Increasing Northern Hemisphere water deficit
Gregory J. McCabe, David M. Wolock
2015, Climatic Change (132) 237-249
A monthly water-balance model is used with CRUTS3.1 gridded monthly precipitation and potential evapotranspiration (PET) data to examine changes in global water deficit (PET minus actual evapotranspiration) for the Northern Hemisphere (NH) for the years 1905 through 2009. Results show that NH deficit increased dramatically near the year 2000 during...
Field guide to the Mesozoic arc and accretionary complex of South-Central Alaska, Indian to Hatcher Pass
Susan M. Karl, P.J. Oswald, Chad P. Hults
2015, Book, Fieldtrip Guidebook
This field trip traverses exposures of a multi-generation Mesozoic magmatic arc and subduction-accretion complex that had a complicated history of magmatic activity and experienced variations in composition and deformational style in response to changes in the tectonic environment. This Mesozoic arc formed at an unknown latitude to the south, was...
Monitoring gas emissions can help forecast volcanic eruptions
Christoph Kern, J. Maarten de Moor, Bo Galle
2015, Eos, Earth and Space Science News (96) 6-6
As magma ascends in active volcanoes, dissolved volatiles partition from melt into a gas phase, rise, and are released into the atmosphere from volcanic vents. The major components of high-temperature volcanic gas are typically water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. Volcanologists have long recognized that measuring the chemical composition and emission rates...
Application of a coupled vegetation competition and groundwater simulation model to study effects of sea level rise and storm surges on coastal vegetation
Su Yean Teh, Michael Turtora, Donald L. DeAngelis, Jiang Jiang, Leonard G. Pearlstine, Thomas J. Smith, Hock Lye Koh
2015, Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (3) 1149-1177
Global climate change poses challenges to areas such as low-lying coastal zones, where sea level rise (SLR) and storm-surge overwash events can have long-term effects on vegetation and on soil and groundwater salinities, posing risks of habitat loss critical to native species. An early warning system is urgently needed to...
Environmental DNA sampling protocol - filtering water to capture DNA from aquatic organisms
Matthew B. Laramie, David S. Pilliod, Caren S. Goldberg, Katherine M. Strickler
2015, Techniques and Methods 2-A13
Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis is an effective method of determining the presence of aquatic organisms such as fish, amphibians, and other taxa. This publication is meant to guide researchers and managers in the collection, concentration, and preservation of eDNA samples from lentic and lotic systems. A sampling workflow diagram...
Bedrock geologic map of the Worcester South quadrangle, Worcester County, Massachusetts
Gregory J. Walsh, Arthur J. Merschat
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3345
The bedrock geology of the 7.5-minute Worcester South quadrangle, Massachusetts, consists of deformed Neoproterozoic to Paleozoic crystalline metamorphic and intrusive igneous rocks in three fault-bounded terranes (zones), including the Avalon, Nashoba, and Merrimack zones (Zen and others, 1983). This quadrangle spans the easternmost occurrence of Ganderian margin arc-related rocks (Nashoba...
Summarizing components of U.S. Department of the Interior vulnerability assessments to focus climate adaptation planning
Laura M. Thompson, Michelle D. Staudinger, Shawn L. Carter
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1110
A secretarial order identified climate adaptation as a critical performance objective for future management of U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) lands and resources in response to global change. Vulnerability assessments can inform climate adaptation planning by providing insight into what natural resources are most at risk and why. Three...
Declining Dioxin concentrations in the Rhone River, France, attest to the effectiveness of emissions controls
Peter C. Van Metre, Marc Babut, Brice Mourier, Barbara Mahler, Gwenaelle Roux, Marc Desmet
2015, Environmental Science & Technology (49) 12723-12730
Emission-control policies have been implemented in Europe and North America since the 1990s for polychlorodibenzodioxins (PCDDs) and furans (PCDFs). To assess the effect of these policies on temporal trends and spatial patterns for these compounds in a large European river system, sediment cores were collected in seven depositional areas along...
