Construction ages of the Upton Stone Chamber: Preliminary findings and suggestions for future luminescence research
Shannon A. Mahan, Frederick Martin, Cathy Taylor
2015, Quaternary Geochronology (30 ) 422-430
The Upton Chamber in Massachusetts, an earth-covered stone structure 3.4 meters (m) in diameter, with a corbelled stone dome, and a 4.3 m long entrance passageway, is studied with the aim of determining whether optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating methods can be used to establish the approximate construction date of...
Hydrologic response for a high-elevation storm in the South Dakota Black Hills
Matthew J. Bunkers, Melissa Smith, Daniel G. Driscoll, Galen K. Hoogestraat
2015, Internal Report 2015-01
A group of thunderstorms produced >4 in of rain during four periods of progressively more intense rainfall across a small part of a relatively high-elevation area of the northern Black Hills on 5 August 2014. The resulting hydrologic response was noteworthy in two very small headwater drainage basins, where the...
Gunnison Sage-Grouse Centrocercus minimus
Jessica R. Young, Clait E. Braun, Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Cameron L. Aldridge, Patrick Magee, Michael A. Schroeder
2015, Book chapter
No abstract available...
Second Projet de Renforcement Institutionnel du Secteur Minier de la République Islamique de Mauritanie (PRISM-II) Phase V
Cliff D. Taylor, editor(s)
2015, Open-File Report 2013-1280
In 1996, at the request of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists produced a strategic plan for the acquisition, improvement and modernization of multidisciplinary sets of data to support the growth of the Mauritanian minerals sector and to highlight the...
Development of flood regressions and climate change scenarios to explore estimates of future peak flows
Douglas A. Burns, Martyn J. Smith, Douglas A. Freehafer
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1235
A new Web-based application, titled “Application of Flood Regressions and Climate Change Scenarios To Explore Estimates of Future Peak Flows”, has been developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New York State Department of Transportation, that allows a user to apply a set of regression equations to...
Application of a process-based shallow landslide hazard model over a broad area in Central Italy
Eleonora Gioia, Gabriella Speranza, Maurizio Ferretti, Jonathan W. Godt, Rex L. Baum, Fausto Marincioni
2015, Landslides 1-18
Process-based models are widely used for rainfall-induced shallow landslide forecasting. Previous studies have successfully applied the U.S. Geological Survey’s Transient Rainfall Infiltration and Grid-Based Regional Slope-Stability (TRIGRS) model (Baum et al. 2002) to compute infiltration-driven changes in the hillslopes’ factor of safety on small scales (i.e., tens of square...
Continuous slope-area discharge records in Maricopa County, Arizona, 2004–2012
Stephen M. Wiele, John W. Heaton, Claire E. Bunch, David E. Gardner, Christopher F. Smith
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5172
Continuous slope-area (CSA) streamgages have been developed and implemented by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to enable the recording of discharge hydrographs in areas where direct discharge measurements cannot be made. The flashy nature of streamflow in parts of the arid Southwest and remote location of many sites make discharge...
A laboratory investigation of the suspension, transport, and settling of silver carp eggs using synthetic surrogates
Tatiana Garcia, Carlo Zuniga Zamalloa, P. Ryan Jackson, Elizabeth A. Murphy, Marcelo H. Garcia
2015, PLoS ONE 1-19
Asian carp eggs are semi-buoyant and must remain suspended in the water to survive, supported by the turbulence of the flow, until they hatch and develop the ability to swim. Analysis of the transport and dispersal patterns of Asian carp eggs will facilitate the development and implementation of control strategies...
Preliminary assessment of aggradation potential in the North Fork Stillaguamish River downstream of the State Route 530 landslide near Oso, Washington
Christopher S. Magirl, Mackenzie K. Keith, Scott W. Anderson, Jim O’Connor, Robert Aldrich, Mark C. Mastin
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5173
On March 22, 2014, the State Route 530 Landslide near Oso, Washington, traveled almost 2 kilometers (km), destroyed more than 40 structures, and impounded the North Fork Stillaguamish River to a depth of 8 meters (m) and volume of 3.3×106 cubic meters (m3). The landslide killed 43 people. After overtopping...
Isotopes in North American Rocky Mountain snowpack 1993–2014
Lesleigh Anderson, Max Berkelhammer, M. Alisa Mast
2015, Quaternary Science Reviews (131) 262-273
We present ∼1300 new isotopic measurements (δ18O and δ2H) from a network of snowpack sites in the Rocky Mountains that have been sampled since 1993. The network includes 177 locations where depth-integrated snow samples are collected each spring near peak accumulation. At 57 of...
