Total dissolved gas and water temperature in the lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, water year 2014
Heather M. Bragg, Matthew W. Johnston
2015, Open-File Report 2014-1237
Significant Findings An analysis of total-dissolved-gas (TDG) and water-temperature data collected at eight fixed monitoring stations on the lower Columbia River in Oregon and Washington in water year 2014 indicated the following: All 81 TDG sensor laboratory checks that were performed after field deployment were within plus or minus (±) 0.5-percent saturation...
Regional scale estimates of baseflow and factors influencing baseflow in the Upper Colorado River Basin
Christine Rumsey, Matthew P. Miller, David D. Susong, Fred D. Tillman, David W. Anning
2015, Journal of Hydrology (4) 91-107
Study region The study region encompasses the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB), which provides water for 40 million people and is a vital part of the water supply in the western U.S. Study focus Groundwater and surface water can be considered a single water resource and thus it...
Sampling techniques for burbot in a western non-wadeable river
Z. B. Klein, Michael C. Quist, D.T. Rhea, A. C. Senecal
2015, Fisheries Management and Ecology (22) 213-223
Burbot, Lota lota (L.), populations are declining throughout much of their native distribution. Although numerous aspects of burbot ecology are well understood, less is known about effective sampling techniques for burbot in lotic systems. Occupancy models were used to estimate the probability of detection () for three...
Geologic and geomorphic controls on the occurrence of fens in the Oregon Cascades and implications for vulnerability and conservation
A. Aldous, Marshall W. Gannett, Mackenzie K. Keith, James E. O'Connor
2015, Wetlands (35) 757-767
Montane fens are biologically diverse peat-forming wetlands that develop at points of groundwater discharge. To protect these ecosystems, it is critical to understand their locations on the landscape and the hydrogeologic systems that support them. The upper Deschutes Basin has a groundwater flow system that supports baseflow in many rivers,...
Concentrations of metals and trace elements in aquatic biota associated with abandoned mine lands in the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area and nearby Clear Creek watershed, Shasta County, northwestern California, 2002-2003
Roger L. Hothem, Jason T. May, Jennifer K. Gibson, Brianne E. Brussee
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1077
Park management of the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, in northwestern California, identified a critical need to determine if mercury (Hg) or other elements originating from abandoned mines within the Upper Clear Creek watershed were present at concentrations that might adversely affect aquatic biota living within the park. During 2002–03, the...
Seismic data collection from water gun and industrial background sources in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal area, Illinois, 2011
William S. Morrow, Phillip J. Carpenter, Ryan F. Adams
2015, Data Series 938
The water gun is a tool adapted from deep marine geophysical surveys that is being evaluated for use as an acoustic fish deterrent to control the movement of invasive marine species. The water gun creates a seismic signal by using a compressed air discharge to move a piston rapidly within...
Physical characteristics and fish assemblage composition at site and mesohabitat scales over a range of streamflows in the Middle Rio Grande, New Mexico, winter 2011-12, summer 2012
Christopher L. Braun, Daniel K. Pearson, Michael D. Porter, J. Bruce Moring
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5025
In winter 2011–12 and summer 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque District and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service New Mexico Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, evaluated the physical characteristics and fish assemblage composition of available...
First steps of integrated spatial modeling of titanium, zirconium, and rare earth element resources within the Coastal Plain sediments of the southeastern United States
Karl J. Ellefsen, Bradley S. Van Gosen, David L. Fey, James R. Budahn, Steven M. Smith, Anjana K. Shah
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1111
The Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States has extensive, unconsolidated sedimentary deposits that are enriched in heavy minerals containing titanium, zirconium, and rare earth element resources. Areas favorable for exploration and development of these resources are being identified by geochemical data, which are supplemented with geological, geophysical, hydrological, and...
Dam failure analysis for the Lago de Matrullas Dam, Orocovis, Puerto Rico
Heriberto Torres-Sierra, Julieta Gómez-Fragoso
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5065
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, completed a hydrologic and hydraulic study to assess the potential hazard to human life and property associated with the hypothetical failure of the Lago de Matrullas Dam, located within the headwaters of the Río Grande de Manatí....