Reconnaissance surficial geologic map of the Taylor Mountains quadrangle, southwestern Alaska
Frederic H. Wilson
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3334
This map and accompanying digital files are the result of the interpretation of aerial photographs from the 1950s as well as more modern imagery. The area, long considered a part of Alaska that was largely not glaciated (see Karlstrom, 1964; Coulter and others, 1965; or Péwé, 1975), actually has a...
Methods for estimating the magnitude and frequency of peak streamflows at ungaged sites in and near the Oklahoma Panhandle
S. Jerrod Smith, Jason M. Lewis, Grant M. Graves
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5134
This report presents the results of a cooperative study by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to estimate the magnitude and frequency of peak streamflows from regional regression equations for ungaged stream sites in and near the Oklahoma Panhandle. These methods relate basin characteristics (physiographic and...
The 2004–2008 dome-building eruption at Mount St. Helens, Washington: Epilogue
Daniel Dzurisin, Seth C. Moran, Michael Lisowski, Steve P. Schilling, Kyle R. Anderson, Cynthia A. Werner
2015, Bulletin of Volcanology (77)
The 2004–2008 dome-building eruption at Mount St. Helens ended during winter 2007–2008 at a time when field observations were hampered by persistent bad weather. As a result, recognizing the end of the eruption was challenging—but important for scientists trying to understand how and why long-lived eruptions end and for public...
Comparison of electronarcosis and carbon dioxide sedation effects on travel time in adult Chinook and Coho Salmon
Shane G Keep, M. Brady Allen, Joseph S Zendt
2015, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (35) 906-912
The immobilization of fish during handling is crucial in avoiding injury to fish and is thought to reduce handling stress. Chemical sedatives have been a primary choice for fish immobilization. However, most chemical sedatives accumulate in tissues, and often food fishes must be held until accumulations degrade to levels safe...
Geologic map of the Masters 7.5' quadrangle, Weld and Morgan Counties, Colorado
Margaret E. Berry, Janet L. Slate, James B. Paces, Paul R. Hanson, Theodore R. Brandt
2015, Scientific Investigations Map 3344
The Masters 7.5' quadrangle is located along the South Platte River corridor on the semiarid plains of eastern Colorado and contains surficial deposits that record alluvial, eolian, and hillslope processes that have operated in concert with environmental changes from Pleistocene to present time. The South Platte River, originating high in...
Chemical and biotic characteristics of prairie lakes and large wetlands in south-central North Dakota—Effects of a changing climate
David M. Mushet, Martin B. Goldhaber, Christopher T. Mills, Kyle I. McLean, Vanessa M. Aparicio, R. Blaine McCleskey, JoAnn M. Holloway, Craig A. Stockwell
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5126
The climate of the prairie pothole region of North America is known for variability that results in significant interannual changes in water depths and volumes of prairie lakes and wetlands; however, beginning in July 1993, the climate of the region shifted to an extended period of increased precipitation that has...
Population dynamics of the Cui-ui of Pyramid Lake, Nevada: A Potamodromous catostomid subject to failed reproduction
Gayton G. Scoppettone, Peter H. Rissler, Mark C. Fabes, Sean P. Shea
2015, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (35) 853-864
Fishes of the Truckee River basin (California and Nevada) evolved in an aquatic system that has been episodically diminished by extended drought. For potamodromous species, such as the endangered Cui-ui endemic to Pyramid Lake, Nevada, prehistoric episodic severe drought presumably led to periods of failed reproduction due to restricted access...
Larger trees suffer most during drought in forests worldwide
Amy C. Bennett, Nathan G. McDowell, Craig D. Allen, Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira
2015, Nature Plants (1)
The frequency of severe droughts is increasing in many regions around the world as a result of climate change. Droughts alter the structure and function of forests. Site- and region-specific studies suggest that large trees, which play keystone roles in forests and can be disproportionately important to ecosystem carbon storage and hydrology,...
Will the effects of sea-level rise create ecological traps for Pacific Island seabirds?
Michelle H. Reynolds, Karen Courtot, Paul Berkowitz, Curt D. Storlazzi, Janet Moore, Elizabeth Flint
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
More than 18 million seabirds nest on 58 Pacific islands protected within vast U.S. Marine National Monuments (1.9 million km2). However, most of these seabird colonies are on low-elevation islands and sea-level rise (SLR) and accompanying high-water perturbations are predicted to escalate with climate change. To understand how SLR may...
