Hydrogeology, hydrologic effects of development, and simulation of groundwater flow in the Borrego Valley, San Diego County, California
Claudia C. Faunt, Christina L. Stamos, Lorraine E. Flint, Michael T. Wright, Matthew K. Burgess, Michelle Sneed, Justin T. Brandt, Peter Martin, Alissa L. Coes
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5150
Executive Summary The Borrego Valley is a small valley (110 square miles) in the northeastern part of San Diego County, California. Although the valley is about 60 miles northeast of city of San Diego, it is separated from the Pacific Ocean coast by the mountains to the west and is...
Assessing the contributions of East African and West Pacific warming to the 2014 boreal spring East African drought
Christopher C. Funk, Shraddhanand Shukla, Andrew Hoell, Ben Livneh
2015, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (96) S77-S82
Anthropogenic warming contributed to the 2014 East African drought by increasing East African and west Pacific temperatures, and increasing the gradient between standardized western and central Pacific SST causing reduced rainfall, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture....
Onshore industrial wind turbine locations for the United States up to March 2014
James E. Diffendorfer, Louisa Kramer, Zachary H. Ancona, Christopher P. Garrity
2015, Scientific Data
Wind energy is a rapidly growing form of renewable energy in the United States. While summary information on the total amounts of installed capacity are available by state, a free, centralized, national, turbine-level, geospatial dataset useful for scientific research, land and resource management, and other uses did not exist. Available...
Yellowstone wolf (Canis lupus) denisty predicted by elk (Cervus elaphus) biomass
L. David Mech, Shannon Barber-Meyer
2015, Canadian Journal of Zoology (93) 499-502
The Northern Range (NR) of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) hosts a higher prey biomass density in the form of elk (Cervus elaphus L., 1758) than any other system of gray wolves (Canis lupus L., 1758) and prey reported. Therefore, it is important to determine whether that wolf–prey system fits a long-standing model...
Persistent U(IV) and U(VI) following in-situ recovery (ISR) mining of a sandstone uranium deposit, Wyoming, USA
Tanya J. Gallegos, Kate M. Campbell, Robert A. Zielinski, P.W. Reimus, J.T. Clay, N. Janot, J. J. Bargar, William Benzel
2015, Applied Geochemistry (63) 222-234
Drill-core samples from a sandstone-hosted uranium (U) deposit in Wyoming were characterized to determine the abundance and distribution of uranium following in-situ recovery (ISR) mining with oxygen- and carbon dioxide-enriched water. Concentrations of uranium, collected from ten depth intervals, ranged from 5 to 1920 ppm. A...
Groundwater/surface-water interactions in the Bad River Watershed, Wisconsin
Andrew T. Leaf, Michael N. Fienen, Randall J. Hunt, Cheryl A. Buchwald
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5162
A groundwater-flow model was developed for the Bad River Watershed and surrounding area by using the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) finite-difference code MODFLOW-NWT. The model simulates steady-state groundwater-flow and base flow in streams by using the streamflow routing (SFR) package. The objectives of this study were to: (1) develop an...
Factors controlling Li concentration and isotopic composition in formation waters and host rocks of Marcellus Shale, Appalachian Basin
Thai T. Phan, Rosemary C Capo, Brian W. Stewart, Gwen Macpherson, Elisabeth L. Rowan, Richard W. Hammack
2015, Chemical Geology (420) 162-179
In this study, water and whole rock samples from hydraulically fractured wells in the Marcellus Shale (Middle Devonian), and water from conventional wells producing from Upper Devonian sandstones were analyzed for lithium concentrations and isotope ratios (δ7Li). The distribution of lithium concentrations in different mineral groups was determined using...
Geohydrology and water quality of the stratified-drift aquifers in Upper Buttermilk Creek and Danby Creek Valleys, Town of Danby, Tompkins County, New York
Todd S. Miller
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5138
In 2006, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Town of Danby and the Tompkins County Planning Department, began a study of the stratified-drift aquifers in the upper Buttermilk Creek and Danby Creek valleys in the Town of Danby, Tompkins County, New York. In the northern part of the...
NEXRAD quantitative precipitation estimates, data acquisition, and processing for the DuPage County, Illinois, streamflow-simulation modeling system
Terry W. Ortel, Ryan R. Spies
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3076
Next-Generation Radar (NEXRAD) has become an integral component in the estimation of precipitation (Kitzmiller and others, 2013). The high spatial and temporal resolution of NEXRAD has revolutionized the ability to estimate precipitation across vast regions, which is especially beneficial in areas without a dense rain-gage network. With the improved precipitation...