Rangeland monitoring reveals long-term plant responses to precipitation and grazing at the landscape scale
Seth M. Munson, Michael C. Duniway, Jamin K. Johanson
2015, Rangeland Ecology and Management (69) 76-83
Managers of rangeland ecosystems require methods to track the condition of natural resources over large areas and long periods of time as they confront climate change and land use intensification. We demonstrate how rangeland monitoring results can be synthesized using ecological site concepts to understand how climate, site...
Organic amendments for risk mitigation of organochlorine pesticide residues in old orchard soils
Tiziana Centofantia, Laura L. McConnell, Rufus L. Chaney, W. Nelson Beyer, Natasha A. Andradea, Cathleen J. Hapeman, Alba Torrents, Anh Nguyen, Marya O. Anderson, J. M. Novak, Dana Jackson
2015, Environmental Pollution (210) 182-191
Performance of compost and biochar amendments for in situ risk mitigation of aged DDT, DDE and dieldrin residues in an old orchard soil was examined. The change in bioavailability of pesticide residues to Lumbricus terrestris L. relative to the unamended control soil was assessed using 4-L soil microcosms...
Rapid and highly variable warming of lake surface waters around the globe
Catherine M. O’Reilly, Sapna Sharma, Derek Gray, Stephanie Hampton, Jordan S. Read, Rex J. Rowley, Philipp Schneider, John D. Lenters, Peter B. McIntyre, Benjamin M. Kraemer, Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer, Dietmar Straile, Bo Dong, Rita Adrian, Mathew G. Allan, Orlane Anneville, Lauri Arvola, Jay Austin, John L. Bailey, Jill S. Baron, Justin D Brookes, Elvira de Eyto, Martin T. Dokulil, David P. Hamilton, Karl Havens, Amy L. Hetherington, Scott N. Higgins, Simon Hook, Lyubov R. Izmest’eva, Klaus D. Johnk, Kulli Kangur, Peter Kasprzak, Michio Kumagai, Esko Kuusisto, George Leshkevich, David M. Livingstone, Sally MacIntyre, Linda May, John M. Melack, Doerthe C. Mueller-Navara, Mikhail Naumenko, Peeter Noges, Tiina Noges, Ryan P. North, Pierre-Denis Plisnier, Anna Rigosi, Alon Rimmer, Michela Rogora, Lars G. Rudstam, James A. Rusak, Nico Salmaso, Nihar R. Samal, Daniel E. Schindler, Geoffrey Schladow, Martin Schmid, Silke R. Schmidt, Eugene A. Silow, M. Evren Soylu, Katrin Teubner, Piet Verburg, Ari Voutilainen, Andrew Watkinson, Craig E. Williamson, Guoqing Zhang
2015, Geophysical Research Letters (42) 10773-10781
In this first worldwide synthesis of in situ and satellite-derived lake data, we find that lake summer surface water temperatures rose rapidly (global mean = 0.34°C decade−1) between 1985 and 2009. Our analyses show that surface water warming rates are dependent on combinations of climate and local characteristics, rather than just lake...
Do geographically isolated wetlands influence landscape functions?
Matthew J. Cohen, Irena F. Creed, Laurie C. Alexander, Nandita Basu, Aram J.K. Calhoun, Christopher Craft, Ellen D’Amico, Edward S. DeKeyser, Laurie Fowler, Heather E. Golden, James W. Jawitz, Peter Kalla, L. Katherine Kirkman, Charles R. Lane, Megan Lang, Scott G. Leibowitz, David Bruce Lewis, John Marton, Daniel L. McLaughlin, David M. Mushet, Hadas Raanan-Kiperwas, Mark C. Rains, Lora Smith, Susan C. Walls
2015, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Geographically isolated wetlands (GIWs), those surrounded by uplands, exchange materials, energy, and organisms with other elements in hydrological and habitat networks, contributing to landscape functions, such as flow generation, nutrient and sediment retention, and biodiversity support. GIWs constitute most of the wetlands in many North American landscapes, provide a disproportionately...
Avian disease and mosquito vectors in the Kahuku unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and Ka`u Forest Reserve
Jacqueline Gaudioso, Dennis A. LaPointe, Carter T. Atkinson, Ariel N. Egan
2015, Technical Report HCSU-070
While avian disease has been well-studied in windward forests of Hawai‘i Island, there have been few studies in leeward Ka‘u. We surveyed four altitudinal sites ranging from 1,200 to 2,200 m asl in the Kahuku Unit of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park (Kahuku) and three altitudinal sites ranging from 1,200 to...
Water-quality, bed-sediment, and biological data (October 2013 through September 2014) and statistical summaries of data for streams in the Clark Fork Basin, Montana
Kent A. Dodge, Michelle I. Hornberger
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1223
Water, bed sediment, and biota were sampled in streams from Butte to near Missoula, Montana, as part of a monitoring program in the upper Clark Fork Basin of western Montana. The sampling program was led by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to characterize...
