Tidal and seasonal variations in calving flux observed with passive seismology
T.C. Bartholomaus, Christopher F. Larsen, Michael E. West, Shad O’Neel, Erin C. Pettit, Martin Truffer
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (120) 2318-2337
The seismic signatures of calving events, i.e., calving icequakes, offer an opportunity to examine calving variability with greater precision than is available with other methods. Here using observations from Yahtse Glacier, Alaska, we describe methods to detect, locate, and characterize calving icequakes. We combine these icequake records with a coincident,...
A simplified, data-constrained approach to estimate the permafrost carbon–climate feedback
C.D. Koven, E.A.G. Schuur, C. Schädel, T. J. Bohn, E. J. Burke, G. Chen, X. Chen, P. Ciais, G. Grosse, J.W. Harden, D.J. Hayes, G. Hugelius, Elchin E. Jafarov, G. Krinner, P. Kuhry, D.M. Lawrence, A. H. MacDougall, Sergey S. Marchenko, A. David McGuire, Susan M. Natali, D.J. Nicolsky, David Olefeldt, S. Peng, V.E. Romanovsky, Kevin M. Schaefer, J. Strauss, Claire C. Treat, M. Turetsky
2015, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences (373)
We present an approach to estimate the feedback from large-scale thawing of permafrost soils using a simplified, data-constrained model that combines three elements: soil carbon (C) maps and profiles to identify the distribution and type of C in permafrost soils; incubation experiments to quantify the rates of C lost after...
Evidence for episodic acidification effects on migrating Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts
John T. Kelly, Darrren T. Lerner, Michael F. O’Dea, Amy M. Regish, Michelle Y. Monette, J.P. Hawkes, Keith H. Nislow, Stephen D. McCormick
2015, Journal of Fish Biology (87) 1129-1146
Field studies were conducted to determine levels of gill aluminium as an index of acidification effects on migrating Atlantic salmon Salmo salar smolts in the north-eastern U.S.A. along mainstem river migration corridors in several major river basins. Smolts emigrating from the Connecticut River, where most (but not all) tributaries were well buffered,...
Role of ground ice dynamics and ecological feedbacks in recent ice wedge degradation and stabilization
Mark Torre Jorgenson, Mikhail Kanevskiy, Yuri Shur, Natalia Moskalenko, Dana Brown, Kimberly P. Wickland, Robert G. Striegl, Joshua C. Koch
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research F: Earth Surface (120) 2280-2297
Ground ice is abundant in the upper permafrost throughout the Arctic and fundamentally affects terrain responses to climate warming. Ice wedges, which form near the surface and are the dominant type of massive ice in the Arctic, are particularly vulnerable to warming. Yet processes controlling ice wedge degradation and stabilization...
The vulnerability of Indo-Pacific mangrove forests to sea-level rise
Catherine E. Lovelock, Donald R. Cahoon, Daniel A. Friess, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, Ken W. Krauss, Ruth Reef, Kerrylee Rogers, Megan L. Saunders, Frida Sidik, Andrew Swales, Neil Saintilan, Le Xuan Thuyen, Tran Triet
2015, Nature (526) 559-563
Sea-level rise can threaten the long-term sustainability of coastal communities and valuable ecosystems such as coral reefs, salt marshes and mangroves. Mangrove forests have the capacity to keep pace with sea-level rise and to avoid inundation through vertical accretion of sediments, which allows them to maintain wetland soil elevations suitable...
Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan
Lynne Koontz, Catherine M. Cullinane Thomas, Erik Larsen
2015, Report
No abstract available....
Aluminosilicate melts and glasses at 1 to 3 GPa: Temperature and pressure effects on recovered structural and density changes
S Bista, Jonathan Stebbins, William B. Hankins, Thomas W. Sisson
2015, American Mineralogist (100) 2298-2307
In the pressure range in the Earth’s mantle where many basaltic magmas are generated (1 to 3 GPa) (Stolper et al. 1981), increases in the coordination numbers of the network-forming cations in aluminosilicate melts have generally been considered to be minor, although effects on silicon and particularly on aluminum coordination...
Stable carbon isotope fractionation during bacterial acetylene fermentation: Potential for life detection in hydrocarbon-rich volatiles of icy planet(oid)s
Laurence Miller, Shaun Baesman, Ron Oremland
2015, Astrobiology (15) 977-986
We report the first study of stable carbon isotope fractionation during microbial fermentation of acetylene (C2H2) in sediments, sediment enrichments, and bacterial cultures. Kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) averaged 3.7 ± 0.5‰ for slurries prepared with sediment collected at an intertidal mudflat in San Francisco Bay and 2.7 ± 0.2‰ for a pure culture of Pelobacter sp....