Geologic map of the Vashon 7.5' quadrangle and selected areas, King County, Washington
Derek B. Booth, Kathy Goetz Troost, Rowland W. Tabor
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3328
This map is an interpretation of a 6-ft-resolution lidar-derived digital elevation model combined with geology by Derek B. Booth and Kathy Goetz Troost. Field work by Booth and Troost was located on the 1:24,000-scale topographic map of the Vashon and Des Moines 7.5' quadrangles that were published in 1997 and...
Quantifying water flow and retention in an unsaturated fracture-facial domain
John R. Nimmo, Siamak Malek-Mohammadi
2015, Book chapter, Fluid dynamics in complex fractured-porous systems
Hydrologically significant flow and storage of water occur in macropores and fractures that are only partially filled. To accommodate such processes in flow models, we propose a three-domain framework. Two of the domains correspond to water flow and water storage in a fracture-facial region, in addition to the third domain...
Water levels and water quality in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in eastern Arkansas, 2012
Tony P. Schrader
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5059
During the spring of 2012, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission and the Arkansas Geological Survey, measured water levels in 342 wells completed in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer in eastern Arkansas. The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission measured water levels in 11 wells,...
Linear models for airborne-laser-scanning-based operational forest inventory with small field sample size and highly correlated LiDAR data
Virpi Junttila, Tuomo Kauranne, Andrew O. Finley, John B. Bradford
2015, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing (53) 5600-5612
Modern operational forest inventory often uses remotely sensed data that cover the whole inventory area to produce spatially explicit estimates of forest properties through statistical models. The data obtained by airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) correlate well with many forest inventory variables, such as the tree height, the timber...
Bathymetric survey of Lake Calumet, Cook County, Illinois
James J. Duncker, Kevin K. Johnson, Jennifer B. Sharpe
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3330
The U.S. Geological Survey collected bathymetric data in Lake Calumet and a portion of the Calumet River in the vicinity of Lake Calumet to produce a bathymetric map. The bathymetric survey was made over 3 days (July 26, September 11, and November 7, 2012). Lake Calumet has become a focus...
Estimated water use in Arkansas, 2010
Aaron L. Pugh, Terrance W. Holland
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5062
The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (ANRC) conducts an annual inventory of reported groundwater and surface-water withdrawals in Arkansas in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). This report describes withdrawals from groundwater and surface-water resources in Arkansas for 2010. The report compiles withdrawals by county for 10 categories of water...
Organic carbon burial in lakes and reservoirs of the conterminous United States
David W. Clow, Sarah M. Stackpoole, Kristine L. Verdin, David E. Butman, Zhi-Liang Zhu, David P. Krabbenhoft, Robert G. Striegl
2015, Environmental Science & Technology (49) 7614-7622
Organic carbon (OC) burial in lacustrine sediments represents an important sink in the global carbon cycle; however, large-scale OC burial rates are poorly constrained, primarily because of the sparseness of available data sets. Here we present an analysis of OC burial rates in water bodies of the conterminous U.S. (CONUS)...
Geologic map of the Julian 7.5' quadrangle, San Diego County, California
Victoria R. Todd
2015, Open-File Report 94-16
The Julian 7.5' quadrangle lies within the Jurassic-Cretaceous Peninsular Ranges batholith of southern California and Baja California. Four granitic plutonic units and one gabbroic unit, most comprising a number of individual plutons, have been mapped in the Julian quadrangle and informal names have been assigned. The formal name Cuyamaca Gabbro...
Methylmercury bioaccumulation in stream food webs declines with increasing primary production
David Walters, D.F. Raikow, C.R. Hammerschmidt, M.G. Mehling, A. Kovach, J.T. Oris
2015, Environmental Science & Technology (49) 7762-7769
Opposing hypotheses posit that increasing primary productivity should result in either greater or lesser contaminant accumulation in stream food webs. We conducted an experiment to evaluate primary productivity effects on MeHg accumulation in stream consumers. We varied light for 16 artificial streams creating a productivity gradient (oxygen production =0.048–0.71 mg...