Development of an Assessment Tool for Agricultural Best Management Practice Iimplementation in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Priority Watersheds—Alger Creek, Tributary to Saginaw River, Michigan
Katherine R. Merriman
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3067
The Great Lakes face a number of serious challenges that cause damage to water quality, habitat, ecology, and coastal health. Excess nutrients from point and nonpoint sources have a history of causing harmful algal blooms (HABs); since the late 1990s, a resurgence of HABs have forced beach closures and resulted...
Development of an Assessment Tool for Agricultural Best Management Practice Implementation in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Priority Watersheds—Eagle Creek, Tributary to Maumee River, Ohio
Katherine R. Merriman
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3066
Introduction The Great Lakes face a number of serious challenges that cause damage to water quality, habitat, ecology, and coastal health. Excess nutrients from point and nonpoint sources have a history of causing harmful algal blooms (HABs); since the late 1990s, a resurgence of HABs have forced beach closures and resulted...
Development of an Assessment Tool for Agricultural Best Management Practice Implementation in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Priority Watersheds—Upper East River, Tributary to Green Bay, Wisconsin
Katherine R. Merriman
2015, Fact Sheet 2015-3065
Introduction The Great Lakes face a number of serious challenges that cause damage to water quality, habitat, ecology, and coastal health. Excess nutrients from point and nonpoint sources have a history of causing harmful algal blooms (HABs); since the late 1990s, a resurgence of HABs have forced beach closures and resulted...
A one-dimensional model of solid-earth electrical resistivity beneath Florida
Cletus Blum, Jeffrey J. Love, Kolby Pedrie, Paul A. Bedrosian, E. Joshua Rigler
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1185
An estimated one-dimensional layered model of electrical resistivity beneath Florida was developed from published geological and geophysical information. The resistivity of each layer is represented by plausible upper and lower bounds as well as a geometric mean resistivity. Corresponding impedance transfer functions, Schmucker-Weidelt transfer functions, apparent resistivity, and phase responses...
What is in a contour map? A region-based logical formalization of contour semantics
E. Lynn Usery, Torsten Hahmann
2015, Book chapter, Spatial information theory: 12th International Conference, COSIT 2015 Santa Fe, NM, USA, October 12–16, 2015, proceedings
Contours maps (such as topographic maps) compress the information of a function over a two-dimensional area into a discrete set of closed lines that connect points of equal value (isolines), striking a fine balance between expressiveness and cognitive simplicity. They allow humans to perform many common sense reasoning tasks...
Biofilm formation of Francisella noatunensis subsp. orientalis
Esteban Soto, Iona Halliday-Wimmonds, Stewart Francis, Michael T. Kearney, John D. Hansen
2015, Veterinary Microbiology (181) 313-317
Francisella noatunensis subsp. orientalis (Fno) is an emergent fish pathogen in both marine and fresh water environments. The bacterium is suspected to persist in the environment even without the presence of a suitable fish host. In the present study, the influence of different abiotic factors such as salinity and temperature were used to...
Assessment and Mmanagement of North American horseshoe crab populations, with emphasis on a multispecies framework for Delaware Bay, U.S.A. populations: Chapter 24
Michael J. Millard, John A. Sweka, Conor P. McGowan, David R. Smith
2015, Book chapter, Changing Global Perspectives on Horseshoe Crab Biology, Conservation and Management
The horseshoe crab fishery on the US Atlantic coast represents a compelling fishery management story for many reasons, including ecological complexity, health and human safety ramifications, and socio-economic conflicts. Knowledge of stock status and assessment and monitoring capabilities for the species have increased greatly in the last 15 years and...
Streambed scour evaluations and conditions at selected bridge sites in Alaska, 2012
Robin A. Beebee, Paul V. Schauer
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5154
Streambed scour potential was evaluated at 18 river- and stream-spanning bridges in Alaska that have unknown foundation details or a lack of existing scour analysis. All sites were evaluated for stream stability and long-term scour potential. Contraction scour and abutment scour were calculated for 17 bridges, and pier scour was...