Book review: Large igneous provinces
Edward A. du Bray
2015, Economic Geology (110) 1908-1910
This book presents a comprehensive compilation of all aspects of large igneous provinces (LIPs). Published in 2014, the book is now the definitive source of information on the petrogenesis of this type of globally important, voluminous magmatic activity. In the first few pages, LIPs are characterized as magmatic provinces with...
LIMS for Lasers 2015 for achieving long-term accuracy and precision of δ2H, δ17O, and δ18O of waters using laser absorption spectrometry
Tyler B. Coplen, Leonard I Wassenaar
2015, Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry (29) 2122-2130
RationaleAlthough laser absorption spectrometry (LAS) instrumentation is easy to use, its incorporation into laboratory operations is not easy, owing to extensive offline manipulation of comma-separated-values files for outlier detection, between-sample memory correction, nonlinearity (δ-variation with water amount) correction, drift correction, normalization to VSMOW-SLAP scales, and difficulty in performing long-term QA/QC...
LiDAR based prediction of forest biomass using hierarchical models with spatially varying coefficients
Chad Babcock, Andrew O. Finley, John B. Bradford, Randall K. Kolka, Richard A. Birdsey, Michael G. Ryan
2015, Remote Sensing of Environment (169) 113-127
Many studies and production inventory systems have shown the utility of coupling covariates derived from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data with forest variables measured on georeferenced inventory plots through regression models. The objective of this study was to propose and assess the use of a Bayesian hierarchical modeling framework...
Now hiring! Empirically testing a three-step intervention to increase faculty gender diversity in STEM
Jessi L. Smith, Ian M. Handley, Alexander V. Zale, Sara Rushing, Martha A. Potvin
2015, BioScience (65) 1084-1087
Workforce homogeneity limits creativity, discovery, and job satisfaction; nonetheless, the vast majority of university faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are men. We conducted a randomized and controlled three-step faculty search intervention based in self-determination theory aimed at increasing the number of women faculty in STEM at...
Remote sensing to monitor cover crop adoption in southeastern Pennsylvania
Wells Hively, Sjoerd Duiker, Greg McCarty, Kusuma Prabhakara
2015, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (70) 340-352
In the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, winter cereal cover crops are often planted in rotation with summer crops to reduce the loss of nutrients and sediment from agricultural systems. Cover crops can also improve soil health, control weeds and pests, supplement forage needs, and support resilient cropping systems. In southeastern Pennsylvania,...
North Pacific deglacial hypoxic events linked to abrupt ocean warming
Summer K Praetorius, Alan C. Mix, Maureen H. Davies, Matthew D Wolhowe, Jason A. Addison, Frederick G Prahl
2015, Nature (527) 362-366
Marine sediments from the North Pacific document two episodes of expansion and strengthening of the subsurface oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) accompanied by seafloor hypoxia during the last deglacial transition<a id="ref-link-34" title="Mix, A. C. et al. Rapid climate oscillations in the Northeast Pacific during the last deglaciation reflect Northern and Southern...
Geochemistry and origin of metamorphosed mafic rocks from the Lower Paleozoic Moretown and Cram Hill Formations of North-Central Vermont: Delamination magmatism in the western New England appalachians
Raymond Coish, Jonathan Kim, Evan Twelker, Scott P. Zolkos, Gregory J. Walsh
2015, American Journal of Science (315) 809-845
The Moretown Formation, exposed as a north-trending unit that extends from northern Vermont to Connecticut, is located along a critical Appalachian litho-tectonic zone between the paleomargin of Laurentia and accreted oceanic terranes. Remnants of magmatic activity, in part preserved as metamorphosed mafic rocks in the Moretown Formation and the overlying...
Predictions of future ephemeral springtime waterbird stopover habitat availability under global change
Daniel R. Uden, Craig R. Allen, Andrew A. Bishop, Roger Grosse, Christopher F. Jorgensen, Theodore G. LaGrange, Randy G. Stutheit, Mark P. Vrtiska
2015, Ecosphere (6) 1-26
In the present period of rapid, worldwide change in climate and landuse (i.e., global change), successful biodiversity conservation warrants proactive management responses, especially for long-distance migratory species. However, the development and implementation of management strategies can be impeded by high levels of uncertainty and low levels of control over potentially...
