLOW model development using Python and FloPy
Mark Bakker, Vincent E. A. Post, Christian D. Langevin, Joseph D. Hughes, Jeremy T. White, Jeffrey Starn, Michael N. Fienen
2016, Groundwater (54) 733-739
Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are commonly used to construct and postprocess numerical groundwater flow and transport models. Scripting model development with the programming language Python is presented here as an alternative approach. One advantage of Python is that there are many packages available to facilitate the model development process, including...
Changes in the prevalence of avian disease and mosquito vectors at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge: a 14-year perspective and assessment of future risk
Dennis LaPointe, Jacqueline M. Gaudioso-Levita, Carter T. Atkinson, Ariel N. Egan, Kathleen Hayes
2016, Technical Report HCSU-073
Throughout the main Hawaiian Islands, introduced mosquito-borne disease has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on the distributions and abundance of native Hawaiian forest birds. Populations of remaining native forest birds are largely restricted to high elevation forests where mean temperatures are marginal for vector and parasite development...
Salinity and temperature tolerance of an emergent alien species, the Amazon fish Astronotus ocellatus
Silvia M M Gutierrel, Pamela J. Schofield, Viviane Prodocimo
2016, Hydrobiologia (777) 21-31
Astronotus ocellatus (oscar), is native to the Amazon basin and, although it has been introduced to many countries, little is known regarding its tolerances for salinity and temperature. In this report, we provide data on the tolerance of A. ocellatus to abrupt and gradual changes in salinity, its high and...
