Instrumenting caves to collect hydrologic and geochemical data: case study from James Cave, Virginia
Madeline E. Schreiber, Benjamin F. Schwartz, William Orndorff, Daniel H. Doctor, Sarah D. Eagle, Jonathan D. Gerst
2015, Book chapter, Advances in watershed science and assessment
Karst aquifers are productive groundwater systems, supplying approximately 25 % of the world’s drinking water. Sustainable use of this critical water supply requires information about rates of recharge to karst aquifers. The overall goal of this project is to collect long-term, high-resolution hydrologic and geochemical datasets at James Cave, Virginia,...
Determining the importance of model calibration for forecasting absolute/relative changes in streamflow from LULC and climate changes
Rewati Niraula, Thomas Meixner, Laura M. Norman
2015, Journal of Hydrology (522) 439-451
Land use/land cover (LULC) and climate changes are important drivers of change in streamflow. Assessing the impact of LULC and climate changes on streamflow is typically done with a calibrated and validated watershed model. However, there is a debate on the degree of calibration required. The objective of this study...
Occurrence and trends of selected nutrients, other chemical constituents, diatoms, and cyanobacteria in bottom sediment, Lake Maxinkuckee, northern Indiana
Kyle E. Juracek
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5199
Bottom-sediment cores collected in 2013 were used to investigate the recent and predevelopment (pre-1863) occurrence of selected nutrients (total nitrogen and total phosphorus), carbon, 39 trace elements, diatoms, cyanobacterial akinetes, and 3 radionuclides in the bottom sediment of Lake Maxinkuckee, a kettle lake in northern Indiana. Total nitrogen concentrations in...
Large-scale dam removal on the Elwha River, Washington, USA: source-to-sink sediment budget and synthesis
Jonathan A. Warrick, Jennifer A. Bountry, Amy E. East, Christopher S. Magirl, Timothy J. Randle, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Andrew C. Ritchie, George R. Pess, Vivian Leung, Jeff J. Duda
2015, Geomorphology (246) 729-750
Understanding landscape responses to sediment supply changes constitutes a fundamental part of many problems in geomorphology, but opportunities to study such processes at field scales are rare. The phased removal of two large dams on the Elwha River, Washington, exposed 21 ± 3 million m3, or ~ 30 million tonnes (t), of sediment that had been deposited...
Shear-wave velocity and site-amplification factors for 50 Australian sites determined by the spectral analysis of surface waves method
Robert E. Kayen, Bradley A. Carkin, Trevor Allen, Clive Collins, Andrew McPherson, Diane L. Minasian
2015, Open-File Report 2014-1264
One-dimensional shear-wave velocity (VS ) profiles are presented at 50 strong motion sites in New South Wales and Victoria, Australia. The VS profiles are estimated with the spectral analysis of surface waves (SASW) method. The SASW method is a noninvasive method that indirectly estimates the VS at depth from variations in the Rayleigh wave phase...
Simulated runoff at many stream locations in the Methow River Basin, Washington
Mark C. Mastin
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1011
A collaborative Bureau of Reclamation-U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) team has been brought together to incorporate a conceptual geomorphic-habitat model with a process-based trophic model to understand the processes important to stream habitat for anadromous fish populations. The Methow River Basin was selected as a test basin for this hybrid geomorphic-habitat/trophic...
Spring resource phenology and timing of songbird migration across the Gulf of Mexico
Eben H. Paxton, Emily B. Cohen, Zoltan Nemeth, Theodore J. Zenzal Jr., Kristina L. Paxton, Robert H. Diehl, Frank R. Moore
2015, Studies in Avian Biology 63-82
Migratory songbirds are advancing their arrival to breeding areas in response to climatic warming at temperate latitudes. Less is understood about the impacts of climate changes outside the breeding period. Every spring, millions of migrating songbirds that overwinter in the Caribbean and Central and South America stop to rest and<br...
3D Elevation Program: summary for Nebraska
William J. Carswell Jr.
2015, Fact Sheet 2014-3112
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Nebraska, elevation data are critical for agriculture and precision farming, natural resources conservation, flood risk management, infrastructure and construction management, geologic resource...
3D Elevation Program: summary for Vermont
William J. Carswell Jr.
