Developmental exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) alters sexual differentiation in painted turtles (Chrysemys picta)
Caitlin M. Jandegian, Sharon L. Deem, Ramji K. Bhandari, Casey M. Holliday, Diane Nicks, Cheryl S. Rosenfeld, Kyle Selcer, Donald E. Tillitt, Fredrick S. vom Saal, Vanessa Velez, Ying Yang, Dawn K. Holliday
2015, General and Comparative Endocrinology (216) 77-85
Environmental chemicals can disrupt endocrine signaling and adversely impact sexual differentiation in wildlife. Bisphenol A (BPA) is an estrogenic chemical commonly found in a variety of habitats. In this study, we used painted turtles (Chrysemys picta), which have temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), as an animal model...
Landscape prediction and mapping of game fish biomass, an ecosystem service of Michigan rivers
Peter C. Esselman, R. Jan Stevenson, Frank Lupi, Catherine M. Riseng, Michael J. Wiley
2015, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (35) 302-320
The increased integration of ecosystem service concepts into natural resource management places renewed emphasis on prediction and mapping of fish biomass as a major provisioning service of rivers. The goals of this study were to predict and map patterns of fish biomass as a proxy for the availability of catchable...
Water quality in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, drinking-water source area, 2005-8
Kirk P. Smith, Marcus C. Waldron
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3030
During 2005-8, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Cambridge, Massachusetts, Water Department, measured concentrations of sodium and chloride, plant nutrients, commonly used pesticides, and caffeine in base-flow and stormwater samples collected from 11 tributaries in the Cambridge drinking-water source area. These data were used to characterize current water-quality...
The Ebola virus disease outbreak and the mineral sectors of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone
Omayra Bermúdez-Lugo, William D. Menzie
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3033
The mineral sector plays a key role in the economies of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The onset of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in early 2014, together with changes in mineral market conditions, raised questions regarding the status of mining operations and of mineral development and exploration projects...
RRAWFLOW: Rainfall-Response Aquifer and Watershed Flow Model (v1.15)
Andrew J. Long
2015, Geoscientific Model Development (8) 865-880
The Rainfall-Response Aquifer and Watershed Flow Model (RRAWFLOW) is a lumped-parameter model that simulates streamflow, spring flow, groundwater level, or solute transport for a measurement point in response to a system input of precipitation, recharge, or solute injection. I introduce the first version of RRAWFLOW available for download and public...
Physical subdivision and description of the water-bearing sediments of the Santa Clara Valley, California
Carl M. Wentworth, Robert C. Jachens, Robert A. Williams, John C. Tinsley III, Randall T. Hanson
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5017
A thick Quaternary alluvial section fills a sedimentary basin beneath the Santa Clara Valley, California, located within the San Andreas Fault system at the south end of San Francisco Bay. This section consists of an upper sequence about 1,000 feet thick containing eight sedimentary cycles and a lower fine-grained unit...
EAARL-B coastal topography: Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, 2012: seamless (bare earth and submerged)
C. Wayne Wright, Emily S. Klipp, Christine J. Kranenburg, Rodolfo J. Troche, Xan Fredericks, Melanie L. Masessa, David B. Nagle
2015, Data Series 913
These remotely sensed, geographically referenced elevation measurements of light detection and ranging (lidar)-derived seamless (bare-earth and submerged) topography datasets were produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, St. Petersburg, Florida. This project provides datasets acquired on August...
Occurrence of pesticides in groundwater underlying areas of high-density row-crop production in Alabama, 2009-2013
Heather L. Welch
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5014
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, sampled a network of 15 wells for up to 167 pesticides and pesticide degradates from 2009 through 2013 in three areas of high-density row-crop agriculture in Alabama. Eighteen herbicides, 2 fungicides, and 9 degradates were detected...
Potential groundwater recharge for the State of Minnesota using the Soil-Water-Balance model, 1996-2010
Erik A. Smith, Stephen M. Westenbroek
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5038
Groundwater recharge is one of the most difficult components of a water budget to ascertain, yet is an important boundary condition necessary for the quantification of water resources. In Minnesota, improved estimates of recharge are necessary because approximately 75 percent of drinking water and 90 percent of agricultural irrigation water...