Piscine reovirus: Genomic and molecular phylogenetic analysis from farmed and wild salmonids collected on the Canada/US Pacific Coast
Ahmed Siah, Diane B. Morrison, Elena Fringuelli, Paul S. Savage, Zina Richmond, Maureen K. Purcell, Robert Johns, Stewart C. Johnson, Sonja M. Sakasida
2015, PLoS ONE (10)
Piscine reovirus (PRV) is a double stranded non-enveloped RNA virus detected in farmed and wild salmonids. This study examined the phylogenetic relationships among different PRV sequence types present in samples from salmonids in Western Canada and the US, including Alaska (US), British Columbia (Canada) and Washington State (US). Tissues testing...
Evidence of population resistance to extreme low flows in a fluvial-dependent fish species
Rachel A. Katz, Mary Freeman
2015, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (11) 1776-1787
Extreme low streamflows are natural disturbances to aquatic populations. Species in naturally intermittent streams display adaptations that enhance persistence during extreme events; however, the fate of populations in perennial streams during unprecedented low-flow periods is not well-understood. Biota requiring swift-flowing habitats may be especially vulnerable to flow reductions. We estimated...
Estimating occupancy dynamics for large-scale monitoring networks: amphibian breeding occupancy across protected areas in the northeast United States
David A.W. Miller, Evan H. Campbell Grant
2015, Ecology and Evolution (5) 4735-4746
Regional monitoring strategies frequently employ a nested sampling design where a finite set of study areas from throughout a region are selected within which intensive sub-sampling occurs. This sampling protocol naturally lends itself to a hierarchical analysis to account for dependence among sub-samples. Implementing such an analysis within a classic...
Determining habitat quality for species that demonstrate dynamic habitat selection
James M. Beerens, Peter C Frederick, Erik G Noonburg, Dale E. Gawlik
2015, Ecology and Evolution (5) 5685-5697
Determining habitat quality for wildlife populations requires relating a species' habitat to its survival and reproduction. Within a season, species occurrence and density can be disconnected from measures of habitat quality when resources are highly seasonal, unpredictable over time, and patchy. Here we establish an explicit link among dynamic selection...
Geotechnical effects of the 2015 magnitude 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake and aftershocks
Robb E. S. Moss, Eric M. Thompson, D Scott Kieffer, Binod Tiwari, Youssef M A Hashash, Indra Acharya, Basanta Adhikari, Domniki Asimaki, Kevin B. Clahan, Brian D. Collins, Sachindra Dahal, Randall W. Jibson, Diwakar Khadka, Amy Macdonald, Chris L M Madugo, H Benjamin Mason, Menzer Pehlivan, Deepak Rayamajhi, Sital Uprety
2015, Seismological Research Letters (86) 1514-1523
This article summarizes the geotechnical effects of the 25 April 2015 M 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake and aftershocks, as documented by a reconnaissance team that undertook a broad engineering and scientific assessment of the damage and collected perishable data for future analysis. Brief descriptions are provided of ground shaking, surface fault rupture,...
Record-high specific conductance and temperature in San Francisco Bay during water year 2014
Maureen A. Downing-Kunz, Paul Work, Gregory Shellenbarger
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1213
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has operated a water-quality monitoring network in San Francisco Bay since the late 1980s (Buchanan and others, 2015). This network includes 19 stations in the bay; currently, 8 stations are in operation (fig. 1). All eight stations are equipped with specific conductance (which can be...
Summary of hydrologic modeling for the Delaware River Basin using the Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER)
Tanja N. Williamson, Jeremiah G. Lant, Peter R. Claggett, Elizabeth A. Nystrom, Paul C.D. Milly, Hugh L. Nelson, Scott A. Hoffman, Susan J. Colarullo, Jeffrey M. Fischer
2015, Scientific Investigations Report 2015-5143
The Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER) is a decision support system for the nontidal part of the Delaware River Basin that provides a consistent and objective method of simulating streamflow under historical, forecasted, and managed conditions. In order to quantify the uncertainty associated with these simulations, however, streamflow...
User manuals for the Delaware River Basin Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (DRB–WATER) and associated WATER application utilities
Tanja N. Williamson, Jeremiah G. Lant
2015, Open-File Report 2015-1196
The Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER) is a decision support system (DSS) for the nontidal part of the Delaware River Basin (DRB) that provides a consistent and objective method of simulating streamflow under historical, forecasted, and managed conditions. WATER integrates geospatial sampling of landscape characteristics, including topographic and...