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3002
Elevation data are essential to a broad range of applications, including forest resources management, wildlife and habitat management, national security, recreation, and many others. For the State of Vermont, elevation data are critical for hazard mitigation, geologic resource assessment, natural resources conservation, agriculture and precision farming, flood risk management, infrastructure...
Growth rates and variances of unexploited wolf populations in dynamic equilibria
L. David Mech, John Fieberg
2015, Wildlife Society Bulletin (39) 41-48
Several states have begun harvesting gray wolves (Canis lupus), and these states and various European countries are closely monitoring their wolf populations. To provide appropriate perspective for determining unusual or extreme fluctuations in their managed wolf populations, we analyzed natural, long-term, wolf-population-density trajectories totaling 130 years of data from 3...
Distribution and biophysical processes of beaded streams in Arctic permafrost landscapes
Christopher D. Arp, Matthew S. Whitman, Benjamin M. Jones, Guido Grosse, Benjamin V. Gaglioti, Kurt C. Heim
2015, Biogeosciences (12) 29-47
Beaded streams are widespread in permafrost regions and are considered a common thermokarst landform. However, little is known about their distribution, how and under what conditions they form, and how their intriguing morphology translates to ecosystem functions and habitat. Here we report on a Circum-Arctic survey of beaded streams and...
Simulated big sagebrush regeneration supports predicted changes at the trailing and leading edges of distribution shifts
Daniel R. Schlaepfer, Kyle A. Taylor, Victoria E. Pennington, Kellen N. Nelson, Trace E. Martin, Caitlin M. Rottler, William K. Lauenroth, John B. Bradford
2015, Ecosphere (6)
Many semi-arid plant communities in western North America are dominated by big sagebrush. These ecosystems are being reduced in extent and quality due to economic development, invasive species, and climate change. These pervasive modifications have generated concern about the long-term viability of sagebrush habitat and sagebrush-obligate wildlife species (notably greater...
Areas contributing recharge to production wells and effects of climate change on the groundwater system in the Chipuxet River and Chickasheen Brook Basins, Rhode Island
Paul J. Friesz, Janet Radway Stone
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5216
The Chipuxet River and Chickasheen Brook Basins in southern Rhode Island are an important water resource for public and domestic supply, irrigation, recreation, and aquatic habitat. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Rhode Island Department of Health, began a study in 2012 as part of an effort to...
Late Quaternary slip history of the Mill Creek strand of the San Andreas fault in San Gorgonio Pass, southern California: The role of a subsidiary left-lateral fault in strand switching
Katherine J. Kendrick, Jonathan C. Matti, Shannon A. Mahan
2015, Geological Society of America Bulletin (127) 825-849
The fault history of the Mill Creek strand of the San Andreas fault (SAF) in the San Gorgonio Pass region, along with the reconstructed geomorphology surrounding this fault strand, reveals the important role of the left-lateral Pinto Mountain fault in the regional fault strand switching. The Mill Creek strand has...
Effects of hierarchical roost removal on northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) maternity colonies
Alexander Silvis, W. Mark Ford, Eric R. Britzke
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
Forest roosting bats use a variety of ephemeral roosts such as snags and declining live trees. Although conservation of summer maternity habitat is considered critical for forest-roosting bats, bat response to roost loss still is poorly understood. To address this, we monitored 3 northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) maternity colonies...
North America's net terrestrial CO2 exchange with the atmosphere 1990–2009
A.W. King, R.J. Andres, K.J. Davis, M. Hafer, D.J. Hayes, Deborah N. Huntzinger, Bernardus de Jong, W.A. Kurz, A. David McGuire, Rodrigo I. Vargas, Y. Wei, Tristram O. West, Christopher W. Woodall
2015, Biogeosciences (12) 399-414
Scientific understanding of the global carbon cycle is required for developing national and international policy to mitigate fossil fuel CO2 emissions by managing terrestrial carbon uptake. Toward that understanding and as a contribution to the REgional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes (RECCAP) project, this paper provides a synthesis of net land–atmosphere...
Farallon de Medinilla seabird and Tinian moorhen analyses
Richard J. Camp, Christina R. Leopold, Kevin W. Brinck, Franz Juola
2015, Technical Report HCSU-060
This report assesses the trends in brown booby (Sula leucogaster), masked booby (S. dactylatra), and red-footed booby (S. sula) counts collected on Farallon de Medinilla and Mariana common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus guami) counts on Tinian, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to help elucidate patterns in bird numbers. During either...