Methods for estimating flow-duration curve and low-flow frequency statistics for ungaged locations on small streams in Minnesota
Jeffrey R. Ziegeweid, David L. Lorenz, Christopher A. Sanocki, Christiana R. Czuba
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5170
Knowledge of the magnitude and frequency of low flows in streams, which are flows in a stream during prolonged dry weather, is fundamental for water-supply planning and design; waste-load allocation; reservoir storage design; and maintenance of water quality and quantity for irrigation, recreation, and wildlife conservation. This report presents the...
Back-Island and Open-Ocean Shorelines, and Sand Areas of the Undeveloped Areas of New Jersey Barrier Islands, March 9, 1991, to July 30, 2013
Kristy K. Guy
2015, Data Series 960
Assessing the physical change to shorelines and wetlands is critical for determining the resiliency of wetland systems that protect adjacent habitat and communities. The wetland and back-barrier shorelines of the New Jersey barrier islands were changed by wave action and storm surge from Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The U.S. Geological...
Taxonomic characterization of honey bee (Apis mellifera) pollen foraging based on non-overlapping paired-end sequencing of nuclear ribosomal loci
Robert S. Cornman, Clint Otto, Deborah D. Iwanowicz, Jeffery S Pettis
2015, PLoS ONE (10) 1-26
Identifying plant taxa that honey bees (Apis mellifera) forage upon is of great apicultural interest, but traditional methods are labor intensive and may lack resolution. Here we evaluate a high-throughput genetic barcoding approach to characterize trap-collected pollen from multiple North Dakota apiaries across multiple years. We used the Illumina MiSeq...
An apparatus reconstruction of the conodont Caenodontus serrulatus Behnken 1975
Merlynd K. Nestell, Bruce R. Wardlaw
2015, Micropaleontology (v. 61) 293-300
The conodont species Caenodontus serrulatus Behnken is a rare coniform element first described in 1975 from Guadalupian strata exposed in the Guadalupe and Delaware Mountains of West Texas. Because it is rare, coniform, and occurs long after most coniform elements supposedly disappeared, it has been hauntingly mysterious. Based on new...
Chemical concentrations and instantaneous loads, Green River to the Lower Duwamish Waterway near Seattle, Washington, 2013–15
Kathleen E. Conn, Robert W. Black, Ann M. Vanderpool-Kimura, James R. Foreman, Norman T. Peterson, Craig A. Senter, Stephen K. Sissel
2015, Data Series 973
In November 2013, U.S. Geological Survey streamgaging equipment was installed at a historical water-quality station on the Duwamish River, Washington, within the tidal influence at river kilometer 16.7 (U.S. Geological Survey site 12113390; Duwamish River at Golf Course at Tukwila, WA). Publicly available, real-time continuous data includes river streamflow, stream...
Hydrogeology of the Owego-Apalachin Elementary School geothermal fields, Tioga County, New York
John H. Williams, William M. Kappel
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5155
The hydrogeology of the Owego-Apalachin Elementary School geothermal fields, which penetrate saline water and methane in fractured upper Devonian age bedrock in the Owego Creek valley, south-central New York, was characterized through the analysis of drilling and geophysical logs, water-level monitoring data, and specific-depth water samples. Hydrogeologic insights gained during...
Evaluating connection of aquifers to springs and streams, Great Basin National Park and vicinity, Nevada
David E. Prudic, Donald S. Sweetkind, Tracie R. Jackson, K. Elaine Dotson, Russell W. Plume, Christine E. Hatch, Keith J. Halford
2015, Professional Paper 1819
Federal agencies that oversee land management for much of the Snake Range in eastern Nevada, including the management of Great Basin National Park by the National Park Service, need to understand the potential extent of adverse effects to federally managed lands from nearby groundwater development. As a result, this study...
Benthic response to water quality and biotic pressures in lower south San Francisco Bay, Alviso Slough, and Coyote Creek
Francis Parchaso, Janet K. Thompson, Jeff S. Crauder, Rosa I. Anduaga, Sarah A. Pearson
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1234
Benthic invertebrate communities are monitored because the composition of those communities can effect and be affected by the water quality of an aquatic system. Benthic communities use and sometimes regulate the cycling of essential elements (for example, carbon). Benthic invertebrate taxa may also indicate acutely and chronically stressful environments...
Surficial geology and shaded seafloor relief of Georges Bank, Fundian Channel and Northeast Channel, Gulf of Maine
B.J. Todd, Page C. Valentine
2015, Report, Geological Survey of Canada Open File series
Georges Bank is a shallow submarine bank that lies south of Nova Scotia and east of Cape Cod and bounds the seaward side of the Gulf of Maine. The international boundary between Canada and the United States transects the bank, and the eastern part of the bank (~7500 square kilometres)...