Dreissenid mussel research priorities workshop
Mark Sytsma, Stephen Phillips, Timothy D. Counihan
2015, Conference Paper, Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations
Currently, dreissenid mussels have yet to be detected in the northwestern part of the United States and western Canada. Infestation of one of the jurisdictions within the mussel-free Pacific Northwest would likely have significant economic, societal and environmental implications for the entire region. Understanding the biology and environmental tolerances of...
Fire activity as a function of fire–weather seasonal severity and antecedent climate across spatial scales in southern Europe and Pacific western USA
Itziar R. Urbieta, Gonzalo Zavala, Joaquin Bedia, Jose M. Gutierrez, Jesus San Miguel-Ayanz, Andrea Camia, Jon E. Keeley, Jose M. Moreno
2015, Environmental Research Letters (10)
Climate has a strong influence on fire activity, varying across time and space. We analyzed the relationships between fire–weather conditions during the main fire season and antecedent water-balance conditions and fires in two Mediterranean-type regions with contrasted management histories: five southern countries of the European Union (EUMED)(all fires); the Pacific...
Photoreduction of Hg(II) and photodemethylation of methylmercury: the key role of thiol sites on dissolved organic matter
Jeffrey D. Jeremiason, Joshua C. Portner, George R. Aiken, Amber J. Hiranaka, Michelle T. Dvorak, Khuyen T. Tran, Douglas E. Latch
2015, Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts (17) 1892-1903
This study examined the kinetics of photoreduction of Hg(II) and photodemethylation of methylmercury (MeHg+) attached to, or in the presence of, dissolved organic matter (DOM). Both Hg(II) and MeHg+ are principally bound to reduced sulfur groups associated with DOM in many freshwater systems. We propose that a direct photolysis mechanism is...
USGS National Wildlife Health Center quarterly wildlife mortality report April 2015 to June 2015
Anne Ballmann, Barbara L. Bodenstein, Robert J. Dusek, Daniel A. Grear, Jennifer G. Chipault
2015, Wildlife Disease Association Newsletter 6-8
No abstract available....
Imaging the magmatic system of Mono Basin, California with magnetotellurics in three--dimensions
Jared R. Peacock, Margaret T. Mangan, Darcy McPhee, David A. Ponce
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research (120) 7273-7289
A three–dimensional (3D) electrical resistivity model of Mono Basin in eastern California unveils a complex subsurface filled with zones of partial melt, fluid–filled fracture networks, cold plutons, and regional faults. In 2013, 62 broadband magnetotelluric (MT) stations were collected in an array around southeastern Mono Basin from which a 3D...
Landsat Science Team meeting: Winter 2015
Todd A. Schroeder, Thomas Loveland, Michael A. Wulder, James R. Irons
2015, The Earth Observer (27) 12-17
The summer meeting of the joint U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)–NASA Landsat Science Team (LST) was held at the USGS’s Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center July 7-9, 2015, in Sioux Falls, SD. The LST co-chairs, Tom Loveland [EROS—Senior Scientist] and Jim Irons [NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)—Landsat 8...
Wintering ecology of sympatric subspecies of Sandhill Crane: Correlations between body size, site fidelity, and movement patterns
Gary L. Ivey, Bruce D. Dugger, Caroline P. Herziger, Michael L. Casazza, Joseph P. Fleskes
2015, The Condor (117) 518-529
Body size is known to correlate with many aspects of life history in birds, and this knowledge can be used to manage and conserve bird species. However, few studies have compared the wintering ecology of sympatric subspecies that vary significantly in body size. We used radiotelemetry to examine the relationship...
Limited role for thermal erosion by turbulent lava in proximal Athabasca Valles, Mars
Vincenzo Cataldo, David A. Williams, Colin M. Dundas, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi
2015, Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets (120) 1800-1819
The Athabasca Valles flood lava is among the most recent (<50 Ma) and best preserved effusive lava flows on Mars and was probably emplaced turbulently. The Williams et al. (2005) model of thermal erosion by lava has been applied to what we term “proximal Athabasca,” the 75 km long upstream portion of...
Mercury in stream water at five Czech catchments across a Hg and S deposition gradient
Tomáš Navrátil, James B. Shanley, Jan Rohovec, Filip Oulehle, Pavel Kram, Sarka Matouskova, Miroslav Tesar, Maria Hojdová
2015, Journal of Geochemical Exploration (158) 201-211
The Czech Republic was heavily industrialized in the second half of the 20th century but the associated emissions of Hg and S from coal burning were significantly reduced since the 1990s. We studied dissolved (filtered) stream water mercury (Hg) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations at five catchments with contrasting...