Hydrothermal alteration and diagenesis of terrestrial lacustrine pillow basalts: Coordination of hyperspectral imaging with laboratory measurements
Rebecca N Greenberger, John F Mustard, Edward A. Cloutis, Paul Mann, Janette H. Wilson, Roberta L Flemming, Kevin Robertson, Mark R Salvatore, Christopher Edwards
2015, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (171) 174-200
We investigate an outcrop of ∼187 Ma lacustrine pillow basalts of the Talcott Formation exposed in Meriden, Connecticut, USA, focusing on coordinated analyses of one pillow lava to characterize the aqueous history of these basalts in the Hartford Basin. This work uses a suite of multidisciplinary measurements, including hyperspectral...
Ultraviolet vision may be widespread in bats
P. Marcos Gorresen, Paul M. Cryan, David C. Dalton, Sandy Wolf, Frank Bonaccorso
2015, Acta Chiropterologica (17) 193-198
Insectivorous bats are well known for their abilities to find and pursue flying insect prey at close range using echolocation, but they also rely heavily on vision. For example, at night bats use vision to orient across landscapes, avoid large obstacles, and locate roosts. Although lacking sharp visual acuity, the...
Causes of mortality and temporal patterns in breeding season survival of lesser prairie-chickens in shinnery oak prairies
Blake A. Grisham, Clint W. Boal
2015, Wildlife Society Bulletin (39) 536-542
Baseline survival and mortality data for lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) are lacking for shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) prairies. An understanding of the causes and timing of mortalities and breeding season survival in this ecoregion is important because shinnery oak prairies have hotter and drier environmental conditions, as well as different...
Regional seismic-wave propagation from the M5.8 23 August 2011, Mineral, Virginia, earthquake
Frederick Pollitz, Walter D. Mooney
2015, GSA Special Papers (509) 95-116
The M5.8 23 August 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake was felt over nearly the entire eastern United States and was recorded by a wide array of seismic broadband instruments. The earthquake occurred ~200 km southeast of the boundary between two distinct geologic belts, the Piedmont and Blue Ridge terranes to the...
A Green's function approach for assessing the thermal disturbance caused by drilling deep boreholes in rock or ice
Gary D. Clow
2015, Geophysical Journal International (203) 1877-1895
A knowledge of subsurface temperatures in sedimentary basins, fault zones, volcanic environments and polar ice sheets is of interest for a wide variety of geophysical applications. However, the process of drilling deep boreholes in these environments to provide access for temperature and other measurements invariably disturbs the temperature field around...
Gold-silver mining districts, alteration zones, and paleolandforms in the Miocene Bodie Hills Volcanic Field, California and Nevada
Peter G. Vikre, David A. John, Edward A. du Bray, Robert J. Fleck
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5012
The Bodie Hills is a ~40 by ~30 kilometer volcanic field that straddles the California-Nevada state boundary between Mono Lake and the East Walker River. Three precious metal mining districts and nine alteration zones are delineated in Tertiary-Quaternary volcanic and Mesozoic granitic and metamorphic rocks that comprise the volcanic field....
Flood-inundation maps for the Tippecanoe River at Winamac, Indiana
Chad D. Menke, Aubrey R. Bunch
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5103
Digital flood-inundation maps for a 6.2 mile reach of the Tippecanoe River at Winamac, Indiana (Ind.), were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science Web...
Status report for the 3D Elevation Program, 2013-2014
Vicki Lukas, Diane F. Eldridge, Allyson L. Jason, David L. Saghy, Pamela R. Steigerwald, Jason M. Stoker, Larry J. Sugarbaker, Diana R. Thunen
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1161
The 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) goal is to acquire, manage, and distribute enhanced three-dimensional elevation data for the Nation and U.S. territories by 2023. This status report covers implementation activities during 2013–2014 to include meeting funding objectives, developing a management structure, modernizing systems, and collecting and producing initial 3DEP data...