The quality of our Nation's waters: water quality in the Upper Floridan aquifer and overlying surficial aquifers, southeastern United States, 1993-2010
Marian P. Berndt, Brian G. Katz, James A. Kingsbury, Christy A. Crandall
2015, Circular 1355
About 10 million people rely on groundwater from the Upper Floridan and surficial aquifers for drinking water. The Upper Floridan aquifer also is of primary importance to the region as a source of water for irrigation and as a source of crystal clear water that discharges to springs and streams...
The quality of our Nation's waters: water quality in the glacial aquifer system, northern United States, 1993-2009
Kelly L. Warner, Joseph D. Ayotte
2015, Circular 1352
The glacial aquifer system underlies much of the northern United States. About one-sixth (41 million people) of the United States population relies on the glacial aquifer system for drinking water. The primary importance of the glacial aquifer system is as a source of water for public supply to the population...
The quality of our Nation's waters: Water quality in principal aquifers of the United States, 1991-2010
Leslie A. DeSimone, Peter B. McMahon, Michael R. Rosen
2015, Circular 1360
About 130 million people in the United States rely on groundwater for drinking water, and the need for high-quality drinking-water supplies becomes more urgent as our population grows. Although groundwater is a safe, reliable source of drinking water for millions of people nationwide, high concentrations of some chemical constituents can...
The quality of our Nation's waters: Water quality in basin-fill aquifers of the southwestern United States: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, 1993-2009
Susan A. Thiros, Angela P. Paul, Laura M. Bexfield, David W. Anning
2015, Circular 1358
The Southwest Principal Aquifers consist of many basin-fill aquifers in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Demands for irrigation and drinking water have substantially increased groundwater withdrawals and irrigation return flow to some of these aquifers. These changes have increased the movement of contaminants from geologic and human...
The quality of our nation's waters: water quality in the Principal Aquifers of the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge regions, eastern United States, 1993-2009
Bruce D. Lindsey, Tammy M. Zimmerman, Melinda J. Chapman, Charles A. Cravotta III,, Zoltan Szabo
2015, Circular 1354
The aquifers of the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, and Valley and Ridge regions underlie an area with a population of more than 40 million people in 10 states. The suburban and rural population is large, growing rapidly, and increasingly dependent on groundwater as a source of supply, with more than 550...
The quality of our Nation's waters: groundwater quality in the Columbia Plateau and Snake River Plain basin-fill and basaltic-rock aquifers and the Hawaiian volcanic-rock aquifers, Washington, Idaho, and Hawaii, 1993-2005
Michael G. Rupert, Charles D. Hunt Jr., Kenneth D. Skinner, Lonna M. Frans, Barbara Mahler
2015, Circular 1359
The Columbia Plateau, Snake River Plain, and Hawaii are large volcanic areas in the western United States and mid-Pacific ocean that contain extensive regional aquifers of a hard, gray, volcanic rock called basalt. Residents of the Columbia Plateau, the Snake River Plain, and the island of Oahu depend on groundwater...
The quality of our Nation's waters: water quality in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain surficial aquifer system, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Virginia, 1988-2009
Judith M. Denver, Scott W. Ator, Jeffrey M. Fischer, Douglas C. Harned, Christopher Schubert, Zoltan Szabo
2015, Circular 1353
The surficial aquifer system of the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain is made up of unconfined aquifers that underlie most of the area. This aquifer system is a critical renewable source of drinking water and is the source of most flow to streams and of recharge to underlying confined aquifers. Millions...
The quality of our Nation's waters: water quality in the Mississippi embayment-Texas coastal uplands aquifer system and Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, south-central United States, 1994-2008
James A. Kingsbury, Jeannie R. B. Barlow, Brian G. Katz, Heather L. Welch, Roland W. Tollett, Lynne S. Fahlquist
2015, Circular 1356
About 8 million people rely on groundwater from the Mississippi embayment—Texas coastal uplands aquifer system for drinking water. The Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer also provides drinking water for domestic use in rural areas but is of primary importance to the region as a source of water for irrigation. Irrigation...