Evolution of Mars’ Northern Polar Seasonal CO2 deposits: variations in surface brightness and bulk density
Christopher P. Mount, Timothy N. Titus
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets (120) 1252-1266
Small scale variations of seasonal ice are explored at different geomorphic units on the Northern Polar Seasonal Cap (NPSC). We use seasonal rock shadow measurements, combined with visible and thermal observations, to calculate density over time. The coupling of volume density and albedo allows us to determine the microphysical state...
Survival and growth of invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish at low salinities
Pamela J. Schofield, Dane H. Huge, Troy C. Rezek, Daniel H. Slone, James A. Morris Jr.
2015, Aquatic Invasions (10) 333-337
Invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish [Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) and P. miles (Bennett, 1828)] are now established throughout the Western North Atlantic. Several studies have documented negative effects of lionfish on marine fauna including significant changes to reef fish community composition. Established populations of lionfish have been documented in several estuaries, and there is concern...
The influence of prefire tree growth and crown condition on postfire mortality of sugar pine following prescribed fire in Sequoia National Park
Jonathan C. B. Nesmith, Adrian J. Das, Kevin L. O’Hara, Phillip J. van Mantgem
2015, Canadian Journal of Forest Research (45) 910-919
Tree mortality is a vital component of forest management in the context of prescribed fires; however, few studies have examined the effect of prefire tree health on postfire mortality. This is especially relevant for sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana Douglas), a species experiencing population declines due to a suite of anthropogenic factors....
Application of Bayesian Networks to hindcast barrier island morphodynamics
Kathleen E. Wilson, Peter N. Adams, Cheryl J. Hapke, Erika E. Lentz, Owen T. Brenner
2015, Coastal Engineering (102) 30-43
Prediction of coastal vulnerability is of increasing concern to policy makers, coastal managers and other stakeholders. Coastal regions and barrier islands along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are subject to frequent, large storms, whose waves and storm surge can dramatically alter beach morphology, threaten infrastructure, and impact local economies....
The importance of range edges for an irruptive species during extreme weather events
Brooke L. Bateman, Anna M. Pidgeon, Volker C. Radeloff, Andrew J. Allstadt, H. Resit Akcakaya, Wayne E. Thogmartin, Stephen J. Vavrus, Patricia J. Heglund
2015, Landscape Ecology (30) 1095-1110
Context Threats to wildlife species from extreme events, such as droughts, are predicted to increase in frequency and magnitude with climate change. Extreme events can cause mortality and community-level changes, but for some mobile species, movement away from areas affected may be a viable option. Objectives <p id="Par2" class="Para...
Lake Ontario water quality during the 2003 and 2008 intensive field years and comparison with long-term trends
K. T. Holeck, L. G. Rudstam, J. M. Watkins, F. J. Luckey, J. R. Lantry, Brian F. Lantry, E. S. Trometer, M. A. Koops, Terry B. Johnson
2015, Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management (18) 7-17
Phosphorus loading declined between the 1970s and the 1990s, leading to oligotrophication of the offshore waters of Lake Ontario during that time period. Using lake-wide data from the intensive field years of 2003 and 2008 and from available long-term data sets on several trophic state indicators (total phosphorus [TP], soluble...
Sea lamprey mark type, marking rate, and parasite-host relationships for lake trout and other species in Lake Ontario
Brian F. Lantry, Jean V. Adams, Gavin Christie, Teodore Schaner, James Bowlby, Michael Keir, Jana Lantry, Paul Sullivan, Daniel Bishop, Ted Treska, Bruce Morrison
2015, Journal of Great Lakes Research (41) 266-279
We examined how attack frequency by sea lampreys on fishes in Lake Ontario varied in response to sea lamprey abundance and preferred host abundance (lake trout > 433 mm). For this analysis we used two gill net assessment surveys, one angler creel survey, three salmonid spawning run datasets, one adult sea lamprey assessment, and...