Using satellite images to monitor glacial-lake outburst floods: Lago Cachet Dos drainage, Chile
Beverly A. Friesen, Christopher J. Cole, David A. Nimick, Earl M. Wilson, Mark J. Fahey, Daniel J. McGrath, Jonathan Leidich
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3322
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is monitoring and analyzing glacial-lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in the Colonia valley in the Patagonia region of southern Chile. A GLOF is a type of flood that occurs when water impounded by a glacier or a glacial moraine is released catastrophically. In the Colonia valley,...
Near-surface versus fault zone damage following the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake: Observation and simulation of repeating earthquakes
Kate Huihsuan Chen, Takashi Furumura, Justin L. Rubinstein
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth (120) 2426-2445
We observe crustal damage and its subsequent recovery caused by the 1999 M7.6 Chi-Chi earthquake in central Taiwan. Analysis of repeating earthquakes in Hualien region, ~70 km east of the Chi-Chi earthquake, shows a remarkable change in wave propagation beginning in the year 2000, revealing damage within the fault zone and distributed...
Assessment of undiscovered conventional and continuous oil and gas resources of the Baltic Depression Province, 2014
Michael E. Brownfield, Christopher J. Schenk, Ronald R. Charpentier, Timothy R. Klett, Janet K. Pitman, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Tracey J. Mercier, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3015
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean volumes of undiscovered, technically recoverable resources of 282 million barrels of conventional oil, 576 billion cubic feet of conventional gas, 1.3 billion barrels of continuous oil, and 4.6 trillion cubic feet of shale gas in the Baltic Depression Province....
National assessment of geologic carbon dioxide storage resources: allocations of assessed areas to Federal lands
Marc L. Buursink, Steven M. Cahan, Peter D. Warwick
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5021
Following the geologic basin-scale assessment of technically accessible carbon dioxide storage resources in onshore areas and State waters of the United States, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that an area of about 130 million acres (or about 200,000 square miles) of Federal lands overlies these storage resources. Consequently, about 18...
Are conservation organizations configured for effective adaptation to global change?
Paul R. Armsworth, Eric R. Larson, Stephen T. Jackson, Dov F. Sax, Paul W. Simonin, Bernd Blossey, Nancy Green, Mary L. Klein, Liza Lester, Taylor H. Ricketts, Michael C. Runge, M. Rebecca Shaw
2015, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (13) 163-169
Conservation organizations must adapt to respond to the ecological impacts of global change. Numerous changes to conservation actions (eg facilitated ecological transitions, managed relocations, or increased corridor development) have been recommended, but some institutional restructuring within organizations may also be needed. Here we discuss the capacity of conservation organizations to...
Conceptual models of the formation of acid-rock drainage at road cuts in Tennessee
Mike Bradley, Scott Worland, Tom Byl
2015, Conference Paper, Proceedings of the 2015 Tennessee Water Resources Symposium
Pyrite and other minerals containing sulfur and trace metals occur in several rock formations throughout Middle and East Tennessee. Pyrite (FeS2) weathers in the presence of oxygen and water to form iron hydroxides and sulfuric acid. The weathering and interaction of the acid on the rocks and other minerals at...
Multilevel groundwater monitoring of hydraulic head and temperature in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, 2011-13
Brian V. Twining, Jason C. Fisher
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5042
From 2011 to 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Project Office, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, collected depth-discrete measurements of fluid pressure and temperature in 11 boreholes located in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer. Each borehole was instrumented with a multilevel monitoring system...
Mass-movement deposits in the lacustrine Eocene Green River Formation, Piceance Basin, western Colorado
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Michael E. Brownfield, Tracey J. Mercier
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1044
The Eocene Green River Formation was deposited in two large Eocene saline lakes, Lake Uinta in the Uinta and Piceance Basins and Lake Gosiute in the Greater Green River Basin. Here we will discuss mass-movement deposits in just the Piceance Basin part of Lake Uinta....
An evaluation of the accuracy of modeled and computed streamflow time-series data for the Ohio River at Hannibal Lock and Dam and at a location upstream from Sardis, Ohio
G. F. Koltun
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1058
Between July 2013 and June 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) made 10 streamflow measurements on the Ohio River about 1.5 miles (mi) downstream from the Hannibal Lock and Dam (near Hannibal, Ohio) and 11 streamflow measurements near the USGS Sardis gage (station number 03114306) located approximately 2.4 mi upstream...
Do management actions to restore rare habitat benefit native fish conservation? Distribution of juvenile native fish among shoreline habitats of the Colorado River
Michael J. Dodrill, Charles B. Yackulic, Brandon Gerig, William E. Pine III, Josh Korman, Colton Finch
2015, River Research and Applications (31) 1203-1217
Many management actions in aquatic ecosystems are directed at restoring or improving specific habitats to benefit fish populations. In the Grand Canyon reach of the Colorado River, experimental flow operations as part of the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program have been designed to restore sandbars and associated backwater habitats....
Not putting all their eggs in one basket: bet-hedging despite extraordinary annual reproductive output of desert tortoises
Jeffrey E. Lovich, Joshua R. Ennen, Charles B. Yackulic, Kathie Meyer-Wilkins, Mickey Agha, Caleb L. Loughran, Curtis Bjurlin, Meaghan Austin, Sheila V. Madrak
2015, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (115) 399-410
Bet-hedging theory makes the counter-intuitive prediction that, if juvenile survival is low and unpredictable, organisms should consistently reduce short-term reproductive output to minimize the risk of reproductive failure in the long-term. We investigated the long-term reproductive output of an Agassiz's desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) population and conformance to a bet-hedging...
Efficacy of Pseudomonas fluorescens strain CL145A spray dried powder for controlling zebra mussels adhering to native unionid mussels within field enclosures
James A. Luoma, Kerry L. Weber, Todd J. Severson, Denise A. Mayer
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1051
The efficacy of a commercially prepared spray dried powder (SDP) formulation of Pseudomonas fluorescens (strain CL145A) was evaluated for removing zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) adhering to a population of unionid mussels in Lake Darling (Alexandria, Minnesota). Two groups of unionid mussels were used in the study. Unionid mussels were collected near the...
The Pacific northwest stream quality assessment
Peter C. Van Metre, Jennifer L. Morace, Rich W. Sheibley
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3020
In 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program is assessing stream quality in the Pacific Northwest. The goals of the Pacific Northwest Stream Quality Assessment (Pacific Northwest study) are to assess the quality of streams in the region by characterizing multiple water-quality factors that are stressors...
A method for determining average beach slope and beach slope variability for U.S. sandy coastlines
Kara S. Doran, Joseph W. Long, Jacquelyn R. Overbeck
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1053
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Assessment of Hurricane-Induced Coastal Erosion Hazards compares measurements of beach morphology with storm-induced total water levels to produce forecasts of coastal change for storms impacting the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coastlines of the United States. The wave-induced water level component (wave setup and...
Managing habitat to slow or reverse population declines of the Columbia spotted frog in the Northern Great Basin
David S. Pilliod, Richard D. Scherer
2015, Journal of Wildlife Management (79) 579-590
Evaluating the effectiveness of habitat management actions is critical to adaptive management strategies for conservation of imperiled species. We quantified the response of a Great Basin population of the Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris) to multiple habitat improvement actions aimed to reduce threats and reverse population declines. We used mark-recapture...
Desert tortoise use of burned habitat in the Eastern Mojave desert
K. Kristina Drake, Todd C. Esque, Kenneth E. Nussear, Lesley DeFalco, Sara J. Scoles-Sciulla, Andrew T. Modlin, Philip A. Medica
2015, Journal of Wildlife Management (79) 618-629
Wildfires burned 24,254 ha of critical habitat designated for the recovery of the threatened Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) in southern Nevada during 2005. The proliferation of non-native annual grasses has increased wildfire frequency and extent in recent decades and continues to accelerate the conversion of tortoise habitat across the Mojave...
